The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
| REACHING OUT BY TIMA |
CHAPTER 2 |
PREVIOUSLY:
Take care, Todd. If you haven't yet, let go of the bitterness and remember me with love. That's how I remember you. Adios.
[The penthouse fills with quiet again. Moments later, the only occupant of the penthouse, approaches the desk where the answering machine is located. The occupant's finger reaches toward the erase button and firmly presses against it, eliminating all evidence that Tea Delgado Manning ever called.]
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chapter 2:
[Weeks later...
Todd Manning enters his office, as publisher of The Sun newspaper, prepared for another long day at work. Lately, he has been escaping into his work, trying to ignore less pleasant aspects of his life.
As he approaches his desk, he looks with disgust at the new object that someone has placed on his desk while he had gone home and given into sleep for a few hours.
Todd returns to the doorway of his office and yells out the door.]
Todd: Briggs!
[Todd continues to stand near the doorway, waiting for the older gentleman to appear, which he does in less than a minute.]
Charlie Briggs: Mr. Manning, did you need something?
Todd: I need that thing off my desk.
Briggs: What thing is that?
Todd: That thing. That thing that I did not put there. I don't want people littering my desk with their trash.
Briggs: That's not trash, Mr. Manning. It's a rose. My wife wanted me to give it to you.
Todd: She always did have a thing for me.
Briggs: What?
Todd: It was just once in one of the utility rooms. We were both drunk after one of those boring office parties. Don't worry, it didn't mean anything.
[Todd sits down in the chair behind his desk and smiles at his employee's gullibility.]
Todd: I'm kidding.
[Briggs smiles in relief.]
Todd: Nothing happened. She did hit on me, but I turned her down flat. She's not my type.
[Briggs stares at the younger man, certain that his wife wouldn't do that to him, but confused since Todd is giving him no sense that he's lying, or joking, at the moment.]
Todd: You can go back to your little cubicle now. And, take this thing with you.
Briggs: Don't you want something in here to brighten up your office?
Todd: Do I look like the kind of guy who wants anything around me that is bright or cheery.
Briggs: No, of course not. It won't happen again, Mr. Manning.
[Briggs picks up the vase containing the offending flower and turns to leave the room.]
Todd: Wait up, Briggs. I'm in a bad mood today, who can I fire?
Briggs: Would you consider me?
Todd: No way, Briggs. You were greedy enough to sign another contract. I think I now own you until your age hits triple digits.
Briggs: After so many years working here, I feel that old already.
Todd: You look it, too. But, I like that. It makes me look younger when I'm standing next to you. So, who can I have the pleasure of firing today?
Briggs: We have been having trouble with one of our carriers.
Todd: You mean the ones who toss the papers onto everyone's lawns?
Briggs: He's been missing customers on a regular basis and he hasn't always put the papers in the plastic covers to keep them from getting wet when it rains. We've had numerous complaints and he has a horrible attitude when confronted with the problems.
Todd: Are you in charge of those people now?
Briggs: You fired the manager, who previously was in charge, and we haven't found a replacement willing to work for you yet.
Todd: Right. Well, she wore too much perfume. I fired her so none of my other employees would lose their sense of smell. I should be thanked for that. I should be given a parade. Work on that.
Briggs: Right away, sir. Is there anything else?
Todd: Is this paper tosser a kid?
Briggs: No.
Todd: Darn. I was hoping I could make someone cry today.
Briggs: He is young, though. He just started college.
Todd: That'll do. Get his butt in here. I haven't smelled fear yet today, well, besides yours, but that's getting stale.
[Briggs turns to leave again. Todd yells after him.]
Todd: Remember, never bring any of those stinky flowers in here again, especially roses. I hate roses.
[Todd lowers his voice as he speaks to himself in his empty office.]
Todd: Especially, peach ones.
[Later that day, Todd is looking at a photograph that he secretly keeps in one of the drawers of his desk. As he hears someone enter his office, he quickly slams the desk drawer. When he looks up, he finds Briggs standing at the entrance of his office with a pained expression on his face.]
Todd: Is that sniveling kid finally gone?
Briggs: Yes, sir.
Todd: Did the security guards escort him out?
Briggs: Yes, just like you told them to.
Todd: Were their guns drawn?
Briggs: They followed your orders.
Todd: Good.
Briggs: Mr. Manning...
Todd: I'm gonna get out of here and go for a drive. You can pretend you're in charge again. Just keep your butt out of my chair.
Briggs: Mr. Manning...
Todd: What the hell's wrong with you? You look like someone died.
Briggs: Someone did. Well dozens of people did, actually. There was a plane crash.
