AFTER FYI: The Reunion Movie
PART ONE / VOL 1: FACING UP
Note: This was written in 2001
"And I wait...
No, love, love, don't come easy.
But I keep on waiting, anticipating,
For that soft voice, to talk to me at night
For some tender arms to hold me tight.
I keep waiting, I keep on waiting, but it ain't easy
It ain't easy"
~ Can't Hurry Love * The Supremes
Chapter One: THE RECEPTION
Murphy raised her head from her pillow in a groggy blur. If Murphy had known better, she would have assumed she had a hangover, but that was a long time ago. So long ago, it felt like a dream. So long ago, that the taste of alcohol almost faded from her brain - almost.
She pushed her blonde hair nest away from her eyes, picked up the alarm clock, and threw it against the wall, stopping Smokey in mid-verse. It was morning. It was too early. And she had gone to sleep way too late.
Today was Frank's wedding day and Murphy had spent the night before at not one, but two parties. She had started off the night at Lesley's, Frank's fiancée bachelorette party, and then ended the night with the guys at Frank's bachelor party. Just in time to see the stripper at one and miss the stripper at the other. It was a great time and the first time in a long time that she and Frank had spent time together. They stayed up until the wee hours of the morning talking and playing poker, long after the party had ended, making promises to each other. Promises on how they would at least spend one day a week together, if it came down to it.
Ever since Frank met thirty-five-year-old Lesley Hepburn, anchor for the channel 11 Local News, he was smitten. Usually, when Frank met a woman, he and Murphy would go a small amount of time where they would only see each other at work. But sooner or later Frank would come back to her, whining about how horrible his life was, and things were back to normal. This time it was different.
Murphy had to admit Lesley was good for Frank. She was bright and more mature than Frank in the areas he needed maturity. Surprisingly, they all got along. Lesley was a smart cookie who stood her ground against Murphy and Murphy liked that, after a while. She wasn't the type Murphy would seek out as a friend, but she still liked her nonetheless. In fact, the only thing Murphy didn't like about Lesley was the time she took away from her best friend. And since FYI's final show was just two weeks ago, Murphy was sure to see less and less of him.
Murphy whined and yelled groggy and incoherent words, as if there was someone around to hear her, and threw herself into a hot shower. She hit her CD player on her way in and reveled in the tones of Marvin Gaye. She felt the warm beads hit her neck and for the first time, in what would be a long day, she felt relaxed. As usual, it didn't last for long.
"MOM!" yelled a small voice from behind the bathroom door. "MOM! Where are my shoes?"
"What!" Murphy shouted, pushing the shower door aside with a loud release of air.
"Where are my shoes?" Her son Avery's voice pierced through the bathroom like nails on a chalkboard.
"Did you look under your bed?"
"YES!"
"Ask Eldin!"
"He's not here...Ah, wait I think I know." And his voice trailed away.
After what seemed like the opposite of eternity, Murphy's shower was over and so, in turn, was her daily piece of heaven. After many horrible, sleepy, and irritable attempts, Murphy was dressed.
Hair and make-up done up to par and jewelry in mid-attachment, Murphy treaded down the stairs of her Georgetown townhouse. As Murphy hit the last step the doorbell rang, making Murphy hit a place on her ear with her earring not meant for attachment.
"Jeez," she bellowed. The doorbell rang again. "Yeah, Yeah." Murphy walked over to the door and opened it with her right hand, while she held on to the earring with the other. "Kay? What are you doing here?"
Kay Carter-Shepley stood in the doorway dressed, as usual, in something interesting like her personality. A vision in what looked like red Chinese pajama pants and top, she glided into the room like the demented panther that she was.
"I thought I was picking you up?" Kay looked Murphy over in her cream colored suit and stared strangely at her feet. "You know one black shoe and one white, although interesting in a harlequin type way, does not go with your outfit."
"What?" Murphy exclaimed, confused in her sleepy gaze. She looked down at her own two feet with a look of, "oh jeez".
Her son Avery sped past her. "I'm ready... I just need to get my Gameboy!"
"Grab my yellow shoes by my bed while you're there!" she yelled to him as he disappeared into the hall.
"Yellow?" Kay smirked and made her way into Murphy's living room.
"He's a boy! Men know nothing about subtle color! I say your car is army green...Frank says it's just green. It's what makes us superior." Murphy walked over to the mirror to attach her earring.
"Murphy, let me ask you a question," Kay paused for a moment. "Have you heard from Jerry Gold recently?"
"Jerry Gold!" Murphy was taken aback by the question. She walked into the living room and took off her "clown" shoes.
It was a name she hadn't heard uttered in about three years. It was a name that brought up so many different types of emotions, at one time, that they could almost send one into shock with their sudden uprising.
"No, not in two years or so... Why?" Murphy set her earring in her ear.
Kay sat down on the couch and Murphy leaned against the foyer arch looking disinterested.
"I got home from the party last night at around four, so I did what I usually do at four a.m., I put on Jerry Gold's show. I usually get it on my dish about that time, but this time there was no show. I wasn't sure if maybe the time had changed because I haven't watched it for a week now. I've been spending my nights making a replica of the space needle with nothing but Popsicle sticks."
Murphy looked at her strangely.
"I've become addicted to those damn Dove bars and I have to do something with ALL THOSE sticks. My kitchen was beginning to look like the opposite end of a wood chipper. Anyway, so I checked up on it. Just to make sure there wasn't something wrong with my dish. I did some digging online. I found out his show was pulled from the air even though it was number one..."
"Aww, Jer." Murphy lamented softly, as if to herself.
"He was in the middle of contract negotiations and then one day - he just didn't show up for work and well, I thought you might know something because then... "
"Why would he call me! He has his wife to lean on!" Murphy punched the word 'wife', as only she could, and walked into the living room. She began nervously cleaning up mail around the table behind her couch.
"I guess you don't know. It's just that I found this." Kay handed Murphy a copy of a newspaper clipping.
Murphy looked at the clipping. "Kay, I don't read German!" Murphy shoved the paper in Kay's face.
"Sorry, I forgot." Kay snatched the paper back from Murphy with a devilish grin.
Murphy walked over to her CD player and began cleaning up around it.
Kay noticed Murphy did so in a somewhat heightened state.
Kay's grin became a serious face. "Murphy, maybe you should sit down for this."
"Sit down? Why?"
"Because, I think it's the type of news one needs to hear while sitting down."
Murphy looked at Kay and began to flair her arms about. "Listen, Kay, I'm not the type of girl who needs to sit down when she's told things. I'm a stand-up type of gal. I don't need to be told things gently. That's not me! Besides, there's nothing that concerns Jerry Gold that I need to sit for."
"I'm not insinuating that you're fragile, Murphy. Believe me, I would never do that." Kay laughed from her gut. "I think fragile is a word I'd attribute first to reinforced steel before attributing it to you, Murphy."
"Get on with it, Kay. Are you saying Jerry's getting a divorce, is that what you're saying? Because, I don't care - I really could care less." Murphy paused and waited for a response, but became agitated when she didn't get one. "So, is that what you're saying? Is it? Is that what happened? Is that it?" Again, Murphy waited impatiently for a response.
"Yes."
"See." Murphy smiled. "No reaction! I should do this at parties. I bet I could make a lot of money. HA!" Murphy returned to the CD's, as if she was looking for something specific.
"And he's been missing for eight days." Kay looked down at the paper.
"What?" Murphy dropped the CDs she was stacking, hitting the ground like an exclamation point. She looked at Kay. "Missing? What do you mean exactly by missing, Kay?"
"As in, no one has heard from him since he failed to show up that day!"
"What day?"
