Party of Five s06e22 Episode Script
Falling Forward
1 Well, thanks for calling, and give my best to Marty.
Okay, bye.
Hey.
I was just down there leaning on Mitch, who's got two teams working O.
T.
to finish the hotel order, And I got a call on my cell phone from Steve Wayne over at Style Barn.
Ambruso Furniture's going under.
Yeah.
That's right.
How'd you hear? That was Baxter Mills.
Ambruso was one of their biggest customers.
Those were the guys that kept stealing our space in showrooms, right? So what happened to 'em? Man, that company that company looked a lot like us.
Should we be worried? I don't know.
I was thinking the same thing.
On the other hand-- All their accounts are up for grabs.
You know who their number one client is? Jason Kimball.
Kimball Interiors Jason Kimball? We need to get in a room with that guy.
Heh.
Today.
Hold on.
We should put together a bid package first.
Okay, um, all right, you-- You figure out how our stuff fits into their catalog.
I'll figure out how to structure a deal.
-Okay.
-Okay.
I think I've got his book over here somewhere.
What? Hey, wait a second.
Weren't you on your way home? Isn't this one of your free nights with Kirsten? Oh, she'll understand.
No, hey, no.
Get out of here.
Really, I can do this.
Well, what about you? I thought you had plans with Will and Holly? No.
No.
We were gonna see a movie or something.
It's not a big deal.
Really, listen, go.
Be with your wife, okay? I will type up the offer, you come in the morning, make any adjustments you want, and make the call.
Okay? You sure? We're gonna nail this, Charlie, and then we're goin' after all their other accounts.
Everybody wants to live Like they wanna live And everybody wants to love Like they wanna love And everybody wants to be Closer to free Closer to free So, I like to meet with my advisees to do a sort of postmortem on the year and to ask about your plans for the future.
The future? Yes.
Whether you plan to finish at CFA this term, receive your Associate of Arts degree, or whether you'll return in the fall to pursue your Bachelor's degree.
Well, I guess I didn't realize.
Do a lot of CFA students leave with the two-year degree? Some.
Writers with contracts, journalists eager for field experience and cash.
So, any professional opportunities looming? New book contract? Magazine job? Editing position? No, not really, not right now.
Does that mean you'd like to stay, get to work on your next book? Well, sure, if there were a new book.
But you've talked about so many story ideas in class-- I've started some things.
Lots of things.
I-- Short stories, then? More like incoherent ramblings, actually.
So, where does that leave us? Do you want to stay put or move on? That's a very good question.
Yeah, I hear what you're telling me, Will.
Okay? You don't want be doin' this.
I understand that, but I'm sorry.
I'm doin' the best I can, all right? What do you want from me? See, I don't want anything.
It's not what I want.
It's what Holly needs.
How many times do we have to talk about this? Will, you can't just pop by here to pick up your mail.
So, fine, I'll be here when Holly goes to school or when she's out with you, but I-- Hey.
You're up.
Good.
Um, I was just gonna take off for work.
You need a ride to school? Yeah.
What's going on? What? Nothin'.
Bailey, I heard you and Will fighting.
We weren't fighting.
So what was all the whispering? We just We thought you were still sleeping.
Why are you going to work so early? Oh Charlie and me are trying to put together this deal.
So we still having dinner tonight? Yeah.
Sure.
Do you want me to invite Will? Yeah, that'd be great.
But, um, I don't think he's free tonight.
My mom actually made us milk and cookies.
Can you believe that? And she told me to tell you "good night" too.
She's going to bed? No, she's goin' out.
On a date.
At nine o'clock at night.
Oh, come on.
It's great that she's getting out there again.
I mean, why should we have all the fun? Well, I thought we were studying.
We were until your mom left.
What? My mom's not gonna be home till after 11:00, so I just thought Since we've been talking about it, If we wanted to-- if you wanted to, we could.
We don't have to, though, if you don't want to.
No I do.
Heh.
Mmm, Todd, I I don't know.
Um You know that Joanne Comerford got into Vassar today? Yeah, and Teresa Hall's going to Wesleyan.
I haven't even heard from a single school.
Uh, no, me, neither, but-- I'm sorry.
I'm kinda distracted by everything right now.
I can't really think about anything else.
I didn't even realize I could leave CFA.
I mean, all this time, I've been killing myself trying to figure out what to write next for school, when maybe I'm supposed to be leaving school and doing something completely different.
The plates are in the cabinet back there.
I know where the plates are.
I've known where the plates are for 15 years.
So, um, what does professor Shaw say? She said I should think about it.
She wants to introduce me to this former student of hers who's running this new women's magazine, which could be really cool, 'cause that'd be something completely different.
You know what? I'm sorry.
I forgot to tell ya Maggie called.
She did? When? This afternoon.
You were here this afternoon answering the phone? Yeah, well, you didn't tell me when you were gonna be home, so I was here waiting for you.
All afternoon? What, like I have something better to do? Well, except studying for exams, or writing your two papers, and ending your marriage, Justin.
Well, anyways, Maggie had very interesting news.
She's organizing the Napa Women's conference and guess who the guest speaker's gonna be.
Who? Julia Salinger.
What? Yeah, she wants you to talk about your book and seeing Ned again.
No, no, no! See? That is exactly my point.
I wrote that book and finished it months ago, And it's still the only thing people want me to talk about.
I want-- I don't know.
I want my life to be about something different now, something new, you know? It's okay.
Come on.
Hey! Wow.
Seems like old times.
What? Well, just you guys, picking up where you left off, like nothing's changed.
What's that supposed to mean? Nothin'.
Just Nothin'.
-Hi.
-Hey.
Perfect timing.
Just finishing up.
Okay, so, uh might have gotten a little cold here.
You want pesto or sun-dried tomato basil fusilli? I've decided to annul my marriage to Will.
Heh.
So neither, then.
Um How about some salad? I'm serious, Bailey.
Okay Let's talk about this.
You know, you should have thought of that sooner.
What? There was a whole lot to talk about, wasn't there? But you decided to keep it all quiet.
