Closed Scene Thread: Act IV Kate/Nikki

[clayseason1]

Narrator



Act IV
Night of Day 3
Woman to Woman

[cinderellabop]

Kate runs into the seemingly abandoned Dharma station and sits down on an old, tattered sofa. Now thoroughly overcome by her emotions over everything that has just happened with Jack and Sawyer, she breaks down and cries openly, believing that she is alone.

[DogMa]

I freeze in the shadows when I hear someone run across the floor. Heart-wrenching sobs soon reach my ears as I slowly move forward and peak around the corner. I see Kate sitting on the sofa, crying her heart out. I feel sad as I watch this otherwise strong woman break down.

I have seen this look before. I understand it all to well. Kate's source of misery has to be a man. But this is Kate we are talking about, so that would be plural. It has to be men.

I draw back into the shadows and pretend to trip and fall, making a loud noise as I cry out. I then get up and round the corner talking to myself,

"I can't believe I tripped over that stupid chest!"

I stop suddenly when I see Kate sitting on the sofa

"Oh hey, when did you get here?"

[cinderellabop]

Startled, Kate looks up and sees Nikki standing there. She had thought sure she was alone... She doesn't really know if she has the strength to face anyone right now...

She draws a shaky breath and tries to wipe her face.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize anyone else was here," she says. She stands up on shaky legs and walks toward the door. "I'll just leave you alone."

[DogMa]

"No! Wait! I don't want to spend the night in this creepy old place by myself! I might not be everyone's choice for company, that is when they even notice I am around, but, Paulo taught me a thing or two about cooking and I can take those mangoes and turn them into a gourmet meal. So, how about sticking around and keeping me company?"

[cinderellabop]

Kate sniffles and wipes at her face. "Sorry... it's not you, OK? It's me. I just... I'm kind of a mess right now." But as she heads for the door, she realizes that she doesn't really want to be alone, either. "Um, OK, I guess I'll stay. It's not like there's anyplace better to go out there." She looks at Nikki and gives her a slight smile.

[DogMa]

I smile back at Kate. She looks skittish as hell. I am afraid if I say or do the wrong thing that she will pull a Jesse Owens on me.

"Not only is there no place better, but out there it's dark and that flappy black crap may be out there. We'll build a fire and cook some dinner and just relax. Kind of like a girls night. You know, a slumber party. How does that sound?"

[cinderellabop]

Kate nods. "Yeah, OK. That sounds good." She wipes at her face, which is still wet with tears, then walks around, checking out the place. It occurs to her that she never really looked around when she first got in here, because she was too choked up with her emotions. Taking a few deep breaths, she says, "Where do you want to start the fire? Do you know if that old fireplace is clear?"

[DogMa]

"Well I already cleaned out that old fireplace over there",

As I point across the room,

"the flue is open and the firewood is already in place. I scrounged this old frying pan from back there -- it's bent all to hell, kind of like the skillet I use to whop Paulo with when he was being a twit, but it will do."

I walk over to the fireplace and strike a match, lighting the fire. The beginning flames push back the darkness and lightens the room just enough to make it seem warm and welcoming.

I kneel down and opens my backpack, taking out a couple of mangoes and some smoked fish, wrapped in leaves. I giggle a little as I pull something else out. Holding it up, I tell Kate,

"Look! I found this bottle of nail polish while I was out and about. We can have a manicure party! We'll do our nails and gossip about everybody."

[cinderellabop]

Kate is starting to calm down, but her hands are still shaking, so she makes a big show of warming them in front of the fire. "Thanks," she says. "I also have some bananas and boar jerky, if you're interested." She laughs, remembering Jack's comment from the night before. "You're OK, Nikki. But does Shannon know you pinched her nail polish?"

[DogMa]

I smile,

"Nope! I took it out of her backpack when we were all getting ready to leave. She was flirting with Sayid who was making sad puppy dog eyes at her at the time. Nobody was paying any attention to me, like that is not so unusual. I don't really consider it "pinching" anyway. It was time for her to share and I knew she wouldn't do that voluntarily, so I just helped her do the right thing."

Looking down at all of the food,

"Let's save the bananas and the boar jerky for breakfast."

I wrinkle my nose.

"Boy does that sound gross. Who would ever think bananas and boar jerky for breakfast?"

[cinderellabop]

Kate smiles and sits down in front of the fire. She's feeling much more relaxed now that she's away from Jack and Sawyer. "Yeah, I guess we all deserve to have nice manicures once in a while, right?" she says.

She laughs again at the comment about boar jerky. "Yeah, I know. To tell you the truth, I never really would think of eating boar jerky at all. But you gotta make do sometimes, huh? Anyway, the smoked fish and mangos sound pretty good."

