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"Hey Tony, let's go get the Christmas lights, huh? I have a sudden urge to string something up…"
Mona went ahead of Tony to the attic, knowing she wouldn't be able to hold her tongue much longer. Not that she had an issue making a snide remark in Geoffrey's presence, however, her anger toward both him and Angela was too great to keep any comments to a minimum.
As expected, when Tony joined her upstairs, she noticed a frown. He didn't smile for her sake, only brushed past her to dig out the box of lights.
"You okay?" Mona asked, standing out of the way.
"Of course," Tony said with a shrug. "If she's serious about this guy she should go."
"And if she isn't?"
Turning around, he said, "Doesn't matter. She's going so obviously she's serious."
"Maybe you didn't fight hard enough."
"Mona, would you lay off? Yeah, okay. I'm bummed she and Jonathan won't be here. Sam will be, too. I appreciate your staying behind, but maybe you should go with them. For Angela's sake."
"My staying behind is for Angela's sake. If she's convinced herself that she loves that geek she doesn't want me anywhere near him."
Going back to the pile of boxes, Tony said, "Shouldn't we be happy for her? Geoffrey isn't the greatest catch but he treats her good. That's gotta count for something."
"He's the complete opposite of Michael," she said, crossing her arms.
"Yeah? That's a good thing, then."
Mona shook her head. "She'll wind up with a whole other set of problems should this go anywhere."
Having located the box, Tony was standing once again, setting it down on top of the trunk as he started to untangle the mess of wires. "Like what?"
"Lack of passion, for starters. He's good at the cute and nauseating stuff, I'll give him that, but that isn't going to last forever."
"Passion dies down with time, too," he reminded her.
"One of the many reasons I don't like to hold on to a man for very long…"
He rolled his eyes.
"My point is, if there's a lack of passion between them now, imagine how dreary things will be as time goes on. Michael was self-centered and chauvinistic, but he knew how to push Angela's buttons."
"Yeah," he scoffed. "I remember."
"One of them is bound to seek that passion somewhere else."
"Hey, it's still early in the relationship. There's plenty of time for that."
Now was Mona's turn to scoff. "Please. If it hasn't happened now it never will. They've been on overnight trips together. I know how Angela acts when she's in love and this isn't it. She's settled. That's all."
"Come on," Tony said, giving up with the untangling and tossing the heap back into the box. "Things are different now than they were with Michael. She's got a kid, she's more mature, more successful… I've seen them together. She's happy."
Wanting desperately to pry deeper into the sadness of his tone but knowing better, she went on. "Happy and in love are two different things. Though her amusement is a complete mystery to me, she enjoys Geoffrey's quirkiness. I guess that's one thing they have in common outside business ventures. So she giggles a lot. Big deal. Do you ever notice her eyes light up when she talks about him? Or her stumbling on her words? She gets clumsy. So far there haven't been any shards of plaster or glass in the rubbish."
Tony thought back, unable to recall any of the particular moments she'd described.
When he didn't respond, Mona smirked. "See?"
"Oh," he said through frustration. "What does it matter to me if she's in love with him or not? I already admitted I was disappointed she and Jonathan will be with Geoffrey's parents. We're like a family, here, why wouldn't it come as a surprise? What do you want me to do, try and break them up?"
"Wonderful idea!"
Picking up the box and starting toward the stairs, he said, "Forget it."
"Why not? We owe it to Angela to get her out of this. Meeting the parents is a major step, especially for a guy like Geoffrey."
"She can take care of herself."
"Need I remind you why you were hired? The woman can't add milk to a bowl of cereal without screwing it up. You think she can see when she's heading into a dead-end relationship?"
"I'm not gonna listen to this anymore."
Following him downstairs, she made one last attempt. "Why don't you just tell her how you feel?"
This halted him. "How I what?"
"How you feel about Angela… tell her."
Again, he shrugged off his emotions. "There's nothing to tell."
Mona's brow furrowed. "Oh, really?"
"Really."
"Could have fooled me."
Not daring to say any more on the topic, he pushed the box into Mona's arms. "You helping me with the lights or not? I'm gonna go get the ladder."
Mona watched as he descended the stairs, back into the sickening merriment of Angela and her so-called lover. She shook her head. For some reason, she hadn't expected Tony to be so stubborn. His jealousy had been clear from the moment they met at that wedding. She'd hoped this turn of events would be enough for him to finally admit it.
Well, she thought, Christmas wasn't over yet.