Hope Endures

Hope Endures: Holly and Roger Do Christmas
by A

Scene opens at a very dark Hollybend:

It is Christmas Eve, Holly is in the throws of complete devastation since miscarrying her baby 3 months ago. In an attempt to deal with their personal grief, Holly and Fletcher have shut each other out, driving a very deep rift into their marriage. Holly once again finds herself in a very dark place, unable to find comfort, unable to give comfort. She has pulled so far away from Fletcher, that at least temporarily he and Ben have moved out of Hollybend and back into their old abode...but as the weeks go by temporary is looking more permanent. Holly has not been to the Journal office since her miscarriage, the doctors told her it was just one of those things...it wasn't meant to be.
What was the point of returning to work...it didn't matter...nothing mattered anymore...she preferred to spend her days sitting in the darkness...feeling nothing...what was left to feel?

There is a knock at the door...she ignores it, hoping whoever will just fade away...like everything else in her life.

The door opens.

Roger: Holly...Holly are you here? (fumbles for the light switch) (smiles, cheery voice, walks over to her) Holly what are you doing sitting alone in the dark on Christmas Eve?

Holly looks at him dully. Roger is very concerned by her disheveled unkempt appearance.

Roger: (quizzically) Are you all right?

Holly: All right..NO I will never be all right again...now please just go...I'm not in the mood for you tonight Roger!

Roger: I'm worried about you.

Holly: Save your worry...for someone who cares...about something ...or anything for that matter....(gets up, grabs her coat and keys and heads for the door) Please lock the door on your way out!

Roger: (following after her) Where are you going this time of night?

Holly: (dreamily) For a drive ...it really is a beautiful evening...Good- bye!

She gets in the car and drives off. We fade to black on Roger's perplexed look.

Scene II

Holly has been driving aimlessly for an hour, suddenly she pulls the car over and gets out. The scene before her is the moonlight shimmering off of the ice on a picture perfect lake, huge snowflakes are falling silently to the ground. She walks quickly and reaches the ice, she walks tentatively and proceeds to glide across the ice. She envisions what it would have been like to bring her little girl here for a beautiful moonlight skate. She visualizes a precocious, beautiful red headed child, dressed snugly in a red and green plaid outfit..pirouetting across the ice, smiling back at her mom, secure in the fact that all was well with the world. Her eyes gleaming with sheer joy and love as only a child's can.

Lost in her reverie, Holly snaps out of it as she feels the solid surface beneath her collapse. Immediately engulfed in the frigid ice water, she struggles to find something solid to grasp onto. The cool soon permeates her body and the struggle wears her down. Exhausted and mentally depleted she sees her little girl, holding out her hands..softly calling...Mamma I'm right here...as her head plunges into the watery depths for the last time, she reaches her arm out to the child....and all goes black.

At the precise moment that her arm broke the surface for that last time a very strong determined arm grabbed for it...held on tightly, and finally pulled her out of the icy dark water. After a brief resuscitation, her breathing returned to normal though she remained unconscious. He knew that she would go into shock very quickly if she remained in the cold. He lifts her seemingly weightless body easily into his arms and carries her to his car. He drives directly to a small Inn he noticed a few miles back. Rushes to the front counter..he gets blankets and a bottle of brandy and carries her to the room, where he gingerly disposes of her icy wet clothing, wraps her in blankets and starts to vigorously rub her body as he lays her in front of the fire.

Roger: Holly you need to open your mouth...swallow some of this it will warm you up.

He manages to get her to drink a little...choking and sputtering...she opens her eyes...not quite clear on what has happened.

Holly: You...what are you doing here!

He then tells her what happened and how he found her...touched by his kindness and help she tells him the story about the little girl...the one she lost...she looks at him her eyes brimming with tears...he gently wipes away the stray tear that had slid down her cheek...his compassion and tenderness break down the wall that has been building for months...she clings to him as she sobs uncontrollably, he responds by holding her tightly and just being there...feeling helpless because there is nothing to be said or done to heal something that has cut so deeply. As time passes her sobs and shaking subside to tears and sniffles and eventually she is silent and still.

Roger: You are shivering...let me draw you a hot bath.

Holly: (looks up at him...deeply into his eyes) How is it that in the very darkest moments of my life...you are always here?

Roger: Timing (sheepish grin)

Holly: I wonder...first you are the cause...now you are the comfort?

Roger: (eyes full of sincerity) I am so deeply sorry for your loss.

Holly: (sadly) I just feel like I lost my last chance...

Roger: (frowns slightly) Last chance?

Holly: To get it right...

Roger:: Life?

Holly: Life...love...family...motherhood

Roger: Motherhood...come on, look how well Blake turned out.

Holly: I didn't think you had noticed.

Roger: Well besides her misguided taste in men...she really is a remarkable woman.

Holly: Roger, (rolls her eyes) Blake turned out ok..despite us...not because of us...and she is finally happy...please don't deny her that.

Roger vigorously rubs her shoulders.

Roger: It's time for that bath.

Holly: That sounds wonderful...

The bathroom is very spacious with an old fashion claw bathtub. Roger lights a candle as she drops the blanket and slips into the warmth of the bath water.

Roger: (turns to leave and kisses her on the head, so thankful the evening didn't end tragically) Enjoy.

Holly: (quietly)..Don't go...please...I really don't feel like being in the water alone.

Roger: (squints his eyes..amazed at his insensitivity)..Holly..I'm sorry..of course I'll stay.

Holly: Don't just stay ... please join me...it's an awfully big tub.

