The Tycoon and the Teenager (#30)

This is the story of the clash of two dominant personalities, a vicious 82-year-old tycoon and a teenage intellectual rebel. The theme is – what to do if you are dying. This is not a true story, but inspired by characters the author met in New York and Manila. This is being proposed for film and/or stage-play production.

eastwind journals

‘True Tales’ Series – Volume 30

Updated June 16, 2023 – Archives tr367
By Bernie V. Lopez, eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com

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Opening Scene. (Titles and credits. Theme music.) Midtown Manhattan, New York skyline, orange sunset. Rush hour traffic. Tall building. Penthouse entrance. Sign reads “Andromeda Ventures” with an eagle logo.

Terence, 82 years old, is a self-made tycoon. Head of a multi-billion conglomerate. It is sunset. His over-sized office has a glass wall-window overlooking the orange sunset on the west side of Midtown Manhattan. The blinds are closed, and the room explodes with orange light when he opens it. His desk is as large as a pool table, glass and chrome, only one folder and a telephone on top, nothing else. There is a knock at the door. He is to interview a young girl for a secretarial position.

SECRETARY – Sir, this is Therese, for interview.

TERENCE – (Therese enters, secretary exits.) Hi Therese. Welcome. Sit down. Feel at home. I must warn you. I have a bad name of being vicious. It’s my nature. Everybody here fears me. Don’t be afraid.

THERESE – I am not afraid.

TERENCE – I like that for a change. I am normally addressed as ‘sir’.

THERESE – Don’t you get tired of people at your feet? It’s about time you meet an equal.

TERENCE – Whoa. An equal. I could fire you this instant.

THERESE – Go ahead. You want me to go? (She stands up.)

TERENCE – Whoa. This is getting better. Sit down. And what is your position in this office?

THERESE – Assistant to the third assistant secretary, whatever that means. I was told you needed a ‘sunset girl’ to help you relax when the day is done. I’m good in relaxing people. And I hate office work. That’s the reason I took this job.

TERENCE – And you call us equals?

THERESE – Yes. The only difference is you’re rich and I am not. That’s to your advantage. But you’re are old and I am young. That’s to my advantage. Not really. We will both die one day. I might even die before you do. And our IQs are more or less the same. I have a slight edge.

TERENCE – It takes more than IQ to make a tycoon.

THERESE – I know. Your EQ is much lower than mine because you’re basically nasty, as you admit. 

TERENCE – And what is your secret in relaxing people.

THERESE – I don’t know. I’m just me.

TERENCE – (Leafing through her biodata). Hmmm. 19 years old. Summa cum laude, Boston U. Top of the class. Banking and Finance. No work experience.

THERESE – Aside from sunset duty, I am a genius in finance. Wanna try me?

TERENCE – I have a dozen VPs who can do finance while sleeping.

THERESE – Then let’s stick to the sunset. (Pointing to the sunset) Wow. Fantastic view. (They both approach the glass wall window.) You know, the sunset is a paradox. It’s beauty is the symbol of life, but it is also a symbol of death.

TERENCE – I hired you because you’re at the top of your class, and your personality test says you’re a sort-of intellectual rebel. I want a young bright kid I can talk to at the end of the day.

THERESE – About what precisely?

TERENCE – Anything. I need someone who thinks out-of-the-box, pure of heart and without scars.

THERESE – I have hidden scars deep inside me, Terence. May I call you Terence?

TERENCE – You already did.

THERESE – You’re tired of yes people, your VPs, right?

TERENCE – Yes. Tell me your first impression of me.

They move to the desk and chair.

THERESE – I don’t think you are really vicious, as you say. You’re pretending to be. Maybe you’re just insecure deep inside, which no one seems to discern.

TERENCE – Have you discerned it?

THERESE – I’m not sure. You did not mind my insolence. That’s the soft spot. But you were threatened by me as your equal, yet you welcomed it. Maybe you’re lonely.

TERENCE – Wait, you’re putting me on the defensive. You’re better than my shrinks.

THERESE – Then don’t be defensive. I’m not like your yes men. You have no hold on me. That’s a nice feeling for me, and for you also, isn’t it? You want me to defy you, I mean, for a change.

TERENCE – Do you feel my despair?

THERESE – Obvious from the minute I entered the room.

TERENCE – Are you a psychic?

THERESE – Not really. I mean, I don’t know.

Therese stands up, goes to the mini-bar, puts brandy on two goblets and gets two glasses of iced water, puts them on a tray, and places it on Terence’s table.

THERESE – May I join you?

TERENCE – Stupid question. You brought two glasses.

THERESE – Your secretary told me what you drink.

Glasses clink. The ice is broken between the tycoon and the teenager. They approach the window again and look at lesser skyscrapers silhouetted against the orange horizon.

TERENCE – Do you think I should buy Daily Globe? Let’s see what your summa cum laude brain will say.

THERESE – What for? You have everything. It’s just to satisfy your greed and your ego. Sorry, I have to be frank, otherwise I’m useless to you.

TERENCE – Yes, I hate subservience. In fact, I welcome your frankness.

