The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
| ONE LAST TIME BY TIMA |
CHAPTERS 55 - 57 |
ONE LAST TIME
chapter 55:
Tea: No matter what you propose, my answer is no.
Todd: Is that why you're so upset, because you didn't get another sappy proposal out of me?
Tea: I'm upset because, as usual, you're not listening to me.
Todd: We don't have to wait for it to get light out. We could leave right now.
Tea: You're not coming with us.
Todd: Someone has to drive.
Tea: I'm more than capable of driving our daughter home.
Todd: I've seen how you drive. I'm doing the driving from now on.
Tea: Todd...
Todd: You sound tired.
Tea: Maybe I wouldn't be tired if you didn't break in here and wake me up.
Todd: You woke up because you wanted to.
Tea: I did?
Todd: You didn't hear me come in. That's not why you woke up. You could tell I was here. You didn't want to waste time sleeping when you could be awake salsa speaking to me.
Tea: Right now, I'd rather be sleeping.
Todd: Sleep...it's overrated.
Tea: For you, maybe. I need to sleep. Between you and Valencia, though, I doubt I'll be getting too many full nights until she goes off to college.
Todd: You'll still be waking up whenever you know I need you, even then.
Tea: Why do you need me tonight?
Todd: I don't need you.
Tea: I'm too exhausted to play word games with you. Either tell me the real reason you're here, or leave and allow me a few more minutes of sleep.
Todd: I came to watch Valencia. I already told you that.
Tea: You also told me that you need me.
Todd: No, I didn't.
Tea: Go home.
Todd: You want me to wake V, so we can go?
Tea: V?
Todd: You're Tee, right?
Tea: I used to be, with Starr.
Todd: That makes her V.
Tea: You could call her Val.
Todd: I like V better.
Tea: What you call her is your decision.
Todd: I just realized something. If Delgado is her middle name, that makes her V.D. Manning. No kid of mine is being called V.D. I'll come up with a different middle name for her.
Tea: You will?
Todd: You came up with the first name. I get the middle name.
Tea: You got the last name, remember?
Todd: That was your idea. You wanted all of us to be Mannings.
Tea: I'm not marrying you again.
Todd: Not until I get divorced.
Tea: Go do that. Let me sleep.
Todd: Are you in a bad mood like this when V wakes up and wants something to drink?
Tea: Valencia needs me. You don't. Find someone else to play your games with.
Todd: You're my favorite person to play with. You can't pretend you don't like it when I play with you. You know what I mean, right?
Tea: That part of our relationship is in the past.
Todd: You still want me.
Tea: Right now, I want to go back to sleep.
[Tea is surprised as Todd moves away from the baby's crib and climbs into bed next to her.]
Todd: You better appreciate this.
Tea: You're getting into my bed without an invitation? We're not having sex, by the way.
Todd: You talk about sex a lot. Why is that?
Tea: What are you hoping I'll appreciate?
Todd: You're on my side of the bed.
Tea: Since this isn't your bed...
Todd: Like I said, you better appreciate it because, starting tomorrow, we go back to the normal way.
Tea: There is no tomorrow for us.
[Todd again surprises Tea by turning toward her and placing his arm around her body as he leans his face close to hers.]
Todd: You're not splitting on me this time. You'll have to deal with the fact that we're together now.
Tea: What if that's not what I want?
Todd: It doesn't matter.
Tea: I don't matter, not to you. I never have.
Todd: You matter more than anyone ever has.
Tea: You're lying.
Todd: I'm not backing down from what I want this time.
Tea: You always back down. You always leave.
Todd: You're the one always leaving me.
Tea: Because you're always pushing me away.
Todd: I didn't push you away when we split Llanview together.
Tea: Yes, you did.
Todd: I stayed. You're the one who walked out on me.
Tea: I couldn't live like that anymore.
Todd: I gave you everything you wanted. I said the stuff you wanted me to say. I did the stuff you wanted me to do. You still split on me.
Tea: I couldn't stay.
