Subject: Rot Soaps: A Quinton and Nola reunion Katie Falkenhan ------------------------------------------------------- REARDON BOARDINGHOUSE NOLA RUNS DOWN THE STAIRS TO ANSWER A PERSISTENT KNOCKING AT THE BACK DOOR. NOLA: Hold on, I'm coming, I'm coming. SHE PULLS OPEN THE DOOR, STEPS BACK IN SHOCK AS SHE SEES QUINT. SHE TRIES TO SHUT THE DOOR, BUT HE PUSHES IT OPEN, STEPS INSIDE. QUINTON: Please don't slam the door in my face. NOLA: What are you doing here? QUINTON: I couldn't just send the divorce papers without talking to you first, and since you won't speak to me on the phone... NOLA: You're wasting your time, Quinton, there's nothing left to talk about. So why don't you and your little friend just go back to Callifornia? QUINTON: Jessica's not with me. In fact, she hasn't been for awhile...since the last time I was here. NOLA: Get tired of her, too? QUINTON: Okay, I deserved that. But actually I finally realized how stupid I was being. NOLA: Did you really think I would fall for that? QUINTON: I knew you wouldn't believe me, but I had to tell you anyway. I didn't realize what I was doing until I came here for my father's funeral. But seeing how much I hurt Vanessa and J and everyone else by bringing Jessica here, and especially how much everything I did hurt you...I finally realized just how much I was giving up. NOLA: So you came back here, expecting me to just forgive you? QUINTON: I know that's too much to expect. But I was hoping you would at least give me a chance to try and explain. NOLA: You explained exactly how you felt about our marriage when you took up with Jessica. QUINTON: I thought Jessica could give me something you couldn't. NOLA: I would have given you anything in the world if it meant I didn't have to lose you. All you had to do was ask. QUINTON: I'm asking now. NOLA: Now is too late. QUINTON: Is it? I know I hurt you, Nola... NOLA: You did more than hurt me. You took away my life. I had an identity as a wife, as a mother, and you robbed me of that. QUINTON: I never stopped you from being a mother. NOLA: You bribed our son with a car to keep him away from me! QUINTON: That is not why I gave him that car. I was going to wait until his birthday like we'd planned, but he was driving Stacey and I crazy because he kept borrowing our cars without asking, so I finally just got him his own. NOLA: Why would he lie to me about that? QUINTON: There's not much he tells the truth about these days, Nola, as you've probably found out. SHE DOESN'T ANSWER. QUINTON: I see you have. NOLA: He's been much better here than he was in California. QUINTON: I figured if anyone could straighten him out, it would be you. NOLA: I'm trying. Not that he's making it easy. QUINTON: Since when has anything been easy with him? NOLA: He wasn't quite so difficult when he had a father to look up to. QUINTON: I know. NOLA: If it was only me you hurt it might make it easier to forgive you. But your selfishness cost us our family. QUINTON: It hasn't yet. That's why I'm here, to try and stop it from happening. NOLA: It's too late. J hates you, Stacey hates me. QUINTON: She doesn't hate you. NOLA: So why won't she speak to me? QUINTON: She's angry at you for leaving, just like J's angry at me because he thinks I abandoned him. NOLA: I asked her to come here with me. QUINTON: You asked her to give up her life, which is too much to ask of someone her age. NOLA: She could at least visit. I don't care if she brings Mark with her. QUINTON: She doesn't want him to come here. NOLA: Why, is she ashamed of where she comes from? QUINTON: Of course not. But Mark doesn't know I'm not her biological father, and she's afraid if she brought him here he might find that out. NOLA: It's not exactly the type of thing that comes up in dinner conversation - pass the peas, and by the way my father's not my real father, my real dad's in jail. QUINTON: I tried to tell her that, but she's as stubborn as her mother. NOLA: You used to like my stubborness. QUINTON: I still do. HE HOLDS HER GAZE FOR A LONG MOMENT. QUINTON: We can make this work. NOLA: Until another one of your graduate students catches your eye. QUINTON: That's not going to happen again. NOLA: Can you guarentee that? Can you promise me you're never going to break my heart again? QUINTON: I can promise I'll try my best. NOLA: I don't know if that's enough. QUINTON: It will be. And I'm not leaving Springfield until I prove that to you. NOLA: What about your work? QUINTON: I'll find someone to cover everything for me. NOLA: You're willing to give up work? QUINTON: I'll give up whatever I need to to put our family back together. SHE TURNS AWAY FROM HIS INTENSE STARE. NOLA: I need you to go. QUINTON: Nola... NOLA: Please, I need some time alone right now. QUINTON: Okay, I can understand that. I've dumped a lot on you today. Will you call me when you're ready to talk? NOLA: I don't know. QUINTON: I'll leave my number just in case. HE WRITES DOWN A NUMBER AND HANDS HER THE PIECE OF PAPER. AS SHE TAKES IT UNCERTAINLY, HE REACHES UP TO STROKE HER HAIR. SHE TENSES FOR A MOMENT BUT THEN LETS HER CHEEK REST IN HIS HAND. QUINTON: Goodbye, Nola. HE PULLS HIS HAND AWAY RELUCTANTLY AND WALKS OUT THE DOOR AS SHE LOOKS AFTER HIM. "Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out." Linda Bowles