THERESE – Terence. What do you want a newspaper for, to project your over-projected image? Power? Fame? You were on the cover of Time three months ago, and Fortune four months before that. You’ve been on the covers, what six times in the last, what four years?

TERENCE – Seven times. You’ve been reading up on me. So, what do I do?

THERESE – Stop acquiring. Stop merging. Stop this obsession for your empire, like morphine to an addict. You need to detoxify.

TERENCE – You know we have been talking for 30 minutes and for the first time, you’re changing me, my life.

THERESE – Sunset girls do that. I can see through you. You are naked to me, Terence. All this velvet under your feet is nothing to you. You hide your fears well to your staff, but not to me.

TERENCE – I have seen four shrinks in the last two months. They don’t want me to think of death. They just want to console me and get paid. I hate them for being hypocrites. You’re different. You’re direct and raw without hesitation. No pretense. Sharp. You stab me intentionally.

Terence breaks down without shame, shedding tears for the first time in many years. Therese gets the bottle of brandy and fills the two goblets to the brim.

THERESE – Yup, that’s the first step. Tears. Very medicinal.

TERENCE – This is not the way to drink brandy, Therese.

THERESE – Oops. Sorry. Let’s do the tequila instead.

Therese goes to the bar and pours tequila into two goblets. They gulp it instantly.

THERESE – Shrinks can’t help you, Terence. They just want your money.

TERENCE – So what do I do. C’mon sunset girl. (Pause) Wait. More tequila.

She takes the bottle of tequila and fills the goblets. They are emptied instantly. She pours again. But just as Terence is about to have a second gulp, Therese pulls the glass away.

THERESE – Wait. I mean, you’re in the pre-departure area. Have you ever thought of death? Death is at your doorstep, Terence.

TERENCE – Be kind, Therese. Actually, that has been haunting me for years.

THERESE – Your sunset is coming soon. I mean, you got what – ten years, twenty?

TERENCE – Shut up.

THERESE – I don’t want to comfort you. I want to scare you. Have I scared you enough?

TERENCE – Yes. Yes.

THERESE – Wait wait wait. Look at me. (He looks.) Get rid of your empire. Give it away. That’s the only way you get out of your rut.

TERENCE – My empire a rut? You’re kidding.

THERESE – Yes, your empire a rut and you’re drowning in it. I thought I scared you.

There is silence. Terence yanks the glass from Therese and both down the tequila.

THERESE – Give your empire way. Steve Jobs, at his death bed, said, “Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure, these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.” Steve Jobs knew he was dying as his vast empire lay in front of him. He said, “What good is your empire when you can’t take it with you.”

TERENCE – You’re good, really good, my sunset girl. I like you.

THERESE – ‘What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but suffers the loss of his immortal soul,’ Mark Chapter 8 Verse 6. Two key words, Terence – ‘profit’ and ‘immortal’. Mark puts it in corporate jargon – profit. And he compares your puny empire to the infinity of your soul – immortal.

TERENCE – Okay. I have just made a decision. Maybe I can put up a foundation to rescue the homeless, and write off the bad loans on mortgaged houses, how about that? I can put up a dozen homes for seniors and free hospitals for poor kids, a cancer hospital. (Therese pours more tequila. They down it in two seconds.)

THERESE – Anything, as long as it’s not for you. It has to be for others. That’s the secret – love, the be-all and end-all of our lives, the sine-qua-non, that without which there is nothing. Let’s say a prayer. (Terence falls to knees eagerly.) No, don’t kneel. Relax. Slouch in your chair and swing it to the sunset. (Both facing the sunset.) Okay, now, I will pray for both of us. Lord, teach us, Terence and I, how to give to others. Especially Terence, Lord, since he has so much to give. Amen.

TERENCE – That’s it. Finished?

THERESE – Finished. You don’t have to elaborate. He knows. Wait,wait. Another thing, Terence. How many people did you cheat to get to the top.

TERENCE – Are you accusing me of being a cheat?

THERESE – Just asking. Answer me.

TERENCE – Just a few. You are now the Hitler, not me.

THERESE – Be honest with me, Terence, please, I beg you.

TERENCE – Okay, okay, more than a few.

THERESE – My gut feel is that you cheated a lot of people.

TERENCE – Yes, Therese, a lot.

THERESE – I knew it. Make a list, a complete detailed inventory – names, when, how much more or less, as far as you can remember.

TERENCE – I can’t remember.

THERESE – You mean you won’t remember.

TERENCE – Okay, I will do it.

THERESE – That’s your ticket to heaven, you know. Not a stone will be left unturned. You have to return every penny.

TERENCE – Plus interest?

THERESE – Plus interest. Your accountants can do everything. If they are dead or you cannot find them, give it to the poor. I have to go. It’s late, and I feel whoozy.

By this time, the sunset has turned into a sea of tiny skyscraper window lights.

TERENCE – Can I take you home?

THERESE – No. I live five blocks away. (She pours more tequila.) I want to walk home in the cold air after this nice talk with you. I enjoyed it terribly. I have terminal cancer of the pancreas stage two, incurable. You also have been my sunset guy.

