PREVIOUSLY

Tea: (Worried, wraps towel around his shoulders, pulls his hair out of the towel, draping it along the outside of the towel down his back.) You didn't fall or anything?

Todd: (Shakes his head.)

Tea: (Thinks.) No, I didn't hear a thump... (Looks at the tub floor.) No bleeding. Ok. Then it was what we talked about?

Todd: (Silence.)

Tea: (Sits down next to the tub. Reaches across for his hand, but doesn't touch it.) I'm going to just sit here with you, can I hold your hand? (Takes his hand in hers, resting it on the tub side.) I love you, Todd. It's ok. I think I understand what this is about. We can finish talking about it later. Right now, I'll just sit here with you, ok?

Todd: (Nods his head.)

[Scene ends]

**************************************************************************************************

[Scene: Penthouse livingroom, later in the evening. Todd is now dressed in a suit, barefoot, his hair still damp. He's sitting on the couch, Tea stands near the stairs and approaches him.]

Todd: (Groans:) Do I ever need a stiff drink or four right now.

Tea: (Sits on the couch next to him.) You gonna tell me or not?

Todd: (Crosses his legs at the knees one over the other, dangling his foot against the other calf restlessly, bouncing his leg.) Oh, don't look all disappointed. I hate that.

Tea: Well, I am.

Todd: (Crosses restlessly to the table that serves as a bar in the livingroom. Pours himself scotch, at least half the glass he uses; as he talks over his shoulder to her.) Great. I know you think I'm a great disappointment, everybody who even halfway likes me thinks I'm a great disappointment. The ones who hate me, them I never disappoint. (Drinks it quickly, wincing at the fire of it, puts the glass down, crosses back to the couch and sits again as she responds, listening to her.)

Tea: (Watches him prepare his drink and drink it down fast.) I'm not disappointed inyou. I'm disappointed that I'm not going to find out anytime soon what's going on with you about this. You don't disappoint me.

Todd: (Sitting:) Oh, so now you hate me?

Tea: What?! No! Talk to me, Todd. I know something's bothering you. I heard you howling in the shower. You get all self-pitying and self- denigrating when you're upset and you want to push someone away.

Todd: Sometimes I wish you didn't see me so clearly.

Tea: Well, I do, and you're stuck with me.

Todd: (Grumbles, making a face at her. Decides.) It was switching, not self-pity.

Tea: I'm sorry. How could I miss that?! So, this has hit you pretty hard.

Todd: I'm just waiting for the scotch to hit me.

Tea: All right. I have an idea. Will you let me try something again?

Todd: No.

Tea: This is not going to be about sex, ok? This is about acceptance.

Todd: Acceptance? What?! You've gone all New Agey on me?

Tea: Hold on. I have not! Here's the deal: I undress you in your bed --

Todd: No way!

Tea: Yes way! You can cover up if you get cold or it's just too much, ok? I fully expect you to either run from the room, chase me out, or burrow under the covers. None of that would hurt my feelings... I want to undress you and show you how much I love and accept you by, if you're ok with this, going over as much of your body and all your scars as you can stand me to. I accept all of you and I want to explore all of you, but I don't want to scare you.

Todd: (Getting edgy:) This is nuts. Look, I don't do naked, ok?

Tea: You do once in a while, and what I've seen is a heartbreakingly beautiful man I'm so in love with I want to touch him all the time, only you're so frightened of letting me get that close.

Todd: (Looking very uncomfortable:) Look, you've said you think I'm beautiful..... and-and... sometimes I can even believe it.

Tea: Well, maybe this will help you believe that more easily?

Todd: You think?

Tea: We can try. I promise not to hurt you. We can stop whenever you want. You let me drug you and take you to bed that night you couldn't sleep, right? You trusted me. Nothing bad happened.

Todd: (Thinks. Stands up, reaches for her hand.) Let's go.

Tea: You're sure?

Todd: (Looking very uncomfortable:) No.

