Mrs. Anthony Micelli
As always, all the credit goes to the WTB crew, writers, staff and actors. Credit is also due to The Golden Girls crew, writers, staff and actors as this is a spoof on the episode Mrs. George Devereaux.
A special shout out to Nichole and Sherry who helped me bounce some ideas off of when I was just in the planning stage!
This takes place somewhere mid-late season 8, for the most part.
Tony is sitting in the living room, his books all laid out on the coffee table. He's deep in thought and doesn't hear the front door open, Angela and Mona walking in from work.
"Hi sweetheart, how were your classes today?" she asked as she hung up her coat and put down her briefcase.
"Oh hi honey. It was good. I'm just trying to get this last page written for this history paper and then I'll be done. I'm going to make lasagna for dinner. I'd like us to go over some wedding planning stuff too if you're not too tired. I know work has been running you ragged these past few weeks. You've fallen asleep on the sofa every night this week!" he chuckled.
"That sounds like a great idea! I think I can stay up a bit. Work has been really hectic" she said as she went over to kiss him and then back over to the mail on the side table Mona had brought in.
"That's not all that's been hectic Angela… you going to tell him?" asked Mona.
"Tell me what?" he asked. Angela gave Mona a death glare.
"Tell you that you got a package! Here you go Tony! It doesn't have a return address. Why don't you open it?" said Angela as she continued to stare down Mona.
"Eh oh, oh eh! I love packages! Maybe it's from a secret admirer! Just kidding Angela! Let's see what's in here!" he said with kid-like enthusiasm.
Tony ripped open the package and pulled out a letter, along with about five or six items individually wrapped in paper.
"Dear Tony,
I hope you enjoy these mementos… I know I have. It's been too long. I hope you can meet me tomorrow afternoon around 2:00pm at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, around the bend right before the rose garden. I'll be waiting…"
With a very confused look on his face, he started opening up the gifts. The first one was a copy of his graduation yearbook photo. The next gift he opened was a napkin with the Marty's Melody Room logo on it. Tony looked at both items with a confused look on his face. Angela and Mona looked at one another with a worried look.
The next gift was a pressed flower wrapped in plastic wrap, looking like it had been pressed in a book for a long time. The next gift he almost dropped after he opened it- a signed copy of his Cardinals baseball card. The last item he opened was a photograph of him and some of his teammates.
Tony stared at the items on the table. He slowly touched each item, picking them up, turning them over and over. They looked familiar, but he couldn't place exactly where he knew them from.
"Tony… do you know who this is from?" asked Angela, with some anxiety creeping into her voice.
"These look familiar, but I have no idea. It's gotta be someone from Brooklyn… but who?" he asked out loud, but more to himself.
"Maybe it's a former girlfriend who scorned you years ago, finally coming to her senses, who desperately wants to make amends. They've been pining for you for years, waiting for the right moment. She's obsessed with you and…" started Mona before she was cut off by Angela.
"Mother!" she shouted.
"I think you've read too many romance/horror novels Mona! This has to be some sort of prank from the guys. I haven't seen them too often since we got engaged and I'm sure this is a ploy to get me to hang out with them in Brooklyn. Oh those guys!" said Tony with a smirk.
"Tony… I wouldn't be so sure it's them. I don't think it's Mother's idea either, but something isn't sitting right with me. Sweetheart, are you sure you know what you are getting yourself into?" asked Angela.
"Oh c'mon Angela! How much trouble can I get into in a public place?" he asked.
"Well there was the one time in the greyhound terminal…" said Mona as Angela gave her a admonishing look.
"Here's a good idea! If you really want me to be safe, why don't you come with me?" asked Tony.
"Okay I'll come" said Angela, worry still very present in her voice.
"Count me in too Tony. I'm not missing this!" laughed Mona as she walked into the kitchen.
"Tony, we do need to talk at some point today. It's about what Mother started…" she said but was interrupted by Jonathan coming running into the house. He had two suitcases in his hands that he dropped at his feet, the excitement on his face matching the energy seeming to radiate from his body.
"This is the best day of my life! I'm on cloud nine! Thank you Mom for sending me to that acting camp for winter break! There were so many celebrities there! And girls actually talked to me! I was like a teen heartthrob!" he practically shouted. Tony tried his best not to laugh, putting his hand over his mouth before he responded.
