""March 21, 1965." ""Students of Acadia High School embarked on a four-day walk" ""to coincide with Martin Luther King Jr.'s" ""March for civil rights." ""The movement was spearheaded" ""by the unlikeliest of candidates, band majorette and homecoming princess Laurel Sullivan."" "Cutie patootie, baton twirler, and rebel rouser?" "Laurel Limoges, you have been holdin' out on us." "Charlie, on voice mail:" "Hey, it's Charlie." "Leave a message." "Just call and apologize for being mean so we can be friends again." "Marco: you in here, my little sunny side up?" "Hey, Marco." "You ever going to tell me what all the clickety clacking is about, or am I going to have to wait online at Barnes  Noble with the rest of the riff raff?" "I told you, it's bad luck to talk about a work in progress." "But if I ever get around" "To cranking out a manuscript," "I promise, you will be the first to read it." "Oh, Rose wanted me to tell you" "That she's done with her reading and she's ready for your study session." "Great." "Was Sage there, too?" "Last I checked, there were no reports of pigs flying or hell freezing over." "You think there's any chance of Laurel paying off half of my student loans if I only get Rose into Duke?" "Right." "No flying pigs." "Hell's still burning." "Miss Baker." "How many times have I told you" "Never violate the vinyasa." "I am sorry." "There's a Patricia Kingston on the phone." "Shall I take a message or?" "Hello?" "Is this Sage Baker?" "Speaking." "This is Patty Kingston." "I was so delighted when my office told me that you called." "I'm so happy you returned my call." "Well, you know," "Nigel Barker is a good friend of mine." "He's photographed a few of my clients, and when he told me how fantastic you and your sister were at that photo shoot," "I thought to myself," ""I need to be in the Sage and Rose business."" "Well, we have a ton of ideas of how we want our career to go." "But we need someone to help us make the right choices and meet the right people." "Well, you just met the right people." "Look it, honey." "You sound smart and ambitious." "I like that." "Here's what I was thinking." "I have to fly back to New York at 3:00 tomorrow, but I would love to squeeze you two in for lunch?" "What do you say?" "Absolutely." "We'll be there." "Oh, yes!" "Thanks, Geraldine." "You know my name?" "Rose:" "I don't even know how to start a thesis." "Well, you are in luck because yours truly has saved every paper" "That she's ever done." "Let me show you the one that I did on Joan of Arc." "Ok, I don't know what's sadder." "That you keep all your papers, or that you wear that thing around your neck." "I brought this for you." "I'm not that big of a fashion victim." "Although, it does kind of match my cardigan." "Great." "You're here." "Oh, so nice of you to fit us in to your busy day, Sage." "I didn't." "I need to talk to Rose." "Anyway, you're not going to believe this, but we are having lunch with Patricia Kingston tomorrow." "Who's Patricia Kingston?" "Huge publicist." "Jessica Alba was going to wear this giant, ugly, purple thing to the VMAS Last year," "Patty Kingston was like, "no."" "Jessica was, like, "ok, cool."" "How do you know this stuff?" "Oh, everybody knows this." "What?" "!" "I cannot believe she wants to meet with us." "It's amazing, right?" "I mean, once we sign with her, we are officially on our way to mega stardom." "Uh, don't forget that you have a history test tomorrow, fifth period." "Right." "We're talking an hour." "Yeah, but you don't have Mr. Carp." "He wouldn't even give Lisa Lassek a hall pass when she was choking on her Swedish fish." "Look, I probably shouldn't miss this test anyway." "I cannot flunk out." "You're not gonna flunk." "I mean, he'll probably let you retake the test once you explain the situation." "The situation, of course, being that our dog died and we had to bury him." "We don't have a dog." "They don't know that." "Listen, Rosie." "When Patricia Kingston says she wants to do lunch, we do lunch." "Is this about her?" "No, it's just that- look, I actually studied for this test and I think it would be a complete waste just to skip it." "Please, don't be mad at me." "Ok, well," "I'm just going to scoot and let you guys work this out." "So..." "I can't believe you're not into this." "No, I am." "I can do it any time after school." "Can't we just move it?" "This is the only time she can do it." "And I can't ask to reschedule a meeting with the biggest publicist on the east coast." "It will look like we're blowing her off." "I guess I could just go myself." "Would you hate me?" "No." "It's" "It's fine." "Well, hey, you want an ice blended from the kitchen?" "I can have Marco make us some." "Um, no thanks." "I have to e-mail