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Leslie Jackson Montgomery walks into the foyer of her seaside home and puts her keys down on the antique receiving table. The smell of sea air wafts through the spacious oceanfront home. The front windows are open and the sheer window treatments are blowing with the rush of the ocean. The sound of light jazz plays in the background. Mingled with the sea air is a light cologne and cigar smoke.
Leslie walks into the living room, where the music gets a little louder. The lights are down low and candles are burning. She is intrigued by the setting. She kicks off her three hundred-dollar Ferragamo pumps and plops down on the overstuffed couch. She is glad to be home.
"Is that my incredibly sexy wife?’ Brian Montgomery asks. Brian walks into the room. "It is my incredibly sexy wife."
"And how are you Doctor?" Leslie asks. Brian is carrying a tray of Beluga Caviar and Champagne. Leslie smiles. "And what is this? A special occasion?"
"Do I need a special occasion to love my wife?" Brian asks. He puts the tray on the table and sits down beside her. They kiss. "Do you know that I’ve been waiting all day to do that?"
"Really?"
"Really."
"So why were you at the DeLongpre’s so long? I can’t imagine the party continuing after they found out about Katherine," says Brian.
"Actually the party didn’t only end because of Katie’s accident," says Leslie.
"What do you mean?"
"Pamela DeLongpre’s daughter was down at the old pond and found a dead body," says Leslie.
"A dead body?"
"Yep."
"Who was it?"
"Don’t know. I’ve assigned someone to monitor the situation."
"So much for our quiet, crime-free little burg," says Brian.
"Well it’s a little premature to think a crime’s been committed."
"So was it a suicide?"
"We won’t know anything until Julia Collins finishes her investigation — How’s Katie?"
"I think she’s going to be okay."
"That’s good, if something happened to Katie, it would devastate the entire family," says Leslie.
"You know you talk about the DeLongpre’s like you’re one of them," says Brian.
"What do you mean?"
"I don’t know, it’s just that you always seem to include yourself when you speak of the DeLongpre’s," says Brian. "Why is that?"
"I didn’t realize that I did that."
"It’s no big deal. May I pour you a glass of champagne?"
"I thought you’d never ask," says Leslie. Brian pours his wife a glass of champagne and hands it to her. Leslie brings the glass to her lips.
"Wait for me," says Brian. He pours himself a glass and holds it up to make a toast. "To a quiet, relaxing and romantic night." The couple touch glasses and sip the champagne while Leslie continues to think about her husband’s last comment.

_________________________________________

August DeLongpre is in the bathroom adjoining the suite he shares with his wife Meredith. The bathroom is done in Italian marble with Talisman Relief Tiles and black flooring. There is a stand-alone, six-head walk in shower in one corner, and a large clawfoot tub designed to appear as antique, but is actually quite modern with it's water jets and relaxation and temperature settings.
August has a ritual that he performs each night before going to bed. He washes his face twice, brushes his teeth, gargles with antiseptic mouthwash, and then applies lip balm. After he does all of this, he usually heads directly to bed so that he can be up by 5 am to do a five mile run, an hour in the gym, and be at the office by no later than 8 am.
August likes structure in his life. He likes to be organized and keep things scheduled down to 15-minute increments. Tonight August isn't following his usual routine. He has drawn a bath in the large tub. August steps into the tub, sits, then stretches out. The hot water working out the knots in his muscles and tensions in his back. He lies back and lets the water consume him.
It has been a hectic day and August is drained. He is happy that is Father is home, but is concerned about his marriage to Jory. He is happy that his sister Pamela has returned after so many years, but can't help wondering if she has a hidden agenda. He is worried about the body that was found in the old mill pond on the estate, and hopes that the discovery doesn't create trouble for his family. He is relieved that his baby sister, Katherine is going to be okay. He thinks of names for the new baby and of a client, he has to meet for lunch tomorrow. He remembers Quentin Origen's comment about profits being down last quarter and wonders how he will break the news to Sumner. He also thinks of Jennifer.
Although they lived in the same town, he had purposely avoided her for almost 20 years. After their breakup and his marriage to Meredith he figured that the last thing either one of them needed was reminders of the past. When he saw her today, that's all he could think about. With all of the things August has to keep track of, he couldn't stop the past from creeping into his thoughts. The image he projected to everyone was one of a happily married heir to throne with the world at his fingertips, but inside, August DeLongpre had regrets, many regrets. As the water soothed and relaxed him, he couldn't help wondering, 'what if?'