"Have you been listening to anything I've been saying, Murphy?"
"No! Vaguely! Just tell me, Kay!"
"When he didn't show up for work, the television station saw it as some act of defiance, since he was negotiating his new contract. That's why they terminated the show. It wasn't the first time he had done it, so they cancelled the show to save face, and save money. After syndication, no one seems to care about quality anymore. They've made their money. This industry."
"Kay!"
"I digress," Kay laughed as she did, from her gut. "When his wife couldn't find him after that, she called the police. They had a fight. Seems she left him for some high-profile news anchor in Germany - so, as you can imagine it's fast becoming fodder for the German tabloids. That was eight days ago and no one's heard from him since. The news just hit the states this morning. I just thought that since whenever he's in town … he seems to come and see you..."
"That's not true! Well, Jerry has very few friends… Ok…no friends...I am sure he's fine. Jerry Gold could always take care of himself."
"I'm ready, Mom," Avery yelled gleefully and jumped the last two steps in one shot.
"Ok. Let's get there before Frank gets cold feet." Murphy snatched a CD off the top of the CD player and grabbed her purse by the door. She slung the purse over her shoulder and opened the front door.
"Do you really think Uncle Frank will chicken out, Mom?" Avery handed his mother her shoes and she began to put them on.
"You never know with a man who's been in therapy more years than the Beatles were together. Now, let's go!"
AFTER THE WEDDING
The joint was jumping. The big band played inside a vision of whites, yellows and grey bridesmaid dresses. Photographers paraded outside the hall and a lovely couple paraded inside the hall. It reminded Murphy of Corky's wedding, only this time Murphy appeared to be in a much more despondent state. Looking at Lesley and Frank on the dance floor made her a little sad. She wasn't sure if it was because she was no longer the only woman in Frank's life, or because she wanted what they had. Not a wedding, but love.
She always told herself it was okay not to have "love," her happiness, hence her career, was more important than a man. But as she soon approached her mid-fifties Murphy was beginning to feel differently. It all started in her forties as a change, only now it seemed to have grown, bubbled over from her back brain to her surface brain. The part of the brain that really gets what is going on.
Maybe it was the re-occurrence of Jerry's name. She hadn't thought of him in a long time. Jerry would always be one of those special people in her life. No matter what happened between them Murphy would always have a special place for him in her heart, in fact, in a place she didn't always want to admit.
Frank glided off the dance floor towards Murphy with his bride close in tow, cradling his hand in hers. Murphy smiled as she realized they were coming towards her.
All she could think of saying was Frank's name over and over again, as she gave him a big hug. Her best friend, a man who had been in therapy for over fifteen years, had gotten married. Miracles don't just sing with Smokey.
Lesley looked lovely in her white Vera Wang, nineteenth century style wedding dress. Her red hair was piled on top of her head with a few strands falling over her hazel eyes. It would have been the most beautiful sight of the evening if not for the golden smile on her face.
"I know, I can't believe it!" Frank said with an upward, almost terrified inflection, in typical Frank fashion.
But when he looked into his bride's eyes his voice became calm and straight. They smiled at each other, as they had on the dance floor and then back at Murphy. Then they looked back at each other, as if they were both waiting for the other to say something.
Lesley smiled and nodded her head towards Murphy just as Murphy was starting to get a little fed up with the doting lovers.
"Murphy," Frank cleared his throat and took his wife's hand. "We weren't going to tell people 'till we got back from the honeymoon...but..."
"Frank wanted to tell you first," she interrupted. "Because, you're his dearest friend..."
"We're having a baby," Frank whispered
Murphy's eyes felt like they were as wide as saucers. A feeling felt only from the inside.
"And we want you to be the godmother of course," Lesley chimed in.
"Oh, Frank!" Murphy said in excitement.
Her heart was filled with happiness for him, but her mind was a blank with what to say. Frank was so wonderful with Avery. She knew what the joy a child had unexpectedly brought to her life and knew it would do the same to a man who deserved, finally, to be happy. But as she hugged the two and watched them be taken away by Frank's train-sized family, Murphy again began to feel despondent. With a new wife and a new baby, Murphy saw her Frank sightings growing dimmer and dimmer
"She's pregnant, isn't she?" Kay's all-knowing voice came up behind her.
"You overheard!"
"I could tell by her body language."
"She was throwing up before the ceremony, I think everyone has figured it out," Murphy muttered.
"Like that isn't the normal reaction a woman has before marrying Frank".
Murphy put her hand on her forehead and sighed. "Kay do you have an aspirin?"
"In my purse." Kay began dancing to the music. There was a long pause
"Well... Could you get it for me?" Murphy snapped.
"Get it yourself... I see Peter Jennings eyeing me." And she was gone.
Murphy made her way past what seemed like a minefield to get to her table. She grabbed Kay's purse, slammed it on the table, and rifled through it as soon as it hit the tablecloth.
"Hey, Slugger," spoke a voice from above. "Have you seen Doris?"
"Sorry, Jim. No." Murphy continued looking through the bag, taking out strange and even practical gadgets and apparatuses.
"Well, if you see her tell her I am looking for her. Are you alright, Slugger?"
Murphy looked up at Jim Dial. He smiled down on her in his elegant tux and held a glass of bourbon in his right hand.
"I'm fine, Jim. Just a headache."
"Well, you better not leave before my speech. It's a doozy." He patted Murphy on the back, which did not help her headache, and was off to look for his red-haired wife.
Murphy finally found a small bottle of Advil at the very bottom of Kay's purse. With only two left in the canister she downed the contents with a glass of Perrier water and sat down in a chair behind her.
Murphy leaned back and tried to relax. She couldn't help but overhear a group of men conversing near the table with their backs to her.
"Yeah, his wife got knocked up by some other guy...it was big news all over the country. ...a real scandal and then he disappeared," said one man, as he sloshed down what was probably not his first round.
"No way!" said one of his other cohorts.
"Yeah...and they just found his car on the side of the road… on fire."
"Who are we talking about again?" chimed in a third man
"Jerry Gold, "The King of Trash TV,"" said another in a mocking tone.
"You can say that again!" said the third man and they all laughed.
Murphy's eyes popped up. "Excuse me!" she shouted. Murphy pushed her way through the crowd of men only to discover they were a few techies from the last season of FYI. Their names, of course eluded her, as did all things that did not concern her. "Did you say they found Jerry Gold?"
"Yeah," said the king of the last round.
"Did they find out where he was all this time?"
"Yeah. He's dead." He laughed and took a swig from his glass.
"What!" Murphy began to feel limp and her headache seemed to come back. The band began to play another tune and Murphy pushed herself away from the group of men.
Murphy walked past the white tables, past the yellow dance floor, over the red lobby rug, into the bathroom and crossed to the farthest stall she could find. All in a blur, that could only double as a Hitchcock film, with Murphy as one of his classic blondes. As Murphy closed the door behind her, the messy tears she had been trying to hold back burst out. She snaked against the corner of the wall and the stall door.
These were the times when Murphy craved a drink, something to numb her, to take away the pain. Make it all go away. But she knew it was the wrong choice. She knew it for her son and for herself. It was a destructive, temporary solution all alcoholics feel, but just don't act on.
Murphy reached for the toilet paper and plopped herself on the bowl in one single motion. Her feet pigeon toed inward, in traditional Murphy Brown style. She tipped her head forward and rested her hands on the back of her neck.