Wait.
What happened? You know what the sad thing is? Is even though both me and Will were lying when we said those vows, he meant that stuff more than you do.
Love, honor, cherish-- -Holly-- -It's really nice to be honored, Bailey.
To be told the truth.
I was I was trying to protect you, okay? I was trying to protect both of you.
Yeah, well, you didn't.
You just made it a thousand times worse, and now I have to break up the marriage, and pray that Will and I don't get caught.
You know you don't have to do that.
You don't.
So, what's the alternative then? I mean, now that we're actually talking about it.
Okay, well, hang on.
You we can still keep this under control.
Under control? You made things unbelievably painful for both me and Will, Not to mention you and Will.
-Listen-- -And you lied to me, Bailey! Forget about me and Will, okay? Forget about all that other stuff-- Forget about it? Do you want to stay in this country or not? Do you want to get that degree from Stanford, or don't you? -Of course I do.
-Okay.
Well, then, you forget all of that other stuff, okay? Because this is what you have to do.
You have to stay married to Will.
Okay? Hey.
I'm sorry I'm late.
Did I miss her? Is she down already? Oh, she went down about an hour ago.
Mmm.
I'm so sorry.
Bailey and I had to finish up that pitch.
Don't worry about it.
I had some work to do, too.
-I brought dessert.
-Ah -Mmm.
-Heh heh.
Rum raisin.
Oh, and chocolate chip cookies? Yeah, is it too much? No It's just I know it's probably bad luck to say this, But I really think that we're gonna land this new client.
Oh, it sounds great.
Not that you need a reason to shower me with desserts, believe me.
Well, I'm probably gonna be In after midnight the next couple nights.
Oh, I see.
Now it's making sense.
But I'll be home early next week, I promise.
Just promise me you'll send some recent photos every now and again.
Charlie Get it.
Okay.
Go ahead.
Yeah? Wait.
When? Is he okay? Okay, yeah-- I'm on my way.
Yeah, just tell them I'll be there.
Okay.
What? Mitch, my My foreman just collapsed on the floor.
They took him away in an ambulance.
Oh, my god, Charlie.
They think it might be his heart.
I, uh gotta get to the hospital.
Okay.
Excuse me.
I'm looking for Mitch Gallagher.
They just brought him in.
You a relative? No.
No, he works with me.
Mr.
Gallagher's in surgery.
That's his wife over there.
-Mrs.
Gallagher? -Yes? I'm Charlie Salinger.
I know who you are.
Is Mitch all right? The nurse said that he was in surgery.
He had a heart attack.
They're trying to find out how much damage it did.
He had a pre-existing condition.
Mitch never told you about that, did he? No.
No, he never said a word.
No, of course not.
He didn't want to worry you.
Listen, is there anything that I can do? Anything? I begged him to slow down.
14-hour days, 6 days a week But he kept on tellin' me, just hang in, just a little more time.
We're really buildin' somethin' here.
Charlie's got plans for this place.
I don't know if Professor Shaw told you, But Goddess is not your traditional women's magazine.
In fact, it's not strictly a woman's magazine at all, despite the fact that we cover women's issues, fashion, hair, make-up-- It is called Goddess, after all.
Which, to us, means not compromising.
We don't need to be all things to all people.
We want to shock, we want to intrigue, but by actually saying something.
You know what I mean? Sure.
I can't wait to read it.
Actually, I was hoping you'd write it.
I'm sorry? Julia, I read your book, and I think your voice would be perfect for the magazine.
How do you mean? I was thinking maybe a monthly column.
Say, 500 words on the subject of your choice.
How's that sound? Uh Well, I thought I was just applying for an internship-- The truth is, we've been looking for somebody your age, with your point of view.
So, I want you to go home right now and try one for me.
We basically go to press any minute, but we'll wait for you.
Okay.
Hey.
I came as soon as I got your message.
How's he doin'? He's still unconscious.
They said it was a pretty severe attack, and they found some problems with the wall of his heart, and might have to go back in.
Oh, man.
Listen, um I just want to be here when he wakes up.
And I know you're really swamped right now, but if you could maybe just-- I'm already on it.
Don't worry.
Um But Charlie, Tommy told me about you cutting back the schedule.
That's right.
Okay, listen, I know what you're thinkin' here, okay? But we don't have to do this.
What happened with Mitch, it's a fluke thing.
I don't care.
I don't care.
All right, I'm makin' some changes.
I've been pushin' too hard.
But we're gonna fall behind.
We don't want word getting out that we're behind, especially when we're meeting with Kimball-- I canceled that meeting.
Oh, wait.
What? Bailey, we can't handle all this new business right now, And I'm not gonna do that to my guys.
Okay, Charlie, listen to me.
I know that this is hard.
Okay, I know that, and we all feel bad, but you can't just give up on this stuff now.
So, please, think this through.
I have thought about it.
All right? And I'm doin' this.
That's it.
Okay You first.
You go.
No, you.
Please? Okay, but we take turns.
Bad news first.
So, no from Woodbridge.
Wait-listed at Woodbridge.
Okay, we hate Woodbridge.
So yes from San Francisco, but it's a safety college, so whatever.
You? Yes from Stanford.
Claudia, that's amazing.
And yes from Julliard.
You got in? You got into Julliard? Claudia-- I know.
You're goin' to Julliard.
No, stop, I'm not.
What? What are you talking about? I mean, how could you not go? Because, I mean, I only auditioned just to see If I could get in.
Yeah, but you did.
You got in.
It's expensive.
I mean, at least Stanford is close to home.
You know, I could-- I could save money by living at home, And I wouldn't have to buy tickets back and forth to New York.
Claudia-- I know.
But it would mean leaving my family, and you.
We rotate our people through the product line all the time.
That's really important to Charlie.
It keeps everyone open to new ways of improving the process.
Very smart.
So, to take up the slack left by Ambruso, that really wouldn't be a problem at all, Mr.
Kimball.
You make a good pitch.