Meredith Prescott DeLongpre lies in the bed she shares with her husband August. She wonders what is taking her husband so long. He lied to her tonight. He lied about Jennifer Origen. Meredith worked hard to earn the title Mrs. August DeLongpre and she will fight with every cell in her body to keep it. She loves her husband, but is well aware that he is hers though manipulation and deceit and no great all-consuming love.
The baby kicks her and she rubs her belly. Everybody in town knows what a skirt chaser Quentin Origen is, everybody accept his wife. Either she really doesn't know of her husband's numerous infidelities or she chooses to ignore them. Either way, Meredith decides to keep a close eye on the Origen marriage, just in case. The last thing she needs is for that marriage to crumble, making Jennifer a free agent again. It's not that she thinks her husband would stray, actually she knows that August is completely and totally committed to her, their family, and their marriage, but just to be on the safe side, she decides to nip any potential temptations in the bud, before they pose a serious threat to all of her hard work.
On the nightstand beside her bed is a large tobacco jar lamp and a 5 x 7 wedding photo of she and August taken shortly after the ceremony. In the photo, Meredith is beaming because she is so happy and content, while August looks stoic and unaffected. Beside that photograph is one of she and her children taken last summer. Beside that photograph is a telephone. Meredith suddenly remembers the conversation that almost ruined her day. She vowed not to think about until the morning. Well morning would soon be here, and she wouldn't be able to avoid it. Tomorrow she would have to deal with it head on. She couldn't help thinking that God was testing her, by throwing her two greatest fears directly in her, so far unimpeded, path. Just when everything was going so smoothly, the two greatest threats to her marriage and her happiness were rearing their ugly heads,
She turns the light out on the nightstand on her side of the bed and sinks under the covers. She hopes that she can remain awake until her husband is finished in the bathroom, but the baby has stopped kicking and her eyes are beginning to feel quite heavy. Tonight she will have nightmares of losing everything and in the morning she will be more determined than ever to extinguish each and every threat to her happiness.

_________________________________________________________

Jennifer Origen walks into her kitchen. Everything is quiet and calm. She goes to the refrigerator and gets a pitcher of orange juice. She gets a tall glass from the cabinet and sticks it under the ice dispenser. She pours orange juice into the glass until it is about three-quarters full. She then goes to freezer and takes out a bottle of vodka. She pours the vodka into the orange juice until the glass is full. Jennifer looks around the room and then sits at the kitchen table. She picks up the glass and holds it in the air and then 'air toasts.'
"To the old acquaintances -- may they be forgotten and never brought to mind --for all our sakes…" Jennifer puts the glass to her lips, closes her eyes, and drinks.

