"The Past is Prologue" "Tell me about the green light." "What about it?" ""I thought of Gatsby's wonder... when he first picked out the green light... at the end of Daisy's Dock."" "What does the light represent?" "That he had an intersection next to his house?" "You got to stick with this, man." "I'm trying, Dad." "It's just how am I supposed to care... about some rich lonely guy in 1924?" "Was he bad?" "Was he a crook?" "I mean, why can't we read stuff..." "that has anything to do with real life?" "I read "Gatsby" when I was a kid... and I remember it had a lot to do with how I felt inside, but that's not the point." "The point is if you don't get at least a "B" on this test... you're not gonna be eligible." "I know, I know." "You have to commit to doing well..." "if you're gonna get through this, E." "You can't just do the minimum amount." "Dad, I have no life." "I come home every day after school..." "and I stare at these stupid books." "Well, you have to do more than stare." "I don't know what you want from me." "Ask yourself... what does the teacher want?" "You know, how much work do I have to do?" "What is gonna get me the grade?" "Besides prayer?" "Knock it off." "This is what I'm talking about." "Look, you're pushing me, but you're not helping me." "Look, E..." "I have my own work to do, okay?" "I'm trying to land a big commercial site in Skokie..." "and I'm up against two of the biggest firms in Chicago." "So what am I gonna do?" "I'm asking myself, what is gonna get us the job?" "I'm not praying." "I'm gonna stay up all night if I have to." "I'm gonna keep everyone in my office up all night long..." "if that's what it takes to make it happen." "Then maybe you should get back to work." "E." "No, it's okay, Dad." "I got it." "Can I help you?" "Yeah, I'm here to see Rick Sammler." " And your name is?" " Lily Manning." "Oh, hi, I'm Victoria." "Oh, hi." "Nice to meet you." " Come on back." " Look, okay, guys..." "from the north, you see what?" "This is how people arrive." "This is their first impression of the building." "That's the main thing." "If you want an elevated walkway..." "put it here where we get the full effect." " Okay." " All right." "All right." "I think right now we're back to square one." "No, no, look, the luring of the elevation works." "Let's use the same proportions on the upper level." "Just put the walkway extension... where the pattern repeats." " All right?" " Okay." " Give me a minute." " No problem." "So, are you hungry yet?" "I'm starving, but I'm not sure I can run out." "That's okay." "I'm not in a hurry to get back." " No, I just need a couple of minutes." " Oh, don't worry." "Rick has no manners, so I'll introduce myself." "You're just afraid I'm gonna tell her the truth about you." "You must be David." " I have that misfortune, yes." " Hi." "God, you said she was only okay-looking." " Shut up." " Oh, that's okay." "He told me you have no talent... and he's completely carried you all these years." "Well, at least he was honest about one of us, huh?" "Rick, the north stairway-- you think we should move that, too?" " Yes, actually, because it will block the windows." " Oh, right." " As you can see, we're in a bit of tumult around here." " I see." " We're shouldering our way into the big leagues." " Or the farm team." "Briggs  Mason-- they're building a corporate headquarters." " We're gonna get the job." " That's great." "Yep, or die trying or die doing... or die if we don't get it." "Rick, what about the stone-wrapped columns?" " Got to move them." " We'll have to reengineer." "Okay." " That's another $5,000." " Okay." "You know, I think I'm gonna go out and get sandwiches." "No, no, no, no, no, no." "We can go." "We can go." "I don't mind." "I--I have no problem eating here." "Actually, I want to go." "Can the parking structure support the columns?" "If I completely redesign the parking structure, yeah." "That's another $5,000." "Chicken, turkey, ham?" "When I was little, I used to go to my father's restaurant... and all the waitresses treated me... like I was just a little princess." "And I loved the feeling of it, all swirling around me... the waiters yelling at the busboys... the cooks yelling at the waiters... my dad yelling at everybody." "Lily, there you are." "Thank God." "Why, did I take that long?" "No, it turns out we have to meet with the engineer right now." "This is the only time he had... and we're taking him off his lunch hour." " Oh, okay." " I'm so sorry." "That's okay." "Take these." "I bought a whole bunch." " Thanks." " You're so sweet." "What is this?" "What, no mayo?" "Casilli." "A woman bought me food." