Chapter Text
As she pins him against the headboard, kissing his neck and
toying with his hair, Henry lays a hand gently on her
shoulder, pushing her back.
HENRY
Vicki. Vicki, slow down.
VICKI
(flirtatiously)
I didn't take you for someone who
wanted the first time to go slowly.
HENRY
(sterner)
Vicki.
Stopping.
VICKI
What, what's wrong? I thought you
wanted this? That this is what
you've wanted for almost two years
now.
HENRY
It's not that.
VICKI
What then?
She considers, runs her hand up the inside of his thigh.
VICKI (CONT'D)
Oh, are you having some trouble?
That's ok, I can help warm you up,
we can take things however slow you
need.
HENRY
(chuckles)
I don't really have that problem.
Being undead leaves me in a
perpetual state of...readiness.
She sits back on his lap.
VICKI
Suddenly your constant innuendo
makes much more sense.
(then)
Talk to me. What do you need?
He rests his hands on her hips, intimate but keeping her
pushed back from him.
HENRY
What I need is for you to be sure.
VICKI
What part of my current posture
seems unsure?
A beat.
VICKI (CONT'D)
Oh. I get it. See, this is exactly
what I worried would happen. You're
all about the chase, and once you
get what you want you don't want it
anymore.
HENRY
No, that's not it. I want your
reasons to be right.
He runs a hand through her hair.
HENRY (CONT'D)
I don't want you casually. I don't
want things with you rushed. I
don't want you to do this just
because you missed me.
She scootches back now, taking her hands off him to cross her
arms.
VICKI
Right. You know, I always took you
as someone who used all the eras
he'd lived through to learn and
study, but I never took you for a
psychobabble sort. I certainly
didn't take you as one for
projection.
HENRY
Ok, I did miss you.
VICKI
Wouldn't hurt you to say so.
HENRY
Of course I did. You knew I would.
She leaned forward, tempting him with her lips - and hips -
just millimeters away from his.
VICKI
Then why not take me when I'm
within reach?
HENRY
Believe me, I want to.
VICKI
I've never really seen you
hesitate. Unless black magic or a
demon was involved.
HENRY
Let's just say I'm giving in to my
better demons.
VICKI
I thought the saying was better
angels.
HENRY
Comme ci, comme ca, as you say.
VICKI
I never took you for someone who
didn't follow through when a woman
initiated. And when you didn't seem
to uneager to kick off yourself...
He cups her face in his hands.
HENRY
I'd rather have you for your
lifetime than just one night.
(a beat)
I can sleep on the couch, like you
said.
VICKI
Fine, or you can take the room key
for the room I booked for you and
get all the distance you want from
me.
In a half second he's out from underneath her, swiping the
SECOND KEY CARD from the desk and out the door, leaving only
a breeze of movement behind him.
Vicki shifted to sit where he had been, head against the
headboard, lightly banging her head on the wall.
VICKI (CONT'D)
Join us a on a relationship
retreat, they said. We'll reunite
and get this resolved, they said.
She has a thought, grabs her NOTEBOOK. She writes:
INSERT: How did Tara die?
She circles how.
She picks up the HOTEL PHONE, dials.
VICKI (CONT'D)
Suzanne? You're awake. Can we talk?
Hotel bar. Great. See you in 5.
She hangs up the phone. Buttons up her shirt. Touches the
phone then the notepad again, considers calling Henry or
leaving a note but thinks better of it. Slips on her LEATHER
JACKET and heads out the door.
INT. WHISTLER LODGE - HOTEL BAR - NIGHT
A sticky, vintage bar that's seen better years and probably
hasn't had a lick of redecorating since it opened in the 70s,
wood and garnet faux leather abounding.
Vicki heads to the bar, gives her order to the BARTENDER,
takes a seat on a stool at the bar.
Suzanne walks in, spots her and joins.
SUZANNE
I thought we were all going to more
or less work on this together.
VICKI
I think I could use more backstory.
Your mother and both of you haven't
really mentioned yet what brought
about Tara's early exit. Was it
more or less natural causes - if
early - or was it something more
violent and abrupt?
SUZANNE
Heart issue. There were signs early
on that we missed. By the time it
was more apparent, it was too late.
