I've been watching a lot of Who's the Boss and Taxi and I had an idea the other day to join the two shows together and have Angela and Tony meet. Tony is working as a cab driver on the streets of New York City and Angela is in town.
Chapter 1 – Meeting in the Rain
Tony was sitting in the garage of the Sunshine Cab Company waiting on Louie to call his name for his cab. He had been waiting all evening due to some of the cabs being fixed due to mechanical problems.
Getting annoyed and tired of waiting, he jumped up from the table and made his way over to Louie's cage.
"Hey Lou, when can I get out and start driving for my shift? Come on man, I'm tired of waiting around."
"Hey, Banta, I'll have you a cab in just a minute, okay?"
"Okay Lou but hurry up."
Pacing back and forth, Tony grew agitated as the seconds ticked by. Finally, Louie told him the cab was ready to go.
Tony made his way to the garage and got in the cab, checking to make sure he was ready and had everything before starting his shift.
As he pulled out of the garage onto the streets of New York City, he realized it would be a long night, as it was starting to pour rain.
"Oh great, another rainy night. Just my luck."
Tony started his shift and flipped on his taxi light to inform the people on the street of his availability for a ride. The night drug on for what seemed like forever due to a slow night and pouring rain.
As his shift was getting ready to end, he looked at the clock on the dash. It read 7:21AM. He had made his way to the train station and spotted a woman hailing for a cab and decided to take the fare to finish his shift.
As he pulled up to the curb and waited for the woman to get in his cab, the door flung open and a young, attractive woman jumped into the cab, trying to wipe the rain off her coat and closing her umbrella, heaving her luggage and briefcase in the taxicab beside her.
"Oh! Goodness! Is it ever going to stop raining?"
As the young woman huffed and puffed and got comfortable in the back seat of Tony's cab, he glanced up and caught sight of how gorgeous she was. Here, in his cab, sat a stunning young woman, mid-20's, long blonde hair, and dark brown eyes. His mind went blank for about five seconds before he realized his mouth had dropped open and he was staring at her. Shaking his head to break his thoughts, he asked the young woman where she needed to go.
"The Hotel Chelsea, 222 West Twenty-Third Street, please."
"Yes, ma'am."
Tony smiled at the young lady and reached to flip the lever that signaled he had a fare and was unavailable. As he began driving, he kept glancing through the rear-view mirror at the young woman sitting in the back seat of his cab.
The young lady kept watching out the window at the sights of New York City as they passed by the rain covered windows of the taxicab.
Silence filled the cab as they continued driving down the rain-soaked street.
The young woman pulled out her makeup compact from her purse and checked her makeup, glancing up at the driver of the cab, only to catch his eyes in the rear-view mirror. She smiled and glanced back down at her purse in her hands, then looked back up and caught the same brown eyes looking back at her again through the rear-view mirror.
"I think you'd do a better job of driving if your eyes looked at the road instead of me."
The young lady giggled slightly as Tony smirked and looked back towards the road.
"Hey oh, oh ay, I have a perfect driving record, just so you know."
"That's nice to know."
"My name's Tony, what's yours?"
Smiling, the young lady looked up into Tony's brown eyes through the rear-view mirror before speaking.
"My name is Angela…Angela Bower."
"Angela… Are you from New York City?"
Nodding her head back and forth, she indicated to Tony that she wasn't from New York City.
"No this is my first time in the city. I'm here on business."
"Oh really? What type of business?"
"I own my own advertising agency."
"Hmm…"
"Yeah... So, Tony, are you just a cab driver? Or do you have another job?"
Grinning, Tony glimpsed back up through the rear-view mirror at Angela.
"Actually, I box in my free time when I get time away from driving a cab."
"Boxing?"
"Yeah! I've been boxing since I was a little kid. It's in my blood."
"Interesting. Are you good at boxing?"
"Ahh, the guys don't seem to think so, but I enjoy doing it. It don't matter about the record."
Angela reflected out the window at the sidewalks full of people trying to escape the rain.
"So, where are you from, Angela?"
"Oh, I'm from Connecticut."
"Connecticut? Hmm, I've never been there before."
"Oh, it's stunning this time of year with the leaves changing colors. I love it there."
"Sounds nice. I don't get time away from the city, so I just stick to New York. I was born and raised here, so there's no place like home. I'd like to travel sometime if I can get time off."
"Oh, you should! It's worth it!"
Silence fell between them again.
"Angela…"
"Tony…"
Both spoke at the same time and laughed.
"You go first, Tony."
"Okay… How long will you be in the city for? Are you here by yourself?"
"Being here on business, I leave out on Sunday morning by the train, so just a couple of days. And yes, I'm here by myself."
"Well, hey, a young woman as attractive as yourself shouldn't be alone in New York City."
Blushing, Angela let out a light laugh and went back to looking out the rain-soaked cab window.