What about Charlie? Do we need to talk? Uh, about what? Well, I heard from the boys at Baxter that you were slowing things down.
Your brother said they could expect some delays.
Right, see, what happened was, we had a guy on the floor get sick.
So Charlie's not taking any chances.
Which, frankly, that's why our guys work as hard as they do.
Because Charlie treats everyone around here like family.
So, as soon as we're back online, we'll be cranking things out at 110%.
I get the feeling you could sell anything.
That's a compliment.
So, what are you, just out of college? No, never graduated.
Dropped out early to help with the family business? Something like that.
Ever give any thought to going back, maybe getting a business degree? Uh, sure, a little.
A lot Actually.
Why? If it's something you're interested in, you should call me.
I recruit for my B-school back east.
They love guys like you with experience.
You work really hard, go to summer school, too, have a degree in a couple of years.
And then The sky's the limit.
With this economy these days, you can't afford not to think big.
Hey, hey, hey.
Hey.
Hmm? You look nice.
Thank you.
You, too, in that sort of I'm-not-really-ready- to-go-to-dinner way.
Oh, my god.
Dinner.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
I totally spaced.
I just came right home and started writing.
-Yeah, what? -Yeah.
You doin' your speech for the conference? No.
Actually, I had to call Maggie and say I couldn't do it.
Really? Why? Because I had the most amazing interview at Goddess magazine today.
Yeah? Goddess? That's what it's called? Justin, the editor loved my book.
She offered me a monthly column.
My own monthly column.
Well--Julia, that's--really? I know.
Yeah! Wow.
All right.
Well, come on.
Let's--get dressed.
Reservations are 8:30.
We gotta celebrate.
No, no, no, I can't.
I have to do this column for tomorrow.
I want to make it original, you know? Come on, a girl's gotta eat.
Oh, well, can't we celebrate tomorrow? No, we can't.
We're having dinner with my parents, and then I have to go back to New Haven the next day.
Well, then, we'll celebrate with them.
Justin, I'm sorry.
It's just this is so exciting for me.
I've been wanting something new, And this could be it.
All right.
Fine.
You're the goddess.
We'll have fun tomorrow.
I promise.
Okay.
Okay.
Hey.
What the hell's goin' on, Will? Look, take it easy, all right? Take it easy? You know what it took me to find you? Huh? You move out of my house, you take all your stuff out of Holly's without a word to me, not a word.
And then I call your office, and they tell me that you quit.
So why don't you tell me what the hell's goin' on? What does it look like? It looks like you're bailing on me.
It looks like you're pullin' up the stakes, and you are ruining everything.
Look, Holly knows what I'm doing, okay? She understands.
She's gonna be deported, Will! Bailey, she knows.
Okay? Just seeing her, it's humiliating.
I don't care.
What? Will, you took an oath.
You don't care? Is that what you just said? That look, I don't mean that.
Okay? Yes, you do! You do! If you were honestly asking me to stay there, after everything I told you, then that's exactly what you mean.
You don't care! We're talking about her future.
Will, we're talking about her whole life! No, we're not! Ask Holly.
Come on, there's other med schools, Bailey.
There's schools in Canada where she'd be a 2-hour plane flight away.
If you'd actually talk to her-- Whoa, hang on a second.
Don't you turn this around on me.
You made a promise! Well, you know what? I'm breaking it! Okay? I'm breakin' the deal.
And you need to ask yourself, what the hell is wrong with you? Why you keep pushing and pushing and pushing this thing when nobody else wants it.
Why everybody else is ready to let go, but you're still hanging on.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's a wonderful piece, And I love the central idea-- How we as women are constantly striving to reinvent ourselves, to start over, but-- You want me to start over.
It's just a little abstract right now, a little too much about the idea.
But if you could sell it with some concrete examples, Madonna's an obvious choice Courtney Love, Britney Spears.
So, from a more pop culture angle? Exactly and how our readers can relate to those goddesses, ways they can reinvent themselves.
A new look, a new hairstyle, how even a new lipstick can make you feel like a different person.
Lipstick? You know what I mean.
Well, no, I'm not sure that I do.
I mean, this shouldn't be a how-to, should it? Shouldn't it be more of a why? It could be both, right? Well, it could-- I'm sorry, I guess I just thought you wanted more of an essay from my point of view.
Look, we have a magazine to sell.
If you can do that and get your point of view across, so much the better, right? Right.
Hey.
Hi.
How ya feelin'? Well, I won't lie.
I've been better.
It's a hell of a way to score a day off.
The guys sent this over.
Thanks.
They all signed it.
Yeah.
Hey, tell 'em no slackin' off, or I'll come down there and kick somebody's butt.
I called the insurance company, and you're completely covered, and your salary's guaranteed, and if there's anything that your family needs-- You really want to help me? Then tell me why you're slowin' the line down.
What? How did you-- Well, I called Tommy to catch up, and he mentioned it.
Oh, Mitch You had a heart attack.
Let's just worry about you getting better.
I worked my ass off to get that line up and running.
You--you think I want you undoing all that? Just relax.
This is not something that you should be stressing out about.
Charlie, your pushing me didn't give me this heart attack.
I pushed myself because I want the same things that you want.
I want something to come from the work that I do, something that's big enough to last for my family and me.
My wife doesn't understand that.
Maybe maybe yours doesn't, either, but That's why we do what we do, isn't it? Wait.
What's up? I've been thinking about it, and I want to.
Really? Yes.
Just one second.
What? Uh, wait.
You thought about this today? Yeah.
Why? Just you've to decide about college.
This giant decision and you thought about this? Todd, I don't understand-- You weren't ready to do this for so long, and then all of a sudden, the day after you find out you got into Julliard-- Oh, wait.
Hold on.
I'm sorry, I just don't want our first time to be out of guilt or-- Guilt? I told you, Todd, I'm not gonna go there.
Yeah, but I don't believe you.
I mean, if you can honestly tell me that you don't want to go I didn't think so.
Bailey, Claud, hello? No, it's me.
Remember me? Vaguely.
