"Fuck." "Oh, shit." "Yeah, I did for a..." "Hey, um, it's Chip." "So, I must be doing something wrong 'cause I can't seem to get through to you." "Goddamn it." " Hey, Chip." " Hey." " Wasn't sure if you got my message." " How can I be of service?" "Yeah, that... no, no, no." "This is more of a real life problem." "Oh, you want to talk about the store?" "Yeah, and about your friend who lives above the store." " London?" " Yes, London." "Hey!" "Don't stop!" "Keep going!" "Come on!" "Keep your back straight!" " Sorry." " Let's go!" "You're, um..." "helping your buddy move, or...?" "No, way, man." "This is his gym." "You've never heard of boxercising?" "It's the best way to get symmetrical muscle definition." "And work experience, right?" " Let's go!" " Oh, man." " So, how well do you know her?" " London?" "Yeah, I know her a little bit." "Do you know her well enough to ask her out?" "Oh." "It's actually kind of complicated." "No, I meant for me, not for you." "Right." "You want me to ask her out for you." "Yeah." "What?" "You know I could float it by her." "I can't make any promises." "Okay." "Well, I should get back to this." "Yeah." "I've got to get back to my store, so..." "Our store." " Do I need to follow up on that?" " No, no." "Don't even worry about it, brother." "I talked to my guy." " Things are looking good." " Good." " So, then should he talk to my guy?" " Oh, who's your guy?" "Well, me." "I'm my guy." "No, he's going to talk to me and I'm going to talk to you, okay?" "We've still got a lot of numbers to look through." "Right." "Good." "Yeah." "That's what I'd do." "Good business." "Fucking Cooler, man." "He set us up." "This is..." "Come on, Dennis." "Come on, man." "We're here." "Let's just..." "Let's talk." "No, that's not going to cut it!" "Not this time, man." " Whoo!" " Whoa." "Cooler, don't-don't..." "What's up, dudes?" "Wait, wait, wait, wait." "Come on, man." "Wait, man!" "Dude..." "Why... just..." "let's..." "When you think about it, guys, like..." "The world right now, dude, it's just not going to be able to, like..." "Look around!" "I mean, Venice is different, and you dudes are the same." "So, be dudes." "Like, we're all dudes here." " Well put, Cooler." " Thank you, man." "Like, you can't let a friendship die just because of some random, like, hot and really intellectually..." "Her legs are amazing, but, like, you can't..." "That's too cliché even for you two assjobs." "Who initiated?" " What?" " Did you kiss her or did she kiss you?" " I don't know, man." " You were there, man." "Somebody made the first move." "Was it you or her?" "It was a tie." "See, that's what I'm talking about." "You can't even give me a straight answer." "It was a tie, man." "That's the truth." "It is!" "But I'm not going to lie to you." "I wanted to do it." "In the moment, I did, but the second I did it, I knew it was wrong and I came straight to you." "I didn't have to, but..." "I had to, you know?" "I value our friendship." "Yeah, well, friendship's supposed to be 50/50." "Lately, it's more like 90/10." "Would you take 60/40 maybe?" " Not now, Cooler." " Cooler, shut the fuck up." "I didn't know that you felt that way." "Yeah, well, I do." "You know what?" "Lately, I feel a lot like I'm your..." " Wife?" " Cooler!" " What the fuck?" "No, Cooler!" " Shut the fuck up." "Shut the fuck up." "You know, you wanted London from the very first moment I laid eyes on her, and not only that, you wanted me to absolve you of your guilt for going after her." " Dennis, look..." " No, man, you can't deny that." "There's no other way to interpret it." " I guess I just..." " What?" "Nothing." "That's it." "I fucked up." "You are my friend." "I don't know, man." "We can just rally if you're..." "too sad to play a full game." "Oh, Jesus!" " What the fuck did you put in this?" " Yeah, man." "Jesús..." "Where's Miguel?" "¿Por qué?" "Le puso la pistola a su primo." "Sounds like he got locked up for pulling a pistol on one of his homies." "A cousin." "We need to talk to this cousin, see if we can get these charges dropped." "Yeah." "Whoa." "So, the stuff in here is, like, super expensive, huh?" "Yeah, yeah." "Some of it is." "You got a bottle of that stuff in there, go for a thousand bucks easy." "Fuck." "Well, don't give that shit to Uno." "He's an asshole." "No, I wouldn't." "It's not going anywhere." "It's got a lot of sentimental value." " Oh, yeah?" " Yeah." "What was her name?" " Celeste." " Celeste." "She sounds hot." "Yeah, yeah." "No, that... that wasn't the problem." "Thanks." " I owe you big time for this, Dennis." " Oh, yeah, sure." "Yeah." "Happy to do it." "I mean, I don't know how