D’NISHA SPEAKS UP
ANTHONY CONFRONTS WAYNE
INT. ANTHONY’S HOUSE — LIVING ROOM — EVENING
The room is quiet. D’Nisha sits on the couch, looking emotionally drained.
Her eyes are filled with sadness as she struggles to explain what happened
at Wayne’s podcast.
Anthony notices her expression and immediately becomes concerned.
ANTHONY
What happened?
D’Nisha looks down at her hands and takes a deep breath.
D’NISHA
Anthony… I don’t even know where to start.
ANTHONY
Start from the beginning. Tell me what happened at the podcast.
D’Nisha hesitates. Her voice becomes shaky.
D’NISHA
The girls were extremely disrespectful to me.
Anthony’s expression immediately changes.
ANTHONY
What do you mean?
D’NISHA
They kept talking to me like I didn’t belong there. They made me feel
like I had no right to be at the podcast.
D’Nisha wipes her eyes. Anthony becomes visibly frustrated.
ANTHONY
Who was disrespecting you?
D’NISHA
Almost all of them.
She pauses before continuing.
D’NISHA
I tried to ignore it. I really did. I didn’t want to cause a scene.
ANTHONY
You shouldn’t have had to deal with that.
D’NISHA
I kept telling myself to stay calm. I thought if I didn’t respond,
everything would eventually stop.
D’NISHA
But they just kept going.
ANTHONY
And where was Wayne?
D’Nisha looks away.
D’NISHA
That’s the part that hurt me the most.
D’NISHA
Wayne knew I was there. He knew what was happening. But I didn’t feel
like he respected me either.
Anthony immediately stands. His anger is growing.
ANTHONY
He knew?
D’NISHA
I just wanted to be treated with basic respect.
ANTHONY
Nobody has the right to make you feel like you don’t belong.
D’NISHA
I didn’t want you to get angry.
ANTHONY
I’m already angry.
D’NISHA
Anthony, please don’t make things worse.
ANTHONY
I’m not going there to make things worse. I’m going there to get answers.
Anthony grabs his jacket and heads toward the door.
D’NISHA
Please just talk to him.
ANTHONY
That’s exactly what I’m going to do.
INT. WAYNE’S OFFICE — EVENING
Wayne sits behind his desk, looking through some paperwork.
The door suddenly opens.
Anthony walks inside. Wayne looks up, surprised.
WAYNE
Anthony?
Anthony closes the door behind him. His expression is serious.
WAYNE
What’s going on?
ANTHONY
We need to talk about D’Nisha.
WAYNE
What about D’Nisha?
ANTHONY
She just told me everything that happened at the podcast.
WAYNE
Okay…
ANTHONY
No. It’s not okay.
Anthony steps closer to the desk.
ANTHONY
You were the one who told me to bring D’Nisha to the podcast.
WAYNE
Yes, I remember.
ANTHONY
Then why did you let her walk into that environment and get treated
like she didn’t belong?
WAYNE
Anthony, I didn’t tell anybody to disrespect her.
ANTHONY
But you saw what was happening!
Wayne remains quiet.
ANTHONY
D’Nisha told me those girls were extremely disrespectful to her.
WAYNE
I didn’t know she felt that strongly about it.
ANTHONY
That’s exactly the problem. You should have known.
Anthony takes a breath, trying to control his anger.
ANTHONY
You personally told me to bring D’Nisha to the podcast.
WAYNE
I did.
ANTHONY
And when she actually came, she wasn’t treated with the respect you
promised.
Silence fills the office.
INT. WAYNE’S OFFICE — CONTINUOUS
WAYNE
Listen, I understand you’re upset.
ANTHONY
I’m not just upset. I’m disappointed.
WAYNE
Why?
ANTHONY
Because I trusted what you told me.
Anthony pauses.
ANTHONY
You told me D’Nisha should come to the podcast. She came, she put
herself out there, and instead of feeling welcomed, she came home
feeling humiliated.
WAYNE
I didn’t know she was feeling that way.
ANTHONY
You should have checked on her.
WAYNE
I’ll talk to the girls.
ANTHONY
Don’t just talk to them. Make it clear that D’Nisha deserves the same
respect as everybody else.
Wayne slowly nods.
WAYNE
I can do that.
ANTHONY
That’s all I’m asking.
INT. ANTHONY’S HOUSE — LIVING ROOM — NIGHT
D’Nisha is still sitting on the couch. She hears the front door open.
Anthony walks inside.
D’NISHA
You talked to him?
ANTHONY
Yeah.
D’NISHA
What did he say?
ANTHONY
I told him exactly how I felt.
D’NISHA
Were you angry?
ANTHONY
Very.
D’NISHA
I didn’t want all this drama.
ANTHONY
You didn’t create the drama. You told me what happened. That’s all.
D’NISHA
I just wanted them to respect me.
ANTHONY
And you deserve that.
D’Nisha finally looks up. She seems a little relieved.
But neither of them knows that Anthony’s confrontation with Wayne
is only the beginning.
The tension inside the podcast is about to reach a completely new level.
TO BE CONTINUED…
The conflict between Anthony and Wayne is far from over.
What happens next at the podcast could change everything.
