| UNFINISHED BUSINESS BY TIMA |
CHAPTER 15 |
Todd: Nothing is comforting for me. It would probably just make me think about you, anyway. It was a lousy idea. It would just make it even harder to sleep.
Tea: Let's eat this dessert and then maybe we can come up with a way for you to sleep. Maybe tonight we'll both sleep better than either of us has in a long time.
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chapter 15:
[Tea and Todd sit at her dining table, the dessert Todd purchased in front of them.]
Todd: More?
Tea: I couldn't possibly eat any more of this.
Todd: You hate it that much?
Tea: No, it's just too sweet...too rich...too much. The first bite was great but...
Todd: Every bite after that brings you closer to vomiting?
Tea (smiling): Something like that. You can have more, if you like.
Todd: I don't want to look like a pig in front of you.
Tea: Are you sure it isn't that it's making you nauseous, too?
Todd: I could eat this whole thing if I wanted to.
Tea: Go ahead. I'd like to see that.
Todd: Is that how you want to get your thrills tonight?
Tea: Are there other options?
Todd: For thrill getting?
Tea: Yes.
Todd: I don't know. What's on TV?
Tea: Nothing that interests me as much as watching you.
Todd: You want me to start up another fire?
Tea: So, I can watch you by the flickering light of the fireplace?
Todd: Maybe I could let you watch me tonight.
Tea: Really? You wouldn't be bothered by my staring at you?
Todd: I've handled it so far tonight, haven't I?
Tea: Did you watch me on our wedding night?
Todd: Which one?
Tea: I was thinking of the most recent one but you can answer me for all three, if you'd like.
Todd: Yeah, I watched you.
Tea: On which one?
Todd: All of them.
Tea: So, you watched me before you left me this last time?
Todd: Yeah.
Tea: And, I know that you were in my hospital room while I was unconscious after our second wedding.
Todd: Yeah.
Tea: What about our first wedding night?
Todd: What about it?
Tea: You watched me?
Todd: I said that I did.
Tea: Why?
Todd: What do you mean?
Tea: You didn't have feelings for me, right? Our relationship was strictly business at that point.
Todd: Yeah. So?
Tea: So, why did you watch me?
Todd: You were there.
Tea: That was the only reason?
Todd: You weren't afraid. Most people would have been. You weren't. You just went ahead and actually slept. You didn't even lock your door.
Tea: Did watching me make you feel better? Is that why you watched me sleep during our first marriage?
Todd: I don't know. It started out just because you were there. And, then after you got hurt, when you came back from the hospital, I would check to make sure you were okay. You know, still there...still breathing.
Tea: I remember you coming into my room during my recovery. You tried to leave as soon as you saw I was awake.
Todd: But you caught me. I thought you would figure it out.
Tea: I thought you were just worried about your investment.
Todd: I was.
Tea: Your emotional investment?
Todd: Now I know you spiked my drink because there's no way I would voluntarily stay this long into this kind of conversation.
Tea: I'm glad you've stayed. We need to talk. We can stop now, though, if it's becoming too much for you.
[Todd stands up and goes into the kitchen. Tea follows him. He digs into her refrigerator and finds a small bottle of a non-alcoholic, carbonated, fruity beverage. He twists the cap off and swallows half the contents of the bottle.]
Todd: You want one?
Tea: I'll just share yours.
Todd: I don't share, remember?
Tea: Just one sip.
[Todd holds the bottle out of Tea's reach as she tries to grab for it.]
Todd: Get your own.
Tea: All I want is a taste. If I can't get it directly from the bottle...
Todd: What are you going to do, Tea?
Tea: I'm going to kiss you.
[Tea places her fingers at his lips and lightly caresses them.]
Todd: You're wiping all the taste off.
Tea: I know from experience that it will still taste great.
Todd: I probably have garlic breath.
Tea: Do you want me to kiss you?
Todd: I don't know. What will that mean?
Tea: It will mean that I want to kiss you.
Todd: I'm serious, Tea. What will that mean?
Tea: What are you asking me?
Todd: If we kiss right now, does that mean that I'm giving into your demands? Is that what you'll think it means?
Tea: Is what I'm asking for really too much for you right now?
Todd: You want me to stop running, right?
Tea: Can you do that? Can you stay here and let me love you? Can you allow yourself to open up and love me without...
[Todd watches the pain in her eyes. He knows that he put it there by leaving her, each time that he did, each way that he did.]
Todd: Can I love you without feeling like I revealed too much, like I risked too much, like I went too far and the only way to keep from falling into that emotional pit that I just opened up is if I get away from you?
Tea: Can you? Can you love me and stay with me? Can you allow me to love you while you love me? Can you give me everything that I want, Todd? Right here, right now, can you do that?
to be continued...
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