Episode #100
Immediately After #99
TEASER
INT: TIM & CLAIRE’S APT. (LIVING ROOM)
MIDDAY
As is typical of a weekend day in this household, TRAVIS and SAMANTHA have
taken command of the living room floor. Their toys are spread far and wide,
and blankets, bottles, and other accessories fill up the rest of the space.
On the couch, CLAIRE is curled up with a book, keeping an eye on the kids.
She is feeling better -- much better than she was a few nights ago, when
she felt she was practically on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She’d
been scared by the sudden closeness she felt to Ryan, she has to admit. She
knows, however, that she’d felt lonely that night, and the kids had
been particularly troublesome, which probably combined to distort her feelings
quite a bit ... she hopes.
She sighs, attempting to return to her reading. There is one thing consuming
her mind that she just can’t seem to shake, though: Ryan Moriani.
***
PARIS, FRANCE
INT: HOTEL ROOM
AFTERNOON
DON puts the phone back on the receiver and looks up at SALLY.
DON: Dammit! Look what you did!
SALLY: What?
DON: Helen must have heard you. She hung up on me!
SALLY: I’m sorry ...
DON: Sorry isn’t gonna cut it!
He picks up a lamp and throws it against the door, shattering it.
***
INT: CHASE HOME (LIVING ROOM)
MIDDAY
HELEN stomps into the room and drops herself down onto the sofa. COURTNEY
follows, looking concerned.
COURTNEY: What happened, Mom?
HELEN: I don’t believe it ...
COURTNEY: What? What don’t you believe?
HELEN: That bastard ...
COURTNEY: Mom! Tell me what is going on!
HELEN: You wanna know what’s going on, Courtney? Your father and I --
we’re through!
ACT ONE
INT: TIM & CLAIRE’S APT. (LIVING ROOM)
MIDDAY
CLAIRE’s mind continues to be pulled away from her book. She was so
surprised when, in her sleep the other night, she began to dream about the
first time she and Ryan had made love. It had seemed so magical, so perfect
... Why did he have to go ruin it by raping her?
No -- she has to stop calling it that, she reminds herself. She had made
things far too easy for Ryan; she never did say no. Still, she can clearly
feel the nausea she’d felt after they were done. There was something
so brutal, so unromantic about that time that separated it from the others.
To think she’d been in love with him until then ...
She suppresses the urge to gag, instead reaching across the coffee table
and pulling the remote control from TRAVIS’s hand before he has the
chance to do any damage.
***
INT: CHASE HOME (LIVING ROOM)
MIDDAY
COURTNEY is chilled by what HELEN has just said. Her mind switches to panic
mode, searching everywhere for loopholes or ways out of the situation she
has always dreaded.
COURTNEY: Mom, this has to be some kind of misunderstanding! You looked so
happy talking to him just a few minutes before you hung up!
HELEN: That’s because he was lying to me! He had me believing it, too.
But the truth never does stay buried for long.
COURTNEY: What happened?
HELEN: Sally was there -- in his hotel room! He’d told me that she had
just flown to Paris with him and he hadn’t seen her since.
COURTNEY: Why would he do this? It doesn’t make any sense.
HELEN: No, it makes perfect sense. He’s a con artist ... He’s been
playing with both of our heads all these years.
***
PARIS, FRANCE
INT: HOTEL ROOM
AFTERNOON
SALLY shrieks as the lamp crashes against the door, bursting into a thousand
pieces. DON’s face reveals nothing but anger.
DON: Why did you have to do that? Damn you -- you just ruined my marriage!
SALLY: I didn’t mean to, Don.
DON: It doesn’t matter! I never would have gotten into this mess if
you hadn’t insisted on coming with me in the first place!
SALLY: I wanted to see Europe!
DON: No, you wanted to make trouble! Now get out of my sight, okay?
Instead, she moves closer, keeping her hands raised in front of her.
SALLY: Don, you’ve got to calm down. Something is wrong with you.
DON: No, something is wrong with you! No normal, sane person would play games
like this with other people’s lives!
SALLY: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
DON: Dammit, yes, you do!
He grabs her shoulders and begins shaking her angrily.
ACT TWO
INT: TIM & CLAIRE’S APT. (LIVING ROOM)
MIDDAY
CLAIRE is staring off into space, her mind elsewhere, when TIM comes into
the room.
TIM: Hey. How are the little monsters?
She looks up suddenly, as if jerked out of a completely different world.
CLAIRE: Oh ... they’re fine.
TIM: Are you okay? You looked about a million miles away just now.
CLAIRE: No, I’m fine.
She pats the seat next to her on the sofa, inviting him to sit down beside
her. He readily accepts the invitation.
CLAIRE: That’s better.
She leans her head against his chest.
TIM: Are you sure you’re feeling okay?
