Episode Theme song: "Mad Season" Matchbox 20

Previously on One Day at a Time
- Madeline began to follow Karl after seeing him in the pictures from the night of Robin’s attack
- JC, Trenyce, Andy and Reese went to Caldwell’s Mountain Ski Resort of the Pride celebration
- Sofia continued to think something was off with Cassie after seeing her come out of Olivia’s office. Meanwhile, Shane struggled to get over his feelings for Natasha
- Eva was crushed when Natasha ignored her since getting released from jail

Scene One - Caldwell’s Mountain Ski Resort; The Ballroom

The ballroom at Caldwell’s Mountain Ski Resort has been transformed into a winter wonderland themed Pride celebration. There are large snow flakes hanging from the ceiling, a large ice sculptor of two men hold hands and what seems like millions of little white and blue lights giving the room an icy feel to it. Outside, real large snow flakes fall from the sky, giving the party an appropriate theme.

Trenyce stands by the food table looking at the many tasty treats the resort has put together. She’s glazed over however as her mind is in a million places tonight as it’s the first time she’s been back at the resort since Terrence Caldwell took her and Daisy hostage last year. So much has happened since that time, but she still feels a touch uneasy being back in the place where she was held against her will. She pulls out her phone and looks at a picture of Andrew, her one true source of comfort. As she looks over at the food, she can’t help but wonder what Mallory would tell her as well. The last few times she and Mallory have been together, Mallory has told Trenyce that she’s fat. She doesn’t know if Mallory is being honest with her, but it’s something that Trenyce has really taken heart to. She’s trying to watch what she eats and not have too many calories.

“Can I get you anything?” a waiter comes up to Trenyce and asks her, bringing her back to the present instead of daydreaming. She shakes her head no, thinking of Mallory’s comments in her head as she does so.

Andy approaches his friend and immediately picks up on her mood. “Hey Trenyce, you look fantastic in your dress!” He says trying to boost her. He has been looking forward to the Pride event for so long, he wants everyone to be in a good mood and have a great time.

She turns and smiles to him as they hug. “Thanks. You look pretty handsome yourself!” she notes of his outfit, also trying to give herself a boost.

“Thanks, I can’t believe you didn’t take one of those brownies. They look so good!” he chuckles to himself, eyeing the table of food for himself.

Trenyce feels herself blush and she looks down not wanting Andy to know the reason she isn’t taking a brownie. He again notices her odd behaviour. “Okay Trenyce, tell me, what’s going on?”

“Nothing, what do you mean?” she quickly tries to cover.

“I know something is up with you. You love brownies, I make one mention of it and you turn away? Why aren’t you eating? I want to know what’s going on,” he says as he crosses his arms, wanting answers so they could just enjoy the rest of the party.

***

JC enters the ballroom and scans the room as he looks for Andy, whom he spots chatting with Trenyce talking on one side of the room. Just seeing his boyfriend brings a smile to JC’s face. He is so in love with Andy; he is happy that they have come to the Pride reception together. He still has lingering insecurities about Reese, but he knows that he has to have faith in his boyfriend; which he does, it’s Reese that he doesn’t trust. Just as he is about to walk over to Andy and Trenyce, he spots Reese on the other side of the ballroom. He can tell that Reese has also spotted Andy. “No, he’s not taking Andy’s attention all night tonight,” JC says to himself quickly as he rushes over to Reese, determined not to let Reese ruin his night with Andy as they have both been looking forward to this Pride event for some time.

“JC, hi!” Reese smiles as he sees JC approaching him.

“Good evening Reese, the place looks amazing, no?” JC replies to him knowing that he has to send some kind of warning to Reese about staying away from Andy.

“It sure does. It’s the first time Pride has been held up here. I’m so excited for it! I see Andy and Trenyce over there. Let’s go over and say hello, shall we?”

“Not so fast, I have something I want to say to you,” JC replies, grabbing Reese’s arm as their eyes lock, startling Reese in the process.

***

“Nothing is going on Andy!” Trenyce fakes a smiles to her friend. “I promise. I haven’t had much to eat yet, so I was waiting to have a brownie until later.” She hopes that her cover is enough to get him to lay off for awhile. It’s not that she doesn’t want a brownie, but she doesn’t want to draw attention to her weight. She really does have to start watching what she eats.