_________________________________________________________

Thad DeLongpre pulls into the driveway of his family's estate. He gets out of his car and looks up at the night sky. It's a clear night filled with the sounds of crickets and waves crashing on the rocks at the bottom of the bluff. There is also another sound, a faint sound, almost like a woman crying. Thad knows that it's not a woman crying, but the sound the breeze from the ocean makes when it hits the jagged rocks below. There is an old sailor's tale that says the sound is actually Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest crying for her daughter Persephone.
"Well if it isn't my dashing little brother," says Pamela walking up to Thad. Thad turns quickly to find his sister standing behind him.
"Pamela?"
"The one and only," She says.
"What are you doing here?"
"I live here."
"Not for quite some time," he says.
"I got homesick."
"After all these years?"
"Well you don't seem all that excited to see me," says Pamela.
"I guess I'm still in shock," he says.
"Didn't Daddy tell you that I was home, when you saw him at the Medical Center?'
"He didn't mention it," says Thad.
"I guess he was to busy worrying about Katherine to care that I was home -- or other things."
"Meaning?"
"Have you heard about his marriage? Did you meet our new Stepmommy?"
"Yes and Yes."
"What do you think?"
"I don't know what to think."
"Well all I know is that a 20 something year old woman doesn't marry a man -- knocking on 70's door -- without hopes for a huge payday," says Pamela.
"You don't know that."
"She's gonna screw him until his heart bursts and then sit back and collect our inheritance."
"That's crass and you're better than that."
"Just trying to protect what's mine… uh… ours."
"Aren't you going to ask about Katie?"
"Oh yeah, how is she?"
"She's going to be all right."
"Well isn't that wonderful news."
"It is. So what are you doing out here? Can't sleep?"
"This town shuts down so early."
"Actually the Chocolate Bar is open for a little bit longer," says Thad.
"I don't want to go to some hick bar, with fat rednecks overflowing the barstools and their bleached-blonde, big-haired girlfriends drinking beers from the can and talking about their inbred out-of -wedlock children, Cletus and Tiffany," she says.
"Good night Pamela."
"Where are you off to?"
"Anywhere but here. Welcome home." Thad walks away and leaves his sister alone. He looks up at the huge estate and from one of the rooms on the third floor, he sees a candle burning. The window is in the master bedroom - Sumner's room. He knows that on the other side of that window is his father and his new bride and he doesn't want to think of what they could be doing that would require candlelight.

_______________________________________________

Bain Roberts steps out of the shower. He is naked and looking for a towel. The water drips from his well-sculpted body unto the bathroom floor. He finds a towel and begins to dry himself. He has had a long day and he just wants to fall into bed and go to sleep. The shower has relaxed him. He puts the towel on the sink and looks at himself in the mirror. He touches his jawline, then runs his fingers through his still wet hair.
"Katherine," he says aloud. He hasn’t been able to stop thinking about the young woman. He decides that he will wake up early in the morning and go to the hospital to talk to her. He then remembers the apartment that Thad DeLongpre told him about. "If I’m going to stay here in Persephone Pointe, I’d better go and grab that apartment before someone else gets it."
Bain leaves the bathroom and goes to his bedroom. He gets a pair of plaid boxers from his bag and puts them on. He sits on the edge of the bed and turns on the TV. He flips the channels, stopping on MTV, then ESPN, then a local station that is broadcasting the news.
"Katherine DeLongpre, youngest daughter of Sumner DeLongpre was hit by a car earlier today," says the reporter. "Ms. DeLongpre was headed to the family compound to attend a welcome home party for her father when she was struck. Ms. DeLongpre is at the Persephone Pointe Medical Center and is now listed in stable condition. She is too marry Porter Dandridge this January in what is being called the wedding of the millennium."
"The wedding of the millennium. Why in the hell would she want to marry a jerk like Porter Dandridge? What am I saying, I don’t even know Katherine. They could be well-suited for each other, for all I know. Oh great Roberts, now you’re talking to yourself."
Bain turns the TV off and gets up from the bed. "Well I’ll find out tomorrow what Katherine is really like." He walks to the window and looks out. "Tomorrow. That’s when I’ll see her again. Tomorrow."

This Has Been Persephone Pointe

Created By
JANUARY BISHOP

Written By
JANUARY BISHOP
JENNIFER OLSEN
and
TALLY McCLENNOCK

Edited By
L. TUCKER BISHOP

Producers
JENNIFER OLSEN
TALLY McCLENNOCK

Casting By
ELENA REID

Publicity and Promotion Coordinator
ELIZABETH REID

Webmaster
WILLS McMILLIAN

Executive Producer
JANUARY BISHOP

The events and characters depicted in Persephone Pointe are fictitious. Any similarities to actual persons, living or dead, or events is purely coincidental.

ALL BRAND NAMES ARE USED FICTIOUSLY
The actors, credited, are used for illustrative purposes only and are in no way affiliated with Persephone Pointe, its writers or producers.

Join us again Tomorrow for the Continuing Story of Persephone Pointe.

PERSEPHONE POINTE
Is a Presentation of
January First Productions
©2000
All Rights Reserved