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| REACHING OUT BY TIMA |
CHAPTER 56 |
PREVIOUSLY:
[Todd feigns annoyance at the inconvenience. They both enjoy a few moments of Todd holding her while her arms hug him around his neck, before he places her in her wheelchair and she leaves for her psychiatrist appointment.]
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chapter 56:
[Two hours later...
Todd finds Tea sitting by herself in the clinic's outdoor courtyard. He watches her for several minutes before he finally approaches her.]
Todd (speaking softly): Delgado?
[Tea quickly raises her head in the direction of his voice, startled by his presence. Seeing his concerned face, she quickly wipes at the tears in her eyes, angry that he saw her being weak again.]
Todd: Del called. You don't have to worry about him, anymore.
[Tea looks at her watch before responding.]
Tea: He wasn't home already, was he?
Todd: He said something about a connecting flight. He wouldn't tell me where he's living now but he said he'll call again in a few hours when his next flight lands.
Tea: Thank you for staying and taking his call for me.
Todd: Is he the reason you're out here weeping uncontrollably?
Tea: I am doing no such thing.
Todd: You were crying.
Tea: The sun is making my eyes water.
Todd: Are you lying because it's about me?
Tea: It's not about you.
Todd: That shrink of yours told you to dump me, didn't he? I knew it! I knew he'd be like all the other loser and try to keep us apart.
Tea: He hasn't even met you.
Todd: He doesn't have to. Your brother probably gave him a copy of my rap sheet.
Tea: This isn't about you, Todd.
Todd: What's it about?
Tea: It's about me.
Todd: You're a little bummed right now. You'll get better.
Tea: I don't know if I'll ever truly feel better.
Todd: You're Delgado. Nothing ever keeps you down for long.
Tea: This time might be different.
Todd: No way.
Tea: I'm not in the mood for this.
Todd: Is that why you're out here trying to avoid me?
Tea: I wasn't avoiding you. I came out here, after my session, because I didn't want to wake you, if you had fallen asleep again.
Todd: I've been wide awake, waiting for you.
Tea: I needed some time alone.
Todd: Time away from me?
Tea: Time alone. This isn't easy for me.
Todd: You should do what I did...fake this therapy thing.
Tea: That wouldn't help me.
Todd: Is this helping you? This guy is torturing you. And, the really stupid thing is that you have me paying this guy huge amounts of money to torture you.
Tea: You are not paying for any of my treatment.
Todd: That's not what the billing people think...not anymore.
Tea: If you managed to change any of my billing, I'll change it back.
Todd: I have tons more money than you do.
Tea: I have insurance.
Todd: Which isn't paying for everything. Your insurance company can keep paying it's part. I'm paying the rest.
Tea: No, you're not.
Todd: It's already taken care of.
Tea: How could you do that?
Todd: It was easy. I found someone in the billing office who spoke English.
Tea: You don't listen to anything I say, do you?
Todd: I listen to everything you say.
Tea: But, you ignored me when I specifically told you that I didn't want you to pay for my treatment.
Todd: Yeah, but I did listen to you when you told me.
Tea: You are impossible.
Todd: I'm hungry. Do you want to get out of here and get something to eat?
Tea: No.
Todd: I guess we can eat here.
Tea: You should go.
Todd: You want me to get some take-out? What kind of food do you want?
Tea: I want you to get out of my sight. That's what I want.
Todd: You don't mean that.
Tea: Oh, yes, I do.
Todd: Is it that time of month for you?
Tea: Don't you dare lay that typical male garbage on me right now. If I'm angry at you, it must be because of my menstrual cycle. It couldn't possibly be because you're a big, stupid, ignorant, male chauvinist, jerk.
Todd: Obviously, I was right.
Tea: Go away!
Todd: You promised you wouldn't try to kick me out anymore.
Tea: I was stupid to think that you would show me any respect.
Todd: I respect you.
Tea: No, you don't.
Todd: When your brother landed me in jail, who did I call?
Tea: I'm the only lawyer you know in Puerto Rico.
Todd: I could have used the phone book to find a decent lawyer...a male one. But, I didn't. I called the best lawyer I know, despite the fact that she's just a chick.
Tea: Get the hell out of my sight!
[Tea angrily moves her wheelchair passed Todd.]
Todd: I was kidding, Delgado.
[Tea keeps going, forcing Todd to follow after her as she enters the building.]
Todd: Delgado?
Tea: Go back to Llanview.
Todd: When are you going to give up on that and accept that I'm here to stay?
Tea: Never. I'm too familiar with your pattern.
Todd: What pattern?
