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| NEVER AGAIN BY TIMA |
CHAPTER 1 |
NEVER AGAIN
chapter 1:
[Attorney Tea Delgado pushes her fingers through her hair in frustration. She glances at the clock on the nightstand next to her bed and groans. In five hours she is scheduled to begin the opening arguments in the most challenging case of her career. Despite the late hour, sleep is impossible for her on this night. She's awake and stressing herself out writing and re-writing her opening remarks. In theory she may need sleep, but in her always striving for perfection mind, she needs more for her words to be perfect. She has to win this case, for her client, for her career, for her own ego. Tea Delgado does not lose! Ever!
Tea stands up and positions herself in front of a full length mirror and begins yet another rehearsal of her courtroom performance. She wants to be certain that not only are her words perfect, but that every gesture, and every aspect of her body language, will convince the jury that she's the one to believe in for the duration of the trial.
Her impassioned performance is interrupted by the sound of loud pounding coming from the lower level of her brownstone, accompanied by the sound of the doorbell being rung incessantly. She quickly places a robe over her nightgown and leaves the bedroom.
On the lower level, she cautiously approaches the front door. Her heart stops, along with her feet. The light illuminating above his head, gives her a clear view of her visitor...her ex-husband, Todd Manning, as he leans in her doorway, his face pressed against a small pane of glass to the side of the door.]
Todd (yelling): Come on, Delgado, let me in!
[Tea finally steps closer to the door and raises her voice, not just to be heard over his continued ringing of the doorbell, but also out of anger. She's still angry at him for pain he inflicted on her in the past. She's even more angry at herself that, despite everything that has happened between them, and separate from him in the time they've been apart, her heart still leaps at the very sight of him. She had hoped she would have that reflex reaction under control by now.]
Tea: Go away, Todd!
Todd: Let me in! It's cold out here.
Tea: You'll find your reception in here even colder.
Todd: Stop being a bitch and let me in!
[Tea lets loose with a string of profanity in Spanish that leads into several equally heart-felt words in English.]
Tea: ...fucking moronic asshole, pay attention when I talk. I said -- go away!
Todd: I said - let me in!
Tea: Why should I?
Todd: Because...I don't have anywhere else to go.
[Despite her determination not to give in to her ex-husband's demands this time, Tea finds herself unlocking the door.
As the door begins to open, Todd pushes his way inside.]
Todd: Where's the john?
Tea: You came all this way just to use my bathroom?
Todd: I can use that ugly looking plant over there instead.
Tea: It's upstairs.
[As Todd moves toward the stairs, Tea realizes that he's clearly inebriated, more so than she can ever recall seeing him before.
Tea locks the front door before slowly making her way upstairs. She waits near the bathroom, determined that she will escort her ex-spouse out of her home, and her life, as soon as he finishes relieving himself. As several minutes pass without Todd re-appearing in the hallway, she begins to worry. She knocks lightly on the door.]
Todd: Occupied!
Tea: I know. I just...
Todd: You can use it in a minute.
Tea: I don't need to use the bathroom. I was just worr...I was wondering what's taking you so long?
Todd: You don't have to worry, I won't pass out in here. How could I? It smells in here. What is it with chicks putting all these stupid, smelly twigs, and leaves, and soaps, and whatever else makes people feel like puking, in their johns?
Tea: I don't think your urge to puke is because of anything in my bathroom. Clearly, you've been drinking tonight.
[Todd finishes in the bathroom and pulls open the door.]
Todd: Clearly, I haven't had enough to drink yet. I can still hear your yapping.
Tea: There's an easy solution if you don't want to hear my yapping -- don't show up uninvited to my home at this hour of the morning!
Todd: Where's the bed?
[Tea steps in front of him and puts her hand on his chest to keep him from moving toward her bedroom.]
Tea: You've taken care of your reason for coming. You need to leave now.
Todd: You think I came for your john?
Tea: I know you didn't come for me. Even you wouldn't have the audacity to show up here after all this time, after the way things ended between us the last time, and expect to get anything more from me than a kick in the ass on your way out the door. Now, leave! Right now!
[Tea pushes on Todd's chest, letting him know that she's serious about wanting him to leave. He turns and returns down the staircase, holding the railing as he goes, to keep his balance. Tea watches him, wondering what disaster has befallen him this time, but determined not to allow him to pull her down into his abyss this time...not again...never again.
In the living room, instead of moving toward the door, Todd moves toward a large, comfortable looking sofa in the middle of the room. He collapses on it, on his stomach, relieved that it is actually comfortable, for a sofa.]
Tea: Get up, Todd!
[Tea grabs his arm and tries to pull him off her sofa but he refuses to be moved.]
Tea: You can't do this to me this time.
Todd: You're stuck with me, Tea. No one else can help me with this.
[Tea sits down on the coffee table in front of the sofa.]
Tea: Help you with what?
Todd: I don't want to talk about it.
Tea: How can I help you if you won't tell me what's wrong?
Todd: That never stopped you before.
Tea: Things are different this time, Todd. I'm different. My life is different. And, if you're anything like you were the last time we saw each other, you're different, too. Too different for this to work between us again, whether you're seeking friendship, business, or...whatever else.
Todd: You can yap at me in the morning. For now, shut up and turn the light off.
Tea: I have more important things to do in the morning than do anything with you.
Todd: What's more important than me?
Tea: Everything, and everyone, in my current life!
Todd: That's a lousy thing to say, Delgado.
Tea: That's how I feel. What we had is in the past. I've accepted that. It's time you do the same and stop showing up in my life whenever things aren't going the way you want them to in yours.
Todd: Look, Delgado...
Tea: No, you look...I have to be in court in a matter of hours. I don't have time to waste on you right now. If you come back in a few years, maybe I'll try to spare a few minutes for whatever little dramas you might be dealing with then. For now, I would appreciate it if you leave. Right now!
[Todd doesn't move. Despite the fact that his eyes are closed, Tea suspects that he's still awake. Knowing Todd as well as she does, she knows it's pointless to waste anymore time trying to convince him to leave, if he's determined to stay the night. She returns upstairs.
As she enters her bedroom, she locks the door before turning out the light and lying down on the bed. This time sleep doesn't come, not because she's nervous about her upcoming court appearance, but because of her curiosity, and despite her attempt to thwart it, her concern for whatever has caused Todd to return to her life, yet again.]
to be continued...
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2002 COPYRIGHT BY TIMA
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