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| ANOTHER JOURNEY BY TIMA |
CHAPTERS 21 - 25 |
PREVIOUSLY...
Todd turns onto his back and stares at the ceiling. Tea returns a few minutes later and climbs into her bed. Neither speaks. Tea turns on her side, facing away from Todd. He turns toward her and stares at her until he becomes tired enough and falls asleep.
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chapter 21:
[Hours later...
Todd awakens suddenly to the sound of Tea's voice calling out his name. It takes him a moment to realize it wasn't part of a dream but Tea really is calling his name. When he opens his eyes he sees Tea lying in the bed next to his, facing him. The bedsheets are again a jumbled mess from her movements while she slept. As Todd watches her, he realizes that she's still asleep and is in the middle of a dream.]
Tea (mumbling in her sleep): Todd? Todd?
[Todd sits up on the side of his bed, uncertain if he should try to wake her.]
Tea: Todd? Todd?
[Todd can sense that whatever she's dreaming about is distressing her. He decides that he can't allow her to continue suffering in whatever nightmare she's having. He stands up and takes the one step it takes to reach her bed from his. He sits down lightly on the side of her bed and reaches his hand out to touch and awaken her.]
Tea: No. Todd, don't. Don't, Todd. Don't. No.
[Todd quickly pulls his hand away. He feels sick to his stomach. The thing in Tea's dream that is distressing her is him. Her voice sounds scared. He feels devastated, realizing that she thinks of him as a monster the same way everyone else does. He had hoped that she still saw something more in him...something more than he could even see himself...something okay...something not scary. Todd's brain tells him to leave...run. His body doesn't move, though, as his eyes stare unblinking at the woman he loves who he now knows fears him.]
Tea: Todd? Todd?
[Tea's voice rises, her anxiety increasing.]
Tea: Todd, don't. Don't go, Todd. Todd?
[The volume of Tea's voice increases even more and her breathing becomes more rapid as her fear of Todd abandoning her again plays out in her dreams.]
Tea: Todd? Todd? Don't leave me, Todd. Todd?
[Tea starts to visibly cry. Todd sits beside her on the bed...stunned. Tea's eyes suddenly open.]
Tea: Where were you?
[Tea closes her eyes again as the tears flow. Todd knows that she's awake now but he also knows that her question is about whatever was happening in her dream.
A shocked Todd continues to sit beside her. He can't believe that her nightmare isn't about him being a monster or physically hurting her but about him leaving her. She's afraid to lose him. That must mean that she really does want him in her life...enough for it to seep into her dreams.
Todd doesn't know what to do as she continues to cry. He doesn't feel equipped to comfort her. He makes people cry...he doesn't take away their tears. He scares people...he doesn't erase their fears.
As Tea awakens more fully, she realizes that her nightmare has ended but that the feelings she felt during it have remained. She's also fairly certain that the image of Todd sitting on her bed was real and not part of her dream. She's afraid to open her eyes, though, and chance being wrong. She doesn't want to find that Todd is gone again this time like he's been gone every other time she's awakened from nightmares that centered on him leaving her and never coming back.
Finally, after she's managed to get her tears under control, Tea wipes her eyes of the moistness and opens them to finally have her dream come true...Todd really is there.
Tea sits up slowing in the bed. She pauses for a moment to see if Todd will stay where he is or if he'll jump up and put distance between them. When he doesn't, Tea reaches her hand out to where Todd's is resting on the bed and lightly places her hand over his.
Tea studies his response and notices the nervous look on his face and the slight twitch of his body when their hands met. He doesn't run, though. He stays.
Tea risks even more by moving closer to him on the bed. He doesn't move. Neither do his eyes. They haven't wavered from her own eyes since she opened them.
Todd senses what Tea intends to do. His mind knows he should put a stop to it but his body still doesn't move...his hand stays still under hers...his heart beats faster...his breathing becomes more rapid. His panic rises but his body remains where it is, unmoving.
