Christmas Companions, 1992

Monday, December 28, 1992
Christmas Day Goes On ...

SCENE: CHRISTMAS DAY. ROGER sits at the counter in the DINER. The only other person present is DAVID GRANT, running the place today. JENNA isn’t with ROGER; they broke up the day before, and she is spending Christmas with HENRY and a cranky VANESSA (who does NOT like sharing her daddy). It’s too bad JENNA is enjoying herself so thoroughly, because HENRY has told her the terrible lie that he is her father. But, back to the DINER . . .

DAVID: Hey, Mr. Thorpe!

ROGER: How ya doin’, David?

DAVID: What are you havin’?

ROGER: Just a black coffee to go.

DAVID: All right. It’s awfully cold out. Now, you’ve got the place to yourself if you want to drink it here.

ROGER: No thanks. I’m meeting somebody in the park.

DAVID: Suit yourself.

As DAVID goes into the kitchen, HOLLY comes in and sees ROGER.

HOLLY [smiling]: Of all the gin joints!

ROGER: Well, it’s good to see you’re still embracing the holiday spirit!

HOLLY: So, how was your Christmas? Did you get everything you wanted?

ROGER raises an eyebrow as they exchange wicked grins.

DAVID to HOLLY: Turkey? C’mon, you don’t want a turkey sandwich.

HOLLY: I want hot turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce—the works!

DAVID: Stavros makes a mean meatloaf.

HOLLY: You don’t have any turkey?

DAVID: No ma’am, we’ve got a whole kitchen full of bird.

HOLLY: Well, then, what’s the problem?

DAVID: I just figured that with Thanksgiving and Christmas, you know, turkey sounded a little more like leftovers.

HOLLY: Well, you know, I’m kinda in a leftover mood.

ROGER: Awww. (HOLLY looks at ROGER, who gives her a little pout, and they share a smile).

DAVID: One hot turkey sandwich, comin’ up, and a side of meatloaf, on the house.

HOLLY: You’re in a generous mood, for having to work today.

DAVID: Well, you know, Frank’s been real good to me, so I figured the best gift I could give to him is letting him spend Christmas with his family.

HOLLY: What about your family?

DAVID: Let’s just say family means a lot more to Frank than it does to me.

DAVID goes back into the kitchen.

ROGER [a bit ruefully]: Parents’ reward for having children.

HOLLY: Hmm. I’ll bet your friend Jenna appreciates her new daddy.

ROGER: She’ll get over it.

HOLLY: Not likely. I see this as a case of blind devotion.

ROGER: We’ll see how devoted she is when she gets to know him a little better.

HOLLY [smiling to herself]: Henry Chamberlain? So that’s who you’re stirring up trouble for now.

Next scene:

ROGER (as he moves to the end of the counter with his coffee): Why is it everyone always assumes I’m the one stirring up trouble?

HOLLY: I wonder.

ROGER: They bring it on themselves, Holly.

HOLLY: You’re just an innocent bystander. [Puffs up her chest whimsically] Henry Chamberlain has stolen your girlfriend’s heart and you’re really angry.

ROGER [grinning]: You’d know a lot more about that kind of anger than I would.

HOLLY: Yeah, well, it can be deadly.

ROGER: I’ll keep it in mind.

HOLLY: Revenge will be yours. But I dunno. [Mocking speculation] Doesn’t it stop satisfying after a while, that constant, obsessive, relentless search for retribution?

ROGER cracks up, finding this particularly funny because HOLLY has been hell-bent on revenge against BLAKE and ROSS for months.

HOLLY [also smiling]: Why do you laugh?

ROGER: Aw, gee. Only that if you looked up vengeance in the dictionary, your picture would be staring back!

HOLLY: Yeah, well. Go ahead. Rake old Henry over the coals if it will make you happy.

ROGER: I’m having just a little bit of trouble adjusting to the newly virtuous you. What’s going on with you?

HOLLY [airily]: Tis the season.

ROGER: Tough season to be alone, huh?

HOLLY: Yeah, well. The thing about reading nineteenth-century novels is that they’re very good companions. They ...

LILLIAN comes in.

LILLIAN: Hello!

HOLLY: Hello, Lillian.

LILLIAN [Taking a booth]: Merry Christmas!

