His hands reach out and lightly touch against the backs of her legs. Tea shows her approval by leaning down and offering one of her breasts to his mouth. Todd takes her offering and lightly sucks it into his mouth.
Moments later, Todd pulls her body down on top of his and then quickly rolls her over so that he's on top of her. As they begin to passionately kiss, Tea removes his shirt.]
[For several minutes Todd has been lying on top of Tea's body while they passionately kiss. Tea is only wearing underwear. Todd is wearing pants, but is shirtless.
As they kiss, Tea caresses his bare back. They both occasionally emit moans, indicating the pleasure they each are taking in their sensual activities.
Tea's hands cautiously journey down his back and over his buttocks. Todd immediately stops kissing her and removes his body from hers.]
Tea: Why did you stop?
Todd: You need to go to the store and get stuff for your girl thing, right?
Tea: That's not why you stopped.
Todd: Get dressed. We'll go out to dinner, too.
Tea: Why?
Todd: So we can eat.
Tea: You don't want to stay here and continue to enjoy ourselves, and each other?
Todd: I'm hungry.
Tea: This isn't the first time this has happened.
Todd: You're right.
Tea: You're admitting it?
Todd: That I've been hungry before? I didn't think that was a secret.
Tea: You know what I mean.
Todd: Just drop it. Hurry up and get dressed.
Tea: Why can't I touch your butt? You've touched mine.
Todd: I won't touch yours anymore, if it bothers you. Can we go now?
Tea: It doesn't bother me. You can touch me anywhere on my body. Why can't I touch you there?
Todd: It's gross.
Tea: Is that really the reason?
Todd: Isn't that enough of a reason?
Tea: Is it because of your scars?
Todd: I'll wait for you in the car.
[Todd grabs the shirt that Tea had minutes earlier removed from his body and puts it on as he opens the door and quickly rushes out of the room.
Tea quickly dresses and follows him.
Minutes later...
As Tea exits their hotel, she finds Todd has brought the car to the entrance of the hotel. She quickly gets in the car and Todd drives off.]
Tea: We need to talk about what happened.
Todd: No we don't. Look at the scenery.
Tea: I'm more interested in you.
Todd: You want all the dirty details?
Tea: I only want you to tell me what you're comfortable with.
Todd: Since when?
Tea: Since always. You know that. If you don't want to tell me why I can't touch you there, just tell me that there is a reason and that you never want me to touch you there again.
Todd: If I say that, you'll stop trying it?
Tea: I can't promise that, in the heat of the moment, my hands won't inadvertently touch there, but I won't do it on purpose, if you ask me not to.
Todd: Fine. Don't touch me there.
Tea: Can you tell me why?
Todd: I knew you wouldn't let it drop.
Tea: It's dropped. If you ever wanted to tell me, though, I would listen. I hope you know that.
[An uncomfortable silence fills the interior of the car, as Tea looks out the window, watching the scenery as Todd speeds down the road in search of a store.
Minutes later...
Tea returns to the car after her solo shopping expedition in a small convenience store.]
Todd: Did you get what you need?
Tea: They didn't have much selection.
Todd: Do you need to go somewhere else?
Tea: What I bought here is fine. It's not my preferred kind, but it'll do.
Todd: We can go somewhere else.
Tea: This is fine. Let's go to dinner.
Todd: You're not going to force me to go to one of those fancy places, are you?
Tea: You always seemed to enjoy going to dinner at upscale restaurants back in Llanview.
Todd: That's only because I liked ruining dinner for all those rich snobs, just by walking into those places. No one here knows me, so my presence doesn't ruin anything for anyone, except you.
Tea: I enjoy your presence, remember?
Todd: Whatever.
Tea: What if we compromise?
Todd: We go where I want to?
Tea: For part of the evening, yes.
Todd: And, for the other part, you're going to torture me?
Tea: No torture. Just a quiet, romantic meal together.
Todd: Torture.
Tea: We could have dinner in our room. That way, it would be romantic for me, and private for you.
Todd: Was that your compromise idea?
Tea: Actually, I was thinking that we would go to a nice restaurant, have a nice meal together, and then go bowling. That was the compromise...romantic dinner for me, bowling for you. But, I like the idea of spending the entire evening alone in our room much better.
