ACT ONE
(AT LLANFAIR, MARCIE WADE, VIKI LORD RILEY'S SECRETARY, HAS JUST "CONFESSED" TO VIKI'S SISTER MEREDITH THAT VIKI'S PERIODS AS SPLIT PERSONALITY NIKI SMITH ARE BECOMING LONGER AND MORE FREQUENT. MEREDITH, UNDER A DOCTOR'S CARE FOR A DIFFICULT PREGNANCY, IS HORRIFIED BY THE NEWS)
Marcie: "I was aware of a...great deal...that was happening."
Meredith: "What are you talking about? What do you mean...a great deal? What was going on?"
Marcie: "It was like before when Niki Smith would come out for just a short period of time - just a few seconds or so, and then she'd do something or she'd say something. Except now - the periods of time are getting longer and longer."
Meredith (alarmed) "Why on earth didn't you tell someone about this, Marcie?"
Marcie: "Because...I didn't think I should."
Meredith: "Why not?"
Marcie: "Dr. Polk is treating Mrs. Riley. Certainly he knows what's more proper, much better than I do."
Meredith: (speechless) "Marcie - this is..."
Marcie: "I thought about telling somebody, of course - I was sure Dr. Polk never would have allowed her to marry Mr. Burke unless he felt everything was alright."
Meredith: "Oh, Marcie..."
Marcie: "Everybody seems to feel Mr. Burke is all Mrs. Riley needs to get well...so - I just couldn't say anything that would spoil that. And I would never forgive myself if I did anything to break their marriage plans... I'm sorry - really I am. But I couldn't tell anybody. You understand, don't you?"
Meredith: "Yes. Yes, I understand."
Marcie: "Well, look...it may not even be as serious as it sounds."
Meredith: "What do you mean?"
Marcie: "Well...Niki Smith has come out before these past few months and Dr. Polk hasn't considered it very serious up til now."
Meredith: "Up-until-now."
Marcie: "It might just be part of a pattern, and once Mrs. Riley and Mr. Burke are married... maybe Niki Smith won't be able to come out at all."
Meredith: (mildly) "Well...yes, I guess so. I have to believe it's possible."
Marcie: "Please... let's just forget this happened and let nature take its course, alright?"
Meredith: "Alright..."
Marcie: "You won't tell anyone I told you this, will you?"
Meredith: "No...no."
(MEREDITH LEAVES THE ROOM, DAZED AND UNSURE OF WHAT TO DO FOR VIKI. MEREDITH GOES TO THE FRONT DOOR OF LLANFAIR, BUT HER FATHER VICTOR ENTERS.)
Meredith: "Father..."
Victor: "Meredith... where are you going?"
(TAKE MEREDITH'S REACTION, AND FADE TO:)
OPENING TITLE
COMMERCIAL BREAK
ACT TWO
Scene One
Continuation of Llanfair scene between Victor and Meredith.
Victor: "You shouldn't be doing things like that. It might be dangerous for you."
Meredith: "Oh, come on...I'm not an invalid."
Victor: "No, of course you're not. But you should be getting all kinds of rest now. You shouldn't be doing things like errands. People should be doing those for you."
Meredith: "I wouldn't be gone long, and besides, Father, a little exercise every single day will help..."
Victor: (softly) "I'm sorry if I act like a mother hen sometimes. It's just that - well...things are going so well now, and I want them to continue that way."
Meredith: "Yes, so do I, Father."
Victor: "I'm so happy about Victoria and Steve. You were absolutely right about that."
Meredith: "About what...?"
Victor: "Well, you said to leave her alone. Once the pressure is off she'd be alright. She is alright. She's going to be even better than that because I think Steve is the best possible man for her."
Meredith: "I do, too, Father."
Victor: "I only wish that they could have married before he had to go to Chicago to that convention. Well... he'll back in a few days, and it will happen then..."
(VICTOR WALKS AWAY, LEAVING A PENSIVE MEREDITH IN WORRIED THOUGHT)
Meredith: (quietly, unconvinced) "I hope so..."
Scene Two
Llanfair study. Marcie is helping Viki with Banner correspondence. Viki notices Marcie staring at her watch.
Viki: "Are you worried about the time, Marcie?"
Marcie: "A little... yes. We still have quite a bit to do, and we've had more than our share of interruptions."