Patricia back now." "Ok." ""A contemporary feminist perspective of Joan of Arc by Megan Smith."" "Oh, honey." "Nerd much?" "Laurel's biography?" "What the hell?" "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." "I went for a run and I completely lost track of time." "Oh, no worries." "I got you covered." "Here, let me get that." "I tried to call, but." "Uh, you left your phone here last night." "I found it behind the bar." "And that's pretty much how my day's gone so far." "Which means it will be better tomorrow." "So, we're still on for dinner, right?" "What's wrong?" "Oh, nothing." "Um, Megan called, but she didn't leave a message." "Oh, well, why don't you just call her back?" "We're not really speaking these days." "It's a long story." "I'm sorry." "She's your best friend, right?" "It'll blow over." "Well, I say call her." "Bust it open." "I think the world would be a lot better if people could just stop beating around the bush, you know?" "Hi, um, I thought that you were at the Laffers for leukemia dinner tonight." "It's stand up for scoliosis." "And no." "That was last night." "Right." "Um, ok." "Well, uh, sorry for barging in then." "Actually, I'm glad you did." "I need you to sign my permission slip for that lunch I have tomorrow?" "You think I'm going to give you permission to skip school?" "In what universe?" "The one where I know you didn't get permission to do this." "Or this." "I hate to break it to you, but my grandmother is not a very big fan of surprises." "I hope you didn't spend too much time trying to plan this one." "Uh, what do you think you have over me?" "I don't know." "But I'm dying to find out." "Well, I will give you points for style and delivery, but just so you know," "I was already planning on telling Laurel." "Oh, really?" "Then you might want to run." "You wicked little..." "Whoa, whoa, whoa." "Where's the fire?" "I have to talk to Laurel." "It's an emergency." "Ok, well, unless the sky is falling, chicken little, you're not going to her in a panic." "You're right." "So, take a deep breath." "Talk to me." "Ok, you know how Laurel is a veritable model of classiness?" "Yes." "Epitome of glamour?" "Yes." "Beacon of success?" "Still with you." "And how amazing is it that a small town girl from Maine marries her high school sweetheart and then is left to fend for herself when hubby gets shipped off to war?" "Oh, and then he returns, they start up a small door-to-door operation that she eventually turns into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise." "Oh, wait!" "Hold on!" "I'm not even getting to the part where he dies, and then she's left to raise their daughter alone while she elbows her way through the ranks of the old boys' club, shattering the glass ceiling." "Pause." "Rewind." "Why are you telling me the story of Laurel's life?" "Because I want to write it." "A biography." "I'm a writer, remember?" "So you keep telling me." "Look, part of the reason that I wanted to work here was so that I could meet people that were worth writing about." "And who's more accomplished than Laurel?" "I mean, don't you think her story is the kind of inspirational tale that people want to read about these days?" "It depends." "What does Laurel think of this magnum opus?" "She doesn't know about it yet, which is why I need to talk to her pronto." "You're writing an unauthorized biography of Laurel?" "What?" "No!" "No, no." "No, no, no." "That is exactly what I am not doing." ""Unauthorized" conjures up images of Kitty Kelley and Dith Regan." "Nasty, nasty gossip, and I would never do that to Laurel." "Then, pray tell, what were you doing?" "I was researching and writing a proposal that I could present to Laurel when I was ready." "But the evil one found my notes, completely raw And unedited and then e-mailed them to Laurel before I got a chance to explain." "Yes, I see it now." "How it's a misunderstanding with a very simple explanation?" "And Laurel reads it on her blackberry while she's stuck in an airport in Tokyo." "Her meeting got pushed." "She'll be back tomorrow." "And you didn't think to mention that to me earlier?" "Because I wanted to hear the whole story myself." "And, ooh!" "It's a doozy." "I..." "Good luck with that one, sweet pea." "Iced tea means tea with ice." "So sorry." "Oh, no." "Um, I brought some photos if you want to see them." "I've seen them, and you were fabulous." "I mean, if the camera loves you this much, can you imagine what the public thinks?" "Ok, so." "How can I help you?" "Where do you see yourself in two years?" "I want to go the distance." "I don't want to be the hot, new thing one minute, and then totally burned out the next." "So, really, I want to be doing something cool, something relevant