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "I'll call you later." " Bye." "Thanks again." " Okay." "Thanks a lot." "As I got older, it got really embarrassing." "The waitresses made such a big deal about me... and the bartenders were always making Shirley Temples." "Basically, I was the boss's cute 6-year-old daughter... and that's all I would ever be." "You will fit in perfectly here." "Would you tell him to please say yes?" "Look at this baby." "Look at this baby Zoe." " Oh, come with Papa Phil." " Oh, go to grandpa." "Come, sweetheart, come." "Corky, two setups on four." "Sure, Phil." "Right away." " What?" " He wants me to work here." "You're kidding." "Yeah, I mean, I can't sell stereos the rest of my life." "Hey, Jake, come over here." "Hang on a second." "Zoe." "Hey, that was fast." "Oh, no, he just got really busy." "I loved his office... and it was so cute the way everybody would run up and ask for answers." "They all love him." "And he's so calm... but so clearly in control." "What?" "Oh, he sounds wonderful." "Oh, shut up." "He happens to be going after a big project." "No, he's not like Jake." "Yeah, or Dad or Billy Finklestein." "Billy Finklestein had plenty of time for me." "Yes, time for you to do his laundry... time for you to write his term papers... time for you to cook him dinners-- which he never showed up for." " Okay, that happened twice." " A week." "What, were you taking notes?" "Did you have a crush on Billy Finklestein?" "Oh, don't change the subject, please." "Okay, I'm self-destructive in my choice of men." "Look who's talking." "I would rather be stalked any day... than be with a man who has no time for me." "All right, I'll have these graded by Tuesday... and I'll meet with each of you" "Mr. Sammler, I need your test now." "Yeah, one second." "I'm sorry, right now." " Yeah, it's just" " Eli." "Mr. Burke..." "I really studied for this test." "It's just sometimes I don't write things so fast." "Eli, I can't give you an advantage..." "I don't give to the other kids." "Right." "So, I hear this scream all of a sudden..." ""Dad, Dad, what have you done with my art project?"" " And I hadn't thrown it away." " God forbid." "I had just taken it by accident into the office... and by her reaction... you'd think I'd thrown away her entire CD collection-- which, by the way, I've thought of doing." "Karen basically moved in after we slept together." "We didn't plan it." "We didn't talk about it." "It just happened." " She's 12, right?" " Yeah." "That's when the madness begins." "Exactly, because 10 minutes later..." "I'm standing in this very spot, and she passes by... and for no reason at all, she kisses me." "Oh, well, I can understand that." "And since the divorce..." "I sometimes feel invaded when somebody stays over... until now." "She never stays long enough." " You know what the worst thing about being divorced is?" " What?" "Who can you go on and on about your kids to?" "Oh, tell me about it." "Tell me a Grace story." "Don't get me started." "But I want you to get started." "I spend so much time locked in mortal combat with her... and she doesn't even know the whole time I'm thinking..." ""How was I lucky enough... to end up with such an amazing kid?"" "It's Jesse." "Watch." "Hey, you." "It's the office." "Give me two secs." "Go ahead." "What do you mean we used the wrong materials?" "Well, did somebody say they wanted a larger model?" "When?" "This is ridiculous." "We're having a problem." "You have to give me a couple minutes." "That's fine." "No, no, you just have to get everyone together and..." "I was always waiting for my father." "Lily, hon, the Kravitzes are here." "Would you give them a table?" "Oh, Dad, I--I don't work here anymore." " Honey, it's the Kravitzes!" " Okay." "Get this kitchen mopped up, will you, please?" "There's a wet spot." "Well, you just" "Yeah." "No, it doesn't matter." "All night." "Then when Jake started working at the restaurant..." "I got to wait on him." "Maybe I didn't work at the restaurant... but I was very experienced at waiting." "Well, if tomorrow's the deal" "Yeah, all right..." "Are you okay?" "Absolutely." "I can't believe how much I love making love to you." "Then..." "What?" "How come it didn't..." "whatever?" "How do you know it didn't?" "I have instruments attached to you... that measure that sort of thing." "Men..." "Men what?" "Why is performance so important to you?" "I was-- I was kidding." "Yeah, right." "You're