Viki: "Maybe we would have been better off working at the office after all..."
Marcie: "No, because you would have been swamped with telephone calls... but I really think we should keep working while we have our coffee."
Viki: "Now I know why you're such an efficient secretary - you're absolutely tireless. I wish I had your energy, Marcie."
Marcie: (with any eye to Viki's coffee, which has been laced with sleeping pills) "You're not getting tired, are you?"
Viki: "No... not yet. Steve should be at the airport, so I think we can expect another interruption any minute now."
Marcie: "What do you mean?"
Viki: "Oh, he'll probably call from the airport to say goodbye... yet again."
Marcie: "Well, if he does he won't be able to keep you away from work for too because his plane is due to leave pretty soon."
Viki: "That's true." (back to the correspondence) "Where were we?"
Marcie: "You were about to start a letter to Mr. Barton at the Newspaper Association."
Viki: "Oh...that letter should have gone out a week ago. Ready?"
Marcie: (looks around as if she's lost something) "I think I goofed..."
Viki: "What do you mean, Marcie?"
Marcie: "I was supposed to bring along the address, but - I can't find it. That was stupid of me..."
Viki: "Don't worry about it. Why don't you call the office and have them give it to you?"
Marcie: "Oh, because by the time I get through to the office now..."
Viki: "Wait a minute." (opens a desk drawer) "Maybe I've got it here. No. Oh, I know. I've got it upstairs in my notebook. I'll get it for you."
Marcie: "I hate to put you to that trouble..."
Viki: "No trouble at all. It'll only take a minute."
(VIKI LEAVES THE ROOM. WITH THE COAST CLEAR, MARCIE TAKES A BOTTLE OF PILLS OUT OF HER PURSE AND PUTS ANOTHER ONE IN VIKI'S COFFEE.)
COMMERCIAL BREAK
ACT THREE
Scene One
Victor has arrived and is speaking with Marcie.
Marcie: "I enjoyed talking to you. I appreciate you thinking about me."
(VIKI ENTERS)
Viki: "Marcie, I've got -- Why, Father..."
Victor: "Victoria..."
Viki: "I thought you'd gone to the office."
Victor: "Well, I did go down to the office, but I came back again."
Viki: "I see. You're keeping banker's hours now." (hands address to Marcie) "Here, Marcie."
Victor: "There wasn't much for me to do down there, so I just thought I'd come back here and make a few phone calls."
Viki: "Father, I would love to have you sit and chat with us, but Marcie and I have this mountain of work to finish... and we've already had too many interruptions..."
(TAKE MARCY, STARING AT VIKI'S CUP OF DRUGGED COFFEE. CUT TO:)
Scene Two
Vinnie Wolek's apartment. Someone is knocking furiously at the door. Vince runs to answer it and finds Meredith.
Vince: "Meredith...what are you doin' here?"
Meredith: (urgent) "I gotta talk to you, Vinnie! It's very important...!"
COMMERCIAL BREAK
ACT FOUR
Continuation of scene at Vinnie's apartment.
Vinnie: "Why'd you come all the way over here...?"
Meredith: "I told you. I gotta talk to you."
Vinnie: "Why didn't you call me? You shouldn't be runnin' around, galavantin' in your condition. Sit down."
Meredith: "I'm okay, I'm okay. Listen, don't worry about me."
Vinnie: "Well, I do worry about you. Your time's gettin' pretty close, you know?"
Meredith: "I know. I know. Hey, Vinnie..."
Vinnie: "Yeah..."
Meredith: "I want you tell me about the phone call you got this morning from Niki Smith."
Vinnie: (acts surprised) "The what...!?"
Meredith: "The phone call you got this morning from...Niki Smith."
Vinnie: "Whatever gave you an idea like that?"
Meredith: "Come on, Vinnie. There's no point in protecting me because I know about it, and I'm worried about Viki... so please..."
Vinnie: "Merrie, Merrie...listen to me. You ain't got nothin' to worry about. Now I don't know where you heard this thing about me gettin' a phone call from Niki Smith..."
Meredith: "Vinnie, please... please be straight with me or otherwise you're just going to make things worse. I don't want anything to stop that marriage..."
Vinnie: "Now...now, now look...there ain't nothin' gonna happen to stop it."