Tea: We don't have to, you know. I just thought it might do you some good.

Todd: (Very unsure:) I don't know. I don't know.

Tea: Can we try it? You can stop anytime you want, I promise I won't get upset.

Todd: Sure?

Tea: Sure. (Todd helps her up.)

[Todd's bedroom, moments later:]

Tea: Ok, sit on your bed. (Folds the blankets down for him.)

Todd: (Gives her a skeptical look, but sits.)

Tea: (Looks in his eyes:) Ok. Where do you want me to start?

Todd: I don't know. This was your idea, not mine.

Tea: But what would be a sort of neutral place for me to start?

Todd: (Getting edgier:) You choose. It's your stupid plan.

Tea: Todd.....

Todd: (Almost seems to be starting to panic:) What?! This is your stupid plan, not mine.

Tea: Ok. (Takes his face in her hands, looks into his eyes.) Calm down. (He calms noticably as he looks into her eyes. Tea thinks.) Ok. I'll start with your feet. (Kneels in front of him and takes his shoe in hand.) You have pretty feet, you know? (Starts to take his shoes off, looking at him.)

Todd: (Glares at her skeptically, until she looks away a moment and then his face softens into cautious curiosity. He leans his head out a little and looks down to see what she's doing, supporting himself with his fists at either side of him on the bed.)

Tea: Ok. (Looks up at him adoringly, smiling slightly.) There was a knot.

Todd: (Continues to watch her face, impassive.)

Tea: You ok?

Todd: (Doesn't move, just watches her, face blank. His eyes track her face.)

Tea: Is it too much?

Todd: (Slowly shakes his head, watchful expression doesn't change.)

Tea: Ok. Now socks. (Takes off his socks. Jokingly:) Ooooo, sweaty piggies!

Todd: (Scowling:) Tea.....

Tea: (Giggling:) What?

Todd: (Scowls.)

Tea: (Giggles harder.)

Todd: Oh, look. Just --

Tea: (Struggles for composure.) Ok, ok.

Todd: You gonna do this?

Tea: Still want me to?

Todd: It's your game. Let's get it over with.

Tea: Do you want me to stop? It's really your game.

Todd: I didn't come up with it.

Tea: Want me to keep going?

Todd: (Pause. Quietly:) Ok. (Watches her intently.)

Tea: Ok. (Slides his jacket off his shoulders and down his arms.) Ok?

Todd: Ok. (He watches her eyes intently.)

Tea: (Unbuttons his shirt and cuffs and pulls it out of his pants.) Ok?

Todd: Ok. No, stop. (Draws shaky breath, eyes closed. Opens them.) Ok.

Tea: Sure?

Todd: (Draws another shaky breath. Exhales, saying:) Yeah. (Looks in her eyes again.)

Tea: (Removes his shirt, tosses it aside with the jacket. Helps him remove his t-shirt, tosses it aside. Stands back and looks at him. In awe:) You are so beautiful. My beautiful husband. (Strokes his face, he closes his eyes and seems to soak in her touch.) Such pretty eyes, soft skin. Such long, beautiful golden eyelashes. (Pauses. Quietly:) Lie down.

Todd: (He does, watching her intently again.)

Tea: (Undoes his pants, sliding them down his body.) Mmmm....... (Tugs waistband of his boxers.) These too.

Todd: (Watching her warily, hesitates. She playfully tugs them again. He lifts his hips to allow them to be removed. The camera does not show his body from the waist down.)

Tea: Oooohh....... (She looks at his body and soaks the sight of him in, cooing the word as he watches her intently.) You are the most beautiful man I've ever been with, do you know that?

Todd: (Sullen:) Your standards must be pretty low.

Tea: Not at all. They're rather high, and you surpass them by far. It's not just how very pretty you are to look at. It's what I see inside of you, too.

Todd: What do you see?