or when I'm going to be able to pay you back..." "No, no, no." "Don't sweat it." "Seriously, I'm glad I could be of service." "Chip would have never taken the time to do this." "Yeah, well, Chip's a complicated guy." "You don't have to stick up for him, Dennis." "I know." "I'm not." "So, the other night, we had a fight." "What happened?" "Did you guys break up?" "We got into it." "It got ugly, I guess, but we... we talked it out just now, and I said what I needed to say and I was very direct." "Yeah, well, how did he lie himself out of that one?" "Well, to his credit, he didn't." "Bastard actually copped to it." "After I was done laying into him, he just stood there and said that he was sorry, like a little kid." "I kind of felt like a dick." "Yeah, well, no one says sorry better than a drunk." "They get so much practice, I guess." "Yeah." "Hey, man." "Hey, uh, I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry that, like, you and Dennis didn't..." "it didn't work out so well today." " Yeah." "Me, too." "Me, too." " Yeah." "I mean, it's a shame that it didn't happen like "today" today." " You want me out of here?" " It's... dude, not like that." "It's just that I have people coming over from Save Venice because I accidentally volunteered this place as, like, headquarters." "Otherwise, they'd be at Spikey's fucking Winnebago and he falls asleep early." " It's..." " You know what?" "Can I... can we just..." " Do you mind?" "You know, out there." " Oh, yeah, yeah." "Sure." "Listen, man, um..." "If it's space that you need, uh, you're free to use my store." " Oh, shit." "Really?" " Yeah, man." " That's... fucking awesome, man." "Thanks." " Yeah, of course." "No problem, man." " Wow." " Okay?" " Okay." "Yeah." " All right." "I'm just going to..." "I've got to use the..." "Yeah." "You know, I've got to say, dude, that... that your kind offer is now going to seem a little bit like I am ungrateful with this next part, but please be advised that I already thought about what I'm going to say." "Right." "It's just... it's been really cool having you crash on my couch." "Dude, do not mention it." "It's been helping me out too, so..." "Awesome." "Well, cool." "Um, but, uh, I have bills to pay." " You want me to pay rent?" " No, no." "God, no." "Whoa." "Absolutely not." "Just, like, incidentals, like toilet paper or remote control batteries or, like, food, man." "Oh, dude." "Food." "Come on, you know that I'd never eat here." "I know, but, um... the watermelon..." "Watermelon?" "Yeah." "That, man." "That cost three bucks, Chip." "Is that the watermelon that was in your fridge?" " Yeah, and it's gone!" " Yeah... because you ate it." " No, I didn't." " You woke me up." "No." "No, I would remember if I ate a watermelon, Chip." "It was the middle of the night, and there you were, and you were beard deep in watermelon." "No, there's no way, dude." "You don't remember because you were so high." "You kept saying over and over again, "I am so high right now."" " I sleep-ate a whole watermelon?" " Yeah." "And then, you polished off what was left in Chong's bowl." "And then, you were saying, "I can't believe that nobody's thought of putting these two foods together."" " That together they constitute..." " A super food delicacy!" "Yeah, man." "That is me!" "Bro, that is me, dude." "Yeah." "Your story checks out." " You're a good friend to me, man." " Okay." "Whoa." "You really knocked the shit out of this thing, huh?" "That's not the one I hit." "This one." "Oh." "Look, this one's actually called "Dent." It seems like he should be paying you." " Yeah." " Dennis." "Yeah." " Dennis Robinson." " Yeah, that's me." "It's me, man." "Chris Flanders." "Oh, Flanders!" "Hey!" "Shit." "Yeah, I thought that was you, but with the mask..." "So, you're "Uno" now?" " One and only." " Right." "Yeah, Chris... uh, Uno and I went to high school together." "Good times, man." "How's Jackie?" "She's good, man." "Wow." " So, you're here to say you're sorry." " Yeah." "I'm..." "I'm really sorry." "Sorry." "Yeah, we thought that this might help soften the blow, you know?" "To the art world." "Apology accepted." "That's the spiritual damage taken care of, but, unfortunately, I'm an artist." "And commerce is what allows me to do what I do." "Okay." "How much for the commerce side?" " A thousand bucks." " What?" "Wha...?" "A grand for that?" " It's ruined." " Is it?" " It's not supposed to sway." " I don't have a thousand dollars." "Hey, look, Chri..." "Uno." "You got the wine." "That's five hundred bucks right there." "Yeah." "All right, because it's you." "Shoot me another five bills..." " ...we'll call it