WRITTEN
BY
Roger Newcomb
STARRING
(in order of appearance)
Rick E. Edwards as Manny Ramos
Barbara Thomas as Eve Morgan
Erika Crocco
as Caroline Hart
Kelly Christopher as Karen Grissom
Na’Vell
Lee as Damien Givens
EVE
is sitting at the desk of CAROLINE’S executive administrator, who is out sick
for the second straight day, when MANNY walks up.
MANNY
Hi. Is Caroline in?
EVE
Do
you have an appointment?
MANNY
No. I was in the neighborhood and…
EVE
Look,
no one gets in without an appointment.
Sorry, Charlie.
MANNY
It’s
Manny, actually. And don’t we know each
other? We met at the Ramos estate on
Thanksgiving.
EVE
Oh
yeah. I guess you looked kind of
familiar. I had a few drinks that day so
the part between sitting down for dinner and leaving a few hours later is a bit
of a blur.
MANNY
I
think I remember that. It’s Eve, right?
EVE
Eve
Morgan.
MANNY
Well,
it’s nice to meet you, Eve, again.
EVE
Wait
a minute, I think it’s coming back to me now. You’re Dante’s uncle, right? The one nobody knew about and then one day
appeared out of nowhere?
MANNY
That
would be me.
EVE
So
why is it that you look nothing like the rest of the Ramos family?
MANNY
(a bit taken aback at the question)
Well,
we have a pretty complicated history.
But to make a long story short, I’m actually the only blood son of
Richard Ramos. He raised Paul from the
time he was a baby, but Paul isn’t actually his son.
EVE
Interesting. So why does Paul live in
the big family mansion and not you?
MANNY
I
didn’t know Richard was my father until I was an adult.
Caroline
walks up.
CAROLINE
Manny, hi.
MANNY
Hey
there. I was just getting acquainted
with Eve here. I never found out what
you were doing here, Eve. Are you
working here now?
CAROLINE
Eve
has graciously stepped in while my admin is sick.
MANNY
I
see. (beat) So
Caroline, do you have a few minutes to chat.
CAROLINE
For you? Of
course.
MANNY
Great. Eve, it was nice to see
you.
EVE
Yeah. You too.
KAREN
is in the kitchen talking with DAMIEN.
KAREN
Damien,
I didn’t expect to see you today, especially showing up at my apartment
unannounced.
DAMIEN
I
hope you don’t mind, Karen, but I thought we needed to talk.
KAREN
If
this is about Angela, then I don’t have anything to say. She met this guy and now she’s chosen him
over me. That’s all there is to it.
DAMIEN
But
is it, Karen?
KAREN
What
do you mean?
DAMIEN
Look,
I’m going to be honest with you because we’ve known each other for a lot of
years. I work with Brian’s sister,
Arden, and I have also talked to Brian a few times. He’s a nice guy, Karen. Whatever is going on between the two of you
is some kind of huge misunderstanding.
KAREN
Why
do you and Angela insist on telling me how great the guy is? I know what he is, Damien. He just wants to keep me away from Angela so
she won’t find out the truth.
DAMIEN
It’s
funny, because Brian has the exact same theory about you.
KAREN
What? What is he saying about me?
DAMIEN
Karen,
I’m not going to get into that. I came
over here to listen to your side of the story first hand. And to see if there’s anything you wanted to
tell me that maybe you couldn’t tell Angela.
KAREN
Like
what? Tell me what Brian is saying about
me behind my back, Damien. I’m not going
to let him get away with this.
DAMIEN
I
told you, I’m not here to discuss what Brian is saying. Just tell me your side of things. And tell me what you know about those
anonymous love letters Angela was receiving.
KAREN
How
would I know anything about them? You
know what? I think it’s time for you to
leave.
DAMIEN
But
I just got here.
KAREN
I
don’t care, Damien. You came over out of
the blue, not to see me, or find out how I’m doing, but to accuse me of
something I didn’t do.
DAMIEN
Karen,
I haven’t accused you of anything.
KAREN
Just
leave, Damien. It’s
obvious Brian has turned you against me.
DAMIEN
Karen,
no one is against you here. Everyone is
just confused by this entire situation.
KAREN
I
guess this whole mess is letting me know who my real friends are.
DAMIEN
If
you’re doubting Angela’s friendship, or even mine,
then I don’t know what else I can say.
KAREN
Exactly. Goodbye, Damien.
DAMIEN
Goodbye,
Karen.
Damien
leaves.
KAREN
(to herself)
Get
a grip, Karen. You may have just blown
it.