Todd: So, how fancy does this place have to be? Are we talking chandeliers and expensive booze, or a pizza joint with cloth napkins?
Tea: I vote for a place with lots and lots of heart-shaped objects.
Todd: We should move to a different room, one that doesn't remind me of Valentine's Day. I hate that day.
Tea: Too commercial for you? Or, too romantic?
Todd: Both.
Tea: You can be romantic, Todd. I know you can.
Todd: A bunch of phony hearts isn't romantic.
Tea: What is romantic, according to Todd Manning?
Todd: Eating at a bowling alley.
Tea: No way, buster. The deal is, I get a nice restaurant, if I'm going to have to bowl later.
Todd: What do you have against bowling?
Tea: I'm not very good at it.
Todd: Really?
Tea: If you want to laugh at my lack of bowling ability, you'll have to take me out and romance me first. I want to enjoy at least part of this evening, before I humiliate myself trying to bowl.
Todd: You're really that bad?
Tea: I only tried it once. That was enough.
Todd: We don't have to do the bowling thing, if you really don't want to.
Tea: I'm willing to humiliate myself in front of you. It should offer you plenty of amusement. I may need a slow, all body, massage after I'm done, though. I seem to recall lots of sore muscles after the last time. Do you think that could be arranged?
Todd: I don't know. Does the hotel have people that do that sort of thing?
Tea: I thought you didn't like the idea of anyone else touching me like that?
Todd: Oh, yeah. I guess I'll have to burden myself and do that for you, huh?
Tea: That would be wonderful.
Todd: So, if you're getting what you want after we bowl, you don't have to have this stupid dinner thing before, right?
Tea: Trust me, I'll be humiliating myself so much that we'll be even by the time the night is through.
Todd: What if you end up bowling a perfect game?
Tea: There's no chance of that. I'll be lucky if the ball stays in the right lane.
Todd: You're that bad?
Tea: You'll see. But, if I should, by some fluke, bowl well, I'll give you the sensual massage when we get back to our room. Deal?
Todd: So, whoever bowls the best game gives the other person the massage?
Tea: Yes.
Todd: So, if I throw the game...
Tea: Even if you tried, you couldn't be as bad as I am. The one time I went bowling before, the manager of the bowling alley asked me not to come back.
Todd: This is all a trick, isn't it.
Tea: If it is, you'll get a massage. If it isn't, I'll get a massage. Either way, I think we'll both enjoy ourselves later.
Todd and Tea return to their hotel room. Tea limps toward the bed and plops her body down, face first.
Todd goes into the bathroom for a few minutes. When he returns to the bedroom, he finds Tea still lying on the bed, in the same position.]
Todd (whispering): Are you asleep?
Tea: No...just humiliated...and sore.
Todd: You put on a great show for everyone.
Tea: I'm glad I could amuse all the other bowlers, especially you.
Todd: I felt bad for you.
Tea: You laughed...loudly and many times.
Todd: I was laughing with you.
Tea: No, you weren't.
[Todd picks up the remote control for the television and sits down in a chair. He turns the television on and begins looking through the channels to find something to watch.]
Tea: What are you do?
Todd: I'm watching TV.
Tea: What about my massage?
Todd: What massage?
Tea: The one you owe me for humiliating myself by bowling in front of you.
Todd: You must be tired after the workout you just put yourself through. You should sleep.
Tea: You can't get out of our deal now. I want my massage. I earned it.
Todd: I don't think our deal should count since you had to be faking. No one could be that lousy a bowler.
Tea: I am.
Todd: That's not something you should brag about.
Tea: I'm not bragging. I'm also never bowling again.
Todd: Not here, you're not. They won't let you, after all the damage you did tonight.
Tea: Thank you for agreeing to pay for it.
Todd: You still want me to pay more and do that massage thing?
Tea: Never mind. I don't want you to touch me if you really don't want to.
[Tea slowly climbs off the bed and hobbles into the bathroom. She soon returns with a washcloth, she wet with hot water, in her hand and lies on the bed again, on her stomach. She lifts her shirt and places the washcloth on her aching back.