Tea removes her hand from his and places it on Todd's leg to steady herself as her other hand reaches around his back. A few seconds later both of her arms are surrounding his body, holding on to him tightly, pressing her own body against his.
Todd doesn't move. He doesn't hug her but he also doesn't push her away.
Tea's face is resting on his shoulder as she begins crying again. The feelings are too overwhelming for her to control. Todd is actually here with her...sitting next to her...allowing her to hug him.
The fact that Todd isn't hugging her back is noticed by Tea but just the fact that she gets to hold him in a moment when she really needs to is enough for her.
Well, not quite enough...
Tea slowly pulls her face away from his shoulder until it's positioned directly in front of his face. She looks in his eyes for just a moment. Her eyes then wander down to his lips. She closes her eyes as she slowly advances toward him.
Todd quickly tries to pull away but she grabs onto him tightly and refuses to allow him to pull away from her. She opens her eyes again and stares into his.]
Tea: Don't do this.
Todd: I have to.
Tea: Stop running.
Todd: I'm not.
Tea: Yes, you are but you don't have to. We're here, Todd. You brought me here. You asked me to leave everything behind for you and I have. We're all alone. We're sitting on a bed. Let this happen.
Todd: It can't. Not like this.
Tea: Why?
Todd: You expect me to kiss you right now?
Tea: What's wrong with right here and right now?
Todd: You've been crying.
Tea: So?
Todd: You need to blow your nose.
Tea: Is that all? (smiling) Give me your sleeve.
Todd: No way.
Tea: You let me use your sleeve before, remember? After my charity auction defenestration.
Todd: I remember. I had to throw that shirt away after you wiped your nose on it.
Tea: You told me to.
Todd: I was kidding.
Tea: I'll go get a tissue from the bathroom and I'll be right back.
[Tea quickly untangles herself from the sheets covering her body and goes into the bathroom. She blows her nose and splashes water on her face, wishing she could erase the evidence of her crying from her face and make herself more attractive to Todd. Knowing that she can't accomplish much in a few seconds and knowing that the longer she keeps Todd waiting in the other room the greater the chance will be that he'll change his mind about allowing her a kiss, she decides not to chance missing out on what she wants most right now because of vanity.
Tea returns to the bedroom to find Todd in the exact same position he was in when she left. She sits down beside him on the bed so they're facing each other.]
Tea: Is this better?
Todd: Yeah. You looked disgusting before.
Tea: You're such a sweet talker.
Todd: Did you want me to lie? I was supposed to lie, wasn't I?
Tea (reassuring him): No. I like your honesty...most of the time.
[Tea brings her hand up to Todd's cheek and touches it gently.]
Tea: I missed you, Todd.
Todd: While you were in the bathroom?
Tea: I was thinking more of the fifteen months without you.
Todd: Oh, that.
Tea: Did you miss me?
Todd: Is that important?
Tea: Yes.
Todd: I thought about you...sometimes.
Tea: When? At night? Did you dream about me?
Todd: You looked like you were having a pretty bad dream a few minutes ago.
Tea: I was.
Todd: I always told you, sleep was a bad idea.
Tea: It helped that you were here when I woke up.
Todd: Really?
Tea: Waking up alone can be painful.
Todd: Is that why you screwed every guy in Llanview whose zipper you could get access to?
[Tea removes her hand from his face. Obviously, Todd meant to hurt her with his words. Maybe he's scared and wants to put an end to their current closeness or maybe he's still angry that she had other relationships after he left Llanview...either way, his words slice at Tea's heart.]
Todd (looking at a clock by the bed): We should go. It's late. We need to get some driving in today.
Tea: Fine. I'm doing the driving today.
Todd: No, you're not.
Tea: Yes, I am. I'm also doing this.
[Before Todd has time to think about what she's doing, her hand is at the back of his head and her lips are on his. Tea instantly feels him respond.]
Tea (ending their kiss): I'm also showering first.
