Thanksgiving: Fantasy and Reality
November 28, 1989

Scene: Night.  The dining room at the Springfield Inn. Guests sit at colonial-style tables, with the servers in "Colonial period" costume. There is a fireplace, and an unseen piano plays in the background. The tone of the setting is quiet, intimate.

ROGER follows a waitress en route to a table-for-one, when he walks past HOLLY, already sitting alone and reading a menu.

WAITRESS: Your table's right over here, Mr. Thorpe.

ROGER: Oh, um, that won't be necessary if this lovely lady will allow me to join her.

HOLLY: Why would I?

ROGER: (He smiles, and then taking the menu, tells the waitress) We'll be fine. (Then, to HOLLY) Well, in answer to your question, because I think you probably could use some company tonight. (He joins her at the table).

HOLLY: What's so special about tonight?

ROGER: Well, Dr. Ed and Maureen are officially man and wife. I imagine it must hurt, losing the same man twice.

HOLLY: Roger, if I were upset, I would be in my hotel room, eating ice cream and watching game shows. As you can see, I'm not.

ROGER: All right. I have a confession to make.

HOLLY: Call a priest. Better yet, an exorcist.

ROGER: (Solemnly) I need someone to talk to. I'm worried about Blake.

HOLLY: I've been worried about her, too. I thought she might go to Ed and Maureen's service, since he did help raise her. (She looks pointedly at ROGER, but he doesn't take the bait.) But . . . uh, she wouldn't even join me for dinner. I went by the penthouse, and it was obvious she wanted to be alone.

ROGER: I didn't have any luck with her either.

HOLLY: You saw her?

ROGER: Well, I stopped by on my way here and I ordered . . . well, I tried to order dinner in, but, uh, she just wouldn't go for it.

HOLLY: I hope she doesn't let herself get sick.

ROGER: You see this whole business with Phillip is really taking its toll on her.

(HOLLY laughs . . .)

HOLLY: Oh, Roger, I'm sorry. I can't let that one go by.

ROGER: What?

HOLLY: You talk about this thing with Phillip as if you had nothing to do with it.

ROGER: Look, this isn't another lecture, is it?

HOLLY: If I tend to harp, it's only because you don't seem to get it. Now, you are partly to blame for the state Phillip and Blake are in.

ROGER: Me? Listen, I didn't cause Phillip to unravel and attack our daughter.

HOLLY: You gave her bad advice. You steered her in a direction that only got her deeper into trouble.

ROGER: Because Alan was setting up . . .

HOLLY: (Contemptuously) Oh, Alan! That tacky hoax would have never gotten off the ground if you hadn't swooped in and given it credibility. (She pauses.) You may have helped Blake to destroy her marriage, not to mention Phillip.

ROGER: Oh, c'mon! Listen, Phillip is going to recover, and she is not about to lose him, or give up on him.

HOLLY: Still, you botched your chance at being a real father, didn't ya, Daddy? Greed won out again.

ROGER: Greed? Oh, I see. You think I take a cut on any patients I send over to Willow Hill, huh?

HOLLY: (Leaning toward him on her elbow, very intimately) I've heard, now that Phillip is out of the picture, Alexandra will be appointing an acting president of Spaulding. Don't tell me that had nothing to do with your motives.

(ROGER looks genuinely hurt and surprised that HOLLY would think this of him.)

Suddenly, ALEXANDRA SPAULDING, beautifully dressed and made up, comes upon the scene. Compared to ROGER and HOLLY'S muted elegance, ALEX actually sparkles, with sequins on her vest and plenty of jewelry. However, she carries it off tastefully.

ALEXANDRA: There you are. I've been calling all over town for you.

(ROGER rises from his chair.)

ROGER: Alexandra . . .

(ALEX turns to HOLLY.)

ALEX: Holly, would you excuse us?

(HOLLY looks up at ROGER, displeased. He quickly intervenes.)

ROGER: Uh … uh, no, no. That's not necessary. I have no secrets from Holly. Anything you have to say you can say in front of her. Please . . .