all the time." "Way beyond two years." "I love a client with some chutzpah, some moxie, right?" "Throw in some good old fashioned gumption, and we are talking superstar." "Great!" "So, what's the next step?" "Well, as soon as your sister arrives, we can go over the contracts." "Oh, Rose isn't coming." "What do you mean?" "She had a thing... a" " I'm not sure she's ready for all this yet." "She's really obsessed with school lately." "It's kind of annoying." "That's a problem." "I mean, I was under the impression" "I'd be working with two of you." "Maybe I can start first." "No, no." "You can't start first." "This is a business." "It's about branding." "The Olsens, the-the Hiltons." "That's a brand." "The Baker twins." "That's a brand." "I'm sure she'll get on board as soon as she sees what we're doing." "I hear what you're saying, but... take the Jonas Brothers." "All right?" "Can you really tell one mop of hair from another?" "No." "They're a package deal." "Listen, I-I'm sure that there's a publicist who'll work with you out there, but I gotta tell you," "I don't have the time to sell Rose Baker as a solo act." "I'm Sage." "My point exactly." "I'm sorry." "Oh, god." "I've gotta take this." "Will you call me when your sister gets on board?" "Patty Kingston." "No, more ice." "That's quite an assortment you've got there." "Marco told me about the book situation." "How much did he tell you?" "Enough." "How are you with a tranquilizer gun?" "Come on." "It's not that bad." "How could something so right seem so idiotic all of a sudden?" "This one time I put tinfoil in the microwave." "Genius at the start." "Bad idea in the end." "Don't think I'm buying your "I'm flawed, too" routine." "Look, if it's any consolation," "I did the same thing." "In fact, the first real pictures that I ever took?" "They're practically illegal." "Ok, if this is going to a naked school girl place," "I don't want to know about it." "Are you gonna let me tell the story?" "Sorry." "Go on." "So, I was at a party at a friend's house a few years back." "I mean, this place was ridiculous." "We had drinks coming out of our ears." "Oakenfold was spinning, it was bananas." "Every square inch of this place was covered with hot models and movie stars." "Naked movie stars?" "So, word gets out that the star quarterback for FSU. is there." "So, I sneak out to the guest house" "Naked football players?" "And there he is, holding court with all these corporate bigwigs, just charismatic as hell." "And I happen to have my Leica with me." "So, I just went crazy." "I started firing shot after shot." "Ok." "Pictures at a kick-ass party." "A book my boss doesn't know about." "See how they're not the same thing?" "Well, it's illegal for a college player to be seen with a commercial sponsor." "And I had rolls and rolls of this stuff, not to mention, I didn't have permission to take them." "So, what you're saying is, you're one of the FBI's most wanted?" "What I'm saying, is that your first work is always your best because it says something about you." "About what you see, what you care about." "Well." "Love the big share, but your ending is way better." "I mean, at least you have some cool pics to hang on the wall." "All I have is a bunch of research and a really pissed off boss." "Well, I could frame the research for you." "Look, you were inspired." "It's your first book." "Don't beat yourself up about it." "Miss Limoges is back." "She'd like to see you in her office." "Thanks." "Is it too late to jump off the balcony?" "I'd be very sad if you did." "Even though you are on the ground floor." "Dead man walking." "Laurel, I just" "It's an interesting read, to say the least." "I am so sorry." "Oh, I know how sordid and sinister and some other s-word this must seem." "Megan, Megan." "You are aware we have a privacy issue." "I know, but" "And this isn't exactly how I would like to have found out." "Believe me, this is not" "Bup, bup." "How long have you been working on this?" "Pretty much since I've been here." "And you never felt a need to discuss this with me?" "I was going to." "Absolutely, I was." "I just wanted to get it right before I ought it to you." "Well, you'll have to explain that to me." "Your story is amazing, Laurel." "If I thought that I could come to you and say," ""hey, I want to write a book about you," I would have." "But, you know," "I knew that I needed to have something to back it up." "I wanted to do my research." "Draw up an outline, write a few chapters." "Show you what I was capable of so you would know that your story was in good hands with me." "Well." "I always thought that my story was worth telling." "And I have to admit" "I'm thrilled that you do, as well." "Really?" "I see the creative