Tea: (Tucking the blanket up around his waist.) Someone who is loving and gentle, vulnerable. Someone who is sensitive, but masks it over with his rage. Unlike you, I do not see garbage when I look at you. I do see something ok, more than ok. I see someone whose heart beats against my ear at night, and whose steady breathing and sweet voice soothe me at night. Someone capable of murder and mayhem, who is learning how to control those impulses, and who picks up his child like she's made of glass and holds her like she's the most precious creature in the world to him.

Todd: (Quietly:) She is.

Tea: I know she is. She is to me, too. You're someone who loves as fiercely as he hates. You're full of passion and contradictions. I love you to hell and back again, and I know that because we've been through that journey more than once now.

Todd: (Quietly:) I'm not all that.

Tea: No.

Todd: (Tenses, looks at her intently:) No? You just said --

Tea: (Quietly:) You're more than that.

Todd: (Sullenly:) No, I'm not.

Tea: Roll onto your belly. (Adjusts blanket at his waist.) Can I give you a massage?

Todd: I dunno about that. Remember the last time? I threw you out into the snow.

Tea: I know. I was also naked last time, I'm not now. I won't throw you out. I promise to be gentle and to stop when you ask.

Todd: What if I can't ask? What if I don't want you to stop?

Tea: Then I won't stop until you say to. Ready?

Todd: (Grunts resignedly, turning his head away from her to rest his chin on his pillow.)

Tea: (Rests her hand lightly on his back, as if to soothe him.) Look, if this is not what you want, I won't do it. You could just get dressed now.

Todd: No. Let's get it over with, finish what was started.

Tea: You're sure?

Todd: (Sounding resigned.) Go ahead, Delgado.

Tea: (Carefully places her hands on his shoulders and massages them for a little while.) Ah, see? Does this help you feel better?

Todd: I dunno. How's it supposed to feel?

Tea: Relaxing, soothing.

Todd: Oh. Well, look, I wouldn't know what those feel like, see?

Tea: Well, your body seems to be relaxing and your breathing is slower and more even. (Stroking his back gently.)

Todd: (His eyelids drift towards closing a couple of times as she strokes his back. Opens them.) Oh. That's what a relaxed Todd Manning looks like?

Tea: Yes. Ok. That seems like plenty for one day for you. (Dares to place a kiss in the middle of his back, she lightly nuzzles his back. His eyes close in response as if thirsty for her touch.) Had enough?

Todd: (Turns to look at her, resting his cheek on the pillow. Quietly:) Stay.

Tea: You still want to be with me? You don't want to be alone?

Todd: Yeah. I mean, no. I -- you know.

Tea: (Gently:) I know. How was this?

Todd: Nervewracking. Get in here. (Slides under the covers and then slides along in the bed to make room. Holds covers open for her, above his waist.)

Tea: (Admiring his body once again. Kicking off her shoes:) Oh, you really are gorgeous. I love you. (Leans in and kisses his mouth lovingly.) I thought you didn't do naked?

Todd: Right now, the only thing that looks good on me is you.

Tea: Todd! I never thought I'd hear you say anything like that. Not seriously.

Todd: (Groaning:) I just want to be warm. Get in. I'm freezing. This was your idea.

Tea: (Climbs in, recoils.) Oooo! Dios mio! You're not kidding! You're freezing! Why is your chest so cold, when you were just lying on your belly? I can understand the icebox piggies. The whiskey didn't warm you?

Todd: (Covers them both.) No. I think I need more. Just shut up now. Warm me up. I'm the walking dead, remember? We're always cold. Everyone says I have a cold heart.

Tea: Maybe it's the lack of sleep? (Gathers him in close.) Better?

Todd: I'll let you know, if I ever thaw.

Tea: It's notthat cold in here.

Todd: It's as cold as when we were caught in the snow at the Bayberry Inn!

Tea: It is not!

Todd: I thought I'd never be warm again in my life that day.

Tea: Is this nerves?

Todd: A lot of it. Ever get so anxious you feel like the blood's run out of your soul all at once?

Tea: Maybe once or twice, but not quite that bad. That sounds terrible.