Todd watches her for several moments before standing up and approaching the bed.
As Tea feels the washcloth being lifted from her back she moves her head and looks up at Todd, as he kneels on the bed next to her and begins to massage her back.]
Tea: I love you.
Todd: You don't have to threaten me anymore. I'm doing it.
Tea: I was thanking you. You're so sweet.
Todd: I'm a sap. You've been playing me all night, just so I'd do this for you now.
Tea: I'm sure if I had a chance to practice, I could be a good bowler. I just haven't had that opportunity.
Todd: Give it up, Delgado. You're so bad, the only thing practicing would do is put you in the hospital. And, you'd probably take a few innocent bystanders with you.
Tea: That was an accident.
Todd: I bet that one little kid will be waking up screaming tonight because a strange lady is throwing bowling balls at him in his sleep, while she curses in Spanish.
Tea: I don't know how it slipped out of my hand and went backwards like that.
[Todd's hands leave her back.]
Tea: Don't stop.
Todd: It would be easier for me to work without all this stuff in the way.
[Tea turns onto her back and lifts her upper body. Todd pulls her shirt over her head and tosses it on the floor, beside the bed. He reaches around her and unfastens her brassiere and tosses that across the room.
Tea lies back down and rolls back onto her stomach.]
Todd: Don't you want me to massage your front for a while?
Tea: Pleasure comes later. First, you need to eliminate the pain.
[Todd returns to gently massaging her back.]
Todd: You're supposed to stay behind that line and only throw the ball at the pins. You're not supposed to fling your whole body down the lane like that.
Tea: It was an accident.
Todd: You did it more than once.
Tea: I slipped.
Todd: I never knew you were such a klutz.
Tea: Only when I have a bowling ball in my hand, for some reason. Any other sport I've tried, I've done well at.
Todd (not believing her): Sure, you have.
Tea: I'm serious.
Todd: I don't think you should try anything athletic again. You'll end up in traction.
Tea: We'll play tennis tomorrow. I'll show you how athletic I can be.
Todd: Tennis is too dangerous for a klutz.
Tea: I am not a klutz. Besides, I did get a strike tonight.
Todd: That's true. Too bad it doesn't count when the ball bounces out of your lane and gets a strike in the lane next to yours.
Tea: That's a stupid rule.
[Tea joins Todd in laughter, even though she knows it's at her own expense.
Todd continues massaging her back for several minutes.]
Todd: Is that better?
Tea: Yes.
Todd: I can stop now?
Tea: What about the rest of my body?
Todd: What about it?
Tea: It needs to be massaged, too. Start with my legs.
[Todd massages the leg closest to him for a few moments, but quickly stops. Tea smiles as he begins removing her pants. He leaves her underwear on and returns to massaging the leg that's closest to him.]
Tea: You must have had a lot of sports injuries when you were younger. Did you play more than football?
Todd: Sure. But, that was the most important sport, in my house. Peter would never have thought of bowling as a sport. It had to be something athletic. Although, the way you bowl is pretty physical.
Tea: Did you get hurt a lot?
Todd: You know the answer to that.
Tea: I meant while playing sports.
Todd: Sometimes. I wasn't a klutz, like you are.
Tea: I'm not a klutz. It's only bowling that's the problem. I'm very athletic. I have a lot of stamina. And, I'm quite flexible.
Todd: That sounds like a line from one of those personals ads.
Tea: I guess it's a good thing that I have a few days to recover from tonight before we'll be making love for the first time.
[Todd continues massaging Tea's body as they each silently contemplate the future.
Moments later, when Todd suddenly jumps off the bed, he startles Tea out of her pleasant daydream.]
Tea: What's wrong?
Todd: Nothing. I'll be back in a few minutes.
Tea: You don't have to leave. You can stop touching me now, if you want to, but you don't have to leave.
Todd: I'll be right back.
Tea: Todd, we don't have to do anything you don't want to. We can continue the way we have been.
[Todd is standing at the door when the concern in her voice stops him and forces him to turn back toward her.
He looks at her almost naked body as she sits facing him, fear of losing him clearly evident on her face.
Todd walks back toward the bed and leans down and kiss her on the mouth.]