CLAIRE: I’m just tired. I had a busy week.
TIM: What do you say we put these two down for their naps now?
CLAIRE: Why?
TIM: Well, I’ve got a little something in mind that ... doesn’t
involve the kids being around.
He flashes her a sneaky grin. Her face lights up as well.
CLAIRE: Ah ... I think we can arrange for these two to be out of the way
for a little while.
They both get up to transport the kids to the bedroom. He grabs SAMANTHA
and she takes TRAVIS. Quickly they whisk them off.
***
INT: CHASE HOME (LIVING ROOM)
MIDDAY
HELEN stands up, unable to stay put. COURTNEY remains seated, watching her
mother’s pain turn to unbridled rage.
HELEN: How could he do this to me -- to you? I wonder how long this has been
going on ... probably years.
COURTNEY: We don’t have any proof that anything is going on, Mom.
HELEN: But Sally was in his hotel room! He lied to me about that!
COURTNEY: That doesn’t mean they’re having an affair. I mean, it
doesn’t sound too good, but it doesn’t automatically mean that
there’s anything going on between them.
HELEN: Maybe you’re right ... I don’t know. But why did he have
to lie about it in the first place?
Before Courtney can respond, the doorbell rings. She gets up to go answer
it.
INT: CHASE HOME (FOYER)
MIDDAY -- CONTINUOUS
COURTNEY crosses the foyer. Once she reaches the front door, she pauses a
moment to wipe away whatever tears might be brimming in her eyes. Pulling
the door open, she finds ALEX standing outside.
COURTNEY: Hey ... This isn’t a good time. My mom just talked to my dad
and she’s not happy.
ALEX: This is about your dad. I just spoke to my mom.
COURTNEY: Really? Come in here ... Maybe you can help clear this up.
She leads him into the living room.
***
PARIS, FRANCE
INT: HOTEL ROOM
AFTERNOON
SALLY is now frantic. DON is wildly shaking her, and she has noticed a dangerous
gleam in his eyes.
SALLY: Don, let me go!
DON: You ruined my life -- again!
SALLY: Just let go of me!
He continues as if she never said anything.
DON: It wasn’t enough to hurt me the first time, was it? I loved you,
Sally! Why did you have to ruin everything by having another man’s baby?
SALLY: I’m sorry! Just let go!
DON: And then you came back when I was in the hospital ... You just wanted
to finish up the job, didn’t you? You wanted to make sure I could never
have any lasting happiness! Well, it worked!
SALLY: Don, I didn’t mean for this to happen!
DON: Yes, you did! And now you’re gonna pay!
He removes his hands from her shoulders, but before she can rush out, he
wraps them around her neck.
ACT THREE
INT: CHASE HOME (LIVING ROOM)
MIDDAY
HELEN has returned to her seat on the sofa. COURTNEY and ALEX enter.
ALEX: Hi, Mrs. Chase.
The pathetic-looking Helen raises her eyes, noticing Alex’s presence
for the first time.
HELEN: Hi, Alex.
COURTNEY: Mom, Alex just spoke to his mom. He has something he needs to tell
you.
Alex is nervous, but just dives right into what he has to say.
ALEX: I hate to be the one to tell you this, but ... Don and my mother are
on some kind of romantic getaway in France.
***
PARIS, FRANCE
INT: HOTEL ROOM
AFTERNOON
DON is attempting to strangle SALLY. Luckily, she is able to wriggle out
of his grasp.
SALLY: Have you lost your mind? You could’ve killed me!
DON: That was the point!
SALLY: Don, what is wrong with you?
DON: Does the fact that my life is ruined count?!?
He lunges at her again, but she moves out of the way. Don winds up lying
in a heap on the floor.
SALLY: I’m getting out of here. Take a nap or something.
She opens the door, but when she looks back, she sees that Don isn’t
moving.
ACT FOUR
INT: CHASE HOME (LIVING ROOM)
MIDDAY
ALEX’s news comes only as unhappy confirmation of what HELEN feared.
She buries her face in her hands. COURTNEY is concerned for her mother, but
also sickened to learn of her father’s betrayal.
ALEX: I’m really sorry I had to be the one to tell you this ...
HELEN: Don’t worry about it. I spoke to Don this morning, and your mother
was in the room with him.
ALEX: I don’t understand why he’d do this. They hadn’t seen
each other in years before she came to King’s Bay.
COURTNEY: Are you sure? Is it possible that they’d been meeting secretly
over the years?
ALEX: I don’t see why they’d have made a secret of it for so long
-- or how they could have.
HELEN: Courtney, your father didn’t really have the opportunity to be
running out of town all the time to meet with Sally. No, this has to be recent.
COURTNEY: At least we know that he hasn’t been doing this my whole life.
HELEN: That just makes it hurt worse, though. What did I -- we -- do wrong,
to drive him away like this?
