From: Robert Willers <willers@trombone.sps.mot.com>

THE CITY Update for Friday, June 7:

STORYLINE: FLASHDANCE!
 (location: Ally/Jocelyn/Molly's apartment)
* Alex knocks on the door; Jocelyn answers.  They exchange terse "hi"s.
 She asks if he is looking for Ally.  Alex says no, in fact he knows she
 and Tony are at a movie (with someone watching them for the purpose of
 protective custody).  Jocelyn says Molly is out of town on some sort of
 family business.  Both stammer, then Alex says he's not going to dance
 around with this: "I miss you."  "Alex, you too?"  Alex says he knows
 they aren't going to get an apartment together, but could he get a hug
 from her?  She settles comfortably into his arms.
* As Jocelyn pours Alex a soda, he tells her that to this day, he still
 opens the paper every morning to the apartment section.  She tells him
 that he should get one anyway, just for himself -- when the kids come
 up, they shouldn't be cooped-up with him in a dinky hotel room.  Alex
 says that's true, too.  After some uneasy silence, he asks if this is
 as hard for him as it is for her.  "You have no idea."  He says he did
 mean it when he said he misses her, but--  She finishes the sentence,
 saying that when he sees her, he sees a prostitute.  She says she still
 sees a prostitute when she looks in the mirror -- it's getting better,
 but since she still doesn't understand why it happened...  She says she
 is going to try hypnosis again.  He asks if she is ready for that.
 That doesn't matter, she has this fantasy now.  She makes an analogy
 to jigsaw puzzles -- there would be a point where you'd be stuck, then
 you would get one piece in place and the whole picture would take shape
 right in front of your eyes...so she's going to try to figure out what
 went on on those lost Saturday afternoons.  "If we both understand it,
 maybe we can put it all behind us, and maybe we could have some kind of
 a future together.  Is that a totally impossible dream, Alex?"
* He says he doesn't know what is going to happen to the two of them,
 but he does know that he loves her, and he meant that.  She says she
 knows that, or he wouldn't be there.  "Most other men would have run
 for the hills a long time ago."  Alex says that ran through his mind,
 too.  He says that he'd like to be together without all this stuff
 running around -- just have a day for the two of them to goof off, go
 bowling or to a ball game.  He puts the Yankees cap on her and says
 that she is still cute in that hat.  His pager goes off -- it's Tony.
 He goes to return the call while she takes the cap off and stares into
 it.  [In black-and-white.]  She has a flashback: her dad holding a
 baseball cap and telling her to "tell mommy that we were at a ball
 game.  OK?"  We pull back to see a few other men in the background.
 [In color, in the present.]  "Oh my God."  Alex returns and tries to
 touch her, but she jumps.  He tells her to take it easy.  She says
 she is sorry...then she tells him it was nothing.
* Alex pursues it, and she admits she had some sort of flashback.  She
 stands up, but nearly collapses.  She says she doesn't feel very well.
 She says she thinks he had better go.  He says no, that is a bad idea.
 She says she probably just needs to get some sleep.  He insists on
 staying, but she thanks him for coming by and talking to her, and
 she reassures him that she'll be OK.  He asks if she's sure.  She is.
 "All right."  "I love you."  "I love you, too."  He says he'll call
 her.  He gets up and leaves.
Jocelyn takes a deep breath.  "Those men!  They were all there!  And
 you, daddy!  [We see another short excerpt from the flashback.]
 You were there.  *That's* where you took me."
[Later.]
Jocelyn is pacing around the apartment.  Suddenly, she finds some
 resolve.  "Never again, daddy.  You won't get away with this."