Todd: I'm coming back.
Tea: Don't leave.
[Tea places her hand behind his head and pulls him into another kiss. Todd quickly joins her on the bed, bringing his body down on top of her scantily clad body.
They continue to kiss for several minutes. It isn't until Tea begins pulling at his clothes, wanting them removed, that he finally stops kissing her.]
Tea: Don't leave.
Todd: I'll just be gone a few minutes.
Tea: You'll never come back.
Todd: Don't you trust me?
[Tea closes her eyes. Todd knows that she expects abandonment. He understands that expectation.]
Todd: I'm not ditching you. I just thought of something that I need to go and get. Trust me, I'm coming back.
Tea: We don't need anything.
Todd: We need what I'm going to get. I'll be back in ten minutes. Take a warm shower. It'll help you feel better and you won't even notice that I'm gone.
[Todd removes his body from atop hers and sits on the edge of the bed. Tea sits up and hugs her body to his.]
Tea: I love you.
[Tea kisses him good-bye, feeling like she's often felt in the past as she watched him walked out the door...like she may never see him again.
As the kiss ends, they each linger in the other's personal space for several moments, their faces nuzzling.
Todd again leaves the bed and walks to the door. He looks back at Tea who has laid back on the bed. He smiles at the sight of her almost naked body, exposed to him, before opening the door and quickly leaving.]
Tea is fully dressed and has been pacing across the room for more than ten minutes, waiting for Todd to return. A part of her is convinced that he won't return, that she'll never see him again. She's trying not to completely give in to that thought, though. She wants to trust him, to trust that he won't abandon her the way she expects him to, the way she expects anyone she cares about to abandon her...the way her mother abandoned her.
Tea wishes that she could remove the painful memory of her mother's abandonment so it would stop affecting her current expectations with Todd, but she knows that she can't. That single moment from her long ago past changed her world then, and still greatly affects her present, and future.
She knows that she shouldn't place such a heavy burden on Todd. He shouldn't have to prove to her over, and over, that the lessons she learned long ago were wrong. She can love someone and trust that person's love for her. She doesn't have to constantly fear that each time he closes the door behind him, she'll never see him again. But, Todd himself added to her fear of abandonment by leaving her, or pushing her away, in the past. A part of her may always expect him to leave her again...if he even returns this time.
Tea brings her hands to her face and emits a small scream at her inability to control her insecurities.
He will return to her. She knows that he will. He wouldn't leave her now. He has no reason to...except...
Tea gives up on the frustration of staying in the bedroom, staring at the door, awaiting his return. She instead decides to go into the bathroom and take a shower, hoping that the activity of bathing will lessen her mind's apparent need to constantly bombard her with doubts about his return.
Minutes later, when she finishes with her shower, she's disappointed that Todd still hasn't returned. She slowly dries herself off and changes into clean clothes, hoping that if she delays her return to the bedroom long enough, Todd will have returned by the time she finally exits the bathroom.
When she can't stall any longer, Tea returns to the bedroom and promptly screams in surprise.]
Todd: I'll put my clothes back on, if the sight of me scares you that much.
Tea: It's not that. I wasn't expecting you to be here.
Todd: I told you I wouldn't be gone long.
Tea: It seemed like a long time to me. I missed you.
Todd: You were in the shower the whole time. We both know what you do when you think about me while you're in the shower.
Tea: If you thought that, why didn't you join me?
Todd: I wanted to surprise you.
Tea: You have. Especially if you really are naked under that sheet.
Todd: Get over here and find out. But, get naked first. Or, almost naked.
Tea: You don't want me to be completely naked?
Todd: Your body's doing that girl thing, remember?
Tea: We could take a bath together again. I could be completely naked. You could be completely naked. We could stop putting off the inevitable.
Todd: You think that's inevitable?
Tea: Don't you?
[Todd lifts the sheet that is covering his body and shows Tea that, while his upper body is completely bare, he is wearing underwear. He grabs a bag from beside him on the bed and tosses it at her. She opens the bag and stares at the contents, flabbergasted at what she sees.]
Tea: What is this?
Todd: What does it look like?
Tea: It looks like a bag full of condoms. I don't understand.