Todd: It is. I'm still freezing. Bet you didn't think I had a soul.

Tea: You have a soul... Somewhere. This room is not that cold.

Todd: Well, when you're naked that long you get very cold. You didn't notice the shrinkage?

Tea: (Mildly shocked.) Todd, is this really you? Rod would be much better mannered about this.

Todd: Yeah..... is this really you, Delgado?

Tea: Very funny. Do you want another blanket?

Todd: Just you. Just... just hold me. Then I gotta go get some clothes on.

Tea: (Laughs.)

Todd: Don't.

Tea: Ok. (Holds him.)

[Scene ends.]

[Scene: The Sun offices, Todd's office. Same night.]

Kelly: Blair?

Blair: What do you want, flea?

Kelly: That's a fine way to greet the person who gave you that scoop on Asa's insanity, andwho got Nigel to spill, I might add.

Blair: Ok. What do you want, Kelly?

Kelly: When's the article go to press?

Blair: Soon, I hope. I want it just so, so we can really get Asa but good this time. I want this airtight.

Kelly: Let's bring him to his knees.

Blair: That's going to be fun. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he reads this article, can you? (Grins at Kelly, eyes shining.)

Kelly: I can hear him screaming already. (Grins at Blair.) Does Todd know about this article?

Blair: That's the strange thing, I haven't heard a peep out of him about this, maybe he doesn't know anything about it, yet. He's such a control freak I'm really surprised.

Kelly: He is strangely quiet. Maybe he's just pre-occupied with his personal problems.

Blair: He doesn't seem to be, he shows up to work regularly enough and works himself to death as usual. He still doesn't sleep. I swear, I used to be able to get him to sleep.

Kelly: You're not Tea.

Blair: (Grins:) She's not me.

Kelly: Please tell me you're not still carrying a torch for that beast?

Blair: (Mockingly:) I'm not carrying a torch for that beast.

Kelly: Good. Although you'll have to work harder to really convince me. I still don't trust him, and you know better than I do why not to trust him.

Blair: We'll see what he knows soon enough.

Kelly: Maybe. He's a damn good manipulator, he may never let on he knows a thing. Too bad Starr lives with Todd now, or you'd have an excuse to go home. Dorian's been asking about you, you know.

Blair: I'm still mad at her for helping me lose custody of Starr that night. Maybe I can fix that soon.

[Scene ends.]

[Scene: Penthouse, livingroom. Same night. Todd is dressed again.]

Todd: (Fixes himself some scotch. Drinks it fast again, wincing at the fire of it.)

Tea: You still haven't told me --

Todd: NO. (Puts the empty scotch glass down on the bar, seems to waver over whether to have another drink, picking the bottle up and putting it back.)

Tea: I do need to know at some time.

Todd: I'm not gonna say it. I don't wanna talk about this. (Turns and begins pacing.)

Tea: I'm right here. I'm not going to discuss it with anyone else but you, if you want to talk more.....

Todd: (Stops pacing. Whispering, not looking at her:) He.... my Dad..... would..... I can't. (Pacing again.)

Tea: (Reaching for his arm:) Hey-hey-hey-hey-Todd! ..... Todd?

Todd: (Edging away.) Don't touch me, ok?

Tea: Is -- Did Peter do something like what Blair did?

Todd: Exactly.

Tea: Oh. My. God.

Todd: It was almost better, you know?

Tea: Than what?

Todd: When he did that. That's not what the nightmare was about. He did something even worse that night.

[Music: Peter Gabriel's "Mercy Street". The beginning instrumental loops for some time, the song fades.]

Tea: How was this better? How could -- (suddenly something seems to have clicked) because he didn't hurt you when he touched you like that?

Todd: It was the closest he came to anything like affection, and if those were my choices I didn't want anyone near me.

Tea: Does it hurt to be touched?

Todd: I'm a human nerve-ending, what do you think?

Tea: But sometimes you let me touch you and it's ok. I just held you.

