oldEpisode Four-hundred-eleven: Still
Trying to not Be Mean, Jack Does not
Want to Do Anything Sneaky to Find out
Who Wants the Paper. Jack and Jennifer
Eventually Discover Who That Person Is.

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[Air mid-May 1992]

 

SCENE ONE: IT IS THE NEXT DAY AND JENNIFER WANTS JACK TO SEE JULIE. THEY ARRIVE AT JULIE'S PENTHOUSE.

 

JACK: I just.... I just don't think there's a point to all of this.

JENNIFER: We are not going to give up, alright. We are going to explore every possible way.

JACK: I just wish we could find a way that's a little closer to the earth. On a lower floor perhaps.

JENNIFER: What are you talking about?

 

JULIE'S BUTLER ENTERS.

 

BUTLER: Mr. and Mrs. Deveraux, how are you?

JENNIFER: Hi Alex, is Julie here? We really need to see her.

BUTLER: No, but she's due back in a minute. Would you like to wait?

JACK: NO, NO.

JENNIFER: Yes we would. It's very important that we see her.

 

JACK SIGHS.

 

BUTLER: No problem. Have a seat.

JENNIFER: Right.

BUTLER: Can I get you something?

JACK: Yes something with some antacid in it. A big glass please. With the long flight up just made me feel a little vertiginous.

BUTLER: Excuse me?

JACK: Vertiginous, you know Hitchcock, Stewart, Novak, motion picture, etc., etc., etc....

JENNIFER: Nothing for me, thank you.

BUTLER: I'll be right back.

 

THE BUTLER LEAVES.

 

JACK: .... etcetera.

JENNIFER: I do not get you lately Jack. I mean I finally get you to agree to come here and now you want to pack it in and leave, right?

JACK: I just don't know if it's going to do any good, that's all.

JENNIFER: So what does that mean? Does that mean we don't even try? We don't even try to put up a fight to save The Spectator?

JACK: There are.... I'm just saying there are other things worth fighting for.

JENNIFER: Like what? What is more important than this newspaper right now? We are running out of time Jack and since you're not willing to help me, Julie is the only other person I could come up with who can help us figure out who is trying to take The Spectator away from us.

JACK: I just hope that this isn't just going to be a waste of time.

JENNIFER: Why don't you just relax?

JACK: I mean we swept all the way across town, you know, go up 48 floors in the elevator and....

JENNIFER: We're on the 12th floor.

JACK: Twelve floors took us half an hour!

JENNIFER: It took us two minutes to get up here.

JACK: Two minutes, okay two minutes. That's two minutes of our lives. Don't you understand that? Can you just fritter away two minutes like that? I mean how can you be so cavalier about your life?

JENNIFER: About my life? What has an elevator ride got to do with my life Jack?

JACK: It's time Jennifer, it's time. When you realize how precious it is, you don't.... you start to.... you start to see that there's a lot more to it than you ever thought.

JENNIFER: A lot more of what?

JACK: The waiting, the squandering of time. Waiting for the bus, waiting for the light, waiting for the ketchup to come down the chute. It's too much. I mean it's just.... I can't take it. It's just too much.

JENNIFER: Well I'm sorry. I really wish I knew what you were getting at but I have no idea.

JACK: I.... I am talking about the precariousness of time. And yes, I am hypersensitive to it. If you're not, that is fine. I am very happy. But I am. I appreciate every moment I have and I do not want to be cheated out of any of it.

JENNIFER: Excuse me, I hate to sound callous Jack but WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I have no idea.

JACK: You're not.... you're not callous. You don't sound callous. Maybe there's a time when I thought you were but not now. You're.... you're gentle and you're kind and you're very understanding. I understand that now.

JENNIFER: Now?

JACK: Now that I'm di.... vesting.... divesting myself of the old Jack and becoming a much better Jack. Can't you see that?

JENNIFER: I already told you before I like the old Jack. I liked you the way you were.

JACK: Well I am changing. I have changed. I'm just different now, that's all.

JENNIFER: I know that and I guess I could accept it if I understood why. I thought it had something to do with your impending fatherhood but it doesn't. There's more to it than that. I know that.

JACK: Maybe I.... I've had an epiphany. Ah, I've had a sudden realization of life as it is.

JENNIFER: Why don't you tell me what life is as it is, alright? I mean I love you and if all these epiphanies and revelations and being noble and positive and doing these feel good news stories, I mean, and whatever else it is that you're doing if it makes you feel good, then I have to feel good too.

JACK: That's good. Just feel good.

 

HE HOLDS HER TIGHT.

 

JENNIFER: And you're right you know.

JACK: I am?

JENNIFER: Yes, waiting is rotten and life is too short and time is of the essence.

JACK: That's what I want to hear.

JENNIFER: Right, so come on Julie, hurry up and get here. Help us hang onto our dream. Help us save The Spectator.

SCENE TWO: MEANWHILE JULIE IS RETURNING HOME WHEN SHE GETS A CALL ON HER CELL PHONE FROM THE BUTLER TO SAY THAT JACK AND JENNIFER ARE WAITING. SHE TELLS HIM TO SAY SHE'S ON HER WAY.