spirit in these pages and, considering your way with words and your breezy rose" "You think I'm breezy?" "I'm willing to let you continue to work on the book." "Under my supervision, of course." "If that suits you." "I- that suits me awesomely." "I- it suits me well." "Really well." "I-I can't believe it." "Well, we'll start tomorrow, then." "Ok." "Are you ok?" "You seem a little out of it." "I'm sorry, I'm just..." "in a bad place right now." "Is this about your best friend?" "Do you want to talk about it?" "No, it's..." "This isn't really fair to you so maybe we should just walk away now." "No harm done." "Chock it up to bad timing." "Ok, we're doing that." "Listen, Mandy, you're a great girl." "Dude, it's ok." "You don't have to do the big speech." "I mean, we've only been on, what, three dates?" "If you're not into me, it's cool." "It's really a timing time." "Seriously, don't worry about it." "But, um, can we still finish dinner 'cause my pie is on its way, and I was looking forward to it." "Absolutely." "Ok." "All right, so I've got to ask, and since I got dumped two seconds ago," "I do feel like I'm entitled to a straight answer." "What is really going on with you?" "'Cause this fight with Megan's got you really wound up." "I sort of..." "You know." "You like her?" "Pretty much since high school." "End of high school, actually." "So it's been" "Six years." "Oh." "And you're laughing?" "Sorry." "It's just I had you pegged as this chill abercrombie guy, and you've got more drama going on than a sorority house." "What is that supposed to mean?" "Nothing." "I just find it weird that you've been in love with this girl for six years, and you haven't been anywhere near her for five of them." "My you're not really in love with her." "What?" "I mean, maybe the idea of it works for you- keeps you from having to get into anything serious with other chicks, makes your life easier." " Well, that's not" " And you still get to be a good guy because the only reason you can't commit is because you're all in love with someone else." "It's pretty slick, actually." "I'm not slick." "Ok, maybe not intentionally, but come on, if you were really in love with her, don't you think you would have found a way to tell her by now" "I don't know, it's just a thought." "Oh." "Holy crap, that looks good." "Oh, my god." "You've got to try this." "Um, I'm not-ok." "Wow." "Hey, how'd the meeting go this morning?" "Not great." "Patricia won't sign me by myself." "She'll only do it with the both of us." "Look, I want to do it." "I do." "I'll go tomorrow." "I told you, she's gone already." "Maybe I can call her." "If you want." "She's gonna want you to commit." "If Patricia books us a shoot in Milan, we have to go." "We can't turn down jobs because of some history test." "This is the real deal." "If we're gonna do it, we have to go all the way." "What do you mean, drop out of school?" "Of course not." "But if we want to do this right, it has to be our number one priority." "I'm pretty sure Miley Cyrus and Dakota fanning don't turn down movies for some stupid test." "Well, yeah, but I'm pretty sure they probably don't want to go to college anyway." "Neither do I." "What?" "It's not like we need a college degree for this." "What about all the studying we're doing to get into Duke?" "That's why I've been trying to get you to chill out over that stuff." "You think you're having a hard time now?" "College is only gonna get harder." "I know, but..." "Sage, I just thought we were gonna go to Duke together." "You know, we were gonna get a house in Durham, do all the things that mom wanted for us." "I don't know that she wanted that for us." "Maybe she would have thought we were crazy for passing up this opportunity." "Yeah, but we talked about this." "A million years ago, yeah." "But the more I think about it, the more college just seems like the thing that's going to keep me from doing what I really want to do." "Rose, listen, this is our big chance." "If you hate it, you can always bail out later and go to school without me." "But right now I need you to sign on." "So what do you say?" "Hello." "Sorry, am I late?" "I had to take my dad to the voting booth this morning." "No, you're right on time." "I was just going through it again before we sat down." "Oh, great." "I have to say, I am really excited." "So am I." "I do have a few changes to go through, but don't worry, I'll walk you through them." "Mm-hmm." "Ready." "We should open strong, put a few of my winning moments right at the top." "The first deal that I made with saks is a good one." "Also, the reward from the women's business council." "No, no, no, no." "Landing on Forbes list." "Now, that is a great one." "I want to hook the reader in." "Am I