Todd: I said I fight you the least.

Tea: You seem to handle it better when you control it, when you touch me. I've also seen you melt at my touch so very often.

Todd: You reach me somewhere deep inside where no one else has since my Mom. It's scary.

Tea: That's an awesome responsibility, one I haven't always lived up to.

Todd: Well, life sux. (Sits on couch.)

Tea: You look incredibly uncomfortable.

Todd: (Shudders, clenching and unclenching fists, agitated.) I can feel him touching me, and not just there. He... he would usually come to me at night, for this and for other things.

Tea: (Concerned:) What do you need me to do?

Todd: Keep talking to me. Keep me here. Keep me company. Safe.

Tea: Ok. What should I talk to you about?

Todd: Anything but that.

Tea: Well.... it wasn't an exciting day. Let's see. I had a court date today. Nothing very big. Had to choose a jury, that's often fairly tedious, actually. I had lunch at the diner with Carlotta. I actually got her to sit down with me and take a break. She'd gotten a postcard from Andy and Antonio yesterday, they were at some convention in Texas. They said it's very hot there, so they did almost everything indoors at the hotel. Carlotta and I talked about you when she was closing up last night. I set her straight about you and me and about me, I think. Maybe she gets us now, gets me. Maybe she'll be less hard on you from now on.

[Music: Peter Gabriel's "Mercy Street".]

Todd: (Has been watching her eyes the whole time. Quietly:) Your eyes are so beautiful, Tea.

Tea: So are yours. You look so tired. I thought you'd slept better. I love your eyes, the way they sparkle in the light and how sometimes the light seems to change them from hazel to a bluish tint, and sometimes almost a brown in dim light. The way they glint sometimes, almost catlike when you're excited about something. Your eyes draw me in every time.

Todd: (Tiredly, quietly:) Don't stop.

Tea: Lie down.

Todd: I'm wiped out. (Lies down on couch, facing her on his side, a pillow hugged under his head as he looks at her.)

Tea: (Sits on floor next to couch very near him, crosses her legs.) You once asked me to do this a long time ago. You said you wanted me to bore you to sleep. I'll try my best... I love your wild mane of hair. The way the light plays on it, especially in the sun, those rare times you're out in the daylight. (Smiles gently at him. Her voice seems to caress him.) You're always in motion, like a panther prowling. I love to watch you just... moving sometimes. You're so graceful and athletic, strong. I love to dance in your arms, slow and close like at our wedding, to feel you breathing against me, moving with me and against me, to hear your heart beating in my ear at night.

Todd: (Eyes drifting slowly shut. Opens them again.) Don't stop.

Tea: Are you ok?

Todd: Tired. Drained. Don't stop talking. (Closes eyes.)

Tea: I don't know what else to tell you. It was a pretty slow day.

Todd: (Tiredly:) You'll think of something, Delgado. You're good with words.

Tea: You must feel pretty safe right now.

Todd: (Mumbled:) Whatever.

Tea: You usually can't sleep at all.

Todd: (Mumbled, very tiredly, drifting off:) You're here.

Tea: Yes, amor. Te amo, mi corazon.

[Music: Peter Gabriel's "Mercy Street". "Words support like bone." Chorus. Song fades.]

[Scene ends]

[Scene: Lindsay's art gallery, in the main room, the next morning.]

Lindsay: (Busy at her desk, looks up at the sound of the elevator.)

Sam: (Looks up to see the gallery doors wide open, enters gallery.) Hi.

Lindsay: What brings you here this early?

Sam: We need to talk, Lindsay.

Lindsay: You look so serious. Is it one of the kids?

Sam: Yes and no. (Raises his hand to wave her off.) Neither's hurt, so don't panic.

Lindsay: Well, then what?

Sam: Will is apparently getting on a few peoples' nerves.

Lindsay: That's not news.

Sam: No, he's started whining and acting pretty selfish. I'm thinking it's just stress but it's driving Viki, for one, nuts.

