From: lynch@corona.math.vt.edu (James Lynch)

			Guiding Light Update

				for

			Tuesday, March 21 (my grandmother's birthday)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lewis Oil:

	Wanda and Vanessa are still struggling to keep Lewis above contempt.
Josh wanders in and Vanessa calls him a "son-of-a-you-know-what". She goes
into her office. Matt joins the crowd and asks Josh if his offer is still
open. He stares.

Annie and Lillian at the hospital:

	They discuss the bridal shower. Lillian is happy for them, especially
for Ed after all he has been through. Annie asks Lillian about her life and
romance. "You are to young to understand. The idea of romance is beyond my
wildest imagination." As she says these negative words, we cut to a seen
of Buzz at Tangie's bar.

Buzz at the bar:

	Buzz greets the owner of the bar with a kiss and tells her about
his and Nadine's divorce, the world's friendliest. She says that's fine,
but it is an end of an era. Tangie offers Buzz a drink, but he only wants to
use the phone. Tangie ruminates about "running around, looking for what?"
when Alan walks in, looking like a sad little boy.

Alan-Michael at the office:

	Lucy isn't around, and Alan-Michael stares at her empty chair. He
paces a little. Finally, he wanders into his own office, and Lucy comes
to work. She manages to get out her layers of jackets, and goes into 
his office. 

	She demands to know who the memo is about. And what was the incident?
Alan-Michael just says "you know". "If you have something to say, just say
it." What she and Brent are doing has nothing to do with sexual harassment.
"What did I do?" 
"You, Brent, office supply room." Lucy is taken aback. How did he know about
that? He saw them when he went to find a folder. The battle intensifies
with accusations flying both ways. She thinks he should just admit that he
doesn't like the two of them together. The phone rings. She tries to answer
it, but he insists that she go to her own phone. She does, and it's Buzz.
He invites her for a burger, but she is too busy.

Buzz and Alan and Tangie:

	Tangie says that she and Alan will be fine as long as he remembers
that they are just friends. Buzz calls Frank next, who is asleep. Tangie
asks "can't get a date?" heartlessly. Buzz simply orders a beer and a
steak. Then he bumps into the local pinball wizard and tries to strike up
a conversation with her. In fact, he gets behind her and tries to help her
with the flippers. She walks away. "Your technique is a little out of date
for this decade," Tangie advises. Buzz and Alan trade a few shots at each
other. A pleasant evening, in general for all.

	David and Bridget come in and get right to the dance floor. 

Vanessa at Lewis:

	Vanessa tries to unruffle shareholder feathers. Matt and Josh discuss
the future of Lewis Construction. Josh warns him that there is hardly any
start up capital, and little hope. Matt says that is fine, he'll take a small
salary to begin with for a piece of the action later. Sounds great.

	Matt goes into the main office and Vanessa is thrilled to see him.
"I'm so glad to see somebody who understands." Matt grimaces. The phone rings
and she has to get back to damage control. She hasn't seen Peter, she had
to miss Bill's conference at school, etc. More havoc as a Saudi Arabian Emir
calls. Another phone rings and Matt deals with them. The madness is non-stop.
And it's all Josh's fault. Matt tells Vanessa that he took the job with
Josh. "You're joking, right?"

Lillian and Annie:

	The marriage talk continues. Annie says that if any one asked her to
marry them, the "shock would send me into a coma". She isn't the femme-fatale
that Lillian likes to make her out to be. More like the "kiss of death".
She promises that one day she will publish her track record to prove her point.
Lillian says that Josh is obviously hung up on her, and Annie reminds Lillian
that Josh stood her up for a 10 year old. But, Lillian points out, Annie loves
the way Josh acts with his kids. Yeah, it's true, but he hasn't talked to her
since that night. It doesn't look good. Lillian disagrees. She thinks that
Annie is finally going to be the one to pull him out of his shell. Annie
asks about Reva. Lillian describes her a bit, and Josh wanders up. He
apologizes for the other night, and asks her to go out right then. Annie
points out that she's working, and Josh accepts that. He says "don't go
anywhere", and she agrees not to, at least not until 11pm when she is off
duty.

Lucy and Alan-Michael:

	Lucy says that the supply room business was her idea. And it was just
one, romantic kiss. This is all just an attack on poor innocent Brent. She
says that he just wants to keep her from getting involved with him. No, 
Alan-Michael insists, he is protecting her from a jerk. She doesn't know how
he talks about her behind her back. She is just a convenience to him. Lucy
doesn't buy it. "Lucy, will you please wake up? All he wants to do is sleep
with you."

"Really? I hope so." Lucy contends that that is a natural desire and that
she sure hopes that it happens. Alan-Michael says he hopes that he is
wrong about Brent, but since he introduced them, he feels responsible. He
says that he cares about her and he doesn't want to see her hurt. She says
that was his game, not Brent's and she will be fine.

Buzz playing pinball:

	He isn't really doing that well. He wanders over to Alan and they
discuss Jenna a little. Uncomfortably. David and Bridget continue to dance
until the music stops. The guy at the sound table looks bewildered. Bridget
goes over to him and starts to fix it.

Matt and Vanessa:

	As the phones continue their assault, Vanessa asks Matt to run that
by her again. He says he is serious, he is taking the job with Josh. Vanessa
is aflame. Any job but that job! Josh has betrayed her; "Why would you do
this to me?" 
"Everything I do is not about you," he says.