You look like this guy I dated in high school.
Only cuter.
So, we missed you at dinner.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
I called your parents and told them I wish I could have been there.
How--how was it? Well, you know without you, it was kind of parentish.
Mmm.
So this is what you missed dinner for, you're reading old issues of Sassy? Yeah, Lisa seems to think it'll give me a better sense of I don't know what.
Somewhere to start, anyway.
It's getting kind of late, And I have to go back to school tomorrow.
So Do you want me to spend the night? Yeah, I do.
If you want to.
I mean, I probably won't get to bed till late.
Well, I guess I should probably go then.
No.
No, no, no, no, Justin-- Justin, I'm sorry I haven't been that much fun the last couple of days.
All right, but this is a big deal for me.
I know you think it's silly, But it's a chance for me to write for a living, you know? I mean, to do something different every month, do something new.
Yeah, I know, different and new.
You said that.
Why is it that I'm suddenly kind of feeling old and familiar? When you get back, we'll spend time together.
I promise.
No, Julia, forget about me.
You turned down a speaking engagement at the Napa Women's conference for what? So that you can write "How to test drive your secret sex fantasies"? I mean, you're blowing off things that actually matter.
You should think about that.
Hey.
What are you-- What's goin' on? I'm on a flight to London.
I was gonna come over and say good-bye.
Wait For how long? I mean, you're packin' all your stuff up.
I'm not coming back.
Holly Hey-- I'm sorry, I couldn't let you talk me out of this, Bailey.
I can never say no to you.
You shouldn't.
Listen, even if you have to break off this marriage with Will, It's not too late.
Holly, there's still me.
Bailey Please, can't we just Can't we just have a simple good-bye? Why? Why are you giving up on this so easily? Easily? You think this is easy? No, no, I don't.
Look, we both know the timing has been lousy for us from the start.
I only met you by mistake.
And then, things moved so quickly, and Life has been screaming at us, "it's not meant to be.
" I wish I could stay.
But the fact of the matter is that that wouldn't be good for either of us.
I've been away from home for too long, and you, you You've been trying to find where you want to be.
I'm slowing you down.
You'll find what you're looking for faster without me.
I'll miss you.
No, we're on schedule.
Maybe a day or two behind.
That's right.
Where you been? Uh, the office.
No, no, you can add to the order, but you have to expect some extra time until we get the sets matched.
Charlie-- Tommy, I gotta take care of this, and I need you to stay on the line until Mitch gets back.
Charlie, Mitch is dead.
What? Elaine-- Elaine just called.
Mitch went into cardiac arrest, and they couldn't bring him back this time.
But I just talked to him.
I better go tell the guys.
Hey.
I just tried calling you.
Your dad said you were on your way to the airport.
Yeah, I am.
My mom's in the car right now.
I, uh, I just wanted to stop by and see how you were.
Kind of went off on you last night, so I stayed up till 5:00 in the morning trying to write that stupid piece, thinking about what you said, and, you were right.
I should have been writing the speech for the women's conference.
So That's what I did.
I thought you didn't want to write about old things anymore? Yeah, well, I put a new spin on it.
It works sometimes, you know.
Yeah.
So, um Come home soon.
I want my old boyfriend back.
God, those poor kids.
I know.
You okay? Charlie I love you.
I love you so much.
Hey.
Your mom was on her way out, but she said I should just come up.
Is that okay? Yeah, of course.
So, I wrote the check today To Stanford.
What? I told you.
I'm not going anywhere.
But I thought-- I would like to go to Julliard.
I think about everything that I'd have to give up and It's too much.
Claudia So listen.
Uh Maybe it's too soon to bring this up, but I was thinking that we wait a week or so and then promote Tommy to foreman.
Yeah, I think that's a good idea.
It's not all we have to change around here, either.
We have been pushing too hard.
Charlie, you can't make decisions like that right now, okay? Not when you're still feeling all this stuff for Mitch.
It's actually something that he said.
He said that we're building this thing to protect our families.
You know what? We can't guarantee that.
We could build it and build it and build it, and it could still fail.
And the only thing that we can be sure about is that our families are here right now.
And if don't spend time with them while we can I want to keep this company small.
A manageable family business.
Something that I can run without too much help.
Maybe just one business partner.
Period.
Charlie, before you-- And I'm thinking that maybe I'm gonna change the name of the company.
How's Salinger Brothers sound? Charlie I know this is not everything that you've ever dreamed about, but this could be great for you.
It's a 9-5 job with plenty of time to do other stuff, too.
Be with family.
Take classes.
Whatever you want.
And we'll be working together, and we'll just take it easy and, keep things small.
Wow.
Uh Don't answer right now.
It's a big step.
I know.
I just want you to give it some thought.
I will.
I will.
I had sex.
I know.
I was there.
Are you okay? I mean, was it Yeah.
It was It was Oh, god.
No, it was just-- it was different than I expected.
It was like we are, you know.
It was kind of intense, kind of funny, and a little bit awkward in places.
It was just different, that's all.
Like it is now.
It's all different.
Hey.
Your mom told me you're heading back to school.
Yeah.
I called, and they said if I take summer school classes, I can make up most of the year.
Oh.
I guess I just didn't expect you to be taking off so soon.
So, are they mad? Your parents? Not anymore.
Now that I've seen the error of my ways.
Now that the "wasted year" is ending.
That what it was? Listen, this has nothing to do with you.
Not really.
It's more like what's wrong with my life if the most useful thing I can think to do is to marry someone to help them get their green card? Will I'm sorry.
Don't be.
I'd do it all again.
Because the reason I did it I know.
You're the most unbelievable friend.
And now you're leaving.
Everybody's leaving all of a sudden.
I don't know, it's just It's time.
I understand.
I actually do.
What does that mean? You thinking of making a move, too? I don't know.
Well If you ever make a move back east, I hope it's near me.
Yeah.
Me, too.
constant desire to reinvent ourselves, to be fashionable, to be current, if not ahead of the curve.
We readily accept-- there's no escaping it.
