Mona,what in the world are you talking about? I'm not in love with Angela."
"I see. So I guess this means you're in love with Kathleen?" She folded her arms and studied him closely.
"What? Kathleen? In love?!" He sputtered.
"Yes, Kathleen. You know the woman you're dating."
"I know who she is." He rolled his eyes.
"Ok. So are you in love with her or not?"
"I'm…well we are dating."
"Yes, we established that. But what we haven't established is whether or not you're in love with her."
"Why does it matter if I am or not?!" Tony asked as his frustration grew.
"Because if you're not in love with her why are you dating her?"
"Come on, you know why. "
"No, I don't."
"Why are we talking about this?" Tony threw his hands in the air.
Mona shrugged. "It's just a friendly conversation. I mean you have been dating her for a while so my question again is why are you dating her if you're not in love with her?"
Tony felt his face getting hot. Why was Mona going on and on about him dating Kathleen?!
"Mona, you know I had-have to date her."
"Why?"
"Why?! Because we slept together!"
Mona shrugged again. "So what?"
"So….." He cleared his throat. "So what?! Mona, what did you expect me to do? Just dump her?!"
"Yes." Mona said bluntly.
Tony's mouth fell open. He opened and closed a few more times until he could speak again.
"Mona, I couldn't just dump her. I had an obligation."
"I'm not saying you should have just dumped her as you put it. Yeah, you should have talked to her and told her you weren't interested in taking things any farther but you didn't."
"Yes, because I had an obligation!"
Mona sighed. "An obligation? Tony, you do know this is 1990 and not 1890?!"
'Yes, I know!"
"So if you say you had an obligation to Kathleen what did you have towards Angela?"
"Angela?"
"Yes, Angela. Your best friend. The woman you have major feelings for." She held her hand up. "And don't bother denying it."
Tony rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut.
"So, you're telling me you didn't have any obligation to Angela? That after all these years of the two of you being friends-best friends and developing all these feelings for each other you don't have any obligation to her? To your relationship? That Kathleen gets that privilege?!"
"I….No…Yes…." He stammered.
"It's a simple question."
'No, it isn't. It's complicated."
"You're making it complicated. But okay here's another question. Are you planning on marrying her?"
"What? You think we should get married?"
"I didn't say that. I asked you if you were planning on it."
'Well, I'm not sure."
'Oh, okay. So you've been dating her the last few months but you haven't decided whether or not you want to marry her? So does that mean you've just been using her?"
"Using her? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Using her Tony. You are using her to deny your feelings for Angela."
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are Dad and frankly it's beyond tiresome!"
####################################
Kathleen opened her door and stepped inside her apartment. This had been one of the longest days of her life. A double shift at the restaurant, cranky customers, her car breaking down. She was so glad to finally be home. Normally she would have called Tony for some sympathy but he was in New Mexico with everyone to try and convince Sam to come home so she would go to College. She sighed and stretched her body, her muscles aching with each little movement. She went into her bedroom and stripped off her uniform, bra, and underwear and threw them in her hamper. She went into her bathroom and turned the shower on and waited until it got hot. She stepped in and washed the day away. After ten minutes she stepped back out, dried herself off, combed her hair, and put on a pair of silk shorts pajamas. She went into her kitchen and opened the fridge and pursued her options. There wasn't much. She hadn't done any grocery shopping for a long time. She mostly ate at the restaurant or sometimes Tony came over and cooked for her or they went out. She recalled with a grimace the one time they had gone out to a very fancy restaurant. She had been flattered at first but that had soon turned to anger when she realized he had only taken her there so he could spy on Angela and her date. She had been humiliated, disappointed, but most of all angry. She should have ended things right then and there but later that night they talked things out and she decided to give him another chance.
And things had been going quite well the last month. They had gone out on a few dates. They were getting closer…..Well that's what she had thought. But when Tony hadn't invited her to go to New Mexico she had been taken aback. Yes, she understood why Angela, Mona, and Jonathan all went-Tony was always saying how close they were-and she knew that Angela was like a Mother to Sam so it made sense that Tony would want her to come but why couldn't she have come too? The two of them could have had so much fun. Horseback riding. Taking long moonlit walks. Watching the sun rise and set. Instead she was stuck here.
She sighed and closed the fridge and opened her cupboard and pulled out a can of SpaghettiOs. She knew Tony would roll his eyes and say it wasn't real food but she didn't care. She opened the can, dumped the contests in a bowl, and heated it in her microwave. After the timer beeped she carefully removed the bowl with some pot holders and placed it on her table. She grabbed a glass and poured some water in it and sat down and started eating.
All the while her mind was miles away…..
################################
"Not you too!"
"And me!" Jonathan said.
Tony groaned.
"Come on Dad. You know it's true but actually we're not here to talk about that particular subject."
"You're not? Then why are you here?"
Sam sighed. "Why were you making out with her on our couch?!"
Tony placed his hands over his face and inhaled and exhaled telling himself to count to ten before he exploded. After a few moments he removed his hands.
"Well?" Sam asked.
"Well what? Look, in case you all have forgotten Kathleen and I are dating and people who date kiss!"
"Yeah, but on the couch? The couch where we had family movie nights? The couch where you and Angela would watch Little House On The Prairie, Bewitched, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Happy Days and so many others? You made out with Kathleen on that couch?!"
"Sam I…."
"Dad, how could you? Isn't it enough that you are dating her? That you broke Angela's heart, that you are continuing breaking her heart every minute you're with her? Did you really have to taint our couch?!" Sam felt her face getting red.
"Samantha, look I'm an adult and if I want to kiss the woman I am dating I will!"
"Okay, fine kiss her but at least have some respect and courtesy for Angela and us and not make out with her in our home."
Tony sighed heavily, the proverbial weight on his shoulders getting heavier and heavier.
"So, I take it the two of you feel the same way?"
"Yes, of course!" Jonathan said.
"Yep!"
"All right, fine. I'll be careful in the future, okay?"
"Fine."
"Okay."
"Good."
"All right, now can we drop this please?"
"Wait a second. Grandma, what were you talking about when Sam and I arrived?"
"Oh, you mean about Tony using Kathleen to deny his feelings for Angela?"
"Oh, yeah."
"For crying out loud I am not using Kathleen to deny my feelings for Angela!"
"Yeah, you are Dad."
"I agree with Sam. Tony, that is exactly what you are doing and quite frankly it doesn't put you in a good light. I mean I love you and I think you are one of the best people I have ever known but what you are doing- the way you are treating Angela and Kathleen-well frankly it disappoints me. You disappoint me."
Tony swallowed hard. Mona was disappointed in him? That hurt. He looked at Sam and Jonathan and saw their expressions. They were disappointed too. That hurt double.
"Look I…" He trailed off. He truly did not know what to say. For once in his life he was speechless.
"Tony, I'm going to ask you something and I admit this is going to be cruel but I'm going to ask anyway."
Tony sighed. "Okay. What is it?"
"How would your parents feel about this? Is this the way they raised you? Is this the way they raised you to treat women?"