SCENE ONE: IT IS JUST AFTER CHRISTMAS AND JENNIFER HAS ABBY SITTING WITH HER NEXT TO THE CHRISTMAS TREE AND JACK IS USING THEIR VIDEO CAMERA TO CAPTURE SOME SPECIAL MOMENTS. HE HEARS A KNOCK AT THE DOOR AND ANSWERS IT STILL HOLDING THE CAMERA.
JACK: Julie.
JULIE: No pictures please. All photos must be cleared with my publicist first.
JENNIFER: Hi Julie.
JULIE: Hi darling. Oh how's my Christmas custard cup?
JENNIFER: Oh she's wonderful. Can I get you something, coffee?
JULIE: No thanks darling. I won't be staying long. I.... I just need to talk to Jack for a while.
JULIE LOOKS UPSET.
JACK: Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this.
JULIE SITS DOWN TO ADMIRE ABBY'S PRESENTS.
JULIE: Abigail made out like a bandit this Christmas.
JENNIFER: Yes, Jack wanted to make sure that he first Christmas was very special.
JULIE: Well he succeeded. You've got enough toys here to open a store. (Beat) Speaking of that Jack, have you considered that? Starting up your own business. You know you have such an entrepreneurial spirit. JACK: I'm fired, aren't I?
JULIE: No.... well not exactly.
JACK: Meaning exactly?
SCENE TWO: JULIE HAS JUST DROPPED BY, SHE SEEMS UPSET WHICH JACK DETECTS. IT APPEARS SHE HAS BAD NEWS AND IT INVOLVES JACK.
JULIE: All right, here's the straight skinny. I have gotten an offer for The Spectator.
JACK: An offer. From who, if you don't mind my asking.
JULIE: Well does it really matter?
JACK: Who?
JULIE: Kiriakis Publishing.
JACK: As in Victor Kiriakis.
JULIE: Well it seems he wants to change his focus in the light of recent events and he wants to put more effort into the publishing branch.
JACK: But why The Spectator all of a sudden?
JULIE: God help us. He wants to stay in Salem.
JENNIFER: But Julie I thought that you really enjoyed the newspaper business. I mean with Jack, you could make it the best newspaper in the state, with his help. Don't sell it.
JULIE: I don't want to Jennifer. Believe me, I don't want to. I would keep it if I could but the fact is, this.... this world-wide recession has sort of eroded by far flung empire and I have to make some cut-backs and for my own emotional reasons I just can't let the club go.
JACK: Wait a minute, I understand about you not letting the club go but you have to understand that you can't let The Spectator go. I mean you can't.... you can't just lose it. I mean if you lose it, I lose it. If I lose it, I.... I lose everything.JACK SLOWLY SITS DOWN.
JACK: Everything!
JENNIFER: Jack, are you okay?
JULIE: Jack, I'm sorry. I know you are upset but don't worry, you'll be able to stay on at the paper. I'll make certain. I'll put in a provision that they have to give you employment. Don't worry. I'll make sure you're taken care of Jack.
JACK: I don't need anyone taking care of me, thank you very much.
JULIE: Well I meant I didn't want to see Victor fire you.
JACK: He's not going to fire me.
JENNIFER: Jack, if it's his newspaper, he can fire you.
JACK: It's not going to be his newspaper. He's not going to buy it.
JULIE: He made me a very serious offer.
JACK: What kind of an offer? How much?
JULIE: A lot!
JACK: How much a lot?
JULIE PULLS OUT THE CONTRACT AND HANDS IT TO JACK.
JULIE: This much a lot.
JACK LOOKS STUNNED AT THE AMOUNT.
JACK: Call me Ross Perot.
JENNIFER: Oh my gosh.
HE TURNS BACK TO JULIE.
JACK: All right. If I match this, will you sell the paper to me?
JENNIFER: What? We don't have that kind of money, Jack.
JACK: We can come up with this kind of money if we just.... if we come up with a binder for the down payment. We can do it, can't we Julie?
JENNIFER: What would the binder be?
JULIE: Seventy-five thousand dollars.
JENNIFER: Seventy-five thousand dollars! Jack, our house is barely worth that much.
JACK: How much time will you give me to come up with the money?
JULIE: Well I guess I could stall for a couple of weeks but my dear, what is the point? There is no way you can afford this.
JACK LOOKS A BIT INSULTED.
JACK: We'll see about that. (Beat) We'll see about that.
JULIE CALLS VICTOR.
SCENE THREE: A SHORT TIME LATER, JULIE HANGS UP AFTER TALKING WITH VICTOR.
