A Writer of Our Own- chapter 1

As always, all the credit goes to the amazing WTB cast, crew, writers and staff. This takes place after Season 3 episode 19, Diet in Cell Block 11…

The morning after Tony and her mother found the typed pages of her failed romance novel, she couldn't get the feel of Tony's arms wrapped around her out of her mind. As she lay in her bed, trying her best to keep her thoughts of Tony as platonic as possible, she couldn't help but smile as her mind took her to places she wouldn't ever dare to imagine in reality. A whole scene formed in her mind, playing out like one of those romantic novels she would obsessively read late at night.

Suddenly, inspiration hit and she grabbed a pen and notepad in her nightstand and began writing the ideas down. What started out as a few paragraphs soon turned into pages and pages of a story she knew by heart, one that she could only wish would become a reality. She had lost all track of time when she heard the kids in the hallway. She knew they had a busy Saturday morning running errands and if she didn't get herself moving, she'd have to deal with a very angry, admittedly very handsome Italian housekeeper. She headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day and soon was heading down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Good morning family!" said Angela as she took a seat at the table, her juice and coffee already waiting at her spot.

"I need to go to the library to pick up some books for my science project!" said Jonathan as he continued to devour his eggs and toast.

"Bonnie is going to meet me at the mall. Any chance after the library, someone could drop me off at the mall?" asked Samantha as she finished up her breakfast and brought the plate to the sink where Tony was already starting to wash the dishes.

"I think that can be arranged. I need to stop off at the bank after the library so we can swing by and drop you off…. that is if it's alright with you Tony" she said, silently cursing herself for once again forgetting Samantha wasn't her own daughter and that she should let Tony make those calls.

"Yes that's alright but Samantha… I'm not giving you an advance in your allowance. Whatever money you have saved is what you get to spend, understand?" said Tony as he glared at her. She rolled her eyes but nodded in agreement.

"Alright everyone! I think we should finish getting ready and be back down, ready to leave in ten minutes!" said Angela as she brought her glasses to the sink. She started to clean them when Tony stopped her, placing his hands over hers.

"I'll get these Angela! You can finish getting ready" said Tony as his hands moved to take the cups out of her hands. As it was becoming more and more common these days whenever they touched, time seemed to stand still and a warm, fuzzy feeling took over her body. Her heart began to race and her breathing intensified. She allowed Tony to take the glasses and quickly moved away from the sink before he could see what his mere presence was doing to her.

"I… I'll be in the living room finishing getting ready…" she said as she hurried past the swinging doors. Once in the living room, she took a deep breath to steady herself and continued getting ready.

Soon the family was out the door and heading towards the library. Tony opted to drive the Jaguar and soon they were pulling into a parking spot at the Fairfield public library.

"Eh oh, oh eh! Everyone meet back at the front to check out in a half an hour! I've got more errands to run after dropping Samantha off at the mall" said Tony as they entered the library. They all went their separate ways- Tony heading with Jonathan to the science section to help him find the books he needed and Samantha to the magazine collection as she spotted some friends from school. Angela opted to head to the romance novel section to see if any of her favorite authors had any recent books released. She was able to find a few she wanted to read and headed back up to the front area to wait.

On her way back, she spotted an announcement board with different advertisements for community events. She saw some local activities for the family and took the tabs of paper with the information. One flyer caught her eye just as she was about to walk away.

"Women's amateur writing group! Come one and all to share your writing with a wonderful group of supportive, kind women who want to share their love of writing with you! Come join us every Wednesday night for some good fun!" said Angela as she read the flyer out loud. She took a copy of the flyer and reread it. She was so engrossed in reading that she didn't hear Tony call her name.

"Angela!" he whispered louder a second time to get her attention.

"Oh Tony! I'm sorry was just reading the activities on the board. There's a lot of really interesting family activities I took the information for that I think we could do with the kids" she said.

"Sounds good! What's that flyer you have?" asked Tony as he peaked over to try and read it. Angela quickly tried to hide it in one of her books, but Tony was too fast and grabbed it.

"Women's amateur writing group? Really Angela? I didn't think you were serious about writing!" said Tony.

"It… it looked interesting and I was really enjoying writing the other day. I… I thought maybe it could be fun, a chance to meet new people and learn something about writing. I probably won't go…" she started to say when Tony interrupted her.