[Commercial break. The Melina coffee commercial comes on, and I am reminded
that the new Eleni has only been on one show since she came, right? Do TPTB
think we will forget? Maybe we will, I suppose.]

Matt says that he has no life, besides her. That's fine, she contends. He
doesn't agree. He needs a future, and he needs to take this job. She says
it is a losing proposition. Wanda tells Vanessa that she has a conference
call from a couple of bigwigs, and Vanessa says to Matt "go nail your
2X4's with Josh. See if I care".

Lillian:

	She stares at a piece of paper and prepares to pick up the phone
[presumably to set up an appointment for a mammagram (?)] when Annie comes by.
Lillian tells her she is expected in that room over there. Annie goes in
to find Josh with a tablecloth spread on an examination table with candles
and good food. It's so elegant, she can't say no. Besides she has an hour
off now. Annie thinks it looks like a special occasion and Josh admits that
it is. His life is changing and it is all thanks to her. Everyone is furious
with him, but he's happy. They share a little kiss.

The pinball machine:

	Buzz loses another ball. The pinball wizard pats him on the head, and
walks on. Bridget has successfully fixed the music machine for Skunk, the
lunkhead. High five time for the pair. The two of them talk a little music
while David sits, amused by Skunk's obvious intelligence. Skunk buys
Bridget a beer and David (sort of) smiles.

	Alan finally speaks to Tangie. To ask her for his tab. She says it's
on the house. What did he do to deserve this? She says that they both used
each other for that newstory and she just feels like it. She tries to talk
a little more, but he says he isn't in the mood. She thinks he sounds kind
of down, and he manages to talk a little. He is face to face with all of
his life mistakes. What kind? Does she really want to know, Alan wonders?
Oh yes. It's that he still hasn't learned who he is. Tangie smiles. She says
that his issue to deal with.

	Bridget is thrilled to hear about the band that will be playing here.
Skunk knows lots about music. His name was give to him by Flea. But his
real name is Kirk. His dad was a Trekkie. David and Bridget like it better.
He says he has been on the road since he was 16. David reminds Bridget that
it's time to go, to get Peter and poor Skunk is upset. She explains that
Peter is one of the family [though I can't imagine who Skunk thinks David
is]. Bridget and David leave, Bridget complaining about the stupid clothes
she had to meet that charmer in.

	Buzz embarrasses himself with the pinball wizard again, but she
feels for him and asks him to dance.

	Alan says that when he got out of prison he thought the most important
thing was to become a good father. He worked so hard to get Spaulding for
Alan-Michael and now he thinks it all was a terrible mistake. He lost the
things he cared for and he doesn't know how to get them back.

Lucy and Alan-Michael:

	Lucy tosses the memo. Alan-Michale apologizes but reiterates his
position. Lucy says that they had a deal when she came to work for him, and
from now on, her personal life is off-limits. She storms out.

Josh and Annie:

	The chicken is tasty but a little messy. Josh tells Annie that
Lewis Construction is going to go. She gives him a big cookie as a reward.
He says that Vanessa is angry with him, and has every right to be. It's a
big risk, but something about all of it seems so right. His whole life is
starting over again. Annie listens closely. "I know," she says. "What are
you thinking?" (Her expression has become very serious during the last 
few moments.) She says he can have anything he wants. They both agree that
it all goes back to the fire. He was so miserable before. He thinks it wasn't
an accident that Annie was one of the first people he met right after the
fire. She starts to cry a little. "What's going on?" Josh asks. They hug.
Annie says that she is just so happy. That's a relief. Josh thinks he will
never figure her out. Good, it wouldn't be any fun if I didn't drive you
crazy [same old neurotic view of romance, oh PTB]. Josh says there is no
doubt that she drives him crazy. He pushes the plates aside and they lie on
the table [in a most uncomfortable position]. Annie gets out of the clinch
and says her break is over. He promises to clean up, and she gives him a
half-kiss and leaves him befuddled.

Matt in his little karate place:

	He turns and kicks and sweats. Vanessa comes in. "That isn't me,
is it?" She apologizes for before. She says she was angry at Josh and it
all came out at him. "No, you were mad at me."
"Yeah, I thought you were abandoning me."
"You should know better."
She agrees that she should. They kiss a big sweaty kiss. They separate
and we have a beautiful, arty shot of Matt's face as the fan takes the
light from his face, and returns it, and takes it, etc. He says that until
he met her, he was content to drift from town to town. Now what is he 
supposed to do? Now where is supposed to go? Nowhere.

Alan and Tangie:

	He thanks her for the ear and goes. Buzz comes over and smears Alan's
character a bit. Tangie says that she is a good judge of character and that
he has never been more vulnerable and honest. [Boy, isn't that weird. For
months he fooled her completely, and she still thinks that she is a good
judge of character. What does it take?] "Give me a break," chortles Buzz.

	Outside, Alan walks away, and a sinister smile grows on his thin lips.

Lucy, Bridget, and David at the boarding house:

	Lucy is freaking. She screams about Alan-Michael and Brent. Now,
he is running and she can't get in touch with him. And she has no idea what
is up with Alan-Michael. Of course, it's obvious to Bridget and David. He is
still hung up on her. Lucy reminds them that it was Alan-Michael who dumped
her, not the other way around.

Alan-Michael at the office:

	He looks at Lucy's chair. Then, he notices her forgotten scarf. He
picks it up and sniffs it. Then he goes to the elevator with no scarf
visible. [Search me.]

Looks like this is the end! Tune in next week for the next Underdog!



