" Hey, man." " Hey, man." "I, uh..." "I really liked what you said in the meeting earlier." "Oh." "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah, I actually wrote it down." "Hold on one second." ""Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."" " Man, that really resonated with me." " Oh, good." "Yeah, I..." "I didn't come up with it." "I just, uh... it felt pertinent." "How much, uh..." "how much time you got?" "I, um... almost ten years." "Wow." "Tell me it gets easier." "No, but you do get used to how hard it is." "I'm gonna write that one down, too." "You new here?" "To the program or... or, uh, to Venice?" "Either." "Yeah, both, actually." "I'm so new, I don't even have a sponsor yet." "Well, talk to Cesar." "He's got a list with names on it." " Is your name on it?" " No." "Why not?" "So, what brought this on?" "You haven't sponsored anybody in a long time." "Yeah." "Uh, not officially." "Certainly not a dude." "Yeah, I don't know." "I guess I just, uh... he asked for help." " Oh." "Well, good for you, man." " Yeah." "Hey, you know what?" "Truth is, I also kind of thought that it would help me, too, you know, to be of service and..." " You all right?" " Yeah, man." "I guess I've just been feeling a little..." "a little burdened down, you know." "Yeah." "You know, just with Tilly and Kara and..." " The store?" " Yeah, the store." "So, have you thought about what you're gonna do?" "I don't know." "I guess I need to talk to the bank or something, you know?" "Talk to the bank?" "Seems to me like you need to rob one." " I'll get a business loan." " Yeah, with what?" "Uh..." "I have a business, and if they loan me the money, I'll have the building, too." "It's like collateral." "You don't know how business works, do you?" "Dude..." "it's a numbers game, okay?" "It's like, uh..." "Venice is the hottest real estate market in the developed world right now." "Huh." "So, have you talked to... to London since we came back from Palm Springs?" " Uh... you know what?" "I haven't seen her." " Yeah?" "'Cause, you know, now that I've officially taken myself out of the equation, the statute of limitations comes into play." "Dude, dude." "I just... that is, like, the furthest thing from my mind right now." " Yeah?" " Yeah." " Oh, good, because, you know..." " You didn't mean it?" "No!" "No, I did mean it." "I just..." "There is something about her, you know?" " I just can't quite put my finger on it." " Probably 'cause she won't let you." "That... man." "It's a big job." "Are you nervous?" "I'm not nervous." "I'm just nauseous." "They own a lot of restaurants." "It's a big deal, potentially." "You know what?" "I've got something for you." " For me?" " Yeah." "Come on." "It'll help." "You'll really like it." "What..." "What is it?" " It's my jacket?" " Yeah." "Yeah." "Let's see." "It looks good on you." "Yeah." "That's why I bought it." "Yeah, but I just haven't seen you wear it for a while." "Because I lent it to you 18 months ago." "You look like a sommelier." "I am a sommelier." "And now, you look like one." " Claire!" "Oh, my God!" " Hi." " Here, let me get this." " No, no, no." "I got this, man." "I got it." " Please, come on." " What the fuck is this?" "What?" "Ten bucks for two coffees." "Since when do you pay for Free Coffee?" "Oh, no, man, I..." "I can't..." "I can't keep..." " I can't take advantage like that." " You're not, man." "It's on the house." "All right, well, at least let me pay for Topher." "All right, but I don't like it." "All right, man." "So, what's going on with you?" " I don't know, man." "Just lately, I've..." " Hey, Chip." " Hey, you." " Chip." "Hey, you, too." " I heard about you and Kara." " Yeah, it sucks." "I, um..." "I honestly wish I had been more of a gentleman, you know?" "Aww, that's sweet." "I'm sure she knows that." " I'm Topher." " Oh, yeah." "Sorry." "This is..." " Oh, hi." " Hey." "Hey." " I'm Topher." " Yeah, man." "They got that." "Okay." "Well, see you, guys." "Come on." " Dude." " What?" "Seriously?" "She put it on a platter for you." "Oh, yeah." "Yeah, yeah, she's cool." "Yeah, she is." "I like this place, man." "It's like a..." "like an online community but in real life, you know?" " Like a community." " Yeah." "Shit." "Hey, man, uh, you've really got to get a cell phone." "Uh..." "Look, it's Kara." "She needs..." "She's at the police station." " There's girls on every corner out here." " Yeah, I know, man." "Listen..." "Tell me, what's going on?" "You were saying you're feeling kind of..." " Where, uh, where's the other one?" " Oh, Cheech?" "He volunteers once a week." " What?" " Yeah, man." "Down at