Kevin, Lucy, and a Bedtime Story

Kevin and Lucy have a dinner date this particular evening to celebrate her reinstatement as head of Deception.  Earlier in the day, Lucy encounters Felicia at the Outback.  Felicia gives her some good advice about Kevin: stop being jealous, stop trying to make problems, and just enjoy the fact that he likes you.  At first Lucy complains that, given Kevin's recent mood, enjoying him is difficult.  Then she stops short:

L: "You're absolutely right.  Enjoyment is the key.  You just said a mouthful.  Thank you, Felicia."

F: "Does this mean you're going to leave?"

L: "Absolutely.  Now, listen, do not make plans to stop at the lighthouse tonight.  Kevin is going to be very busy."

(Lucy leaves.)

F: "That man must have the patience of Job."

That evening, Lucy walks into Kevin's house and calls out to him.  He answers:

K: "Come on in, Lucy.  I'm just getting my tie out of the freezer."

L: "What did you say?"

(Kevin walks out of the kitchen with a tie in one hand and a pint container of sorbet in the other.)

K: "My tie.  I put it in the freezer.  And I found this rapidly thawing sorbet in the closet."

L: "Oh, boy, this is a lot worse than I thought."  (Lucy takes the tie from his hand and loops it around his neck.)  "Come here, right this minute, follow me to the couch."  (She walks, pulling him along behind her via the tie-leash.)  "I want you to sit down right there.  Sit."

(Lucy releases Kevin from his leash and he stumbles into a sitting position on the couch.  Lucy sits next to him.  This may be an opportune moment to make note of the painting of Kevin's that sits on the easel behind them.  It is in reds, grays, and black, and it depicts an active volcano.)

K: "Okay."

L: "Now, we are staying in tonight."

K: "I thought you wanted to have dinner."

L: "I'd rather have you."

K: "Oh, that's a loaded statement if I ever heard one."

L: "No, not so loaded.  I guess I don't really need to ask you how you are."

K: "I am tired."

L: "Mmm, poor baby.  Well, if you're a very good boy, I promise I will tell you a bedtime story later."

K: "Well, consider me on my best behavior."

L: "Would you care for some wine perhaps?"

K: "I'm sorry, I forgot my manners."

(Kevin starts to stand up.)

L: "No, sit.  I'll get it.  You stay."

(Lucy goes over to the dining table, where a bottle of wine and two glasses sit, and pours their wine.)

K: "Lucy, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were making an attempt at caretaking."

L: "Oh, Doctor, is that against one of those rules of yours?"

K: "Absolutely not."

L: "Good.  You know, I ran into your friend Felicia a little while ago, and she did finally admit to me that she is in the family way, but she assured me that you are not part of that family."

(Lucy hands Kevin his wine glass and sits back down next to him.)

K: "Good.  I trust that's the end of it?"

L: "Well, I do have one just teeny tiny little question."

K: "Yes?"

L: "Mmm, how do I put this delicately?  Well, we both know she's been, how shall we say - active with not one but two men lately - "

K: "Lucy, Lucy, that's none of your business."

L: "It is if that is why you have been in such a foul mood lately."

K: "It isn't."

L: "Would you care to tell me what is the reason?"

K: "Not if I can help it."

L: "Okay.  Well, then, my mission tonight, should I decide to accept  it, is to redirect all those morbid thoughts that have been going on in that mind of yours."  (As she says this, she strokes his face.)  "And I think probably these shoulders" (she runs one hand along his shoulder) "are a very good place to start.  Come with me." (Lucy takes Kevin's hand, stands up, and yanks him up off the couch. He stumbles along after her; she deposits him in his leather chair.  He is mildly annoyed, but that's about to change.  Lucy kneels behind Kevin and begins to massage his shoulders.)

L: "Sit down.  Turn around.  All right.  I want you to relax and close your eyes and just open your mind.  My name is Lucy, and I will be your pilot for tonight."

When we rejoin them, Lucy is still massaging Kevin's shoulders.  His eyes are closed, and he looks completely contented.  I think it's safe to assume that he's enjoying the flight.

K: "Mmm.  Oh, Lucy, thank you, this was wonderful."

L: "No, this was step one."

(Kevin opens his eyes.)

K: "In a twelve-step program, I hope."

(Lucy moves around from behind Kevin and sits on the ottoman in front of him.)

L: "Well, that depends on your stamina, and I meant that exactly the way it sounded."

K: "Lucy, I don't know what to say."