HOLLY: Merry Christmas! [turning back to ROGER]: Enchant you, and then you put them back on the shelf, and they ... go. [She laughs].

ROGER [looking towards LILLIAN’S booth]: Take a look.

HOLLY [looking, but not seeing]: What?

ROGER: Your future. Table for one at the banquet of life.

HOLLY: I could do worse. She’s a lovely woman. She has everyone’s respect.

ROGER: Oh, she’s a lovely woman indeed. Beautiful and ... bound for sainthood!

[Transcriber’s note: Ah . . . If only he’d known about a certain letter, even now at the Bauer house!]

HOLLY [laughs]: And she has a daughter she can be proud of!

ROGER: And she’s alone at Christmas.

HOLLY: Just like you.

ROGER: But unlike Lillian, I have plans.

ROGER and HOLLY get up as she pays DAVID for her takeout meal.

HOLLY: Oh, what are they?

ROGER: Come with me; I may tell you.

HOLLY: I’m curious.

ROGER: Thank you, David!

DAVID: Ho, ho, ho!

HOLLY: Bye!

DAVID: Merry Christmas!

HOLLY and ROGER leave. DAVID looks at LILLIAN, who sits in her booth reading a book.

DAVID: Looks like that leaves you and me. What will you have?

LILLIAN: Oh, I think I’ll have a cup of coffee and a turkey sandwich.

DAVID: You got it. . . . You know, I’m really glad that you stopped by. I could use the company.

LILLIAN: Thank you David. That’s very sweet of you.

DAVID [Seeing a picture on the table]: Who’s that?

LILLIAN: Oh, that’s my granddaughter.

DAVID: Cute kid! Mind if I have a look?

LILLIAN: Oh, please. [DAVID sits with her and examines the picture]. David, this is really sweet of you, and I appreciate your being so nice, but you don’t have to look at the pictures—

DAVID: Nah, don’t be silly. There’s nothin’ I’d rather look at.

Just then, KAT comes into the restaurant, and DAVID sees her.

Meanwhile, ROGER and HOLLY shiver on a park bench. HOLLY eats her meal as they talk.

ROGER: We make a charming Christmas tableau.

HOLLY [giggles]: Right out of Norman Rockwell. Cold, old friends, and hot turkey.

ROGER: Tell me, why did you decide to join me?

HOLLY: Oh, I’m a masochist, I guess. Or else I have a real flare for the ridiculous. I mean, look, Jenna and Henry are together, Ross and Blake; and ever-lovin’ Roger and Holly sittin’ on a park bench.

ROGER: And then there are those still unaccounted for.

HOLLY [wryly]: Which blonde are you referring to?

ROGER: Very funny. But actually, I was talking about Alexandra.

HOLLY: You miss her?

ROGER: At one time we were close.

HOLLY: Roger, you’ve got so many ex-lovers, ex-wives, how you keep tabs on them all . . . And I, on the other hand—

ROGER: Well, look, you know, you used to be business associates, you two. I would think you’d be able to take a cue from her perseverance.

HOLLY: Pardon?

ROGER: Well, a while ago, you came to me, looking into a place in my organization?

HOLLY: Which no longer exists.

ROGER: Not at the moment, but it will. Don’t write me off yet, Holly.

HOLLY: Don’t patronize me, Roger.

ROGER: All I mean is, you can’t lie around your house forever. You’ve got to get out, get back to work, get the juices flowing, get yourself ready.

HOLLY: You know, sometimes I think you fill your life with all these schemes just to keep you company. How long are they gonna keep you warm?

ROGER: Oh, ‘til the time comes when they pay off and I have everything I want.

HOLLY [quizzically]: You know what you want? [HOLLY gets up.] I’ve gotta go; I’m chilly.

ROGER: All right. Thanks for the company.

After HOLLY leaves, a man in black, clutching an envelope, appears from behind the bushes. The camera does not reveal his face.

MAN-IN-BLACK: I was waiting for the woman to leave.

ROGER: You have everything I need?

MAN-IN-BLACK: Everything you wanted to know about Jenna Bradshaw’s father is right here.

ROGER [taking the envelope]: Thank you.

MAN-IN-BLACK: Merry Christmas.

ROGER: Merry Christmas to you, too.