upset." "No, I'm not upset." "I just want to make sure I'm not being graded." "Oh, I would never do that." "Now, come on, what's the matter?" "It's stupid." "It's not about that." "You're upset that I took too much time on the phone." "No, I really wasn't." "But?" "No, okay, I really wasn't upset... that you took a long time on the phone, but" "But do I usually take so long on the phone?" "What was I thinking, that you were independently wealthy?" "I knew you had a job." "I just didn't have to think about your job." "I wish I didn't have to think about my job." "I mean, what if you're a workaholic?" "I'm more of a worry-aholic." "That applies to all of us." "My job is important to me." "I plead guilty." "It's not a crime." "Then what?" "I just" "Okay, is your work usually like this?" "Sometimes it is like this, yeah." "I started this firm." "Everything I have is tied up in this firm." "I--I'm responsible for a lot of people." "I think that's fine." "I--I understand." "We're all grown-ups." "I just" "It's just been a thing in my life... and it sets off alarms." "It's-- it's not even fair." "I'm sorry." "It's okay." "You don't want me to work!" " No!" " You want the money to just materialize!" "No!" "I..." "God, I just-- I don't want" "What?" "You just don't want what?" "I don't want you to be so strange... and so cold." "And why do you think that is?" "Okay." "I have to go." "What do you mean you have to go?" "It's 9:00." "Karen doesn't drop off the kids till 10:00." " Still" " You don't have to go." "We still gonna have dinner tomorrow night?" "If you still want to." "I'll pick you up at 7:00." "If you still want to." "I bought milk." "It's 1%." "1% milk." "I thought Janey's mom could drive." "She works." "I work." "Did you finish your report?" "Yes, I finished my report." "I'm just asking." "You know, I think I'm gonna call it "Vodka Mockingbird"... instead of "'To Kill A' Mockingbird."" "You should have her, like, evaluated." "Oh, hey, E., how'd you do on the test?" "The "Gatsby" test-- how'd you do?" "Oh, I did okay." "Yeah?" "What does that mean?" "What were the questions?" " Were they hard?" " Dad, yes, they were hard, okay?" "But you think you did okay?" "Yeah." "Yeah?" "Like really okay?" "Dad!" "All right, well, that's good." "You might be interested in this." "What is it?" "Smuggled out at 3:00 this morning." "Sherrie's dating one of their model makers... aren't you, Sherrie?" "Sherrie, is this Meyerson's submission?" "Yeah." "That is extremely unethical and devious... and thank you very much." "Oh, my God, they've designed the whole complex." "And we're only doing the main building." "My first job after architecture school... was with this really big firm... and I was... drowning." "I had no idea how to get noticed... or work my way up the food chain." "Briggs  Mason only asked for the main building." "Well, our competition thinks the client needs... a little more hand-holding about the later building phases." "But they only asked for the main building." "Apparently, at this level you don't give the client what he says he wants." "You give him what he needs." "We're supposed to turn ours in tomorrow." "Okay." "Okay." "If they want a whole complex... they're gonna get a whole complex." "In one day?" "No, in 26 hours." "Okay." "I saw people with far less talent doing... doing better than me, and I realized... that architecture is really only a little bit... about designing buildings." "Only I had to learn that the hard way." "What about the front elevation?" "Can we handle 174 feet?" " Well, what's the foundation depth?" " 25." "We can redesign that after we get the job." "Only do the stuff that shows." "My, God!" "I can't believe I just said that." "Shouldn't we order some dinner, by the way, guys?" "Dinner." "Dinner." "What time is it?" "It's 6:30." "Oh, no." " Don't worry." "We got time." " Oh, no." "We already designed the parking structure" "No, no, no, it's not... that's not it." "I'm just dead, that's all." "Oh, you were supposed to be someplace, huh?" "Ah, is it the mom?" "Yeah." "It's okay." "I'll just call her." "At 6:30?" "Rick's in trouble." "Rick's in trouble." "I'm just-- I'll be right back." "Don't worry." "Women were born to wait... for the men to return from the hunt." "Can I kill him?" "You don't need him." "I can pour it." "You spilled it twice already." "Hey, I thought you said you could make dinner peacefully." "She started it." "When did you get that sweater?" " This is my sweater." " Mom, I live in your closet." "I've never seen that sweater