STORYLINE: FOOLED BY A 'FREAK'
 (location: Bernardo's basement apartment)
* Bernardo is sitting around, still moping.  He picks up the _New York
 News_ with the headline (AZURE C...ONCE A HE), then crumples it up and
 throws it away.  There is a knock at the door; Bernardo says there's
 nobody home.  The knock persists.  "What are you, deaf?"  He opens the
 door -- it's Azure.  "Oh, *great*."  "I think we need to talk," says
 Azure, as she enters the apartment.  "You think so, huh?"  She picks
 up the crumpled paper.  She says she knows he's hurting and she needs
 for him to forgive her.
* She says she doesn't know where to start.  "Don't.  Just go."  She
 says she tried to tell him, she *wanted* to.  She says she knows she
 has hurt him.  He says he'll get over it a lot sooner if she leaves.
 "Please tell me you'll _think_ about forgiving me.  [Pause.]  Bernardo,
 I love you."  "I don't want to hear those words coming out of your
 mouth."  "I can't help it.  These feelings are real."  "Real?!  There
 is nothing real about you!  You got that?"
* She says (again) that she knows she hurt him.  "Hurt me?  *Hurt* me?
 What kind of a man am I that you could fool me?  We even *did it* and
 I couldn't even tell.  What kind of a man does that make me?"  He says
 he picked a girl up the other night, just to go a little crazy and try
 to forget about her, but he "couldn't."  She wanted it, he wanted it,
 but "nothing," because he asked himself, "what if I'm wrong again?"
 Azure says she wasn't playing any games: she cared about him, and she
 still does care about him.  "Well, *don't*, OK?  Because you make me
 sick.  You're a freak!"  [Look of horror by Azure.]  "Oh, and speaking
 of sick," continues Bernardo, "those pills I caught you taking?  They
 weren't for your allergies, were they?  They're what make you what you
 are.  *Freak* pills!  'I can't have children, Bernardo.'  God, what an
 idiot I was."  "Bernardo, just stop talking like that, OK?  We had
 something..."  "Quit reminding me, would you?"  He asks her to leave.
 Azure, now crying, says that without him, she doesn't have anything.
 "Ask me if I care!"  He tells her, "one last time," to get the hell
 out of his sight.  She runs out the door and into the stairwell.  He
 closes his door, sadly.
* Bernardo kicks the garbage can, then stomps around his apartment.
 He goes out into the hallway and savagely beats on the punching bag.
[In Azure's hotel room.]
Azure enters and sits on the bed.  She opens her purse and pulls out
 a pistol.  She stares at it.

