Tough Love: Episode 4 Read online

door. Selene turns to look and the camera cuts to a shot of the door just before her breasts would have become fully visible.)

  STAGEHAND

  (From the other side of the door.) You’re on in ten minutes Ms. Selene.

  SELENE

  I’ll be out in a moment.

  (Cut to a close-up shot of Selene from the shoulders up.)

  SELENE

  I guess I’ll just have to find someone else to play with.

  INT. – PALÁTI TOU DIONYSOU – A FEW MINUTES LATER

  (Scene opens with a shot of the entrance to the Paláti Tou Dionysou from the inside. Duke bursts in through the doors excitedly with Wilt and Lana walking slowly behind him.)

  DUKE

  Now this is more like it! Wasn’t it nice of Lana to show us the local bar?

  (Lana and Wilt brush past Duke and head straight for the bar.)

  LANA

  I need a drink.

  (Duke is left alone but still tries to sound upbeat.)

  DUKE

  Oh yeah! Check’n the night life solo style!

  (Duke suddenly hears the stagehand announcing something and turns to look up at the stage.)

  STAGEHAND

  Ladies and Gentlemen! Performing an excerpt from “The Bacchae”, Selene!

  (Cut to a point-of-view shot from Duke. He watches as Selene takes the stage. The stage has an oceanic backdrop and the stage floor has a grey, rocky texture. Duke’s point-of-view moves through the crowd as Selene begins to sing until he makes his way to the front of the crowd.)

  SELENE

  Where is the home for me? O Cyprus, set in the sea, Aphrodite’s home in the soft sea-foam, Would I lend to thee; Where in the wings of the Lovers are furled, And faint the heart of the world!

  (Selene locks eyes with Duke. Close-up on her eyes as they twinkle to show Aphrodite’s spell taking effect. Cut to a side view of the two showing Duke at the foot of the stage and Selene smiling down at him.)

  SELENE

  Ay, or to Paphos’ isle, Where the rainless meadows smile, With riches rolled from the hundred fold, Mouths of the far-off Nile, Streaming beneath the waves, To the roots of the seaward Caves!

  (Cut to a shot of the bar where Lana and Wilt are sitting. After Danny is finished serving a local customer he notices Wilt and walks over to greet him.)

  DANNY

  Well if it isn’t Wilt!

  WILT

  Do I know you?

  DANNY

  Not likely. (To Lana) I made this guy my strongest drink the other day. I call it the “Dionysian Ritual”, because it often reveals the truth. If you know what I mean.

  LANA

  What’s in it?

  DANNY

  Sorry. House secret. Probably not a good idea to start with that one anyway. Ol’ Wilt here took one shot of it and he was done. That reminds me. Did you get around to telling off that douchebag who dragged you on vacation with him?

  (Duke loudly makes his way up to the bar and puts his arm around Wilt.)

  DUKE

  Dude! Did you see that babe that was just onstage?

  WILT

  (To Danny) No.

  DUKE

  Well she was like a 10! Well, Maybe a 9.5. Gotta leave some room just in case I find someone hotter.

  WILT

  Duke, I think this is the bartender that the guy at the airport was talking about.

  DANNY

  Yeah, that’s probably me. I know everyone around here. Well it doesn’t exactly take long to get to know everyone on an island but you know what I mean. Anyway, the names Daniel. Or Danny, or Dan. Some folks just call me D.

  LOCAL

  (From off-screen) Hey D! We need another round over here!

  (Danny gestures for them to wait then walks off-screen to get drinks for some of the locals.)

  WILT

  Duke, we should really start asking this guy about the Heart of Aphrodite.

  LANA

  Please don’t tell me that he’s got you in on this whole thing too.

  WILT

  Uh… no. We just want to know about it for… archaeological purposes.

  (Duke is about to butt in but the stagehand interrupts him before he can talk.)

  STAGEHAND

  Excuse me. Ms. Selene requests that you meet her in her dressing room.

  DUKE

  Ok, new plan. I’m gonna go deal with this while you guys take care of things over here.

  (Duke follows the stagehand off-screen leaving Lana and Wilt at the bar. Wilt sighs in frustration. Fade to black.)

  INT. – WILT’S DREAM – NIGHT

  (Scene opens with a full shot in a room from the night Duke and Wilt broke into the museum. There is a hazy filter and an echolike sound effect signifying that the scene is taking place in a dream. Wilt is walking cautiously across the room as it pan’s around to reveal Jasmine and the Mistress watching him from the other end of the room.)

  MISTRESS

  Take him out.

  (Cut to a close-up of Wilt as Jasmine sneaks up behind him. She puts her hand over his mouth to keep him from making any noise.)

