Linda held the phone away from her ear at Kathleen's scream. She waited a few moments until she thought she had calmed down and spoke into the receiver.

"Are you okay?"

"No I am not okay! I mean how could he?! I thought we were building to something permanent! Oh God! That bastard!"

"I'm so sorry."

"Thanks. And I'm sorry I snapped at you."

'Hey, don't worry about it. I don't blame you at all. I was pretty livid too, especially considering what that bitch Angela did."

Kathleen rolled her eyes. "Oh let me guess. She said she loved him back and they went skipping off hand in hand."

"No, but just as bad."

"Oh? Well hey nothing can make this any better so lay it on me!"

"She had me arrested."

Kathleen was taken aback.

"She what?! She had you arrested?!"

"Yep! The owner has a camera in his office and he saw me slap her and he called the police and they came and Angela pressed charges against me."

"Oh no! Wait, does that mean you are going to jail?"

"It depends on whether or not I take the plea bargain. If we go to trial and I am found guilty I could spend up to two years in prison. But if I take the D.A.'s plea bargain my lawyer said I would have to do 500 hours of community service and pay a $2,000 fine."

"Oh Linda I am so sorry! What are you going to do?"

"I guess I have no choice but to take the plea bargain. My lawyer reminded me that they have it on tape that I slapped her. So …"

"ARGH! This sucks! You were just defending me."

"Yeah, and I would do it again."

"You would?"

"Absolutely! No one disrespects a friend of mine!"

"Wow! Thanks Linda."

"You're welcome."

"Hey, I'm going to go now."

"Okay. Take care Kathleen!"

"You too!"

They hung up and Linda turned to Keith who was sitting beside her.

"So how is she?" He asked, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Pissed off, miserable, you name it!"

He scoffed. "And all because of those damn people!"

"Yeah. I know. UGH! They deserve to suffer for this!"

Keith smiled. "Oh don't worry. They will."

####################################

Marie felt a jolt go through her. It was coming and there wasn't anything she could do to stop it.

"Hey Marie! How did it go with Angela?" Robert asked, walking up to her.

"It was difficult at first! I mean that daughter of yours sure is stubborn!"

He laughed. 'Yeah, so is Tony."

They started walking up the stairway to heaven.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "No, I'm not."

"Oh, you're thinking about what is going to happen."

"Yes. I wish I or we could warn them!"

"I know. I do too. But unfortunately it's against the rules."

"Yeah, but knowing how much pain they're going to be in."

"And Mona, Sam, and Jonathan too." He pointed out.

She nodded.

"I guess all we can do is wait."

"Wait and pray."

#############################

It was a fair question. The truth was he had been wondering the same thing himself. If he loved Angela, why in the world had he decided to get involved with another woman? Yes, he had been attracted to Kathleen which was why he had slept with her that night in the hotel. All the years of pent up frustration of not being able to be intimate with Angela had come crashing down that night. Of course he knew that he could have slept with Angela any time before then. On her birthday, when they were both drunk, at the dingy hotel after he found out she was Ingrid, and most recently in Jamaica. But he always put the brakes on. But he hadn't with Kathleen. NO! He had gotten behind the wheel with her in the passenger seat and sped off right past Angela.

Angela his best friend and bonus mom to his daughter.

Angela the woman who opened her home to him and his daughter

Angela the woman who encouraged him to go to college

Angela, the no nonsense business woman who didn't anyone or anything stand in her way.

Angela the caring and loving person who would do anything for her family and friends.

That was the woman he had fallen in love with and he had betrayed her. He had betrayed them. And all because…. why? What was the reason? He could have told her that yes it was over with Kathleen instead of I don't know. But he hadn't. Because the thought of being with her scared him. It was easy being with Kathleen. He didn't have a past with her filled with confusion and regret.

Now he was the one not saying anything. But, she waited because she really wanted and needed to know.

He sighed and looked out over the trees.

"That's a fair question."

"Yeah, I think it's more than fair!"

"You're right." He turned and looked at her.

"Okay. You have to know that I never planned on sleeping with Kathleen that night. We- the five of us were just going to study and then go on home. But the others left early and Kathleen and I stayed and looked at more slides and.." He didn't add anymore. She could fill in the blanks herself.

She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them.

"Why didn't you leave too?"

"Well because at first we both wanted to get some more studying done."

She huffed. 'Yeah, studying. You studied all right! You studied each other's naked bodies! You studied the springs on that mattress! All the while you knew-you knew Tony that you were betraying me! You were betraying us and all we had been building. You asked me to give you time to figure out what you wanted to do with your life. You said….what was it? Oh yes! I don't know about us until I know about me! And I gave that to you Tony! I gave you the time and space to figure things out. I was patient because I hoped that sooner or later things would change. And they did but not in the way I envisioned. " She stopped and wiped the tears away from her cheeks.

He noticed and felt his own eyes filling. She was right. She was so damn right. He had asked her to give him time to figure things out. And she had but instead of rewarding her patience and understanding he had betrayed her with deceit and lies. He knew staying that night with Kathleen was wrong and he had told himself to leave but he hadn't. Instead he decided to throw everything Angela and him had been working towards. Since their heart to heart in Jamaica. No, before that. They had been building something since the first day. A tentative friendship, then a solid friendship, co-parents, tea drinkers, classic movie lovers, big band music lovers, 50's and 60's music lovers. He had all that with Angela. He had everything with her. And for some damn reason he had thrown it away for a nothing relationship with another woman.

What the hell had he been thinking?!

"Angela, you're right. My God. I am so sorry. I wish I could give you a reason or something. But, I can't. I mean I guess I was scared of our relationship changing so I saw an out and I took it. If I could go back..well I know I can't but if I could I would walk right out of that hotel room. "

She just shook her head as more tears fell. He took his handkerchief and handed it to her.

She wiped her eyes and blew her nose.

After a few minutes she got herself under control.

"So all these months you were with Kathleen. All the times you spent at her apartment. I'm just supposed to forgive and forget?!"

He shook his head. "No, hell I can't forgive myself. I can only imagine how it is for you."

"No, you can't Tony! You don't know how much my heart broke when I found out that you had spent the night with her! You don't know the sick feeling I had when you said you didn't know if it was over with her! You say that you love me?"

"Yes, I do. I love you with all my heart."

"Well you may love me but right now I hate you! I hate you Anthony Micelli with all my heart!"