Read Tough Love: Episode 5 Page 2

Jasmine as she looks over at Jade with disdain before picking up her pace. Cut to a medium shot of Jade and the Mistress.)

  JADE

  It has been acquired by the cursed one and his companion. I’ve tracked them to the home of a local archeologist by the name of Oblex. I’m awaiting further instruction before engaging.

  MISTRESS

  Good work, Jade. I’ll see if I can’t catch them when their alone and retrieve the map.

  JADE

  Thank you, Mistress.

  (Cut to a full shot of the room as Jade walks away and the scene fades out.)

  INT. – PALÁTI TOU DIONYSOU – EVENING

  (Scene opens with a medium shot of Venom and Phil. They are both sitting at the bar and there are a few empty glasses in front of them. Venom is browsing a menu excitedly while Phil appears annoyed.)

  VENOM

  Oooh! What do you think this one tastes like?

  PHIL

  Ugh. I don’t know. Don’t you think we should be getting out of here now?

  VENOM

  To go where?

  PHIL

  I was kind of thinking my place.

  VENOM

  I don’t think so Phil.

  (Venom stands up to walk away. Phil stands up too and grabs her by the arm.)

  PHIL

  Hey! I thought-

  VENOM

  ‘Ey man. I let you buy me the drinks, I didn’t say a fing about shagging did I? No offense but, ‘ave you ever seen yourself in the mirror?

  (Cut to a tracking shot of Duke as he makes his way through a crowd of people. Venom bumps into him just as she did before.)

  DUKE

  You again?

  (Venom pulls Duke’s arm around her as Phil catches up to them. Cut to a shot of all three.)

  VENOM

  Sorey love. I’m with ‘im.

  PHIL

  So was this your big plan? To make a fool outta me!?!

  VENOM

  Don’t get your knickers in a twist. Me mate ‘ere ain’t afraid to knock some sense into you!

  (Duke pulls his arm away from Venom.)

  DUKE

  Whoa! Slow down. There’s no need to-

  PHIL

  So you’re a big tough guy eh?

  VENOM

  Yeah! ‘E’s just itch’n for a fight!

  DUKE

  Now if we all just calm down I’m sure we can reach some sort of-

  (Phil cuts Duke off by upper-cutting him in the ribs. Cut to a medium shot of Duke and Phil as Duke staggers from the blow, clutching his chest. Phil swings at Duke’s head only this time Duke ducks and grabs Phil with both arms then throws him to the ground. Duke then kneels over Phil and repeatedly punches him in the face. Phil grabs Duke by his shirt collar and head-butts him then rolls over so he is on top of Duke. Close-up on Phil as he is about to punch Duke again but pepper spray gets sprayed in his eyes and he steps back to cover his face while crying out in pain. Cut to a shot of Duke, Phil, and Lana where Lana is standing over the others pointing the can of pepper spray at Phil. Duke stands back up.)

  DUKE

  Thanks Lana, if you hadn’t shown up-

  (Lana cuts Duke off by spraying him in the face. Now Duke is covering his eyes as well.)

  DUKE

  Why do you always have that pepper spray with you!?!

  LANA

  How could I not with you testosterone junkies making a mess everywhere you go?

  (Cut to a full shot as Danny comes by to escort Phil out of the bar.)

  DANNY

  Alright buddy, time to go.

  VENOM

  Yeah! Sod off!

  LANA

  Who exactly are you now?

  (Venom ignores Lana and runs up to Duke who is still rubbing his eyes. Cut a medium shot of the two.)

  VENOM

  So Action Man, you got a name?

  DUKE

  Uh, Duke. Who are you?

  VENOM

  People call me Venom.

  LANA

  That can’t be your real name.

  VENOM

  (To Lana) My folks gave me a different one but they’re all a bit too posh for my taste. (To Duke) By the way, you wouldn’t ‘appen to still have that necklace I nicked from the old bird would you?

  (Duke pulls the necklace out of his pocket and Venom snatches the necklace out of Duke’s hand to admire it.)

  VENOM

  Ooh! I can tell we’re gonna get along just fine. (Pause) So I ‘ate be’n forward and all, but you wouldn’t ‘appen to know of any place that I could stay tonight would you? I’m fairly new in town.

  LANA

  Sorry, we don’t have any room to spare but there are some lovely low-budget motels across the street from here.

  DUKE

  (Smugly) Hold on, Lana. Didn’t the old man say that he’d just finished turning the library into a guest room?

  VENOM

  That’s perfect!

  (Lana glares at Duke as the scene fades out.)

  INT. – OBLEX’S STUDY – MORNING

  (Scene opens with a full shot of Oblex’s living room. Lana is sitting on the couch looking at some papers and books that she has spread out on the coffee table. Venom comes in from the library/guest room with her hair disheveled and wearing a black skirt.)

  VENOM

  Whatcha read’n?

