~ Normal Evening At Home ~
In the beginning of the TnT relationship, both Ts were perfectly comfortable with each other in their roles as allies to secure permanent custody of Starr, but the moment they began to fight about everything, especially about becoming a "real" family, that was our first clue that their "hearts" were becoming involved in the "act." Téa is spending more and more time with Andrew, and although she never would have admitted it to anyone (especially to herself), her primary motivation was to try to make or see IF Todd was jealous.
Observing that there are some very real feelings developing between TnT, Viki has counseled Todd to decide what kind of marriage he really wants with Téa and to stop playing "games" with her and Todd responds....
"Believe me, I'm not playing any games with Delgado that Delgado is not playing with me"...
Todd was so right, both Ts were playing mind games with each other. But subsequently, Todd did begin to try to find a way to "show" Téa what kind of marriage and life he really wanted to have with her and Shorty. His first attempt was to arrange a very romantic dinner for two in the Penthouse, one that would be as "elegant" as the way Todd viewed his wife (which is how he Todd described Téa to the maitre'd as he made these plans to surprise his wife with this elegant dinner). But umm, that attempt didn't turn out too well, LOL! Which brings us to what would be Todd's NEXT attempt at having his actions speak for him, where words always seemed to fail him.
[Todd and Briggs are in the Penthouse.]
Briggs: Features and News are in a major battle over who will carry the story of the guy who has been holding up sidewalk Santas and stealing their outfits. We have a great picture of the five victims, all in their long johns and beards, holding their jingle bells.
[Briggs stops in mid-sentence, noticing that Todd is not listening to him as he paces around the room.... finally Todd speaks, and we're given a clue as to what it is that was really on Todd's mind while Briggs had rattled on and on about business.]
Todd: Are you married, Briggs?
Briggs: To Mrs. Briggs... Helen.
Todd: Right... Helen. Got any kids?
Briggs: You met my daughter, Mary Sue. She worked on the paper in summers when she was in high school, now she's in college.
Todd: Right. Oh I remember, you said tuition costs were the only things keeping you working at The Sun.
Briggs: Well, it was a joke! Didn't mean that I unhappy or disloyal, or anything.
Todd: How long?
Briggs: Have I been working at The Sun?
Todd: No, how long you've been married, how many years?
Briggs: Oh, 27....uh, be 29 in April.
Todd: Ok. Well, what exactly do you two...do?
Briggs: My wife and I?
Todd: Yeah. I mean, like at night?
Briggs: Is that really an appropriate question?
Todd: Oh, get your mind out of the gutter! I mean, like, what do you and... and Helen, right? What do you do in a 'normal evening' at home, like when you get home from work?
Briggs: Well, we have a drink, and we tell each other about our respective days, how they went.
Todd: (reaching for paper and pen, starts making notes) What do you drink?
Briggs: Well, we both like a little Dry Sack.
Todd: Wait.... uh, up or on the rocks?
Briggs: On the rocks. But just one drink before dinner, you know.
[Briggs is watching very inquisitively as Todd make notes, wondering not only why Todd is asking him these type of questions, but is also writing down all his answers, LOL!]
Todd: Yeah. So, you have the drink, and then you talk about your day, right? And then you eat.
Briggs: Right.
Todd: And do you talk while you eat?
Briggs: (small laugh, quickly stifles it) Usually.
Todd: What do you talk about?
Briggs: (laughing now, can no longer hold it back) Household problems, generally
Todd: Like what?
Briggs: Uh, things that need to be done around the house.
Todd: I mean, like...specifics.
Briggs: Fixing the roof, repairing the refrigerator, the dishwasher, or plunging the... you know.
[Todd is steadily scribbling away.....]
Todd: Yeah. So what do you do after dinner?
Briggs: Well, we watch some TV, sometimes I rent a video.
Todd: What kind of videos?
Briggs: Oh, it's usually wholesome, old-time musicals. Oh and we both like to do jigsaw puzzles.
Todd: Of what?
Briggs: Well, we just finished Monet's "Waterlilies". It's 5,000 pieces. And we're about to start a 3-D of The Kremlin.
Todd: Oh great. Anything else?
Briggs: That's about it, then we go to bed.... you know, to, uh, sleep.
Todd: Yeah, I know all about that.
Briggs: May I ask you why you're so interested?
Todd: (shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly) No reason.
[Todd stands up, tears off the sheet of paper he's been scribbling on, stashes it in his pocket and walks away.... and poor Briggs is left with his mouth hanging open, wondering WTH just happened here! LOL!]
[End of Scene.]
[Later, Todd is comparing his 'notes' to the items he has spread out on the coffee table. Hearing Téa (who has been out Christmas shopping) coming thru the door, he hurriedly stashes the paper in his pocket (but half of it is still hanging out), quickly takes a seat in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace) trying to look natural... comes off looking decidely 'unnatural'... and funnnny! Entering the living room, Téa stops dead in her tracks cuz she immediately knows something is definitely NOT right with this picture.]
Todd: (reaching for the booze and a glass) Hello, dear. How was your day?
[Téa is standing there with this ... "You have GOT to be kidding me?!" LOOK on her face.]
[End of Scene.]
Todd: (awkwardly, almost pulling Téa's coat off for her) There you go... and here you go (hands her a drink, sloshing ice cubes in the glasses and all over the floor).
Téa: What is this?
Todd: It's Dry Sack on the rocks.
Téa: No, no I mean... well, I did mean... but I also mean... what is this? (waving her hand around the room)
Todd: Sit down, relax
[Téa perches on an end of the couch, and listens with a look of incredulous disbelief on her face as Todd "explains" what this is....]
