January 10, 2006
Week 35 - Impossible Dreams 16
Episode 2
The conference room fills. Myrna Zalkin sits in a chair near Lucy and Powell. "No, not the red shirt," Myrna yells into a cell phone. "How many times do I have to tell you, you can't mix red and green!" She looks at Lucy and rolls her eyes. "For God's sake, you'd look like a Christmas Tree!"
A very large man, with thick wavy hair, walks into the room. He spots Lucy and steps over to her. "Ms. Lamont?" he says. "Dr. Seren asked me to tell you that everything is ready, if you need us." Powell's eyes pop open.
Lucy clenches her fists and glances quickly at Powell. She mumbles "Excuse me," to Myrna and walks to a quiet corner of the room. Powell and the large man follow. "Phillip," Lucy says softly, "I specifically asked Dr. Seren to be discrete. You weren't supposed to come in here, except in an emergency."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, I'm just following Dr. Seren's instructions."
"Well get out! I don't want to see any sign of you unless a situation develops with my father." Phillip nods and leaves the room.
Powell stares at Lucy. "That's the gorilla from Sleepy Meadows! What's he doing here? You promised me you wouldn't have anything to do with that place!"
Lucy takes a deep breath. "I don't have a choice. You saw Daddy with those comic books. You said it yourself, the issues he burnt... hundreds of thousands of dollars worth! What if he loses control here? This vote could still go either way. If he creates a scene... I need somebody who can give him something to calm him down before any damage is done."
"After the vote... You're going to... you're going to send him there, aren't you?"
"Powell, I'm going to be CEO of the entire company. I can't... I'm not going to be able to take care of him. I won't have time. At Sleepy Meadows they can give him the treatment he needs... Dr. Seren and Phillip will drive him up this afternoon."
"You lied to me... you broke your promise!"
"I had no choice! You put me in an impossible situation! But... but I'll make it up to you. Things will be so much better for us once he's... when we don't have to worry so much about him. We'll have so much more time for each other."
"You... you bitch! Mr. Lamont deserves better than this."
Lucy's face hardens. "Powell, I really care for you. I really do. I want to be with you. But I've been waiting to be in charge of Lamont Energy my whole life. Now that it's finally happening, I can't have any distractions. I can't be a nurse. I just can't. If you don't want to accept that then... then I'm sorry." She looks down. "We'll talk about this later. It's time to start the meeting."