quits." " Great." " I still don't have five hundred dollars." " That's okay." "Thanks, Uno." "That's okay." " What an asshole." "Five hundred bucks?" " Yeah, that guy sucks." "Ew." "How long do you think his hand was in that glove?" "About a month." "Might have to break into your cellar to get a bottle of that expensive wine." "Yeah." "You know what?" "It could've been worse." "Good thing you remembered who he was." "I didn't." "I have..." "I've got, like, a double shift today." "See you later." "Belly of the beast, huh?" "Actually, it's guanciale." "Pig's jowl." "Right." "Um..." " Hey, listen, have you got a second?" " Yeah, sure." "Um..." "So, look, I don't know what the protocol is here, um... but, um... and you can definitely say no if... if you want to..." "What's the question?" "Well, it's more of a request or, like, a favor." " Just tell me." " Okay." "Um..." "Would you be at all interested in... going on a date with a friend of mine?" "With Dennis?" "With Topher." "The super rich kid who was in here." " Yeah." " Yeah, the other day." "You want me to go on a date with him?" "Well, he wants to go on a date with you, and, um..." "And what do you want?" "I..." "Um, God." "You know what?" "Forget it." "It was a terrible idea." " He wants to invest in your store?" " Yeah, but it doesn't matter." "It's... it's..." "Forget it." "It's okay." "I know that your store's important to you." "Yeah, I know, but it's not..." "no, it..." "I shouldn't have..." "I'll do it." " No, you don't have to." " It's just a date." "You'd be really helping me out, and you wouldn't have to do anything that you don't want to do." "Okay." "So, just a hand job?" "Yes, that would be great." "For Topher, not for..." "Oh, hey." "Hey, man." " Kara." " Chip." " Hey, Dennis." " London." "You two know each other, right?" " Yeah." " Yeah, we met at the, uh, store." " Yeah, I was looking for the router." " The router." "Yeah." "Right." "I remember that." " Is Sal upstairs?" " Yeah, I think so." " Yeah?" " Oh, you're here on wine business." "Oh, no." "No, actually, uh, Kara needed to scrape together a little extra cash." "So, I talked to Sal." "He got her some shifts here." "Cool." " You want me to bring you up?" " Yeah." "That'd be great." "Thanks." " Uh, want me to come or..." " No, I can handle it." " Yeah?" " Yeah." " You good?" " Yeah, I'm good." " I'll just wait down here." " Okay." "I'll wait down here, too." "Nice of you to help Kara out like that." "Yeah." "Yeah." "And, before you ask, no, nothing's going on." "I wasn't going to ask." "But in case you were going to ask, nothing's going on with me and London either." " No, I..." "I really wasn't going to ask." " Good." "Since no one's asking, I actually set London up on a date with my buddy Topher." "Oh, he's your buddy now." " The super rich tech gazillionaire..." " I didn't know that." "...you just happened to sponsor right when you needed a cash infusion." " Hey, honestly, that was news to me, man." " Huh." "The thing is, I can't even tell when you're lying anymore." "I don't think you can either." " How'd it go?" " I'm in." " Yeah?" " Yeah." "That's great!" "Do you want to get out of here?" " Yeah." " Good." "Um..." "Hey, uh... take care of yourself." "Yeah." " London seems nice." " Yeah, she is." "Very nice." " Didn't you and..." " No, no, no, we didn't." " What about Chip?" " Well, he says not." " So, that's a maybe." " Yeah, maybe." "Do you know what Chip told me about you?" "That I'm a very gentle lover?" "You had a crush on me." "I wish he hadn't said that." " You never did anything about it." " Well, I couldn't." " Because of Chip?" " No, because of you." " You were still in your first year." " Not anymore." " Oh, my God." " Oh, shit." " Spit it out." " It's stuck." "You okay?" " Thank you." " Are you okay?" "I think so." "Um... yeah, so..." "All right, guys." "Let me know if, uh, you need anything else." " I can, uh, be of..." " Yeah, man, what's the Wi-Fi?" " I don't know." "Cooler's got that info." " Okay." "Cooler." "Hey, man." "What's up with the Internet?" "Uh..." "What?" " Hey!" " Brother." "Hey, Toph... er." "What, uh... what's all this?" "Oh, um, they're... we're Save Venice." "Kind of like the gatekeepers of the vibe down here." "Cool." "Nice... nice duds." " Yeah?" " Yeah." " You like these guys?" " Yeah." "Hey, thanks for hooking me up with London." "I've got to tell you, I'm pretty excited." "I knew you weren't going to let me down, and..." "Happy to do..." "Happy to do it." "Do you want to come back here for a second?" "Yeah." " Hey." "Hi." " Oh, hey." " Sorry about the other night." " Hey, babe." " So, you talk to your guy?" " Uh, which