Todd: Now, uh, after dinner, you know, if there's nothing interesting on TV, I thought maybe we could watch some videos or do some puzzles. I've got Monet's "Waterlilies"... it's about 5,000 pieces... or we could do a 3-D Kremlin. You know, I mean, they have a White House and a Taj Mahal, and if you want to do those, I could call and have them sent over, but I thought a Kremlin would be more like what a 'normal' family would do on a quiet evening at home.
Téa: (still trying to decide what Todd is up to) Yeah.
Todd: So, we'll sit and we'll have the drinks and then we can talk about what we did today, and then we can, uh.... (sneaks a look at his notes and Téa catches this) you know, over dinner, talk about what we're gonna do with that darn broken dishwasher.
Téa: If the dishwasher's broken, we call the super to fix it. And, since when did you even know we have a....
Todd: (quickly interrupts) No... don't talk about it now, otherwise we won't have anything to talk about over dinner.
Téa: How much of this did you have before I got here?
Todd: Not a drop. This is what we drink...together. So do you want to start? Or shall I tell you how I spent my day?
Téa: (standing) I think I know how you spent it... what I want to know is... why?
Todd: Because I'm trying to give you a quiet evening at home..... normal.... right?
Téa: (quietly, amused) Ooohhh.
[End of Scene.]
Todd: (standing) Look, you said you wanted normal, right? Then, drink the damn drink!
Téa: (hurriedly sips out of the glass, before saying) I know, I know. I appreciate it, I do.
Todd: What's the problem here, what did I do?
Téa: (smiling) Todd, it feels so forced... as if you're following some sort of script or something.
[Téa deliberately glances directly at the paper still hanging out of Todd's pocket, and Todd instinctively pushes the notes further down into his pocket.]
Téa: (still smiling at him) Normalcy, familiarity... it just is. It simply happens... when two people feel comfortable with one another, when they know one another.
TnT sit down on the couch, a little more comfortable with each other, and talking in a much more normal, relaxed manner now. Todd reaches for another drink, and for the remainder of this conversation and scene there are some amazing closeups of both Ts; listening intently to one another, and staring deeply and intensely into each other's eyes.
Todd: I'll have to take your word for it. Because, my family, when I was growing up the 'normal' night was my father came home from work and started screaming at my mother, who started screaming back, and he whacked her a couple times. And then he'd whack me just for the hell of it. And then... he'd leave. That's probably not exactly what you had in mind for a normal evening at home.
Téa: (compassionate tone of voice) I didn't exactly have a role model for a normal marriage either.
Todd: Well, that's probably why this isn't working so well.
Téa: And that's why this is so important to me.
Todd: What do we do?
Téa: We find our own way?
Todd: (shrugs his shoulders) How the hell do we do that?
[End of Scene.]
[For this next scene, we have TnT up on their feet, both circling around the coffee table as they spoke, but primarily dancing around each other and the "real" feelings swirling between them... sorta brainstorming what to do next.]
Téa: Most of the positive things that we share are somehow connected to Starr.
Todd: Right, but Shorty's the most important thing.
Téa: And that's a good start. But now we need to start to build something between us... us. That's not just about her.
Todd: Why?
Téa: Well, for one thing, so that Starr has a different kind of role model for a normal married life than either one of us had, unless you want her to repeat the same mistakes.
Todd: No, Shorty's life is gonna be perfect.
Téa: That's a tall order.
Todd: Yeah, well, we're tall people.
Téa: (slight laugh) The question is... how do we learn to become comfortable with one another?
Todd: I need specifics.
Téa: We could start by, uh.... going away somewhere together... you know, just the two of us
[TnT stop pacing around the table long enough to share an extremely intense "Look"... before continuing to "circle the wagons" again... the "dance"].
Todd: Uh... for the kid, right?
Téa: Yeah. Yeah. And, you know…. and for us.
Todd: Ok, fine. But where do we go?
Téa: You decide.
Todd: No, no. This was your idea, Delgado. You take care of it.
Téa: Hey, I came up with the 'what'..... you come up with the where.
[Téa turns around and saunters towards the stairs, with her hands on her hips, then turns around to face Todd again.]
Téa: There's no right or wrong choice...
[The background music that's playing here has a very sexy quality to it…. Téa slowly glides up the stairs in a very sensual manner as Todd is definitely... watching.]
Todd: There's always a right or a wrong choice (goes over to the phone) Yeah, this is Todd Manning. I need a big suite, somewhere out of town for a couple of days starting tomorrow, for me and my.... wife. Yeah, a big suite, we're talking like, 2-bedroom "big" alright? Yeah, fine...whatever. Yeah, the traditional package would be great. No, I don't CARE what it is... yeah, starting tomorrow (sarcastically) "Season's Greetings" to you too.
[End of Scene & Show!]
At this point, it is extremely obvious what kind of marriage and life Todd "really" wants to have with Téa, and he is desperately trying to make it happen.... to make it REAL. It is also equally obvious that Téa wants the same thing with TODD (not Andrew) with all of her heart. Both Ts are wearing their hearts on their sleeves here, whether they know it or not... but one thing that both Todd and Téa knew, buried deep inside somewhere, is that their hearts had stumbled upon something (someone) that each found to be extremely fascinating and captivating; something (someone) that each of them REALLY wanted. These scenes, the "prelude" to those at Bayberry Inn, marked the real beginning of the fascinating, mesmerizing and magical "TnT Dance" destined to last..... forever!
~ TnT Forever ~
~ jackie ~