[Tea doesn't give Todd a chance to respond before she's off the bed and in the bathroom. Todd sits on the bed, stunned about how differently this day began from what he expected and wondering what other surprises Tea will spring on him.]
chapter 22:
[Tea returns to the bedroom after her shower.]
Tea: You can take your shower now.
Todd: Nah.
Tea: Are you hoping that if you don't bathe I won't try to kiss you anymore?
Todd: You can try all you want.
Tea: Oh, really?
[The glint in Tea's eyes makes Todd extremely nervous.]
Todd: That's not what I meant.
Tea: Maybe we should talk about it.
Todd: Maybe we should keep a few thoughts to ourselves.
Tea: What about our feelings?
Todd: Those, too.
Tea: We really need to...
Todd (interrupting): No, we don't. You're such a lawyer. You never shut up. You want everything spelled out.
Tea: That way we each would know where the other stands.
Todd: I'm standing here and you're standing there but if you're not in the car in two minutes you'll be standing in the parking lot watching me drive away without you.
Tea: You would leave me here? You'd just take off and abandon me again?
Todd: I didn't mean that either. See? This talking stuff always backfires on me. I'm no good at it and you know it. That's probably the real reason you want to talk so much. You know I'll end up sounding like an idiot.
Tea: I don't think you sound like an idiot. I think that maybe you're scared and uncertain about where our relationship is going. I know I'm scared and uncertain.
Todd: Can't we just, you know, do whatever and not talk about it?
Tea: What exactly does whatever consist of for you?
Todd: There you go with the talk and questions again.
Tea: I just don't want to do anything that pushes you farther than you're ready to go right now. I don't want to lose you because our signals get crossed, like they tend to.
Todd: What if I said that it's okay if we take off our clothes and do stuff on that bed? Are you ready for that?
Tea: No.
Todd: I didn't think so. Why do you want to talk about stuff that you're not ready for?
Tea: So that we'll both know what we are ready for...what we want...what we need from each other right now.
Todd: Right now I need to get out of here and stop having this conversation.
Tea: Okay, we can postpone this conversation but we do need to talk about things, Todd. Even if some of those things make us uncomfortable.
Todd: Later...much later.
[In the hotel parking lot minutes later...
Todd leaves the car keys in the lock of the trunk while he places the bag with their clothing into the trunk. Tea snatches the keys and quickly moves toward the driver's door.]
Todd (slamming the trunk shut): Tea...
Tea: I'm driving, remember?
Todd: I never agreed to that. This is my car. I'm the guy. I'm driving.
Tea: That's sexist.
Todd: So?
Tea: Just let me drive, Todd. Just for a little while.
Todd: Fine. You can drive to the end of the parking lot.
Tea: I was thinking a little further than that.
Todd: The end of the block?
Tea: Come on, Todd. You could relax for a change.
Todd: I don't know how to relax.
Tea: Well, we'll have to work on that during this trip.
[Todd groans unpleasantly, knowing that Tea is referring to more than him sitting in the passenger seat.
Tea seats herself behind the wheel and starts the car...a wide grin on her face. Todd begrudgingly walks around the car and gets in on the passenger side.]
Todd: Okay, you're only driving until we stop somewhere.
Tea: We need gas.
Todd: Great. We can switch places at the gas station.
Tea: How about I drive until we stop for lunch?
Todd: I am kind of hungry.
Tea: Todd, just give me a chance, okay? I'm a good driver. You'll see.
[Todd groans. A few minutes later, Tea pulls into a gas station and insists that Todd be the one to pump the gas since she's certain that if she gets out of the seat Todd will immediately jump into it.
Minutes later, they're back on the road again.]
Todd: Do you even know where we're going?
Tea: Nowhere.
Todd: Good. You do know.
Tea: Actually, I do have a specific place in mind.
Todd: I'm not going to like this, am I?
Tea: You will if you give it a chance.
Todd: Now I know I'm going to hate it. We're not going there.
Tea: You don't even know where I'm thinking of yet.
