The Scholarship

THE EPISODES-Chapter Twelve

Episode Three: Family Ties, Knots, and Tangles

Episode three of The Scholarship takes the viewers to the baggage claim at LAX as Dr. William J. Jones stands and waits.  After a few seconds, he fidgets as he checks the arrival board, looks at his watch, and anxiously circles the crowd at carousel three.  He takes out his phone and starts to text, but then he hears her.

"Dad!"  William turns around, and a bubbly sixteen-year-old girl throws herself into his arms.

"I missed you, Baby Girl!" He says as he hugs her tightly. 

"I missed you, too, Daddy!" Her long, tight curls sway as she pulls away and gets a good look at her father.  "You look like you've lost weight.  Have you been eating enough?"

"Everything out here is made with kale and comes in smoothie form," he says as he laughs and puts one arm around her shoulder.  "Let's go find your bag.  Henry is waiting outside."

"Henry?" His daughter asks.

"My driver," William says as he rolls his eyes.

"Dang, Pops!  You're like a legit celeb now."

"Don't let this visit go to your head, Gabrielle," he warns her.  "Or it will be the last one until I'm home again!"  They find her bag and meet Henry outside. 

Henry, this is my daughter, Gabby," William introduces them as he rolls his daughter's suitcase to the trunk.

"Nice to meet you," Gabby says.

"The pleasure is all mine, ma'am," Henry says in his English accent.  Gabby giggles but waits until they're in the backseat to say anything to her father.  The camera angle is awkward, but the viewers can still hear what she says.

"I love that accent!  I could listen to it all day," Gabby whispers.  "Hey, Henry," she says to the driver.  "Tell me all about where you're from in England."  The young teenager leans back and smiles as she listens to Henry tell tales from back home.

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            The scene switches to Bobby Smarts lounging by the private pool that's just outside the patio doors of his two-bedroom villa.  The phone inside his room rings, and he groans as he gets up and walks inside to answer it.  The audience only hears his side of the conversation.

            "Hello?" A pause.  "I'm sorry, but who is here to see me?"  Bobby's face gets bright red as he listens to the person on the other line repeat themselves.  "You've got to be (bleep)ing kidding me!  No way!  Tell her to go the (bleep) away!"  Bobby slams down the phone, but then he seems to remember the cameras.  He smiles and shrugs, but the phone rings again.  His smile quickly fades, and he picks it up again.

            "What!" He answers.  He sighs and rolls his eyes.  "Fine.  Send her over here.  We don't want a big scene."  After hanging up the phone, Bobby saunters to the bathroom and takes a look at himself in the mirror.  He grabs a bottle of cologne and sprays two quick squirts on his naked chest and one down his bathing suit.  "You never know," he says to no one in particular.

            A knock interrupts his grooming, and he throws on a robe, but keeps it open, as he walks to answer the door. 

            "You bastard!" A woman's voice is heard before she is seen.  Suddenly, a slender blonde walks in the room wearing a black, sleeveless jumpsuit.  Her right arm is covered in diamond-encrusted bracelets and her left arm holds a rose-colored, custom-made Hermés handbag.  "I'm going to kill you!"