"Hi Angela. Hi Tony."
"Renata! Hi Honey. What are you doing here?" Angela asked. She looked at her and noticed that her eyes were tear stained. "Have you been crying honey? What's wrong?"
"And why are you carrying that suitcase?" Tony asked, pointing to the suitcase Renata was holding.
"That's what we need to talk to you about." Mona informed them. She turned to Renata. "Why don't you have a seat?"
"Okay." Renata sat down on the couch and set her suitcase in front of her.
"Do you want anything to drink?" Claire asked her.
"What? Oh no thank you."
"Come on gang. Let's go into the kitchen." Mona motioned Tony, Angela, and Claire to follow her. Tony and Angela looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders and followed Mona and Claire. The three women sat at the table while Tony remained standing in front of the sink.
"Okay Mona. What is going on? Why is Renata here?"
Mona and Claire exchanged a quick glance. After Renata's encounter with Joanne, Pam, and Diane she had been so distraught they had insisted she come home with them. Mona obviously knew she had to tell Tony and Angela something- but not the whole truth otherwise Tony's surprise video and proposal would be revealed before the time was right. So Mona had decided she would tell what the rumor was-that Renata was accused of being in a relationship with an older man but not who the man was.
"Well I know the two of you have been wrapped up in each other lately.."
"Mother, come on! We haven't been that bad!" Angela felt herself blushing. "Have we?" she asked sheepishly.
"You have. But that's not important right now. We have a bigger problem. Or should I say three big problems!"
"Okay Mother. Out with it. What is going on?"
"Yeah Mona. What do you mean by three big problems?"
"Joanne. Pam. Diane."
Tony bristled. If Mona had only said one big problem he would know it was Joanne. But she must have told Pam and Diane her suspicions that he was having an affair with Renata.
Oh hell this wasn't going to be good!
"What about them?" Angela furrowed her eyebrows.
"Earlier tonight Claire and I went to the Country Club…'
"I thought you went to the Downbeat?." Angela interrupted her.
"We did. But it was a little slow So we decided to go see if there was anything going on at the club."
"Okay. But what does any of this have to do with Renata and the rest of them?"
"When we walked in, Renata spilled a pot of coffee all over Joanne." Claire jumped into the conversation.
"What?! Oh my word! She wasn't hurt was she?" Even though Joanne had been a thorn in her side for years it didn't mean she wanted any harm to come to her. And being burned with hot coffee would be a horrible pain to endure.
"Oh no. Actually it was an old pot of coffee and it was very lukewarm." Claire assured her.
"Yeah, but let me tell you Joanne was pissed. She got up and screamed at Renata and called her a stupid idiot."
"Oh poor Renata! She must have been mortified!" Angela's heart went out to the sweet girl.
"But I don't understand. What exactly happened? Did Renata lose her balance or something?" Tony inquired.
Mona took a deep breath. Here was the moment of truth. So to speak.
"There is a rumor going around town that Renata is having an affair with an older man." she risked a glance in Tony's direction. Luckily Angela was too shocked to notice.
"Okay? I mean she is an adult. If she wants to date an older man.."
"He is already in a relationship." Mona informed her.
"What?! Oh come on! Renata would never do something like that!"
"I agree. But apparently Joanne, Pam, and Diane think that the rumor is true and went to the Club to harass her about it."
"Okay. I am at a loss. What business is this of theirs?"
Mona said a silent prayer to Robert that Tony would understand what she was about to do and play along. It was the only way she could tell them what happened-without Angela finding out the whole truth before it was time for her to do so.
"About a month ago. Joanne saw them together in the park late at night."
"She did?" Tony asked, rubbing his hands across his chest and stomach as he always did when he was nervous. He knew of course that Mona and Claire wouldn't say that he was the man that Joanne saw that night. But he still felt like things were about to get a whole lot worse!
"What were they doing? And who is this guy anyway?" Angela asked and shook her head.
"According to Joanne they hugged and then the guy walked away whistling"
"And we don't know who the guy is." Claire informed her.
"Then how do they know Renata is having an affair with this man?!"
"Oh you know Joanne. She always has to make something out of nothing."
"Yeah. Like when she accused us of having an affair when we ran against each other for P.T.A. president." Tony reminded her.
"Oh yeah." Even though it happened years ago, the memory of that time still stung. It had been bad enough when it only involved the two of them but when Samantha and Jonathan had been dragged into the mess as well…. That was when the gloves had come off.
"Okay. So Joanne saw them in the park at night hugging and she jumped to the conclusion that they are having an affair?"
"You got it!"
"And then she told Pam and Diane her suspicions?" Tony correctly summarized.
"Right again!"
"Okay. Let's back up for a moment." Angela held her hand up. "Joanne sees Renata and this mystery man in the park one night hugging. She jumps to the conclusion that they are having an affair and tells Pam and Diane her ridiculous suspicions. Then they decide to go to the club to confront and harass her about it?'
"That sums it up perfectly!" Mona nodded approvingly.
"But what about the part about Renata spilling the coffee?" Tony asked.
"Well apparently Diane said something nasty to her and she was so stunned she lost her grip on the handle and the whole pot went all over Joanne."
"Wow! That's…" Angela was at a loss for words.
"Exactly what she deserved." Mona on the other hand wasn't.
"Mother!"
"Hey look Angela. They went there with the sole purpose of harassing Renata with something that isn't remotely true. Joanne got off easy if you ask me."
"Okay let's forget that for a moment. Why exactly is she here?" Tony asked once again.
"Well she was so upset we didn't think she should be alone."
"So you brought her here?!" He couldn't believe it! Why in the world would Mona bring Renata into his house when he was the man she was accused of having an affair with?! If Joanne, Pam, and Diane found out… For crying out loud Pam lived right next door! What the hell was Mona thinking?!
She clearly must have lost her mind!
Angela turned around and looked at him. "Tony! Come on! Renata is obviously upset. I think Mother and Claire did the right thing by bringing her here. She shouldn't be alone right now."
Tony sighed. She was right of course. And if it had been any other time he wouldn't have minded. In fact he would have agreed wholeheartedly that bringing Renata here had been the right thing to do. But knowing what he knew.. Unfortunately he couldn't voice any objections otherwise Angela would want to know why and his surprise would be out. He couldn't and wouldn't allow that to happen until the time was right.
"You're right sweetheart. I guess I'm just stunned about everything"
"Well hold on to your pants. Because I'm about to stun you some more." Mona raised her eyebrows.
"I'm almost afraid to ask. But go on." Tony motioned with his hands.
"While we were there Renata was defended by a very unlikely and surprising person…."