The predominantly male culture's expectations of its women are--
Okay, bye.
Hey.
I was just down there leaning on Mitch, who's got two teams working O.
T.
to finish the hotel order, And I got a call on my cell phone from Steve Wayne over at Style Barn.
Ambruso Furniture's going under.
Yeah.
That's right.
How'd you hear? That was Baxter Mills.
Ambruso was one of their biggest customers.
Those were the guys that kept stealing our space in showrooms, right? So what happened to 'em? Man, that company that company looked a lot like us.
Should we be worried? I don't know.
I was thinking the same thing.
On the other hand-- All their accounts are up for grabs.
You know who their number one client is? Jason Kimball.
Kimball Interiors Jason Kimball? We need to get in a room with that guy.
Heh.
Today.
Hold on.
We should put together a bid package first.
Okay, um, all right, you-- You figure out how our stuff fits into their catalog.
I'll figure out how to structure a deal.
-Okay.
-Okay.
I think I've got his book over here somewhere.
What? Hey, wait a second.
Weren't you on your way home? Isn't this one of your free nights with Kirsten? Oh, she'll understand.
No, hey, no.
Get out of here.
Really, I can do this.
Well, what about you? I thought you had plans with Will and Holly? No.
No.
We were gonna see a movie or something.
It's not a big deal.
Really, listen, go.
Be with your wife, okay? I will type up the offer, you come in the morning, make any adjustments you want, and make the call.
Okay? You sure? We're gonna nail this, Charlie, and then we're goin' after all their other accounts.
Everybody wants to live Like they wanna live And everybody wants to love Like they wanna love And everybody wants to be Closer to free Closer to free So, I like to meet with my advisees to do a sort of postmortem on the year and to ask about your plans for the future.
The future? Yes.
Whether you plan to finish at CFA this term, receive your Associate of Arts degree, or whether you'll return in the fall to pursue your Bachelor's degree.
Well, I guess I didn't realize.
Do a lot of CFA students leave with the two-year degree? Some.
Writers with contracts, journalists eager for field experience and cash.
So, any professional opportunities looming? New book contract? Magazine job? Editing position? No, not really, not right now.
Does that mean you'd like to stay, get to work on your next book? Well, sure, if there were a new book.
But you've talked about so many story ideas in class-- I've started some things.
Lots of things.
I-- Short stories, then? More like incoherent ramblings, actually.
So, where does that leave us? Do you want to stay put or move on? That's a very good question.
Yeah, I hear what you're telling me, Will.
Okay? You don't want be doin' this.
I understand that, but I'm sorry.
I'm doin' the best I can, all right? What do you want from me? See, I don't want anything.
It's not what I want.
It's what Holly needs.
How many times do we have to talk about this? Will, you can't just pop by here to pick up your mail.
So, fine, I'll be here when Holly goes to school or when she's out with you, but I-- Hey.
You're up.
Good.
Um, I was just gonna take off for work.
You need a ride to school? Yeah.
What's going on? What? Nothin'.
Bailey, I heard you and Will fighting.
We weren't fighting.
So what was all the whispering? We just We thought you were still sleeping.
Why are you going to work so early? Oh Charlie and me are trying to put together this deal.
So we still having dinner tonight? Yeah.
Sure.
Do you want me to invite Will? Yeah, that'd be great.
But, um, I don't think he's free tonight.
My mom actually made us milk and cookies.
Can you believe that? And she told me to tell you "good night" too.
She's going to bed? No, she's goin' out.
On a date.
At nine o'clock at night.
Oh, come on.
It's great that she's getting out there again.
I mean, why should we have all the fun? Well, I thought we were studying.
We were until your mom left.
What? My mom's not gonna be home till after 11:00, so I just thought Since we've been talking about it, If we wanted to-- if you wanted to, we could.
We don't have to, though, if you don't want to.
No I do.
Heh.
Mmm, Todd, I I don't know.
Um You know that Joanne Comerford got into Vassar today? Yeah, and Teresa Hall's going to Wesleyan.
I haven't even heard from a single school.
Uh, no, me, neither, but-- I'm sorry.
I'm kinda distracted by everything right now.
I can't really think about anything else.
I didn't even realize I could leave CFA.
I mean, all this time, I've been killing myself trying to figure out what to write next for school, when maybe I'm supposed to be leaving school and doing something completely different.
The plates are in the cabinet back there.
I know where the plates are.
I've known where the plates are for 15 years.
So, um, what does professor Shaw say? She said I should think about it.
She wants to introduce me to this former student of hers who's running this new women's magazine, which could be really cool, 'cause that'd be something completely different.
You know what? I'm sorry.
I forgot to tell ya Maggie called.
She did? When? This afternoon.
You were here this afternoon answering the phone? Yeah, well, you didn't tell me when you were gonna be home, so I was here waiting for you.
All afternoon? What, like I have something better to do? Well, except studying for exams, or writing your two papers, and ending your marriage, Justin.
Well, anyways, Maggie had very interesting news.
She's organizing the Napa Women's conference and guess who the guest speaker's gonna be.
Who? Julia Salinger.
What? Yeah, she wants you to talk about your book and seeing Ned again.
No, no, no! See? That is exactly my point.
I wrote that book and finished it months ago, And it's still the only thing people want me to talk about.
I want-- I don't know.
I want my life to be about something different now, something new, you know? It's okay.
Come on.
Hey! Wow.
Seems like old times.
What? Well, just you guys, picking up where you left off, like nothing's changed.
What's that supposed to mean? Nothin'.
Just Nothin'.
-Hi.
-Hey.
Perfect timing.
Just finishing up.
Okay, so, uh might have gotten a little cold here.
You want pesto or sun-dried tomato basil fusilli? I've decided to annul my marriage to Will.
Heh.
So neither, then.
Um How about some salad? I'm serious, Bailey.
Okay Let's talk about this.
You know, you should have thought of that sooner.
What? There was a whole lot to talk about, wasn't there? But you decided to keep it all quiet.
Wait.