Todd: You could have told me you didn't want me saying that junk anymore. I would have stopped.
Tea: Your words were perfect.
Todd: So perfect they shoved you out the door.
Tea: It hurt too much.
Todd: I won't say that junk anymore. You don't have to split this time.
Tea: I need your words, but...
Todd: If I say them, you'll split on me. If I don't say them, you'll split on me. This sucks!
[Todd rolls away from her.]
Tea: I can't allow myself to have hope for us. Even if you did love me, I learned a long time ago that believing in love only leads to pain.
Todd: You love Valencia, right?
Tea: Of course I do. That's different.
Todd: I remember saying that kind of junk to you back when you were trying to convince me that I could love more than just Starr. You were always telling me that it would be okay, if I just gave you a chance. When I did give you a chance, you kicked me in the gut.
Tea: I didn't want to hurt you.
Todd: You're just like everyone else.
Tea: I'm just like you. I'm scared to be with you. I'm scared not to be with you. I'm scared that I'll make a mistake and my daughter will end up hating me.
Todd: Like you hate your mom?
Tea: A part of me will always be the little girl waiting for her mother to come home. Living with you, makes the pain I've felt for most of my life more vivid than I can handle. Every time you walk out the door, I don't expect you to ever come back. Do you understand that? Every moment that I'm with you hurts as much as it did the day she left. I can't allow myself to hope that you'll love me and stay with me. Because, I know that you won't...you can't.
Todd: What if I could?
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
ONE LAST TIME
chapter 56:
[Tea turns on a small lamp on the nightstand next to the bed. Todd watches as she gets out of bed and moves toward the crib their daughter is sleeping in. He soon is standing at her side as they both watch their sleeping daughter.]
Tea: We both know that if I agree to be with you again, you'll panic and start putting up impenetrable barriers between us, just like every time in the past.
Todd: Not every time.
Tea: You run. I run. We can't continue our old pattern anymore. We both need to put Valencia first.
Todd: First, I need to get my divorce out of the way. How much will it cost me if we're shacking up at the time?
[Tea finally looks at the man standing intimately close to her.]
Tea: Never again will you buy me.
Todd: You've got that right. You'll be with me because you want what we have, not what I have in the bank. How much should I pay off Blair not to fight this?
Tea: That's between you and you're wife.
Todd: Ex-wife.
Tea: Not at the moment.
Todd: After I pay her off, I'll get another quickie divorce. We'll move somewhere far away from anyone who knows us. There won't be anyone around to tell Valencia what scum I am. She won't have a clue.
Tea: You're not scum.
Todd: If you refuse to be with me, that's how you'll make me feel.
Tea: Don't use my compassion for you to get what you want.
Todd: Why not? It's all I have going for me.
Tea: You have a lot going for you, Todd Manning.
Todd: Do I have Tea Delgado?
[Tea returns her gaze to their daughter.]
Tea: That would be a mistake.
Todd: You've already made this mistake a bunch of times before. What's the big deal about making it again?
Tea: The reason I've made that mistake so many times is because it never lasts.
Todd: Sure it does.
Tea: If it did, we would have been together the last two years. You wouldn't have been with someone else. I wouldn't have been with someone else.
Todd: That loser's out of your life now, right?
Tea: Simon's a good man.
Todd: Unlike me.
Tea: There is good in you. You just bury it so deep sometimes.
Todd: Whatever! The whole point of all this is that it didn't matter what happened between us, or any of the stuff that happened with other people that never should have happened. We still ended up together when it counted. I thought fate had it in for us, but look at her. Look at our kid. Fate finally got something right.
Tea: Yes, it did.
Todd: We were meant to be together.
Tea: That one time.
Todd: I remember you seducing me more than once the night we made her.
Tea: I want everything to be different for her.
Todd: It will be. You'll be her mom.
Tea: But, I learned how to be a mother from my own mother.