Memories seemed to flood back to her as real as if a movie ran on the stall door in front of her. The first time Jerry kissed her. How warm it felt, how right. The first time they made love. The way he held her in his arms, the feel of his fingertips, his touch; their touch. The look he always had in his eyes when he looked into hers; looking at her as if she was the only woman who existed. The way he would laugh with her and yell at her with the same unrelenting gusto. The way he made her laugh, and fight like no one else could. How he cared for her. Stood by her when she had Avery, even though he wasn't his father and claimed he hated kids. How he stayed with her when she was scared and sick during her pregnancy and sent Avery his first stuffed animal in the hospital. Not to mention, the money he gave anonymously every year to charities. And how the world would go on never knowing what a true "mensch" he really was. He was the only man who at the same time she could love and hate so much, and he was gone.
By this time, the back of Murphy's blouse was soaked with sweat and clung to her back like a sailor on a hooker. She wiped her eyes with the paper and thanked god for waterproof make-up. She began to overcome her emotions.
Still teary eyed, she stood up, took her coat off and placed it on the hook in front of her. She sat back down on the bowl. Her solitude was a brief one because after about two minutes her name rang against the tiles in a southern twang.
"Murphy, are you in here?" It was Corky.
Murphy remained silent; she tried not to move a muscle and hide form the wrath of Corky. She just was not prepared for her at the moment. "Ah, Murphy there you are." Murphy looked under the stall at two light pink heels standing before her.
"How did you know it was me?" Murphy bellowed
"I recognized your shoes. Murphy, I need to talk to you"
"Well, I'm a little busy in here...I don't know how long I could be in here...it could be hours...no days. I may set up shop."
"Good. Then we can talk"
Murphy heard the dragging of a chair against the tile floor followed by the entry of the bottom half of a steel legged chair on the other side of the stall door. Murphy rolled her eyes with one of her many famous verbal sounds of air and buried her face in her left hand. She cursed in her head the bathroom attendant who had taken her cigarette break and left his/her chair in wake to torture others.
"I ran into Miles."
"When did he get here? I didn't see him." Murphy kept her face buried in her hand.
"He must have come in during the ceremony. I recognized his cough and so I turned around and I saw him standing in the back of the church. And he wasn't alone, Murphy. He brought a date!
"Corky… you and Miles have been divorced for almost four years now," Murphy's voice crackled.
"Three. But I could care less about that." Corky was lying through her teeth. "Here's the kicker... she's like twelve years old!"
"What?" Murphy lifted her head.
"OK, not really twelve years old. She just looks it. She's so young and ...brunette, and she has not one inch of fat on her. I bet you she's anorexic."
"I am sure you're stretching the truth, Corky."
"I'm sorry, Murphy, I know you have been used to cellulite for years now, but this is a new thing for me… and I am very self-conscious of it."
"Corky, you had to know Miles would be seeing other people… I mean you have."
"Yes, I know, but not anyone I was serious enough with to bring to a wedding." Corky almost seemed to be on the verge of crying. "And I just didn't think she would be so young." Corky's voice became low. Murphy handed her a piece of toilet paper from under the stall. "Thank you." Corky wiped her nose. She held the paper in her hand, twisting it. "I think I'm more upset with the fact that he didn't even come up to me to say hello."
"You mean you haven't even talked to him yet!" Murphy shrieked.
"No. I spotted him coming in with her and I just freaked," her voice screeched for a moment. "And then I saw you ... so I followed you in here to talk. Well, I waited outside first, but it took you so long… and..."
"Did he see you?"
"No."
"So you're complaining about the fact that, Miles Sliverberg, your ex-husband, did not say hello to you even though he hasn't even seen you yet, because you're here hiding from him in a bathroom."
"Well," Corky looked down at the paper in her hand. She was embarrassed. As she twisted the faux garment between her fingers she noticed something on it. It looked like a little mascara and a lipstick color Corky wouldn't be shot dead wearing. Corky could therefore only come to one conclusion on whose it was.
"Murphy, are you alright?" she said not knowing what else to make of the situation.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Murphy could not hide the complete lie of the sentence in her speech pattern. "I think someone is trying to avoid the issue here." Murphy changed the subject as quickly as she could. Corky hated Jerry and she was the last person to understand Murphy's current state.
"But, Murphy, there is..."
"You need..."
"And you have been in here a long time...I waited for you to come out and…"
Murphy couldn't take it anymore and out it came. "Corky, just talk to Miles! You both were friends more years than you were ever married. Bite the bullet. Go for it! Don't lose that over stupid fear. Jeez!"
"Wow." Corky became distracted from her rendition of both Nick and Nora Charles, complete with the cocktail, by Murphy's sudden wisdom. The type of wisdom the blonde haired beauties had never traded before.
"Ahh, there I go again! That's the second time since New Year's 1975 I promised myself I would never say that. And now look at me... Twice in ten years!" Murphy paused for a moment. "Or was it seventy-two?"
"You're right, Murphy!" Corky thanked Murphy quietly in her embarrassment, but quickly shook it off with the help of the remainder of her mimosa. Then, like a woman on a mission, she left the bathroom.
Murphy waited a moment as quiet seemed to come over the bathroom again and footsteps fell off into the distance. Murphy opened the door slowly and looked around to make sure the coast was clear. And it was. Thank god for mindless human nature or just plain laziness. It seemed that since the row of stalls Murphy stood in were so far in the back, where no one had thought to look, she was alone and probably would be for a long time.
She cradled the palms of her hands on the base of the marble counter for a moment and then reached for the faucet. Only there was no on or off. It was one of those damn motion sensored ones that Murphy would put her hand under, for what seemed like hours and not even get a drop of water, while for others it seemed to work instantly. Murphy had decided that this device of all devices hated her with the deepest passion. More than alarm clocks, more than vending machines of any kind, and even more than Dan Quayle. But this time, the water gods seemed to understand because her soft tired hands, with only a slow drag, unleashed a cool stream of water. She gathered a small pond in her hands and threw it against her face.
Murphy took her hands away from her face and noticed there was something black on her hands. Something on her face was not waterproof. She just wasn't sure whether it was her mascara or the eyeliner. She reached for a towel and stopped cold as she caught her reflection in the mirror. Her piercing eyes looking back at her. "When did I get this old?" she thought to herself. And how could she feel so alone in a banquet hall filled with her closet friends in the world.
IN THE BANQUET HALL
Corky walked out of the bathroom with confidence and a smile. She flattened down the length of her light pink dress, lining up the small flowers under the light fabric. She adjusted her thin straps, checked her pearls with a light hand, pouted her lips together, flew back her short blonde hair with her head, and then cascaded the other side of her chiffon scarf over her shoulder. She exuded confidence and femininity in one ball of wax, which in a woman was unbeatable. Nothing could shake her. Murphy was right, for once. She did miss Miles as a friend and she needed to make things right again. Nothing could deflate her.
"Ms. Sherwood," a low yet feminine voice came from behind her.
Nothing could deflate her except for one thing. And that was an equally confident woman who also exuded both confidence and femininity.
The voice was that of Miles' date, which Corky found out only after she turned around.
Miles' date held her purse on her hip and flipped her hair behind her with her head. The same move Corky had used, only she seemed to do it with better results because her hair was longer, much longer-nearly hitting her breasts, which peeked out of her strapless blue dress - just enough to be tasteful. It was true Corky had stretched the truth. Rachel's proportions were all correct – she was no child.
Rachel picked up the side of her dress and walked closer to Corky with a smile upon her face. Her eyes were a cool and piercing brown. Corky felt all the confidence she had built up drain out of her like a leaky tire. But what seethed out from the inside never faltered from the outside.
"Yes." Corky put on her most practiced Miss America smile and kept telling herself to keep it together.
"I'm Rachel Margolis. I just wanted to introduce myself." She reached her hand out to Corky who shook it with a bewildered look on her face, as if she had no idea who the woman was.
