Next scene, Ally’s office. Robert had really been looking forward to working on this next scene. So much of what was going to be discussed could apply to his and Calista’s relationship as well. He hoped that it would have the desired effect on Calista that it was supposed to have on Ally.

The scene opened with Larry and Ally sitting on the couch in her office, facing one another.

Ally looked up at Larry questioningly as she asked, “Ok, why are you here? Your note sounded pretty final and it seemed as if you had moved on. On to Detroit, from what Corretta told me. I mean, no word from you for 8 months and then suddenly you’re here, declaring your love for me? Come on, what’s up?”

“Oh, Ally, there’s so much to explain. Bear with me, ok and I’ll try to explain everything. Last spring, when I left, I was really confused about a lot of things and as Corretta and Helena so aptly pointed out to me, I was just plain scared. I had never had the depth of feelings for anyone else that I had for you, not with Jaime and certainly not with Helena. My relationship with Jaime was like a white-hot fire -- it burned so brightly between the two of us, but the slightest trouble, the littlest bump in the road, would douse that fire like water. We simply couldn’t handle anything beyond the superficialness of a physical relationship. We tried, good lord we tried, especially after Sam came along, but it finally got to the point that we argued more than we didn’t and we both agreed that it would be better for Sam if we split up.

“Then along came Helena, completely different from Jaime, and yet other kinds of problems arose. From the start, she and I had a great friendship. She’s a terrific woman, funny, smart, fun to be around, and I guess I was so relieved to find someone who I could get along so well with, that I forced the other part of it -- the attraction. As pretty as she is, that physical attraction just wasn’t there. Maybe she couldn’t compete with my recent memories of what I had had with Jaime. I don’t know, but we talked it out and parted as friends and she’s still one of my best friends. And so I turned to her when I was having doubts about us, because she’s always been so easy to talk to and understands me so well.”

“But what does this have to do with you being here?” Ally asked, somewhat impatiently.

“Please, Ally, I told you there was a lot to explain. You’ve really got to know about my past to begin to understand why I did what I did, ok?”

“All right,” Ally agreed.

“And that brings us to “us.” That first day, in Tracy’s office, when you came in, the moment I saw you, I knew that my life had changed. Oh, Ally, you have no idea the effect you had on me. I thought I hid it rather well, behind the witty banter we exchanged, even though I wanted to take you to bed that first day! The attraction was definitely there from the beginning. But you were in another relationship, and then after Brian, that father and son team. I tried to wait, and put you out of my mind, but the day you came to me to hire me to represent you, I knew I had a chance. And the friendship between us started to grow. And over time, you, Ally, became my best friend. And I couldn’t believe how lucky I was, because what better combination can you have in the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, than a friendship as well as passion? It was the best of both of my previous relationships.”

“So if you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me, how come you left and went to Detroit, huh?” Ally asked.

“I’m getting to that. It seemed to me that last spring, you were beginning to have doubts, questioning us, questioning me. The whole thing with your birthday. I felt you drifting away from me. Something was wrong and I thought it was me. And then there was that dinner.”

“What dinner?”

“The dinner with the blueberry cobbler.”

“I wondered what was going on that night -- you ordered that silly dessert for me and then frowned at me as I ate it!!” Ally said. “That’s when I knew you were going to leave me -- and with a note!”

“Yeah, well that silly dessert was supposed to have had a ring in it!”

“WHAT! What are you talking about, Larry?”

“That night, with the romantic dinner and all -- I had planned to propose to you and then, that, that imbecile waiter brought the wrong dessert to our table!”

“Oh, Larry, so why didn’t you just tell me?”

“I took it as an omen. You know my history, my awful luck with relationships and it scared me. I had messed up twice before and I was afraid of strike three. Helena tried to convince me otherwise. That’s what we were talking about when you dumped the ice cream sundae all over me,” he said with a smile, remembering that event with complete clarity. Ally could be completely adorable when she was angry. “The cobbler screw-up just sealed it for me. And so I left.”

