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

THE CITY Update for Friday, June 28:

STORYLINE: NICK'S WOMEN
 (location: Buck/Nick's apartment)
* Lorraine is in the kitchen; someone knocks on the door.  It is Sydney.
 looking for Nick.  Lorraine says he's in bed and not feeling very good.
 Sydney says she knows that, that's why she came down.  Lorraine says
 that Angie directed that he not be disturbed.  Syd says she just wants
 to see him for a moment, it's important.  Lorraine invites her in and
 tells her that Nick is in the bedroom.  Sydney goes into the bedroom.
 Nick opens his eyes.  "Hello, Nick."  Nick stares at her.
* "I thought I was dreaming."  "As long as it wasn't a nightmare."  No,
 says Nick, you were never that.  Sydney says she stopped by because
 she heard he wasn't doing well.  Nick says that he's doing better than
 Jared, then smiles and says that maybe he shouldn't make fun of the
 recently deceased.  Sydney says that he, of all people, knows how she
 felt about Jared.  Nick asks when's the party.  No, says Sydney, she
 didn't come by to talk about Jared.  "I came by to talk about us."
* Nick says that sounds like a tired, old song.  Maybe, says Sydney, but
 they did have something together once.  Nick suggests that they not "go
 there," because life has a way of moving on.  Sydney says things don't
 always turn out the way we would have chosen.  "You're kidding, right?"
 No, why would I be kidding?  Jared's dead, you have more money than you
 know what to do with, and things couldn't have worked out better if
 you'd killed him yourself -- unless [Nick turns to her and smiles] you
 did kill him yourself.  No, I didn't, says Sydney, and you're right
 about the money.  Nick says she wants to help him with her money.  "Why
 didn't you tell me you were sick?  Why did you try to hide it?"  Nick
 says he wasn't hiding it, he just wasn't advertising the fact.  The two
 of them never had an easy relationship, so he didn't want to complicate
 it any further.  The fact that she had a husband again certainly didn't
 simplify things.  But he's gone now.  Yes, says Nick, and he's glad for
 her sake.  "You deserve somebody better.  Maybe now you have a chance
 to find him.  Just...it won't be me, Syd."  "Well, maybe you're right,
 maybe it's wrong to look back."  He says it's not wrong, but it is
 useless.  OK, says Sydney, we'll concentrate on the future then, but
 whatever he needs, she wants to do whatever she can to help.  That
 goes both ways, says Nick.  "Was there anything else you wanted to
 say to me?"  [Pause.]  "Nothing.  Take care, Nick."  "You too, Syd,
 you too."  Sydney leaves.
Lorraine goes into the bedroom and looks at Nick.  He sighs.
* She asks if everything is OK.  He pulls the covers aside and invites
 her to lie down beside him.  She does.  They hug.

STORYLINE: NICK'S KIDS
 (location: HotLine set)
* Zoey needs to talk to Richard, but he's too busy getting ready for
 them to go on.  No, for *you* to go on -- she can't work with him any
 more.  He says he's heard this before, but she means it this time.
 "Would Ginger Rogers walk out on Fred Astaire?  Would Katherine Hepburn
 zip out on Spencer Tracy?"  He says they belong together, and kisses
 her.  She pulls away: "Stop!"  He asks her to look him in the eye and
 tell him that she doesn't want to do this show.  "I don't want to do
 this show.  I'm sorry."  OK, fine, says Richard, he'll have to think of
 a Plan B for that segment.  "Good night, Gracie."  Wait, says Zoey, she
 needs to talk to him -- she has to tell him about Nick.
* What about Nick?  His condition is the same, and that's still serious.
 It's just that all her life she has been searching for her father, and
 now she's found him--  Richard reassures her that he'll be OK.  Why do
 you say that?  Because Angie is a good doctor.  But even Angie says he
 should go to the hospital.  Zoey asks, "What if he doesn't make it?"
 "He's going to make it, because he's a tough guy."  "Things happen.
 You should know that better than anybody."  "Yes, I know that things
 happen, but that doesn't mean--"  "Nick could die.  That's why I have
 to tell you--"  The stage manager interrupts to grab Richard because
 there is a problem in Editing.  Richard assures Zoey that he'll be back
 in five minutes, then he leaves.  Zoey says, to herself, "Which is why
 I have to tell you that Nick is your father."
* They return, having solved the problem.  The stage manager says he's
 sorry about Richard's father, then leaves.  "I hate that -- that people
 call Jared my father."  Zoey keeps trying to talk to her, but Richard
 moans on and on about Jared.  He remembers the first time he met Jared.
 Sydney brought him in to the penthouse after the death of his parents
 and introduced him to Jared.  He just said, "Don't get too comfortable,
 because we're going to send you off to Boarding School."  Richard says
 he always compared his father to Jared, and always resented the fact
 that he died while Jared still lived.  Smiling, Richard says, "If you
 had ever met my father, you would really understand what an incredibly
 moral man he was."  "Sounds like him."  Richard snaps back to reality
 and asks what she was going to say about Nick.
* She says she's his only family, so she was wondering if he could go by
 and visit Nick once in a while.  "That's it?"  "Yeah, that's it.  Isn't
 that enough?"  He asks when she wants him to go.  Whenever, says Zoey,
 Nick has always liked you, and he's feeling lousy right now.  Richard
 says sure, if she thinks it will help.  "Yeah.  I do."