Corky opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out.
"I'm the twelve-year-old," Rachel said bluntly, after what seemed like an endless pregnant pause, all the while keeping a large engaging smile on her face. Corky pulled back in embarrassment not knowing what to say. "It's ok. I'm not offended."
Corky began to relax.
"I've been a fan of FYI for years..."
"How old are you? If I may ask…" Corky added the last part with her southern upbringing, because the first part had come out without it.
"Ah, the million dollar question." Rachel Margolis opened her purse and pulled out a sliver cigarette case with the word JAG on it. She opened it and popped a cigarette in her mouth. "You don't mind if I smoke do you?" she said in a fast drill, as she snapped the case closed.
"As long - as you blow it away from me." Corky responded out loud, but in her head she tried to think of something more obscene she would have liked to have said instead. But Corky, still being Corky, processed her response straight through to the polite file-a-fax in her head. Still, the obscene thought in Corky's head was more for the cigarette smoke than for the woman. Corky did like something about her. It was a good vibe of some kind she couldn't explain. Plus, the fact that she turned, what could have been an equally rude and awkward scene, into a more civilized moment, made Corky very intrigued as to what she was going to say next.
"You see…" Rachel took a sliver lighter from her purse and lit the cigarette with a sigh of contentment; making sure, in many contexts, not to blow smoke "up" Corky's way. She dropped the lighter back in her purse. "I tend to date older men, so I always get this question from their friends. I am twenty-four years old. I have a BA in political science and communication and I currently am a correspondent for the local channel two CBS News in New York City. And I'm the alternate, alternate, to the national broadcast if the need ever does arise."
"That's how you met, Miles?"
"Precisely. In a way." She smiled and took another drag off her cigarette. "And to answer the six million dollar question, yes, we were shtuping, but not anymore." She let the smoke in and out of her lungs again. "Miles probably doesn't want everyone in this room to think that. But having been in your shoes before I thought you should know."
"And that's why you're here?"
"No, I'm here because I grew up watching you guys and Miles promised me I could come and meet you all."
"And that's why you came up to me?"
"Yes." Rachel smiled at Corky and took another drag. She blew it out with a degree of lust for the object. "I know how it is and I didn't want you to hate me without knowing me. If it's the other way around then that's ok."
Corky laughed.
Rachel smiled "But the real reason-" Rachel leaned in towards Corky, holding her cigarette as far away from her as she could.
"-You can't smoke in here, Miss." A little man in a shapely tux interrupted them.
"Excuse me?" Rachel retorted in an unexcused way.
"No smoking, Miss."
"Listen, do I look like little Miss. Shirley Temple to you? You can call me Madam or Ma'am if you really want to, maybe even lady, but don't not expect the evil eye. But Ms. Margolis, I think would be more appropriate."
"I am sorry, Ms. Margolis, but if you continue to resist in a hostile manner I will have to call security." The little man before her seemed to be melting before her very eyes.
"Alright!" She smiled as Corky had done when she first met Ms. Margolis, not two minutes earlier. Rachel and Corky waited for the little man to leave. He just stood there. "Come with me, Honey." Rachel said in a way Corky would later describe as "very New York". She took Corky by the wrist and dragged her out on to the nearest balcony she could find.
Coming from the cold air-conditioned inside to the heat and cool breeze of the Virginia outdoors was cooling and perfect. Rachel let go of Corky and took a light puff on her cigarette. "You stay there," requested Rachel from the other side of the small balcony, which was about the size of Corky's old office at FYI. "I won't get smoke on you this way. You must excuse me, Ms. Sherwood, I tried quitting smoking for a week and this is my first well... second smoke since I decided I am not a non-smoker."
"What did you want to say to me, Ms. Margolis?"
"Please, call me Rachel," she laughed
"Rachel."
"Oh," she said, suddenly realizing something. "Was it ok that I called you, Honey? I should really be more careful when I do that, I forget I'm not the only one sensitive to certain words. My aunt uses it all the time and it just comes out sometimes. I don't mean any disrespect. It's just that some people see Honey the way I see Miss and Dear, condescending and all, but I don't..."
Corky smiled as she noticed Rachel's descent in to what was probably more the real her, and a woman she could see Miles dating - a very nice, yet opinionated, somewhat neurotic person. This made Corky feel far more relaxed to be her own true self. Corky still wondered what was so important that Rachel had kidnapped her into her cigarette break. And much like rants of her own, on similar subjects, Corky could see that Rachel could go on indefinitely. Of course, it's always easier to recognize these things after the fact, so Corky decided to interrupt.
"Please. It's all fine." Corky smiled and Rachel smiled back. "I really need to get back before they throw the bouquet."
"Ah, sorry." Rachel took a puff and walked closer to Corky. She began speaking and then closed her mouth and looked at the cigarette. "I'm sorry," she said and tossed the cigarette to the ground. "I can't say this from this far away from you." With that she stepped on the cigarette with her small blue satin heel and walked over to Corky.
"I told you all that stuff about Miles and I because I thought it might give you the courage to talk to him. I know Miles very well and he really cares about you. He misses your friendship, but he's scared. I tried to get him to find you and talk to you, but he won't make the first move. I thought maybe if I told you that, well other than not hearing his whining all night about it… "
Corky laughed
"Ah, good, I'm not the only one he does this to."
"Thank you, Rachel." Corky smiled. She took Rachel's hand and squeezed it. Corky knew what a courageous thing she had just done for her.
"Don't let fear get in the way."
Corky looked at Rachel in recognition of the comment. "You got that from Murphy."
"What?"
"You said you overheard my conversation with Murphy... she said that to me before I came out."
"I only heard the twelve-year old part… then I left." Just then a gust of wind came by and blew the pink scarf from Corky's neck over the railing. Corky screamed as she tried to grab it. It was fruitless and the two watched the scarf float down to the ground, leaving their backs naked to the door.
"Rachel, are you smoking?" a man's voice seemed to boom off the concrete floor.
Corky and Rachel both turned around to see Miles, looking as bright as he always looked in a black tux. The only sign of aging on the boy wonder seemed to be a few wrinkles around his eyes and forehead from too much worrying.
Both Corky and Miles' reaction to each other was one of shock. Miles began to fluster with his words, trying to structure the perfect sentence for the occasion with the aplomb he always desired, but didn't always achieve. Corky watched as Rachel seemed to know exactly what to do.
Rachel walked over to him and pecked him on the cheek. "We were both talking about you."
Miles calmed down, as Rachel looked over at Corky and squeezed Miles arm, as if it was a signal of what she knew he had to do.
Miles and Corky just stared at each other, occasionally looking around or down in opposition likes a pendulum.
"I'm going to go mingle!" Rachel said this looking at Corky and then turned to Miles like what she had to say next was a secret, but Corky still heard her. "Remember," she whispered. "You said you would introduce me to Murphy Brown."
"I will. But you know you could just introduce yourself."
Rachel turned into almost a little girl, a new trait Corky had not seen from her yet. "Yeah, but I know she'll take me more seriously if it's coming from you. I don't want to make a fool of myself." Rachel patted Miles on the back and she was gone.
Corky and Miles were now alone.
BACK IN THE BATHROOM
As this was going on Murphy was alone in the bathroom again with her thoughts. This only lasted for perhaps five minutes when again Murphy was interrupted.
Kay peeked around the corner of the wall, as if she had been looking around every corner. Murphy saw Kay and quickly tried to cover for herself. She pulled a pink lipstick from her skirt pocket and began applying it. When Kay saw Murphy her demeanor changed. Kay had heard what had happened and knew from the moment she saw Murphy just how it had affected her.
