Inamorata - EPISODE 2 : The Familiar Voice

 

EPISODE 2 : The Familiar Voice

Scene: At another dark, deserted alley in the middle of a rainy night.

Cathy is walking alone, looking warily around her. She is holding an umbrella but it wasn't much protection against the hard rain and strong wind .

Cathy: (thinking) Why, oh why did I put myself in this situation again? I hope my guardian angel is not too busy today.

She hears what she thinks are footsteps behind her.

Cathy turns around and doesn't see anyone. She runs to the side against the wall where there's a bit of a cover. She is drenched from the rain despite her umbrella.

Cathy: (thinking) This is a huge mistake. If I get hurt again, I have no one to blame but myself. There must be ways to get information that don't involve getting stabbed.

By now she's hearing things and seeing something in every shadow. In her paranoia, she's convinced herself there's a gang of killers after her.

Cathy: (thinking) This rain isn't stopping any time soon. I have to make a run for it, I'm like a sitting duck here.

Cathy runs towards the direction where she parked her car. It was so rainy she couldn't see very well.

Suddenly, a man appears from the shadows and she runs right into him. Bump!

Cathy almost falls but the man catches and steadies her. She was so convinced in her mind that she was going to get killed that she faints. But before she passes out, she recognizes the sad eyes under a pair of eyeglasses that she's seen before.

Scene: In a dark, plain bedroom. Cathy is laying in the bed still unconscious.

She wakes up. She's disoriented and terrified. She notices a man in a chair next to the bed watching her.

Cathy: Where... where am I? Who are you?

Cathy sits up too quickly and gets light headed. Her vision is hazy.

Man: Take it easy. You have a high fever.

Cathy recognizes the voice of the man who saved her that night several months ago. She had a flash of remembrance of a scene from one of her erotic dreams featuring this very man. For a moment, Cathy wondered if she was having another one of those vivid dreams. Cathy lays back down again. She wants to ask a lot of questions but is too weak. She falls asleep.

Much later, Cathy wakes up feeling much better. It's still dark. She gets up slowly. She's a bit apprehensive but she's really not as scared someone else might be. She looks down at what she's wearing. It looks like a man's pajamas. She touches the soft pajama fabric is.

Cathy: (thinking) Is this cashmere?

She sees her own clothes, clean, dry and folded neatly on a chair. She gets up, grabs them and quickly puts them on. After changing, she finds the door and opens it. She peers outside to the dark hallway. Cathy walks softly and carefully.

Cathy: (nervously) Hello? Anybody here?

She sees a light coming from around the corner and so she walked in that direction.

She sees a room that is half opened with lights on. Cathy pushes the door wide open and goes in.

There is no one inside but she sees a large desk with a laptop and several papers strewn all over. Cathy can't resist, she comes closer. She sees an open leather bound notebook.

Cathy: (reading) My Dearest Inamorata..

Then, her eyes caught sight of something on the loose papers on the other side of the table. Her eyes widen as she looked through them. She's so intent on the papers that she was so startled when all of a sudden she hears someone behind her.

Man: Don't touch those!

He grabs the papers from her hands.

They come face to face. Cathy lets out a short scream. She is taken aback and she couldn't hide it. The man's lower left face is heavily scarred, as if it was badly burned. The harsh lighting made the layers of fibrous scar tissue appear worse.

Man: (softly) Don't be scared... I won't hurt you.

Cathy recovers herself.

Cathy: So.. Sorry about that. You just startled me. Umm, who are you? Where am I?

Vincent: I'm a friend. You're at my home... How are you feeling?

Cathy: I'm feeling much better, thank you.

Vincent: Are you hungry? I can get you something to eat..

Cathy: No, I'm fine. What is your name?

Cathy is trying to look him in the eyes but the man looks away.

Man: Call me ....Call me 'Estraneo'.

Cathy: Okay... M-My name is Cathy. Cathy Villanueva. Do you know who I am? Have you seen me on TV?

The man hesitates for a few seconds then nods his head. He's still not looking at her directly.

Cathy: First of all, I want to thank you for helping me tonight and for saving me that other night, a few months ago when I was attacked. That was you wasn't it?

The man nods but says nothing else.

Cathy: The doctors said if you didn't bring me to the hospital when you did, I would have died.

The man visibly tensed.

Man: You should really be more careful.

Cathy: (nods) That's what everyone keeps telling me. Ummm, did you see who attacked me that night?

