From: Susan Richmond <susan@webspan.net>

Hi everyone!

Another day without Tracy. As much as I like Tracy, it's nice to see 
everyone else, too.  Today, Jacob tries to convice Nick to give up his 
search, Richard decides to visit his roots in Australia, Carla urges 
Danny to go after Ally, Tony and Ally make love in the darkroom. Here we 
go.......

				THE CITY UPDATE
	 		 Thursday, November 14th, 1996


JACOB'S STORY
Location: Nick's hospital room

*Nick is sitting in bed in his hospital gown (nice legs! :-) and Nurse 
McPherson, the one who told Nick about Syd buying him a liver, is taking 
his blood pressure. She wonders what Nick and Richard were shouting 
about. Nick explains that he wants Richard to find out who got bumped 
off the list so Nick could get his liver.  The nurse says it seems to be 
really bothering him. Nick doesn't want to talk about it and tells her 
she can stop her poking and prodding and go.  She informs Nick that he 
is being released today. "I could kiss you", Nick tells her.  Nurse 
McPherson apologizes for what she said about his transplant (that he got 
special treatment because he's a celebrity). She didn't know at the time 
that it had all been arranged without his knowledge. Nick accepts her 
apology. Jacob comes in to visit and Nick tells him the good news that 
he's being released today. Why isn't Nick more enthusiastic about it?  
Getting out today is the good news, the bad news is "I may have lost a 
son", Nick says. 

*Just because Nick and Richard had a fight, doesn't mean Nick has lost 
him, Jacob says.  Nick tells Jacob about the trasplant, that he wasn't 
at the top of the list, "I wasn't even on it". Sydney wrote a check and 
Nick got a new liver. Nick asked Richard to find out who should have 
gotten the liver.  He tried for about 5 seconds and gave up. Why do you 
want to know, Jacob asks. Nick had decided that when it was his time to 
go, he was going to go without owing anyone anything. Now he still owes 
someone a debt and he wants to find out who it is, or was. Jacob says 
Nick shouldn't feel responsible, it was a decision the hospital made. 
That they were paid to make, Nick reminds him. Jacob's with Lorraine and 
Richard on this one, "get over it". Nick tells him to leave and close 
the door on the way out, but Jacob refuses to go. Jacob has a story to 
tell him. 

*Jacob spent years looking for the person who killed his wife and his 
son. And when he finally found the person, Jacob discovered it wasn't 
even the right person, after all.  Jacob thought he was persuing justice 
all those years, but what it really was was guilt. Guilt because Jacob 
was the one who was supposed to die, not his wife and son. So he killed 
himself, little by little, until he was dead inside. Hating is a lot 
easier than feeling pain. Jacob was a complete mess until he met Angie. 
Jacob got a second chance, just like Nick.  Nick shouldn't question it, 
he should reach out with both hands and grab it. 

*Nick appreciates the advice, but it's a completely different situation, 
he's not looking for revenge. Yes he is, Jacob says, Nick is looking for 
revenge on himself. Nick just wants to find out at whose expense he got 
this second chance. Nick's got everything to live for, what he needs to 
do is hold onto the people that he loves.  He shouldn't risk losing them 
by chasing after some mystery. Nick needs some closure. Jacob says he 
has to follow his own advice. He got a check for David's education and 
hasn't cashed it yet.  In a way, he's trying to hold onto a piece of 
David with the check. Maybe it's time to let them both go, Nick says. 
"My point, exactly", Jacob tells him. Jacob leaves. Out in the hall he 
takes out the check and looks at it. He calls Tracy from the pay phone. 
 
RICHARD GOES DOWN UNDER??
Location: Angie's clinic

*Richard comes in looking for Zoey and finds her there. He kisses her on 
the cheek and asks if she has a minute. He and Nick had a big fight.  
It's just father and son stuff, Zoey reassures him, it will blow over.  
All he has to say is "Hey pop, I'm sorry...".  Richard won't tell Nick 
that, because Nick's not his father. 

*Of course Nick is Richard's father, "why wouldn't he be?", asks Zoey. 
Because that't the way Richard feels about Nick right now. They were 
fighting about the liver transplant.  He wanted Richard to find out who 
was bumped off the list so Nick could get his liver. Richard would have 
done it, at first, but then Nick started pulling this guilt trip on him, 
saying that Richard was being an ungrateful son. Richard's not sure he 
wants to make up with Nick, he's glad in a way that they argued. 
"Everything happened so fast. One minute, Nick's dying, so every second 
counts, instant bonding." He hasn't had time to think about it or what 
it means.  Now he's had some time to think and it feels like he's 
replacing his old father, Gregory Wilkins, with Nick Rivers. Richard 
can't do that, he won't, he loved his father too much for that. "Gregory 
Wilkins will always be my father". "Isn't there room in your heart for 
Nick too?", Zoey asks. "I honestly don't know", answers Richard.