Todd: No...you learned how not to be a mom from your mom. Just like I learned how not to be a dad from both my daddy dearests. Okay, I screwed it up. But, I don't think either of them gave a damn that they screwed their kids up. I can't promise that I won't screw Valencia up too, but I'll try not to. I'll really try.
Tea: I know you will.
Todd: I'll try not to screw it up with you this time, too.
Tea: You don't need to be with me to be a big part of her life. You know that, don't you?
Todd: I don't want to be with you just because we had a kid together. I wanted to be with you even when I thought she wasn't mine.
[Tea walks away from the crib.]
Tea: Now, that, I know is a lie.
Todd: Like hell!
Tea: You refused to be with me when you thought the baby was Simon's.
Todd: If it wasn't you, who the hell was it who had me spilling my guts while she was riding my wild thing?
Tea: You only said what you did because you knew we couldn't be together. Now that we can...
Todd: I love you, dammit! Is that what you wanted to hear?
Tea: That didn't sound very endearing.
Todd: You're pissing me off right now. How do you expect me to say it?
Tea: I don't expect you to say it at all, especially since we both know it isn't true.
Todd: I give up!
Tea: Good! Now, please leave.
Todd: Not without my kid.
Tea: There will be no custody battles with this child.
[Todd enters Tea's personal space, terrifying her. She's having enough difficulty resisting him from a distance. She knows that her internal barriers will crumble at his touch.
Todd makes it more unbearable for her by placing his hand at her cheek. Tea leans her face into his touch, her resistance quickly disappearing.]
Todd: I don't want to take her away from you. I know the kind of mom you'll be for her. She's lucky. When you love someone, it feels...
[Todd looks away for a moment before returning his intense gaze to her eyes.]
Todd: I want that feeling again.
Tea: It terrifies you.
Todd: So?
Tea: You'll leave to avoid that feeling.
Todd: Not this time.
Tea: I can't allow myself to believe that again.
Todd: You look at me like I'm not scum. Even when I disappoint you, you don't look at me like I'm a disappointment to you. You know everything and you still give a damn about me. That's why I want to be with you.
Tea: I can't.
Todd: Forget everything that happened before, and everything you're afraid will happen next. If you could have anything you want and know that it would work out, would you want to be with me?
Tea: Yes. But...
[Todd doesn't allow Tea to speak as he grabs her body, pulling it tightly against his own, as he kisses her passionately.]
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
ONE LAST TIME
chapter 57:
[Minutes later...
Tea pulls away from Todd.]
Tea: Do you really think you can kiss me any time you want me to shut up and I'll just go along with it?
[Todd smirks as he returns his lips to hers.
Within seconds, Todd has Tea lying on the bed underneath him.
The sound of crying interrupts their passion.]
Todd: Did you train her to do that whenever we get this close, so you don't have to do it with me anymore?
Tea: She's hungry. She wants me to feed her.
[Todd rolls off of Tea. She gets off the bed and retrieves their daughter from the crib.]
Tea: Are you okay with being here for this?
Todd: It's totally natural, right?
[Tea hands the baby to Todd.]
Todd: If you're expecting me to do it for you, that wouldn't be natural.
Tea: I just need you to hold her for a minute while I get ready.
Todd: I thought all you had to do was plop one out and the kid took care of the rest.
Tea: It helps if I'm comfortable while I'm plopping one out.
[Tea places a nursing pillow around her waist and sits in a chair in the corner of the room. She motions for Todd to bring the baby to her.]
Tea: You can leave, if you're too uncomfortable.
Todd: No way! You'd think you won.
Tea: This isn't a battle.
Todd: You've been fighting me.
Tea: I've been fighting for our daughter.
Todd: You're hiding behind her.
Tea: I won't be hiding anything in a moment.
Todd: Go ahead.
[The baby cries in frustration for having to wait too long.
Tea speaks to Valencia in Spanish as she opens her pajama top and begins breastfeeding her daughter.]
Tea (to Todd): She's just like her papi -- she doesn't know the meaning of the word patience.