Lindsay: So what? It's just Viki.

Sam: (Bristling:) She happens to be one of my closest friends in Llanview, the sister of a good friend, and our kids are still close friends. I talked with Jess and even she's been bothered by his whining.

Lindsay: Did she talk to him?

Sam: Yes. He seems to have shrugged it off, and she's a little worried.

Lindsay: Did he say what's bothering him?

Sam: Neither of us know, he wouldn't tell Jess.

Lindsay: Nothing?

Sam: I think it's the move, and college. He's going to be an older freshman, he needs to grow up. He learned his selfishness from you, though.

Lindsay: Sammy! I'm not the only parent he has, you know.

Sam: After I left, you were, but where have you been lately?

Lindsay: In which case, some of this is your own fault for leaving us. I've been right here, where has Will been?

Sam: True, I did leave. Viki said much the same thing about my leaving, but you're always thinking of you first and assuming everything revolves around you. It's a major reason I broke up with Blair after I played that damn tape at Todd's wedding. She was blackmailing him.

Lindsay: Oh. This is about Todd now, is it?

Sam: No, it's not about Todd. Just because you never had a clue what was going on in his life and why he hung around so much doesn't give you the right to attack him because we're close again, even after that night and after he ran off and came back. It isn't all about who you dislike, Lindsay, and the world does not all revolve around you and the messes you make.

Lindsay: (Standing up behind her desk.) It doesn't all revolve around you, either, Sammy! Who left whom? Huh?

Sam: Oh, so now we get back to what we do best, huh? We're back to bickering? Who had the affair with my junior partner that broke the marriage wide open?

Lindsay: You started this, Sam, you waltzed into my business and started talking to me! You've got Nora, Bo isn't even talking to me. You've always had Nora!

Sam: Your obssession is wearing really thin these days, Lindsay! Be happy I talked to you about Will at all at this point! Be happy anyone's talking to you at all, in fact, after what you did to Bo and Nora! My entire current life is now based on a heinous lie that might turn out to really be a lie, and this time it's allyour fault! What do you expect me to do, Lindsay? Come back to you? Then what? Huh, Lindsay? Then what? We get married again and bury the hatchet in each other's backs? Bo and Nora re-unite? I don't think so. You've pretty well trashed the lives of at least 5 other people, so be damned glad any one of us is even yelling at you right now, Lindsay!

Lindsay: I did, Sam, I did want you to come back to me for a long time, but that was a long time ago.

Sam: You were still pursuing me as recently as last fall, Lindsay, and you know it.

Lindsay: Don't flatter yourself, Sammy. I'll talk to Will myself, if you don't mind! And --

Sam: And what, Lindsay? Make it worse? It's pretty clear he's not talking to you himself again, so whatever's bothering him is getting worse, but did you care? No, it didn't directly affect you until I told you about it and it wasn't brought to your attention by Will for some reason. I'm going to go look for our son and find out what's going on with him,if he'll tell me. If you want to know, you talk to him yourself and show him that you care about him like you keep saying you do!

Lindsay: I don't care about him? I don't care about my own son?? Who are you to --

Sam: That's enough, Lindsay! Go ahead, start the waterworks and see if I can be swayed to be sympathetic to you again... Nevermind, I'm gonna go find Will. He obviously needs at least one of his parents. (Turns on his toes, and goes to the elevator, punching the button and then carefully shutting the gallery doors behind him while he waits.)

Lindsay: (Stands behind her desk, in shock, staring at the closed doors.) What have I done??

[Scene ends.]

[Scene: Viki's Banner office, two days later.]

Todd: (Reaching for them impatiently, standing near Viki's desk:) Ok, Mel, let's see the notes.

Mel: Are you sure? There may be things in it you don't want to remember.

Todd: I don't want to remember most of my life.

Mel: Fair enough.

Viki: Anything you don't want published, we agree not to include.

Mel: Yes.

Todd: Good. Gimme the notes.

Mel: (Hands them to Todd.) These were the ones Dorian and I were arguing about that night you took Starr home.