Todd: I don't need to. If you're doing the choosing it will end up being something horrible, I just know it. You'll try to get me to go to one of those places where you do nothing but stare at flowers, right? Or, a museum? Even worse...an art museum. No way. You're not getting me into one of those places where nothing looks like what it's supposed to be. I have some of Starr's old drawings that are better than some of that art garbage.
Tea: I didn't know you had any of Starr's drawings with you. I haven't seen them.
Todd: They're in a safe deposit box.
Tea: They're that valuable to you?
Todd: Some of the most valuable things I own.
[They both are silent for a moment as they each think about how much they miss Starr.]
Todd: Okay, that's enough talk.
[Todd turns on the radio and tries to tune into an acceptable station.]
Tea: I get to pick what station we listen to.
Todd: No, you don't.
Tea: The driver controls the radio, right? At least you do when you're driving.
Todd: I control it when I'm not driving, too. We're not listening to any of those sappy songs about feelings.
Tea: What's wrong with love songs?
Todd: Their lyrics are stupid. (in a mocking tone) I never breathed until I smelled you. How dumb is that?
Tea: What kind of songs do you prefer?
Todd: Songs about something important...like cars or sports.
Tea (suggesting lyrics): You make my engine rev when you run your hand along my hood.
Todd: I can't take this. I'm not kidding. I need to drive.
Tea: Okay. We can stop in the next town that has a restaurant, okay? Can you make it that long?
Todd: Fine. We're never doing this experiment again.
Tea: Todd, do you need to feel like you're in control of this trip? Is that really important to you?
Todd: Yes.
Tea: Why?
Todd: I don't know. It just is.
Tea: Is it because so much in your life has been beyond your control?
[Todd stares out the window silently.]
chapter 23:
[They continue on in silence until they find a fast food restaurant to have lunch in.
Inside the restaurant, they sit at a small table, across from each other, as they eat their meal.]
Tea (taking a chance): I'm sorry, Todd.
Todd: I'm driving from now on.
Tea: Fine. That's not what I'm sorry about, though. I shouldn't have said what I did. Obviously, you're not ready to talk about that subject.
Todd: What subject?
Tea: The one that has kept you silent for the last twenty minutes.
Todd: I stopped talking because I was bored not because of any subject.
Tea (knowing he's lying): Right. Well, we'll postpone that conversation along with all of the other conversations we're postponing.
[Tea notices that Todd is staring at an indoor play area in the restaurant. Tea's glad that it's unoccupied at the moment since Todd is staring so intently at it that any parent seeing his look might become concerned.]
Tea: Remember that place we were banned from?
Todd (distracted with his thoughts): Huh?
Tea: You dived into that thing...what do they call it...with all the balls in it...remember?
Todd (returning his attention to Tea): Yeah. Those jerks. It's not like they had a sign that said only kids could play in it. Starr was scared. She wanted me to go in with her. I wasn't going to let her go in there alone.
Tea (smiling): You both looked so adorable. I wish I had pictures of that. We should really get a camera.
Todd: Why? I'm not jumping into anymore ball pits.
Tea: We should make a record of our trip. Maybe we should even get a video camera.
Todd: We don't have a lot of room in the car.
Tea: We have plenty of room.
Todd: It's my car. I decide what goes in it.
Tea: You really have to stop doing that.
Todd: What?
Tea: I need to feel like I'm a part of this, too. All of the decisions can't be yours alone.
Todd: Fine. What do you want to decide? I'll give you one thing.
Tea: It's not going to work that way, Todd. I will, however, be the one deciding our next destination.
Todd: You still haven't told me where you think we're going. Are you waiting until we get there? Is it that bad?
Tea: It really isn't, Todd, if you'll just have an open mind about it.
Todd: My mind just slammed shut. It does that whenever I hear people suggest I have an open mind.
Tea: We're going to Bloomington, Minnesota.
Todd: And, what's there that I refuse to go near?
[Tea places a book on the table between them.]
Todd: You know, these travel books lie. Nothing is ever as interesting as they say. It's all just paid advertising, really.