*Maybe Richard's right, it all happened too fast. One moment he was an 
orphan, the next he had a father. He may not be the man who raised him, 
but Nick is his real father, Zoey says, none of this is Nick's fault, he 
didn't learn he had a son until now.  So why is Nick acting like Richard 
owes him something, telling him that he should be a "good son", Richard 
asks. Richard doesn't know who he is anymore. Richard thought he knew 
when he was a kid in Australia. Maybe Richard should go back to 
Australia for a while, get over being homesick, Zoey suggests.  "You 
know, when you think about going home, you think it's going to be 
perfect and then you get there and it's like any other place. And then 
you realize that the place you're at now is OK, it's where you need to 
be".  Zoey never really had a home, not like Richard did, but after she 
left, she thought about the good times at the convent. She went back a 
few times, but realized that it was not the place for her anymore.  Then 
Zoey met Richard. Richard asks Zoey to come to Australia with him. Zoey 
would love to go. She says yes, but then changes her and tells him she 
can't go. 

*Richard has to go alone, to sort his feelings out. It would be very 
nice if Zoey went, but it's not what Richard needs right now. Richard 
finally agrees she may have point. "Are you sure you're not trying to 
get rid of me?", Richard asks.  You pushed me to it, I don't want you 
here, get out of the country, I want to take over Hotline for myself, I 
want my own show, the Zoey show, Zoey teases him. Richard gives her a 
big kiss, he's going to miss Zoey.     


CARLA'S DIRTY PLANS
Location: Carla's office

*So Danny is ready to give up on Ally, Carla asks.  Danny replies that 
it won't do him any good if he "has the hots for Ally 24 hours a day", 
all Ally cares about is Tony.  Tony and Ally can't be together, though. 
Danny doesn't think they'd risk Tony going to jail.  Carla tells him not 
to be so naive, she wouldn't be surprised if Tony and Ally haven't 
waited at all for the year to be up.

*So if they're in love with each other and they're careful, what's the 
harm, Danny asks.  But isn't Danny attacted to Ally? "I'm attracted to 
half the female population of Manhattan, present company included", 
Danny replies. Carla's seen the way he looks at Ally. It's not as big a 
deal as what Carla feels for Tony. "It really bugs you that they're 
together, doesn't it?", ask Danny. Danny tells her she's never going to 
break Tony and Ally up. "So why don't you spend all that energy on 
something more productive?" (Danny walks up very close to her) Like 
Danny, for example. "Just offering my services to help get rid of some 
of that sexual tension", Danny says.  "Mine, or yours?", Carla replies. 
"That night you spent with Ally, that night that you made love, how 
often do you replay that in your mind?", Carla asks.  Danny leaves 
without answering.

*Danny comes in the front door of the building.  While he's waiting for 
the elevator, he remembers the time he and Ally made love (Boy, was his 
hair long back then!). Carla comes in and interrupts his thoughts. Carla 
wants to apologize, she went too far earlier. She still thinks she's 
right about Danny wanting Ally, though.  They have a whole year to plan 
this out.  Danny tells her he doesn't want to get involved, Carla plays 
a bit too dirty for him. 


SEX IN THE AFTERNOON 
Location: Ally's darkroom

*Tony and Ally..... I'll leave this scene to your imagination. Let's 
just say that there's a lot of kissing, licking and touching going on. 
Ally says "Tony" and Tony replies "What?". That's it for the dialogue.

*More of the same, Ally unzippers his pants, etc, etc, but then she 
pulls away. This is crazy, she says, if they find out were in here... I 
know, Ally... Tony replies, but neither of them seem overly concerned. 
"Is that what you really, want, to stop?", Tony asks her.  Apparently 
not:-), since the next minute they are back in each other's arms. 

*Ally and Tony are sitting on the floor.  Tony's leaning against the 
wall, with Ally in front of him. Tony apologizes for yelling before, 
he's not really jealous of Danny. This mess is making us all crazy, says 
Ally, but making up was sure worth the fight. They get up and start 
getting dressed. Tony opens the door and notices they made a mess of the 
place.  He offers to help her clean up. They start kissing again....

*The kissing has stopped and Tony's just finishing cleaning up.  Now 
they're kissing again. Danny and Carla enter the office. Carla's 
offering to give Danny some financial advice about the magazine. Tony 
and Ally come out of the darkroom laughing and with their shirts hanging 
open. "Looks like they didn't wait", Carla says to Danny.  "Are we 
interrupting something?", Carla asks. 

That's it for today.  See you next Thursday!

-- 
Susan

FCC Tony,