Todd: Hand me one and I'll show you how they work.
Tea (smiling): You better be careful. I just might take you up on that. Seriously, what are you trying to tell me?
Todd: I thought it was pretty obvious.
Tea: Is this for tonight?
Todd: Not if you're still doing that girl thing.
Tea: That doesn't mean... Okay, you don't want to use these tonight?
Todd: We can wait.
Tea: Why did you get these tonight if you don't want to use them until I'm done menstruating?
Todd: I thought I should let you know what I was thinking about and give you a chance to run like hell.
Tea: You know that I want to be with you. I've made that clear.
Todd: That was back when we couldn't do anything about it. In a few days it could really happen. If you want to leave, I'll understand.
Tea: If I did leave, what would you do with all of these?
Todd: Water balloons.
[Tea approaches Todd and dumps the contents of the bag onto the bed.]
Tea: You bought a lot.
Todd: I didn't know what kind you'd like. I couldn't find your usual brand.
Tea: My usual...? How do you know...?
Todd: You always kept some in your purse, just in case, right? After all, you never know when you might have an emergency and need to screw the bagger at the grocery store, or something. I noticed that you must have run out of these things. You and R.J. probably went through a lot. You were probably on your way to stock up when you got my note and met me at Viki's cabin. I noticed that you never thought to get any so far on this trip. Despite your obsession with getting into my pants, I guess it never occurred to you. Or, maybe you didn't want any around so you'd have an excuse not to do anything dirty with me.
Tea: What I want us to do is not dirty.
Todd: It is if you do it right.
Tea: I want to make love. There won't be anything dirty about our consummating our relationship.
Todd: Whatever. Now you've got protection, you'll need some other excuse for keeping me off you. You'll have to find some other way to prolong this elaborate game you're playing, trying to use me to make your boyfriend jealous.
Tea: Don't do this.
Todd: What am I doing?
Tea: You're trying to start something.
Todd: I thought that's what I was doing, but now that reality's staring at you, you're no longer interested in doing anything with me. That much is clear.
Tea: That's not true?
Todd: You're still dressed.
Tea: I thought maybe you'd help me undress.
Todd: I'd rather just watch.
Tea (gesturing to the numerous packages of condoms): Will we be needing these? There's enough condoms to last us...
Todd: Four days?
Tea: There's at least a hundred here.
Todd: Right! Two days.
Tea (smiling): If only that were true.
Todd: After all of this build up...
Tea: Maybe I should rest up now, while I can.
Todd: Maybe you should.
Tea: Do you still want me to undress and join you in bed?
Todd: Not if you don't want to.
Tea: I want to.
[Tea returns the packages of condoms to the bag and places it on the nearby dresser. Todd turns on his side and openly admires her as she begins to remove her clothing.]
Todd awakens to the sound of Tea softly crying. He opens his eyes and looks toward the sound. He finds Tea sitting by the window, leaning her head against the glass.
He's not completely surprised to see her so clearly upset. He knew something was wrong earlier, when he returned from the store. He had wanted to spend the rest of the night making out. Initially, she had seemed agreeable to his plan.
They were both only dressed in their underwear and were rolling around on the bed, enjoying themselves, he thought, until Tea stopped and told him that she was tired and thought they should try to sleep.
Now, hours later, he watches her crying, and knows with certainty that his instinct was right. He suspected that once the obstacles disappeared from between them, she would get scared and run. She hasn't run yet, but clearly that's what she wants. She's so terrified of the prospect of being with him physically that she's awake in the middle of the night crying because of it...because of him.
Todd closes his eyes, not wanting to chance Tea realizing that he's awake. He's not prepared to live through the heartache that he knows is coming, yet. He knows it's inevitable. He knows that Tea will leave him, unless he leaves her first. He just isn't prepared for it to happen right this moment.
When Tea finally returns to the bed, many minutes later, he continues to pretend to be asleep. As she returns to her place, snuggled against him, he considers pretending to turn from her in his sleep, but instead chooses to allow her closeness, because he assumes that this will be the last night they ever share a bed. He wants to have one final night to memorize what it feels like to be so intimately close to her, before he returns to his destined status in life...alone.