Tea (opening the book to the page she previously marked): Let me show you where we're going.
Todd: You know, looking at pictures is always better than actually being there.
Tea: Just give this a chance, Todd.
Todd (looking at the page that Tea has open): No. No way. It's not gonna happen.
Tea: Todd...
Todd: I'd rather cut open my own stomach and remove my liver right here at this table than go there.
Tea: Just listen to what's there.
Todd: I know what's there. It says mall in the name.
Tea: Todd...
Todd: Tea forget it.
Tea: Okay. How about this...there's an indoor amusement park nearby, would you be okay with going there?
Todd: That's different.
Tea: So, we can go to an amusement park?
Todd: Sure, as long as you're not a girl about it.
Tea: What do you mean?
Todd: You can't refuse to go on any rides because you're scared. Being scared is the whole point. Also, no vomiting.
Tea: I bet I could out-ride you on any ride at any amusement park.
Todd: Well, now we know how we'll be spending the rest of our trip.
Tea: I want to do more than go on a tour of the country's amusement parks, Todd. Now, about this mall I want to go to...
Todd: I already made that decision, remember? We're not going.
Tea: But you just agreed to it.
Todd: No, I didn't.
Tea: Actually, you did. You just don't realize it yet.
Todd: Huh?
Tea: The amusement park is inside the mall.
Todd: What, they have a few of those stupid kiddie rides that you put money into, that even little kids know are a waste of time, and you call that an amusement park?
Tea: This is an actual amusement park, Todd. (showing him the pictures from the book) It has a roller coaster...Ferris wheel...a water ride. According to this book, it has almost thirty different rides in a park that covers seven acres. It also has an arcade, a wall you can climb...
Todd (skeptical): I don't know.
Tea: Come on. This is perfect. You can go on the rides while I do some shopping.
Todd: Why do you need to go shopping? We just did that. You have everything you need.
Tea: I may not buy much but I'd like to look around. I've never been there and I'm curious. It has more than five hundred stores...fifty restaurants...
Todd: How many weeks were you planning on being there?
Tea: Just one day...maybe two.
Todd: Right. I'll never get you out of there. Actually, I'll probably never find you.
Tea: We could get a room at a nearby hotel and meet back there. Or, I could look around for a little while and then meet you to go on some rides together, if you'd like.
Todd: Or, I could stay in our hotel room. It's probably really crowded.
Tea: I'm sure it won't be that bad.
Todd: Well, according to your little book here...42 million people go there every year. That's too many people. That's more than 100,000 people a day.
Tea: Just think about it, okay?
Todd: Fine.
[Todd and Tea finish their food and return to their car.
Hours later...]
Tea: Todd?
Todd: Yeah?
Tea: Maybe we should stop for the night.
Todd: I'm fine. We'll probably be there in a few hours.
Tea: We can drive the rest of the way tomorrow, okay? I think we could both use a full night's sleep.
[They find a small motel near the Wisconsin/Minnesota border.
Hours later...
Todd awakens in the early morning hours to what sounds like someone in the next room vomiting. He looks over at Tea's bed to see if she woke up too and is surprised to find her bed empty.
As Todd walks toward the bathroom, his stomach drops. The person vomiting isn't some anonymous drunk in the next room...it's Tea.
Tea is unaware as Todd slowly opens the bathroom door and watches her empty the contents of her stomach into the toilet. She pauses for a moment, knowing that she's not done throwing up but glad for a brief break.]
Todd (bitterness obvious in his voice): You're pregnant. How could you do this to me, Delgado?
[Tea is startled by his voice and turns her head toward him. She can clearly see anger and hurt in his eyes.]
Tea: Todd...
Todd (interrupting): Don't even try it, Tea.
[Todd quickly turns and leaves...not only the bathroom but also the hotel room. Tea wants to go after him and make him understand but her body refuses to allow it as she starts to throw up again.]
chapter 24:
[Todd races out of the parking lot, uncertain where he's going. All he does know is that being with Tea is no longer an option. He thought he could trust her and she betrayed him.