Todd: (Reading.) I see..... (A mix of horror and anguish, then rage:) They knew! They all knew! Those bitches, they all knew!

Viki: Now, Todd.....

Todd: (Anger:) Don't you "now, Todd" me, Viki! They all knew!

Viki: What could they do?

Mel: The first secretary knew something wasn't right, and feeling that she had to at the very least create documentation of what she knew if she couldn't report it, she kept these records, and she induced her successors to keep those records going. For that little boy, Todd! Foryou.

Todd: Me? Why would they do that? Why would they do that for a kid they didn't even know?

Viki: Because they felt a need to try to do something that might help you later. One of them even notes this.

Todd: How come I never knew they were doing this?

Mel: If they had told you, what could you have done to save yourself? They had no way of knowing if it would get back to Peter and he would take it out on you, and in fact they make comments about how he treated you. (Flips through his copy of the notes:) Here. (Directing Todd to the page:) Page 18. As you know, these are excerpts from a larger set of my notes.

[Camera shows the text, Todd's voice reads it: "....when the boy tried to stand up out of turn, Mr. Manning turned on him and screamed at him to sit back down and be quiet and not move. The boy was clearly terrified and had been sitting in the Reception area since Mr. Manning's arrival at work. It was now lunchtime and the boy must have been hungry and bored and maybe needed to use the restroom. But Mr. Manning was stridently adamant."]

Todd: I must have been about 5 or 6. I almost remember this. All I did was stand up when Dad came into the room. She did take me to lunch, and I remember being terrified this was a trick, that it would get her or me or both of us in trouble. Even if Peter had given permission, he'd often just as soon revoke it as follow through and I never knew for sure what would come of his permission. I was too terrified to speak to her, and too in awe of how brave I thought she was being. For me. Forme. And then, like I'd feared, he ignored me until it was time to go home and then he started in on me before we were through the office doors. I was just sitting there drawing quietly in the corner. This doesn't go in.

Viki: Ok, it won't. You weren't being bad, Todd. This isn't your fault.

Mel: This was Peter's doing and Peter's fault.

Viki: The dates look like maybe a school vacation day.

Todd: I don't know. Where was my Mom? He accused the secretary of coddling me. He screamed at me the whole way home. He made me miss dinner..... then he and Mom screamed at each other half the night. I couldn't sleep.

Viki: Are you ok, Todd?

Mel: You look overwhelmed, Todd.

Todd: Leave me alone. (Crosses to Viki's office window and stares out, arms across his chest. He is having a hard time remaining composed, his nostrils flare as he breathes and struggles for composure.)

Mel: Look, if you don't want any other parts of my notes included, let me know which parts and they won't be published, ok?

Viki: (Putting her finger to her lips and catching Mel's eyes.)

Mel: (Nods his head.)

Viki: (Crosses to the windows and stands behind Todd. Quietly:) If this is too much at once, let us know and we can come back to it tomorrow or the next day. It doesn't need to go to press for about a week.

Mel: (Tiptoes out of the room, slips out quietly, noiselessly closing the door.)

Todd: (Quietly, much more composed:) Why are you doing this? Really?

Viki: You've read the series, you know about it. I'm not doing this to publically humiliate you in any way.

Todd: It will, you know.

Viki: I hope it doesn't. As to what you feel when it hits the stands, I have no control over that.

Todd: (Still looking out the window, quietly:) I don't, either.

Viki: You won't have to go through this alone, ok?

Todd: Yes, I will.

Viki: I suppose in some fundamental way, sure. But you do have people who care about you who are willing to close ranks around you and help you through any fallout from this. Ok, sweetheart?

Todd: (Growls quietly:) I don't need anybody.

Viki: You know that's not true.

Todd: No, I don't.

Viki: I'm not going to argue the point with you right now, Todd. I'm here if you need me. (Turns to look out the window with Todd.)

[Scene ends.]

TO BE CONTINUED