She sighs as she pulls her hair back from her face and puts it in a ponytail. "Um, listen... I'm sorry about what happened to Paulo. He seemed like a... well, an interesting guy."

[DogMa]

I know my face begins to show sadness, but I try to hide it. A feel a small tear slide down my cheek as I start preparing the food. I sigh deeply, and reply,

"Thanks. I'm starting to really deal with it - his death - him not being around. I've known a lot of guys but there was something special about Paulo, you know what I mean?"

[cinderellabop]

Kate nods quietly. "Yeah, I know. I've... um, I've lost a few people I cared about, too. So I know how you feel." She closes her mouth and stares into the fire, not wanting to say anything else. Instead she finds herself thinking about Jack and Sawyer and wondering what they're doing right now.

[DogMa]

I smile and shake my head and then say,

"I don't know about you, but it's been my experience in life, that at the heart of every woman's tears is a man."

I laugh softly,

"And that doesn't change when they die -- they still have the power to make you cry. But I'm learning to deal with the pain and it helps to talk about it. Sorry to bend your ear."

I remove the frying pan from the fire and set it on a small discarded crate. I draw the crate between Kate and myself. In my best Jeeves The British Butler voice I say,

"Madam .... your dinner is served."

Then I grin at Kate.

[cinderellabop]

While Nikki is talking, Kate unconsciously pulls out her little toy airplane and turns it around in her hands. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she says softly. "Sometimes you never get over them."

When Nikki hands her the plate, she quickly sticks the toy airplane back in her pocket and takes the plate. "Thanks," she says with a slight smile. "So, um... how long did you know Paulo?"

[DogMa]

"Not that long."

I take my food, cross my legs under me and settle back.

"When the feeling is right, it doesn't matter if you've known someone your whole life or only a few hours. What's important is to grab onto that person and enjoy every moment you have with him. That kind of feeling doesn't happen every day and there's no sense wasting any time you could be spending together. So, although my Paulo is gone now, I have so many wonderful memories to hold close. That's better than a whole lifetime of empty days, don't you think?"

[cinderellabop]

"Yeah, that's true," Kate says. Her mind wanders back to thoughts of JUack and Sawyer. Jack will probably never trust her again. And Sawyer... she hates herself for hurting him. She's probably ruined whatever she had going with either of them. She finds herself blinking back tears again. "I just wish it was so easy all the time... knowing when it's right. I don't even know what I want anymore."

[DogMa]

I notice a catch in Kate's voice and quickly look over at her. I lean my head to one side and say sympathetically,

"Awww poodle, don't cry. You'll feel better if you talk about it. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know you're upset because of Jack or Sawyer, so why don't you tell me about it. I'm a great listener and you'll feel better just saying what's in your heart out loud."

[cinderellabop]

"Am I that obvious?" Kate asks, looking up at her. "Well... it's kind of... both of them. Last night... I kissed Jack. This morning... I kissed Sawyer. And now I don't know how I feel about either of them."

[DogMa]

I smile and shake my head,

"Oh, I don't think you don't know how you feel. I think you know exactly how you feel. You have deep feelings for both of them and you can't bring yourself to choose one over the other. Doesn't that about sum it up?"

[cinderellabop]

Kate gives a wry smile. "Yeah, pretty much," she says. She begins eating her fish and doesn't say anything for a while as she tries to sort through her feelings. "I guess the thing is... I care about Jack... but I'm drawn to Sawyer. Jack sees me as I want to be... but Sawyer sees me as I am. Does that make sense?"

[DogMa]

"No ... well at least part of doesn't make sense. Do you mean that Jack sees you as he wants you to be, therefore you want to be what Jack wants you to be?"

[cinderellabop]

Kate nods. "Jack sees the best in me. He knows I'm not perfect... but he sees the person that I can be. And I want to be that person, you know? But Sawyer... he brings out a dark side in me... the side I don't want to give in to." She shudders as she remembers shoving the bamboo shoots under his fingernails that morning... how he cried out in pain... the blood on her hands...

[DogMa]

"Kate, your man's got to love you for who you are not who you can become or some nebulous idea of who you can be. If he doesn't, you'll never be happy with him. You'll spend your whole life trying to be someone you are not and you will fail -- you will fail in your eyes and in his eyes."

[cinderellabop]

"That's what I'm afraid of," Kate says sadly. "Jack... he kind of reminds me of my ex-husband, Kevin. I loved him so much. And I tried so hard to be what he wanted me to be. But in the end... I just couldn't. And I broke his heart." She looks down at her plate and takes a few more bites of her food. "I'm going to end up hurting Jack... and I don't want to do that. But Sawyer... he reminds me of someone else..." She trails off as her expression darkens.

