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| NEVER AGAIN BY TIMA |
CHAPTER 10 |
NEVER AGAIN
chapter 10:
[Tea retreats to her private office and gathers her things. Todd soon appears in the doorway.]
Todd: You're coming with me.
Tea: I'm going home...to Kip.
Todd: You don't love the guy.
Tea: I will not discuss my relationship with you.
Todd: Because it's meaningless. That loser is meaningless.
Tea: Kip is not a loser.
Todd: He works retail!
Tea: He's an executive at a major department store. Someday he'll probably be running the company.
Todd: If he's such a hot shot, how come he works in the middle of the night when the store is closed? He's really just a security guard, isn't he?
Tea: He is an executive. He works overnight because that's when they re-stock the store. He's also getting his MBA.
Todd: He told me he already had an MBA. The guy's a liar. You deserve better.
Tea: Like you? You have lied to me countless times. Kip never has.
Todd: He lied to me.
Tea: So? You're not the one sleeping with him.
[The pained expression on Todd's face causes Tea to regret her purposeful attempt to hurt him.]
Tea: You should leave before this conversation deteriorates any further.
Todd: You really hate me, don't you?
Tea: I don't hate you. I wish I did. I certainly have wanted to. I just need to move on with my life. You may genuinely believe in this moment that my leaving my life to run off with you again would be good for both of us, but I need you to think about each time I did that in the past. It was a disaster. We were a disaster. My love was never enough to carry us through for very long. I need more than a one-sided relationship. I need a partnership. I finally have that...at work, and at home. I need you to respect my choice to choose what I already have this time.
Todd: You're going to make me do this alone?
Tea: You're not alone. You have Viki.
Todd: She hates my guts.
Tea: You have your children.
Todd: It's illegal for me to see them.
Tea: That's never stopped you in the past.
Todd: At least come back with me and get my kids back for me. You owe me that much. If you want to leave after that, we can negotiate.
Tea: There's nothing to negotiate. I'm not abandoning my life to follow after you this time.
Todd: Why not?
Tea: I gave you everything that I had to give, and I would have continued doing so for the rest of my life, if you had given me the chance.
Todd: I'm giving you the chance now.
Tea: I gave you my love. You chose someone else. You need to accept the consequences.
Todd: You're doing this just to get back at me?
Tea: I'm doing this because it's the best thing for me.
Todd: I'm the best thing that ever happened to you.
Tea: You're the worst thing that ever happened to me.
Todd: You don't mean that.
Tea: I do. Before you, I was able to keep my heart safe, no matter how much pain others tried to inflict on me. You convinced me to risk my heart for you. You even promised that you wouldn't leave me, like everyone else always had. You lied. You ran off with my heart and, when I was stupid enough to give you another chance, you did it again, and again, and again. I've finally learned the painful lesson that loving you is pointless. It leads to nothing but loneliness for me.
Todd: This time...
Tea: No more, Todd! You ran out of chances when you paddled away from that island, not caring if I lived or died.
Todd: I cared. I really care about you, Tea. Come with me.
[Tea fights an internal battle to keep the emotion that sounds so genuine in his voice from reaching her heart. She loses that battle. His words do touch her. Her heart breaks, wanting desperately to believe again that he might love her as much as she has always loved him. Even though he manages to pierce her heart, her self-preservation overrides her emotions.]
Tea: I'll tell security to come and lock up for me. Don't refuse to leave. Go back to Llanview...to your family. Have a good life. I intend to. Adios.
[Tea walks passed Todd and exits her office.]
to be continued...
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2003 COPYRIGHT BY TIMA
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