VICKI
So if you had a time machine, you'd
go back and realize the issue
sooner, maybe before it was too
late.
SUZANNE
I don't know.
Vicki shoots her a look.
SUZANNE (CONT'D)
I mean yes, I'd rather it didn't
happen that way for her. But on the
other hand, I have to admit when it
DID happen, Tara seemed relieved.
Like she was glad to have a reason
to not have to put in the effort
anymore. I dunno, it's hard to
explain.
VICKI
You think she wanted some way out
and she was grateful when it
naturally presented itself? Did you
get the sense she knew sooner
something was off but didn't bother
investigating it?
SUZANNE
Not that so much. Just that once
she got her diagnosis, she didn't
really fight it at all. She
isolated herself.
VICKI
Did you get the feeling she did so
for herself or those she was
leaving behind?
SUZANNE
Maybe both? She just didn't have
much fight in her.
VICKI
And how long after she died did her
ghost appear?
SUZANNE
Almost immediately. She spent more
time with us in her half form than
she did with us during her final
months when she was still alive.
She was never haunting us though,
not the way that fiction always
paints it. She didn't hold her
death against us, she knew it
wasn't our fault. She just seemed
stuck, just casually hanging out
with us.
VICKI
And what was your mom's response or
yours as she revealed herself in
her current form?
SUZANNE
We weren't shocked. It's hard to
explain but we almost expected it,
I'm not sure exactly why. Somehow
it seemed natural that she didn't
really leave. I don't think it was
because either of us wished her to
stay - it wasn't some secret prayer
we'd uttered to get more time with
her or something. It just wasn't
surprising.
VICKI
And there's nothing about her
ending or ...continuance...that has
sat with either of you as a reason
she's lingering?
SUZANNE
Nothing obvious to me yet.
VICKI
Is it hard? Being here with her
this weekend?
SUZANNE
I just want her to find her finish,
whatever that looks like.
VICKI
We'll see what we can do. As next
of kin, can you pull her medical
records for me? Have them emailed
over to me?
SUZANNE
Not sure that they would show
anything more than what I've
shared, but happy to get them in
your hands if it may help.
INT. WHISTLER LODGE - HALLWAY
Vicki walks back to her hotel room. Stops at her door,
decides to walk further down to Henry's door.
She gently knocks.
Henry answers in half a millisecond.
HENRY
I'm sorry, the timing just seemed
off.
VICKI
I'm not here about us. Question:
when you were turned, did you stay
where you had been? Or how did you
decide where to begin your
afterlife?
HENRY
I stayed near the court at first,
but it felt too different. I wasn't
the same, they weren't the same - I
couldn't really step back into the
life I had, I was an outsider now.
So it didn't take long to realize I
needed to setup shop elsewhere.
VICKI
And what pointed you in that new
direction? What drove you to move
on or find that new space?
HENRY
It was different for me, Vicki. I
didn't have daylight as an option.
If I'd stayed I would have been
recognized, I was too high profile.
And my death devastated the line of
succession. Even though I was
illegitimate, at the time I was the
only potential male heir and a lot
of hopes were hung on that. If I'd
stayed and let them believe I was
alive in some fashion, they would
have expected me to rise to the
throne instead of Elizabeth - and I
would have been the king that never
died. I would never have been able
to conceal what I was as I didn't
age with all that public exposure.
I had to leave.
VICKI
I see now where you get that lack
of humility.
HENRY
And yet I didn't let myself become
king.
VICKI
Something about this whole thing
with Tara doesn't seem right or
simple. I spoke to Suzanne. Tara
died from heart issues, discovered
too late to fix. Nothing violent,
nothing overly abrupt. I'm not
saying it isn't still sad or
leaving unresolved issues in its
wake, but I'm still not seeing
what's left undone here.
HENRY
In death, as in life, there are
always things left undone that you
can't fully resolve. Even if you
have all the time in the world and
all parties involved are fully
willing.
VICKI
We're still talking about the case,
aren't we?
HENRY
(grins)
Of course.
VICKI
G'night, Hank.
HENRY
Night, Vic.
She steps away and heads back to her room. Henry watches her
walk away, hesitates before closing his door.