STORYLINE: PRESSURE'S ON
 (location: City Bar)
* Danny is quaffing a beer, alone.  Mike sticks his head into his booth.
 "Noon came and went, and I still don't got that money you owe me.  Now
 why is that?"  Danny says he has a cash flow problem; it will pass.
 Mike tells Danny that he disappoints him: "I was under the impression
 that you knew the situation here," especially after he sent the dead
 flowers to Molly.  Danny says he doesn't have a girlfriend any more.
 Mike says he's not falling for that old trick: "Chumps like you always
 try to duck the tab."  Danny stands up and tells Mike that if he has
 a problem with *him*, to deal with *him*.  "Or what?"  Danny says he
 will "get medieval" on him.  "I'll get your damn money.  You touch
 Molly or anybody else in my life, and I'm coming after you."  Mike says
 that if he comes after him, someone else just takes his place.  "Either
 I see that cash by tomorrow morning, or you life is going to get *so*
 ugly..."  Mike leaves.
[At the Penthouse.]
Sydney is on the phone, telling someone that "all the work needs to be
 done in the agency.  [...]  The sooner, the better."  She hangs up.
[At the Agency.]
Jared is incredulous at the news that his wife and Danny Roberts...
 A drunk Tess says that ignorance may be bliss.  Jared tells Tess that
 she is a pathetic woman.  "You're right, Jared, maybe I am.  But you
 think about this: all the time that you've spent reeling me in, your
 wife and Danny have been playing you for a fool."
* Tess says she's disappointed: the husband is usually the last to
 know, but she thought he would be more "on top of things."  She says
 she saw them at the bar, and they had an "afterglow."  Jared asks if
 that is her proof.  Well, I don't have pictures, says Tess, but you
 should be able to get them from any good detective.  She asks him how
 it feels to know that they are making a fool out of him, and letting
 everybody else in on the joke.
[At the Penthouse.]
The phone rings again.  It's Mike, asking Sydney if she is alone.  Yes.
 Well, you won't be for long: I just put the major squeeze on Danny,
 and I'm guessing he's on the elevator as I speak.  "Good work," says
 Sydney.  Mike reminds her that he is putting his reputation on the line
 here: normally, if someone misses a payment, "I nail him."  She reminds
 him that this isn't a normal situation.  She hangs up.  She gets some
 jewelry out of a box, then proceeds downstairs.  As if on cue, the
 doorbell rings.  She puts the jewelry in a cabinet near the door, then
 opens the door.  Danny tells her that they need to talk.  Sydney says
 he can't just barge up here -- what if Jared were here?  Danny says he
 doesn't give a damn any more.  He says he has a loan shark breathing
 down his neck, and he is counting on her help.  "It's time, Syd.  No
 more games, OK?  I need the money now."
* She says she knows he is upset, but maybe he can reason with the man.
 He wants the money, NOW.  He is worried about Molly.  She got involved
 with this, then he said some terrible things to her just to get her to
 leave.  "You really care about her, don't you?"  Danny sighs.  "So do
 you regret what happened between us?"  "No.  Well, I don't know.  My
 life's pretty turned upside-down right now."  He brings up the money
 again.  She says she found a way to get ahold of "a couple of thousand
 dollars."  He says that two grand doesn't even cover the interest.  He
 asks if she can hock some of her art -- some of it *has* to be worth
 more than $30,000.  She asks what she would say to Jared when he saw
 the big blank space on the wall.  No, but she was thinking about trying
 to sell some of her jewelry, but it is all in a safety deposit box.  He
 asks if Jared has the key.  Yes, but she does keep a few pieces around
 the house.  She opens up the jewelry box, revealing a large brooch.
[At the Agency.]
Jared tells Tess that she reminds him of the proverbial woman scorned.
 She responds with "word around the city is that you're a rapist."  He
 is taken aback.  She says she had thought it was idle gossip, but now
 it looks like he was just setting her up to be the next victim, with
 all the "secret admirer stuff."  He says that is preposterous, not to
 mention slanderous.  She says it is only slanderous if it isn't true.
 He says he has heard enough.  She says she hasn't even started yet.
 "Tess, Tess, you are such a fool.  You just don't know when to leave
 well enough alone."  She asks what more he could do to her now.  Well,
 for starters, he wants her out of the building *tonight*.  "What?"
 He suggests that she start packing, because she has until midnight,
 then she becomes a trespasser and he will deal with her accordingly.
* Jared is making a call on Tess' phone.  "Double time is fine, yes.
 Just be sure you get here and change the locks before midnight."  He
 hangs up and tells Tess that if she isn't out by midnight, he'll call
 the police, as well.  She says he won't get away with it -- remember
 what happened when Sydney tried this eviction ploy.  But, says Jared,
 she went about it all wrong: she didn't get Tess to sign an affadavit
 taking care of all the loopholes.  "You got my signature under false
 pretenses!"  "Rule number one in the business world, Tess: always read
 the small print."  He turns to leave, but stops to turn the knife:
 "Listen, you might want to try one of those women's shelters.  I hear
 they're very quaint."  She throws a notebook toward him, screaming,
 "I'll get you for this!"  After he leaves, she says softly, "I'll get
 you for this if it's the last thing I do."
[At the Penthouse.]
Sydney says the brooch was an anniversary present from Jared.  Danny
 asks how much it is worth.  She says she doesn't remember its value
 from its last appraisal, but it will be enough to get the loan shark
 off his back.  As she hands it to Danny, he thanks her.  He says that
 he wants her to know that he _doesn't_ regret what happened between
 them.  He kisses her on the cheek...then, they kiss passionately.
 Not surprisingly, Jared enters and sees this.

-----
|  "I'm surrounded by idiots!"                         |  Bob Willers  |
|  --Simba's uncle Scar (voice talent: Jeremy Irons),  |  Phoenix, AZ  |
|    THE LION KING.                                    | MY opinions!! |
+------------ willers@trombone.sps.mot.com ------------+---------------+