In the hotel room...
Tea finishes throwing up and returns to the bedroom. She lies down, feeling exhausted.
She's not surprised that Todd left her. She's been expecting it. She knew that he was looking for a reason to leave her...probably since the moment he got her back. Catching her being sick gave him what he wanted...an easy out. She knows he won't come back...not for her...never again. She cries until she falls back to sleep.
Twenty hours later...
Todd tries to be quiet as he enters the hotel room. He knows from the desk clerk that Tea hasn't checked out yet. He doesn't want to wake her if she's asleep. Actually, he hopes she is asleep since he's not sure if he's ready to talk to her yet...to say good-bye.
Todd slowly enters the room, quietly closing the door behind him. As he steps more fully into the room, he's surprised to find Tea sitting on one of the beds with a pizza box in front of her.]
Tea (speaking calmly): Are you hungry? The pizza has vegetables on it but you could pick them off if you don't want to eat anything healthy.
Todd: No. I don't want to take your food. You're eating for a couple of people now, right?
Tea: Todd...
Todd: Wait, Tea. Don't say anything and don't make excuses. Maybe you didn't know...or maybe you weren't sure before so you didn't necessarily lie to me on purpose, right?
Tea: I would never do that to you. I would never keep something that serious from you.
Todd: Okay, so you didn't know but now you do and I know now, too.
[Todd sits down on the other bed and faces her.]
Todd: So, uh, this is it, right? You go back to R.J. and I go...wherever...I don't know...it doesn't matter.
Tea: Our relationship doesn't have to end here, Todd, unless you want it to.
Todd: I can't do this. You should know that.
Tea: Why?
Todd: You're kidding, right? You got knocked up...by some other guy. You don't think that's a good reason for me to get the hell out of here?
Tea: No.
Todd: So, if it were the other way around...
Tea: If you got knocked up?
Todd: This isn't funny.
Tea: I'm sorry. I know it isn't. It also isn't...
Todd: Go back to R.J.
Tea: I don't belong with him. I belong with you. Remember, telling me that? We belong together. Do you remember saying those words to me?
Todd: That was when it was just you and me. That didn't include the kid of some guy you were screwing behind my back.
Tea (angrily): It was not behind your back. You left me all alone for more than fifteen months, you bastard. You went back to Llanview when you felt like it and spied on me. You knew where I was and how I was. I didn't know anything about you...if you were okay...if you were even alive.
Todd: Yeah, you were so broken up worrying about me that you were screwing every guy in town. That's how you really got your job with Hank, isn't it?
Tea (yelling): Go to hell!
[Tea throws the pizza box at Todd. He picks up one of the slices that lands on the bed, flicks some of the vegetables off and shoves it into his mouth.]
Tea (trying to calm down): Todd, can't we just talk?
Todd: If you found out I was the one screwing someone new every night...that I was screwing my way from one side of the country to the other...how would you feel? If someone showed up with a baby that was mine how would you feel about that? Huh, Tea? Come on. Let's talk. Let's share our feelings. How the hell would you feel if you knew that you meant nothing to me and I didn't give you a thought as I banged it to some other woman...several other women, huh? (yelling) How the hell would you feel, Tea?
Tea (speaking quietly): It would hurt.
Todd: Damn right, it would hurt. So, what do you expect from me?
Tea: I expect you... I hoped that maybe you...
Todd: What?
Tea: If you really cared about me you wouldn't leave me. You would stay no matter what. You wouldn't make up excuses to leave again.
Todd: You think I made up your getting knocked up? How many months before that thing I made up pops out and starts screaming, huh?
Tea: Do you care about me?
Todd: That doesn't matter anymore.
Tea: It does to me.
Todd: Well, it doesn't to me.
Tea: If one of the women you've been with did show up with your child, I wouldn't leave you.
Todd: Liar.
Tea: If you wanted to be with her I would step aside but if you still wanted to be with me then I would deal with it. It would be difficult and, yes, it would hurt...not because of a baby, though. I would love your child, Todd, because how could I not love someone that you helped create. I love Starr. You know that I do.
