Addendum #1.6 – "Angela's Ex pt.1"

February 1985 – The Geographic Institute, NYC

"They told me, but I said, 'No way in hell'…"

Michael turned in his swivel chair toward the voice at his door.

Kevin was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. "What are you doing behind that desk?"

Michael smiled and shook his head, "Shut up."

Kevin's shoulder pushed his body upright, and he swiped the door shut. Swaggering over to the chairs in front of Michael's desk, he dropped down into one and stayed slouched. "The great Viking among us, now pillaging the supply closet?"

Michael's good-natured smirk dropped into a scowl.

"What do you want, Kevin?"

"Answers."

Michael tilted his head in annoyance, but Kevin pushed.

"Seriously, man, what gives? You hate New York."

"No argument," Michael punctuated.

Kevin waited a beat, then lagged his pointer finger into the air. "…Did you know you're in New York right now?"

Michael's lids dropped into a glare. "I have my reasons, Kevin."

"Oh, so we can just hop-skip-and-a'jump to the truth, then? Do tell."

Michael slanted his jaw sharply and stared at Kevin. Then he shook his head and swiveled back toward the large window he'd been staring through.

Kevin tipped his head back, "Not this game again… Michael, I don't have time for this girlie shit. Why are you here?"

Michael flipped his glare up from the side.

Kevin's eyes squinted more as seconds ticked by.

"You've got to be kiddin' me? Her? Again!?"

Michael's glare remained locked, but he spun the rest of his body to face Kevin. "She's my wife, okay?"

"Does she love you?"

Michael sat up sharply and snarled, "What!?"

Kevin's demeanor shifted from mildly combative to confidently relaxed. "Wow. I was trying to make the point that if she loved you, she'd see how much you hated it here. But you've brought up an entirely different problem."

Michael's face stayed stuck.

"If you don't even think she loves you, then what the hell are you doing? You gonna give up your whole life for someone who doesn't love you?"

Michael's response came in the form of a low growl, "She loves me."

Kevin waited.

Michael sighed, "It's just- hard to understand."

"What is?"

"Her. What she's doing. Why she's doing it. I need to be here."

Kevin's face scrunched, "Why?"

"She does all this stupid shit…" He brought his hand to his forehead. "Okay, not stupid - it's just… pointless!" He slapped both hands to the top of his desk. "I'm talking, bubbles and costumes and kiddie pools," his face looked pained. "…bouncing up and down, all damn day!"

Kevin was openly confused, but Michael kept up his weary rambling.

"But it's important to her. And even if it's not- exactly crucial - to society, she's 'worked' hard, and now she's running that donkey show... The woman's got a master's degree! What the hell is she doing?"

Michael exhaled extensively, "…but if I don't prioritize it, she's gonna get mad, and then she's gonna… And I…" Michael groaned and rolled his head back in misery. "…I was gone too long."

Kevin cocked his head, "Did you have a few shots to take the edge off? I can see you're stressed."

"No!" Michael leaned his elbows on his desk and raked his fingers through his hair.

Kevin squinted at him for a few seconds. "Alright. What happened?"

Michael breathed deeply with his face still covered. Sitting up slowly, he leaned far back into his chair.

"Her lawyer served me divorce papers in Brazil. So, I flew home to ask, 'What the fuck?', and she's got some dumbass bodybuilder and his kid living in our house with her and our son."

Kevin's eyes were huge.

"Chyeah! My thoughts exactly- Oh, and her mother's moved in!"

Kevin's lids dropped and he leaned back a little, "Damn."

"Oh, it gets better! She says this guy's 'just the housekeeper'," and looked at Kevin pointedly. "But hey, it's been a long time, right? So, I warm her up, and we're goin' at it that first night-"

Kevin nodded.

"-and she gets mad that I'm mad about this bozo being there -" Michael leaned forward and started speaking with his hands. "No shit, our clothes are on the floor, she's all over me, and I can hear the guy singing in the shower right next to us. It was like being in a dorm, except I'm paying him to be there!"

Kevin made a flat smile and shook his head.

"Anyway, I'm pissed, but I'm trying to give her some leeway." Michael shrugged, "We've been fighting a long time; I'd been gone for… I don't know how long… and she's been lonely," He held out his hand to Kevin, inviting him back into their saga, "and you know this isn't our first go round with this particular pawn."

Kevin nodded again.

"But she's mad that I know that about her – liking to be around other guys, and shit."

Kevin's continued nod now involved squinted eyes.

"So, she sits up on me, and tells me she's been fuckin' the whole eastern seaboard!"

Kevin's mouth fell open, and he shot out of his seat. "You wanna run that by me again!?"

Michael's momentum quieted, and he leaned back cautiously in his chair, "Which part?"

"The part where you said she loves you!"

Michael exhaled and rolled his eyes.

Kevin wiped both his palms down his face and plunked back down into the chair. "Michael. What are you doing? You don't need me to tell you anything, here. Hell, even she's already told you. Why don't you listen to her?"

Michael took a breath, "It's complicated, okay? We're trying to make it work. And she didn't ask me to take this job. I did it because I'm not ready to give her up. If I go, I might as well sign those divorce papers now."

Kevin looked at him pointedly, "At least we agree on something."