[DogMa]

I let the silence drag on for a few minutes before I softly said,

"Who does Sawyer remind you of Kate?"

[cinderellabop]

Kate blinks back the tears that are filling her eyes. "I don't really want to talk about it," she whispers. She closes her eyes and she can almost hear her mother's voice saying, "You can't help who you love..."

She sets down her plate and turns to stare into the fire.

[DogMa]

I look at Kate sympathetically, move closer and put an arm around her shoulders, and say softly,

"Go ahead and cry, Kate. Let it out -- let the tears wash away your hurt. I'll only say one more thing and then I'll be quiet. I learned a long time ago that you can't help who you love in this world."

I gently pat Kate's shoulder and stare into the fire.

[DogMa]

*WHOOOOSH*

Flashback of Nikki and Paulo in a fancy motel room.

Nikki is going through a lot of stuff laying on the bed.

"I really hit the mother load with all this free stuff! I can't believe they really treat celebrities this way! I think they call it schwing or shag, or swag, but anyway, it is terrific!"

[Homer Noodleman]

"Yes Nikki, being a celebrity has its advantages. And you certainly made a fine haul of slag, or sludge, or whatever the American slang word for it is, from you appearance. I must say that the sponsor -- the Dharma Corporation -- was most generous!"

"Why, it is much, much better than the gold plated spatula I won on the Iron Chef - Brazil show for my meal of roast boar glazed with ranch dressing and stuffed with peanut butter, and then finished off with a desert of mango ice cream served over Apollo Bars."

"Ahhh... life is good! What could possibly go wrong?"

[DogMa]

I smile at Paulo, knowing he is right, life is good. I go back to rifling through all the goodies when I notice a huge basket that already has the plastic torn off.

"HMOG Paulo! Someone gave me a used gift basket! A lot of the stuff is already missing from it! Dammit! I really wanted this product too! Do you know how expensive this stuff is?"

[Homer Noodleman]

Paulo looks startled and nervously fidgets with the brand new gold chain he is wearing. Worried he may have slopped on too much of the fancy French Eau de Escargot perfume, and suppressing a burp, which tastes pleasantly of Sevruga caviar, he replies, "What!? Who could be such a scoundrel? This is an outrage."

"Errr... we probably don't want to contact the sponsors about this matter though. We wouldn't want to embarrass them."

[DogMa]

As I continue looking through the basket, I can clearly see what is missing because of the list that was included. I start checking off items that are not present.

"Oh here, look, there was a bottle of French perfume. A can of caviar. And a necklace from Harry Winston. He is the jeweler to the stars, you know. There was also supposed to be some manicuring stuff in here."

I throw the list down on the bed and reach for the phone.

"I am calling them and demanding they send me a new basket!"

Paulo reaches out to grab the phone from my hand, when I notice his nails look freshly done. As he gets up in my face to say,
"We probably shouldn't make a big deal out of this."
I notice he smells like a French hooker on a Saturday night out walking her poodle and there are tiny little black things stuck in his teeth.

[Homer Noodleman]

"Roh-oh"

I swept Nikki into my arms and said, "My dearest darling, light of my life, my sweet little honey bubbles, let us not worry about these trinkets. After all, soon we will be weighted down with diamonds. Instead of calling the sponsors, I think we should call room service and order their finest champaign."

[DogMa]

As Paulo was saying the words that would normally make me swoon, I noticed a reflection from the lamp hitting something around his neck. I narrowed my eyes and leaned in closer. Paulo thought I was going to melt in his arms like buttah, but was very surprised when I punched him in the stomach instead.

"It was you!"

I shrieked.

[Homer Noodleman]

I doubled over gasping and in in pain. Of course, under normal circumstances, a blow from a woman would have caused no damage to a manly-man such as myself, but she caught me unawares.

Well, time for Plan B.

"But my little hamhock, remember that we share. What's mine is yours and what is yours is mine. I only sampled a few little items."

Grabbing the gift basket I dumped it on the bed and continued, "Look! I left the best things for you: the pearl handled Swiss Army knife, the tickets to the Carrot Top performance, the bag of delicious Gummy Bears, and even the coupon for the lifetime supply of Mitelos Pregnancy Test kits."

"Errr... you're not going to be needing that last item any time soon, are you?"

[DogMa]

"Don't you dare ham hock me!"

"It's not the sharing that make me mad. It is the using all my beauty products before I even get to open them. Always with the facials and waxing and plucking and louffaing. How big of a louffa do you need? Are you friggin waxing a car in the shower? Constantly looking in the mirror checking your hair. And what man does the high shave? Tell me Paulo? If I didn't know better I would think you were one of those high maintenance men that I always read about in Cosmo. What do they call them? Menstrosexual? I am tired of it Paulo. Just tired."