Kay walked up behind Murphy. "I heard it on my radio in the car," Kay talked to Murphy through her reflection and Murphy did the same.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Kay."
"Come on, Murphy! I talked to Keith. He told me what happened."
"Keith?" Murphy truly had no idea who Kay was talking about. Then she realized it must have been one of the drunken fools from before, since she never knew their names anyway. Murphy mouthed an "ah" of recognition and pushed past Kay.
There was a short pause while Kay looked off, trying to think of what to say next.
Murphy opened the door of the stall she had previously occupied and grabbed her jacket off the hook.
"Murphy, you know I don't care how you feel about Jerry. Besides, if some people where really your friends they wouldn't care who you care about."
Murphy shook out her jacket and slipped her arms into the sleeves, trying not to be affected by the word "care". She walked over to the mirror again pulling her jacket down at the lapel.
Kay, who by now was leaning against the counter, turned her head towards Murphy. Murphy all the while was still ignoring her. Noticing that Murphy was ignoring her, Kay rolled her eyes and her head and then stood up.
Murphy flattened out her jacket before buttoning it closed.
"Ha," Kay whispered to herself and then paused for a brief moment. "Well, I just wanted to tell you that Keith jumped to conclusions." Kay walked towards the door. "Now, the reports I heard said he may not have been in the car...after they stopped the fire. But you wouldn't care about a thing like that." Murphy took in Kay's comments for a small second.
"Kay?" Murphy's head shot towards the doorway, but she was
gone.
A split second later Kay emerged from the wall she had exited behind. This was because, Kay being Kay, she had not planned to go anywhere. That's what Murphy hated about Kay - not only that she was usually right, but that she always knew when she was. This was only matched by Kay's strange ability to know everything, as if she were psychic. Kay would said she was just observant. Of all the people Murphy would have wanted to discover her in the bathroom, she was glad it was Kay for more than that reason. She was also a good friend.
When Jerry came back into her life three years ago, to tell her he was getting married, it had been Kay who treated him with respect. All of her other friends despised him and never wasted an opportunity to tell her so. It had been Kay, who from the beginning, had figured out the unresolved feelings the two had for each other. Back then, Murphy wouldn't admit it to Kay, even though they both knew Kay was right.
"You want to tell me the truth, or do you just want me to know it?" Kay's words from the last time ran inside Murphy's head. Only this time she would tell Kay the truth.
BACK ON THE BALCONY...
"How have you been Miles?" Corky asked.
"Very, well. Very, well...and you?"
"Same." Corky smiled and pushed her lower lip into her upper.
"I heard you were offered the anchor job on CBS This Morning." Miles took a step towards Corky.
"Yes." Corky smiled again and took a step towards Miles. "It would mean a move to New York, but it is a chance for me to be the lead anchor," Corky said this with a complete lack of enthusiasm.
"Can I give you a piece of advice?" Miles leaned in with his head, until Corky gave him the go ahead with a simple nod of her head, and he took another step towards her. Corky also did the same
"I think it's a bad choice."
"You do?" Corky seemed relieved. They each took a step forward. They now faced each other
"I think it's, well, beneath you, beneath your talents." Miles flared his arms as he talked. They each took a step forward again.
"You think that?" Corky played with her fingernails and Miles leaned against the railing with his right arm.
"You have really grown as a reporter in the last years, and frankly for you, taking that job would be a step down."
"I was telling myself it was all they would let me do." Corky frowned and leaned over the concrete balcony railing with her forearms. Miles did the same until they were both next to each other, watching the sun begin to set.
"You shouldn't tell yourself that, Corky. You should hold out. I hear ABC is looking for a new reporter for Primetime Live." There was a long pause and they both looked out into the beginning of night.
"So does this mean we're friends?"
"I think it does." A soft wind blew by, ruffling Corky's hair and blowing Miles' hair in his face. He pushed it back as another pause continued. The pause was not for lack of words the two had to share, but for how comfortable the situation was.
"Miles, what does shtupp mean?"
Miles began to shake his head and clenched his eyelids together. "She told you we're not sleeping together anymore, didn't she?"
Corky didn't know what to say. She wanted to laugh, but knew she shouldn't. "It's ok Miles you don't have to impress me."
"No," Miles voice went up an octave, like it was trying to enter his nose. "I wasn't trying to impress you."
"Just all the other men here?"
"It's just embarrassing when a woman goes around a party filled with your friends and colleagues announcing with glee she's no longer sleeping with you." Miles lifted his glasses off his face and buried his head in his arms. "I'll never live this down at work. I'll be Miles Freezer Burger again."
"Again?"
"Long story."
"I'm sure she's not telling everyone…"
"She told Aaron Lloyd...
"Frank's friend from the Times? He's cute," Corky smiled.
"Rachel, would agree with you. His sister's my stage manager."
"I'm sorry, Miles." And they stared out into the stars in silence
"So, this means we're friends again?" Miles stated this as a statement that just happened to have a question mark.
"We were always friends, Miles."
Corky smiled at Miles and he smiled back.
BACK IN THE BANQUET HALL
Frank held his bride with one arm and a glass of champagne in the other hand. He laughed and seemed to just be having a hell of a good time. Part of this was because of the company he kept. Lesley was to his right and Jim Dial accompanied by his own wife, whose hand he held in his, was to his left. Handholding in the past by one Mr. Jim Dial was just as common as seeing Halley's Comet, but since Jim had almost lost his wife he wasn't going to let her go again. Jim was even seen on some occasions, kissing his wife in public with more than a short peck on the lips. But for Jim, still being Jim, this was far and few between. Still, one could not help noticing, by his newfound attitude, that this was something he still did more often in private.
"Jim, have you decided which job you're going to take?" Frank's bride asked Jim eagerly.
"Yeah, Jim, The Evening News, 60 Minutes, your own column, a novel? What's the choice, big guy?" Frank continued the question.
"Well, I think I'm going to take a long, long vacation at home." Jim looked into his own bride's eyes with a look that could make anyone melt like butter.
"But first we are taking a marvelous cruise around the world," Doris broke in with overjoyed enthusiasm.
Jim turned to smile at his wife and noticed off in the distance two familiar friends.
"Well," Jim smiled, as Miles and Corky approached the two couples. "Look who it is."
"There you guys are," Frank smiled and outstretched his arms as a welcoming gesture. Just then a waiter came close by with a tray of champagne. "I want to make a toast!" Frank said directing the attention of the waiter towards the group.
"We should get Murphy in on this?" Miles questioned looking around the room. "I don't think we have all been together like this in a long time." Miles took his drink from Frank who by this time had already handed out a flute to everyone. Everyone that was except to Lesley, who unbeknownst to the group, held a glass of carbonated water.
"Good idea, Miles! An FYI toast is just what I had in mind." Frank seemed more exuberant than was called for and turned to the waiter for a request, "Could you please bring back a seltzer water? And could you put it in the same glass as the champagne. Thank you."
"Don't forget, Kay," Corky chimed in and Frank asked the waiter to bring one more glass.
"Where are the two of them?" Jim looked around the room for Murphy's trademark blonde hair or for Kay's dark tresses to no avail.
Just then Avery ran towards the group wearing nothing on his feet but his socks. This was for a reason. He ran and slid the remainder of the dance floor reaching Frank at the end of it who quickly seized the blonde haired boy in an apparent parental gesture.
"Whoa," Frank said, taking hold of the boy by the arm. "Be careful, you could hurt yourself."
"Come on, Uncle Frank, it's fun." Frank couldn't help but smile at the boy because he knew it was.
"Fun. You want fun." Frank began to tickle Avery, as the boy giggled and begged him to stop. "Where's your mother?" Frank let go of the boy and let him catch his breath.