going too fast for you?" "Uh, no." "So, I have some wonderful news." "You know who Ronald Kessler is?" "Yeah, yeah, he wrote about Palm Beach in the season." "I read it from cover to cover." "He also wrote the biographies of Joseph P. Kennedy and George W. Bush." "Anyway, I gave him a ring, told him about our project, and he's willing to come on board." "On board?" "Yes, I thought it best to bring in someone with more experience, so I sent him your notes." "He had a lot to say, and I have to agree with his assessment." "So if you have it in front of you," "I will walk you through our thoughts." "Uh, ok." "Yes, you see this paragraph right here?" "It needs to be more concise." "You have too many words." "You need to get to the point sooner?" "Ok." "You know what, just hand it to me, would you?" "What, this?" "Yes, it'll be easier if I go through it and you look over my shoulder." "Ok." "Now, I can understand why you wanted to highlight the hardships I've endured, but I don't know, a lot of it just feels sappy." "It's just too sentimental." "And there's entirely too much emphasis on my husband and family." "I'd like to step away from that." "I was just, you know, trying to put it into context." "Ahh, the whole thing is feeling muddled." "I thought it was breezy." "After 35 years in business, there is one lesson that has never failed me." "When the road is treacherous, take a different one." "Voila." "We'll start from scratch." "It may look daunting now, but, Megan Smith, tomorrow is a new day." "Fresh eyes in the morning." "I mean, can you believe the audacity?" ""We'll start from scratch." "Fresh eyes in the morning."" "I mean, three months of research." "three months of blood, sweat, and tears, and it's just... she throws it all away in one click." "I know it's not your idea but think of it this way, you're working with Laurel on it, which means that you are a hell of a lot closer to getting your first book published." "This isn't even my book." "I mean, for all I know, she's gonna hire some hoity toity writer guy to write it instead." "She asked you to meet up in the morning to start over." "All right, obviously, she wants to work with you and your fresh eyes." "Question for you... and promise you won't hurt me?" "Fine." "It's the story of her life." "What's so different about her version and the one that you want to do?" "Uh, my version is cool." "I mean, she wants the whole book to be about her business success." "She wants to get rid of all the personal stuff." "Well, successful people are pretty controlling about their image." "I'm not trying to mar her image." "If anything, I'm trying to put in events and relationships in her life that make her more real and more relatable to people." "This book was supposed to be my vision." "You know how E.E. Cummings didn't like to capitalize?" "That was his vision." "I mean, I'm sure people were all like, "hey, E.E., your grammar sucks."" "but he didn't care." "You want to know why?" "because he had artistic integrity." "After you publish, you can have as much integrity as you want." "Until then, suck it up, yalie." "It's called compromise." ""Compromise" is a fancy word for losing." "Megan, this is a huge moment for you." "And I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but it is." "And you're gonna make the most of it." "I have faith in you." "Well, cut it out." "Hi, Charlie." "If this is another scheme you and your sister are cooking up, we're kind of crazed right now." "Oh, no, no, it's not like that." "Look, ok, I just really needed an objective opinion from an older person, and, well, you're like the oldest person I know who doesn't work for me." "It's a weird little world you live in, Rose." "Look, I promise I'll talk really fast, ok?" "Ok, what's up?" "Well, you didn't go to college, right?" "Uh, I did, but I didn't finish." "So you-you don't think college is such a big deal?" "Oh, I didn't say that." "I think it's a really big deal, actually." "Well, yeah, I thought so, too." "And I really wanted to go where my parents went, but now Sage is all focused on her big career, and I don't even know if she wants to go anymore." "So?" "So I thought me and Sage, we were gonna do everything together." "Ok, well, let's take Sage out of the equation for a minute and focus on you." "What do you want?" "I want to be with Sage." "But you also just said you wanted to go to college." "Yeah, but that's when I thought Sage was gonna be with me." "I get it." "I felt the same way when Megan left for school." "What do you mean?" "Well, we were practically inseparable growing up." "Always in trouble for some thing or other." "We broke into a zoo once." "It was awesome." "What?" "I cannot picture Megan doing anything bad." "She's