L: "You don't have to say anything.  Words aren't important.  All you have to do is sit back and get nice and comfy."

(Lucy removes Kevin's shoes.)

K: "Is it time for my story?"

L: "You're such a smart boy."

K: "Do you want my eyes opened or closed?"

L: "Open, almost always.  Are you ready?"

K: "Oh, I'm ready."

L: "Okay, then."  (Lucy reaches up and takes down her hair, so that it falls in waves around her shoulders.)  "Once upon a time, there was a woman, and she'd been kissed by a man.  Now, this just wasn't any old kiss.  This kiss lingered.  In fact, her mouth felt so hot that she could feel it hours later.  Now, she couldn't stop thinking about this kiss, so she took it to bed with her."

K: "Lucky kiss."

(Lucy gets off the ottoman and kneels at Kevin's feet.)

L: "And you, don't interrupt."

K: (almost whispering) "Okay."

(Lucy resumes her seat on the ottoman.)

L: "While she slept, she dreamt that she was in a beautiful forest, sitting by a lake.  It was a hot, hot summer day, and it was very humid.  It was kind of sticky, languid.  But she didn't mind. In fact, she almost found it rather sensual.  So, she gathered up her dress, tied it way, way, way up high, and then she stuck her bare legs in the water, turned her face right up to the sun, and relaxed."

(Lucy draws her dress - well, actually she's wearing palazzo pants - up well above her knees as she tells this part of the story.  Then she draws her hands along her body, starting with one leg and moving up till she reaches her neck.  Kevin's eyes follow her upward progress intently.)

L: "All of a sudden she heard a horse approaching.  So she opened her eyes, and she saw this beautiful stallion heading toward her.  And riding that stallion was the same man who kissed her.  And, amazingly, he looked just like you."

K: "Imagine that."

L: "I did."

( She moves off the ottoman and kneels at his feet.)

L: "Anyway, the man dismounted.  He pulled her to her feet, and then    he kissed her."

(Lucy leans forward and nearly kisses Kevin, but she stops at the last   moment and rubs noses with him instead.)

L: "Oh, and when he finally let her go, she couldn't breathe."

(Lucy takes Kevin's hand and leads it to the buttons on a see-through   overblouse she is wearing.  He helps her to unbutton and remove it.)

L: "He untied her dress, and he picked her up, and he placed her on    that horse so that she could face him.  And then the horse started    galloping back through the forest, and the man made love to her."

(Their faces are so close together that they are nearly, but not quite,   kissing.)

K: "On the horse?"

L: "That's right."

K: "And no one fell off?"

L: "No, they had such an amazing sense of balance."

K: "Mmm.  Good rhythm too, I bet."

L: "An incredible sense of rhythm.  And it was almost as if they    became one."

(Lucy unbuttons Kevin's shirt while he strokes her bare arms and back.   Then she leans forward to kiss and caress his bare chest.)

K: "Did they ride off into the sunset?"

L: "No, they rode to a lighthouse, where they became us, here,    together, now."

(Those last three words were punctuated by kisses.)

K: "Only I don't have a horse."

L: "You could be one."

Lucy rises up and kneels on the edge of the chair.  She leans forward to kiss Kevin; he wraps his arms tightly around her, and they are kissing hungrily as the scene fades. 

When we return, we see that the chair has fallen over onto its back. Kevin is lying on his back on the floor, with Lucy on top of him.  She is trying to remove his shirt while he feverishly kisses her face, neck, and chest. Suddenly he stops kissing her.

K: "We can't."

L: "What?  What about - "

(Kevin pushes Lucy off of him onto the floor.)

K: "It's not right."

L: "Wait a minute.  What is the matter with you?"

(They both stand up, breathless and disheveled.  Kevin pushes the   chair back into an upright position.)

K: "A lot.  Everything.  And making love to you as a way to escape all    of that just isn't fair to both of us."

L: "Isn't fair?  Wait a minute.  You call this fair?  Kevin, how many    levels are you going to shut me out on and expect me just to keep    hanging around here?"

K: "I'm actually doing you a favor."

L: "No, you're rejecting me."

K: "No, I'm stopping us from doing something that we'll both regret."

L: "Okay, fine.  But don't - do not presume to speak for me." (Lucy throws Kevin's shoes at him as she says this.)

K: "Well, fine.  Then I'll regret it - isn't that enough?" (Lucy sits on the couch.)