STORYLINE: DANNY'S ALIBI?
 (location: Ally/Jocelyn/Molly's apartment)
* Joanna repeats the news that Lou is dead -- it apparently happened
 early last night, due to a heart attack.  "When they finally found
 him--"  "They?" asks Danny.  Yes, the neighbors found him on the floor,
 reaching for his pills.  He was all alone in that apartment...  Joanna
 breaks down and cries on Jocelyn's shoulder.  "He's gone!"
* Jocelyn brings her some tissues.  She apologizes; she didn't expect to
 take this so hard.  Danny says she has nothing to apologize about.  No,
 she does: she's sorry for everything the two of them had to go through
 when they were growing up--  She clams up, but Jocelyn tells her that
 Danny knows.  He gets up to get them some water.  No more secrets, says
 Jocelyn, everything's out in the open.  Danny flashes back to his dad
 begging for help.  He turns around and sees the ladies hugging.
* Danny asks if she feels better now.  Yes, thanks for being here, says
 Joanna.  She says she has to get going; she has to work on the funeral
 arrangements.  Both kids volunteer to go with her, but their Aunt Dora
 is waiting to pick her up.  She assures them that she'll be all right.
 "This is something I need to take care of myself.  Whatever he did, he
 was still my husband."  She goes to leave.  Jocelyn calls to her that
 if there's anything they can do...  No, I'll be all right.  She leaves.
Danny says he never expected for her to take it so hard.  Jocelyn says
 she almost envies her: at least she can mourn him and she can't.  Danny
 says he figured she'd be jumping for joy.  But there is their time
 together...  That's better off forgotten, says Danny.  Maybe; she can't
 forgive what he did -- but he is their only father.  Danny says he was
 a father in name only.  Jocelyn says they never had a normal family
 life -- he took that away from them -- bit he didn't win.  "As hard as
 he tried to pit us against each other, we're still here, together.  Do
 you have any idea how much I love you?"  Danny hugs Jocelyn.
* (Jocelyn and Danny go down to the bar.  See below.)

STORYLINE: FUN AT THE CITY BAR
 (location: City Bar)
* Tess and Angie enter.  Tess points out a table and tells Angie to sit
 down.  Angie resists, but Tess says she wanted to get her out -- she
 has been obsessing about Jared's murder (and she saw the empty gallon
 of ice cream to prove it).  Angie says it wasn't really her ice cream,
 then admits that it was, but she wasn't really obsessing, more like
 trying to figure out what really happened.  OK, says Tess, now it's
 time to put it out of your mind.  The police let you go--  For now,
 says Angie.  Tess asks Angie who in their right mind could believe
 she killed Jared.  "What if I wasn't in my right mind?"
Bernardo breezes up to the bar and orders a double scotch.  Buck asks
 if he wants to talk about it.  Bernardo asks if he has seen Azure.  No,
 not in a couple of days.  Well, says Bernardo, she's missing.
* Bernardo says that Azure's mom hasn't even seen her in two days.  Buck
 pours Bernardo another drink and says he won't find her anywhere near
 the bar -- she hates publicity.  Lucky for him the reporters like to
 drink.
Tess says she is the sanest person she knows.  When I'm awake, yes,
 but I was sleepwalking when Jared was killed.  Tess doesn't believe it,
 but Angie says that when it comes to Jared and what he did to Frank--
 Tess jokingly suggests that the place might be bugged, and that they
 talk about this later, or at least not here.  She gets up and nearly
 runs into Buck.  "That's good advice.  Is that why you won't tell me
 where you where the night Jared got shot?"
* She says she didn't do anything she'll be sorry for later.  He says
 that isn't too reassuring, considering how she felt about Jared.  She
 asks if he really thinks she did it.  If I did, says Buck, I wouldn't
 have been so quick with the alibi.  "Did I thank you for that, by the
 way?"  "I don't think so."  "Well, thank you.  You're a really great
 guy...most of the time."  "Not all the time?"  "Work on it, babe."
 He says he might if she stays out of prison long enough.  "Look at
 this face.  [Tess bats her eyes.]  Is this the face of a killer?"
 He says that if she says she didn't do it, that's good enought for him.
 She says that with her luck, if she did bump him off to get the agency
 back, it would revert to "the merry widow."
* Bernardo asks Tess what she's up to now that the agency is dead.  She
 says she has been buying self-help books and trying to come up with a
 new career..."Oh my God, am I having a mid-life crisis?"  Buck says no,
 but when she's older, yeah.  "I am fossilizing before your very eyes.
 Did you hear what he just said?  Score one point for the cowboy."  She
 says that for the first time in her life, she doesn't know what she's
 doing.  She is used to being her own boss and she likes it.  Bernardo
 says he doesn't picture her as an employee-of-the-month type.  That's
 too bad, says Buck, he was going to offer her a job in the bar -- a
 little singing, maybe.  Angie likes that idea.  Actually, says Tess,
 he's a great friend, but even for him, she can't work for someone else.
Danny and Jocelyn enter.  Jocelyn says she's not hungry.  OK, then, says
 Danny, don't eat -- drink.  That's what I'm going to do.
At a table, Sydney orders a martini, straight up, two olives.
[Later.]
Lucy and Detective O'Brian enter the bar.  Lucy spots her suspect.  This
 must be our lucky day, says O'Brien.  They go to get their suspect.

-----
|  "...You're shaped like a croissant is..."           |  Bob Willers  |
|  --Hugo (a gargoyle, voice talent: Jason Alexander)  |  Phoenix, AZ  |
|    to Quasimodo, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME         | MY opinions!! |
+------------ willers@trombone.sps.mot.com ------------+---------------+

