Mon. Apr. 20, 1970
Of all the changes that have happened since he first came back to Collinsport, the biggest change Quentin Collins has seen is at Collinwood… While most of the modern Collins family away, Quentin has been left in charge… But Quentin's newfound responsibilities came at a price—a price that weighs on Quentin as he escapes to the Blue Whale, yet again…
Quentin stayed at the Collins Cannery as late as he could, not wanting to return home and face Dameon Edwards, for the second evening in a row. As he made his way into the bar, Quentin could hear the jukebox playing a loud California Rock instrumental from outside.
As soon as he walked into the crowded bar, Quentin's eyes were immediately drawn to the pretty blonde pouring drinks behind the counter. Her curly hair was pulled back from her face with loose curls falling down around it. She was wearing a tight, low-cut blue dress.
The waitress smiled at him as he came in, and Quentin felt himself smile back. She sort of reminded Quentin of a younger version of Angelique. The waitress poured a dark-haired man sitting at the bar a drink. The man grabbed her hand and grinned lasciviously.
Quentin started to go towards the bar, intending to step in and help the young woman, but the young woman smiled at the dark-haired man and poured a little bit of his drink on his lap. As the man jumped back and scowled, Quentin could hear the waitress say "Oops! Sorry!" as she grinned and turned away.
Quentin shook his head and smiled to himself, and found a table in the corner where he could watch the crowd and wait for Angelique to arrive. He had called her earlier from Roger's office to come and meet him here this evening.
The pretty blonde waitress smiled as she came towards his table to take his order. "Can I get you something?" she asked pleasantly.
"I guess I'll have a light beer in a glass," Quentin answered. "Say, I don't think I've seen you in here before. You're a lot prettier than Bob, I think I would have noticed you!"
The waitress grinned. "I just started. My name's Buffie." She extended a hand out to Quentin.
"Quentin, Quentin Collins…" he smiled up at her and held her hand a little bit longer than he should.
Buffie stared at him. "Did you say Quentin… COLLINS?" Her eyes grew wide with surprise.
Quentin was puzzled. "Yeah, Quentin Collins. Is there something wrong?"
Buffie's face went back to her previous cheerfulness. "Oh! No, nothing's wrong!" she exclaimed. "I was just surprised because… you know, COLLINS-port? The COLLINS Cannery?"
Quentin chuckled. "All right, all right. As you can see, I'm human, just like everyone else!"
Buffie nodded. "Yes, I do see… now. I'll get your beer." She turned around to head back to the bar. As she went, she quickly glanced back at Quentin, a confused look on her face…
Act One:
Angelique drove John into the village that evening. She would not tell him where they were going, or why. She had only said it was a surprise. When she parked her car on Main Street, John wondered if they were maybe going out for dinner, but there was nothing in the way of fancy dining in the middle of Collinsport. As they got out of her car, Angelique motioned towards an empty storefront with a For Sale sign. "What are you up to know, Angelique?" John smiled at the blonde witch.
"You'll see," she answered. That was all she would say. Stepping around to the side of the empty store, she reached into a large urn with a large, overgrown plant in it and produced a key. Holding the key up, she walked over to the front door and opened it with the key.
John followed Angelique into the dusty, abandoned bookstore. "What are we doing here?" he asked. The dust in the room was causing him to sneeze. He let out a loud one.
Angelique switched on her flashlight that she had brought in from the car. She shone the light around the room. In between bookshelves was a dusty old hair with a small table next to it. A magazine rack with magazines from what looked like 1968 dated on them shone in the spotlight. "How do you like it?" Angelique asked him. She ran her hand on the counter where the cash register off, looked at it, and then wiped it off on her coat.
John walked through beams of moonlight that shone through the boards in the windows. "It's okay, I guess…" he looked at some of the books on the shelves, barely able to read them in the dim light, then looked back at Angelique. "Why do you ask? What's going on?"
"I've decided to open up a shop, here," Angelique explained. "I would like you to help run it for me…"
"Another job?" John asked incredulously. "In addition to my handyman work?"
"Once the Old House is finished, I won't be needing you there anymore," Angelique told him. She walked over to a side door and opened it. "There's supposed to be an apartment upstairs…" She turned and looked at John. "You could live above the store."
John narrowed his eyes. "I thought I was going to be living with you! What's going on, Angelique? Why are you trying to get me out of the house?"
She stared at him for a moment. "It was never supposed to be a PERMANENT situation…" Angelique told him. "Besides, once the house is finished, I plan to marry in a couple months,."
"Marry!" John exclaimed. "To Quentin?" he asked bitterly. Angelique did not answer, so John knew that he guessed right. "What if I don't want to live here, and run this 'store' for you, I have a past, you know!" John walked over to Angelique and took her by the shoulders. "I could leave Collinsport anytime!"
Angelique pulled away from him and turned away. "Then leave!" she snapped. "I was only trying to help…"
John shook his head. "Thanks. But as soon as the house is finished, I'm leaving town!"
"All right!" Angelique nodded, still looking away from him. What John did not see at that moment was the doubt forming in Angelique's eyes…
Act Two:
After Angelique showed John the empty store, she let him drive her car home so that she could meet Quentin at the Blue Whale. Once she arrived and sat with Quentin, the dark-haired man at the bar stared at her.