I grab my jacket and run out of the room. As I make my way down the hall, I can hear Paulo yelling at me. I ignore him and keep going to the elevator and down to the ground floor. As I exit the elevator bank and run out the lobby doors I notice a bar across the street named "Fate/Destiny". I make my way through the traffic and into the front door. I sit on a bar stool close to the back exit and order a Fuzzy Navel. As I begin to sip my drink a tear slides down my cheek.

[Homer Noodleman]

Oh, I had really done it this time. Seeking comfort I ran into the sanctuary of the bathroom. However, even the view of my magnificent face in the mirror could not console me.

Desperate, after combing my hair and straightening my collar, I ran back into the main room uncertain what I could do. Then my eyes fell upon the items from the gift basket spread across the bed. Yes. Yes, that would do nicely!

I picked up the dark glasses and donned them. With this cracker-jack disguise I no doubt could follow Nikki and see that she stayed out of trouble until she calmed down.

[DogMa]

I happen to look up at a couple who are sitting down the bar from me. It looks like a father and daughter getting drunk together, but the woman could be a man in drag. She/He appears to be very drunk. I overhear part of their conversation.

Handsome older man
"Sarah, don't you think you have had enough to drink? After all you are my body guard. How are you going to guard my body if you are passed out?"

[Homer Noodleman]

As I left the hotel I saw a bar across the street. Something told me I knew where Nikki was. I slipped inside the club and saw her eying an older man. Damn, always the older men -- the last one the Producer, earlier Bill and his cigars, and before him that dynamic and studly Bacon Tycoon from Florida.

Staying in the shadows, I edged closer.

[DogMa]

I was so fascinated and I had no idea why. The older man was so appealing to me. He was tall, strong, and had as touch of salt and pepper in his hair. He almost looked like he could be someone important.
I heard the manly drunk woman slur out
"Tom, you have no right to tell me how much I can drink. You hired me for protection, not to be your wife."

At that point the she-male face planted into the bar. I saw this as my opportunity to introduce myself. I wiped my mascara stained cheeks with the cocktail napkin and ran my fingers through my hair. With my sexiest walk, I approached the beautiful older gentleman.

"Hi. My name is Nikki. Would you like some company?

The older man smiled at me and patted the seat next to him.

"I would actually like to get out of here! Just let me run to the bathroom first."

[Homer Noodleman]

When Nikki left I decided to make my move. However, as I neared the rather drunken young woman came to and blocked my way. She wagged her finger in my face and slurred through her sneer, "Not ssho fassht handsshome, I'mmm a body guard and..."

At that point her eyes glazed over and she slid off her bar stool as she passed out. Whew, that was a stroke of luck. Still, I couldn't help but hoping she had a designated driver. She might be a drunken skank, but still I would hate for her to get into trouble driving home.

The old coot was looking at me. To distract him I pointed and said, "Wowzers, check out the giant boobs over there."

When he turned to look at the bald guy in the wheel chair sitting next to a mirror, I slipped out my handy package of rat poison and poured some into his drink.

"Muuuhahahaha... well, at least the old goat will go out with a smile on his face."

I slunk back into the shadows and left the bar. Nikki should be safe until she cools down.

[DogMa]

I step out of the restroom after trying to make myself look presentable and see the handsome man finishing off his drink.

"What about your masculine woman friend, She-Ra? Do you need to help her get somewhere?"

The man looks at me with a devilish grin and says,
"It's fate. Some people are just supposed to suffer. That's why the Red Sox will never win the damn series."

*WHOOOOSH*

[cinderellabop]

At Nikki's words, Kate breaks down and begins to sob heavily. She can almost see her mother's face, staring at her with anger and disgust. She thinks again about Jack, and Sawyer... kissing Jack, then torturing and kissing Sawyer, and a wave of guilt and confusion sweeps over her. At last she manages to say in a choked voice, "That's what my mom told me once. I didn't believe her."

[DogMa]

After giving Kate plenty of time to get it all out of her system, I find myself tired.

"Kate, I can't tell you what you should or shouldn't do. That is a choice you have to make on your own. I can tell you this, make the choice that will make you happy and then don't look back. No regrets."

I give her a gentle pat on the back,

"Regret will consume you. You deserve better than that."

I walk over to my back pack and look up and smile at her,

"I don't know about you, but I am bushed! I am going to hit the hay. I will see you in the morning. Good night!"

As I start to walk away, I turn and say one last thing,

"Thank you."

[cinderellabop]

"Thanks, Nikki," Kate says, sniffling. As Nikki walks away, Kate moves up and lays down on the old sofa, then covers herself with a moth-eaten blanket. "No regrets," she whispers to herself as she starts to drift off.

[cinderellabop]

END SCENE.