guy?" "About the store." "Oh, yeah." "I just did, as a matter of fact." "Yeah." "And...?" "Nothing." "It's just..." "Oh, he's a funny dude." "Oh, great." "Yeah." " He, uh, he said the price was too high." " What?" "But you came to me." "You said you wanted something real." "And-and you get the building, too." "That's..." "Your guy is..." " He just didn't think it was worth it." " Well, what'd you say to him?" "I said, "Wait till you see the chicks down there."" " You told him about the vibe." " Yeah, a little bit." "More about the chicks, though." "I told him it's a small price to pay for pussy of that caliber." "Yeah." "Look, I'm not sure..." "London's not part of the deal." "Oh, I-I know." "Not officially." "Yeah." "Not unofficially, either." " I hear what you're saying." " I'm not sure you do." "Dude, you dangled her right in front of my face." "I introduced you to her, if that's what you mean." "I know what you mean." "You know what I mean." " We're saying the same thing here." " No, look, Topher..." "Dude, you asked her out on a date for me." "You knew exactly what you were doing." "You did what you had to do to make the sale." "You just sweetened the pot a little bit." "So, what do you say?" "Close the deal?" "I think it's time for you to find a new sponsor." "Okay." "Everything okay?" "Yeah." "No, I just, uh..." "Sorry." "Looks like you got all dressed up for nothing." "Well... here goes nothing." "I'm here to see the man of the house." " Ah, he's not here." " Where is he?" " Why don't you call him?" " Hey, hey." "Hey, man." "Hold on." " I thought you said he wasn't here." " He's not." "Why don't you call his fucking cell phone?" "Chip got a cell phone?" "Since when?" "Since he found out that his pigeon lays golden eggs." "Everything okay between you and Chip?" "Sure." "Yeah." "It's great." "Look, did you want his number?" " Is he drinking?" " "Is he drinking?"" " Do you know if he's been drinking?" " No." "Look, I don't know." "It's more about me cleaning up his messes, and that seems to be all I'm fucking doing lately and I'm fucking sick of it." "Oh, yeah." "Now, I see." "I get it." "No." "I get it." " Thank you." " No, I do." "I do." "I mean, it's not like the guy ever did anything for you, right?" "I mean, he took you, uh..." "first time to get detoxed, right?" "And then, he brought you to your first meeting." "And then, if I remember right, there was that whole stretch of 90 meetings in 90 days." "Am I right?" "But, aside from that... the guy's done fuck all for you, am I right?" " George, look..." " No, you look, Dennis." "Your boy's out there spiraling out and you're mad about what?" "That he fucked a piece of ass that you want?" " They just kissed." " Who gives a shit?" "It doesn't matter." "Do you hear me?" "It does not matter." "The only thing that matters right now is that you step up to the plate and that you get over whatever real or imagined injustices Chip has committed against you, and you stick your hand out there, and you be a friend the same way that he was to you." " Do you understand me?" " He doesn't need me, George." "Okay." "Okay." "Chip ever mention to you about that, uh... silver Honda that he's seen around?" " Looks like the one in the accident." " Yeah, he sees those all the time." "Yeah, well..." "This one, London drives." "I checked her out." "And?" "It was her brother that Chip killed." "Fuck." "Whoa." "I did not see that coming." "You got that number handy?" "Do you need to get that?" "I've kind of got my hands full at the moment." "Maybe you should get it." "It could be important." "Considering nobody's got my number, I doubt it." "See?" "This is why I don't have a cell phone." "Hello?" "Hey, George." "What's going on?" "What are you doing?" "What?" "He was your brother?" " What?" " He was your brother?" "When were you going to tell me?" " Were you going to tell me?" " I wanted to." " But...?" " It never felt like the right time." "Even when I told you about the accident?" " That didn't seem like the right time?" " Chip, I don't know." "No, it..." "No." "I..." " It wasn't part of the plan." " The plan?" " No!" " What was... what was the plan?" "No, there was no plan." "There was no plan." "I was just confused." "You came here to find me." "I just..." "I wanted to know how..." "I needed to know how you lived with it." "So, you tracked me down?" "You got a job at my favorite restaurant." "You got close to my best friend, and then you rent my studio?" "I didn't know that was your favorite restaurant." " It's true." " And then this?" " Was this part of the plan?" " No." "This just happened." "No, it didn't." " Hey, man." " Hey, man."