What happened? You know what the sad thing is? Is even though both me and Will were lying when we said those vows, he meant that stuff more than you do.
Love, honor, cherish-- -Holly-- -It's really nice to be honored, Bailey.
To be told the truth.
I was I was trying to protect you, okay? I was trying to protect both of you.
Yeah, well, you didn't.
You just made it a thousand times worse, and now I have to break up the marriage, and pray that Will and I don't get caught.
You know you don't have to do that.
You don't.
So, what's the alternative then? I mean, now that we're actually talking about it.
Okay, well, hang on.
You we can still keep this under control.
Under control? You made things unbelievably painful for both me and Will, Not to mention you and Will.
-Listen-- -And you lied to me, Bailey! Forget about me and Will, okay? Forget about all that other stuff-- Forget about it? Do you want to stay in this country or not? Do you want to get that degree from Stanford, or don't you? -Of course I do.
-Okay.
Well, then, you forget all of that other stuff, okay? Because this is what you have to do.
You have to stay married to Will.
Okay? Hey.
I'm sorry I'm late.
Did I miss her? Is she down already? Oh, she went down about an hour ago.
Mmm.
I'm so sorry.
Bailey and I had to finish up that pitch.
Don't worry about it.
I had some work to do, too.
-I brought dessert.
-Ah -Mmm.
-Heh heh.
Rum raisin.
Oh, and chocolate chip cookies? Yeah, is it too much? No It's just I know it's probably bad luck to say this, But I really think that we're gonna land this new client.
Oh, it sounds great.
Not that you need a reason to shower me with desserts, believe me.
Well, I'm probably gonna be In after midnight the next couple nights.
Oh, I see.
Now it's making sense.
But I'll be home early next week, I promise.
Just promise me you'll send some recent photos every now and again.
Charlie Get it.
Okay.
Go ahead.
Yeah? Wait.
When? Is he okay? Okay, yeah-- I'm on my way.
Yeah, just tell them I'll be there.
Okay.
What? Mitch, my My foreman just collapsed on the floor.
They took him away in an ambulance.
Oh, my god, Charlie.
They think it might be his heart.
I, uh gotta get to the hospital.
Okay.
Excuse me.
I'm looking for Mitch Gallagher.
They just brought him in.
You a relative? No.
No, he works with me.
Mr.
Gallagher's in surgery.
That's his wife over there.
-Mrs.
Gallagher? -Yes? I'm Charlie Salinger.
I know who you are.
Is Mitch all right? The nurse said that he was in surgery.
He had a heart attack.
They're trying to find out how much damage it did.
He had a pre-existing condition.
Mitch never told you about that, did he? No.
No, he never said a word.
No, of course not.
He didn't want to worry you.
Listen, is there anything that I can do? Anything? I begged him to slow down.
14-hour days, 6 days a week But he kept on tellin' me, just hang in, just a little more time.
We're really buildin' somethin' here.
Charlie's got plans for this place.
I don't know if Professor Shaw told you, But Goddess is not your traditional women's magazine.
In fact, it's not strictly a woman's magazine at all, despite the fact that we cover women's issues, fashion, hair, make-up-- It is called Goddess, after all.
Which, to us, means not compromising.
We don't need to be all things to all people.
We want to shock, we want to intrigue, but by actually saying something.
You know what I mean? Sure.
I can't wait to read it.
Actually, I was hoping you'd write it.
I'm sorry? Julia, I read your book, and I think your voice would be perfect for the magazine.
How do you mean? I was thinking maybe a monthly column.
Say, 500 words on the subject of your choice.
How's that sound? Uh Well, I thought I was just applying for an internship-- The truth is, we've been looking for somebody your age, with your point of view.
So, I want you to go home right now and try one for me.
We basically go to press any minute, but we'll wait for you.
Okay.
Hey.
I came as soon as I got your message.
How's he doin'? He's still unconscious.
They said it was a pretty severe attack, and they found some problems with the wall of his heart, and might have to go back in.
Oh, man.
Listen, um I just want to be here when he wakes up.
And I know you're really swamped right now, but if you could maybe just-- I'm already on it.
Don't worry.
Um But Charlie, Tommy told me about you cutting back the schedule.
That's right.
Okay, listen, I know what you're thinkin' here, okay? But we don't have to do this.
What happened with Mitch, it's a fluke thing.
I don't care.
I don't care.
All right, I'm makin' some changes.
I've been pushin' too hard.
But we're gonna fall behind.
We don't want word getting out that we're behind, especially when we're meeting with Kimball-- I canceled that meeting.
Oh, wait.
What? Bailey, we can't handle all this new business right now, And I'm not gonna do that to my guys.
Okay, Charlie, listen to me.
I know that this is hard.
Okay, I know that, and we all feel bad, but you can't just give up on this stuff now.
So, please, think this through.
I have thought about it.
All right? And I'm doin' this.
That's it.
Okay You first.
You go.
No, you.
Please? Okay, but we take turns.
Bad news first.
So, no from Woodbridge.
Wait-listed at Woodbridge.
Okay, we hate Woodbridge.
So yes from San Francisco, but it's a safety college, so whatever.
You? Yes from Stanford.
Claudia, that's amazing.
And yes from Julliard.
You got in? You got into Julliard? Claudia-- I know.
You're goin' to Julliard.
No, stop, I'm not.
What? What are you talking about? I mean, how could you not go? Because, I mean, I only auditioned just to see If I could get in.
Yeah, but you did.
You got in.
It's expensive.
I mean, at least Stanford is close to home.
You know, I could-- I could save money by living at home, And I wouldn't have to buy tickets back and forth to New York.
Claudia-- I know.
But it would mean leaving my family, and you.
We rotate our people through the product line all the time.
That's really important to Charlie.
It keeps everyone open to new ways of improving the process.
Very smart.
So, to take up the slack left by Ambruso, that really wouldn't be a problem at all, Mr.
Kimball.
You make a good pitch.
What about Charlie? Do we need to talk? Uh, about what? Well, I heard from the boys at Baxter that you were slowing things down.