Andy arches his eyebrow and quickly recalls how recently when he, Reese and Trenyce had lunch together, Trenyce didn’t eat either. He doesn’t want to make a huge deal out of something if it’s not a big deal, but he can’t help but suspect that something more is going on with his friend. He knows that the Pride party may not be the best place to have a serious discussion with Trenyce about it either.

“Okay,” he finally replies to her, deciding to let it go for the time being. He wants to enjoy the party, not harp on Trenyce for what she is and isn’t eating.. “But we are going to have a talk about this later, especially if you don’t have a brownie with me!” he grins.

Trenyce looks up at him and hugs him, suddenly feeling so grateful that she has such an amazing best friend. “Thank you for standing by me always Andy. You’re amazing.”

“So are you,” he winks to her as they exit their hug.

“JC and Reese are over there,” Trenyce observes, looking across the room. “Let’s go get them!”

***

“What is it that you have to tell me exactly?” Reese asks JC stepping back from him as he was taken aback that JC grabbed his arm.

“I know you still have feelings for Andy,” JC informs a shocked Reese. “Everyone can see it on your face when you look at him. But he’s moved on with me. Just stay away from my boyfriend please,” JC tells Reese in a commanding voice..

Reese is about to reply when Andy and Trenyce approach them. He is still shocked that JC sent him some kind of warning about Andy. “Hey guys,” Trenyce says interrupting their talk, something that Reese couldn’t be more pleased about. “Let’s get this party started!”

“Excuse me, I think I need some air,” Reese replies to Trenyce, rushing out of the ballroom. He walks out quickly, shocked that JC gave him some kind of warning about Andy. He knows that Andy is with JC now but he never believed JC would threaten him. The nerve this guy has got, Reese thinks to himself as he exit’s the ballroom.

“What was that about?” Andy asks JC, wondering if JC said something to Reese that upset him. They seemed tense when he and Trenyce arrived at them.

JC shrugs and looks at Andy, “I’m not sure. Why do you ask?”

“It’s not like Reese to just rush off like that,” Andy replies, still realizing that something must have happened. He looks closer at JC and can see that his lower lip is quivering, something he does when he‘s keeping something from him. “I should go see if he’s okay.”

“No, you don’t have too!” JC replies getting frustrating that Andy is chasing his ex-boyfriend. And what’s worse is that this time it’s his fault.

“I wouldn’t have too if you hadn’t said something to upset him! I don’t know what you’re thinking JC but I have to smooth things over!” Andy says shocked by his boyfriend’s behaviour before he rushes off to find Reese.

“This party is already interesting,” Trenyce smirks to herself as she walks up to JC. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m just fine!” JC snaps back at her, irritated that his plan to warn Reese turned into this fiasco. Instead of having a great time with his boyfriend at the Pride party, Andy is rushing after his ex and JC is alone.

Scene Two -- Capers

Natasha enters the busy restaurant and looks around. She is searching for Eva, whom she hasn’t seen since she has been released from jail. She has been avoiding her because she still really isn’t sure how to deal with her. While her parents betrayed her, she understands that they just didn’t tell her a simple fact. They raised her and are her parents in every way that counts. It just happens that Sofia didn’t give birth to her. Eva, on the other hand, lied to her point blank repeatedly while they were becoming friends, when Eva first came to town. She knew all along that she was her mother and never said anything. It’s a harder pill for Natasha to swallow because Eva lied to her face for so long. She finally spots Eva sitting by herself and walks up to the table.

Eva spots Natasha approaching and feels the butterflies in her stomach. She has longed for this evening for so long. She has wanted Natasha to reach out to her and at last she has. She only hopes that the night goes the way she wants it to. Her and Natasha, at last, have a real mother-daughter relationship.

“I’m so glad you called,” Eva says to her as Natasha reaches the table. “I’ve wanted to see you for some time now.”

Natasha sits down quickly, making Eva feel glad that she didn’t get up and hug her. “Sure, I had been meaning to call you sooner, I apologize that I have not.”

Eva smiles over at her daughter, “No need to apologize. I understand. I ordered some chardonnay. Would you like a glass?”

Natasha realizes that Eva is trying to make an effort with her and she can appreciate it. She knows it must be painful for Eva to be in this circumstance, but she knows what she has to do. “No thank you. I actually came here for another reason tonight.”

“Oh?” Eva says as she feels her heart sink into her stomach.

“I know you want us to be close Eva,” Natasha begins to say to her. “But I hope you understand when I tell you that I need more time. I’m not ready to pretend that this bombshell didn’t effect me because it has.”