  JASMINE

  Don’t Struggle.

  INT. – OBLEX’S STUDY – THE NEXT MORNING

  (Cut to a close up of Wilt’s face. He opens his eyes suddenly. Cut to a one shot of Wilt as he sits up quickly. Cut to a full shot of Oblex’s living room. Lana and Oblex are sitting at a table looking down at the stone map.)

  LANA

  Good Morning. Work started an hour ago.

  OBLEX

  You looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to wake you.

  WILT

  Did Duke come back yet?

  LANA

  What do you think?

  WILT

  (Sigh) Of course not.

  (Wilt finds a “Ball in a Cup” game on the floor and begins playing with it while Lana turns her attention back to Oblex and the map. Cut to a medium shot of Lana and Oblex.)

  LANA

  So how’s the translating going?

  OBLEX

  Could be better. Lágnos hasn’t looked like it does in this map for a long time. And the written directions? Well, ancient Greek doesn’t exactly… uh…

  LANA

  Roll off the tongue?

  OBLEX

  Akrivós! Anyway, I’m still going to need more time. It will definitely be worth it though. This line here describes it as “The map of all maps”.

  LANA

  Alright let’s go through that shelf you call a library and see if we can’t find something to speed this process along.

  (Cut back to the full shot. Lana and Oblex exit moments before Duke walks in through the front door. Wilt stops playing around with his game and looks at Duke. Duke appears to be very tired.)

  WILT

  So, did you sleep over at Selene’s place last night or did you grind on a few more people before finally crashing?

  DUKE

  I did a lot of things over at Selene’s place but sleeping wasn’t one of them. This girl was a freak! She kept me up all night with her-

  WILT

  I don’t need to know! You look like shit by the way.

  DUKE

  I might be a little sleep deprived but I can just walk that off. Is Lana here?

  (Duke takes off his shirt and starts doing push-ups on the floor.)

  WILT

  Yeah but what are you doing?

  DUKE

  When a woman sees a man performing a feat of strength her hypothalamus automatically releases a chemical called oxytocin. This chemical causes her to experience emotions such as trust and empathy which all make it easier for me to get in her pants.

  WILT

  You know all of that and yet somehow you still failed high school biology.

  DUKE

  Shh! Here she comes.

  (Lana walks back into the living room. Duke starts grunting loudly to make Lana notice that he is doing push-ups.)

  LANA

  Put on a shirt
you slut.

  DUKE

  Oh Lana! I didn’t know you’d be here.

  LANA

  (Sigh) Don’t forget, we’re going back to the temples on Thursday so we can examine the relics further using my equipment.

  DUKE

  Right. And today is…?

  LANA

  (Annoyed) Wednesday.

  DUKE

  Got it. We’re brushing dust off of stuff on Thursday.

  LANA

  In the meantime you and Wilt can clean the house while I’m working.

  (Lana grabs the stone map and takes it off-screen into the library. Wilt opens a nearby closet and pulls out some cleaning supplies while Duke gets up off of the floor and goes off-screen into the kitchen. He comes back with a glass of water. Before he gets a chance to drink from the glass Duke’s phone starts ringing. His ringtone is obnoxiously loud rock music. He pulls the phone out of his pocket to look at it before he answers.)

  DUKE

  It’s Selene? There is no way that she’s ready to go at it again. (Answers phone) Selene? (Pause) I would but I’m kinda in the middle of something. (Pause) But I can’t just- (Long pause) I’ll be right over!

  (Duke hangs up the phone, puts the glass on a nearby table, and hurriedly starts getting his things together.)

  DUKE

  Selene just finished her morning performance and wants me to come over.

  WILT

  Wait. What about work?

  DUKE

  Um… Cover for me?

  (Duke exits. Cut to a close up of the full glass of water still on the table. Fade to black.)

  INT. – DISCIPLE’S LAIR – THE NEXT DAY

  (Scene opens with a full shot of a room inside of the disciple’s lair. The subtitle “Thursday” appears near the bottom of the screen then fades away. The Mistress is alone, still sitting at the table from before, and staring at the crystal ball. The camera slowly zooms in on her.)

  MISTRESS

  (Deep in thought) Underneath the glass lies the true path.

  (The camera stops on a close-up of the Mistress’s face. Her expression changes as she finally realizes what she missed about the riddle. Cut to a one shot of her as she grabs the ball then launches it at the wall where it shatters.)

  MISTRESS

  Damn it!

  (Cut to a full shot of the room as Jasmine runs in looking startled. The Mistress turns to address her.)

  MISTRESS

  Underneath the glass! As in literally under the glass. As in that ball wasn’t even the map. We need to send someone to retrieve that stone