Friday, October 26, 1990

SCENE: The Springfield airport. HOLLY sits on a sofa, waiting for the plane to Acapulco. She opens one of her folders, and finds a love note from ROSS, which she reads contentedly at the same moment that ROSS finds the letter she has slipped into his lunch. As HOLLY looks at the note, ROGER comes up from behind and joins her on the sofa.

ROGER: Only a note from a fiancé can make a business traveler melt like that. That's sweet. He misses you before you're gone.

HOLLY [handing him a folder]: Here. Itinerary, and the schedule in Acapulco.

ROGER [reading aloud]: Arriving Acapulco, 1:45, grand transportation to Hotel ... El Real?

HOLLY: Is that all right?

ROGER: Isn't that where we were supposed to go on our honeymoon?

HOLLY [as though unconcerned]: Maybe it was . . . El Real . . . yeah, I think it was.

HOLLY takes out another folder and studies her papers, leaving ROGER feeling odd.

PERKINS, the Spaulding security guard hired by Alexandra to trail HOLLY and ROGER, is in the background. ROGER and HOLLY look at their papers.

ROGER: Are these charts broken up down region?

HOLLY: No, by market.

ROGER: Well, let's see what we can target here.

HOLLY studies him as he looks at his papers, and thinks to herself, "How am I gonna go through with this? I can't. All right, now, you promised Alexandra, and it's the only way to get him out of your life once and for all. You've got to."

ROGER: Is San Antonio an independent or a network affiliate?

HOLLY [startled]: Uh . . . What?

ROGER: I don't see an affiliation here for the San Antonio station.

HOLLY: I'm . . . I'm sorry, my mind was just on ... 

ROGER: On Ross, no doubt.

HOLLY: No, no . . . it's on . . . Acapulco.

ROGER: Oh, yeah? What about it?

HOLLY: I was just remembering how we were both on our way down there, all those years ago. We never made it, and now, it seems like five lifetimes later, we're on our way to Acapulco.

ROGER: Would make an argument for unfinished business taking one back to a place.

HOLLY [a wee bit sourly]: As I recall, it was your business that interrupted us the first time.

ROGER: Yeah, Diane called us as soon as we got to Houston with a crisis at Spaulding, and we had to get back. [ROGER doesn't look at HOLLY, but he shakes his head slightly at the memory.]

HOLLY: That should have told us something.

ROGER: I was so desperate to make it up to you.

HOLLY [really looking puzzled]: I don't remember that part.

ROGER [now he looks at her]: Oh, c'mon! You were so set on getting to Mexico, and I felt so guilty for having to drag you back to Springfield. When we got to the airport, I went over to the Mexican airline and I begged the stewardess to sell us a meal.

HOLLY: Oh, yeah . . . There was something funny about food.

ROGER: Right. So we got on the plane, the breakfast flight back, and the stewardess brought you out this special meal with a great deal of fanfare . . . It was rice and beans, and an enchilada.

HOLLY [smiles a little--she's found the memory]: For breakfast.

Both are looking a little away from each other as ROGER continues . . .

ROGER: For breakfast. And you were such a good sport. You ate it, all the while looking longingly at everybody else's eggs, and I knew that I'd blown it again. But I remember, looking across at you and thinking, "Boy, am I lucky to have this woman for my bride."

HOLLY turns and looks at him, surprised at this and at her simultaneous memory of him as a young man (in a flashback), telling her, prior to a kiss, "I love you so much. I do. I love you more than I've loved anybody in my whole life."

ROGER is still laughing at his memory of her . . .

ROGER: And I remember, you ate every bit of it. You were too polite to say that it made one miserable breakfast.

HOLLY nods slightly, but then puts her hand to her face as though she's getting a headache.

ROGER: Holly? You okay? Can I get you something?

HOLLY: No, I just . . . think I'll . . . excuse me.

HOLLY suddenly gets up and heads to the airport restroom, passing PERKINS as she goes.

As HOLLY leaves the restroom, she notices PERKINS, who elaborately holds up Alexandra's cigarette lighter as he lights a cigarette. They make eye contact, and she returns to the seat with her composure intact.

ROGER: You feeling better?

HOLLY: Yes, much better. Thank you. I'm really looking forward to this trip; I think it's going to be a very smooth journey.

HOLLY sits as though steeling herself for the task at hand. ROGER looks at her curiously. He doesn't suspect a plot, but he does sense that something unusual is happening.

Copyright © 1999 by Michael Zaslow's ZazAngels. All rights reserved.
01/04/06 05:14:51 PM