“I know it has. You were in a bad space for awhile. I was so worried about you. We all were. I guess I was just hoping…”

“That I would forgive and forget? You must understand why I am not ready to have a relationship with you. I’m not saying it will never happen, but I need time to still truly get my head around what this means. For me, for my life, for my identity,” Natasha tells her as she sees Eva get some water in her eyes. “I need to rediscover myself and then when I’m ready, maybe we could go forward. I can’t make you any promises though.”

Eva bites her lip as she doesn’t want to start to cry in front of Natasha. She’s lived so many years with out her daughter she, she really had hopes that things would change now going forward. The words from Natasha have hit her hard and they are painful. But she doesn’t want to show Natasha any weakness.

“I’m sorry Eva, I hope you understand,” Natasha says as she stands up. Natasha looks one more time at the woman that is her mother before she walks away. As she walks, she can’t help but feel bad. She never meant to hurt Eva, but she does need time still to come to terms with everything. Her family has forever change as she knows it. And she still has to come to the fact that Eva lied to her for so long. As she approaches the door, she happens to see Shane out of the corner of her eye. He smiles at her from behind the counter of the bar as he is helping Cassie at the restaurant.

“Shane, hi,” she stops and looks at him, immediately feeling her heart warm. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, are you okay? You don’t look so good,” he observes of her current state of discomfort.

“I’m … you’re right, I’m not okay. I should go though.”

“Do you want to talk about it? I’m just helping Cassie bring in some inventory, we can go downstairs and bring it together?” He doesn’t even realize what he’s offering until it’s too late. Not that he minds, he has missed her and would love the chance to catch up, even if it is briefly.

Natasha pauses for a second. She has missed spending time with Shane and she can’t lie about how good he looks and feels talking to him again. “Sure, that’d be nice.”

Scene Three - The Calimo Mansion

Sofia looks out over the rose garden as the snow falls down. It wasn’t long ago when her rose garden was full of life as the flowers were in full bloom. She sighs as she turns around and looks at the fireplace that is roaring in front of her realizing how quickly life changes. She walks up to the mantel and picks up a picture of Natasha. She is so happy that Natasha has rediscovered her passion for life. The months when she was on drugs and distant from the family were some of the hardest months in Sofia’s life. She is so blessed that Natasha is seemingly back and everything is on it’s way to working out.

“If only she could be truly happy with Shane again,” Sofia whispers to herself as she puts the picture back on the mantel, thinking about how much in love the two were. “They were so good together, they had so much hope for the future.”

Sofia’s mind wanders back to when Shane and Natasha first became engaged; almost immediately Cassie announced her pregnancy and Natasha did the noble thing and move away from Shane completely so Cassie’s baby could have a family. Shane went forward and married Cassie and they have been together ever since. Sofia can’t help but wonder what could have been for Natasha had Cassie not revealed her pregnancy; another indication that life changes quickly.

“Things could have been so different,” she says to herself, as her mind continues to replay the situation in her mind, as she naturally switches focus to Cassie and how odd she has been lately. The way she reacted to hearing the police were investigating the car accidents and how she claims to have barely known Preston and Olivia, but Sofia saw her coming out of Olivia’s office at the hospital. Something isn’t sitting right with Sofia about the young woman. But what? She asks herself. Why all of these lies around smaller things?

“If I can figure out what’s going on with Cassie, maybe it’ll help Natasha get back together with Shane,” she whispers to herself. “But where do I begin? And how do I uncover Cassie’s secrets?”

Scene Four - Madeline’s Escalade

Madeline carefully watches the car that is a few feet ahead of her as she drives her black escalade. She quickly recalls how she saw a man, possibly the man that threw the acid at Robin the night of her attack, leave a warehouse and hop into the car. She has been following him for just over seven minutes now, determined to try to crack the case for Cory. She has grown very fond of him while helping him try to prove his innocence. Her mind quickly goes back to the other day in her office when he hugged her; she can’t help but be attracted to him, even though she knows that he is married and will probably return to Robin once his name is cleared. Still, feeling his muscular arms, even if it was for a brief moment felt great. Following this man may prove to be bust, but her gut is telling her otherwise. She has learned to trust her gut instincts with her job.

As she turns a corner in the road, she adjusts her blue tooth ear piece, quickly refocusing on the road after. The large snow flakes are making it less than perfect driving conditions. “Call Cory,” she says aloud to the voice automated phone system. Cory’s number quickly dials and she hears him on the other end.