“It doesn’t make complete sense, but ok, you left. So, why are you back now? What’s so different now?” Ally asked.

“Oh, Ally, I moved back to Boston in September with Sam.”

“You’ve been here since September!!! And with Sam?” Ally asked incredulously.

“Yeah, Jaime decided to move to Canada, agreed to let me keep Sam with me, which by the way has been fantastic. When she decided to move, it made no sense for me stay in Detroit -- my friends, my parents, everyone who means anything to me are here,” and he looked pointedly at Ally.

“So if I mean so much to you, how come you didn’t contact me when you moved back?”

“Gosh, Ally, I didn’t think it would be fair to you. I left with that awful note. From everything I could get out of Corretta, which wasn’t much, by the way, you appeared to have moved on. I knew you were seeing someone -- Corretta let that slip one day. . .”

“Corretta’s known you’ve been back all this time!!!” Ally was astonished. “Why didn’t she tell me?” Ally asked, conveniently forgetting that she’s forbidden Corretta to even mention Larry’s name.

“Because I asked her not to.”

“Ok, so why now?”

“Well, a few days ago I was out walking and saw you coming out of “our” ice cream shoppe. You with some really good-looking guy and as I watched, you reached up and gave this incredible kiss. Up until then, before I had seen you again, I was able to rationalize that this was all for the best. But seeing you there, totally unexpectedly, and then seeing you with that guy, all my feelings that’d I’d kept buried just came rushing back to me. I went back to my office and tried to forget about it, forget about you. But it didn’t work. I couldn’t get you off my mind.

“Then Jaime called me and told me she was getting married, and I really started to feel sorry for myself. You had someone new, Jaime was finally moving on and there I was. The next day, I went out for a walk -- couldn’t concentrate on work -- and found myself at Fish & Cage. I knew then that if I wanted you back, I was going to just have to go for it, that other guy be damned. So I went up to your office” and Larry paused.

“Well, why didn’t you talk to me there? Where we’d at least have had a modicum of privacy?”

“Because, your office was closed for the wedding. I ran from your office to the church, thinking that it was you getting married, and all I knew was I had to stop it . . .”

“Twenty blocks? And you ran?” Ally couldn’t help smiling a bit.

“Yeah, well, I’ve been working out a bit since you last saw me,” Larry said, smiling back at her.

“So what happened when you got to the church?”

“Well, the service had already started, and I thought I was too late. But then I discovered it wasn’t you getting married. I watched a bit before I saw you up there, standing with the sun from the stained glass windows streaming in on you. Never in my life had you looked as beautiful to me as you did then,” and Larry looked at Ally so tenderly that tears started to form in her eyes. “I knew, beyond a doubt, that if I didn’t get you back then, that life simply wouldn’t be worth living,” and Larry reached out and gently stroked Ally’s cheek. Tears spilled out of Ally’s eyes and ran down her cheeks. Larry tenderly wiped them away.

“So, I found out where the reception was, went there, talked with Barry, who’s a big fan of yours, by the way, despite the fact you tried to deck him.” Larry grinned. “He agreed to help me out and you know the rest of the story. Except, you should know, that final verse of our song -- I had intended to play that for you the night I was going to propose.”

Ally was silent, looking at Larry.

“Well, say something Ally,” Larry pleaded.

Ally slowly wiped away the tears that were continuing to fall. “Larry, I don’t know what to say. An hour earlier, I would have been ecstatic to have you back again. But now . . .” she paused.

“Now what?” Larry asked.

“Well, I really find it hard to believe that you really love me. I just don’t understand how you could have moved back to Boston, been here since September and yet didn’t let me know! Made no effort to call me, talk to me, reunite? And then, conveniently, you “see me with another guy” and suddenly you have to have me back? In all fairness, you should probably know that when you saw me kissing Glenn, I had just broken up with him. But that doesn’t really matter because I think what you’re feeling is more jealousy at seeing me, apparently happy, with someone else than it is “rediscovering” your love.”

