 Transcripts Snappies Fan Creations M & M Press LinksUntitled by SueS "Come in, come in. It is dreadfully cold out there." she says as she hurries them inside and shuts the door. Adam Chandler is among this last group of party-goers. A few snowflakes that have fallen on his coat quickly melt in the warmth of the house. Adam peers into the room. He's looking for her, but he doesn't want to look too obvious. "Play it cool, Chandler. You've done great so far. She promised you she'd give you her answer tonight. You don't want to blow it now." he thinks to himself. "May I take your coat?" "What?" Adam finally notices Peggy. "Your coat?" "Oh, yes. Sorry." Adam hands Peggy his coat and then proceeds into the room. With a critical eye he surveys his surroundings. "I see Grey has once again used too many of those d*mn twinkling little lights again," he thinks to himself. He sees Jake and Mia standing near a rather garish looking fake christmas tree balanced precariously on a small table in the center of the room. Mia smiles. They both laugh as Jake gently brushes a strand of hair from her face. "Mmm, those two are none the worse for wear." He smiles. "See, things do work out." He spies Dr. Hayward, standing alone, looking rather glum lift a wine glass from a passing waiter. "Ah, another good sign. David Hayward looking miserable. It's about time that charltan got what he deserves." His eye catches Brooke and follows her as she walks across the room. He notices a rather odd look between Maria and Brooke as they pass each other. A sort of "I'm watching you" look. "Trouble?" Adam wonders to himself. He continues to follow Brooke with his eye until she joins two other people. And there she is, as beautiful and as charming as the day he met her. He listens to her laugh. He watches as she tilt her head in that way that makes his heart melt. He starts to approach her. Nothing is going to stop him now. He watches as she gently place her hand on Tad's shoulder. He stops. He tenses. His hand quickly forms into a tight fist. Slowly and with as much effort as he can muster he loosens his hand and takes a deep breath. "Don't blow it now Chandler. Remember you're Adam Chandler and he's not." His conviction restored, he proceeds. He gently taps her on the shoulder. She turns. "Adam?" He smiles at her. A quick glance at Tad. Tad rolls his eyes. Adam tries to ignore him. "Liza, I need to speak with you." "Now?" "Yes, now. You promised me that you'd give me your answer tonight, and I'll be d*mned if I'm going to wait until the stroke of midnight to find out what it is." "But the party has barely started. Don't you think we should both try to enjoy ourselves first?" "How the h*ll do you expect me to enjoy myself when you hold my fate in your hands?" "My goodness, Adam Chandler's fate in my hands. That's a rather awesome responsibility." "Liza, this is no time to be coy. I'm serious." "Yes, I can see that." "So?" "So, I tell you what. Meet me in the Mausoleum at 11 o'clock." Adam looks at his watch. "Eleven! What? That's ... " She shakes her head. "Adam, I don't think you have a choice in the matter. If you want my answer, you'll have to wait until then." She turns and comfortably slips back into her conversation with Tad and Brooke. As he walks away she turns and gives him a look. "What was that?" he worries. "What kind of look was that? Was that encouragement, consolation, what?" Adam snatches a drink from a passing waiter. ***** Adam paces nervously in the dank, grey confines of the Wildwind Mausoleum. He glances at his watch. 10:53 PM. "Who the h*ll keeps their dead relatives in their backyard?" he grumbles to himself. He glances out the door. Still no sign of her. He looks at his watch again. 10:54. He quickly replays the events of the last few weeks. Trying to remember if there was anything he had done that might sway her decision one way or the other. "Well, there was that time ... " He shakes his head. "Naw, she's forgiven me for a lot worse." He paces some more. He checks his watch again. 10:55 PM. He looks towards the main house he sees her through the window. Except for their brief conversation at the beginning of the party, he has steered clear of her. He's given her her space. Although, with his eyes and his heart he has followed her every move this evening. He knows that she spoke briefly with Mia about the color scheme for Mia and Jake's wedding. He knows she pitched an idea to Edmund about creating a Tempo-styled magazine television show. He saw her take a bit of an appetizer and then sneak it onto a small side table when she realized it had mushroom in it. From his vantage point at the mausoleum, he continues to watch her. She's talking to Tad. He shows her his watch. He says something to her. She nods her head. He gives her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She walks away from him and towards the door. She starts down the path to the mausoleum. "She's coming." He says to himself. Quickly he sneaks out and back behind the mausoleum. Liza enters. "Adam?" She looks around the room and sees that it is empty. From behind the building Adam looks at his watch once again. 11:00PM. "She always has been punctual." Adam watches as the second hand slowly creeps around the face of his watch. He frowns. "Whoever said time flies was a blooming idiot." Finally. 11:01PM. "OK, this is it." He takes a deep breath and walks confidently back into the mausoleum. "Liza?" "Adam? I thought you'd be here already." "Me? No. In fact. I almost forgot what time it was." "Is that so?" She eyes him suspiciously. "It's just that you seem to have disappeared for the last 10-15 minutes. I half expected to see you in here nervously pacing like a caged animal." "Really? I guess I must've just been chit-chatting it up with some folks in another room." Liza nods her head. "Pheobe?" "What?" "Pheobe Wallingford. I saw you talking to her. How's she doing?" "She's ... she's fine ... fine. I guess she's fine. Listen Liza, we're not here to talk about Pheobe or anyone else at this party. We're here to talk about us. You promised me an answer at 11:00. It's now ..." He looks at his watch. "11:03." What is your answer? Do you want to stay married to me or not?" "Adam, do you agree that we cannot go back to the way we were?" "Yes, yes. I agree. Wholeheartedly. 