The next morning...
Tea awakens and snuggles closer to Todd's body, enjoying the feeling of her bare skin touching his, particularly since she knows that it's allowed now and he won't pull away from her touch the way he has at times in the past.
She opens her eyes and raises her head from his chest and finds his eyes opened and staring at her.]
Tea (smiling): Good morning.
Todd: Whatever!
Tea: Didn't you sleep well?
Todd: I slept fine. What about you?
[Tea places a brief kiss upon his chest before returning her head to its earlier resting place.]
Tea: I slept wonderfully...I slept next to you.
Todd: So, the night was perfect? No problems? No complaints?
Tea: Complaints? Of course not.
Todd: I thought maybe you wanted to stop what we were doing last night because you weren't enjoying yourself.
Tea: I explained it last night, remember? I was just tired.
Todd: So, you slept straight through all those hours? You didn't wake up and have trouble getting back to sleep?
Tea: I did wake up for a little while.
Todd: Why was that?
Tea: I needed to use the bathroom.
Todd: Is that all?
Tea: Why are you asking me so many questions? Did you wake up and find the bed empty and get the wrong idea?
Todd: No wrong ideas here. I understand completely.
Tea: Good! Now, let's forget about last night and decide what to do today.
Todd: You probably want to wander off on your own.
Tea: Not at all. I was hoping we could finally be tourists and spend the day at the Grand Canyon.
Todd: You want to get lost in a crowd?
Tea: I hope not, at least not lost from you.
Todd: Right!
Tea: Why are you acting so strangely?
Todd: I'm not the one acting suspiciously.
Tea: What's that supposed to mean?
Todd: Nothing. Use the john or I will.
Tea: Go ahead.
Todd: That's right. You claim you used it in the middle of the night.
[Todd pulls away from Tea and gets out of bed. He quickly goes into the bathroom and slams the door, leaving a confused Tea in the bedroom, wondering why he's in such a bad mood.
When Todd returns to the bedroom, minutes later, Tea approaches him and tries to kiss him. He pulls away.]
Tea: What's the matter? Do I have morning breath?
Todd: Yeah.
Tea: I'll take care of that right away and then we can greet the morning properly.
Todd: Whatever!
Tea: You really are in a bad mood today. Why?
Todd: I hate crowds and you're forcing me to spend the day in a tourist trap.
Tea: We don't have to. We could stay here. Or, we could go for a leisurely drive. Or, we could move on to our next destination.
Todd: Where is that?
Tea: Wherever you want to go.
Todd: You'll go wherever I want to?
Tea: Yes.
Todd: What if I want to go somewhere that you hate?
Tea: I'll still enjoy myself, because I'll be with you.
Todd: Sure, you will!
Tea: You don't believe me?
Todd: Just hurry up and get ready. We'll go to that tourist trap because you've been wanting to go there all this time, and because this is our last day.
Tea: So, we are moving on tomorrow?
Todd: We're definitely moving on tomorrow.
[Tea enters the bathroom, assuming that Todd intends for them to move on together to a new location the next day, not realizing that he intends to move on the next day, but without her.]
Todd and Tea are enjoying a magnificent view of the Grand Canyon. Actually, Tea's enjoying the view, Todd's been staring at Tea and hasn't paid any attention to the natural beauty of the canyon before him, too caught up in Tea's natural beauty, instead.
Tea turns toward him, and notices his intense gaze in her direction, before he quickly looks toward the canyon.]
Tea: What is it?
Todd: It's a hole in the ground.
Tea: I meant, why were you staring at me? Why have you been staring at me all day?
Todd: I haven't been.
Tea: I'm certain that you have.
Todd: Your ego's too big.
Tea: This isn't ego.
Todd: Okay...you're paranoid.
Tea: You're the one who enjoys paranoia, not me. Tell me why you've been staring at me.
Todd: I haven't been. I've been looking at this hole in the ground, wondering why tons of people waste their time schlepping their kids out here just to look at a stupid hole in the ground, like it's something that matters. They need to get lives, or cable, or the internet...anything so they don't screw their kids up filling their heads with all this junk about nature being more important than the real important stuff in the world, like making tons of money, or getting back at the people who tried to screw with them.