TERENCE – Now you tell me. All the while you were talking of death, you were talking more about yourself. Now, I understand your devil-may-care attitude. Tequila will kill you, you know.

THERESE – I hope so. The doctor gave me a year. I’m trying to shorten it to six months. By the way, I have learned to like you a lot in just one afternoon. Behind your velvety life, I can see myself in you actually.

TERENCE – I feel the same way. Love at first sight. (They laugh.)

THERESE – For the road, Terence? Cheers. Down the hatch. (They empty the glasses.) I’m not coming back. I gave you your sunset. I enjoyed it terribly. (They embrace.)

TERENCE – Help me throw my empire away.

THERESE – I am not good at that. Ask Him. (pointing a finger up. She heads for the door.)

TERENCE – Wait, wait.

Terence is frantic writing a cheque. He folds a crumpled cheque and slips it into her cleavage, almost stumbling into her.

THERESE – Watch it.

TERENCE – (Raising both hands.) No touch, Therese.

THERESE – Thanks for the company. Wow, it’s been a long time since I felt so good.

TERENCE – When you help someone, you help yourself five fold. Read the cheque, damn it.

THERESE – (Stops at the door and reads it). You’re kidding. I can’t take this.

TERENCE – You’re doing me a favor. Take the damn cheque.

THERESE – (Sobs and leaves). I won’t be back.

TERENCE – Hell, drop in sometime?

TERENCE – (Narration with related visuals).

(As Therese leaves, he closes the blinds and the room goes dark. He sits in the dark). With the money, Therese bought a modest beach house in Martha’s Vineyard in Cape Cod and a second-hand Benz. She left money with her sister for her aging mother. Terence was envious and bought a nearby beach house.

THERESE – Are you following me?

TERENCE – Nope. I’m following Him.

THERESE – Oh. How nice. So, we’re both headed His way.

TERENCE – (Narration with related visuals).

Therese and I, the tycoon and the teenager, watched a thousand sunsets together, over Cabernet this time, as she could no longer handle Tequila. We brainstormed regularly on how to give more love to the chaotic world. It was expensive, we realized, but we didn’t care because it triggered our adrenaline – hospitals, senior homes, even a vast open-air theater for concerts featuring the likes of Julio Iglesias and the Croatian cellist Hauser. The theater income would go to the poor and to a drama school for poor kids.

Therese did not die in a year, as the doctors predicted. She lasted another three years. I think it was because she was so happy. Happiness has a way of healing people. The spirit can heal the body somehow. She was managing this huge orphanage for homeless kids. She loved the kids and poured her heart on them. I paid for her chemo three times a week for three years. She said kidney machines were so efficient, it removed all the toxins in her blood, making her think more clear, and preventing memory loss.

When she died, I had a hard time throwing my vast empire away for the Lord because there were just too many people I cheated. Now, I spend my sunsets alone in the beach, writing my book on the meaning of life, as Therese taught me in one frenzied afternoon in my office. The title will be ‘Sunset Girl’.

Everyone thought I was mad getting rid of my empire, except the Lord, of course.

do not be a lake
which stores God’s grace
the you cannot share with others
do not keep it to yourself
rather be a river where his grace
flows out to the vast ocean
where you can share it
with many who yearn for him

excerpt from the author’s book – foodforthesoul

Author’s note. Attention potential film and stage-play producers.

This is a 30- to 40-minute short film being proposed to producers for film production, presented here in a free-form screenplay format for easy reading by non-film Internet readers. It is also convertible into a one-act stage play being proposed to drama guilds and workshops, especially universities. The production does not need big funds as all scenes are in an office, with occasional cut into related footage. It is also convertible to Taglish (English and Tagalog dialect, mixed, a trend in Filipino productions) for local audiences.

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More Inspirational Articles – eastwindjournals.com.

FOR THOSE WHO NEED HEALING, spiritual or physical (depression, anxiety, loneliness, terminal cancer, covid, diabetes, etc.) – say an online healing prayer with one or both healers below. Terminal patients have been healed in cyberspace. All you need is to have faith and to ask the Lord –

1) Father Fernando Suarez – www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UP3LHBgtIc.
2) Sr. Raquel Reodica, RVM – www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAZcwNimBSg

Download free e-book ‘Healing Stories of Sr. Raquel’ at eastwindjournals.com/2021/08/13/healing-stories-of-sr-raquel-e-book-free-download/).

Author’s book. At age 26, the author (eastwind) drifted through Europe, hitchhiking 25,000 kilometers for three straight years. He wrote a book on his adventures, Wings and Wanderlust. He learned deep insights that radically changed his view of life, which he wants to share with readers looking for themselves or wanting to catch the wind. More about the book (get a copy) = https://eastwindjournals.com/2023/02/25/more-about-the-book-wings-and-wanderlust/

Author’s Credentials. Blogger – ex-Columnist (Inquirer) – Healing Ministry – ex-Professor (Ateneo University) – Documentary Producer-Director (freelance, ex-ABS-CBN, ex-TVS Tokyo) – ex-Broadcaster (Radio Veritas) – Facebook “Bernie V. Lopez Eastwind” / Pages “Eastwind Journeys and Journals” and “Mary Queen of Peace”.

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