L: "No, that's not enough.  I want to know what is going on.  What is    this about?  One of your stupid things that you're brooding over,    this stupid obsession you have?"

K: "It is not stupid, and, yes, that plays a big part in it."

L: (tearfully) "Well what, tell me then, is the other part?  Do you    just not want me?"

(  He sits next to her   on the couch and gently takes her face in his hands.)

K: "Oh, Lucy, when you're wrong, you're really wrong.  Lucy, you    have no idea how much I ache for you."

L: "Well then, tell me, why?"

K: "Don't make me say it."

L: "Say it."

K: "I don't trust you."

L: "Gee, that's very nice of you to say."

(Lucy stands up and walks across the room.  Kevin stands up and follows   her.)

K: "Well, Lucy, you can't expect me to.  Not with all the men and all    the games."

L: "Oh, I see, you're talking about Luke and Damian."

K: "Yes, Luke AND Damian!"

L: "You know what I think that is, I think that's a bunch of bull.    Because you know exactly why I'm continuing with this whole stupid    bet, and it's not because I care about Luke or Damian, and in    Damian's case, it's not that at all.  You're just using this, you're    using this whole thing so you can wallow in whatever it is you're    wallowing in to shut me out.  I can't fight this."

K: "Well, then, drop the bet.  Walk away from it right now and never    look back.  Can you do that?"

(Silence.)

K: "Can you do that?"

(More silence.)

K: "I didn't think so.  I rest my case, Lucy."

L: "This is no way to treat a lady."

K: "Well, I'm sorry if I hurt you, but you asked, and I have to be    honest."

L: "Even if it hurts."

K: "Even then.  Lucy, Lucy, I love having you in my life.  You're like    gossamer.  You shimmer and shine, and you spread light in all the    dark places.  And you're out of your mind if you don't think I want    to make love to you right now, from the inside out, in every    conceivable way.  But the timing's wrong.  We both have to be ready    for it, and I'm not there yet."

L: "Well, gee, I definitely want you there."

K: "You're angry."

L: "Not angry."

K: "Then what?"

L: "I'm hurt and disappointed and frustrated.  You know, I don't think    I've felt this frustrated since high school and back seats."

K: "Well, what if I promise to make the wait worthwhile?"

L: "Oh, Doc, I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself,    because I didn't promise to wait.I gotta go.  Tell me something, though.  This thing, whatever it    is, that has you all tied up in knots.  Felicia knows about it,    doesn't she?"

K: "Yes."

L: "So her, you trust."

K: "Yes."

L: "I hate that, Kevin."

K: "I am sorry.  You know, Lucy, this thing between us, it isn't going    to be easy."

L: "Thanks for the news flash."

K: "You might want to reconsider."

L: "I might, but I doubt it, because you just made me a promise, and I    intend to see that you stick to it."

K: "That will be my intense pleasure.  Yours too."

L: "Could you just shut up and kiss me before I forget what it is I    like so much about you?"

(And he does.)

L: "You know what it is I wish on you?"

K: "A pox."

L: "No.  I wish a tortured night of dreams about hot summer days and    horses, and you realizing what you could have been doing while    you're tossing and turning all alone."

K: "And it's no less than what I deserve, I'm sure, and I know I'll be    kicking myself before I make it back to the couch."

(Lucy strokes Kevin's face.)

L: "One of these days, Doc."

K: "What?"

L: "Never mind.  Good night."

K: "Good night."

Lucy heads for the door; Kevin watches her go.  She pauses at the door and looks back at Kevin for a long moment; then she leaves.

Later that night, Kevin falls asleep on the couch, a sketchpad on his lap. In a way, Lucy's wish comes true, because Kevin does indeed have a dream. In the dream, he is kneeling at the feet of a woman who wears a pale blue, gauzy dress.  Kevin balances her bare foot on his hip and slowly opens her dress, kissing her knee and moving up from there.  We see the woman's face - it's Lucy, looking angelic and ethereal.  She places one hand on Kevin's shoulder and whispers, "Kevin, oh, Kevin, don't stop.  Please don't stop."

He takes her hand, which is suddenly dripping wet, and kisses his way up her arm.  The dress is now wet too.  He kisses her neck and then looks into her face.  The woman has changed from Lucy into a drenched, gruesome-looking Grace, who accuses him in a grotesque voice, "You want me dead!"  Kevin tries to escape, but he is held back by some sort of barrier. We see him asleep on the couch, struggling under an afghan, until he shouts, "NO!" and awakens himself.