"Teen heartthrob? That's my boy!" he said as he slapped him on the back. Angela just rolled her eyes, but secretly jumped for joy he not only had a good time, but had what seemed to be a social success.
"Two girls in particular really took a liking to me. We put on a short production of Romeo and Juliet and I got Romeo. They were actually fighting over who got Juliet! Best moment of my entire life!" he shouted. He finally came down from his high enough to see the items on the table.
"What's all this stuff?" he asked as he picked up some of the photos. "Is this you Tony back when you were young?" he asked innocently.
Angela couldn't stifle her laughter as Tony glared from one Bower to the next.
"Turns out you're not the only one who's smooth with the ladies! I've got myself a secret admirer! Or my dumb friends from Brooklyn playing a prank on me… take your pick" he said as he went back to looking at the items. The one photo of him with his teammates for some reason made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He couldn't shake the feeling this was some sort of message he didn't quite understand.
"That's really cool Tony! You going to meet this secret admirer?" asked Jonathan.
"Yeah tomorrow at 2:00pm in Brooklyn. Your Mom and Mona are going to come with me, protect me from whoever this is… or come out with the guys and I for a few beers after I break a few of their noses…" he said.
"Well keep me posted! I've gotta go- I promised I'd write them as soon as I got home! And if the phone rings, it's probably for me!" he said excitedly as he jumped off the sofa and ran upstairs. Tony and Angela managed to hold in their laughter until he was all the way upstairs.
"Okay Tony, I'll let you finish your work. I'm going to get changed and read up in my room for a bit before dinner. Let me know if you need help with dinner" she said as she leaned down to kiss him before she headed upstairs. She took one final glance at the items on the table, the deep pit in her stomach growing more intense as she took in the items one last time. She decided that her talk with Tony needed to wait until this secret admirer revealed themselves tomorrow.
The next afternoon, Tony drove Angela and Mona into Brooklyn. They stopped off at a local diner near the Botanical Gardens for lunch. They avoided Marty's in case they ran into his secret admirer. Angela was a bundle of nerves and could barely touch her lunch. Tony, on the other hand, inhaled a veal parmesan hero like he hadn't eaten in a week. He figured if the guys from Brooklyn were surprising him, there would most certainly be alcohol involved and he wanted a full stomach to try and counter act the booze. Mona was too busy flirting with the waiter to bother eating. They finished their meals and walked the short distance to the gardens. Once they got near the rose garden, they sat down on a bench.
"Tony… you can still back out at anytime. We can leave and pretend you never got the package" said Angela, with some worry in her voice.
"Like hell he will Angela! He's got to see this through! The possibilities are endless who this could end up being! A guy always remembers the first time he has a secret admirer…" said Mona.
"Eh oh, oh eh! Who says it's my first?" he said indignantly. Mona just rolled her eyes.
"I have shivers up my spine Tony! Her eyes could be on you right now! The tension's unbearable!" said Mona excitedly.
"I… I just don't have a good feeling about this, that's all…" she said as she looked up from Tony and made eye contact with a woman wearing a light brown overcoat, the hood pulled down almost over her face. A large scarf was wrapped around the bottom part of her face. Her eyes, eyes that Angela had seen hundreds of times over the past seven years on a younger version of the woman, stared back at her. All Angela could do was put her hand to her face and gasp.
"Angela! What is it? You're as white as a ghost! Are you okay?" asked Tony in a panicked voice.
"It couldn't be but… is that? She's coming this way…" started Angela. She couldn't formulate anything more, just sitting there with tears in her eyes. The woman walked up towards the three of them. Mona and Angela couldn't take their eyes off of her, but Tony was still focused on Angela, who he thought might pass out she was so pale. Finally, he looked up at the woman who was now standing right in front of them, only a few feet away. She pulled back her hood and undid her scarf to reveal her face.
"Oh my god no!" shouted Tony as he stood up but then quickly sat back down, his legs giving out on him.
"Tony honey please…" the woman started to say.
"Oh my god… what in the hell? Why do you look like that? I don't believe this!" shouted Tony, now his face looking incredibly pale.
"Tony, Tony! Who is this?" said Mona. Angela knew the answer but she was too stunned to speak.
"If I didn't know better, I would say my dead wife Marie!" he cried, his legs finally gaining strength again as he stood up and took off down the path towards the exit.