Acapulco: Terms of Entrapment

Tuesday, October 23, 1990

ROGER sits in his office, doing no work, thinking deeply. He appears outwardly calm, but something far, far back in his inner mind has shaken. He picks up the telephone and dials a number.

HOLLY: Hello?

ROGER [quietly, without flippancy]: Hi. It's me. I've been thinking about you and the syndicators' convention.

HOLLY: So what did you decide?

ROGER: Well, I've tried very hard to ignore it, but we are talking about Acapulco ...

HOLLY [ambiguously]: Yeah.

ROGER: Where you and I had intended to go on our honeymoon . . .

HOLLY [playing with her hair] : Yeah, I'll be curious to see it ... [tiniest pause] at last.

ROGER: Yeah, yeah, so will I, but . . .

HOLLY: Do you have a problem with it?

ROGER: No -- no, no, no. I uh, just uh, have to discuss it with my wife first.

HOLLY: Of course.

ROGER: So, um, I'll let you know.

HOLLY: Okay, Roger. Just don't take too long.

ROGER hangs up. HOLLY looks over at ALEXANDRA, who has been sitting in the office.

HOLLY: He has to discuss it with his wife first.

NEXT SCENE:

HOLLY [considerably more distressed than when talking to ROGER]: Are you sure you want to go through with this?

ALEXANDRA: I have to.

HOLLY: But this is ... we're talking about the man you love ... as if he's some object -- some thing to be manipulated. I mean, before when we talked about it, it was so abstract, and now suddenly it's becoming so real.

ALEXANDRA: I admit it threw me when Roger agreed to the trip so quickly.

HOLLY: He hasn't agreed yet.

ALEXANDRA [sourly]: He will.

HOLLY: The question is, what do I do when I get him down there?

ALEXANDRA: You compromise him, Holly. We talked about it.

HOLLY: How exactly do I do that? I'm the one who has to go down there with him alone and try to seduce the man who raped me. . . a man who doesn't take too kindly to being double-crossed.

ALEXANDRA: I know. You have to be protected. If you go through this for me, I guarantee you'll be safe.

HOLLY: Forgive me for sounding uneasy about this, but this is Roger we're talking about. I need specifics.

ALEXANDRA: I've enlisted a security guard from Spaulding. Roger's never seen him. He'll be the third-party witness to your . . . affair. [Holly fidgets at the word.] He'll pose as a private investigator I hired to follow Roger because I've suspected him of infidelity.

HOLLY: But how will I know him?

ALEXANDRA: He'll be carrying an old cigarette lighter of mine. [She hands it to Holly]. Roger's never seen that.

HOLLY: Okay. But now won't Roger think it's odd that you've hired someone to follow us when you know we can't stand each other?

ALEXANDRA: I'll tell him I gave the investigator carte blanche . . . that I had no idea he was going to Mexico, I would have told him it was a waste of time if I'd known, but as it turns out . . .

HOLLY: Right.

ALEXANDRA: And at the opportune moment the guard will just burst in and snap a few compromising pictures.

HOLLY: Now, you do realize that I'm not going to actually go through to the final . . .

ALEXANDRA: Well, of course, Holly, you just have to make it look compromising enough so that there's no doubt as to where it was going.

HOLLY: That shouldn't be too hard with ol' Roger.

ALEXANDRA: And I assume that you will be so surprised that Roger will never suspect that you're in on it.

HOLLY: Right. But, how do we keep Roger from telling Ross about this?

ALEXANDRA: He won't.

HOLLY: Why not, when he's so vindictive?

ALEXANDRA: He wants the very generous settlement I'm willing to give him to get out of my life. He won't say a word to anybody.

ROSS [suddenly walking in on the co-conspirators]: About what?

ROSS: What aren't we going to tell anybody?

ALEXANDRA [brightly]: It's a surprise!

They all laugh.

ROSS: It's not my birthday.

HOLLY [greeting him with a kiss]: It's something much more earth-shattering.

ROSS: Oooh, what?!

HOLLY [nervously]: It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you!

ALEXANDRA: And listen, Holly ... I know you have a million things to do before the convention. So I'll just be going. Ross, it's really really good to see you.

ROSS: Same here!

ALEXANDRA leaves, and ROSS turns to HOLLY ...

ROSS: You're really not going to tell me?

HOLLY: Nope! Oh, I've got so much to do here, I'm, I'm going to have to stay up all night to get this ready.

ROSS [smiling]: Well not all night! You're not going anywhere until I give you a proper sendoff. Holly, I'm so proud of you.

HOLLY: Why?

ROSS: For turning things around. After "One-On-One" failed you went straight to "The Love Bug" and now you've almost have it syndicated. But most of all I'm proud that you're not letting Roger get to you these days.

HOLLY [smiling]: Right.

NEXT SCENE:

ROSS: Now then, don't you have something to tell me?

HOLLY: What do you think that I haven't told you?

ROSS: Well, that you're going to miss me!

HOLLY [she hugs him]: Oh ...

ROSS: A lot!

HOLLY: Oh, you know that. But I'm going for you.

ROSS [a skeptical laugh]: You're jetting down to sunny Acapulco for a week to sell your TV program just for me?

HOLLY: Well, it's important for the station, and you're part-owner of the station, remember?   Besides, if I can get this syndicated, we'll have enough money to buy the house.

ROSS [surprised]: I thought we were going to wait on the house til we're married? Does that mean ...

HOLLY [smiling]: Yeah, I wanna set the date!

ROSS: Holly, I love you so much!!!!

They embrace.

Next scene:
It's Only Business