"I don't know," he said bewildered.
"Do me a favor, Kiddo. Go look for her for me, okay?" Avery gave a look of "alright" and was off in the direction he had come from.
"There's Kay!" Corky pointed towards the doorway with her champagne flute. "Kay, come over here." Corky waved her hand until she got Kay's attention and she walked towards the group.
"Hey guys." Kay smiled her usual Cheshire cat grin. Only this time it seemed a little off.
"I want to make a toast with the FYI gang," Frank grinned back.
"One moment." Kay began to sneak off, but Frank stopped her in mid-step.
"No, stay here," Frank chased after her "We just have to wait for Murphy and I don't know when I can get all of you together like this."
"Well, actually Murphy is not feeling well. I'm getting her purse for her and putting her in a cab."
The FYI gang spoke up with their own inquiries to Murphy's health until they surrounded Kay in a cluster. She assured them it was nothing serious.
In all other circumstances the group would not have been so concerned if not for Murphy's past illness. Not to mention, the fact that they all knew how much Murphy's presence at Frank's wedding meant to him.
"She's not even going to say good-bye?" Frank was a bit hurt by her sudden departure.
"She... doesn't want to spoil anything. In fact, she's letting Avery stay here and I'm taking him home later."
"Well, OK… Tell her I hope she feels better." Frank's mood had fallen. The rest of the group added their own get-well remarks and Kay was off, leaving the ex-FYI group all bothered and bewildered.
Kay walked out of the banquet hall into the crisp May air. Murphy stood up against a white pillar, looking as if she was hiding from the door. She looked out at the small cement fountain that stood in the middle of the circular parkway. It was still light, but still dark enough for the bright light to illuminate from the center of the pond. The water rushed loudly, like a forest stream making a relaxing sound, reverberating through the empty space. The music from inside the hall was faint. Murphy always knew the door had opened when the music became louder for a moment or two. For this reason she was not surprised when Kay handed Murphy her purse from the other side of the pillar.
Murphy has asked Kay not to tell anyone the reason for her early departure and Kay reassured she hadn't. They both walked toward the cab that was waiting for Murphy. Murphy slipped into the cab and Kay asked her one more time if she wanted her to accompany her.
Murphy smiled and squeezed Kay's hand. "No," she said softly. She only needed some sleep.
Kay closed the door and hit the top of the cab signaling it to go.
Kay stood at the curb and watched the cab drive around the fountain and out the gate. Murphy tried to hide her head as the photographers waiting outside jammed their flashes in her face. When the cab had passed the flowerbed of cameras Murphy rested her head against the window and watched the reflection of the trees and houses in the glass. They reflected fast, like an impressionist painting with fleeting colors and images. It was peaceful and beautiful. It reminded Murphy of something she used to do as a child when she rode in the back seat of her parent's car. It was the only time she felt some peace in her childhood and this time it was giving her the same tranquil feeling. Murphy closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.
As she drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness her mind ran back not to the last time she saw Jerry, which was saying good-bye to him and his new bride, but eight years before. Just before Jerry announced he was leaving for Germany.
FLASHBACK: OCTOBER 19992
The doorbell rang. Murphy checked her hair in the mirror in the foyer. She felt she looked like hell, but that's what most new mothers look like. To most there was no difference, but Murphy could see the lack of sleep under her eyes. To counter this Murphy was wearing her second favorite suit. Her second favorite suit because her favorite, her red suit, was at the cleaners. So, for this occasion canary yellow would have to do. The doorbell rang again. It was the third time. "All right already!" Murphy bellowed in her typical manner. Murphy opened the door. Jerry stood there with his hand still sounding the buzzer.
"Finally!" Jerry gestured with his hand letting go of the buzzer. "I thought I'd be waiting here 'till there's a Democrat in the White House." He kissed Murphy on the cheek and let himself in. He threw the Washington Post, he held in his right hand, on the foyer table.
"Come on, Gold, you were waiting maybe two minutes!" Murphy still held on to the door.
Jerry turned towards her and took off his coat. "I'm impatient, it's part of my charm," he smiled at her.
"Part of?" Murphy let go of the door, letting it close by itself. "The word part would suggest having a full piece to start with." Murphy walked towards Jerry and smiled slyly.
Jerry placed his coat over the bottom of the staircase banister and walked over to Murphy.
"How ya been, Brown?" He smoothed his hands over her arms.
"Good." She seemed satisfied with her answer but thought for a moment "Crazed." Her true attitude came out with her second response. "I'm a mother now, Jerry!" Murphy said with surprise
"Yeah, I know." Jerry looked down awkwardly, smiled, and looked back up into her eyes "The world's out of whack. I think I saw Jesse Helms walking in a gay pride parade."
Murphy laughed.
Jerry chuckled back at her. "So where's this kid of yours, Brown?"
Jerry looked around and walked into the living room. Murphy walked behind him and then crossed over to the bassinet near the window. When Jerry first caught sight of the child he stood at the apron of the living room like a frightened cat. Murphy stood by the bassinet realizing Jerry had not followed her.
"You can come over here." She looked up at him. "He won't bite."
"I don't know about that. Babies seem to have the same reaction to me as dogs do to mailmen."
"Jeez, Gold...you're the one who wanted..."
"Alright. Alright." Before she could even interrupt what had been already interrupted, Jerry walked over to the new Brown family. He looked over the bassinet at the sleeping baby and appeared mesmerized at the small creature.
He reached into his breast pocket and took out his glasses, placing them on as he leaned into the bassinet and squinted at the baby.
"Jeez, Jerry, he's a baby not a wine list." Jerry stood up and gave Murphy a look. "And since when do you wear glasses?"
"It's called getting older, Brown," he said looking at her. "Remember! I think that's..." Murphy hit him upside the back of the head.
"What was that for? I didn't even say anything, yet!"
"That was for the yet."
"You know, I don't mind abuse, Brown, but let me earn it at least!" With that the baby began crying.
"Thanks...A... Lot… Gold." Murphy leaned into the bassinet. "I finally got him to sleep." She cradled the baby in her arms and began to bob up and down. "When you said you didn't blossom around children I think you exaggerated a bit... above the mark!" Murphy's voice grated on the air and Jerry got defensive.
"Well, I'm sorry, Brown!" Jerry didn't seem to understand why it was only his fault. Murphy began walking with the baby, resting him on her chest and Jerry backed down. "He is beautiful, Murphy." Jerry's sweet tones could always change Murphy's attitude. "Just like his mother."
"Thank you, Jer." Knowing Jerry never said anything coaxed she was touched by the remark.
"So, what's his name anyway?"
Murphy looked around awkwardly at the question. "Well…" To Murphy's surprise, the baby stopped crying. Carefully, she put him down in his bassinet. By this time, Jerry was sitting on the couch. "I haven't picked one out yet."
"He doesn't have a name yet!" Jerry's head spouted up.
"A name is a very important thing. I want to make sure he has a name that suits him."
"You can't make up your mind, can you?" Jerry gave out a soft laugh.
"I am trying out different names to see which he responds well to."
"He's five months old, Murphy. I think he'll respond just as well to Tire Iron as he would to the name Jack."
"Funny, Gold. This is my child we're talking about here...my flesh and blood… You..."
"Brown! Brown!" Jerry got up from the couch. "It was a joke. Calm down." He began to whisper, "You'll wake the baby again."
"You're right." Murphy took a deep breath. Jerry sat down on the couch and placed his glasses back in his breast pocket. Then he signaled Murphy to come and sit next to him. She did so and sat down with a loud sigh. She rested her head on Jerry's shoulder. He rolled his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead.