"Eh oh, oh eh! I think you should do it! It sounds like it could be fun! And if it gets you away from working so hard, I'm all in! Try it out!" said Tony.

"You know what Tony? I think I will! Thanks for always supporting me Tony" she said as they headed to the front desk to check out.

The following Wednesday evening, Angela, Mona and Wendy pulled up to the local coffee shop and parked the Jaguar in a spot close to the front. They all got out of the car and started heading to the door.

"I can't believe you dragged us to this Angela. All women, no men in sight. You really know how to have a good time Angela…" said Mona.

"I'm just happy to get out of the house!" laughed Wendy.

"Now both of you be on your best behaviors! I mean it!" scolded Angela. Mona and Wendy just rolled their eyes at Angela as she walked in the door. They held back a moment before going in.

"I don't have a good feeling about this Wendy. This has cult written all over it! And Angela is too nice and naive to see through it. We need to keep an eye on her…" said Mona.

"Don't you think you're overreacting just a bit Mona? She'll be fine! C'mon before the good seats in the back are taken! Maybe there will be a cute waiter to take my order…" she said as they walked inside.

Angela was of course sitting in the front row, much to Mona and Wendy's dismay. They filled in behind her as the group started to begin.

"Welcome everyone! My name is Heather and I welcome everyone to our weekly women's amateur writing group! I see some new faces so why don't we introduce everyone?" said Heather.

"Hi everyone my name is Angela! I saw this flyer at our library the other day and I thought I would check it out! I've just started writing for fun… I'm not very good but it's bringing me some joy so I figured this could be fun!" said Angela.

"Well welcome Angela! You are in good company! Most of us have similar starts and are doing this just for fun! I hope you brought some of your writings because we would love to have a chance to read some!" said Heather.

"I did but I don't know if I'd feel comfortable sharing my stuff on the first day…" said Angela shyly.

"No pressure! Only if you feel comfortable! So would anyone like to share?" asked Heather.

"Yes I would if that's alright! Hi Angela! My name is Pamela and we are so glad you are here!" she said as she read a few pages from her latest chapter. The group applauded her as she finished reading. A few more women opted to read their works. Finally, Angela gathered the courage to read some of her own writing.

She took a few deep breaths and began to read a few paragraphs of her story. She could feel the warmth radiate from her chest up through her neck all the way up to her cheeks as she read out loud the story of the gorgeous ex-basketball player falling in love with the uptight English professor. All eyes were glued to Angela as she left them with a cliffhanger.

"Oh Angela! That was wonderful! So much sexual tension between the two! And that ending! I'm dying to know what happens!" said Pamela.

"Yes so would I Angela… do Tom and Amanda get together or not? Inquiring minds want to know…" said Wendy with a mischievous smile on her face.

"It's still a work in progress" said Angela as she closed her notebook and put it back in her bag.

"I bet it is… I bet it is… Don't leave us hanging for too long Angela. This story has such an authentic feel… it's almost like I know them…" said Mona as she leaned over to Angela, purposely getting into her personal space. Angela did her best to ignore her as she focused back to the group.

"Oh Angela you must come back with more next week! This is the best story I've read in a long time!" said another member of the group named Rachel. At this comment, Mona and Wendy caught a subtle irritated look by Heather. They gave each other a quick, knowing look and turned back to Angela to see if she had seen it as well. Unfortunately for them, Angela was too engrossed in the other women's compliments to notice.

"Alright everyone! What a great evening! We hope to see you all back here next week! Have a wonderful week!" said Heather as she started gathering up her belongings. The other women in the group came over to Angela and were talking about her story. Wendy and Mona stepped aside, out of earshot of the group.

"Did you see the look that Heather gave Angela? I don't like this one bit! She will have Angela's head on a platter!" said Mona.

"I know! Angela better keep both eyes open! Especially since we have to know how "Tom and Amanda" turn out!" laughed Wendy as they both started cracking up. Soon Angela walked over to them as the group dispersed.

"What's so funny?" asked Angela.

"Nothing Amanda… I mean Angela. So what did you think of the group?" asked Mona as Angela gave her a glaring look.

"I thought it was wonderful! They really seemed to love my work! I can't wait to come back next week!" she practically shouted with excitement as she headed out to the car. All Wendy and Mona could do was look at one another and hope Angela knew what she was getting herself into.