(Roger, sure he didn't hear her correctly, or that she is just babbling from the after effects of her trauma, sits beside the tub)

Holly: What...now don't tell me you are Mr. Modest??? (splashes him)

Roger: Holly!! (happy that...a little of her old self seems to be returning)

Holly: Well you're dripping wet now...so you might as well get in.

Roger quickly undresses and slips into the tub behind Holly...feeling very out of sorts, not really understanding what it all means. Holly leans against him and closes her eyes...allowing the hot water to totally permeate her body...completely relaxing in the safety of his arms. Roger soaps up the sponge and leisurely washes her shoulders and back...wondering how much longer his resolve will last to only give her the understanding and support she needed, nothing more.

Holly: You seem very quiet all of a sudden.. What? ... the cat got your tongue?

Roger: (clears his throat) Unusual situation...

Holly: Could I possibly impose on you for another small favor...

Roger: Sure...

Holly: Would you mind terribly washing my hair...I don't like getting soap in my eyes.

Roger grabs the pitcher...wets her hair...and lathers it up...as he rinses it..he can't help but notice the swell of her breast breaking the surface of the water...he quickly finishes rinsing and hops out of the tub..grabbing a towel.

Holly: (slightly annoyed) What's your hurry... is the place on fire?!

Roger: (sharply..frustrated) I'm only human Holly.

Holly rises out of the tub and steps towards him...amused by the look on his face...he is mesmerized, breathless as the candle light softly dances off the glistening water droplets on her silhouette. He brusquely wraps her in a towel and exits the room, donning a robe on his way out.

Roger is standing in front of the fire, back towards her but he hears her feet patter across the floor

Roger: Would you like more brandy....a glass of wine (turns to look at her)

Holly: No...I don't want anything to dull my senses (she drops the towel ...they do their infamous eye-lock)

Roger:(barely able to speak) Why Holly...why now?

Holly: Roger...don't be coy...there has always been this..this... connection between us...I suspect it will always be there. Tell me this isn't what you want.

Roger: (tilts his head, closes his eyes) Of course it's what I want, it is all I have ever wanted! But you can get through this without me...you are a survivor.

Holly: It's not enough for me to survive...I want to live...I need to feel...I want to be consumed by something besides emptiness and self-loathing...surely you can understand!

Roger: (sad smile) Yes..

Unable to resist her any longer, he pulls her towards him...kissing her passionately, with abandon, her passion and desire matching his...she tauntingly runs her tongue over his lips and then entangles her hands in his hair and kisses him fully, enjoying the exploration. Her intensity both surprises and excites him, and he thinks that if this is what it takes to exorcize her demons...well, he was more than happy to oblige. Her hands move over his body and playfully tug on his towel...

Roger: (grinning) What's your hurry...?

Holly: No hurry...we've got all night...I just hope you're up to it!

Roger: (laughs) Oh, Holly...how I've missed you.

Her fingers brush gently across his chest, as they share another kiss they sink to the rug in front of the fire. As he lies on top of her..he stops.

Roger: To think... (she cuts him off)

Holly: This isn't a time to think...just feel...the heat...the passion.. the desire...it will ebb soon enough...for now let's just give ourselves completely to the fire.

Holly rolls over on top of him...all thoughts are pushed away as their passion reaches a feverish pitch.......

Fade to black.....

Scene III

The next morning...the last embers of the fire have died...there's a chill in the air as Roger rouses himself from a deep slumber. Briefly he thinks that last night was a dream. As he rolls over his hand touches the warm spot where Holly lay moments earlier, the scent of her perfume still on the pillow. He smiles luxuriously as he recalls the previous evening...never could he remember her being so consumed...He sits up and sees her getting dressed.

Roger: Merry Christmas Holly.

Holly: (walks over...looks at him lovingly and bites her lip) Merry Christmas.

Roger: Why bother getting dressed (pats the rug) I'm missing you already.

Holly remains silent.

Roger: (wraps himself in the blanket and stands up to face her) I love you....

Holly: (sad smile) Really?

Roger: Yes ...it's always been you. I would do anything for you.

Holly: I suppose in some obscure inexplicable way I love you too. But I have to leave now. I have to give to someone else what you've given me.

Roger: (very confused)....What?

Holly: If you really truly love me then you need to understand... we...whatever it is between us is electric..powerful...overwhelming... but we've been down this road before...it's simply impossible to maintain and ultimately we only bring each other misery. What you gave me last night was...hope...you made me feel alive... passionate ...desirable. I needed that more than you'll ever know. Losing a child is devastating...but Fletcher has lost two...I can't abandon him...I need to go to him now, finally I'm able to give back...I'll help him overcome his loss...so he can live again.

Roger: You can't be serious....he doesn't deserve you...where has he been in your time of need? What...is he so consumed by his own loss that he couldn't reach out to you...to comfort you...to give you what you needed ...you know no matter what I will always be here for you.

Holly: (smiles sadly) Roger, I wouldn't let him comfort me, it was easier just to shut down, not to feel anything, I took the coward's way out...and I added to his suffering. He is the only one who can really share this pain with me, but I have hope now, that I have something to give him...

Roger: No Holly...I won't let you go.

Holly: Roger...it's not your call to make, I need to go to him, I need the stability and constancy of his love, that is the only way that I will really be able to heal and begin to deal with this loss.

Roger stands there... speechless... heartbroken...yet part of him understands.

Holly: If you really love me...let me do this.

Roger: (quietly, painfully) I won't stop you...I won't interfere.

Holly: (surprised, she pulls on her coat) Good-bye then...

Roger: Good-bye.

She was right, she needed to heal. He would give her time, but he would never give up, because she was that once in a lifetime, that one love that clasps your heart and never really lets go.

As she turns to go, we fade to black.