before." " What, I have to start registering everything I buy?" " Yes." "Hello." "Hey, it's me." "Oh, hi, there." "So, listen" "Lily, I'm so sorry." "What happened this time?" "You don't even want to know... but I'll tell you anyway." "We found out that our competition had kind of aced us... and we need to come up with something incredible really fast." "That shouldn't be hard for you." "I don't even know what to say." "Just say, "I can't wait to see you tomorrow... or the next day or sometime next month."" "I'm gonna make it up to you." "Oh, Rick, I don't want you to feel bad... about stuff like this, really." "Certainly not yet." "You're amazing." "I just hope you'll forgive me when I do it." "Never." "Goodbye, Ricky." "I'm not ready to get off the phone." " No, you have to go." " I know." "I'll call you later." " You better." " Bye." "Bye." "You think the money just comes in." "No." "I'm the one who deals with your father... and the customers and the employees." "Jake, the restaurant closed at 11:00." "What time is it now?" "What, so I'm supposed to get in the car like a good little boy?" "Fine, it's-- it's 12:00." "Yeah, I need one minute, one second by myself before I come home... and deal with your crap." "I'm not trying to take anything away from you." "I'm not talking about work." "I'm talking about our marriage." "Our marriage is dying." "I need you to hear me." "I need you..." "not at 12:00." "I need you here..." "in your heart." "Mom?" "The phone." "Here." "Okay, what's for dinner?" "Macaroni and cheese." "Kids, come on, let's go!" "They're coming." "I'm here." "Hey, Jess." "I'm sorry." "I--I just have to leave." "That's all." "Is there something wrong?" "No, I'm fine." "It's just work." "I haven't pulled an all-nighter in about 10 years." "You have to work all night?" "Yeah, sweetie, it's all right." "It's nothing you won't have to do in college 100 times." " Then why are you taking the kids?" " Because it's my night." "What's the point if you're not even gonna be there?" "They-- look, they can just stay here." "Is that okay?" "Yeah, look-- at some point you and I are gonna have to talk about Eli." " He really messed up his test." " Jess." "What happened?" "His English teacher called." "Look, he says that he's try" "Eli." " Hey, Dad." " You want to tell me what's going on?" "Look, I just had this whole thing with Mom, okay?" "So can we just" "Listen, I--I don't care that you had a whole thing with Mom." "Look, I don't know what happened, okay?" "But it's not gonna happen again." "What do you want, Eli?" "You want us to treat you like a prisoner?" "You want us to take all your privileges away?" "Oh, God!" "Why don't you do that?" "You'd probably like it." " What the hell does that mean?" "!" " No, Rick, please!" "You want me to set some limits, Eli?" "Is that what this is all about?" "All right, I'll set some limits right now." "You're grounded." "God, I don't have to listen to this!" "You damn well have to listen to this!" "You have to listen to more" "Don't you walk away from me!" "What, are you going to beat me up?" "!" "Come on, Dad, show me who's the boss!" "Hey, what is it?" "E." "Jessie, I want to talk to your dad a minute." "Jessie, I'm sorry." "This has nothing to do with you." "Daddy." "Things are really tense at the office." " Karen..." " Oh, Rick, what?" "What, you're going after a new client?" "You've got trouble with the city?" "What?" "Your proposal's way over budget?" "Stop it." "These are your children." "Will you please try to remember what's more important?" "After I'd been at the firm for about a year..." "I began to realize that Karen didn't really believe in me." "She was always encouraging... but there was something in the questions that she asked... had I thought of enough ideas?" "Was I prepared?" "I could tell she was as worried as I was." "E., we have to talk about this." "Look, I'm sorry I blew up at you... but there are some real issues... that you and Mom and I have to talk about." "Dad, I'm gonna do my work now, okay?" "If I'm grounded, I'm grounded." "That's fine." "I really don't care." " E..." " I thought you had a lot of work to do." "I'll call you in the morning." "See, the secret truth was... is that Karen was my whole life... and the thought that she didn't believe in me was like... death." "And I would do anything to be a man in her eyes." "And so I changed." "I started my own company, and I got really aggressive... like I thought she wanted me to be." "For 3 years I was in the office by 7:30... and I didn't get home till 8:30 at night." "I