The man looks at her face for a second then looks down again and shakes his head.

Cathy: Thank you for saving me again tonight.

The man nods again and says nothing.

Cathy: What were you doing at that alley?

The man doesn't answer her question.

Cathy: These documents are related to the counterfeit drugs in the market right now! This is the very same thing I'm investigating. Wait... this must be why you were at the alley last night! Are you investigating the same thing? Are you working for my competition? For another show? Which one?

Man: No, I don't work for a TV show. I'll call you a taxi now.

Cathy: No, I'm not leaving until you answer some questions. How did you get these? Where did they come from?

She tries to catch his eyes once again but he's looking away.

Cathy: Please tell me. People are dying from the fake drugs.

Man: I just found them in a trash pile….about to be shredded. They looked important so I picked them up.

Cathy grabs some of the papers and looks through them. She's getting excited.

Cathy: “LifeTekk Pharmaceuticals”? I've never heard of them and I thought I'd come across every drug company in the country while doing my research.

Cathy continues to look through the paperwork.

Cathy: You said you found them in a trash pile? Do you work there?

The man didn't answer.

Cathy: (answering her own question) You must! How else could you have gotten these?

Cathy continues to look through the papers. She looks up at the man and catches him staring at her very intently. He looks away quickly.

Cathy: Have you looked through all of these yet?

The man shakes his head..

Cathy: Can I have them?

The man: (nods after a couple of moments ) Okay.

Cathy: (big smile) Thanks! If you find any more documents like these, will you give them to me? Here's how to get in touch with me.

Cathy writes down her contact info.

The man nods.

Cathy stands up and is so excited that she impulsively tries to give the man a hug. But the man steps away abruptly seemingly to avoid her. Cathy feels a bit embarrassed. She pushes the papers into a pile to cover up.

Cathy: Umm, maybe you can call me that taxi now?

The man nods and leaves the room.

Scene: Still at the house, night time.

The man is looking out of the window as Cathy gets in the taxi. But before getting inside, she waves at him at the window. The man was taken aback.

He finally walks away from the window. There's an air of melancholy around the man. He seems so despondent, alone. In the darkness, he silently walks to another room in the house. He turns on the lights. It's his bedroom.

Inside the bedroom, on the wall next to his dresser, there are several different sizes of pictures of Cathy. Some are pictures from Cathy's TV show, some are publicity photos, some are candid shots of her out and about in daily life. The man takes several minutes to look at the pictures. He touches one of the pictures gently. Then he walks to another part of his bedroom where there's a life size half body picture of Cathy from the night she won the award, in her purple shimmery gown. The man stands in front of it, staring at it for a long time, then tracing the lines of the picture with his fingers. Her face, eyebrows, eyes, nose, lips, neck, body...

Today was absolute heaven and hell. My love, my Inamorata, actually here in my home, in the flesh! Your proximity almost drove me to brink of insanity. You are as close as you had ever been to me but still so far away. I still cannot believe that you were standing within arm's reach of me.

I have worshiped you from afar for so long that I just didn't know how to act with you so close. I can still smell you, the very essence of you still permeates the air. You brought your light, your radiance, into this gloomy house, but my dear, you took that bit of sunshine with you when you left. This house will never be the same. You have changed this home molecularly, just like you did me.

My heart soars that you and I are finally able to speak face to face. You are as kind and gracious as I imagined you to be. You are as beautiful inside as you are outside. Your eyes, your lips, your whole face, your body. My sweet, you sorely test my self control. I am only a man. It took a lot from me to be in the room with you and do nothing when my loins cry out to possess you, to take you.

What would happen if I confess that I love you, that I cherish you, that every second of my waking thought is consumed by you? What if I were to confess to you my undying devotion? How would you react? I believe you are not ready for me to show you how the depth of my passion. I believe I must give you time to get used to me. Perhaps I can ingratiate myself by helping you with your investigations. If you realize my true feelings now, I fear you will reject me. I fear you will laugh at me or worse, feel sorry for me. That will be worse than death!

I saw the fear in your eyes when you first saw my deformed face. My esteem for you grew that you deigned to continue to speak to me even after you have seen the horror of my scars. You even acted like it didn't matter. If I am not mistaken, you were trying to give me a hug? Is it possible? Is it possible that I am not as repulsive to you as I thought I would be? Perhaps the time we will be together is sooner than I imagined? Please do not give me false hope my Inamorata. I cannot bear it.