so..." "Discipliney." "And she was then, too." "After I'd drop her off, I'd go home and sleep, but she must have stayed up studying or doing homework, because all of a sudden she got into Yale." "And I was like, how did that happen?" "I thought we were in this together." "So she just bailed on you?" "Well, it wasn't like that." "She was thinking ahead." "And I..." "I wasn't thinking at all." "Maybe it's good that sage is telling me all this in advance, you know." "Because I would be way more screwed if she just all the sudden was gone." "Not that you're screwed." "Are you screwed?" "You mean because I still have the same job I had when I was your age?" "It's possible." "I'm not exactly kicking the world's ass." "But I don't know, man." "It's hard to figure out what you want to do with your life." "I'd say you're ahead of the curve." "At least you're thinking about it." "Did you guys really break into a zoo?" "We were young, we needed the money." "Oh, screw it." "Laurel Limoges, you will thank me later." "I'm gonna write this my way." "Charlie?" "Hey, did I wake you?" "No, no, no, I" "Wow, I overslept." "We need to talk." "But I don't want to do it over the phone." "Can I come over after my shift?" "Yeah, I'll be here." "Hey, did you have a good ride?" "It was fine." "Ok, so I've been thinking about everything." "And I'm just curious, if-if I agreed to sign on with Patricia, how do I still get into Duke?" "Easy." "If you get stuck, I'll help you with your homework." "Yeah, but you always go through everything so fast." "I never really learn anything." "So you turn your assignment in on time and learn it later." "Done and done." "Yeah, but..." "What happens when it's time for the SATS?" "I mean, you can't just take those for me, too." "Ok, you're acting like you want to find a solution, but clearly you don't." "No, I do." "It's just..." "I don't know if I can do all this and the publicity." "Are we gonna do this again?" "'Cause I am so sick of you worshipping at the altar of Megan Smith." "What is that supposed to mean?" "You've been acting all righteous ever since her and her blend ass waltzed into this house." "Why is it every time I tell you" "What I want to do, you blame her?" "Because you never used to be like this." "And it is so sad watching you play study buddy with her." "That girl is here for one reason: to get paid." "I'm not gonna listen to this." "She doesn't care about you." "She certainly doesn't care about me." "She doesn't care?" "What about you?" "All the sudden it's like all you care about is this career thing." "I mean, screw everything and everyone else, including me." "What are you talking about?" "This whole time I've been asking you to do this with me." "Only because you can't do it without me." "Look, if Patricia would take you on by yourself, you'd do it, wouldn't you?" "Yep, that's what I thought." "God, and what sucks is that you are completely cool with it." "You're practically dancing your way out of here." "That is not true." "But obviously I can't change your mind about college." "And I'm not willing to give this up." "Yeah, but you're willing to give me up." "Thanks a lot." "Oh, my god." "Sorry." "Doesn't anyone knock anymore?" "The door was open." "What's going on there, jumpy?" "I did something bad." "Something terribly, inexcusably bad." "What happened?" "What did you do?" "I decided to go with my gut on the book." "I figured Laurel was a strong-minded woman and she didn't get to where she is by being a pushover, so if I was going to earn her respect," "I needed to speak up and stand by my ideas." "Ok." "And since I still felt that the book needed a little more oomph," "I decided to do more research." "And?" "I found something that I shouldn't have." "What do you mean?" "All of this time I thought Laurel wanted to stay away from the personal stuff because she thought it was too girly or sentimental or just because she wanted to have it her way, but now I know something that I am sure she does not want anyone finding out." "What did you find?" "I can't tell you." "Well, maybe you shouldn't tell her." "Just pretend like you don't know." "I'd feel guilty." "I mean, after all that she's done for me, all the opportunities that she's given me." "I owe it to her to be honest." "Megan." "Good luck." "Hey, Geraldine." "Is Laurel available?" "She'll be back later this afternoon." "I can squeeze you in before her conference call at 4:00." "Oh, that'd be great." "Thank you." "I am so sorry." "I do not want to fight anymore." "Me neither." "I have something I want to say." "Is it ok if I go first?" "Yes, of course." "So I've been thinking a lot about what you said." "And you were right." "I have been pushing you away." "Why?" "A lot of