The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
| NEVER AGAIN BY TIMA |
CHAPTER 14 |
NEVER AGAIN
chapter 14:
Tea: You forbid it?
[Viki watches with amused admiration as her favorite former sister-in-law stands and enters Todd's personal space, Spanish words exiting her mouth at rapid fire pace as she sets Todd straight about his misperception that he can tell her what to do.
Todd is also amused by Tea's display of emotion. A smirk begins to appear on his face, angering Tea even more.]
Tea: This amuses you?
Todd: Let's get out of here.
Tea: Never again will you stop me from living my life how I choose to live it. And, how I choose to live it, is without you, Todd Manning.
[Tea turns her attention back to her former sister-in-law.]
Tea: I'll call again in a few days, after I've had some time to calm down and think this through more thoroughly.
Viki: That's a good idea. I will help you if you decide this is something you must do. I do still agree with my brother, though, as much as I hate to admit it.
Todd: I'm right this time.
Viki: Tea needs to put the past to rest. If she needs to confront the man who she feels may be responsible for her pain, that's what she needs to do.
Todd: Confronting people you hate never works out. You both should know that by now. You've both confronted me enough times.
Tea: I'll leave now. Thank you, Viki, for finding time to see me.
[Viki stands and shares a brief hug with Tea. She then turns toward her younger brother.]
Todd: Don't even think about it.
Viki: Why not, brother, dear?
Todd: Because, sister, dear, if you try hugging me, I'll puke on you.
Viki: Physical closeness often aids emotional closeness.
Todd: Did you read that in a fortune cookie?
Viki: That's my advice to you if you're finally ready to accept genuine love into your life.
[They both look toward Tea who awkwardly looks away, uncomfortable with the expectation that she knows is being placed on her.]
Todd: Let's get out of here, Delgado, before she gets any worse with the sappy junk.
Tea: I'm not going with you.
Todd: You can drive your own car.
Tea: I'll be driving to my home, not yours.
Todd: Okay.
Tea: You're not coming with me.
Todd: Whatever!
Tea: I mean it, Todd. I'll have you arrested if you show up again at my home.
Todd: If you do, you know who I'll call to be my lawyer.
Tea: I'm not taking on any new clients right now. Sorry.
[Tea turns and walks toward the door. Todd begins to follow her. Viki's hand on his arm stops him.
As she stands in the doorway, Tea turns and shares eye contact with her ex-husband for several seconds before exiting Viki's home.]
Viki: Todd...
Todd: Hold that lecture. I have someone I need to follow.
Viki: Surely, you can charm Tea better than what I've seen here today.
Todd: If she gets anywhere near Mitch Lawrence, he'll hurt her. I can't let that happen.
Viki: Try sharing your feelings with her, not just demanding that she do what you tell her to do.
Todd: I suck at words.
Viki: Women like to feel that the man in their life cares about them, not simply wants to control them.
Todd: No one can control that woman.
[Todd rushes out the door. As he nears his car, he realizes he didn't need to hurry. Tea is standing next to her car, looking at the perfectly manicured landscape before her.]
Todd: Viki gave you the chance to escape, why didn't you take it?
Tea: Do you remember walking out there together?
Todd: We walked lots of places together. What's the big deal about this place?
Tea: You were reticent to do something so potentially romantic as taking a slow stroll through such a beautiful estate with your wife.
Todd: I did it, right? I hated every second of it, but I did it because you made me.
Tea: I didn't make you.
Todd: You gave me that look. I didn't have a choice.
Tea: It isn't that I wanted you to be a completely normal husband. I did enjoy your eccentricities. I just wanted an occasional moment when I didn't have to work so hard.
[Tea shakes her head slightly, trying to shake away the feelings that still linger in her heart for the man she adored so many years ago.]
Tea: Ancient history!
[Tea begins to open her car door. Todd steps closer to her.]
Todd: Wait!
Tea: I need to leave. I hoped coming here would give me some peace. I think I'm realizing that there will never be any peace in my life about anything.
Todd: I feel like walking around before we leave. You can tag along, or you can wait here for me. I'm giving you a choice.
Tea: I choose to leave without you.
Todd: That's not one of the choices I gave you.
Tea: That's the choice I gave myself.
Todd: That's not what you want.
Tea: That's what I should want.
Todd: But, that's not what you really want.
Tea: It's too late, Todd. How many times have we tried? We must be into double digits by now. It feels more like triple digits, at this point. I'm tired, not so much of trying, but certainly of failing.
Todd: You never failed.
Tea: Because, I never really had a chance to begin with, did I? That's the story of my life...failing before I even begin.
Todd: That's bull!
Tea: That's how it feels. That's how it has always felt. It doesn't matter how hard I try, how much I work at anything, I always end up alone, scared and wishing I could go back to an earlier moment in time and, through some miracle, be able to change everything that happened after that moment. But, I can't go back because I realize that moment that I've been holding onto in my mind never really existed, not the way I chose to remember it.
Todd: The past is whatever you want it to be. Same with the future.
Tea: No, the past is what it was. I loved you and you never loved me.
Todd: You're right, I never loved you.
[Tears fill Tea's eyes as a painful smile graces her lips.]
Tea: Thank you for being honest with me...finally.
Todd: Don't you get it, Delgado?
Tea: I'm through fighting for something that doesn't exist...that never did exist. I'm leaving.
[Todd takes hold of her arm, preventing her from entering her car.]
Tea: Let go of me!
Todd: I'm saying what I have to say. You're listening. Then, you're coming with me. No more pretending you don't want to.
Tea: I know this is hard for you to comprehend, but being with someone who has never loved me isn't what I want.
Todd: Love is hate. Haven't you figured that out yet? Haven't you had enough people say they love you and then kick you in the gut as they're kicking you to the curb to know what that word really means?
[Tea is mesmerized by Todd's magnetic presence as he continues to hold her arm as his body presses hers against her car.]
Todd: Love is pain. It's lies. It's games. Love is my mother walking out on me and leaving me in hell to deal with the devil by myself. It's her sending me back after I finally escaped and found her. It's people using me to get what they want, telling me they're having my kid when they're not, or not having my kid when they are. Even Viki throws that word at me and then turns on me every time I disappoint her, which is all the time.
Tea: Your sister loves you.
Todd: She just thinks she does because she thinks she's supposed to. I know she wishes every day that she'll find out I'm not really her brother.
Tea: That's not true.
Todd: Love is what people feel for you when you have something they want. As soon as they get what they want from you, or as soon as they realize you'll never be able to give it to them, that love morphs into the hate they've really always felt for you. What we have isn't love. It never has been. It never will be.
Tea: You're not going to tell me we're like frozen food again, are you?
Todd: Never mind. Forget I said anything.
[Todd lets go of Tea and removes his body from hers.]
Tea: Todd! I'm sorry. Finish what you were saying.
Todd: What's the point?
Tea: I don't know. I know where this will lead. You think that love always leads to hate. I think it always leads to loneliness. You have no idea how lonely I felt watching you leave that island, knowing that once again someone was choosing to leave me behind to move on with their life without me.
Todd: You weren't alone.
Tea: I was lonely. I always feel that way when I'm not with you.
[Tea is startled as Todd quickly re-enters her personal space as he resumes pressing his body against hers.]
Todd: What we have isn't love. I hate that word.
Tea: What words would you use?
Todd: I hate words.
Tea: Sometimes we need them.
Todd: Sometimes we don't.
[Tea trembles slightly as Todd's lips finally touch hers again in an erotic, emotion-filled kiss.]
to be continued...
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
2003 COPYRIGHT BY TIMA
FanFiction Home
Home