JACK: What did they say?
JULIE: Well as you overheard, Victor very nearly withdrew his offer but I conjoled him and he'll wait until the fifteenth. Then I have to give him an answer.
JACK: The answer will be a no, I assure you.
JULIE: Well I hope so Jack. I would prefer to sell the newspaper to you but really darling I don't think you have any idea what you're getting yourself into.
JACK: I know exactly what I'm getting myself into.
JULIE: Do you?
JACK: Yes.
JULIE: Well you must realize that if you don't come up with the rest of the down payment, you not only lose the newspaper but you forfeit every single nickel of that binder fee.
JENNIFER: Wait a minute. Listen, Jack, we cannot do this. We can't do it.
JULIE: I'll be getting in touch with you on the fifteenth with check in hand.
JULIE: Okay, if you say so Jack.
JENNIFER: Julie, I'll walk you to the door.
JENNIFER GLARES BACK AT JACK AS SHE HELPS JULIE ON WITH HER COAT THEN SHE WALKS OUTSIDE TO TALK TO JULIE.
JENNIFER: Julie, look, I really appreciate what you're doing but I don't want you to lose out on a good deal because of Jack.
JULIE: I won't. I won't darling. I just hate to dump all of this on you folks in the middle of the holidays.
JENNIFER: Oh don't worry, it's okay. Jack is just having another one of his usual knee jerk reactions. He will be fine, in time.
JULIE: I'll see you.
JENNIFER: Bye.
JULIE: Bye.
SCENE FOUR: KENNIFER GOES BACK INSIDE WHERE JACK IS BUSY AT THE COMPUTER.
JACK: Jennifer I need all my old financial records. Call Vern if you have to. Anything that pertains to my ownership of The Spectator.
JENNIFER: You're really serious about this aren't you?
JACK: More serious than I have ever been in my life.
DESPITE HER RESERVATIONS ABOUT ALL THIS, JENNIFER GETS WHAT JACK WANTS.
JENNIFER: Here's the files you asked for.
JACK: Good, good, thank you very much. Yes, exactly what I was looking for. Good.
HE GOES BACK TO WORK.
JENNIFER: Jack?
JACK: Huh, huh.
JENNIFER: It is okay.
JACK: Yes, I believe it's going to be just fine.
JENNIFER: No, I mean it's okay if you can't get the newspaper back.
JACK: What are you talking about? It's going to work out. I believe, it's going to....
HE LOOKS UP AND SEES THAT SHE IS REALLY DOES NOT THINK IT CAN HAPPEN. JACK IS HURT BY WHAT HE BELIEVES HIS HER LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN HIM.JACK: You don't believe I'm going to work it out because you don't believe in me.
SHE DOES NOT ANSWER HIM AT FIRST AND THEY STARE AT EACH OTHER FOR A FEW SECONDS BEFORE SHE REPLIES.
JENNIFER: Jack it's not that I don't believe in you, all right. I mean if anyone can buy back the newspaper under these circumstances, it's you.
JACK: And that's exactly what I'm going to do.
JENNIFER: You're talking about seventy five thousand dollars! That's a lot of money. That's just the binder. Just listen to me. I don't want to see you set yourself up for another fall. Can't you understand that?
JACK: If I can get some bridge financing, enough just to get the binder. If I can.... if I can get some, some private financing, if I can get a bank to get me a loan, it will be a done deal.
JENNIFER: That's a lot of ifs Jack. We could lose our house on this done deal. We could lose everything that we have.
JACK: You don't want me to do it.
JENNIFER: I'm scared for you to do this.
JACK: I'm scared, you're scared. We're all scared. (Beat) We're all scared here! But you know what scares me the most? What if we don't do it? If we don't do it, I'm scared what's going to become of me. I'm going to sit around in this house like some man who leeches off his successful wife. And he just.... he sits at home and develops a pot belly and never shaves and just.... and just....
JENNIFER: Stop it. That's not going to happen, all right.
SHE WRAPS HER ARMS AROUND HIS SHOULDERS.
JENNIFER: That's not going to happen and even if it did happen, it doesn't matter because I love you no matter what.
JACK SIGHS AND HIS EYES FILL UP.
JACK: I'm sorry Jennifer. That's not enough. That's not enough for me.
SHE PULLS HIS ARMS AWAY AND HE GOES BACK TO WORK KNOWING THAT HE HURT HER. SHE STANDS ASIDE AND KNOWS THAT NOTHING SHE DOES WILL STOP HIM BEING WHO HE IS.
[Transcribed by Carol Vaughan
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