“And you think that kiss we just shared was just me demonstrating my jealousy?” Larry asked incredulously. “Come on, Ally, I know you’re surprised to see me, and angry , with good reason, but I don’t think your reaction to me was faked at all! You’ve got to still have feelings for me. That kiss proved it! And if you didn’t have feelings for me, why did you break things off with that Glenn character?”

“Larry, that kiss may have proved that there’s still an attraction between us, but it didn’t prove that we should be back together. And yes, I did break up with Glenn because I wasn’t in love with him, like I was with you or even with Billy. But that’s beside the point, now. What about the next time?”

“Next time? What are you talking about?” Larry asked.

“The next time you start to have doubts and rather than facing them with me, you run away from me again? I’ve lived through you leaving me twice. I don’t think I could do it again. The first time you left, you promised to come back, which granted you did. But you said you were back forever, and I believed you and let myself completely love you. And then you left me again, with a note! And I didn’t hear from you until now, eight months later. I just don’t know if I can let myself be hurt again. I just don’t think I could recover from that.”

It was at that moment that Larry fully realized how deeply he had hurt Ally, with his own insecurities, and then, with what he thought, were honorably motives. “Oh, Ally, I am so incredibly sorry about the pain I’ve caused you. I’m not asking you to jump right back into the game. But there must be some hope for us, or else you’d still be trying with Glenn. Couldn’t we try to rebuild what we had before? I’m willing to go as slowly as you need until you finally trust me again. As I said before, I’ve had life without you and I know now that without you, my life simply isn’t. Please, please, give us another chance,” and Larry reached over and pulled Ally into his arms, gently cradling her body against his, and simply held her. “Please, give us one more try, Ally. I love you so much. Let me show you that,” he whispered into her ear.

“I’ll think about it, ok, Larry?” Ally whispered back, making no move to withdraw from his embrace.

The camera pans back to show Ally enclosed in Larry’s arms, with her head on his shoulder, as the following song plays.

Don’t give up on us, Baby

Don’t make the wrong seem right

the future isn’t just one night

It’s written in the moonlight

And painted on the stars

We can’t change ours

Don’t give up on us, Baby

We’re still worth one more try

I know we put the last one by

Just for a rainy evening

When maybe stars are few

Don’t give up on us, I know

We can still come through

“Cut” David called. “Ok, guys, that was good. Calista, good job of portraying Ally’s conflicting emotions in that scene. Robert, your sincerity really shone through there. Let’s take a quick break for lunch. Be back here by one, and ready to pick up with the reception scene.”

Robert looked at Calista, who had quickly gotten up from the couch, when David called “cut.” He arose too and walked over to her, laying a hand on her arm. She jumped a little at the feel of his hand, as if a bolt of electricity had just run through her body.

“Hey, can we grab a bite together, Cal?” Robert asked gently, looking deeply into her eyes, trying to hide his amusement at her jumpiness around him. He truly hoped that she had read more into Larry’s lines than had probably be intended and got the point he had been trying to make to her personally.

“Uh, Robert, I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” said Calista, thinking to herself, that the last thing in the world she needed was to be alone with Robert. Her resolve was being chipped away, bit by bit, every time he looked at her with those chocolate eyes of his, every time he embraced her, letting the warmth of his body penetrate hers, every time he uttered a line that could have applied to their own situation, and uttered it with such sincerity that she was beginning to wonder if he and David hadn’t collaborated on the script with that very idea in mind. “I, uh, I need to go spend some time with Liam.”

“Well, can’t I come along? Why don’t I go pick us up some lunch and meet you in your dressing room. That way you won’t have to waste time that you could otherwise be spending with him. Besides, I’ve missed that little guy. He’s grown so much!”

“No, Robert. I was serious about what I told you earlier. Thanks, but no thanks,” and Calista turned to go to her room. Robert looked after her with a thoughtful expression on his face. “Still fighting me off, huh, Calista? Well the battle isn’t over yet,” he declared to himself.