[Todd noticed a look of sadness appear on Tea's face when he mentioned children. As she returns her attention to the view, he's certain that he also caught a glimpse of guilt, probably for stringing him along this whole time like a lovesick loser. Or, maybe her guilt is for hurting R.J. by leaving him the way she did.
Todd returns to openly staring, or more accurately, glaring at her. He knows that she's thinking about R.J. He knows that she's missing him. He knows with absolute certainty that the reason he found her crying the night before was because she was devastated to learn that she wasn't pregnant with R.J.'s baby, like she obviously wanted to be. He suspected all along that Tea secretly hoped that she was pregnant, despite her comments to the contrary. Now he knows for a fact that his suspicion was correct.
Minutes pass silently as the ex-spouses stand near each other physically but far apart emotionally. Todd knows, like he's known all day, that he has to leave her. He can't allow her to continue to make a fool out of him. If he doesn't leave her, he's convinced that she'll leave him, anyway. No one leaves Todd Manning anymore. Never again will he be the one who's left behind, devastated by abandonment. He'll be the one to leave. He'll be the one to slam the door in her face, this time. First, he has to find a way to tear himself away from her, to convince his heart not to trust her, not to look for other possible reasons for why she's been so sad since learning she wasn't pregnant. It's because she wants to be with R.J. It has to be. There could be no other possible explanation...not in Todd's mind, anyway.]
Tea: It's breathtaking, isn't it?
[Todd's voice lowers as he continues to stare, captivated by the beauty in front of him.]
Todd: Breathtaking.
[Tea turns toward him again, drawn by the odd sound in his voice. She again finds him staring at her for a few seconds before he once again turns away and pretends to be looking out at the canyon.]
Tea: What is going on with you today? First, you were in such a foul mood this morning. Then, you stared at me all through breakfast, and you hardly ate anything. Now, you're ignoring the view and staring at me again. What is it? Tell me.
Todd: I'm looking at the view. I'm standing here like an idiot, in a sea of other idiots, staring at something that people think is worth staring at.
Tea: I hope you fill me in sometime today about what's going on with you. I don't know if I can take another day of you acting so strangely...even more strangely than you normally act.
Todd: You don't have to worry about that.
Tea: This mood you're in will be gone by tomorrow?
Todd: You definitely won't have to put up with my mood tomorrow. You can count on that.
[Tea still finds something odd in the way Todd's behaving but she chooses to drop the subject. She has no idea that Todd intends to leave her today and is just waiting for the right moment, and the nerve, to finally walk away from her for good.
More time passes...
A young couple with two small children stop near where Tea and Todd are positioned. The sound of the wonderment from the children pulls Tea out of her thoughts. She looks in their direction and smiles at the joy the children seem to be taking from the magnificent view before them.
Todd scowls, again reminded of the baby that Tea clearly desperately wanted...a baby that wasn't his.
Tea looks toward Todd and is surprised at the angry look on his face. She pushes him slightly to encourage him to move away from the area where the young family is still enjoying the view.
After they're far enough away not to be heard, Tea speaks.]
Tea: Is this about Starr?
Todd (angrily): Shut up about my kid.
Tea: Maybe you should call her. Hearing her voice might help eliminate this dark cloud that you're currently under.
Todd: I've always been under a dark cloud. I like that. I'm not some phony, disgustingly perky, everything is sunshine when it's really a miserable day, kind of person...like you are?
Tea: Did I do something? Because, if I did, fill me in on what it is.
Todd: You know exactly what you did.
Tea: No, I don't. Tell me. Help me to understand so we can get passed this and move on with our lives.
Todd: I have every intention of moving on. The sooner the better.
Tea: Are you saying that you want to leave now? Because, I'm willing to try anything to put a stop to whatever it is that's bothering you. Did you come here with your family when you were a child? Is that why you were looking at that lovely family like you hated every one of them?
Todd: I hate everything. I hate everyone.
[Tea tries to lighten the mood by giving him a flirty smile.]
Tea: You don't hate me, do you?
Todd: It would be a hell of a lot easier if I did.
[Todd walks off, leaving Tea confused about the source of his current foul mood.]
