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| NEVER AGAIN BY TIMA |
CHAPTER 20 |
NEVER AGAIN
chapter 20:
[Tea joins Todd in their booth.]
Tea: Do you know what you want?
Todd: I want to get you out of here. I want to go where no one will tell you not to do this thing with me again.
Tea: We would have to leave Llanview for that.
Todd: You could just come back to the hotel with me. I pay those losers enough money to leave me alone. No one would bother us. No one would make you feel lousy for wanting to be with me.
Tea: You know, in the past, you were one of the strongest voices telling me to get away from you for my own good. What changed? Why do you now want me with you?
Todd: It's what you want.
Tea: Whatever you want from me, you won't get, unless you're honest with me.
Todd: I don't know how to do that.
Tea: You better learn fast.
Todd: Was that old lady telling you to get away from me?
Tea: It's irrelevant. I make my own decisions.
Todd: At least tell me if she's got a gun under that counter. Should I get ready to start dodging bullets?
Tea: Don't worry, you're safe.
Todd: It never feels that way.
Tea: There have been moments, haven't there?
Todd: A few...maybe.
Tea: With Blair?
Todd: Safe? With Blair? She has a habit of trying to murder her husbands. Haven't you ever wondered why I gave up sleeping?
Tea: Do you want to sleep with me?
Todd: You just cut right to it, Delgado, don't you?
Tea: I think it's best for both of us if we come to an understanding before this goes any further.
Todd: You're doing that lawyer thing with your voice. You're not going to make me sign away all my money to you, are you? Because, Blair already swiped everything.
Tea: Apparently not, if you can afford a suite on the top floor of The Palace hotel.
Todd: I'm not as dumb as I look. Most of what I have, no one can touch but me. So, why are you using the lawyer voice?
Tea: I'm not asking for anything formal. I just want to come to an informal agreement before we proceed any further.
Todd: A pre-nup is one thing, a pre-fuck is too weird, even for me.
Tea: I'm considering sleeping with you, that's all.
Todd: You mean sleep as in snoring?
Tea: I do not snore.
Todd: It's okay. I'll be so wiped out after we finish, I won't care how loud you are.
Tea: I'll be deciding the ground rules this time, or we don't go any further.
Todd: We're definitely going further. Count on it!
Tea: I knew this was a mistake. The entire walk over here I was determined not to even go this far with you.
Todd: What changed your mind?
Tea: I saw the way Carlotta looked at us when we walked in.
Todd: That look was for me, not you.
Tea: It was because she thought I was with you.
Todd: You are.
Tea: I wasn't, until I saw that look.
Todd: It turns you on when old broads look like they're about to puke?
Tea: I've always been protective of you. It's my weakness. Someone looks at you like you're a monster and I want to prove to the entire world, but especially to you, that you're not that monster.
Todd: You're the only one who doesn't see it.
Tea: You and I both know that's a temporary situation.
Todd: Other people just pretend they don't see it, when they want something from me. You're the only one who really doesn't see it. Even Starr sees it now.
Tea: I don't believe that. I saw Starr before we got stranded on that island. I know how much she still adores her daddy.
Todd: Her daddy disappointed her again. She's really ticked off.
Tea: She'll forgive you.
Todd: Maybe I can't forgive myself.
Tea: For attempting to kidnap her?
Todd: I was doing the right thing.
Tea: I disagree.
Todd: You always do.
Tea: If you think trying to kidnap your kids doesn't require forgiveness, what do you think does?
Todd: It doesn't matter. Are we getting out of here, or not?
Tea: Not!
Todd: If we eat here, we'll have to waste time at the hospital while I get my stomach pumped, after that old broad poisons my food.
Tea: Carlotta would never do that.
Todd: She hates my guts. She'd enjoy it if I had to puke them out.
Tea: Not everyone reacts to things that displease them with extreme actions.
Todd: If you don't want to go back to that stupid hotel, we can go somewhere else. Pick the place.
Tea: I pick here.
Todd: She does have a gun, doesn't she?
Tea: Carlotta won't interfere with our date.
Todd: Date? Todd Manning does not date.
Tea: Most relationships do include some dating.
Todd: Ours never did.
Tea: If the idea of dating me is too offensive, think of this as a business meeting.
Todd: How much is it going to cost me?
Tea: I've decided to meet Mitch Lawrence.
Todd: No way in hell am I letting you anywhere near that psycho.
Tea: This is my decision.
Todd: It's a stupid one.
Tea: That may be, but I need to know the answers that only he can supply about my mother.
Todd: You need to get over it, Delgado.
Tea: I'm trying.
Todd: Meeting that scum won't help. Just stop thinking about it.
Tea: It's not that easy.
Todd: Distract yourself with something else...or someone else.
Tea: I know you understand this. You are just as haunted by your mother abandoning you as I am about my mother abandoning me.
Todd: That's totally different. Mine bailed on me because she didn't give a damn about me. Yours only bailed on you because she was protecting you.
Tea: I need to know if that's really what happened.
Todd: It is.
Tea: Why are you so certain? Maybe she left because she wanted to. Maybe she was bored. Maybe she didn't love us.
Todd: There's no way she didn't feel all that junk for you. Do you know why I took off on that raft when I did, instead of waiting until it was safer?
Tea: You couldn't wait all those months to get back to Blair.
Todd: I wanted my kids to know that I would die for them. I'm lousy at being a dad. I may not be as lousy as either of my fathers were, but I'm not much better.
Tea: That's not true. You are a wonderful father, when you're not trying to kidnap your kids.
Todd: If I had died, it would have been okay with me.
Tea: Don't say that.
Todd: I mean it. Outside of my kids, you're probably the only person who would have given a damn. But, my kids, they would have known that I was willing to give up everything for them, even my life. I needed them to know that I would never bail on them and stay gone, if I had a choice. They have to know that I will never choose anything, or anyone, over them. I would die for them. I would be miserable for the rest of my life for them. You have to know that, too. If my lawyer can't get them away from Blair, I might have to be with them the only way I know I'll always be able to...at least of a while.
Tea: I don't buy it. You can't convince me now that you only wanted to be with Blair because of your children.
Todd: I don't care if I get back the money that Sam helped Blair swipe from me. What does that tell you?
Tea: That you illegally stashed away so much money that you don't even notice the small portion Blair received when she divorced you.
Todd: That's true. But, Blair would notice if she lost that money. My lawyer is working on making it look like that will definitely happen. Blair will have to choose between those kids and that cash.
Tea: What if she chooses her children?
Todd: I'll kidnap them.
Tea: And, if that doesn't work, you'll reunite with her again?
Todd: If I have to.
to be continued...
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2003 COPYRIGHT BY TIMA
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