won two A.I.A. awards... and got listed in Chicago Magazine... as one of the top 10 architects in the city." "I guess I was a man again." "I missed Eli's first day of kindergarten... and I almost missed Jessie's birth." "We stopped having sex." "Something had hardened in me." "And Karen..." "never forgave me." "All I wanted was her respect... and I ended up losing her love." "No." "No, let's tell the truth." "She was the one who taught me how to be that way... by doubting me, by making me... ashamed of myself... and I guess I needed to punish her for that... so I did." "How about an erotica section?" "Okay." "With bondage and discipline?" "Okay." "With whips and chains for sale?" "Hello?" "I'm sorry." "I'm having trouble concentrating." "I can't talk about it with you." "What?" "You can talk about anything with me." "Yeah, right." "Except when we disagree." "We never disagree." "What did he do?" "He didn't do anything." "He's just very busy." "And masterful." "Stop." "I'm just worried." "I'm not going to say anything." "No, I'm just worried for him." "He sounded so bad on the phone." "I feel like he's just eating himself up." "I know." "I pick men who need to be taken care of... and then I take care of them, and they walk all over me." "But I don't think that's true this time." "He is so responsible." "I'm just worried about his ability to say no to anybody." "I know." "That sounds just like me." "But you know what?" "What if he's worse than me?" "What if he can't say no to his kids and his ex-wife and his job?" "I'm worried about how I'm going to fit into that." "But, look, I'm taking my time." "I really, really am." "We're not committed to each other." "We're just finding out who we are." "You should trust me to know what's good for me, Judy." "I've learned from my mistakes." "Listen, I know you disagree with me... but if I want to go over there... and give him some support, I don't think that's bad." "I really don't." "Really?" "I'm glad we had this talk." "Do it again." "But this is what you told me to do." "It's got the columns" "Steve, I don't want you to do what I tell you to do." "I want you-- look, it's not good enough." "Right?" "You're looking for me to tell you what to do." "What I need for you to do is think this through for yourself." "Yeah, it has the columns... but they need to be a design feature, all right?" "They're not gonna care that you're tired right now." " It has to work." " I'm sorry." "Are visiting hours over?" "You keep bringing me food." "Oh, these are just leftovers." "Who made you so nice?" "Oh, I'm just worried about you." "Rick, do you think we need a copy... for their New York office, too?" " Yeah." "We should do it, anyway." " Done." "I'm not staying." "I just wanted to bring" "No, no." "This is so incredibly sweet." " We're just in the middle of" " I'm going." " Hi, Lily." " Hi." "I'm very, very busy." "I'm going." "Here." "No, stay, please." "Come on." "I'll eat this in 10 minutes." "Here." "Just have a seat there." "Is this arrabiata?" "Yeah." "Oh, did you make this yourself?" "No, my daughters made it." "You don't have to sit with me." "I want to sit with you." "They can do without me for two minutes." "So, what are all those people actually doing?" "Basically, we're out of our depth." "We had to toss out a presentation... and do another one right away... which means three weeks' work in one night." "What was wrong with the other one?" "It was too small." "Should that matter?" "I would think the main thing would be the quality of the design." "Yeah, in what universe?" "Can I see what you were gonna do?" "I'm sure it's much better than you think." "No, no, it's not like that." "It was a presentation." "People were..." "It's okay." "We're going to handle this." "Don't worry." "Okay, I have a better plan for the columns... but I think you should look at it before I go any further." "Give me a sec, okay?" "Okay." "I'll try anything." "Whatever you need, just tell me." "I just need you to include me in your life." "Oh, God." "Listen, Lily, I'm sorry." " I'm willing to do" " I'm sorry." "I know." "I'm sorry." "It's me." "All right?" "It's gonna get better." "This is my screwed-up stuff, okay?" "Excuse me." "Could you just give this to Rick when he has a moment?" "You can bug him." "Everyone else does." " I know." "I just" " Here." " Thank you." " Yeah." " Did..." " Yep." "Just a second ago." "She left this." "Lily!" "This isn't about you." "Will you please just go back to work?" "'Cause I don't want to get in the way of anything." "You don't have