Mer: "How can you be so sure? Vinnie, we've been kidding ourselves. Don't you see? This time we thought that Niki Smith would go away - that she wasn't strong enough to come out anymore - but now she's gotten in touch with you. You've talked with her - today. Didn't you?"
Vinnie: "Merrie, Merrie, Merrie... will you please try to take it easy?"
Meredith: (agitated) " Take it easy!? Vinnie, something's gotta be done!"
Vinnie: "Okay... I did get a phone call from Niki Smith, but before I go into it, you gotta believe that what I'm gonna tell you is the truth. Okay? Okay. Now, first of all, there ain't no reason for nobody to panic... "
Meredith: "Just how can you say a thing like that --"
Vinnie: "Merrie, will you please let me finish? There's a whole part of this you don't know nothin' about yet."
Meredith: "What are you talking about?"
Vinnie: "First of all, Steve was here when I got the call."
Meredith: "Steve was here...!?"
Vinnie: "That's right. I told him everything Niki said, so he knows all about it..."
Meredith: "And still he went off to Chicago?"
Vinnie: "Merrie, there's nothin' he could have done even if he stayed. I told him to let me handle it - to let me meet Niki and talk to her."
Meredith: "How could he just go off like that? He should be here with Viki!"
Vinnie: "That's what he thought, too...but I talked him out of it."
Meredith: (sarcastic) "Oh, great! Thanks a lot, Vinnie. That's wonderful. That's..."
Vinnie: "Wait a minute, wait a minute...listen to me. It might not be so bad. Like I told Steve... maybe her callin' me was a good thing."
Meredith: "Vinnie - for once in your life, will you talk a little sense, please?"
Vinnie: "You remember how it was with me and Niki...right...?"
Meredith: "Yeah..."
Vinnie: "I mean, nobody got along better with her than me, right?"
Meredith: "No."
Vinnie: "Okay. So if there's one person she might be willing to listen to... it would be me. Right?"
Meredith: "Right."
Vinnie: "Okay. So what I'm gonna do is - I'm gonna have a good talk with her and try to make her see that this marriage is what Viki really wants. That it would be the best thing for Viki."
Meredith: "Umm, hmmm. You're gonna try and make Niki Smith listen to reason?"
Vinnie: "That's right."
Meredith: "Oh...Vinnie. Vinnie, you're whistling in the dark. You and I both know that Niki Smith has never been reasonable... never."
Vinnie: "Merrie, she's been reasonable with me in the past, and I'm willing to bet you ten-to-one she'd probably be willing to do almost anything I ask her to do..."
Meredith: "What? Go away - stop existing. Oh, come on. Be realistic."
Vinnie: "Merrie, it's worth a try. Look, nothin' else worked."
Meredith: "Okay. Okay...so you talk to her. Well what if it backfires? What if she gets so angry that she comes out and she takes over Viki completely...?"
Vinnie: "That ain't gonna happen..."
Meredith: "How do you know!? Don't you see you're gambling and it's Viki's happiness that's at stake?"
Vinnie: "Hey, Merrie... I want Viki to be happy just as much as you do - maybe even more. Look, in a way I figure... I'm the main one responsible for Niki Smith comin' back. So I have a lot to make up for. You know what I mean? Hey. Now, believe me...I wouldn't be willing to do something like this if I didn't think it had a pretty good chance of workin'."
Meredith: "Yeah.. I guess so. I don't know - I...I don't know anything any more..."
Vinnie: "One thing you do know - if Steve wasn't sure, or if he wasn't convinced that I could handle the situation... do you think he would have went to Chicago? Huh?"
Meredith: (faint smile) "No.. I guess not..."
Vinnie: "You're darn right he wouldn't. But me and him talked it over logically and calmly and we both agreed that this would be the best way of dealing with Niki Smith. Now, believe me... if it works - Viki's problems could all be over. Don't you see?"
Meredith: "Yeah...yeah. If it works. That's the big question now, isn't it?"
Vinnie: "Hey, hey, hey. You know I'm gonna do my best."
Meredith: "Yeah, I know you will."
Vinnie: "Come on. Why don't you go on home and try and get some rest. You look tired. "
(VINNIE WALKS HER TO THE DOOR)
Meredith: "I forgot. I can't go home. I gotta go to the hospital. I got an appointment with Dr. Hodges in a little while. Hey, listen. If Niki Smith calls you and you see her, I wanna know about it. Will you call me?"