Your brother said they could expect some delays.
Right, see, what happened was, we had a guy on the floor get sick.
So Charlie's not taking any chances.
Which, frankly, that's why our guys work as hard as they do.
Because Charlie treats everyone around here like family.
So, as soon as we're back online, we'll be cranking things out at 110%.
I get the feeling you could sell anything.
That's a compliment.
So, what are you, just out of college? No, never graduated.
Dropped out early to help with the family business? Something like that.
Ever give any thought to going back, maybe getting a business degree? Uh, sure, a little.
A lot Actually.
Why? If it's something you're interested in, you should call me.
I recruit for my B-school back east.
They love guys like you with experience.
You work really hard, go to summer school, too, have a degree in a couple of years.
And then The sky's the limit.
With this economy these days, you can't afford not to think big.
Hey, hey, hey.
Hey.
Hmm? You look nice.
Thank you.
You, too, in that sort of I'm-not-really-ready- to-go-to-dinner way.
Oh, my god.
Dinner.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
I totally spaced.
I just came right home and started writing.
-Yeah, what? -Yeah.
You doin' your speech for the conference? No.
Actually, I had to call Maggie and say I couldn't do it.
Really? Why? Because I had the most amazing interview at Goddess magazine today.
Yeah? Goddess? That's what it's called? Justin, the editor loved my book.
She offered me a monthly column.
My own monthly column.
Well--Julia, that's--really? I know.
Yeah! Wow.
All right.
Well, come on.
Let's--get dressed.
Reservations are 8:30.
We gotta celebrate.
No, no, no, I can't.
I have to do this column for tomorrow.
I want to make it original, you know? Come on, a girl's gotta eat.
Oh, well, can't we celebrate tomorrow? No, we can't.
We're having dinner with my parents, and then I have to go back to New Haven the next day.
Well, then, we'll celebrate with them.
Justin, I'm sorry.
It's just this is so exciting for me.
I've been wanting something new, And this could be it.
All right.
Fine.
You're the goddess.
We'll have fun tomorrow.
I promise.
Okay.
Okay.
Hey.
What the hell's goin' on, Will? Look, take it easy, all right? Take it easy? You know what it took me to find you? Huh? You move out of my house, you take all your stuff out of Holly's without a word to me, not a word.
And then I call your office, and they tell me that you quit.
So why don't you tell me what the hell's goin' on? What does it look like? It looks like you're bailing on me.
It looks like you're pullin' up the stakes, and you are ruining everything.
Look, Holly knows what I'm doing, okay? She understands.
She's gonna be deported, Will! Bailey, she knows.
Okay? Just seeing her, it's humiliating.
I don't care.
What? Will, you took an oath.
You don't care? Is that what you just said? That look, I don't mean that.
Okay? Yes, you do! You do! If you were honestly asking me to stay there, after everything I told you, then that's exactly what you mean.
You don't care! We're talking about her future.
Will, we're talking about her whole life! No, we're not! Ask Holly.
Come on, there's other med schools, Bailey.
There's schools in Canada where she'd be a 2-hour plane flight away.
If you'd actually talk to her-- Whoa, hang on a second.
Don't you turn this around on me.
You made a promise! Well, you know what? I'm breaking it! Okay? I'm breakin' the deal.
And you need to ask yourself, what the hell is wrong with you? Why you keep pushing and pushing and pushing this thing when nobody else wants it.
Why everybody else is ready to let go, but you're still hanging on.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's a wonderful piece, And I love the central idea-- How we as women are constantly striving to reinvent ourselves, to start over, but-- You want me to start over.
It's just a little abstract right now, a little too much about the idea.
But if you could sell it with some concrete examples, Madonna's an obvious choice Courtney Love, Britney Spears.
So, from a more pop culture angle? Exactly and how our readers can relate to those goddesses, ways they can reinvent themselves.
A new look, a new hairstyle, how even a new lipstick can make you feel like a different person.
Lipstick? You know what I mean.
Well, no, I'm not sure that I do.
I mean, this shouldn't be a how-to, should it? Shouldn't it be more of a why? It could be both, right? Well, it could-- I'm sorry, I guess I just thought you wanted more of an essay from my point of view.
Look, we have a magazine to sell.
If you can do that and get your point of view across, so much the better, right? Right.
Hey.
Hi.
How ya feelin'? Well, I won't lie.
I've been better.
It's a hell of a way to score a day off.
The guys sent this over.
Thanks.
They all signed it.
Yeah.
Hey, tell 'em no slackin' off, or I'll come down there and kick somebody's butt.
I called the insurance company, and you're completely covered, and your salary's guaranteed, and if there's anything that your family needs-- You really want to help me? Then tell me why you're slowin' the line down.
What? How did you-- Well, I called Tommy to catch up, and he mentioned it.
Oh, Mitch You had a heart attack.
Let's just worry about you getting better.
I worked my ass off to get that line up and running.
You--you think I want you undoing all that? Just relax.
This is not something that you should be stressing out about.
Charlie, your pushing me didn't give me this heart attack.
I pushed myself because I want the same things that you want.
I want something to come from the work that I do, something that's big enough to last for my family and me.
My wife doesn't understand that.
Maybe maybe yours doesn't, either, but That's why we do what we do, isn't it? Wait.
What's up? I've been thinking about it, and I want to.
Really? Yes.
Just one second.
What? Uh, wait.
You thought about this today? Yeah.
Why? Just you've to decide about college.
This giant decision and you thought about this? Todd, I don't understand-- You weren't ready to do this for so long, and then all of a sudden, the day after you find out you got into Julliard-- Oh, wait.
Hold on.
I'm sorry, I just don't want our first time to be out of guilt or-- Guilt? I told you, Todd, I'm not gonna go there.
Yeah, but I don't believe you.
I mean, if you can honestly tell me that you don't want to go I didn't think so.
Bailey, Claud, hello? No, it's me.
Remember me? Vaguely.
You look like this guy I dated in high school.
Only cuter.
