WHAT IF - SEASON 5 EPISODE 9 - EVEN FLOW (PART 2)
1. Int. Car. Evening.
Jay is driving Manny back to her home.
Manny:
Tomorrow I´m giving you some gas money and I won´t take no for an answer this time!
Jay:
Okay, if you have to twist my arm. It´s really no problem, this dropping you off every day.
Manny:
It sure beats taking the bus and being home half an hour earlier every day isn´t something, I´ll ever complain over!
Jay:
It doesn´t hurt either how much Ellie loves me for doing this!
They smile at one another.
Manny:
She isn´t worried, that you´ll fall for my famous charms?
Jay:
Like Craig did?
Manny:
She told you about that?
Jay:
I´ll be the first to admit, that I wasn´t always the poster boy for faithful guys, but what he did to you would have been way over the line, even for me. You shouldn´t cheat to begin with and to use someone as young as you were to do it, just makes me sick!
Manny:
Am I sitting next to the champion for all 14 year old girls?
Jay:
When you´ve done the things I did to break their hearts, when I was their age, it sticks hard to your conscience. Looking back at it really makes me ashamed of how I was back then.
Manny:
None of us can change the past. There´s skeletons in my closet too, that I can´t say I´m all that proud of.
Jay looks surprised.
Jay:
What kind of skeletons could someone like you have?
Manny:
I haven´t always been the most faithful either. Going after Craig, when I knew he had a girlfriend, can´t have done wonders for my karma either.
Jay:
I´ll tell you this. If I have a son someday, then I´ll make damn sure that he doesn´t turn out, like I did!
Manny:
You don´t seem all that bad to me. I´d even dare say, that I think we´d make a great couple, if it came down to that.
Jay:
I think we would too. Who knows, maybe there´s some alternate dimension, where the two of us live together somewhere exciting, like Los Angeles or somewhere like that!
Manny:
Can I be a famous Hollywood actress, now we´re at it?
Jay:
Since it´s only a fantasy, you can be whatever you want!
Manny:
In that case, let´s throw in a wildly successful music career on top of it!
They laugh together, as Jay pulls up to the curb.
Jay:
End of the line, Santos!
Manny:
Thank you, my personal driver! See ya tomorrow, bright and early!
Jay:
See ya.
She gets out and walks up to the house. He holds there for a second to make sure, she gets all the way to the door safely before driving on.
2. Int. Living Room. Evening.
Caitlin is watching TV, when Manny comes in.
Manny:
Something from the kitchen smells good!
Caitlin:
It´s the pizza that´s baking in the oven, you´re smelling.
Manny:
Like this day could get any better!
Caitlin:
Would this be because it´s your first pay day tomorrow?
Manny:
That too.
She sits down next to Caitlin takes a load off.
Caitlin:
What are the other reasons?
Manny:
Getting to know Jay is fun too. If it hadn´t been for JT and Ellie, who knows what would have happened between us? I love JT with all my heart and I would never even begin to imagine breaking up with him, you know that, but you also can´t deny that he´s somewhat lacking in the macho department.
Caitlin:
Don´t say I didn´t warn you, that it would blow up in your face, if you didn´t stay away from him!
Manny:
People can say what they want! That Jay and I are becoming friends, doesn´t concern anyone except for him and me.
Caitlin:
Whether you like it or not, it does! A workplace environment can quickly turn nasty, once jealousy and here say start rearing their ugly heads.
Manny:
I really don´t think that will happen!
Caitlin:
Trust me, it will!
Manny looks just as sure in her case, as Caitlin is in hers.
OPENING CREDITS
3. Ext. Auto Garage. Day.
Cyrus and Sarah get out of their car and see Manny and Jay arriving together again.
Cyrus:
Do you think they stopped for a quickie on the way?
Sarah:
It wouldn´t surprise me.
Cyrus:
We can officially throw Jay´s claim that they´re "just friends" out of the window.
Sarah:
She didn´t seem like she was one of "those girls", when I first met her. Did I tell you that she has both a kid and a boyfriend, who she´s deceiving just like he´s deceiving Ellie?
Cyrus:
By "those girls", I take it you mean sluts?
Sarah:
You said it, not me!
They head inside, just as Jay and Manny get out of Jay´s car.
Jay:
You wanna get a beer after work today to celebrate it being pay day?
Manny:
You´re sure that doesn´t take us into dating territory?
Jay:
Maybe if we were still teenagers, it would!
Manny:
Jay, I´m still a teenager.
Jay:
But you don´t want to kiss me, do you?
Manny:
I´m pretty sure that both JT and Ellie would have an objection or two to it! I couldn´t do that to him, any more than you could do it to her.
Jay:
You´re right on the money there! You still didn´t answer my question though.
He smiles cheekily at her and she smiles back at him.
Manny:
If things were completely different and both of us were single ... yeah, I´d got for it!
Jay:
Just so you know, so would I.
She can´t help being a little flattered.
Manny:
You would?
Jay:
Sure! I am a damn handsome man after all, if I do say so myself!
Manny laughs heartily, as they head inside.
4. Int. Office. Day.
Manny takes her place at her PC. Sarah shoots her a hard look.
Manny:
Morning, Sarah!
Sarah:
Morning, Manny. Did you sleep well?
Manny:
Like a baby. Not that I don´t every night!
Sarah:
Really? If I were you, I´m sure that the guilty conscience of what I was doing, would be keeping me up all night.
Manny looks surprised at her answer.
Manny:
What are you talking about?
Sarah:
We don´t need to say it out loud, do we?
Manny:
I honestly have no clue what you mean!
