Chapter 27: Geoffrey with a G
"I was angry with Tony," Angela began slowly. "I let my emotions get the better of me, so when Geoffrey appeared, almost out of nowhere, and asked me to dance, I just went with what I was feeling. And then, he turned out to be a nice guy, who was secure in who he was and what he did, so when he asked me out, I decided that maybe it was a sign that it was time to get out there a little. I mean after all neither your dad nor I had really dated anyone in quite some time because of how close we'd become and because of what we discussed in Mexico…" Angela said her voice trailing off.
"Ouch," Katie said frowning. "That must have really hurt, Dad," she said looking at Tony sadly.
"It did," Tony said with a sigh. "But Angela was right. I let my emotions get the better of me, with what Fred and Ginger said, and acted like a jerk. And in my head, I kept hearing that little voice reminding me that Angela deserved to be with someone worthy of her."
"Oh, Dad," Sam said shaking her head.
"Like I said before, he was definitely already worthy," Angela said getting off the chair to again make herself comfortable in Tony's lap as he put his arms around her.
"But, obviously the timing wasn't right yet. In fact, later that night once we got back from the reception, we both agreed that we should date other people," Angela said as she thought back to them sitting on the couch while Tony massaged her feet. Her feelings were still in turmoil because part of her wanted to just lean over and kiss him while the other, more rational part of her, was agreeing with Tony that they should both see what was out there. In the back of her mind though she was thinking (more like hoping) that maybe they needed to do this so that they could both realize that they really didn't want to see anyone else but each other.
"Wow," Jonathan said. "You all went from pretty much deciding you were going to date to deciding that not only were you not going to date but that you both needed to date other people. I swear; no wonder you couldn't get it together for so long."
"But Angela, why did you keep dating Geoffrey? You must have really had feelings for him," Sam said softly.
"I did; at least I thought I did. But, what I realized much later is that it was comfortable and predictable being with him. I didn't have all the emotions swirling around inside me like I did when I thought about and pictured your dad and me together. However, there were little hints along the way that it wasn't going to work out with Geoffrey in the long run."
"What do you mean, Mom?" Katie asked.
Angela glanced at Tony with a soft smile. "Well, umm, I guess the first sign was when Geoffrey and I ended up at the Fairfield Inn because of a snowstorm, and Tony and his date at the time ended up in the room right next to ours," she finished as her cheeks started burning.
"Wait, what?" Sam asked incredulously. "Was that when Jonathan and I were on that trip to Washington DC?"
"Yes," Tony answered taking over the story. "My date and I were trying to get back to Brooklyn and Geoff and Angela were headed up to Maine. We all got stuck at the Fairfied Inn, and uhh, let's just say that once Angela and I figured it out, when we stepped outside on our balconies at the same time, it definitely made it harder for either of us to enjoy the rest of the evening," he said rolling his eyes.
"Oh man, how awkward!" Katie said with a giggle. "What were the other signs?"
"Well, Christmas that year was a bit strange," Angela offered with a small smile.
"Strange?" Sam said rolling her eyes. "When you two exchanged Christmas presents and then kissed under the mistletoe, it was so obvious that you had the hots for each other!"
"Samantha, all we did was peck each other on the lips," Tony said shaking his head. "It was very innocent."
"Yeah right, Dad. We could all feel it whatever it was," Sam said smiling.
"What about the presents?" Katie asked. "What did you two get for each other?"
"Well," Angela said as her mind drifted back to that emotional Christmas Day. It still got to her that Tony was willing to sell his last remaining baseball card in order to buy her that beautiful vase. And then seeing how touched Tony was when he realized that she had tracked it down and bought it back.
"Geez, Mom, Dad," Katie said bringing Angela back to the present. "Those don't sound like the type of gifts that people who are just 'friends' give to each other. Wow, I'm surprised that Geoffrey guy stuck around much longer after that and the apparently not quite subtle kiss under the mistletoe."
