PureTaboo – Emily Willis – Uncle Charming

SCENE opens on a bored-looking 18-year-old girl Sophie at the base of a staircase, leaning slumped against the railing. Her fingers are avidly typing away on her phone, but her expressionless face and glazed-over eyes show she’s hardly interested, just killing time. ‘So explain to me again why I have to rest on the couch for a whole month just to make room for this loser uncle I’ve never met?’ she says in a deadpan grumble. Her mother, Mrs. Kent, comes into view, breathlessly scuffling back and forth to straighten a painting here, wipe the dust off a shelf there, adjust her daughter’s hair (which only frustrates her further). ‘Oh come on, Sophie, be nice, it’s just until he finds a job in the city. And he’s not some total stranger. He’s family now.’ Sophie snorts. ‘Not really,’ she scoffs, ‘just ’cause gramps found a new trophy wife, and she happens to come with a family, doesn’t mean we gotta spend time with them.’ Mrs. Kent looks scandalized – that’s no way to talk about her grandfather. Sophie rolls her eyes. ‘I’m just saying, what am I even going to have to talk about with this guy? Shouldn’t dad be the one to get stuck with all this family bonding crap?’ Mrs. Kent stops hurrying around for a moment and puts her hand on her waist matter-of-factly. ‘Actually, Sophie, Blake is supposed to be just a couple of years older than you. So who knows, maybe you’ll have a lot in common.’ For the first time, Sophie looks up from her phone in a moment of genuine surprise before shaking her head and returning her attention to texting. ‘Probably still a weirdo,’ she mutters. Her mom shushes her disapprovingly and then continues her last-minute tidying into the other room. A few seconds later, she calls from the other room that she thinks she hears him coming to the door but has her hands full. Can Sophie answer it? Sure enough, moments later, there’s a knock on the door. Sophie groans, put down her phone, and the camera tracks her as she trudges to open the door. A handsome and charming man dressed similarly to Sophie is at the other side of the door, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. We see him flash a friendly smile from Sophie’s POV and extend his hand towards the camera for a handshake. ‘Hey, you must be my new niece,’ he grins, ‘I’m Uncle Blake.