From: Riley <LMT94002@uconnvm.uconn.edu>

The City--Update 10-18-96

Storyline:  Homeowners and Taxpayers

Tracey asks Joc what she's talking about.  $1.2 million for taxes.  The
building's tax status was upgraded last year because of the clinic,
agency, and bar; it made it commercial property. As the owners, they're
all liable.  This can't be, Tracey says.  Joc is afraid it is. "A million
dollars is nothing to Sydney, why didn't she pay her taxes?"  Tracey asks
Joc says they both know the answer to that.  "That miserable lying..."
She may have stuck Joc, but she won't stick Tracey, not in this life,
not ever.

Is Joc going to just stand there or is she going to do something?  Joc
was trying to call Syd all day, she's not taking any calls.  Tracey says
she'll take hours.  Joc warns her it won't do any good, but Tracey
insists.  Alex asks why it won't do any good.  Because she doesn't own
the building anymore.  There's nothing Tracey can do?  She can call her
lawyer.  She can try to sue Syd, but at this point, the only thing to do
is forfeit the shares to go.  Alex follows her.  Tracey says no way.  Joc
has to go.  Alex follows her.  Tracey asks who she's going.  Home if she
has her permission, Joc says, curtsieing.  Tracey says no, she has to
stay and help her out of this mess.  Joc isn't her lawyer.  Tracey offers
to put her on retainer and asks how much.  Joc says it's not an issue of
money.  Alex says their friends need Joc more than Tracey does.  They
say Tracey is obviously not broke, she can absorbe the loss somehow.
That's not the point, Tracey says.  She doesn't want to be swindeled,
especially by Sydney Chase.  Their friends have a lot more at stake than
their ego.  They could lose everything they own.  She leaves.  Alex says
he's sorry, he guesses this meeting was hopeless.  Tracey asks him to
wait.  He tells her she'll be okay.  She wiill?  Alex says she always
lands on her feet.  He leaves.  tracey says by the time she's done with
Sydney, all that will be left are her black roots.  There's a knock.
She opens the door thinking it's Alex, but it's the manager.  he wants
to settle the bill.

Tracey really can't discuss this now.  He wishes they didn't have to.
She tells him her son is asleep in the other room.  He should think so,
he's had a busy day.  He and his nanny had lunch at the palm court, which
was charged to the room, after which they made a number of purchases in
the hotel shops.  These were also charged to the room.  "That's
disgusting," Tracey says.  He has been shadowing a defenseless, innocent
child.  he says her bill has exceeded almost $10,000.  They really must
request at least a partial payment.  What does he expect her to do, go to
the bank in the middle of the night.  He says a credit card will be fine.
She will settle her account tomorrow.  He says it's been tomorrow for
almost a week now.  If they don't receive at least a partial payment
this evening, they'll have to ask her to leave.  Tracey says it's
outrageous.  It's out of his hands.  The owners could have him fired if
he allows this to continue.  Do the owners know who she is?  He wouldn't
know.  She tells him to inform them that she comes from one of the
wealthiest families in the country.  They won't be impressed.  How can
he speak to her that way?  They contacted her eldest son, Ned, today and
he said the family will no longer be responsible for any of her debts.
He truly is sorry, but it is out of his hands.  He is leaving, but hands
her a package that just came for her.  He bids her goodnight.  It's a
video.  "Play me.  Love Syd."  Tracey says it's a fitting end to a
perfect day.

Syd informs Tracey that she's been had.  She tells her not to try to
blackmail her again.  Malcolm Christopher has been dealt with.  She says
7 nobodies with 49% and 1 former somebody with 51% of 1.2 million dollar
debt.  Syd bets the nobody's will came out on top.  They're tenacious and
that's why they've hung around so long.  She tells Tracey to drop her a
line from the poorhouse.

Alex asks Joc why she's so quiet.  She's just got a lot on her mind.  She
is not mad at him.  The only reason why he went there was he didn't want
Tracey causing them anymore trouble.  She knows, but they are in a lot of
trouble, his friend Tracey included.  He supposes they better start
telling everyone.  Joc says not now.  Everybody is here to say goodby to
Nick and Ally and Tony think all their problems have been solved.  They
shouldn't thow this at them tonight.  Alex guesses it can wait a day.
Joc feels bad for everyone.  Alex reminds her she lost too.  Joc will be
fine, but they could all lose everything they've worked for.  Alex says
they've got one great weapon--her.  She says he has a lot of confidence
in her.  She wants to go to his place.  He corrects her--their place.

Storyline:  Nick's party
Angie and Jacob walk into the bar.  Is he okay?  He's fine.  It's just
the check.  It threw him for a loop.  Angie says more than a loop.  Jacob
points to Nick an says that the man's time is running out.  Angie starts
to protest, but Jacob says it's Nick's night, so they should put on
their best smiles and try to have a good time.  Angie cares about Nick,
but she cares more about Jacob.  Jacob asks her to give it a shot.  She
agrees.

Lorraine downs a shot.  Nick walks up, but is intercepted by Tess and
Buck.  He's glad they could make it.  Wouldn't miss it.  Tess brought
appetizers.  She'll pass them around.  Angie will help.  Nick says they
are guests, no workers.  They like having something to do at a party.
Tess hates mingling.  Nick wants to keep it low key, but after seeing
Lorraine decides to make a speech.