Todd: That's different.
Tea: What would hurt, Todd, is knowing that you shared a part of yourself with someone else that you wouldn't...that you refused...to share with me. Can you understand that? Before, I could think that it was because of everything that had happened before we met. You had opened yourself up to Blair and you ended up hurt and devastated. I could understand that you didn't want to make yourself vulnerable like that again. Sex and love were so messed up for you. I could understand if you needed time before you were ready to share that with me. I could understand that you needed more time to trust me. But, if you were with other women then that wasn't the reason, was it? You didn't avoid having sex with me because you were scared to open yourself up emotionally. You avoided sex with me because you just didn't want to have sex with me. You didn't want to make love to me. You didn't feel that way about me. That hurts, Todd. That has always hurt. Deep down, I always knew that it wasn't your past that kept us from being together. It was me. You just never felt that way about me.
[Todd can tell that Tea is in pain. He wants to stop it but he also wants her to suffer for what she's put him through.
Minutes pass. Tea keeps wiping at her eyes as new tears continue to fall. Todd watches her carefully. Seeing her pain ultimately allows some of his to lessen.
Todd reaches into his pants and pulls out a wad of cash and tosses it on the bed in front of her.]
Tea: I don't want your money, Todd.
Todd: I won it for you.
Tea: What?
Todd: There's this casino not that far from here.
Tea: That's where you've been all this time? A casino?
chapter 25:
Todd: Take the money, Tea. Take a plane back to Llanview...back to R.J.
Tea: No.
Todd: He'll take you back. All you have to do is tell him that you're having his kid and he'll take you back. He might be ticked for a while but he'll get over it when he sees his kid.
Tea: I don't belong with R.J.
Todd: Don't be with him then if you don't want to but he should get to be a part of his kid's life. And, that kid should know it's father.
Tea: There's no kid, Todd. There's no baby. I'm not pregnant.
Todd: Don't lie to me and don't do something you'll regret just to be with me.
Tea: I'm not lying and if I were pregnant I would welcome it no matter what the consequences were for myself.
Todd: You mean it?
Tea: Yes.
Todd: Then, why were you throwing up?
Tea: It was nothing.
Todd: Something you ate? Because, we've been eating the same stuff and I wasn't in that bathroom shoving you aside to barf.
Tea: It wasn't food poisoning.
Todd: Well, there had to be a reason. Are you one of those girls that shoves her finger down her throat?
Tea: No.
Todd: Is it something contagious? Is that why you kissed me?
Tea: You think I kissed you hoping to give you a disease?
Todd: Well, if you were still angry at me...
Tea: I am angry at you...for leaving me here like you did. I didn't think you would come back.
Todd: Then why are you still here?
Tea: I didn't feel up to leaving.
Todd: Do you still feel sick? Are you going to barf again?
Tea: Probably...eventually.
Todd: I don't understand.
Tea: It's just something that happens to me once in a while.
Todd: Well, what is it?
Tea: I don't know.
Todd: Your doctor couldn't figure out what it is?
Tea: I haven't been to the doctor about this.
Todd: Why not?
Tea: I'm tired of doctors and hospitals. Whatever this is isn't that bad. I can handle it.
Todd: What if it's something serious?
Tea: It isn't.
Todd: You're sure?
Tea: It comes and goes. I manage it just fine. I don't need anymore doctors probing me or anymore hospital stays.
Todd: So, you do think it's serious enough that you'd have to be stay in the hospital?
Tea: Let's just drop it, okay?
Todd: What does it feel like?
Tea: Right now I feel fine.
Todd: I'm serious, tell me what it feels like. I know about the vomit part.
Tea: Sometimes it feels better after I throw up.
Todd: Did it this morning?
Tea: It's yesterday morning now.
Todd: Whatever. Just answer the question.
Tea: It helped some.
Todd: So, what does it feel like?