the animal hospital just to help keep the other dogs in check and shit." " How did he volunteer?" " He put his name down on the list, man." " He can write?" " No, I did that part, Chip." " You can write?" " Dude, are you sitting down?" " What is this, a telephone conversation?" " Guess who's got a hot date tonight?" " You." " Me!" "I swear to God, man." " She lost a bet or..." " Funny, man." "No." "She lost her husband, actually." "Tragic, man." "She's a widow." "So, dude is fully dead." " Well, I know what "widow" means." " Think about it, though, dude." "No matter what happens, there's no way she can get back together with her ex." " Dude is dirt." "Perfect sitch." " Oh, man, you get all of the good ones." " Right?" " Right." " What's your deal, son?" " Oh, we... we just met." "Shit out..." "I gotta split." "Jesus." "Am I the only one who's not hooking up in this town?" "Ah, don't worry." "He's not hooking up." "Hey, man, are you at the police station?" "You better be." "I don't have time for this." "Not today." "It's..." "So, not long to go now." "Are you nervous?" " There's not going to be a wedding." " Oh, shit." "I'm sorry." "I..." "No, it's okay." "We postponed it." "Or..." "I postponed it." " What happened?" " Nothing." "I just..." "I needed time to think." "I just needed to, you know, sort myself out, and it wasn't fair, and he's been great." "I just, um..." "I don't know what I'm..." "I don't know what I'm doing here." "Claire, look..." "It's okay to be happy." "You know, all of those feelings of guilt and anger and sadness?" "They'll still be there." "Don't worry." "The happiness just balances it out." "Unless you're open to that, you're not going to heal." "Or you could just get pregnant." "Worked for me." " Cool spot." " Yeah." "Thanks." "It used to be." "Venice, that is." "When I first moved here, we called it "Menace."" "Now, look at it." "It's so high-end." " How many stores do you own?" " Um..." "Just the... yeah, just the one." "Okay." "So, you sell a lot of this stuff online?" "Not... not... not really." "Not... no." " But that's not what I do." " Oh." "How do you keep the doors open, man?" "I mean..." "I don't want to be a dick or anything, but rent here is obscene and you..." "What, you sell stools?" "No." "I make stools." "That's it?" "Yeah, that's it." "But it took a lot of hard work to get here." "But I did it." "I stripped it down to the bare essentials... of life, I guess." "That's what the stool's all about." "Whoa." "Three legs." "The minimum needed to stand up." "Anything else..." "would just be superfluous." "I wish I was able to do something like this with my life." "You can." "No, I doubt it." "It is quite complicated." "Tell me about it." "I'm sorry, man, but I gotta get back to the office." " Tell me about it on the way." " Okay." "Fuck it." " Hey." " Dennis, what are you doing here?" "Well, I..." "I know." "You were expecting Chip." "So, what?" "He sends you?" "No, he didn't send..." "he wasn't available." "Uh, so... and it sounded like you were in trouble." " At least his jacket's here." " This is my jacket." "He borrowed it." "What are you doing here?" "What happened?" "It's fucking bullshit." "I had a stupid accident." "I crashed into this..." "I don't even know what you call that." "Where the fuck is Chip?" "Chip?" "What... what can Chip do?" "He knows that cop." " George?" " Yes." "'Cause this fucking asshole wants to press charges on me." " I know George." " You do?" "Well, I'm not his favorite, but..." "Whoa." "You work here?" "I know, right?" "It's ridiculous." "Eighteen months ago, it was me and my ex-girlfriend in a fucking basement." "Nothing but two laptops and incompatible personalities." "It just happened so fast." "Everything got so distorted." "Uh-huh." "He just walked in." "Just like..." "I didn't know who I was, but I suddenly had a lot more friends, that's for sure." "Yeah, I bet they came out of the woodwork." "Toph', there you are." "Even my real friends were like, "Toph', I got a phenomenal startup idea." "All I need is just a little bit of capital."" " They took advantage." " Mm-hmm." "Made me cynical." "Chief, I'm..." "I'm so sorry to interrupt." "I really need you to look at this for one second." " Please, don't call me "Chief."" " Sorry, Ch... opher." "Uh..." "This is the shit we gotta strip back to the bare essentials." " What?" " He knows." "Hey, Christopher Gaines." "Vice President, multi-platform development." "Chip." "We could learn a lot from this guy." "He's a stool-maker." "Oh, yeah?" "Uh, what's a stool?" "It's a piece of furniture." "Oh, you mean... you mean an actual, like, a "stool" stool that you sit on?" "Listen, Chip, I'm going to have to take care of this." "I'm really sorry, man." "No, of course." "Yeah, I get it." "Totally." "No, don't... don't sweat it." " Okay, but I'll..." "I'll call you later." " I don't have a cell phone." "Yeah, we're going to have to take care of that." " Done." " All right." "Good hang today, buddy." "Yeah." "All right, brother." "Hey, you know, Toph'... you know, if you're up for an early dinner," "I know this great place I think you'll really like." "Yeah, that sounds great." "Isn't he cool?" "Okay." "Take it easy." "See you, guys." "I know, but if we could just push back the tasting just an hour." "Yes." "Yes, oh, I appreciate that." "Thank you, man." "I... you know, I just want to give the wine enough time to settle." "Nice jacket." " George, I am..." " Save it." "Okay." "It was an accident." " Were you drunk?" " For fuck's sake..." "Were you drunk?" "Answer the question." "No!" "Hey, just so you know, this is..." "this is mine... this is my jacket." "All right." "So, it looks like we can get the charges dropped." " Great." "Thank you." "That's awesome." " But you have to apologize." " I'm sorry." " Not to me." "To the guy?" "But he's an asshole." "You apologize to the guy, and then you work out the damages." " How much?" " I don't know." "That's between you and mister, uh..." "what's the dude's name?" "You know." "No, Gomez, I don't know." "That's why I'm asking you." "No, that's his name. "Uno."" " Like a one-word name." " You mean like Bono?" "Um, I guess." "This individual is a multi-form industrial reuse sculpturist." "You hit a piece of his from a series called "Kinetic."" "This fucking place." "All right, you go to Uno and you make it right." "You got it?" " Got it." " Good." " Come on." "I'll give you a ride." " You're gonna be late." "I know." "Here we are." "Why are you doing this?" " What?" " This." "You don't owe me anything." "What?" "What, I can't just..." "I can just help out, can't I?" "This is Chip's mess." "I'm Chip's mess." "Yeah, well, Chip wasn't around." "He never is." "He's a selfish asshole." "Kara..." "You know what's funny?" "You think you need to be just like Chip, but the truth is, Chip needs to be more like you." "Thanks." "Bye." "Hey!" " Hey!" " Hey!" "Just you, or...?" "No, I'm..." "I got a friend..." "um, acquaintance joining me." " Oh." "What's her name?" " His name, actually." "Oh, right." "Sorry." "I was just..." "No, no, no." "I was just..." "He's, um... he's actually a kid I know from... from A.A." "He seemed a little lost, and so I thought I should become his sponsor." " Cool." "Good for you." " Yeah, well..." "Thanks." "It's weird." "I..." "I thought he was just this regular kid." "It turns out he's, like, a super rich tech dude." "Is he single?" "Yeah, he is, he's very single." "Yeah, I think he might want to invest in my store." "Wow." "That's the feeling I get, but I'm just not sure it's right, you know, just ethically, from an A.A. standpoint." "Yeah, I don't know." "It sounds all right to me." " Yeah?" " I'd better go." " Okay." " Okay." "What the fuck, dude?" "That was the best one yet." "Is that your girl?" "Yeah." "I mean, no." "I mean, she's not my..." "She's not my "girl" girl." "She's just..." "She's a friend." "She rents the studio above my store." "Whoa." "Fuck!" "Thank you." "Well, hey, man, I, uh, I got you something." "Dude, if you pull out a ring and get down on one knee, I'm gonna lose it." " What?" " No, just..." "Oh, no." "It's not that." "It's, uh... so you can call me for the program." "Oh, right." "Yeah." " Thank you." " Yeah." "Man, I fucking love this place, dude." "Yeah, yeah." "The, um, food's great here." "No, I was talking about Venice." "Although, I do love it here, too." "Yeah." "Well, no, it..." "Venice works for me." "I mean, it used to." "I don't know if it still does." "It's..." "I kind of feel like I need a change of scenery." "Really?" "The scenery looks, uh, pretty good to me." "I don't know." "It just seems like it's changing so much, you know?" "It's like a..." "like it's lost its moral character." "You mean like the rich people coming in?" "That's good for you, though." "You'll sell more stools." " Yeah, but then I have to make more." " Yeah." "That's how business works." "That's not the point." "The point is... that's not who I am." "Hey." "Are you going to introduce me to your acquaintance?" "Um, yeah." "London, um, this is my good friend Topher." " Hey." " Hey." " You guys didn't get drinks?" " Uh, no, not... not yet." " Arnold Palmer?" " Yeah." "That'd be great." " And what can I get you, Topher?" " That's