"This is nice," she remarked and snuggled into his shoulder. "It's so hard, Jerry. Harder than I thought. I'm not sure if this was a good idea."
"Come on, Brown. I saw you with that kid. You're a natural. Now me, it never came natural to me."
"Frank taught me how to do that," she said mocking herself.
"I think some of that is you. Some people are just born to do it and... some aren't. I wouldn't have pegged you as one of the 'AREs', but then we're both known for surprising each other." Jerry looked over at Murphy and she looked over at him. He brushed her hair away from her face with his fingers and looked into her eyes. "I haven't told you how beautiful you look today, have I?"
"Really? You don't have to say that, Jer."
Jerry looked at her in a way that made her melt. "I think it's customary when you haven't seen someone for nine months." He leaned in towards her. "And besides…" He paused and leaned in closer. "You do." He leaned in completely and kissed her. She kissed him back, passionately pushing Jerry backward on the couch. After a moment she pulled up from his embrace.
"Jerry?"
"What?"
Murphy looked at Jerry for a moment before answering him. She looked frightened in some way "Are you sure, Jerry? I had a baby I don't look..." He interrupted what he felt was a fruitless thought with another kiss. This lasted for about five seconds before Murphy pulled away again.
"Wait!"
"What?" he said aggravated for more than one reason.
"The baby," she whispered.
"I can be quiet," he sneered and leaned into to kiss her.
Murphy pulled back. "No," she looked at him crossly.
"We... I should put him in his room. Then we can go into my room."
"Ah." Jerry seemed relieved and let his grip up on Murphy who peeled off the couch. Jerry got up off the couch with a grunt. Murphy was right, that was where they always ended up – her bedroom.
LATER: 1992
Jerry hopped down the stairs while at the same time fiddling with the wristband of his watch, trying to fasten it. Murphy stood against the doorframe of the doorway to her living room. She sipped a small cup of tea with her left hand and pulled at the sash of her blue bathrobe with the other.
"There you are." Jerry smiled, as he noticed Murphy in the doorway. "I didn't know where you went off to." They kissed on the lips quickly and then again for a longer stay of time.
"I was thirsty. Want some?" Murphy offered him her cup.
"No." Jerry looked in the cup and then rested his arms around her waist. "I'll have something at the restaurant. Go on, get dressed before that baby-sitter gets here. We don't want to lose our reservation." Jerry slapped Murphy on the backside and walked over to the foyer table. He opened up the newspaper he had left on the table and began looking over the front page.
"About the restaurant, Jer," Murphy stated this in a very matter-of-fact way.
Jerry turned around and tried to ignore what he had heard by still looking down at his paper. "What about it?" Jerry looked up at her.
"I got a call and I have to meet a source."
"OK." Jerry looked confused and disappointed, but tried not to show it.
"Then, I guess I'll see you next month."
"Actually, I can't do that either. I'm doing this follow up pi..."
"Come on, Brown!" Jerry slammed the newspaper down on the table. "You can't keep doing this!"
"You cancel on me too, Jerry!"
"I changed my schedule severely so I could accommodate you on that date. So much, in fact, it's the reason we can't see each other for three months after that. We can't have a relationship based on that!" The last part just came out. He didn't mean to say the "R" word.
"A baby takes up a lot of one's time, Jerry!" Murphy interrupted Jerry's last sentence. She hadn't heard it. "Not that you would know that type of thing, Jerry!" Murphy realized she had sent a very hurtful barb. "Jer, I'm sorry that was way out of line." She walked towards him.
"It's nothing that's not true," he grunted with held in offence – he tried not to show how Murphy's words could affect him. He tossed his paper on the foyer table and walked towards his coat on the banister.
Suddenly, Jerry's last words reached Murphy's brain. "Jerry, we never said this was going to be a long-term serious type thing." Murphy paused for a moment. "Did you think that?" She tried to be very matter-of-fact with her words, but it only came out halfway between that and concern.
Jerry turned around, looked at Murphy and lied through his teeth. "No!" There was another pause. It was pregnant in fact.
Murphy didn't know what to say. "Jerry?"
"Well, I better get going then." He lifted his trench coat off the banister
"Jerry, don't go." Murphy walked towards him, but was stopped by her baby's cries. She looked towards the boy's room.
"He wants his mother. You better go." He fixed the collar on his trench coat and reached for his paper.
"One moment, Jerry. Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back." Murphy rolled her hand around the base of the banister and dashed up the stairs until she disappeared. Jerry stuffed the newspaper under his arm and reached for the door. He opened the door and then took one final look up the staircase and then back at the door.
"Good-bye, Murphy," he whispered. He walked out and shut the door behind him.
About ten minutes later, Murphy appeared at the top of the stairs to find Jerry not at the foot of it. She was perplexed by his absence.
THE PRESENT: THE CAB
At the time, the details of that night long ago had never penetrated Murphy's brain. Not until that cab ride home did it all come together for her in context.
She didn't hear from Jerry for the next two weeks after that night. Not until one day he appeared, unannounced on her doorstep, announcing he was on his way to Germany; for good. It was hurried and quick leaving Murphy with no time to really comprehend the situation. Jerry must have sensed it because a few days later she received a package with a letter attached. In the box was a small blue elephant that would soon become Avery's favorite. Murphy laughed at the gift as she did with all of Jerry's gifts. Not because they were funny on the surface, but because they were funny on the inside; funny and sweet.
What Murphy had not known, at the time, was that the television station in Germany had been sending Jerry offers for a year. Ever since his late night talk show was canceled. It had been a number one show in Germany and they wanted more. Jerry had always turned them down, but the night he left Murphy's house he wanted to go as far away from her as he could. And he did.
IN FRONT OF THE BANQUET HALL
Kay looked at the car for a moment and then turned towards the door. Standing against the same pillar Murphy had been before was Rachel. Her left hand rested on her right elbow, which connected to her right hand, which held her ever-present cigarette.
"Was that Murphy Brown?" she asked, as Kay walked past her.
Kay turned to Rachel realizing she knew the girl and offered up a yes. "You're Miles' girlfriend?"
Rachel said "Yes" with a bit of hesitation, not wanting to embarrass Kay or go into sordid details. Of course, if Rachel knew Kay well at all, she would have known this would not have been a problem.
"And you're Kay Carter-Shepley?" Rachel put out her left hand to shake Kay's hand, which was done, without thought these days, whenever she met a peer. Realizing she could not shake with her left hand she smiled and switched her cigarette, before offering up her right hand. "I'm Rachel Margolis." But before she could even finish the rest of her sentence Kay interrupted her.
"Yes, Miles was telling me about you. I'll have to catch your report sometime on my dish. I usually refuse to watch any type of local news, but from what Miles tells me I'll have to make an exception."
"Thank you." Rachel smiled at what she thought was a compliment. "Is she coming back?" Rachel looked off towards the gate.
"No, she went home." Kay quickly changed the subject. "It's getting cold. Why don't we go inside and finish this?"
Rachel threw her cigarette to the ground and smashed it with her heel. She took one last look towards the gate, as Kay outstretched her arm for the girl to follow her. Rachel turned, smiled at Kay, and then the two walked back into the hall.
Kay and Rachel walked up to the rest of the FYIers in the same gaggle as Kay had left them. As they approached, Miles couldn't help but notice that the two seemed to be having a healthy conversation.
"Well, I'm here. Let's get that toast over with." Kay then remembered something she wasn't sure if she had mentioned beforehand. "Murphy sends her deepest apologies."
"We're still waiting for those drinks." Frank looked discontented by the fact that he was left waiting for so long.
"Ah," Jim remarked, as he noticed the waiter approaching them with two drinks on his tray. "Here is the fine young gentleman with our drinks."