Michael glared at him, "Look, you don't know what you're talking about. She does love me. There's something…there – between us. I don't know how to describe it. She's just been lonely and pissed… and I guess I haven't been the nicest guy to be around."

Kevin glared back, "You? Aw, you're a peach."

Michael rolled his eyes, but a little laugh escaped anyway, "Asshole."

Kevin taunted a wink at him, "You tryin' to make her jealous?"

Michael laughed out loud, "Oh, my God. How do I put up with you people!?"

Kevin chuckled and then waited before responding. He tossed his arm up a little, and it fell on his lap. "Look, man, like I told you before, we've all been there. It would take more than a certain kind of 'something' between two people to make a relationship like this work, the way we live. I don't know what that would be, but I don't have it." He squinted and looked off to the side, "I think you may be the last married guy left of us..."

Shaking his head, he looked back at Michael. "At least I got out early; you've got a kid. And you sticking around is a stand-up thing to do. I admire that. But you know where this is headed."

Michael's face didn't move.

Kevin stood up and exhaled, "Alright... if you need to run this thing into the ground, you do what you gotta do. I know you love her." He shook his head, "Poor bastard…"

Michael rolled his eyes again. Kevin gave him a flat smile and held out his hand, "Lemme know if you need to get a beer or somethin'."

Michael shook it and returned the same smile, "Thanks."

Kevin threw him a nod and left.


February 1985 – Fairfield, CT

Tony came in the kitchen door with two paper bags of groceries. Michael came in through the swinging door.

A beat went by, but then Tony tried to laugh, "Uh, hey, there, Michael."

Michael hesitated a second before nodding, "Tony." Michael walked over to pour himself a cup of coffee. "How's that job search coming?"

Tony put the groceries down and started to unload them onto the table. "Uh, pretty good, pretty good. I got an interview tomorrow - I'm hopin' it'll come to somethin'."

Michael nodded, "Well, good luck," and walked back toward the swinging door.

"Thanks…" Tony drifted. He was putting an armload of ice cream into the freezer, and it caught Michael's eye as he was leaving.

"That's a lot of ice cream."

Tony laughed, "You're not kiddin'. Angela can really put it away."

Michael let out a little chuckle, "Yeah, I guess so." He lifted and tilted his chin, "You, uh, got any French vanilla in there?"

Tony smiled and repeated the question like it was a joke, "Do I have French vanilla…" He shook his head, smiling widely, "Are you kiddin' me? That's the only thing that pairs with everything. I'm makin' cherry cobbler tonight. Can't have cherry cobbler without French vanilla." Tony dumped the cartons into the freezer like they were a pile of rocks and pulled the French vanilla back out. He handed it to Michael.

Michael made a small smile, "Thanks," he said, dipping it up slightly in salute.

"Sure thing."

Michael took the ice cream over to the utensil drawer and dished himself some into a bowl. Pulling out a spoon, he turned around to watch Tony finish with the groceries.

"So, what other kinds did you get?" Michael said after swallowing a bite.

"Oh, I blame Angela, but I got everybody's favorites."

Michael's brows scrunched, "What are they?"

Tony was putting a big jar of pickles into the fridge, but his brows went up as he thought. "Oh, let's see. Sam is a cookies and cream girl. Mona's chocolate peanut butter. I'm chocolate chip. Jonathan is rocky road. And, of course, Angela is butter brickle."

A worry came to Michael's face, "Jonathan likes rocky road?"

Tony laughed, "Well, kinda. See, he loves the fact that they put marshmallows in with the chocolate. He just spits out the almonds."

Michael made a little laugh, then thought a few seconds.

"And Angela likes butter brickle, huh?"

Tony scoffed, "Likes?" He turned from where he was putting the oranges on the counter and stared directly into Michael's eyes. "Michael, listen to me. Do not eat that ice cream. Seriously, if you want some, I'll buy you your own container and you can keep it in the garage freezer. But don't tell her it's there, and don't eat hers. …I know I won't do that again." He shuddered.

Michael looked amused. "She's that scary?"

Tony looked at him like he was crazy, "Yeah, she is! How do you think she takes charge all those people and stuff in New York? She's not afraid to go for what she wants, and she wants that ice cream."

"Hmm," Michael mused, and walked over to the freezer to put the container back.

Michael looked in and furrowed his brows, "Tony, you got two French vanillas."

"Yeah," Tony nodded in a higher pitch. "I needed some for the cobbler, and Jonathan said that was your favorite, too."

Nodding a bit of a smile, Michael looked at Tony, "Thanks."

Tony nodded back in acknowledgement, "You bet."

Michael backed out of the kitchen as Tony continued to put the food away. He turned around in the living room and ran right into Angela.

"Hey, sweetheart!" she said, kind of cutesy, but grabbed his upper arms and gave him a solid kiss. "How was your day?"

Angela's anxiety had picked up recently. Michael was subdued, and she was doing her best to decode him.

He made a flat smile. "It was alright. Glad to finally be here with you."

At that, her jitters mellowed, and her smile softened. Stepping close to him, she lightly held his face and gave him a thoughtful, restrained, romantic kiss. An obviously genuine smile appeared on his face.

"I love you, Michael," Angela said quietly.

Putting his face past hers, Michael hugged her tightly around the waist and didn't answer back.