This will begin the morning after Angela arrives in Iowa drunk. Credit for any lines reused from the show goes to the writers and actors from "Who's the Boss?"

Chapter 1

"What is that ungodly sound?" exclaims Angela as she walks into the kitchen.

"Oh, that'd be the rooster, Angela."

"Well, can you kill it?"

"No doing, as he's the only one left in town talking to us. Take a look, you made the papers."

"Oh, Tony, it was a horrible flight and I was nervous about the move out here. I hope I didn't say or do anything that caused any friction for you."

"Naw, but you may be a bit embarrassed for a while. Sorry that the flight was rough. You still okay with your decision to come out here?"

"Absolutely! I'm happiest when I'm with you, my love."

"And I am with you too, sweetheart."

After a few weeks went by and they started settling into a routine, Angela found that she enjoyed the simple life, though she also did miss her work. After some conversations with Mona and Jack, they realized that there were more than enough clients that could utilize an office in the Midwest. She began scoping out some potential office spaces, and decided to put a little presentation together to share with Tony. She found four prospective locations: Des Moines, Dubuque, Chicago, and Minneapolis/St. Paul (the Twin Cities). After some consideration, she dropped the Minneapolis/St. Paul location as it'd be the farthest from Branford, where they were.

Angela cooks up a special meal, and puts on a new dress she picked up before coming out to Iowa. Tony arrives home and is delighted with the progress she has made in her cooking abilities. Then he notices the bottle of wine chilling in the ice bucket, abs tries to think of what special occasion he must have forgotten about. When she steps into their dining area from the kitchen, he is immediately enthralled with the way she looks.

"Is that a new dress, sweetheart?"

"Why yes, Tony, it is. Do you like it?"

"I have always loved you in blue."

"Thank you, darling."

"So, what's for dinner?"

"Oh, just some steaks, Parmesan crusted potatoes, and salad."

"Sounds delicious! Do you need any help?"

"Nope, it'll be on the table shortly. Do you mind pouring some wine, Tony?"

She seems nervous, he thought to himself. "Sure, honey."

Once they'd eaten their meal and moved on to a second bottle of wine, they moved from the dining table to the loveseat. Angela was working up the courage to tell Tony about her idea to open a Midwest office of The Bower Agency when the phone rang.

"Hello?" Tony said as he picked up the phone. "Yeah, she's right here." "It's Jack," he tells her as he hands her the phone.

"Hello, Jack. Yes, we can meet up when I come out for a visit. No, nothing on that yet. Yes, a list of those clients would be great. I'll call you tomorrow then. Thank you, Jack. Goodbye."

When Angela came back to the table, Tony asked, "what was that all about?"

"Well, I've been missing the grind of work, so Mother and Jack and I realized that there is an area of the country that is beginning to grow with potential clients."

"Yeah, where's that?"

"Right here in the Midwest. Tony, we already have a few clients out this way, including two in Iowa. And I know for a fact that Ocean Spray is looking for a new ad agency."

"They're in Wisconsin, right?"

"Yes they are. I've started exploring some possible locations to open up a Midwest branch of The Bower Agency. I'd been thinking about it for awhile now, and with me out here now it's making more sense to do it."

"I didn't realize you were unhappy, Angela. I thought you were enjoying the peace and quiet."

"I did, I mean I am. But I'm also realizing that I like some of the grind that work gives me. And this isn't just something I'm doing on the spur of needing something to do. Remember last year I'd mentioned that opening up smaller offices to be where our clients are makes fiscal sense. And we wouldn't need to relocate someone or hire someone new as I'm here now."

"Oh yeah, I recall that now. But my contract with Wells is only for another nine months. What if we go back to Connecticut after that?"

"Then I'd either look at hiring someone else on, or maybe Jack and Carol would come this way. Carol's parents are in Wisconsin, and Jack has mentioned her parents would love them closer to them. Besides, that's still nine months away. We have time to figure that all out."

"So where were you thinking?"

"Well, I was thinking of Des Moines, Dubuque, or Chicago. Do you think we could go check them out?"

"Next weekend is fall break, so I'll have Thursday thru Sunday off. That should give us some time to explore. When do you go back for your visit?"

"In two weeks, so the Wednesday after next weekend. The Prescott meeting is on that Friday, so that'll give me time to get up to speed."

"So I'll book reservations in Chicago for next Thursday, Dubuque for next Friday, and Des Moines for next Saturday then. Anywhere in particular you'd like to stay in Chicago? I always enjoyed the Hilton downtown when I played ball."

"That sounds perfect, Tony. And thank you for being so supportive."

"Of course, sweetheart! I'd do anything for you my love." He gave her a sweet tender kiss as they settled on the loveseat for a sweet make out session.