When a disturbed artist, driven mad by a singular obsession, attempts suicide, his brother seeks revenge on the woman responsible with deadly consequences.

SYNOPSIS:

Cold Open:

AMON JEFFRIES (30), in the throes of a manic episode, paces his loft with a knife clutched in his hand. He speaks into a cell phone. He stops in front of a wall of video screens, stares at the image of a beautiful woman, playful, sexy. He screams into the phone and slashes his wrists.

Act One:

SASHA ROBERTS (29), the beautiful woman from Amon’s wall of video screens, a rising star in television news, sits at a bar. BECK REEVES (30), handsome, strong, and edgy enough to be dangerous pulls up a stool. They exchange flirty, salacious, and suggestive quips. As the sexual tension peaks, ALAN DAVIES (30), Sasha’s date, arrives. Alan leads Sasha away. She looks back at Beck. He raises his glass. Within minutes Sasha is back at the bar. She grabs Beck’s hand. Beck says, “What’s the worst that can happen?” They leave.

Sasha arrives late to the morning meeting. She sits at the back of the room with a notepad. STEVE PLINTNICK (60), a fatherly executive producer, introduces the new photographer. Sasha looks up, her breath catches in her throat, it’s Beck – her one-night stand. Beck smiles at her from the front of the room. After the meeting, Beck follows Sasha into her office. She says, “Let’s pretend it never happened.” Beck leans against the door, a sardonic smile on his face, “Which part?” Before she can answer, the phone rings, it’s Steve.

Steve breaks the news to Sasha, the promotion is hers, if she can pull in the numbers for sweeps.

Steve tells her, “It’s between you and Stacey.” Sasha leaves Steve’s office. She sees STACEY SIMS (25), the competition, one rung up from bikini weather girl, but a hell of a reporter, lean against a desk in the press room. She flirts with Beck.

Act Two:

Sasha works late on her sweeps piece. When she arrives at her car, the engine won’t start. While she waits for a Lyft, Beck appears from the shadows, “I’d really like to finish our conversation… drink?” Sasha hesitates, “It would be inappropriate.” Beck looks around and leans in, “It would be the least you can do, considering how you took advantage of me.” Sasha smiles, “I did not take advantage of you,” and walks with Beck to an intimate bar. Huddled together, Beck and Sasha swap war stories. Beck shares stories about being stationed in the Middle East and his struggles as an artist to share his work. Sasha edges closer to him, she’s had her own struggles, her first book was a flop. Now she writes under a pen name. Beck asks, “It is hard to keep to yourself?” Sasha, responds, “You know what they say, “Discretion is the greater part of valor.” Sasha leans closer to Beck. Low and sexy she asks, “Are you discrete?”

At her front door, Sasha and Beck kiss passionately until BOBBY, a homeless man, who lives in the park across the street from Sasha’s house, calls out, “Hey man, don’t blow your wad all in one place.” Bobby’s a jokester. He and Sasha share daily banter. She’s one of the few people who sees him. Sasha takes Beck inside. After a passionate evening, Sasha sends Beck on his way. She doesn’t do sleepovers.

The next day, at the station, Sasha is surprised to find her car has been vandalized. The window smashed; the seats slashed, DETER (65), the mechanic, shows her the ignition wiring has been cut.

Later at the bar, Sasha chats with her best friend, and agent, LAYLA COPELAND (30), a black, street-smart lesbian, with the savvy refinement that comes from being well educated. When Layla is called away, Beck approaches. Sasha teases, “Are you following me?” Beck smiles. He tells Sasha a secret about Stacey’s lapse in journalistic ethics that can ruin her career.

Beck convinces Sasha to have dinner with him. Sasha arrives at the loft. The place has an eerie familiarity. Sasha admires Beck’s photography. His mastery in the kitchen is impressive. He pours her a glass of wine. Over dinner Beck asks, “Wouldn’t it be nice to come home to a meal like this every night?” Sasha says, “I’m not the one.” She is clear about what she wants from him. Unexpected, Sasha passes out after dinner. Beck takes intimate pictures and videos of her. Sasha is surprised to awaken, the next morning, in Beck’s bed. Groggy and disoriented, she picks up her things. Before she can escape Beck stops her, “I thought we’d spend the day together,” he says. Sasha spurns him and leaves.

Over the weekend, Beck sends Sasha threatening messages. Monday, Steve calls Sasha into his office. Beck has filed a sexual harassment claim against her. Steve suspends Sasha, “Beck doesn’t feel safe with you here,” he says. The promotion, New York, it is all off the table.

Through Layla, Sasha hires TONI DANVERS (45), a no-nonsense attorney with a staff investigator. The investigator uncovers a shocking secret, Beck and Amon know each other.

On suspension, Sasha arrives to pick her godson, GRAHAM COPELAND (6), from camp. Stacey is there on assignment. Sasha tells Stacey she knows her secret. Stacey worries Sasha will expose her. Sasha puts Stacey at ease, “Your secret is safe, but you have to decide the kind of journalist you want to be.” Beck is working the story with Stacey. He has befriended Graham. While Graham gathers his things across the gym, Beck threatens Sasha with the photos and videos. She dares him. Sasha drives away with Graham. Sirens and flashing lights go off. Sasha is pulled over and arrested.

Act Three:

Toni bails Sasha out of jail. She shows her a picture of Beck and two other men, the investigator discovered in Beck’s loft. Sasha recognizes Amon, “We went out a few times. I don’t know this other guy.” Toni says, “Amon is Beck’s half-brother. The other man is their brother, James.”

In a rage Beck kills Bobby. Beck breaks into Sasha’s house. He knocks her unconscious. When she comes to, each arm is tied to the chair. In short flashbacks, Beck details how he’s been Amon’s protector. He must destroy Sasha, the way she destroyed Amon. Beck leans forward, he presses a knife to Sasha’s throat. She whips her head forward, crushing the bridge of his nose. He recoils, she kicks him, stands up, falls back, breaks the chair and escapes to her bedroom where she pulls a gun from her bedside table. In an epic physical battle, Sasha defends herself. She kills Beck, two bullets to the chest.

Six months later, in New York, a MAN sidles up to Sasha in a bar, “That looks good, what did you get?” he asks. Sasha looks at him, a moment of recognition, or de ja vu? She slides the drink over to him. The Man picks up the glass, “What’s the worst that can happen?”

At a mental hospital, Amon, in a tattered robe, raised scars on his wrists, sits at a table. A MAN, we don’t see, approaches him. The Man hands him the picture, “She killed Beck.” Behind them, an ORDERLY turns up the volume on the television. At the sound of her voice, Amon turns his head. He stares at Sasha on screen. A sinister smile crosses his face.