Todd: I know the meaning. I just don't give a damn.
[For several minutes Todd stares at his daughter. Tea alternates between watching her daughter and her ex-husband.]
Todd: She's real, huh?
Tea: It's just now sinking in for you?
Todd: Good things never happen to me, except in weird dreams I have sometimes. By the end of the dream, though, the good thing is always yanked away from me.
Tea: You have had good things happen to you before.
Todd: Name one.
Tea: Starr.
Todd: She hates my guts. Name another.
Tea: Jack.
Todd: He got yanked away.
Tea: Not in your heart.
Todd: He's not my kid. I shouldn't feel anything for him anymore.
Tea: Love doesn't work that way.
Todd: Drop it!
Tea: I hate seeing you in this much pain.
Todd: Stop fighting me. Stop fighting what you want.
Tea: I want peace in my life. I will never have that with you.
Todd: You would hate having a peaceful life. You'd be totally bored.
Tea: Boring isn't necessarily bad.
Todd: If you wanted boring, you would have stuck it out with Simple Simon.
Tea: Is that you're new nickname for him?
Todd: Only until I can think of a good one. Semen Donor doesn't work anymore.
Tea: You could just call him his name, without needing to add insults.
Todd: Whatever! It's still a fact that, if you had wanted boring, you would have stayed with him and you never would have told me Valencia is mine.
Tea: I could never keep that from you, no matter what the consequences may be for the rest of my life.
Todd: Why would you throw everything away to tell me if you're not okay throwing everything away so you can be with me?
Tea: This isn't about us. You need her. She needs you. That's why I told you.
Todd: Nobody needs me...except you.
Tea: For my own sanity, I need to stop needing you.
Todd: That will never happen.
Tea: It has to.
Todd: It's too late. We need each other.
Tea: You need me?
Todd: I already made that clear.
Tea: Nothing is ever clear with you.
Todd: I'm lousy at the words, you know that, but...
Tea: Don't say them this time.
Todd: Why not?
Tea: I won't believe them.
Todd: You always believe them.
Tea: Not anymore. I don't want to play games with you. I just want you to be a part of your daughter's life, that's all.
Todd: You want me.
Tea: No, I don't.
Todd: You're lying. I can tell.
Tea: We can't keep going around in circles.
Todd: Why not, if it's what we both want?
Tea: You don't want me. You want a wife...any wife...to complete the family ideal you have in your mind.
Todd: No family I've ever been a part of has ever been ideal...except when it was you, me and Starr.
Tea: That was your idea of ideal?
Todd: It was yours too.
Tea: Hardly.
Todd: You wouldn't have kept coming back if it wasn't what you wanted.
Tea: I wouldn't have needed to keep coming back, if you hadn't kept pushing me away. It would be no different this time.
Todd: Everything is different.
Tea: Nothing has changed.
Todd: We have a kid together now.
Tea: You don't need to be with me because of Valencia. You'll always be her papi, no matter what.
Todd: I want to be with you because I want to be with you. Why isn't that ever enough for you?
Tea: Because, it's never enough for you. You get scared, or you get bored, and you leave.
Todd: The only time I'm bored with you is when you make us keep having these stupid talks. Just be with me...no more talking.
Tea: That's all our relationship is from now on...talk. No more action. Is that understood?
Todd: I understood a couple of minutes ago when you had me on the bed.
Tea: You're the one...
Todd: We shouldn't talk about this kind of stuff in front of her. Come back to the penthouse with me. She can sleep and we can talk.
Tea: Now you want to talk?
Todd: I want to let you know a few things.
Tea: I can imagine how you plan to communicate with me.
Todd: It's nothing bad.
Tea: I'm not scared of being with you, that way. I'm scared of entering this dance with you again.
Todd: Entering? We're already half-way through it. All that's left is the explosive finale.
Tea: That part of our relationship is over. You'll have to accept that.
Todd: I'll accept it...as soon as you do.
to be continued...
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
2002 COPYRIGHT BY TIMA
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