100%." "Well, then. Here's my answer." She hands him an envelope. "What's this?" He turns it over in his hands. His mind racing with a thousand different ideas of what it could be. Airline tickets to the South Pacific for a "honeymoon getaway" ... a love letter vowing her eternal love. "You'll have to open it to find out." As he tears at the envelope a small gold band falls out, clinks on the edge of the cement casket in the center of the room, hits the floor and then makes a few small circles before it finds a place to rest. Adam finally looks at the blue-backed pages he is holding. The color ... the life in him ... drains right out of him. He sees himself melting into a big puddle of nothingness. "This ... this ... " he can't seem to say the word. "This is a divorce." Liza says filling in the words for him. "Don't tell me you're still upset because I tried to bug your room?" "No, and I've even forgiven you for trying to break into Dr. Schwartz's office to steal my files." "You knew about that?" "Yes." "Then, why this? I thought the whole purpose of this exercise, of this separation was to give us time to," Adam mockingly indicates someone making quotation marks, "'find ourselves' so that we could have a more cohesive marriage." "It was, but I think I learned a much more valuable lesson." "And that is?" "I like myself a whole lot better when I'm not with you." "But we've made such great progress." "Yes, we have. I'm not denying that. And you, Adam, you've been fantastic these last weeks, but ..." Not wanting to hear anymore, trying desperately to change the tide, Adam declares "And I'll be fantastic for you for the rest of your life. If you just ..." his voice trails off as he sees her slowly shake her head. "But that's not who you truly are, is it Adam?" she continues. She knows me too well, he thinks to himself as he shakes his head in defeat, "No" he responds "But you knew that." He paces nervously. "D*mmit Liza, why let some nut-case therapist decide our fate? I'm you. You're me. If any two people belonged together it's us and you cannot stand there and look me in the eye and tell me you don't feel the same way." Liza looks him squarely in the eye. "You're right Adam. I can't." He senses the makings of a smile coming across his face. "Yes, finally!" He thinks to himself. "I'm getting through to her." "But, " she continues. Once again the sense of doom reappears. "when we're together we turn into this hideous monster whose only desire is to destroy." She gently takes his hand, the one holding the divorce papers. She places the papers on the casket. "It's time to kill the beast Adam." "You're serious." She nods her head. "Yes. Adam, if we get back together I can't guarantee that some day I won't get angry at you and decide to sneak out in the middle of the night with Colby and you can't promise me that you will never hatch some diabolical plan to get rid of me." She waits for a response. She gets none. "These last few weeks have been heaven on earth for me." she continues. "I haven't had to worry about you're next move. I haven't had to look over my shoulder. And Colby, Colby is back to being her wonderfully delightful, happy self. No more nightmares." Adam smiles as he remembers the delightful, infection giggle Colby has. "I don't want to give that up, Adam. I don't want to take that risk. Our only chance of survival is to go our separate ways." For the first time, Adam starts to read over the divorce decree. "You'll see," Liza says as he reads. "that I'm asking for joint custody of Colby, that both Tad and I are giving up our positions at Chandler Enterprise and I'm returning all my stock in the company." It wasn't that Adam hadn't heard what Liza was saying or that he was trying to block her out. It's just that the only thing that existed in Adam's world at this time was the space where Liza had signed her name to the divorce papers and the blank space where his name belonged. A blank space that seemed to go on forever. A blank space that screamed at him. A blank space that would seal his fate. "I could refuse to sign." he thought to himself. "I could rip these papers up and force her ... " He reaches into his inside pocket for his pen. Then without hesitation he signs the papers and hands them to Liza. "Thank you." Liza says. "You won't ... " Liza stops herself. "Do you want to go back ... " He shakes his head. "Well, I'm ... I'll see you around, OK?" she says. Liza steps out of the mausoleum and back up the path towards the house. As the party welcomes her back with open arms the clock begins to chime. 1 ... 2 .... 3 .... he watches as she walks over to Tad and says something to him. Tad seems pleased. Even from a distance, Adam can tell Liza is smiling. Tad embraces her. 6 .... 7 .... 8 ... Adam starts to leave the mausoleum, but notices Liza's wedding ring on the floor. He bends to pick it up, but hesitates. He slowly removes the ring from his own finger. He flips it over in his hand a few times and then .... 11 .... 12 ... shouts of HAPPY NEW YEAR from the house ... he tosses it onto the floor next to hers and walks out. As he returns to the party he once again surveys his surroundings. Tad and Liza, smile and laugh and clink glasses - toasting in the new year. Jake and Mia share another kiss. Edmund and Maria embrace. Brooke ... "I wonder what Brooke is doing this year." he thinks to himself. |