Todd: There are plane crashes everyday. Have one of those worthless idiots out there put something together and print it up, like you always do.
Briggs: This is actually about the plane crash we reported on a few weeks ago. Remember?
Todd: I don't actually read my newspaper so, no, I don't remember.
Briggs: Well, there was a plane crash. It was a pretty bad one. They showed videotape of it on television. It looked really horrible. I felt so bad for all those people who died and were injured.
Todd: Great. You have a heart that bleeds for strangers. You're better than I am. Is that what you wanted to hear? Can I go now? Are you done trying to get me to care about people I don't know.
Briggs: That's why I came in here, Mr. Manning. You do know someone who was on that flight.
Todd: Who?
Briggs: It was your ex-wife, sir.
Todd: Blair is off being Blair in some other part of Llanview right now. It must have just been someone with the same name.
Briggs: Your other ex-wife.
Todd: Tea?
[Todd searches the older man's face for any reassurance that his Tea is okay, as his heart frantically seeks reassurance that it hasn't lost its other half.]
Todd: This is really a sick joke, you know that, Briggs. I'd actually be proud of you, if it weren't for the fact that you broke the most important rule around here.
Briggs: You've made it clear that you don't want Ms. Delgado to be discussed. I just thought that you would want to know.
[Todd sits down on the edge of his desk, feeling like he's about to blackout.]
Todd (whispering): Tea...
Briggs: She's not on the list that perished.
Todd: Perished? What are they, food that's past its expiration date?
Briggs: I haven't done any further checking yet, but she is listed among the more seriously injured passengers.
Todd: But, she's okay?
Briggs: I believe so, sir. I could look into it more fully, if you'd like me to.
Todd: Yeah, sure, you do that. This is your priority, do you understand? You drop everything else and you don't let anyone handle this but you.
Briggs: Do you want to print something in the next edition?
Todd: What?
Briggs: Ms. Delgado lived here for several years. She has connections in the community. We could cover the story again, from a local perspective.
Todd: Is that all you can think about?
Briggs: I thought that was all you could think about.
Todd: Well, it looks like you were wrong. Why didn't you find out about this before?
Briggs: She wasn't listed as being from Pennsylvania and there were hundreds of passengers. I guess when our staff initially read the list of passengers, no one realized that the Delgado listed was your Delgado.
Todd (speaking softly): My Delgado.
Briggs: Sir?
Todd: Never mind. You do some digging and find out where she is. No one talks to her directly, though, do you understand? I'll handle interviewing her, personally.
[Todd starts to leave his office, but Briggs quickly stops him.]
Briggs: Mr. Manning, there's something else.
Todd: What?
Briggs: There was another Delgado listed among those that didn't survive.
Todd: One of her brothers?
Briggs: It was a female name.
Todd (lowering his voice): She had a daughter?
Briggs: The age that was listed would make her possibly a parent, maybe even a grandparent, or a great-aunt, perhaps?
Todd: Her grandmother. It must have been her grandmother. She died?
Briggs: Apparently, sir.
Todd: Tea loved her grandmother, she was weird that way.
Briggs (confused): Sir?
Todd: Never mind.
[Todd again turns to leave the office. As he reaches the door, he turns back and faces the older man again.]
Todd: You're sure this is my Delgado? It's not another Tea Delgado. There's got to be a few of those out there, right? I mean, there's no one else like her, but there must be other people with her name. Maybe it's someone else.
Briggs: The age matches hers.
Todd: How do you know how old she is?
Briggs: I asked her on her birthday once.
Todd: She had a birthday?
Briggs: Everyone does, once a year.
[Todd realizes that he never knew when her birthday was, or celebrated it with her, during all the time they knew each other. He doesn't want Briggs to know, though, so he lies to cover his own insensitivity towards Tea while they were together.]
Todd: Oh, yeah, I remember...cake...gifts...tons of expensive gifts. She smiled a lot. Yeah, I remember.
Briggs: Also, the plane was taking off from Puerto Rico. Ms. Delgado is Puerto Rican, isn't she?
Todd (smiling) : And, damn proud of it. Although, not always. You know, she had issues.
[Todd shakes his head, realizing that he's allowing Briggs to see his vulnerability because of his concern, and continued affection, for Tea.]
Todd: Why the hell am I still standing here talking to you? Get me information.
Briggs: I'll do my best, Mr. Manning.
Todd: Do better than that. Pretend you're me. Do my best.
Briggs: I'll try. I'm sorry, sir.
Todd: I'm not the one you should feel bad for.
[Briggs watches Todd leave the office, his heart actually feeling for his employer, knowing how much pain he would be feeling if his beloved wife had been injured.]
to be continued...
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