to leave." "Oh, yes, I do." "It's just-- it's my work." "I know." "Don't worry... really." "Don't think I'm like this all the time." "I'll call you tomorrow." "Good luck, really." "It's gonna be amazing." "I think it works." "I have no idea." "I don't think we missed anything." "I missed sleeping for the last week." "How much did we spend on this?" "More than we have." "My father worked 70 hours a week for 30 years." "He was an engineer for the city." "He could fix anything." "He loved the precision of machines." "People were the problem." "They never behaved according to the plan." "Why are they making us wait?" "Because we're not important enough to go first." "Don't say that." "How long have they been in there?" "Too long for what they've done to have been bad." "Well, we did all we could." "That's all anybody could ask." "Oh, God." "They're walking them out." "And the plan for me was that I should be... as smart and as capable as he was." "And it's not like he was hard on me..." "I just knew I could..." "I could never get there." "It was just a look... almost like he was... sad." "Hey, where are you going?" "Hey, we're up next, Rick." "I'll be right back." "I used to wait by the window for him to come home... and he'd get out of the Plymouth looking so... beat up." "Then you knew you couldn't ask anything of him." "All you could do was just be with him... get him his scotch... and be really quiet." "You all right?" "Sure." "Let's do it." "Hi, I'm Rick Sammler." "I'm hungry." "You're always hungry." "Where's your father?" " I thought he was picking you up." " He is picking us up." "Zoe, you'll spoil your appetite." "I don't like the food at the restaurant." "He's taking you to the restaurant?" "He always takes us to the restaurant." "Mom, what do you eat when we're not here?" "Honey, I cease to exist... the minute you walk out the door." "Mom, are you okay?" "Of course I'm okay." "You've been, like, yelling since we got home." "No, I haven't." "Where's your father?" "He's always late." "You know that." "Celeste..." "Is Jake still there?" "Charlie, have you seen Jake?" "Jake?" "Hi, Daddy." " There he is." " What are you doin'?" "You girls ready?" "Yep." "Who are you calling?" "So he just wouldn't go to school?" "No, and I couldn't exactly just throw him in the back seat." "No, I know." "Well, what did he do all day?" "I... have no idea." "Okay." "I'll talk to him." "I guess I'm not very good at it when I do." "You should get mad at me more often." "Why?" "You're an amazing kid." "Yeah, right... a stupid, amazing kid." "I can't keep having this argument with you." "Then don't." "Just accept the reality, Dad." "Eli, you have a reading problem, yeah." "You can't read as well as some kids your age." " It doesn't mean" " I know, I know." "Einstein can't read." "Tom Cruise is dyslexic." "I know you think that's supposed to make me feel better... but it doesn't." "I'm not trying to make you feel better." "Look, you've been telling me that stuff since I was 11... but I've had time, Dad." "God, I should be better by now." "I had a tutor this whole year... and I still can't read one damn book!" "I'm stupid, Dad." "I'm not as good as you are..." "I'm not as tall as you are, and I'm not as smart." "You have no idea, Eli." "You have so much more in you than I ever did." "What are you talking about?" "You're in the world." "I was afraid of my own shadow." "I spent all my time trying to cover up my own-- trying to make up for how badly I felt about myself... and I still do." "I'm so afraid I won't measure up, I" "I forget what's important to me." "At least you could cover it up." "I've given you the wrong message... and maybe that's because it was the message... that was given to me, but I want it to stop." "I don't want you to think about me or Einstein... or anybody else." "You have to live your own life, E." "And, yeah, yeah, you have a problem, but big deal." "So do we all." "Does it make food taste any less good... or the air that you breathe any less sweet?" "Girls that you kiss?" "Sports that you play?" "People that you love?" "I felt the same way about my father." "You know, that he was disappointed in me." "I was" "And I was wrong." "He was unhappy with himself... and that kept me away from him." "I don't want to push you away from me, E." "You're gonna be gone far too soon as it is." "Is he ever going to school again?" "When I walked in..." "he was reading "Gatsby"." "Oh, he is such a wonderful boy." "Okay, so what do we do?" "I mean, do we send him to another school?" "Find another