"Who had the champagne?" The young man asked.
Kay's eyes shot out with excitement. "I guess that's mine." She took the bottom of its stem with delight.
"And the seltzer water?" the man asked.
"That was for Murphy..." Corky interrupted him
"I'll take it," Rachel's voice shot in, sounding a bit meek.
"No, Rachel," Frank assured her "We'll get you a glass of champagne." He began to nod his head at the waiter who waited impatiently for a command.
"No, it's alright." Rachel smiled and took the glass off the tray. "I don't drink." She took a sip from the glass and positioned it upward toward the group. "I assume this is all for a toast of some kind?"
"Yes, it is," Doris answered.
The group all raised their glasses.
After a short pause they all looked at Frank. "I'm thinking of something…" The group all gave their usual "ah, Frank" looks.
"To friends!" Corky chimed in.
"Yes, to friends." Miles looked at Corky and then back towards the center of the group. They all clinked glasses repeating the phrase and taking a drink
"And to Frank and Lesley's baby!" Kay took another big swig of her champagne.
Frank did a spit take, while in shock everyone began to say things like "congratulations" and "why didn't you tell us?"
Kay smirked and walked away. as Frank and Lesley tried to fend off the fire surrounding them. "Who's the spoiler now Frank?" She laughed and took the last gulp from her glass. "I said I'd get you back."
GEORGETOWN
The cab came to a complete stop, causing Murphy's head to spring up and collide against the window frame. Responding loudly and angrily, chastising the driver with one of her usual invective speeches. She tossed the driver a few bills and exited the vehicle, slamming the door behind her. This was the reason, as Jerry so "elegantly" once put it; all the cab drivers in D.C. had her picture on the dash with a circle and a red line through it. Murphy staggered towards the door and fumbled for her keys. For the second time, that day, Murphy reminded herself how if this had been thirteen years ago, her night would have ended in just about the same way. Only in her drunken stupor, Murphy would have been lucky to make it half way up the stairs, finding herself the next morning at the foot of them or on the couch, the living room floor, the kitchen floor, the bedroom floor, her den, the backyard, or the landing outside her townhouse. Murphy always seemed to manage to black out in almost every area of the house except her bed. Murphy was so thankful, in hindsight that that part of her life was over with. Thoughts of being curled up in a doorframe with a bottle of scotch were not the memories Murphy particularly liked to think about. It was just a day filled with bad memories, and even the good ones were still painful.
Murphy fumbled with her keys and thrust the door open. The smell of paint engulfed her. Eldin was home. It was a great smell. Murphy propped her hand against the doorframe and thought for a moment, staring into the foyer. A memory began to flood through her and she laughed and shook her head. The image that ran across her mind was Jerry Gold standing in her foyer, dressed in a whale outfit, straight out of Sea World. She had to admit the guy had guts. One of the many things he and Murphy had in common. One of the many things she admired him for. He said he wanted to make her laugh and he did. Murphy called for Eldin, but there was no answer. He must have been out.
Murphy went to throw her purse where she usually threw it, on the green chair next to the door, but it wasn't there. "Eldin," she thought, and tossed her keys on the foyer table, setting her purse against the bottom of the doorframe leading from the living room to the foyer. Just then another memory struck Murphy and she was transported back to 1992 in that same foyer.
"The job's in Germany."
Murphy turned around and saw Jerry in the doorframe. "Germany?"
"Yeah, Germany! I'm huge there. Kind of like a short, Jewish, David Hasselhoff." Jerry laughed. Murphy didn't. "My nighttime talk show went through the roof there last year."
"But Germany?"
"Ok, so being a Jew in Germany is not the smartest idea I've ever come up with, but neither was getting into a fist fight with you and I survived that."
"Ducking under furniture and yelling, "she has a knife", is not what I would call surviving."
"I can't get a job here, Brown! All my shows since The Jerry Gold Show have tanked. They want me! And no one seems to want me here. It's my turn to be back on top again. To be back on the air!" Jerry paused and gestured with his head. "Be happy for me, Brown!"
"I am. When do you leave?"
"I'm on my way to the airport now."
"Now, you're leaving now! I've been trying to get in touch with you for weeks and you're leaving now!"
"Brown, I'm sorry. I've been so busy getting things together I... But that's why I'm here! To say good-bye."
"Good-bye?"
"Come on, Brown, be happy for me. This is my chance to be number one again," he said with excitement.
"I am. I am."
"Good." Jerry smiled. "Then... I'll see ya."
"See ya." Murphy felt disjointed. Jerry reached for the door handle. He turned his head away from her and began to close the door before stopping and giving one last gaze back.
"Good-bye, Murphy." Jerry let the façade fall for a moment and his deep affection for her broke through.
"Good-bye, Jerry." Jerry shut the door with a loud slam. The sound sent Murphy back to reality.
Murphy stared at the door for one final moment and then walked into the living room where she caught sight of the mantel and another memory - it was from 1990.
"You know what the problem is, Gold, we're too much alike." Murphy faced Jerry.
"Alike? No. We're opposites, Brown. Sure we both think the world's screwed up, but deep down inside you have this annoying hope for the future. Now me — I don't put too much stock in "mankind" or the future. You see, Murphy, we're opposites."
Back in reality, Murphy walked over to the arm of the couch and kicked off her shoes. She started to make her way to the table behind the couch to leaf through her mail, but balked halfway between the table and the arm. Another memory of her and Jerry struck her. It was from 1992 when Murphy was sick and pregnant and Jerry offered to help. She remembered he sat in the black chair in front of the fireplace.
"I told you months ago if you needed me I'd be around, and this seems like a good time."
Then she heard his voice behind her from two weeks after that.
"You know what the real problem is? There's no room for me here!" Jerry began to circle around the couch, while Murphy sat on it. "And I'm not talking about the four inches of closet space I got. Or the fact, that I have to shave in the laundry sink. There is no room for me in your life, Brown. You won't let anyone in. What's so damn hard with telling someone that you need them? Even for a couple weeks."
"Because, I hate being vulnerable, alright. I hate waiting for someone to come home, and I hate that it matters that you're late and don't call."
Murphy shook the thought off physically and then slowly took her mail from the table before she slumped down on the couch. She leafed through the mail half-heartedly and couldn't help but glance towards the door for another potent memory; probably the most potent of them all. It was the second time she and Jerry broke up; when in 1990 he left for California.
"Oh, and Brown, one more thing." Jerry scooped his coat up off the foyer table and faced Murphy. He gazed at her for a moment before speaking. "I love yo..." He paused and tried again. "I love yo..." He took in a breath. "I love your shoes." Jerry seemed to be surprised and confused by his own comment, but he didn't try to correct himself. He knew the sentiment was understood.
"I love yo…" Murphy looked down, and then up again, as she smiled sweetly. "I love your shoes, too." She held her emotions at bay with her grin over the comment. Jerry nodded and he was gone, both from the present and the past.
Murphy sunk into the couch, her body in an emotional blockade. She took a long look around the room, and then stared straight ahead. Like memories of drunkenness, memories of Jerry Gold lay a strewn all over her house.
Murphy set the mail next to her on the couch, peeled herself off the couch, and walked over to the light switch. Murphy took a last look at the room and shut out the light. She made her way up the stairs with thoughts of washing away the day in a soothing hot bath. She paused before she entered the hallway and took another look down at her living room. She rolled her bottom lip into her upper, nodded her head, hit the edge of the banister with the bottom of her palm, and walked past the window to her bedroom. It began to rain. It was a soothing rain, lightly at first; hitting the window pane like an echo, before becoming a heavy pour.