So, we missed you at dinner.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
I called your parents and told them I wish I could have been there.
How--how was it? Well, you know without you, it was kind of parentish.
Mmm.
So this is what you missed dinner for, you're reading old issues of Sassy? Yeah, Lisa seems to think it'll give me a better sense of I don't know what.
Somewhere to start, anyway.
It's getting kind of late, And I have to go back to school tomorrow.
So Do you want me to spend the night? Yeah, I do.
If you want to.
I mean, I probably won't get to bed till late.
Well, I guess I should probably go then.
No.
No, no, no, no, Justin-- Justin, I'm sorry I haven't been that much fun the last couple of days.
All right, but this is a big deal for me.
I know you think it's silly, But it's a chance for me to write for a living, you know? I mean, to do something different every month, do something new.
Yeah, I know, different and new.
You said that.
Why is it that I'm suddenly kind of feeling old and familiar? When you get back, we'll spend time together.
I promise.
No, Julia, forget about me.
You turned down a speaking engagement at the Napa Women's conference for what? So that you can write "How to test drive your secret sex fantasies"? I mean, you're blowing off things that actually matter.
You should think about that.
Hey.
What are you-- What's goin' on? I'm on a flight to London.
I was gonna come over and say good-bye.
Wait For how long? I mean, you're packin' all your stuff up.
I'm not coming back.
Holly Hey-- I'm sorry, I couldn't let you talk me out of this, Bailey.
I can never say no to you.
You shouldn't.
Listen, even if you have to break off this marriage with Will, It's not too late.
Holly, there's still me.
Bailey Please, can't we just Can't we just have a simple good-bye? Why? Why are you giving up on this so easily? Easily? You think this is easy? No, no, I don't.
Look, we both know the timing has been lousy for us from the start.
I only met you by mistake.
And then, things moved so quickly, and Life has been screaming at us, "it's not meant to be.
" I wish I could stay.
But the fact of the matter is that that wouldn't be good for either of us.
I've been away from home for too long, and you, you You've been trying to find where you want to be.
I'm slowing you down.
You'll find what you're looking for faster without me.
I'll miss you.
No, we're on schedule.
Maybe a day or two behind.
That's right.
Where you been? Uh, the office.
No, no, you can add to the order, but you have to expect some extra time until we get the sets matched.
Charlie-- Tommy, I gotta take care of this, and I need you to stay on the line until Mitch gets back.
Charlie, Mitch is dead.
What? Elaine-- Elaine just called.
Mitch went into cardiac arrest, and they couldn't bring him back this time.
But I just talked to him.
I better go tell the guys.
Hey.
I just tried calling you.
Your dad said you were on your way to the airport.
Yeah, I am.
My mom's in the car right now.
I, uh, I just wanted to stop by and see how you were.
Kind of went off on you last night, so I stayed up till 5:00 in the morning trying to write that stupid piece, thinking about what you said, and, you were right.
I should have been writing the speech for the women's conference.
So That's what I did.
I thought you didn't want to write about old things anymore? Yeah, well, I put a new spin on it.
It works sometimes, you know.
Yeah.
So, um Come home soon.
I want my old boyfriend back.
God, those poor kids.
I know.
You okay? Charlie I love you.
I love you so much.
Hey.
Your mom was on her way out, but she said I should just come up.
Is that okay? Yeah, of course.
So, I wrote the check today To Stanford.
What? I told you.
I'm not going anywhere.
But I thought-- I would like to go to Julliard.
I think about everything that I'd have to give up and It's too much.
Claudia So listen.
Uh Maybe it's too soon to bring this up, but I was thinking that we wait a week or so and then promote Tommy to foreman.
Yeah, I think that's a good idea.
It's not all we have to change around here, either.
We have been pushing too hard.
Charlie, you can't make decisions like that right now, okay? Not when you're still feeling all this stuff for Mitch.
It's actually something that he said.
He said that we're building this thing to protect our families.
You know what? We can't guarantee that.
We could build it and build it and build it, and it could still fail.
And the only thing that we can be sure about is that our families are here right now.
And if don't spend time with them while we can I want to keep this company small.
A manageable family business.
Something that I can run without too much help.
Maybe just one business partner.
Period.
Charlie, before you-- And I'm thinking that maybe I'm gonna change the name of the company.
How's Salinger Brothers sound? Charlie I know this is not everything that you've ever dreamed about, but this could be great for you.
It's a 9-5 job with plenty of time to do other stuff, too.
Be with family.
Take classes.
Whatever you want.
And we'll be working together, and we'll just take it easy and, keep things small.
Wow.
Uh Don't answer right now.
It's a big step.
I know.
I just want you to give it some thought.
I will.
I will.
I had sex.
I know.
I was there.
Are you okay? I mean, was it Yeah.
It was It was Oh, god.
No, it was just-- it was different than I expected.
It was like we are, you know.
It was kind of intense, kind of funny, and a little bit awkward in places.
It was just different, that's all.
Like it is now.
It's all different.
Hey.
Your mom told me you're heading back to school.
Yeah.
I called, and they said if I take summer school classes, I can make up most of the year.
Oh.
I guess I just didn't expect you to be taking off so soon.
So, are they mad? Your parents? Not anymore.
Now that I've seen the error of my ways.
Now that the "wasted year" is ending.
That what it was? Listen, this has nothing to do with you.
Not really.
It's more like what's wrong with my life if the most useful thing I can think to do is to marry someone to help them get their green card? Will I'm sorry.
Don't be.
I'd do it all again.
Because the reason I did it I know.
You're the most unbelievable friend.
And now you're leaving.
Everybody's leaving all of a sudden.
I don't know, it's just It's time.
I understand.
I actually do.
What does that mean? You thinking of making a move, too? I don't know.
Well If you ever make a move back east, I hope it's near me.
Yeah.
Me, too.
constant desire to reinvent ourselves, to be fashionable, to be current, if not ahead of the curve.
We readily accept-- there's no escaping it.
The predominantly male culture's expectations of its women are--