"Thanks for the tip, Tony."
Pulling up to her hotel, Tony shifted the taxicab in park and turned around in his seat to look at Angela.
"We're here, Angela. Hey, please, be careful, huh?"
"Thanks Tony. I appreciate it."
Angela gave him a large smile and opened the taxicab door. She grabbed her umbrella and luggage and was getting ready to open it when Tony called her name.
"Angela?"
Looking back at Tony, she grinned again.
"Yeah?"
"Uh, ehh, just forget it."
"No, Tony… what is it?"
"Well…. would you want to go to breakfast with me? You're my last fare."
Thinking it over for a few seconds, Angela checked her watch for the time and then looked back at Tony.
"I'd love to, Tony. I need to be back by 11:00AM though for my first meeting."
"Oh, that's no problem. I know just the place."
Angela shook her umbrella off from the rain and shut the taxicab door. Tony started the cab and drove back to the garage to turn in his fare sheet for his shift and turn in his taxicab.
Walking into the garage, Tony didn't see his buddies back yet from their shifts, so he assumed it was safe to take Angela into the garage. He wasn't sure how his friends would react to such a beautiful woman being with him, as he wasn't the type of guy to fall for this type of woman. She was more sophisticated than the other women he usually hung out with, so he assumed his friends would joke around with him about Angela.
"Okay, let me go turn this into my boss and we can go grab some breakfast. I'll be right back."
"Okay, I'll be right here."
Angela gave Tony a small smile as Tony walked towards Louie's cage to hand in his fare sheet for his shift.
"Banta! What took you so long? I thought I'd have to send out the dogs to look for you!"
"Sorry Louie, I had a long evening, okay? I don't want to talk about it."
"Nehhh, sor-ry!"
Looking back towards the garage door entrance, Louie noticed a very attractive young blonde-haired woman standing alone.
"Whoa! Who's the honey?"
Confused, Tony glanced back at where Louie was looking and quickly realized he was talking about Angela.
"Louie, lay off her, huh?"
"Ohhh… Now I see why it took you so long to get back to the garage… Way to go, Banta! You got more brains than I give you credit for."
"Hey, Lou, it ain't like that, okay? Just drop it."
"Okay, okay. But I'll make sure to give you a good ribbing once the guys come in later. Heh heh heh heh!"
"Whatever, Lou. I'm out of here."
Walking away towards Angela, Tony took a few steps before Louie opened his cage door and grinned at Tony.
"Hey Banta, make sure you score one for me!"
"Louie, shut up!"
Walking quickly towards Angela, Tony put his hand against her back and led her out of the garage to his vehicle.
"Was that your boss, Tony?"
"Yeah, just ignore him. He's not a nice guy."
"Ohh."
With the rain coming down, Tony and Angela shared her umbrella as they rushed to his car. Tony opened the door for Angela as she took a seat in his royal blue colored Honda Civic.
Tony ran around to the driver's side and opened the door, starting the car and giving it time to warm up due to sitting in the parking lot all night.
Unable to control her laughter, Angela laughed loudly and then threw her hand over her mouth, eyes wide at Tony, who was somewhat confused at Angela's laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"You aren't going to believe this, but… Ha! We have the same car color! Isn't that hilarious?"
Angela broke out into another fit of laughter as Tony laughed, but not as hard as Angela.
"Yeah, funny. Haha!"
Angela shook her head and glanced back at Tony, who looked like he didn't think it was too funny in comparison to Angela.
"You don't think it's funny, do you?"
Tony smiled at Angela.
"I think it's kind of uncanny that we have the same color car, but its not as funny as you make it out to be."
"Well, yes, it is rather strange, isn't it?"
Putting his car into drive, Tony made his way through the parking lot to the restaurant just down the street from them.
"What car do you drive, Angela?"
"You'll think I'm pretentious."
"Nah, what kind?"
Taking a deep breath, she told Tony it was a 2017 Jaguar F-TYPE two door car in royal blue.
"Ooh, a Jag!"
Tony was grinning from ear to ear at the mention of Angela's Jaguar. He loved cars, especially extravagant high-end cars.
"Well, I mean, it's just me, so I don't need a large car. My car is one of my most cherished possessions."
"Oh, I'm sure it is. Don't get me wrong, I love my car, but a Jag… that's class."
Angela laughed and shook her head at Tony's comment as they parallel parked in the parking space beside the restaurant for breakfast.
"Here we are."
Angela looked up to read the name of the restaurant – Andrew's NYC Diner.
Making his way out of his car, Tony grabbed the umbrella and made his way around to the passenger side of his car to help Angela out in the pouring rain.
Grabbing Tony's hand, both felt a small surge of electricity between them and glanced quickly into each other's eyes.
Angela, standing, stood under the umbrella as Tony locked the car.