***
PARIS, FRANCE
INT: HOTEL ROOM
AFTERNOON
SALLY kneels beside DON, who is lying face-down on the carpet.
SALLY: Don! Don, wake up!
He has heard her voice. He rolls over, his eyes only opened slightly. All
the color has been drained from his face; he moves and speaks with an appalling
lack of energy.
DON: What happened?
SALLY: You just ... hit the deck a minute ago. You were only out for a few
seconds.
DON: Did I hit my head?
SALLY: No, it didn’t look like it.
DON: Then why is it pounding so badly?
SALLY: I don’t know.
DON: I’ve lost her, haven’t I?
SALLY: Huh?
DON: Helen -- she’s never going to speak to me again.
His voice is mournful, displaying none of the raw hostility he had just a
couple of minutes before.
***
INT: TIM & CLAIRE’S APT. (BEDROOM)
MIDDAY
CLAIRE enters, having coerced the kids into at least being quiet. She is
surprised to find the lights dimmed, with candles lit around the room. TIM
lies on the bed, his shirt already removed.
CLAIRE: Tim!
TIM: What?
CLAIRE: This is so sweet ...
TIM: Hey, I do what I can.
She stands in the doorway, gazing around the room.
TIM: Now come here already!
CLAIRE: Of course.
She dives on top of him, and they begin kissing.
Something has begun to trouble Claire, though. The candlelight ... That’s
how it was the first time with Ryan, she remembers. It had been so romantic
...
Her thoughts of this first time are interrupted by horribly vivid memories
of their last time together. It had seemed so dirty, so unfeeling. Her mind
can still run through it so vividly, no matter how hard she’s tried
to block it out over the years. She can remember being held by Ryan, wanting
to say no ... but not being able to. It was as if she had just hoped that
being in his arms would somehow make it special and would make all the other
pain she was feeling go away. But it hadn’t worked -- It had been awful
...
Suddenly, Claire sits up in the bed, removing herself from Tim.
CLAIRE: I can’t do this.
ACT FIVE
INT: CHASE HOME (LIVING ROOM)
MIDDAY
The doorbell is ringing again. COURTNEY leaves to go answer it, and returns
a moment later with both JASON and LAUREN. HELEN looks up at them, trying
to hide her pain, while ALEX looks on quietly.
HELEN: Hi, kids.
Jason and Lauren both offer waves of greeting.
COURTNEY: Guys, maybe it would be better if I didn’t go out today.
We’ve got a lot to deal with around here ...
HELEN: No, go. It’s not gonna do you any good to sit around here listening
to me.
COURTNEY: Are you sure you’ll be okay, Mom?
HELEN: I’ll be fine. Have a good time.
ALEX: I think I’m gonna get going.
COURTNEY: No, wait. Do you wanna come with us? We’re just gonna go to
a movie and drive around or whatever.
ALEX: Really?
JASON: Yeah, come on. It’ll be fun.
ALEX: Okay.
COURTNEY: Let’s go.
The four young adults exit. Helen waits until she hears the door close before
she begins to sob.
HELEN: What am I supposed to do now, Don?
***
INT: TIM & CLAIRE’S APT. (BEDROOM)
MIDDAY
Lying on his back, TIM looks up at CLAIRE in total confusion.
TIM: What do you mean?
CLAIRE: I don’t feel well, Tim. I think I’m gonna be sick.
With that, she dashes out of the room and heads for the bathroom.
Tim sits up, wrinkling his brow in bewilderment. What had happened?
INT: TIM & CLAIRE’S APT. (BATHROOM)
MIDDAY -- CONTINUOUS
CLAIRE rushes into the bathroom and slams the door shut. She kneels in front
of the toilet ...
Minutes later, she sits back. Her stomach is totally empty, but she feels
virtually no relief. It wasn’t physical illness that drove her to this,
she knows; it was her mind.
The memories -- they have absolutely sickened her. Was it the memory of that
awful day, though ... Or was it fear of her feelings for Ryan?
***
PARIS, FRANCE
INT: HOTEL ROOM
AFTERNOON
SALLY helps DON sit up.
SALLY: Don, are you feeling all right?
DON: No.
SALLY: What’s wrong?
DON: My head -- it’s throbbing.
Suddenly he recalls something else.
DON: Did I really just try to strangle you?
SALLY: Yeah.
DON: Oh my god! What is happening to me, Sally?
SALLY: We’ve gotta get you to a doctor. Something is really wrong.
DON: It doesn’t matter. I’ve lost Helen, I’ve probably lost
Courtney -- I’ve lost everything that matters. I’m all alone.
SALLY: Don’t worry, Don. I’m here for you ...
In her mind, she completes the thought.
SALLY (THINKING) ... and I always will be.
END OF EPISODE #100
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