“Hello,” he says.

“Cory, hey, it’s Madeline,” she says continuing to focus on the road as much as possible. With the heavy snow flakes falling, she needs to ensure she doesn’t lose the car she’s tracking. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m on a lead tonight. I may have found the guy in the photos!”

“Wow, Madeline, that’s amazing! Keep me posted and stay safe okay?”

“I shall. I’ll be in touch,” she says before she hangs up the phone. She pulls off to the side of the road as the car has pulled off to the side. She waits a moment and starts to drive again after the car she is following has taken off again.

***

Karl looks in his review mirror and grins as he can see the black escalade driving behind him once again. He has been watching the vehicle since he left the warehouse and he is now in full belief that it is following him. He gave the driver an opportunity to keep going when he pulled over. He just doesn’t know why they are following him, but he knows that he doesn’t like the situation. Could Melissa have sent someone to follow him since he demanded more money? He quickly gets an idea and a grin on his face.

“I’m about to find out what they want,” he tells himself as he pulls into the driveway of his apartment building. He gets out of the car after he parks it and enters the building, knowing that Madeline is watching his every move. He shuts the door to the building and leans up against. “I just have to wait for the right moment.”

***

Madeline sees the car pull into the drive way and spots a man get out of the car. Seeing the man again she quickly realizes that he must the man from the pictures. The similarities are just too much alike. She quickly pulls over to the side of the road and grabs her purse before she exits her car. “This is it,” she says as she rushes across the small street. She enters the parking lot and comes up to the car that Karl was in. She can’t see anything inside so she walks around to the door where Karl went in. Suddenly, the door opens and Karl comes out quickly and grabs Madeline from behind quickly covering her mouth so she can’t scream and drags her into the building.

Scene Five - Caldwell’s Mountain Ski Resort

Andy arrives in the basement storage room as he thought he saw Reese come down here, probably to get his snowboarding gear to take back up to his room. He knows that Reese throws himself into physical activity when he is stressed. He did it all the time with volleyball back in high school. “Reese are you down here?” he calls out as he looks around the storage room.

“Andy?” Reese calls out to him as he comes around the corner to see his ex-boyfriend. “What are you doing down here?”

Andy sighs, “I wanted to see if you were okay. I’m not sure what JC told you, but it’s not like you to just rush off like that.”

“It’s nothing,” Reese lies to Andy, not wanting to cause problems for Andy and JC. “Really, you should head back upstairs. JC is probably looking for you.”

Suddenly, they hear the door to the storage room close and the lights flicker off and on and then off again.

“What’s going on?” Andy says unsettled, looking around for some kind of clue of what is happening.

Reese looks around and listens as he can hear a commotion upstairs. “I’m not sure, but I think there’s a black out.”

“But the door just closed!” Andy explains rushing over to the door and he tries to open it to no avail. “Great, it looks like we’re stuck in this storage room until the power comes back on.”

***

Upstairs in the ballroom, the lights go out. JC looks at Trencye and arches his eyebrow. “What is happening?”

Trenyce looks outside at the heavy snow fall and looks back at JC. “I think it’s a black out. The snow must have knocked some power lines down or something.”

“Great, so Andy is stuck with Reese in a black out?”

Trenyce sighs, “We don’t know that for sure JC. Maybe Andy never found Reese. Let‘s just wait to see what happens.”

JC knows that Trenyce is right, they should wait to see what happens, but something is telling him that Andy is with Reese right now. Doing God only knows what.

***

Back in Twin Peaks, Shane carries a case of wine into the wine cellar at Capers. Natasha holds the door open for him while he tracks it in. He sets it down and looks for the label so he can place them in the rack where they belong.

“It’s over here,” Natasha points as she lets the door close. She shows him the area the wine goes.

“Thanks, I knew I asked you to help for a reason,” he says over to her, smiling and noting to himself how beautiful she looks.

Suddenly, the lights flicker off and the two look at each other. “Man, I think it’s a black out,” Shane tells her, knowing the sound of the generator going off. “That snow must have knocked out some power.”

“Cassie probably needs candles upstairs,” Natasha says as she walks over to the door and tries to open it. She pulls hard, but the door is locked shut. “The door is locked.”

She turns and gulps looking at him. “Looks like we’re stuck together,” he says looking at her.

Next on One Day at a Time
- The blackout turns Twin Peaks upside down
- Robin gets the third degree
- Cory and Dominick worry about Madeline