reasons." "Some of which I don't think even I fully understood until recently" "But part of it is, you being back in town kind of made me feel really bad about myself." "What?" "How?" "You've been gone for five years." "And in that time, you've graduated from Yale with honors, you got a job in New York, you got another job in Palm Beach, where you hang out with all these- rich freaks?" "Yeah, but they're pretty important rich freaks." "You have your crap together, you know." "And I'm still waiting tables at the crab shack." "Same job I've had since senior year of high school." "Come on, Charlie." "You work your ass off." "I mean, harder than anyone I know, and you love your life." "Sometimes." "But I probably could be doing more with it." "I mean, if I hadn't dropped out of college when I did, maybe I'd have a better idea of what the hell I want." "I always wondered why you didn't finish." "It made sense at the time." "But now I just think I've been coasting because it's easier." "No responsibilities, no commitments." "Well, you're a guy, that's perfectly normal behavior." "Yeah, well, I've been thinking about going back to school." "Maybe finish my degree." "I'm ready to move on." "I'm sorry I took it out on you." "So are we good?" "We friends?" "Always." "So, what's been going on with you?" "Uh, well, it's not good." "It's from me." "You don't have to open it right now if you don't want to." "But I've been thinking a lot about what you were saying, and I just want you to know that I'm scared, too." "What do you mean "scared"?" "Traveling the world, trying to be this big star without you." "It could totally suck, I don't know." "But right now this is what I want." "And I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't and I don't ever want to lie to you." "I don't want you to lie." "But I don't want you to be mad either." "I'm not mad." "I was just... it just seems like you've been choosing Megan over me lately, and I just flipped out." "But wait, what?" "Sometimes when I walk in a room, it's like I'm not even there." "You guys have your own secret language or something." "That used to be us." "Sage." "You are the most important person in my life." "Why do you think I've been so bummed about you taking off?" "Seriously?" "Hello, obviously." "I don't want to stop you from doing the things that you want to do." "And I don't want to stop you either." "I love all the reasons why you want to go to Duke." "And I know mom would be so proud of you." "So, what do we do now?" "What if we sign with Patricia together, but we don't take any jobs that interfere with big school stuff, like finals or prom." "Oh, no, we definitely cannot miss prom." "No way." "And then after we graduate high school, we'll take it from there." "Ok, but we're not leaving each other yet." "Not for a long-ass time." "Ok, now you have to open my present." "Ok." "Oh, my god, Sage!" "Do you love it?" "Do you love it?" "It's beautiful." "You got the short board out." "I could teach you how to do an aerial." "Oh, you think you can school me?" "Probably not, but how much would you like to kick my ass out there?" "all right, let's see what you've got." "Ten seconds." "Let me get my board." "I'll give you five." "Megan, come on in." "Is everything all right?" "I, uh..." "Whatever it is, we can talk about it." "You want to tell me what's wrong?" "I was searching for a few more personal anecdotes to, um, fill the gaps in the book" "So, um, I decided to search for more material." "And the awful thing is... is that I didn't realize until now how incredibly insensitive it is to be thinking of your life as material." "But I did." "And..." "I kept looking." "And now I know something that I shouldn't." "What do you know?" "I know that after you married Robert you moved to New York to start your cosmetics company." "And then he was drafted to the Vietnam war and you had to put your plans on hold." "Robert was wounded and he returned back to the states in December of '69." "And you gave birth to your daughter Carolyn the following July." "Only seven months later." "Which means... if I could turn back time and unlearn what I learned, I would." "What do you want from me?" "I don't want anything from you." "You've been incredibly gracious to me, generous even." "And..." "I don't know what else to say except that I'm deeply, deeply sorry, and if you want to fire me, I completely understand." "Well, I can't very well do that, can I?" "I mean, how would it look to the rest of my staff, to my granddaughters?" "Rose and Sage are in the middle of a school year." "How would that be fair to them?" "No, you're staying on." "You hold all the cards now." "Let's see how honorable you really are." "Revised and edited by ju.vianna"