"Ugh, is it ever going to quit raining?"
Tony laughed at Angela's question.
Walking quickly to the door of the diner, Tony held the door for Angela and shook the umbrella of the rain.
Looking around, Angela noticed the diner was bright and clean looking. The case that held the baked goods was full and everything looked so delicious. She wasn't too sure what to order.
"Good morning! How may I help you?"
"Good morning! Angela…Do you know what you want?"
"Uh, not yet. Can we have a few minutes?"
The cashier smiled and gave them a few minutes to decide.
A few moments went by, and they both decided what they wanted to eat.
"Okay, what can I get you?"
Tony motioned for Angela to go first.
"I'll have the Belgian Waffles with butter and syrup and a cup of regular coffee, please."
"Very good. For you sir?"
"Uh, I'll have the Greek Omelet and a bottle of water, please."
"Okay, anything else?"
Tony noticed Angela eyeing something in the baked goods case.
"Did you want anything else, Angela?"
Smiling, Angela picked out a chocolate brownie with chocolate fudge icing and walnuts. It was her weakness.
"Alright, your total comes to $31.50."
Pulling out his wallet, Tony reached the cashier his credit card.
"Tony, I could have paid for my own."
"No, that's okay Angela. I got it."
"Well…thank you Tony."
The cashier handed Tony back his credit card and he placed it back in his wallet. Him and Angela decided to take a booth in the corner, away from the hustle and bustle of the door.
As they sat down in the booth, silence came between them before Tony spoke.
"So, you own your own advertising company? That sounds like a big job."
Laughing, Angela smiled and looked down at her hands in her lap and then glanced back at up at Tony.
"Oh, it's not too bad. I really love it. It's something I've always wanted to do. I always strive to do my best at everything. My father taught me that from a young age."
"Well, he sounds like a pretty smart guy."
"He was."
Tony treaded lightly with his next question.
"Hey, Angela…did your father pass away?"
Taking a deep breath to control her emotions, Angela looked off in the distance at the people walking in the door of the diner.
"Yes, Tony…He passed when I was a little girl, around 8 years old."
"Oh, hey…I'm sorry to hear that. Family is very important in my book."
"Thank you."
"Well, hey…anyways, does your mother live in Connecticut?"
"Actually, she lives with me. See, I live in this large house, and she lives in the apartment that is over the garage. It's nice having her there with me, though we butt heads a lot."
"I'm glad you still have your family with you. My parents just recently passed away and I have some aunts and uncles and cousins around, but hey, it's just me for now."
"I'm sorry to hear about your parents, Tony."
"Thanks. I've learned it gets easier with each passing day."
"That it does."
Before they realized it, they were lost in conversation when their food was ready. Tony stood and got their food, bringing it back to the booth, as they continued in conversation.
As they were lost in conversation, Angela didn't realize it was close to 11:00am and that she was going to be late for her meeting.
"Ooh! I gotta be going! It's almost 11:00am and my meeting starts soon!"
"Well, hey, I'll drive you to your hotel. I wouldn't want you to be late on my watch. Come on, you can take your coffee with you."
As they stood up to head towards the door, Tony grabbed the tray that their finished breakfast was on and threw it in the trash. He walked with Angela to the door and held the door open for her as she walked onto the sidewalk. Thankfully, it had stopped raining, so there was no use for the umbrella now.
Tony opened the door to Tony's car as he made his way to the driver's door and began driving Angela back to her hotel for her meeting.
Thankfully, they made it with a few moments to spare. Tony ran around to the passenger door and opened it, reaching with his hand down to help Angela out.
"Thank you, Tony. I had a wonderful time."
"Me too, Angela. Listen, good luck with your meetings."
"Thanks."
Silence overtook the conversation as both weren't sure where to go from here.
"Well…"
Tony nodded and smiled as Angela began to walk away from him towards the hotel lobby door. He watched as she slowed her walk, turned around and came back to him.
"Tony…"
"Yeah?"
Angela placed her briefcase on the back of Tony's car and opened it. She rummaged around inside it before she found what she was looking for and closed the briefcase. Turning around, she smiled at Tony and handed him a small white piece of paper.
"Here."
Looking down at the piece of paper, he realized it was her business card. It read as follows:
BOWER ADVERTISING, INC.
Ms. Angela Bower, CEO/President
1080 Old Post Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
PH: 860.432.6584
M: 860.628.6218
"Tony, I had a wonderful time this morning. Here's my business card in case you ever want to give me a call. Thanks again for everything."
Leaning in, she was very forward and gave Tony a quick kiss on the cheek. Pulling back, both gazed into each other's eyes and noticed the sudden, but unmistakable, pull between them.
And with that, Angela walked into her hotel carrying her briefcase and small suitcase as she left Tony standing on the sidewalk leaning against his car, trying to figure out his feelings for Angela with a big smirk on his face.