| UNFINISHED BUSINESS BY TIMA |
CHAPTER 20 |
Tea: This could be the hardest day of my life.
Viki: With the greatest potential reward.
Tea: True.
Viki: Good luck.
Tea: I'll need it.
[Viki gathers her things and leaves, feeling certain that, at last, her brother is found, and will soon be safe, with his wife's love surrounding him, whether he thinks he deserves it, or not.]
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chapter 20:
[As Tea changes her clothes and prepares to go to the house, down the road from her own, that she just minutes earlier learned that Todd owns, she feels more nervous than she ever has in her life.
She tries to prepare herself for the possibility that Todd won't be there, that just because he secretly bought another house near the one they shared together doesn't mean that he would live there now while he's trying to hide from everyone who cares about him. Her heart, though, tells her that he is there.
She wonders if, during the months he's been gone, he has secretly watched her. She wonders if all those nights she spend alone, staring at the ocean, really weren't spent alone, after all.
By the time Tea finishes dressing and finally calms herself enough to leave the house and risk her heart again, along with her hopes, it's already late in the day and the sun is beginning to set.
She gets into her car and again pauses for several minutes trying to calm herself as she also tries to prepare herself for either seeing Todd again, and whatever battles she may have to fight to convince him to return to her life, or the painful reality of more emotional, and physical, solitude if her hunch proves incorrect and she doesn't find him living in this other house.
Finally, Tea slowly makes her way down the road towards where she hopes to find Todd. She nervously looks at the addresses of house after house as she continues to move closer to her destination.
When she finally reaches the address of the house that Todd secretly purchased, she continues driving further down the road. She's too nervous to stop yet. She's not ready to face Todd, or to face the possibility that she won't find him tonight.
Several times, Tea drives passed the property, each time determined that this will be the time she will finally approach the closed gate...and each time she drives passed it again, still not ready.
Finally, Tea parks her car down the road and closes her eyes for several minutes, trying to force herself to do it this time. She needs to know if he's here. If he is, she wants him to know that he doesn't have to be alone anymore. If he isn't... She can't allow herself to believe that her search for her husband will be dragged out beyond this day. She has to find him today...especially today.
By the time, Tea finally pulls her car into the driveway, it's fully dark out. As she stops at the closed gate that blocks her path, she smiles at the sign, lit up by her headlights, posted near the gate, warning visitors to beware of the vicious animal that lives within. Knowing Todd, she assumes that, in his mind, the vicious animal the sign refers to is himself.
Even more now, Tea is determined to confront Todd tonight. She doesn't want him to spend another night alone, mistakenly considering himself to be a monster that he must keep from the people he loves to protect them. She won't spend one more night miserable because of his determination to protect her from something that she has no desire to be protected from.
Tea reaches through her open car window and pushes a button on a security intercom.
When there's no response, she pushes it again...and again...and again.
Finally, she hears some noise through the intercom, followed by a gruff, and angry, voice that fills her heart and brings tears to her eyes.]
Todd (through the intercom): I don't care what you're selling. I'm not buying. Go away.
Tea: Todd?
[Todd is stunned as he immediately recognizes her voice. He wishes he had just allowed her to keep pushing the buzzer. He is in no way prepared for this. He knows his wife. Now that she knows where he is, she won't leave. She would probably climb the fence, if she had to, to reach him.]
Tea: Todd, I know you're here. I know that you bought this house. Let me in. We need to talk.
[Tea waits for several moments but there's no response from Todd.]
Tea: Todd...please...I need to see you. I need to know that you're okay.
Todd: I'm fine. Go away.
Tea: You don't sound fine.
Todd: It's these stupid intercom things. They make everybody sound lousy.
Tea: Let me in.
Todd: Tea, just go away. Go back home.
Tea: Did you want this to be our home?
[Todd doesn't respond.]
Tea: I know that you bought this after we bought the house we shared. Either, you wanted us to live here or this is where you were planning to keep your mistress. Well? Which is it?
Todd: Do you really think that I would put up with any more women than I have to?
Tea: If you bought this house for me, let me in. Let me see it.
[Todd doesn't respond.]
Tea: I need to see you, Todd. Viki and I have been looking for you for weeks. I had been able to, as your wife, access some of your records. Viki and I had gone through so much paperwork but we had gotten nowhere. Today we devoted several hours to going through everything all over again in the hopes that some clue to your whereabouts had been missed. When I saw this house listed among your assets, I knew I had to come. I had a feeling that I would find you here. I needed to find you today. Maybe there was a reason why I didn't learn about this house until today. You know what's important about today, don't you?
[Todd's head is resting against the wall as he listens to his wife speaking to him through the security intercom. He knows exactly why today is important to both of them. He's spent much of the day drinking and remembering, knowing that forgetting wasn't an option, even if it would be easier.]
Tea: Do you remember?
[Several moments pass before Tea hears his quiet reply.]
Todd: Yeah.
Tea: Come home, Todd. I want you to come home. I need you to come home.
Todd: Go away.
Tea: No.
Todd: Delgado...
Tea: I love you.
Todd: Don't.
Tea: I can't help it. I can't stop it. I love you. I need you...especially tonight.
Todd: You're better off without me.
Tea: That's not true. That has never been true.
Todd: Tonight's just another reminder that I screw everything up.
Tea: We both have made some mistakes but we haven't screwed this up...yet. Come home.
Todd: It's my fault.
Tea: No, it isn't. I swear to you, it was not your fault. You didn't cause it.
Todd: I hurt you.
Tea: You didn't hurt me.
[Todd knows that she's lying to him.]
Todd: Go away.
[Todd shuts off the intercom and walks away from it. Tea hears it shut off. She wants to scream. It's so impossible getting through to him sometimes.
She spends more than an hour pushing the buzzer every few minutes, to let him know that she's still there. She hopes that he'll either turn on the intercom again so they can continue talking or maybe even open the gate for her. Nothing happens. Tea finally accepts that Todd won't be responding to her and reluctantly drives back to the house they had shared together.
She immediately calls and leaves a message for Viki, letting her know that she did find Todd but that he's shutting her out and most likely will be somewhere else by morning.
Tea considers going back and spending the night in her car, in his driveway, so he won't be able to leave without encountering her first. Knowing him, though, he'd probably just hire a helicopter to land on his property and pick him up. If he's really determined to avoid her, he will.
Tea still hopes that he won't allow her to spend this night alone. She takes a blanket outside and sits on a chair on the small porch, overlooking the ocean.
She wants him to come to her so they can spend the night comforting each other. If he can't do that, then she wants to at least be outside where she can pretend that he is somewhere in the shadows, watching her, being with her as much as he can. She can't bear the thought of being without him...not tonight.]
to be continued...
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