me." "Hi." "He'll have an Arnold Palmer." "Yeah." " I'm going to have an Arnold Palmer." " Okay, cool." "Fuck!" "Hey, man, I want to ask you something, but I don't want it to seem like I'm being opportunistic" " or trying to take advantage of our..." " Friendship?" "Right!" "Right." "New friendship." "But, if you ever wanted to, and it seems like you don't, but just in case you do, if you ever wanted a partner, please let it be me." "I have zero to offer except for cold hard cash, but, trust me, I would just want to let you do what it is that you do..." " Make stools." " Help people." " Help people." " And make stools." "Look, it's... it's just a furniture store." "It's got nothing to do with whatever it is that... that you do." "Yeah, but that's what I like." "It's real." "I need something real." "Don't you understand?" "This... this is real!" "Chip, this is real!" "I need real." "If you think that it'll help you stay sober, then..." "Yes." "Chip, thank you." " How'd it go?" " Um..." "Yeah." "Great, actually." "Uh..." "And thank you." " I didn't do anything." " No, you did." "You did." "You helped by..." "well, just by being you." " By being me?" " Yeah." "You know, just..." "What part of me was the most helpful?" "Oh, uh, good question." "I would say your smile." "No, don't." "Don't cover it up." " No?" " No." "It's one of your best attributes." " One of...?" " Well, yeah." "Don't make me start listing them off." "We'll be here all night." "Well, I just finished my shift, so..." "Uh..." "Well... your eyes are off the charts." "The eye charts?" "The eye charts, the pop charts, the pie charts." "All the charts." " I'm sorry." "I can't." " Yeah." " Sorry." " No, it's not fair to Dennis." " To Dennis?" " Yeah." "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "To Dennis." "I'm sorry." "No, it's okay." "Chip!" "Chip, are you in there?" "Of course you're not in there." "Why the fuck am I yelling?" "This is stupid." "Hey, man." " Hey." " How'd it go?" "It didn't." "Why?" "What happened?" " I don't want to talk about it." " Are you sure?" "'Cause... that's what people usually say when they do want to talk about it." "Or, at least, they need to." "Yeah, but I don't." "Okay, well, uh, I'm here if you need me, man." "What, man?" "Come on, this is me." "I care what's happening in my friend's life." " Are you my friend?" " What's that supposed to mean?" "I called the store earlier and no one answered." " I wasn't there." " Yeah, I know." "Then I went by there." " I wasn't there then either." " I know." "I went..." "I went to get a bite to eat." "I took that kid, Topher." " Oh." "The kid from the meeting?" " Yeah." "London was there." "And it got weird." "It's..." "I don't even know how it happened." " What, you kissed her?" " What?" "No!" "No, man." "No." " I mean, yeah, we kissed, but..." " Fuck you, Chip!" "Come on, let me finish, man." "No, no, no." "Listen, I pulled back." "Because of you, man." "I didn't want to upset you." "It's..." " It's bullshit." " It's the truth." "You know what?" "Kara was right about you." " Wait." "Whoa, whoa, whoa." "Kara?" " Yeah." " What did..." "What did she say?" " You are a selfish asshole!" "Is she okay?" "Yeah, man." "She's okay." "You see, she called me looking for you, but you weren't around." " I was helping Topher." " If I know you, you were helping you." "You know what, man?" "I don't want to do this anymore." " Do what?" " This, man." "Us." " I don't know." " Dennis, come on." "This is stupid, man." "Don't be stupid!" "What the fuck is that?" "What?" "That." "Oh." " Oh, yeah, I..." " You have a fucking cell phone?" "It's a..." "Hey, Topher!" "Hey, man!" "Yeah." "Yeah, it's working great." "No, I know." "I'm really excited, too, man." "I'm really excited, too." "Yeah." "You know what?" "Can I call you right back?" "It's just..." "Okay." "All right." " Topher." " You're a fucking asshole." "Come on, man." "He..." "He gave it to me." "Dude, he gave it to me." "It was..." "Welcome to the palace of dreams." "Oh, it smells like man in here." " I'm going to mix us up some cocktails." " Okay." "Sorry about those books." "They're not mine." " Shit!" "Fuck!" "Shit!" " Oh, shit!" "Chip!" "Sorry, man." "I didn't know you had company." "I told you I had a date tonight, man." "I'm sorry for your loss." " You told him?" " Um, uh..." " I mentioned it." " What the fuck is wrong with you?" "Hey, I had to tell him for context." "Context!" "Wait!" "You said he wanted you to be happy." "Sorry, man." "Oh, man." "That's all right." "Don't worry about it." "Hey, man, what are you doing here?" "Dennis and I had a fight." "You want to play Xbox?"