Nicole walked out of the kitchen and into the family room with a glass of tea in her hand. She saw the sunshine pouring in from the open window and smiled to herself. It was a beautiful morning and she hadn't felt this good in a long time. She sat down on the couch to sip her tea and thought about the previous evening with Chris. Just as she was getting lost in her thoughts, the doorbell rang.
"Hi," Chris smiled at her as she opened the door. "How's my baby today?"
"Hey there sweetie." Nicole put her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm doing great now that you're here. I wasn't expecting to see you this morning. I thought you had to help Ted with that fence today."
"Well, I was on my way over there when I thought I would stop by and see my girl." Chris grinned. "I was also wondering if you would like to come with me and visit with Renee while Ted and I are building the fence. She's a great lady and I know she'd love to see you."
"Sure, I'd love to come with you." Nicole replied. "Come in and sit down for a moment. I need to go get my shoes."
"Okay." Chris walked through the door and sat down on the couch as Nicole disappeared down the hallway. Suddenly he heard whistling behind him. "Gee, that was fast Nicole."
"I'm not Nicole." Shannon scowled from behind him.
"No, but you sure are fast, aren't you?" Chris muttered to himself as he turned around to face Shannon.
"Excuse me?" Shannon retorted. "I didn't quite catch that."
"Maybe not, but I'm sure you've caught something the way you act." Chris remarked.
"What is your problem?" Shannon asked coldly.
"My problem is you." Chris hissed. "Don't think I can't see what you're up to, Shannon. Ryan and Dean are my good friends and I don't like to see them get hurt."
"And when exactly did my personal life become your business, Chris?" Shannon's face was turning red with fury.
"When you started playing Dean and Ryan against one another." Chris retorted.
"Look here Chris..." Shannon started.
"Uh, what's going on here guys?" Nicole interrupted Shannon as she walked back into the room.
"Nothing." Shannon replied coolly at looked right at Chris, "I was just leaving. I'm going over to see Dean now."
Shannon walked out the door and slammed it behind her.
Nicole turned to Chris who had his teeth clenched together in anger, "Sweetie, what's wrong?"
"I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean for you to witness that." Chris started. "It's just that she keeps playing Dean and Ryan against each other and I don't like it."
"Shannon can be like that sometimes, but really she's not all that bad. She's just under a lot of stress right now and she thinks that getting a lot of attention will make her feel good about herself." Nicole replied. "If it will make you feel any better, I'll have a talk with her. Maybe she doesn't realize what she's doing."
"All right, if you think that will help." Chris answered, not totally happy with Nicole's suggestion. "I hope that's all she needs because Dean and Ryan have been best friends since they were in grade school. I don't want to see that ruined."
"I know you don't sweetie." Nicole could tell that he was still upset and decided to change the subject. "Why don't we get going now? I'm sure Ted's wondering where you are."
"Good idea." said Chris. He stood up and put his arm around Nicole as they headed for the front door.
Scene: 2
Ryan was sitting on the sofa in the apartment he shared with Dean and Chris watching Breaker High on television.
"There's never anything on Saturday afternoons, is there?" Ryan muttered to himself. "But I guess it's either this or Saved By the Bell. Hmm....I wonder if there is any of that pizza left over from last night?"
Ryan got off the sofa and nearly tripped over a stack of sports magazines sitting on the floor. He kicked the stack and scattered them all over the already messy room. He smiled as he thought of what Dean would say about that. Dean was a neat freak and it drove Ryan up a wall.
He opened up the refrigerator and found nothing but an empty pizza box. He clenched his teeth because he knew that Dean had left the box there just to taunt him. He started looking for something else to eat when he heard a knock at the door.
Ryan opened the door and saw a nice looking woman with shoulder length, brownish-red wavy hair. "Hi, may I help you?" He asked.
"You are Ryan, aren't you?" She smiled and dimples appeared on both of her cheeks.
"Yeah." Ryan looked at her gray/blue eyes and tried to think of where he had seen this woman before.
"I'm Alexis, you know, Chris' friend? We had a date this afternoon, remember?" She replied.
"Oh right. Come on in." Ryan couldn't believe that he forgot about his date with Alexis. He had meant to cancel it, but it had totally slipped his mind. Dean would have a field day with this if he knew.
"Uh, nice place you have here." Alexis remarked as she stepped into the cluttered apartment.
"Well, with three bachelors living together it can get messy sometimes." Ryan grinned.
"Are we still going to Sorbo's for lunch?" She inquired.
"Actually, I thought we might try someplace different." Ryan didn't want to chance accidentally running into Shannon, or Dean for that matter. "I know a great pizza place down on 3rd and Main Street. It's nice a quiet there and I'm sure we won't be disturbed."
"Okay, sure. That sounds great." She responded.
"Let's get going, shall we?" Ryan opened the front door and Alexis walked through it.
As soon as the door shut Dean came out of his room. He had been napping all morning and Ryan didn't even know he had been home. "This is very interesting, isn't it?" he chuckled to himself. "I wonder what Shannon would say if she knew that Ryan had a little date? I may just have to call her up and find out."
Scene: 3
"And exactly what are we supposed to do with him, madam?" Alfalfa asked as he gazed at Bruce's unconscious body. He and Lilith had managed to drag him to the couch and tie him up, but he still hadn't come back to consciousness yet. "Would you like me to have him bronzed perhaps?"
"Very funny Alfalfa. How should I know?" Lilith retorted, "You can't expect me to think of everything, can you?"
"You certainly knew how to ruin my best frying pan." Alfalfa responded.
"Would you just shut up about that damn frying pan!" Lilith sounded frustrated, "Honestly Alfalfa, I think you're obsessed. Didn't you think for one moment about what Bruce was trying to do to me? He could have totally ruined me and you would have stood there and let him."
Alfalfa turned around and faced her. "Humph! I know when my work isn't being appreciated. If you don't need me anymore, I guess I'll be leaving now." He started for the door.
"Wait." Lilith cried out. "Look, I'm sorry Alfalfa. I didn't realize that your frying pan was so important to you. I'll buy you a brand new one, okay? Will that make it better?"
"One of those fancy new ones with the unique three coat, nontstick system reinforced with stainless steal?" Alfalfa asked hopefully.
"Yes, and I'll even make sure that it is easy to clean and safe to use with metal utensils." Lilith added. Lilith really needed Alfalfa to help her get out of this mess and decided to humor him with his request.
"Well, okay then." He agreed. "What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to stay here and keep an eye on him." she answered. "I need to go out and find Jett. He'll know a way out of this one. He still owes me a favor."
"Jett?!" Alfalfa couldn't believe his ears. "You know that guy is crazy. Why would you want his help?"
"Jett may be crazy, but he has a crafty mind. He'll know what to do with Bruce." Lilith walked to the door and opened it. "You stay here and keep an eye on him, I don't want him getting away."
"What should I do if he wakes up?" Alfalfa asked.
"Knock him over the head with another frying pan." Lilith joked as she shut the door behind her.
"Fine. Just leave me here all alone with him." Alfalfa stared at Bruce again. "It's not like I have anything better to do." With that Alfalfa sat down on the reclining chair next to the couch and promply fell asleep.