Richard is distracted and Zoey is trying to get his attention.  He
apologizes and she says it's supposed to be a party.  What is he thinking
about?  The photo album Syd left him.  Zoey says that was nice and she
was really generous with the building.  Really generous, he says.  She
could have done a lot more.  She could have given Nick the chance.  He
means the transplant.  She could have made a few phone calls, written a
few checks, that's all it would have taken.  Zoey tells him not to
torture himself, syd didn't and that's just it.  "Meanwhile, my father's
going to die.  Nick's going to die," Richard says.  Zoey tells him to
stop trying to figure her out.  Zoey never oculd.  No one ever will.

Buck tells Lorraine to stop cleaning up.  Tess and Angie have taken over
and Nick's going to say a few owrds.  "Mr. Won't-catch-me-making-a-speech
Nick," she says.  Buck thought she might want to be at his side.  No,
she'll watch form there.  He would really like her to be there.  This is
Nick's night and she doesn't think anybody should be in his spotlight.

Tess asks buck if something is wrong.  He isn't sure.

Jacob takes the mike.  He introduces Nick, recalling Nick's concert.
Nick says, "You know AA has a saying, that the worse day that you have
when youre' sober is better than the best day you have when you're
drinking.  Now, when I first heard taht, I said yeah, right, pass me the
bourbon, but I've come to see that that's true, for me anyway.  This is
the first year that I haven't seen through a haze of alcohol and more
good things have happened to me in the last year than in all the other
years put together.  I have discovered a son who makes me proud each
and everyday and an honorary daughter who is so much like me, I can't
believe she isn't really mine.   And I've made a lot of friends who have
taught me that I didn't even know the meaning of the word until I met
them.  And a lady who, her only fault is, she beats up on herself.  She
ought to be beating the stuffing out of me.  Now, I promised myself I
wasn't going to dwell on the morbid facts of my life, but there's no
denying that I might be checking out a little sooner than I thought, but
if that's the price I have to pay for everyting that I've got, then it's
well worth it.  So, anyway, I want to thank each and everyone of you for
the best year of my life."  Applause.

Nick catches up with Lorraine in the stairwell.  He holds her and she
cries.  She says she slipped up and Nick tells her he knows.  He asks how
many she's had.  3, but who's counting.  He says he's sorry.  She tells
him not to apologize, she slipped up.  He says he's sorry he put so much
pressure on her and didn't pay enough attention to her.  He's sorry he
didn't think.  Lorraine says she let him down.  No, she didn't.  She
feels weak.  She hasn't done anything that he hasn't thought about every
day, 100 times a day, but he's not going to let her fall.  She hugs him.

Angie feels so bad for Lorraine.  Tess says it must be awful knowing
someone you love is oging to die.  Angie has been through it and so has
Jacob.  Even if you put it behind you, it can still come back and hit you
right in the face.  She tells Tess about the letter and check Jacob got.
it was like losing him all over again.  Tess says there's nothing she can
do about it.  Angie says there might be.  Angie heard about a fertility
specialist and he's supposedly making some real advances.  She's talked
to him and he's agreed to see her.  Angie says it's worth a try.  It
could never replace the child Jaqcob lost, but if they had a child, it
would just mean so much to them.  Tess says she just has to do it.  Angie
tells it her it would mean being an in-patient for weeks at his clinic
and there are no guarantees.  She's afraid to mention it to jacob.  She
doesn't want to disappoint him again.  Jacob walks up.  Disappointed
about what?

Angie says Jacob misunderstood.  Jacob says he knows what he heard.
Angie says when he gets something in his head, there's no way of getting
it out.  Tess says she will tell him.  Tess says Angie has the opportun-
ity to go to a big deal meadical conference in California.  The only
thing is that she would be gone for a few weeks   and she doesn't feel
right about leaving because they just got married.  Tess says she's sorry
but she doesn't think they shoudl start the marriage by keeping secrets.
Jacob asks why she didn't tell him.  They just got married.  They haven't
even had a honeymoon yet.  She doesn't think it's fair to be 3,000 miles
away from each other.  Jacob says it's an adjustment, but they have all
the time in the world together.  If it's something she really wants, she
should go.  They'll go on the honeymoon when she gets back.  It'll give
her time to decide where they'll go.  Angie just doesn't think she should
leave right now.  Jacob says it's settled.  He kisses her.  He's going to
go track down Nick.  He tells Angie to go pack.  Tess tells her to think
about it and if she decides to thank her, she can give her a pamphlet of
the clinic.  Tess is feeling kind of maternal lately.

Nick is leaving.  He thanks Buck and Jacob.  Buck thinks it has something
to do with Lorraine.

Richard's phone rings.  He talks for a minute then hangs up and tells
Zoey that Nick is eligible for a transplant.  She thought...  He knows,
he knows, but there's a donor.  He kisses her as he pulls on his jacket.

Nick is going to take Lorraine someplace where no one will find them.
They hug while waiting for the elevator.

##################################################
"THE CHEAPNESS OF WRITING PAPER IS, OF COURSE, THE
REASON WHY WOMEN HAVE SUCCEEDED AS WRITERS BEFORE
THEY HAVE SUCCEEDED IN THE OTHER PROFESSIONS."
                         -VIRGINIA WOOLF,
                          PROFESSIONS FOR WOMEN

LISA MARIE TURCOTTE (RILEY)
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
STORRS, CT 06269
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