SCENE THREE: JULIE *FINALLY* ARRIVES AT HER PENTHOUSE. THEY TELL HER WHAT IS GOING ON AND ASK FOR HER HELP.

 

JULIE: Are you two kidding? I am with you all the way.

JENNIFER: What did I tell you Jack?

JULIE: I know this is a sad comment on my character but you have no idea how much I would reslish seeing Ms. Gardner brought to her knees.

JACK: I'm getting the picture right now.

JULIE: Yes, yes, well okay so we'll down to business. First of all we must have a plan and then we must act upon it quickly. Yeah, quick acting is so important when you're dealing with a Gardner type.

JENNIFER: Right, so what we thought is that we would all get together and maybe we....

JULIE: What we have to do is get a hold of the financial report on this company that's trying to take over the newspaper.

JENNIFER: Right, that would be step one.

JULIE: Yes, yes and I'll do a little bit of snooping and maybe I'll find something out.

JACK: Interruption, please. Perhaps we could find a way to do this without snooping. What I'm trying to say is perhaps we could accomplish this whole deed in a more honorable way.

JULIE: Who is this guy? Did you get his name?

JACK: I'm quite serious Julie.

 

JULIE STARTS TO LAUGH.

 

JULIE: Jack, you've never been serious a day in your life.

JENNIFER: He is Julie, honest.

JACK: I'm just thinking.... it would be good if we could just go to Lisanne and very politely ask her, please let us see the records.

JULIE: Well why don't you do that Jack? You do that then come back and tell me what she said to you.

JACK: Well.... perhaps it wouldn't work. But we have to come up with something and my only fear is that everything I think of is too risky.

JULIE: Since when are you afraid of taking a risk?

JACK: Well....

JENNIFER: Julie, don't ask him. Because for one thing, he'll answer you and for another thing, I think I've come up with something.

JULIE: Oh well don't just stand there, tell me, tell me, tell me.

JENNIFER: Well right, look maybe Lisanne won't be willing to give us what we want but I know somebody who will.

JACK: Jennifer, if this underhanded in any way, I hope that we....

JENNIFER: Jack, don't worry about it, okay. I will take care of all the underhanded sneaky rotten stuff okay. Your part in this will be strictly on the up and up alright, alright. Does that sound fair? Now come on.

 

JENNIFER DRAGS HIM TOWARDS THE DOOR.

 

JULIE: Since when did being on the up and up make Jack happy?

JACK: I'm not sure if it's fair. I mean in the bigger picture.

JENNIFER: When we come back we will have those records in our hands, okay.

JACK: In your hands.

JENNIFER: In my hands. I'm sorry for suggesting that he would be involved in anything remotely shifty Julie.

JACK: Shifty is not the point....

 

THE ELEVATOR DOOR SHUTS WITH JULIE STILL WONDERING WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO JACK.

 

JULIE: When did Jack stop being shifty?

SCENE FOUR:JACK AND JENNIFER ARE WALKING AROUND FISHERMAN'S WHARF WHERE JENNIFER IS STILL TRYING TO CONVINCE JACK THAT HER PLAN WILL WORK.

 

JENNIFER: Trust me alright. It's going to work like a charm. I'm telling you.

JACK: I think we should just forget this and go home.

JENNIFER: What? How can you say that Jack?

JACK: We cannot deceive with impunity. We cannot play these little Machiavellian games and expect....

JENNIFER: Expect what, expect what?

JACK: Except not to suffer the consequences.

JENNIFER: Okay the only way we are going to suffer is if we do not get to the bottom of this, alright. Look all I'm asking you to do is distract Lisanne while I talk to her assistant, alright. Look, distracting is not a sin. You will not suffer any guilt. Your conscience will be clear so will you just say that you will you'll do it.

JACK: Alright, alright, I'll do it. I just....

 

SHE GRABS HIM FOR A QUICK HUG AND KISS.

 

JENNIFER: Great, great, not another word.

 

WHILE JENNIFER IS HUGGING JACK SHE SEES LISANNE AND HER ASSISTANT ON THE WHARF.

 

JENNIFER: OOOOH!

JACK: What.... What?

JENNIFER: There they are. They're right there.

JACK: Wait, I haven't had a chance to come up with something that's not a lie yet.

JENNIFER: Well just wing it, alright.

JACK: I can't lie.

JENNIFER: You'll be brilliant.

JACK: I can't....

JENNIFER: Go.

 

SHE PUSHES JACK TOWARDS LISANNE AND HER ASSISTANT.

 

JACK: Excuse me, excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt.

LISANNE: Oh, hi Jack.

JACK: I was just thinking about you.... and.... and here you are.

LISANNE: How nice. Well this is my assistant Jody McKay. Jody, this is Jack Deveraux.

JACK: How do you do?

JODY: Great, nice to meet you.

JACK: (To Lisanne) I was.... I was thinking we could talk. There's a couple of details I'd like to go over with you.

LISANNE: Sure, sure. Ah Jody, why don't you run along back to the office and take care of what we discussed and I'll be there shortly.

JODY: Okay, take your time. I'll handle everything.

