The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
| REACHING OUT BY TIMA |
CHAPTER 7 |
PREVIOUSLY:
He looks at her for another moment, more certain about what he has to do next than he ever has been before.
Moments later, his lips lightly touch hers for a brief moment before his head moves to the side of her head and his upper body presses lightly against hers. He's afraid to grab her and pull her into him the way that he wants to, still not knowing all he needs to know about her injuries, but he knows that he needs to hold her right now and he knows that she needs to be held, not by just anyone, but by him, the man who still possesses her heart, just as she still possesses his.]
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chapter 7:
[Tea leans her head against Todd's shoulder and cries, for the first time since the plane crash really allowing her pain to escape, without trying to hold any of it back.
Minutes later...
After Tea's sobs have subsided and her grip on his upper body has lessened, Todd finally pulls away from her.]
Todd: So, dessert?
Tea: You don't have to pretend that what just happened didn't happen.
Todd: Yes, I do.
[Todd picks up a tissue box from atop a small dresser at the side of her bed and tosses it in her lap. As she blows her nose, he places their dessert on the cart and moves it near Tea again.]
Todd: It's chocolate. You like chocolate, right?
Tea: Love... I love chocolate.
[Todd studies the look in Tea's eyes as she gazes intensely at him, wondering if she wants him to read something more into her words.
Finally, he looks away, uncomfortable with the intensity of his own feelings right now.]
Todd: You can have it all.
Tea: I couldn't possibly.
Todd: You need to eat.
Tea: I will, if you'll share it with me.
Todd: Okay, but you're eating most of it.
Tea: Deal.
[For the next several minutes, they quietly dine on the delectable dessert. Todd eats standing next to Tea's bed, not bothering to divide the dessert onto two separate plates, but instead sharing it with her directly from the container it was originally packaged in.
When they finish, Todd removes all of the food and the dishes and slaps a deck of playing cards onto the top of the cart.]
Tea: What are we playing?
Todd: Poker.
Tea: Strip poker?
Todd: Yep.
[Todd moves his chair closer to her bed and picks up the cards, beginning the task of unwrapping them from the packaging that surrounds the newly purchased cards.]
Tea: No fair! I'm wearing less clothes than you are.
Todd: How is that unfair?
Tea: You're right. I am a better poker player than you are so I guess we're even.
Todd: Exactly how much are you wearing? Because, if it's just that ugly thing they have you in, you'll be in the buff after I win the first hand.
Tea: This may be ugly but it's all I have. And, I'll be winning the first hand...and the second...and the third... You're the one who will be showing all in a few minutes.
Todd: Dream on. So, did the airline lose your luggage, too?
Tea: In the mayhem, I didn't think to stop them from rushing me to hospital and instead demand that they take me out to look for my clothing among the debris.
Todd: So, your underwear could still be out there somewhere, hanging on a tree, or something?
Tea (sarcastically): That's a lovely image. Thank you.
Todd: You're welcome.
Tea: I suppose, you could go looking for it, if you're so interested in the whereabouts of my undergarments. You saw them enough times the last time we were together, you should recognize them, right?
Todd: Especially the ones that I could see everything through. What was the point of those, anyway? If you want to show everything, then show everything. Why pretend to be covering stuff up if you're really not covering anything up at all?
Tea: It's supposed to be sexy.
Todd: It's easier to get to the sex when there's nothing in the way.
[They both stop speaking for several moments, the conversation having turned more personal than either had intended.]
Todd: Do you want to go there?
Tea: Go where?
Todd: To where it happened.
Tea: To look for my underwear?
Todd: Sometimes people do that, right? They go to the scene and do whatever.
Tea: I don't want to.
Todd: Maybe someday you'll feel differently. I'll go with you, if you want.
Tea: You won't be here. You're going back to Llanview tomorrow.
Todd: No, I'm not.
Tea: Yes, you are.
Todd: My plane's not even here. I sent it back already.
Tea: Take a commercial flight.
Todd: You could come with me.
Tea: I'm never getting on an airplane again.
Todd: I'd hold your hand, if you got scared.
[Tea looks away as tears come to her eyes again. Todd watches her, uncertain what specifically upset her this time.
After several moments, Tea looks back at Todd and realizes that she needs to explain.]
Tea: My grandmother...
Todd: If you don't want to talk about it now, it's okay.
Tea: She was nervous. I held her hand.
[Tea looks away again. Todd knows that if he doesn't change the subject, she'll burst into tears again. He senses that Tea doesn't want that right now.]
Todd: So, you're thinking about living here in Puerto Rico for the rest of your life?
[Tea takes a moment to calm her emotions before responding.]
Tea: There are other ways that I could go back, if I wanted to.
Todd: You plan on swimming?
Tea: I could take a boat.
Todd: Okay. I'll have Briggs take care of it.
Tea: Take care of what?
Todd: Getting us a boat to get out of here on.
Tea: I didn't say I was leaving.
Todd: I thought you did.
Tea: You thought wrong. Todd, I don't feel like playing cards.
Todd: Good. I can't get this damn plastic off, anyway. Why do they make it so impossible?
Tea: You should go back to your hotel and get some rest.
Todd: I'm doing that hand holding thing, remember?
Tea: I don't need you to hold my hand.
Todd: Have you slept much since the accident?
Tea: I've slept.
Todd: I bet they had to knock you out with heavy drugs every time.
Tea: This is none of your business.
Todd: Why are you getting so irritable?
Tea: Because, I want you to leave and you won't go.
Todd: You have a button you can push anytime you want to and someone will come in here and throw me out, if that's what you really want.
Tea: I don't want you to waste your time here. You have more important things to do, back home...your home.
Todd: Where's your home, Tea?
[Tea stares into his eyes, as a single tear begins its journey down one of her cheeks.]
Todd: What's that stupid saying -- home is where the heart is. Where's your home, Tea?
[Tea brushes at the moisture on her face with her hand and looks at him with such sadness it hurts his heart.]
Tea: It's nowhere. I don't have a home.
[Todd pauses for several moments, tempted to reveal his heart to her, but resisting.]
Todd: Since it looks like we'll be here for a while, I'll have Briggs get some of your stuff from your grandmother's place, okay? I could have him pack everything up, if you want. Or, I could pay the rent for a while, until you get out of here and I take you there and you can pack your stuff up yourself. Or, we could live there, I guess, if you want.
Tea: We? We're not living together anywhere, Todd. We tried that, remember? We tried more than once and it never worked. We've never been compatible.
Todd: Sure, we have.
Tea: You always wanted something else. I won't be your second choice again. Go back to Llanview and work things out with your first choice.
Todd: How can I, if she isn't there?
Tea: Where is she?
Todd: Right in front of me.
Tea: I meant Blair.
Todd: I meant you.
to be continued...
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