ALEX: Oh! Very well. (She takes the seat between ROGER and HOLLY, and ignores HOLLY.) I just wanted to thank you for all the help you've given me these past few weeks. I don't know what I would have done without you.

ROGER: I think you would have managed, and we both know it. You didn't need my help.

(HOLLY leans forward again, considering this mutual admiration society.)

ALEX: That's what I like about you, Roger. You can hold your own against me, and not many people can do that. You're tough, you're shrewd--the kind of man I want to run my company. That's why I'm appointing you the new president of Spaulding Enterprises.

ROGER: (Breathlessly) The president . . . I don't know what to say.

ALEX: Just say you accept.

(ALEX takes HOLLY'S glass right out of her hand without looking at her, to HOLLY'S dismay. As ROGER and ALEX raise their glasses in a toast, we suddenly hear the "real-life" sound of a beverage poured into a flagon. ROGER looks up, startled--his fantasy is over. A waiter is pouring the drink, and HOLLY smirks at his startled, "innocent" look.)

HOLLY: Don't give me that look. I know you; I know how you think. I know you want the Spaulding presidency.

ROGER: (Innocently) What?

HOLLY: Don't bother denying it. You're practically salivating, and I know it's not over the salad.

ROGER: Now listen, if Alexandra wants to appoint an interim president, that's her business. I'm not campaigning for the job, okay? As a matter of fact, when Phillip offered me the vice presidency, it took me completely by surprise.

HOLLY: Maybe. But you've taken advantage of every opportunity since then.

ROGER: Ah, but isn't that the mark of a good executive? Hmm? I mean, you haven't exactly been lounging since you blew back into town.

HOLLY: I learned from a master. (She raises her glass ever-so-slightly towards him.)

ROGER: Ah, you give me too much credit.

HOLLY: I doubt it. (To the waiter) No, wait . . .(Then, back to ROGER) Not having Phillip around must have set you onto a corporate feeding frenzy, just looking at that empty president's chair, knowing it's got to be filled by somebody . . .

ROGER: I thought we were discussing our daughter.

HOLLY: We were. (Temporarily abashed.) 'Til I realized what you're up to. That's why you're spending so much time with Alexandra. (She smiles, relishing the thought.) Hmm? Making yourself indispensable to her, catering to her every whim?

ROGER: You see, I'm not gonna deny that I find the woman fascinating.

HOLLY: I'm sure you do.

ROGER: But, I'm very satisfied with the way things are right now at Spaulding. I don't need the Spaulding presidency to be happy, feel successful.

HOLLY: (laughs, enjoying herself, knowing) Roger, you think you're kidding me?

(ROGER grins to see her smiling at him.)

HOLLY looks up from her plate at ROGER. He stares at her, taken by her. Finding this "too much," she drops her napkin on her plate in a gesture of muted exasperation, and gets up from the table. ROGER rises, and they pause beside the mantle. HOLLY looks very beautiful, but she clutches her rather large, flat purse to her upper body with a subtly closed demeanor. She looks at ROGER.

ROGER: Well, thank you for sharing your evening with me.

HOLLY: It's no big deal, Roger.

ROGER: Well, it is to me. I tend to get melancholy on the holidays.

HOLLY: You?

ROGER: I remember our first Thanksgiving together. Do you?

HOLLY: (Thinking) All right. That's when I cooked the giblets inside that little bag inside the turkey. (She laughs.)

ROGER: It was different.

HOLLY: (Proud of the accomplishment) Made you sick for days.

ROGER: (Fondly) No, it did not. I remember how proud you were of that meal.

HOLLY: Humph! (A laugh . . . Then her face falls. Quietly, but firmly, she says): It's not going to work. We have a daughter together, that's it. No memories, nothing . . . no.

HOLLY turns and walks away, leaving ROGER looking very melancholy indeed.

Copyright © 1999 by Michael Zaslow's ZazAngels. All rights reserved.
01/04/06 05:14:44 PM