Tough Love: Episode 1 Read online

INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT

  (Open scene with a slow pan across the floor of someone’s bedroom as we hear the sound of a woman moaning. Various articles of clothing can be seen scattered about on the floor. As the bottom of the bed comes into view the moaning stops and the camera scrolls up to show Aphrodite presumably naked under the covers and Duke sitting at the edge of the bed shirtless. Most of Aphrodite cannot be seen but she is clearly stunning. Duke is muscular with short spiky hair.)

  APHRODITE

  That was amazing.

  DUKE

  Of course, I was involved after all.

  APHRODITE

  So… you have my number. Will you call me later?

  DUKE

  Do I look like the kind of guy that would spend the night with you and never call?

  INT. BAR – MIDDAY

  (Cut to Duke sitting at the bar with his friend Wilt while the bartender is getting them another round of drinks. Wilt is slightly shorter and less muscular than Duke.)

  DUKE

  And she bought it!

  WILT

  Just like that?

  DUKE

  Well technically I never said that I would call her. If she somehow came to that conclusion then there is no way I can be expected to take the blame for that.

  (The bartender hands each of them a beer.)

  BARTENDER

  Duke, you are too sly.

  DUKE

  It’s a gift.

  WILT

  So what was this girl’s name anyway?

  DUKE

  How am I supposed to know? It was like a week ago! I remember it was something weird though. Like… Astrid, or Abby, or-

  (Aphrodite yells from off-screen in a godly echoing voice as the lights go dim.)

  APHRODITE

  APHRODITE!

  (Camera turns to show Aphrodite hovering in the middle of the bar while everyone but Duke hides under tables. Loose objects are getting blown around the room. Duke looks to either side noticing that he is all alone now.)

  DUKE

  Hey baby. I meant to call but-

  APHRODITE

  SILENCE!

  DUKE

  Sure thing.

  APHRODITE

  You rejected me and NOBODY does that! I’ll give you one chance to repent for your actions or you will feel the full extent of my wrath!

  DUKE

  Look babe, you’re really pretty and all but I can’t let myself be tied down to one chick. Y’know what I mean?

  (The sound of Aphrodite’s response is so forceful that it messes up Duke’s hair and almost knocks him back.)

  APHRODITE

  SHUT UP! I hereby curse you Duke Butchmann. No matter how far you run, no matter where you hide, you will never escape your doomed fate.

  (Aphrodite claps her hands together sending out a shockwave that throws Duke to the floor and shatters all of the glass in the bar. All of the people who were hiding come back out to see that she has disappeared. Everyone recollects themselves as the door opens and Katie enters. She carefully steps around the broken glass and walks up to the counter where Wilt and Duke were talking. Wilt is standing looking shocked and confused and Duke is still on the ground.)

  KATIE

  What happened here?

  WILT

  Um…

  (Duke stands up brushing shards of glass and dust off of his shoulders while trying to make himself look cool.)

  DUKE

  Some thugs came in and tried to trash the place. I taught them a lesson.

  (Camera zooms in on Katie’s eyes and they twinkle to show Aphrodite’s spell taking effect, and then zooms back out.)

  KATIE

  Wow! (Giggle) My hero.

  (Wilt rolls his eyes and Duke puts his arm around Katie. The sound cuts out but you can tell Duke is buying her a drink and the scene fades out.)

  EXT. SIDEWALK – LATER THAT DAY

  (Duke and Wilt are walking home from the bar. Duke is admiring a piece of paper but Wilt is looking concerned.)

  DUKE

  Had kind of a slow start today but I ended up with three numbers. How many did you get Wilt?

  WILT

  None.

  DUKE

  That’s ok buddy, we all hit dry spells. Well, most of us do. It’s probably just because you have a stupid name.

  WILT

  What?

  DUKE

  Well I mean seriously, who else has the name Wilt?

  WILT

  No, that’s not it. I’m just-

  (At that moment a girl wearing sweatpants with “juicy” written across the butt walks by which Duke unstealthily turns his attention away from Wilt to look at her.)

  DUKE

  Quiet. I’m reading.

  (Wilt steps in front of Duke to regain his attention. They both stop walking.)

  WILT

  Look! I’m not going through a “dry spell” I’m just a little concerned about what happened earlier with Aphrodite.

  DUKE

  Why? You got a thing for her or something? I can give you her number if you want.

  WILT

  Come on. We both saw what she did.

  (Duke walks past Wilt and Wilt follows close behind to continue the conversation.)

  DUKE

  Listen, I went through the same thing after I hooked up with that magician chick. Remember Myrtle?

  WILT

  (Shuddering) That one got ugly.

  DUKE

  But in the end Myrtle was all talk and so is this “Afro Lady”.

  WILT

  But what if it’s more than that? I’m gonna Google this girl to be safe.

  DUKE

  Seriously Wilt, research? I thought that I beat all of that nerd stuff out of you back in high school.

  WILT

  I’m just-

  DUKE

  Look man, I got a date to get to. Do whatever ya wanna do.

  (Wilt stops walking and Duke continues down the sidewalk. As he walks away a strange woman dressed in a purple cloak can be seen staring at Duke from across the street. Before crossing the street Duke turns to yell back at Wilt.)

  DUKE

  If all goes well, I’ll text you pics!

  (Duke walks away and the woman continues to stare at him. After Duke is off-screen she turns to look back at Wilt before disappearing around the corner.)

  INT. BAR – THE NEXT MORNING

  (Scene opens on a close up of a pile of broken glass on the floor that gets swept up by a broom. Zoom out to show the bartender sweeping up the mess left behind from the confrontation with Aphrodite. The bartender mutters angrily to himself.)

  BARTENDER

  Crazy bitch.

  (A policeman and a psychiatrist walk into the bar. The policeman is carrying a police sketch of Katie and the psychiatrist is missing a small part of his ear.)

  POLICEMAN

  Excuse me sir, do you mind if we ask you a few questions?

  BARTENDER

  Go ahead.

  POLICEMAN

  We are looking for an escaped mental patient who has been spotted in this area. (Holds up police sketch.) Brown hair, green eyes, Caucasian, prone to fits of violent rage.

  BARTENDER

  There were a few girls that came in here that looked like that but none of them seemed violent.

  (The policeman and psychiatrist look around at the mess Aphrodite caused.)

  POLICEMAN

  Really?

  BARTENDER

  The girl who did this had black hair.

  POLICEMAN

  Sir, this is a very serious situation.

  PSYCHIATRIST

  This patient suffers from Agoraphobia, Schizophrenia, Delusional Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disor
der, Multiple Personality Disorder, Sadism, and Phobatrivaphobia. In lay man’s terms: She’s “bat shit crazy”.

  BARTENDER

  Sounds like a handful.

  PSYCHIATRIST

  She bit off a piece of my ear.

  (The psychiatrist displays what’s left of his ear and the bartender looks away in disgust.)

  BARTENDER

  Look, I’ll let you know if I remember anything but right now I have a lot of work to do.

  POLICEMAN

  Of course. (Holds up the police sketch again and lays it down of the counter.) I’ll leave this here just in case.

  (The policeman and psychiatrist exit as the bartender goes back to sweeping the floor. Camera zooms in and lingers on the picture of Katie before fading to the next scene.)

  INT. DUKE’S A