tutor?" "Do we hold him back?" "Yeah, this is just so unfair." "I mean, I'm sitting here thinking... that there is a chance... that this boy may not go to college." "I mean, he may not have the life... that we always thought that he'd have... and I just can't bear it." "It's possible that we've given too much thought... to the life he'll have." "What does that mean?" "It means it's his life... no matter what we say or do." "I've read a lot about this learning problem of his... and I know it's just something he was probably born with." "It's not because I wasn't home enough when he was younger." "So, how come I don't believe that?" "You didn't read that book." "I absolutely read that book." "You read the blurb on the back." "I can't believe you'd accuse me of lying." "Okay, what happens in the first chapter?" "I will not be put in a position of having to defend my commitment to literature." "I am the co-owner of a bookstore." "You didn't read it." "I was gonna read it." "It's on my night table." "Doesn't that count?" "Look who's here." "Hi, Rick." "Hi, Judy." "How are you?" "Fine." "Remember me?" "A faint recollection." "Well, I guess you two have stuff." "No, no, no, please stay." "Oh, that's all right." "Judy has some reading she has to do." "Has someone warned you that she's actually very mean?" "I'm sure I will find that out for myself." "Bye, Rick." "Actually, it was nice to see you." "Thank you, Judy." "Same here." "You brought me food?" "Thai food." "I hope you like it." "I love it." "Listen, I'm so sorry about" "The last thing you had to deal with was me having a meltdown." " That was a meltdown?" " Well, a mini-melt." "Is that like a tuna melt?" "I'm sorry." "I'm so tired." "There's just this thing about men and their work." "It's just-- because I love your work." "I love watching you work." "I love the fact that you work." "So... what's the problem?" "It's just that moment." "It's just a little girl moment... when you know he's not gonna stop for me... no matter what I say, and it's just stupid." "I'm telling you it's all my problem." "You love watching me work?" "Of course I love watching you work." "Why?" "You're sexy." "You're so commanding." "You're adorable." "Really?" "Really." "See, see, this is what I don't understand about women." "They want men to work... to be successful and-- and commanding... and then when men work... they get upset because the men are not available." "You mean, I'm not the first person who ever said this?" "It's not that you work." "It's that you all get that man face... like you become somebody else... and you just can't turn it off." "You're right." "I can't." "I just have to ask you, though... is this all my problem... or is there something else going on here... that makes you pull away?" "I keep feeling like someday I'll get to this place." "You know, this-- this safe place where I can slow down." "You know, if I can just get the firm to a certain size... a few big clients, take on a new partner." "But are you ever gonna get there?" "Well, you're not worth much if you fail." "I guess that's what I was taught." "But you're nowhere near failing." "A man is never more than five minutes... from failing in his soul-- five seconds." "Say something stupid, let somebody scare you... slip on a banana peel-- it can all be taken away... especially when you presume... to tell other people what to do." "But why does that make you pull away?" "It's that you can't let up for a second... not a second, or it could all just disappear." "I don't know." "It doesn't make sense, but it's real." "And what if you did lose?" "I guess I've only just started to ask that question." "You think I would go away... 'cause all I care about is how commanding you are... in the moments where you don't have to dote on me." "Yeah." "Wrong." "You say that now." "Only till I can trap you." "I don't want to be one of those guys... who works 70 hours a week till the end of his life... and then thinks, "What did I do?"" "Or dies before he has the chance." "But I might need some help with that." "I can do that." "I want you so badly-- right here, right now." "Oh, where the hell did you come from?" "Oh, my God, your proposal-- what happened?" "They liked it." "That's wonderful." "Did you get the job?" "No, not exactly." "They thought everybody did too much... so they want to see downscaled versions to fit their budget... by tomorrow." "It means I have about 15 minutes to eat that food over there... then I have to get back to work." "I can pay attention to you until then." "Really?"