"Oh, honey," Angela said looking over at Katie. "Geoffrey wasn't exactly the most observant guy and, of course, your dad and I thought we were hiding our 'affection' quite well back then."
"Well, what else happened to make you finally realize that he wasn't the guy?" Katie asked quizzically.
Angela glanced over at Tony. "Are you sure you're ok talking through all of this?"
Giving Angela a quick kiss on her cheek before responding, Tony said, "Sweetheart, it's fine. I mean Geoff was clueless, and I actually like remembering all the little ways that you couldn't get me off your mind."
"Tony," Angela said with a roll of her eyes before playfully punching his bicep. "Ok then. After that Christmas, I ended up throwing that surprise gratitude party for Tony to thank him for talking me into starting the agency. It was finally doing well, and I just felt like I had to do something to show him how grateful I was. Of course, looking back now, I realize that was a little out of the ordinary for someone to do for their housekeeper," she said with a wink.
"And Geoffrey still couldn't see the forest for the trees?" Jonathan asked shaking his head.
"Well, I think he might have started to get an inkling that there was something between us because he tried to force our relationship a little bit after that. He bought that new car that he said to think of as our car and then left it here when he went on a business trip. Unfortunately then that tree fell on it followed by our big blow-up fight. But, it was actually Tony who got us back together."
"What?" Katie asked incredulously. "Dad, why would you do that?"
"I wanted Angela to be happy," Tony answered simply. "That was more important to me than how I was feeling about her."
Angela leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to Tony's lips. "One of the other signs, or maybe red flags is a better term, is that once Geoffrey and I made up, he bought me some lovely red roses. However, Tony knew that pink roses are my favorite, so when he commented on that, a little warning bell went off in my head. And then of course, the biggest red flag was when Geoffrey proposed."
"Wait, what?" Jonathan said. "Mom, you almost got engaged to this guy and never told us any of us?"
"Sorry, honey, but you were a little kid at the time, and after it was all said and done, it wasn't something that either Tony or I particularly liked to think about or discuss."
"So, you talked her out of it, Dad?" Sam asked.
"Well, not exactly," Tony said with a hint of a smile as he thought back to the discussion that he and Angela had in the kitchen when she was making her 'pros' and 'cons' list basically begging him, in that special way of communicating that they had, to tell her to not marry Geoffrey. He almost started laughing as he remembered his questions to her about how Geoffrey was in the garage. Angela could be so naive sometimes, and the questions were mostly rhetorical, as he had a pretty good idea that Geoffrey could not "fulfill her automotive needs."
"Of course, I didn't want Angela to marry him and thought about telling her that I still had feelings, but this was her decision," he said as he looked over at Angela with a smile.
"In the end, I realized that the pent-up confused feelings I had for Tony were stronger than what I felt for Geoffrey, and I believed that somewhere down the line the timing would somehow work out for the two of us," Angela said smiling softly as she thought back to Tony outside her bedroom on the ladder frantically spray-painting NO (or actually ON) on her bedroom window. She already knew she was going to turn Geoffrey down but what Tony did really made her feel confident in her decision. That was the confirmation she needed that he still had the same type of feelings for her that she had for him. Of course, it didn't hurt that once she had helped him into her bedroom, after Geoffrey had left, he had pulled her into an embrace that seemed to last for hours. It was obvious that they both wanted more but that this again wasn't the right time.
"Whew," Katie said. "Thank god you came to your senses, Mom. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here," she said smiling. "But we know you still didn't get together after all of that, so what happened next?"
With her cheeks growing warm, Angela thought back to how she'd gone off the rails a bit after everything that happened over the past six months between Mexico, the wedding and Geoffrey. First, there was the craziness of her attempt to land the Armando Ghia account and then her desire to fulfill the bucket list of items she never got to do in high school. Poor Tony; she really put him through the wringer over those few weeks…