It's One of Us(111)
She and Lindsey rarely speak, one of the situation’s greatest casualties. A bridge too far, staying friends with the sister of her ex-husband. The Benders always have been good at circling the wagons.
Lindsey and Lucía are also married now, living in Lindsey’s Nashville house that was always too big for one. Lucía hired a decorator, one of Olivia’s competitors, to warm up the house, to bring in vibrant colors and furniture people understood how to sit on. Lucía fits into the family with ease; even Park had forgiven her. The Aunties, as they were affectionately known among the Halves, were popular guests and devoted members of nearly every philanthropic organization in Nashville.
Olivia has not heard from Perry. He continues his position with the BBC, racking up awards for his beautiful photography of the relative unknown. She misses him, but she can’t really blame him. The shock of their final meeting, to go from such love and joy to such chaos and fear and death, was insurmountable. He knew—or suspected—what Peyton Flynn’s secret was. She could see it in his eyes. Though she never admitted it aloud, both the brothers seemed to know what she’d done. They did not forgive her the damage she’d caused. She called. She wrote. Perry never answered. Finally, she stopped trying.
She hopes that one day he’ll come for her again, the way he did at the beach, all those years ago. And then he’ll know.
The boy is five now. He has his father’s soft gray eyes and his mother’s dark chocolate hair. He is sturdy, tall for his age, and the happiest child she’s ever seen.
After all she’s been through, all she’s done, right and wrong, sinner and saint, the murder and the miscarriages, the secrets and the lies, the forgiveness, the absolution, to be given the gift of a son who looks so much like his father seems the most remarkable grace.
She named him West. West Finley Hutton. Should she ever decide to tell his father the truth, she supposes they could add a Bender to the moniker, but for now, he is her darling West, her greatest joy, her reason for living. Together, they have made a new life in Monterey. It was an easy sell: Olivia needs to be near the production studios for her show. The area affords her glorious views to work with, a beach to stroll on, access to stunning raw materials, and monied patrons who are in regular pursuit of a fresh look for their lives.
And as much privacy as she can manage, considering the documentary and subsequent memoir made them both famous, for a time. The design show has only made her more so.
The gates are tall, the adobe walls thick, and the path to the beach is studded with cameras.
The past rarely stays hidden. Olivia knows this. But for now, she is safe. They are both safe.
THE MAN WITH MANY FACES
Documentary Script (Draft)
SCENE
VIDEO
AUDIO
1
The Setup: Park
B-Roll: Scenes from a lab, test tubes and centrifuges spinning, scientists in lab coats.
Text: “Winterborn Life Sciences, Chapel Hill, North Carolina”
Text: “Helping Create Families Everywhere”
FADE TO:
B-Roll: PARK BENDER’S office
Text: “Park Bender’s Home Office”
Observational: PARK looks up, stares at the window, seemingly lost in thought.
B-Roll: (SLOW PAN) Framed photographs of multiple children of various ages on a table.
B-Roll: Close-up of the computer keyboard as fingers fly across the keys.
B-Roll: Professional graduation photo of a young Park Bender, smiling for the camera.
Exterior: The brown wooden door to Park’s office, and a woman’s raised fist.
Music: Thomas Dolby, “She Blinded Me with Science.”
Narrator: When he donated his sperm, he thought he was helping families in need. He couldn’t imagine the trouble that was to come.
Music: Dolby melds into Chopin’s Nocturnes, Op. 9: No. 2 in E-flat Major.
Narrator: A celebrated sperm donor, Park Bender has thirty-two children, and counting. Today, he’s meeting one of his daughters for the first time.
Park: “It started as a way to earn a little extra cash. I was in grad school, broke, like everyone around me. I had some friends who were doing it and they said I could make some cash and help people. All I ever wanted was to help people. I had no idea what this would turn into.”
Background: Three sharp knocks at the door.
Park: (Laughing nervously.) “I guess she’s here.”
SCENE
VIDEO
AUDIO
3
The Setup: The Murders
B-Roll: A calm lake on a sunny spring day.
Text: “Radnor Lake, Nashville, Tennessee”
B-Roll: A set of feet hurries along the path into the woods, dragging a body wrapped in canvas.
B-Roll: A car rolls away from the lake parking lot.
B-Roll: The Nashville city skyline, sweep pan the river, the bridges, the lights of the city.
Text: “Nashville, Tennessee”
B-Roll: Lower Broadway, the streets filled with revelers
B-Roll: PARK BENDER’S office
Park Interview: PARK BENDER, 43 years old, sits at his messy desk typing on a computer. He wears a white button-down and faded jeans. His hair has a streak of silver from temple to nape. The sun shines into the room, illuminating dust motes floating in the air.
Sound: Birds chirp, a breeze rustles the trees. Water laps the shoreline.
Narrator: They found the first body in the lake.