Vinnie: "Hey, sure I will..."
(WITH THAT, MEREDITH LEAVES. VINCE IS LOST IN THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN HE ACTUALLY DOES COME FACE-TO-FACE WITH NIKI)
COMMERCIAL BREAK
ACT FIVE
Scene One
Eileen Siegel's house. Meredith and Eileen are talking.
Eileen: "It seems like yesterday that my two were growing up. Suddenly now they're grown. One's off at college, and I don't know - you just don't know sometimes where the years have disappeared to. Listen, honey. You may feel fine, but something's bothering you. Now what is it?"
Meredith: "Honestly, it's nothing, Eileen."
Eileen: "Oh, now...come on... I know you almost like I know my own Julie. What is it, honey? You're not afraid about the pregnancy, are you?"
Meredith: "Oh, no, no. No, I told you. I feel just fine. "
Eileen: "I know. You said 'just fine', but you don't look fine. Now something's bothering you. Is it Viki? Has something more happened to Viki?"
Meredith: "No, she decided to marry Steve, and I'm very happy about it."
Eileen: "Are you afraid that there might be another one of those Niki Smith incidents before the wedding. Is that what this is?"
Meredith: "Well...I'm just a little bit apprehensive about it. After all, Niki Smith was the reason the wedding was called off the first time. "
Eileen: "Now wait a second. You listen to me. You are the last person who should be getting worried at this point. The most important thing to you right now is concern over those twins. Now, I know you're very concerned - and I just don't want to see you letting yourself get upset and worried like this..."
Meredith: "Oh, no. I'm not upset and worried. Really - I'm just fine. It's just that... well, you know how much Viki's meant to me all my life. How close we've been. I just want to see her happy - she deserves happiness as much as anybody."
Eileen: "Meredith, are you sure that nothing has happened?"
Meredith: "No, Eileen... I'm sure. Nothing has happened. I guess I'm just afraid that something might."
Eileen: "You listen to me. Everything is going to work out for Viki this time. I know it. I mean, look - she's had no emotional pressures for the last couple of weeks, because people have left her alone, right? Look at how well she's done. She's figured out all her problems on her own. All the signs point to Viki really being happy this time. I can't see anything that's going to change that. She's going to be Mrs. Steven Burke in a few days. Now, you just wait and see..."
(TAKE MEREDITH'S REACTION , AND CUT TO:)
Scene Two
Llanfair study. Viki dictates a letter to Marcy.
Viki: "And for any further advertising data, please contact the advertising department... Yours truly...et cetera, et cetera. How many more letters, Marcie?"
Marcie: "About seven or eight."
Viki: (sighs, exhausted) "Well... we haven't gotten as much done as we hoped, have we?"
Marcie: "No, we haven't, but there's been a lot of interruptions..."
Viki: "Marcie, I think maybe we should finish everything up at the office tomorrow morning."
Marcie: (desperate, her plan is still incomplete) "Oh...ah...no, I really think we should finish it up today. Don't you think so? I think we'll feel a lot better about it if we do."
Viki: "Do you feel up to it?"
Marcie: "Yes. I would even be willing to work an hour or two later than we planned. I don't mind at all."
Viki: "Well, alright."
Marcie: "How about some more coffee? That might perk us up for a while."
Viki: "You know, Marcie...I'm very glad our roles aren't reversed. I think you'd be a very hard task master..."
Marcie: "How about that coffee...?"
Viki: "Alright, we'll forge on and try to finish. I'll have Chapin bring us some fresh coffee."
(VIKI EXITS, SHUTTING THE DOOR BEHIND HER. MARCY GOES TO HER PURSE AND REMOVES THE BOTTLE OF SLEEPING PILLS. SHE'S ANXIOUS. THIS IS HER LAST CHANCE TSTOP VIKI AND STEVE'S WEDDING...)
Marcie: (to herself) "She'll be coming back soon. It'll have to be now... or never."
FADEOUT
COMMERCIAL BREAK
CLOSING CREDITS
Marcie Wade Mackenzie
FRANCESCA JAMES
Victoria Lord Riley
ERIKA SLEZAK
Meredith Lord Wolek
LYNN BENISH
Vince Wolek
ANTONY PONZINI
Victor Lord
ERNEST GRAVES
Eileen Siegel
PATRICIA ROE