LISANNE: You always do. I'm very dependent on this man. Go, go. Thank you.

JACK: Go, go.

 

JODY WALKS AWAY.

 

LISANNE: Alright, so what is it that you want to discuss with me?

JACK: Can we walk this way please?

LISANNE: Sure.

JACK GUIDES LISANNE AWAY FROM JENNIFER AND THE ASSISTANT.

 

JACK: I want to perfectly honest with you. Tell me how you really feel about that green tuna noodle casserole.

LISANNE: What?

JACK: Please?

 

JACK AND LISANNE DISAPPEAR LEAVING JENNIFER TO DEAL WITH THE ASSISTANT.

SCENE FIVE: JENNIFER IS TRYING TO GET LISANNE GARDNER'S ASSISTANT TO REVEAL WHO IS TRYING TO BUY THE SPECTATOR.

 

JENNIFER: Jody? Hi Jody. I can call you that, that's okay, right, because you know we did meet once in the hospital that time in the elevator and you pushed the button for me and we kind of talked a little bit. JODY: Oh yeah, yeah, I remember. How are you, Ms.... Deveraux, right?

JENNIFER: Yes, um you know what? Please call me Jennifer.

JODY: Oh alright, Jennifer. Are.... are you okay?

JENNIFER: No, no, not really, I'm not.

 

JODY IS WORRIED BECAUSE SHE IS SO PREGNANT AND LOOKS QUITE ILL.

 

JENNIFER: You see Jody, I.... it's.... it's all so hard. It's really really hard.

 

JENNIFER BEGINS TO CRY.

 

JENNIFER: Well Jack and I are giving up.

JODY: Here I think I have a handkerchief here somewhere. Here.

 

SHE TAKES IT AND WIPES AWAY HER TEARS.

 

JENNIFER: You see we just.... we feel we don't really have a choice anymore. That ah.... so we've just resigned ourselves to this buy out.

JODY: Yeah, well that's good I guess. You know that you're being realistic I mean.

JENNIFER: Yeah. Well I wish it felt that good Jody.

JODY: Well you have to think this as a business deal Jennifer. You need to remember that. It's nothing personal.

JENNIFER: But you know what, it is. It feels extremely personal because.... you see The Spectator is like family to Jack and me. I mean you see we fell in love while we were working there together.

JODY: No kidding.

JENNIFER: No. (Beat) You know we.... we had our first kiss behind the presses. I'm sorry I shouldn't be going on like this. I....

JODY: No, no, it's okay. If it makes you feel better.

JENNIFER: You.... you know what would make me feel a lot better, is, um, is if we knew that The Spectator was going into good hands. I mean I really think that that would make us a lot more comfortable, you know.

JODY: Yes I can see where that would. I can assure that the company that's buying The Spectator, it's rock solid.

JENNIFER: I believe you, I really do. But Jack, he is bound to be skeptical. I mean it's just his nature, you know. I think the only thing that would be able to reassure him is some sort of proof.

JODY: Some sort of proof?

JENNIFER: Yes something to verify the stability of the company, you know. (Beat) I'm sorry, I know that's asking too much.

 

HE HAS FALLEN FOR ALL JENNIFER'S LINES.

 

JODY: No, no, you're right. I think I can help you here.

JENNIFER: Really? That would be fantastic if you could.

 

THEY SIT DOWN ON A BENCH AND HE LOOKS THROUGH HIS BRIEFCASE.

 

JODY: Lets see.... Yes, they are in here.

JENNIFER: What are those?

JODY: These are the quarterly financial statements from this company.

JENNIFER: Oh, but I couldn't possibly have those, could I?

JODY: Yeah, yeah, sure, I have other copies. You can keep these.

JENNIFER: That's wonderful. Thank you.

 

SHE GIVES HIM A HUG.

 

JENNIFER: Thank you so much. That's really wonderful.

JODY: That's okay. I hope it helps.

 

WHILE SHE'S HUGGING HIM SHE OPENS THE FILE OVER HIS SHOULDER.

 

JENNIFER: It will, more than you'll ever know.

SCENE SIX: JACK AND JENNIFER RETURN TO JULIE'S PENTHOUSE WITH THE FILE AND SHE INVESTIGATES.

 

JACK: What?

JULIE: We got it.

JENNIFER: We got it?

JULIE: We got it.

JACK: There's an echo in here or perhaps it's just my ears, huh.

JENNIFER: Oh Julie, we did it. I knew we could do it. I just knew it.

JULIE: Yeah, yeah, Jody came up with that report. That was just perfect. I fed it into the trusty computer and now....

JENNIFER: We know.

JULIE: We know.

JENNIFER: Did you hear that Jack? We know.

JACK: I know. I mean I know that we know.

JENNIFER: Alright, so tell us. Who is the man behind this? Who is that son of a bit...

JACK: Whoa, now Jennifer, please.

JENNIFER: I'm sorry. Who is the lovelygentleman who is trying to steal The Spectator away from us?

JULIE: Read it and weep honey.

 

JENNIFER TAKES THE PAPER FROM JULIE.

 

JENNIFER: Oh my god!

JACK: Lawrence Alamain!