Tea: Just go away. I'm not in the mood for you right now.
[Todd moves in front of Tea and blocks her path.]
Tea: Get out of my way!
Todd: You can't get rid of me.
Tea: Oh, yes, I can. All I have to do is tap into your overwhelming fear of commitment.
Todd: I've committed to you a bunch of times. I even married you twice.
Tea: But, you've pushed me away, or you've run from your feelings, every time that you tried to commit to me...every time that I've trusted you. We've spent more time apart than we have together, since we started this stupid dance together.
Todd: You've done plenty of running, too.
Tea: I could never attain the same speed as you, when it comes to running away. You ran away from me. You ran away from your daughter.
Todd: Leave Starr out of this.
Tea: You'd like that, wouldn't you? You want me to be your excuse for running away from her again.
Todd: She doesn't want to see me.
Tea: Why is that? What did you do to cause that?
Todd: It's not my fault. I tried.
Tea: I doubt that.
Todd: This isn't going to work. You're not getting rid of me this way.
Tea: Then, tell me, how can I get rid of you?
Todd: You can't. You're stuck with me.
Tea: I could go back to Llanview. Since you obviously are using me to avoid whatever happened there, if I go back, I should be able to get rid of you again.
Todd: You want me to prove that I'll put myself through hell for you? Fine! Let's go to hell. Let's go to Llanview. I'll have Briggs send my jet for us.
[Tea stares at him, pain evident on her face.]
Todd: Do you want to go?
[Tea doesn't respond. Todd moves to her side and kneels down.]
Todd: You belong here.
Tea: I don't belong anywhere.
[Tea is surprised as Todd tenderly caresses her cheek.]
Todd: You belong here...with me.
Tea: I don't belong...
Todd: What do you want to eat?
Tea: I'm not hungry.
Todd: You have to eat. If you don't, the staff will call your brother and he'll show up again. You don't want him ruining our fun, do you?
Tea: You seem to have fun with him.
Todd: I'd rather be alone with you.
Tea: I can't do this.
Todd: Sure, you can.
Tea: I'm not ready.
Todd: No one's ever ready.
Tea: You'll leave. You always leave.
Todd: I have nothing better to do, right now. There's nowhere else that I want to be.
Tea: You want to be with Starr. That's where you need to be.
Todd: But, she doesn't need me...not the way that I was. I needed to leave so I could stop screwing things up for her. I'll stay here. I'll take care of you. After we find a place to live, she can come and visit us.
Tea: She doesn't want to see me.
Todd: She doesn't hate you. She hates that she didn't get what she wanted. Someday she'll see that what she wanted wouldn't have made her happy.
Tea: Clearly, having you back with Blair is what she wanted.
Todd: Yeah, but it isn't what she needed. When I was a kid, I wanted my mother to come back. She would have been miserable. Peter would have hurt her even worse than before, and I knew that. I still wanted her to come back.
Tea: I wanted my mom to come back, too.
Todd: Even if she would have been miserable with your dad?
Tea: At the time...
Todd: At the time, all you cared about was what you wanted. Someday, Starr will know how screwed up Blair and I were together. She'll know how miserable we were, and how miserable we made each other. She'll figure out that she would have ended up miserable, too.
Tea: But, she must be hurting so much right now.
Todd: It would be worse if I was there.
Tea: I can't believe that.
Todd: Someday, she'll visit us and she'll see why I needed to be here.
Tea: Because I'm in a wheelchair?
Todd: Because, you're Tee. You're the cool chick who hung out with her all the time, taught her how to say stuff in Spanish, read to her, played games with her, hugged her a whole lot. The second she sees you, she'll remember why she loved you so much. She'll remember how happy I was with you.
Tea: You were miserable.
Todd: I know what miserable is. This isn't miserable.
Tea: What is this?
Todd: You're still trying to get me to say it out loud again?
Tea (smiling): Yes.
Todd: Tough! I don't spill my guts in crowded places.
Tea: If I move in with you, you'll say it again?
Todd: It might take a long time to find a place.
Tea: You're Todd Manning. When you really want something, you make it happen quickly.
Todd: I really want this. Are you ready to leave here?
Tea: I don't know. But, I guess, I'm ready to try. Are you? Are you ready to really try this time?
Todd: I'll put myself through hell for you, Tea. I already proved that by putting up with Del.
[Tea smiles and reaches her hand out and lovingly strokes his goatee.]
Todd (standing up): Enough of this. Let's get grub.
[Todd moves behind her chair and pushes her toward her room.]
to be continued...
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2001 COPYRIGHT BY TIMA
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