Tea: I don't know. I'm not sure if I can explain it. It's just this lousy feeling in my stomach.
Todd: Where in your stomach? Your appendix?
Tea: No, it's not my appendix.
Todd: How do you know?
Tea: I just know. Let's just drop this.
Todd: No way. You always want to talk about and share everything. So, go ahead...share.
Tea: There's some pain and some tenderness and this intense discomfort throughout my stomach and my lower back and sometimes up to my shoulder. It only lasts for a while, though, and then I'm fine.
Todd: Okay. We have to get you diagnosed. We'll find a doctor tomorrow.
Tea: No.
Todd: Don't be so stubborn.
Tea: I won't go.
Todd: Fine. I'll go and describe your symptoms and they can tell me what it is. Do you think it could be a girl thing?
Tea (smiling): A girl thing?
Todd: You know what I mean. Could it be something to do with...uh...
Tea: I don't think so. It doesn't seem to tie into my...uh...monthly girl thing.
Todd: Okay, just so you know, I don't want to know about that. Especially, not in any kind of detail, okay?
Tea: You won't be able to avoid it, Todd. We share the same room and the same bathroom. I think you'll know when that time is.
Todd: Well, we'll have separate rooms then so you can have your privacy.
Tea: It's not something to be embarrassed about. You've lived with women before.
Todd: So?
Tea: You must have thought about it already with us sharing such small spaces all day, every day.
Todd: Oddly enough, that hadn't occurred to me. You always kept that part of yourself to yourself when we lived together. I always appreciated that.
Tea: It's a natural, healthy thing, Todd.
Todd: Fine. Be natural and healthy. Just keep it hidden from me.
Tea: Is this really an issue for you?
Todd: Yes. By the way, uh, when do you expect that to happen?
Tea: My period?
Todd (cringing): Please. It's called...that thing.
Tea: You want to know when...that thing...will next be happening?
Todd: Yeah.
Tea: Why do you want to know?
Todd: I'm just curious.
Tea: I'll be sure to let you know when it happens.
Todd: You're not going to tell me?
Tea: No.
Todd (his paranoia kicking in): Because you're pregnant.
Tea: That is precisely why I won't tell you.
Todd: I knew it, you liar.
Tea: I am not pregnant.
Todd: You just said...
Tea: Your insistence that I am pregnant, which I don't believe I am, is the reason that I won't tell you when my next period will be.
Todd: Call it...
Tea (losing her patience): Period...menstrual cycle...panties. If you don't stop it, I'll start describing body parts.
Todd: What? You're the one who's trying to fake like you're not pregnant so you can get your hooks into me.
Tea: If I were to tell you when my next...
Todd: Don't say it.
Tea: You would be waiting and if it didn't come on that precise day...
Todd: It would mean that you're pregnant.
Tea: No. It would mean that it was off a little which is quite possible with all this stress I'm under.
Todd: What stress?
Tea: You.
Todd: Me? I'm totally carefree.
Tea: Yeah, right, Todd. I am not pregnant and if you want physical proof of that then I will prove it to you...when the time comes.
Todd: Well, I don't actually want to see it.
Tea: I'm going to bed. You're exhausting.
[Tea goes into the bathroom and begins brushing her teeth. Todd joins her and brushes his own teeth alongside her. A few minutes later, Todd waits in the bedroom while Tea changes her clothes. When she returns to the bedroom, Todd is lying on his bed, fully clothed.]
Tea: Aren't you going to change your clothes?
Todd: You know I wear my regular clothes to bed.
Tea: But you've been wearing the same clothes for a couple of days now.
Todd: So?
Tea: Never mind. Do what you want. Wear what you want. Don't bathe. Keep me at a physical distance. I still want to kiss you...even if I won't until you smell okay again.
[Several minutes pass. Todd gets out of bed and grabs his bag.]
Todd: I'm starting to itch. That's the only reason I'm doing this. Not because of you.
[Todd enters the bathroom for a shower and to change his clothes. Tea lies in bed smiling.]
to be continued...