  LANA

  The positive and negative geological effects produced by Greek architecture during the mid to late archaic period. Volume 6.

  VENOM

  (Sarcastic) Now that’s some kinda sexy.

  LANA

  It’s a bit odd seeing a woman walking out on Duke before he gets the chance to.

  (Venom grabs her shoes and sits down in a chair positioned across from Lana.)

  VENOM

  I won’t be gone long. I just can’t go to a tourist spot like this and stay cooped up in one place. You’re welcome to join me if your book runs a bit dull.

  (Venom puts a foot on the coffee table while tying one of her shoes. Cut to a point-of-view shot from Venom as Lana looks up from her papers and accidently up Venom’s skirt. Cut to a medium shot of Lana and Venom.)

  LANA

  No that’s fine I... Whoa!

  (Venom follows Lana’s gaze and then quickly puts her foot back down.)

  VENOM

  Sorey about that. I talked a certain someone into trying on me knickers last night.

  LANA

  (Intrigued) Really?

  (Venom slips on her other shoe and starts walking over to the door.)

  VENOM

  It’s unladylike to kiss and tell. (Winks) See ya later.

  (Cut to a full shot as Venom exits. After the sound of the front door closing Duke comes out of the guest room, still half asleep. Lana stands up, looks over a duke, and smiles mischievously.)

  LANA

  Alright Slut. Let’s see em!

  DUKE

  What?

  LANA

  Don’t “what” me. Take off your pants!

  (Wilt walks in from the kitchen.)

  WILT

  What’s going on in here?

  LANA

  Duke’s wearing panties!

  WILT

  I’ll get the camera!

  (Wilt runs into the guest room excitedly. Lana starts advancing on Duke and Duke takes a step away from her.)

  DUKE

  C’mon. Can’t we all be mature about this?

  LANA

  Like Hell!

  (Cut to a medium shot of Duke and Lana. Lana grabs Duke’s pants by the hips and tries to pull them down. Duke attempts to turn around and run away from her but trips and lands on his face. Duke squirms to get away while Lana manages to get his pants down just enough to see Venom’s panties peeking out from underneath.)

  LANA

  Hurry Wilt! Take the picture!

  (Cut to a full shot of the room as Wilt runs out of the guest room with a camera in hand. He quickly snaps a photo of Duke. Wil
t and Lana start laughing and Duke pulls his pants back up. Initially he is angry but as he stands up he can’t help but laugh along with the others.)

  DUKE

  This brings back memories huh? You trying to take my pants off.

  (The laughter dies down and all stand in awkward silence.)

  LANA

  (Awkward) Right well, I’ve got a lot of work to do so…

  DUKE

  (Awkward) Yeah, of course. Wilt and I have that thing so…

  (Duke trails off and starts to head out of the front door with Wilt.)

  LANA

  Oh! Don’t forget. You have to come with me to meet with the licensing officer later today.

  (Duke pauses for a moment in the doorway.)

  DUKE

  Wouldn’t miss it.

  (Duke and Wilt exit as the scene fades out.)

  EXT. – LICENSING OFFICE – MIDDAY

  (Scene opens on a close-up of the map which zooms out to show Duke holding it. Cut to a shot of Duke and Wilt sitting on the curb outside of the Licensing Office.)

  DUKE

  If I had known that she was just going to make us wait outside I wouldn’t have come.

  WILT

  Well it’s not like either one of us know how all this technical stuff works. Besides, watching Lana go through paperwork probably wouldn’t have been very exciting anyway.

  (Duke stands up and holds the map out to admire it.)

  DUKE

  Yeah, I guess.

  (Suddenly a knife flies in from off-screen and lodges itself in Duke’s leg. Duke falls to the ground screaming. Wilt jumps up to try and help him but Duke pulls away whenever Wilt tries to touch the knife.)

  DUKE

  FUUUCK! Get it out! Get it out! Get it out! (Slapping Wilt’s hand away.) NO! Don’t touch it!

  (The Mistress calmly walks by, snatches the map out of Duke’s hand, then continues off-screen again.)

  MISTRESS

  Thank you.

  (Duke and Wilt continue to wrestle as Wilt attempts to remove the knife.)

  WILT

  Hold still you little bitch!

  (Wilt finally pulls the knife out of Duke’s leg at which point Duke breathes a sigh of relief and lays sprawled out on the sidewalk. Lana runs out of the Licensing Office. Cut to a point-of-view shot from Lana as she sees Duke laying on the ground and Wilt holding the bloody knife. Cut to a shot of the three of them.)

  LANA

  What the hell is going on here!?!

  (Duke sits up quickly to show that he’s not dead.)

  DUKE

  That crazy purple bitch just stole the map!

  LANA

  (Sarcastic) Oh no! Even the translated version we have back at home?

  WILT

  Wait. You have a spare copy of the map AND you’ve finished