The waitress, Buffie, noticed him staring at the other woman as she made her way towards the payphone. She pulled out a piece of paper and a dime and made her phone call. After the other person answered, she said "A woman just came in and sat with him… Okay… Are you sure?" Buffie paused and listened. "All right, I just think it's kind of cruel… I understand… I'll keep you posted…"
Buffie hung up the phone and looked over at Quentin and Angelique. She looked back at the bar and noticed the dark-haired man was still looking at them, in particular, Angelique. She took a deep breath and sauntered over to the leering man.
"Hi there!" she said to him. He looked at her with surprise. "Steve, was it?"
"Yeah…" he nodded, wondering what she wanted, after turning him down earlier.
"I've got a job for you, if you're interested…" she explained. She put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in close. She whispered something in his ear, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head as he listened. Steve looked back at Angelique and nodded…
Meanwhile, Tony Peterson arrived at the Blue Whale to see Quentin, wanting to ask him a couple of questions about his case. Scanning the room, he saw Quentin and Angelique holding hands at a table. He smiled, and made his way over to him.
"Hello, Quentin!" Tony greeted from behind Angelique. Angelique saw him, but quickly turned her head so that he could not see her face. "Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to talk to you about the matter we discussed earlier.
Quentin looked at Angelique concernedly, so Angelique said "Don't worry, Quentin, I'll just go to Brewster's. They're open late."
"Are you sure, Angelique?" he looked relieved.
Tony smiled at her. "I swear I won't keep him long." Angelique smiled back, but looked down.
As she left, Tony turned to see her leave, he got a sense of deja vu. He turned back to Quentin. "Angelique, was it?" Quentin nodded. "I SWEAR I've met her somewhere before…" Tony told him.
"I'm sure you've seen her around town," Quentin waved his hand dismissively. "She was married to Sky Rumson, the business tycoon. She owns Little Windward Island…"
"Of course, I HAD heard of her, but I was sure I've never seen her before…" Tony said. "Anyway, I've looked into changing your name officially to Quentin Collins…"
"Tony," Quentin interrupted. "There's something more pressing we need to take care of right now. I didn't want to go over it on the phone. While I'm still Grant Douglas, I need to take care of a Dameon Edwards—the man I told you about last night…"
Act: Three:
"I need to sign the deed to my property in Portland over to him, as well as seventy-five percent of my inheritance from Frederick Thorn," Quentin explained.
Tony was shocked. "Seventy-five percent! Quentin, are you sure you want to do this?" Tony was concerned. He leaned forward and spoke in a loud whisper. "Is he blackmailing you, Quentin?"
Quentin looked down and did not answer…
On the other side of the room, Buffie went over to the pay phone and made another phone call. After someone picked up on the other end, she spoke. "Hi, it's me again… I found someone to do the job… Yeah, he's a real winner… Hopefully all will go to plan…"
Buffie hung up the phone, but she looked concerned, as she watched Quentin and Tony speaking in hushed tones at their table…
Across town, Angelique left Brewster's carrying a shopping bag. As she made her way back to the Blue Whale, she passed an alley. A fog had poured in, and she could hear the foghorns of the boats out in Collinsport Harbor, lending the night a melancholy, but peaceful quality. The foggy reverie was interrupted by a clatter of a metal trashcan in the alley.
Startled, Angelique turned and looked, wondering if it was a lonely cat. As she stepped to investigate, a shadow loomed against the brick walls of the building through the fog. A dark-haired man grabbed her from behind and dragged her, kicking and struggling into the alley far away from the main street. She dropped her purse and shopping bag onto the ground.
Angelique managed to turn around and saw it was the man who had been staring at her from the bar at the Blue Whale. "Hey, baby, don't struggle," Steve scolded. "Why don't we go back to my place and have a good time?" he stroked her face as she cringed.
"No" she shouted. "Don't touch me!" She drew back her hand and slapped his face, hard.
As Steve rubbed his face, Angelique started to run away, but he rushed forward and grabbed her by the arm. "Okay, sweetheart! We'll have to do this the hard way!" With his other hand, he slapped her so hard that she fell with a loud CLATTER against some trashcans.
As she lay there in a daze, Steve squatted down on top of her and began to undo her dress. "Nice… very nice," Steve murmured. He began to undo his belt buckle. Angelique groaned and touched the back of her head as she felt a knot beginning to form.
"What's going on back there?" a man's voice loomed from the street. Angelique screamed.
"Damn!" Steve got off of Angelique, and started to run past John, who started to go after him, but Steve shoved him away.
John gave up the chase, and went back to Angelique. He kneeled down on the cobblestones next to her and sat her up against his chest. "It's all right…" he held the trembling woman tight, as she cried with relief…
Cast:
Tony Peterson… JERRY LACY
Quentin Collins… DAVID SELBY
Angelique Rumson… LARA PARKER
John Jaeger… CHRISTOPHER PENNOCK
Buffie Harrington… ELIZABETH EIS
Steve the Bar Patron… GEORGE STRUS