Sarah:
Manny, I know you´re young, but are you really that naive?
Manny:
I haven´t done anything, that I need to be ashamed of, just so you know!
Sarah:
That statement alone says everything I need to know!
Manny looks like she´s starting to fear that Caitlin could have been right after all.
5. Int. Garage. Day.
Jay is working on a car, when his boss comes over to him.
Jay and Manny´s Boss:
Are you working hard or hardly working?
Jay:
Only enough to pass the time!
Jay and Manny´s Boss:
You´re also still the biggest smart mouth we have working here!
Jay:
Someone has to bring the entertainment to this place!
Jay and Manny´s Boss:
I need you and Cyrus to get that BMW outside fixed before you go home. The owner is picking it up early tomorrow morning.
Jay:
Can´t you get someone else to do it?
Jay and Manny´s Boss:
Everyone else is busy, sorry. Stick to work talk solely and you´ll survive it!
Jay:
That´s what you say!
Jay and Manny´s Boss:
We all have colleagues, that we aren´t the best of friends with. It´s not just you.
Jay and Manny´s boss walks over to talk to Cyrus. Jay clearly isn´t too happy with having to work closely together with Cyrus.
6. Ext. Garage. Day.
Jay and Cyrus are looking over the engine of an expensive looking BMW.
Jay:
Any ideas?
Cyrus:
For once, you don´t have one?
Jay:
My best guess is that it´s the carburator, that´s acting up.
Cyrus:
I just figured that someone like you, who´s so terrible at hiding his infidelity would be full of good ideas, for when things go wrong!
Jay shakes his head at him and tries not to get into it with him, but Cyrus won´t let it go.
Jay:
You don´t know Jack, so stop acting like you do!
Cyrus:
I know exactly what both you and that whore of yours are like and it makes me sick!
Jay has finally had enough and gives Cyrus a shove.
Jay:
Don´t ever call her that again!
Cyrus:
Can´t handle the truth? She´s a whore and a slut and ...
He doesn´t get another word out, before Jay has clocked him one right on the jaw and he falls down on his back. Jay instantly sees that this could get him fired and looks apologetic, as Cyrus tries to stand up while bleeding heavily from the mouth.
Jay:
Cyrus, I´m sorry!
Cyrus:
You split my lip, you A-Hole! I´m getting you fired for this right now!
He runs back inside, while holding his bleeding lip, that´s gushing a lot of blood. Jay looks frustrated that he let Cyrus get exactly what he wanted all along.
7. Int. Office. Day.
Manny is working at her PC and the mood in the office has reached freezing point between her and Sarah. The boss comes out of his office and walks over to Manny.
Jay and Manny´s Boss:
I need you to come with me to my office, Manny.
Manny:
Did I do something wrong?
Jay and Manny´s Boss:
It´s better that I don´t say anything out here.
Manny gets up from her seat and follows after her boss. Sarah smirks in the knowledge, that Manny is in trouble.
8. Int. Jay and Manny´s Boss´ Office. Day.
Manny sits down next to Jay, who´s already there waiting for them. Their boss sits down across from them.
Jay and Manny´s Boss:
It´s none of my business, what you two have been doing after work hours. It becomes my business however, when it leads to a violent attack on one of my employees.
Manny looks to Jay, who´s not feeling all that proud of what he did.
Manny:
What did you tell him, Jay?
Jay:
I didn´t tell him anything! You have it all wrong, boss. We really are just friends.
Jay and Manny´s Boss:
It´s not that I don´t want to believe you, because you´ve always been a good employee, Jay.
Manny:
I´m lost here, so you´ll have to fill me in!
Jay and Manny´s Boss:
Do you want to tell her or should I?
Jay:
Cyrus called you a very bad word, so I clocked him one. He´s had to be taken to the hospital.
Manny shakes her head at the trouble, she´s gotten into thanks to Jay and not taking Caitlin´s advice.
Jay and Manny´s Boss:
They´re probably stitching him up, as we speak. Everything considered, I have no choice except to fire both of you for inappropriate conduct.
Manny:
Why me? I never asked him to hit anyone, no matter what he called me!
Jay and Manny´s Boss:
After this, you´ll never get any respect from your co-workers here again. I doubt that you would want to come back, even if I had chosen to keep you.
Manny looks like she´s fighting the urge to cry, which only makes Jay feel even worse over what he did.
9. Ext. Auto Garage. Day.
Jay and Manny come out and Manny is (understandably so) very angry with him.
Manny:
Tell me, Jay. What the hell went through your mind, when you decided to resort to extreme violence to defend my honor?
Jay:
He was being a dick! If you had heard what he called you ...
Manny:
Then I would have walked away from it and told my boss, like any normal person would! I wouldn´t have hit him in the head so hard, that they have to send him to the hospital!
Jay:
It´s only a split lip. He´ll survive.
Manny shakes her head at him.
Manny:
Now I don´t have a job and I can´t even put this job on my resume, so I can easier get a new one. Not that I´m an expert on the job market, but I´m sure that being the office slut isn´t a qualification, employers are looking for!
Jay:
Well ...
Manny:
You don´t want to finish that sentence, if you like having teeth!
Jay:
Hey, I´m unemployed too now and unlike you, I´ll be out on the streets, if I can´t pay my rent!
Manny:
Don´t give me that! This is all your fault!
Jay:
We´ll figure something out, I promise.
Manny:
No, we won´t because I never want to see or talk to you again! I´m also taking the bus home, so have a nice life!
She storms away from him, leaving him looking angry with himself.
10. Int. Bar. Evening.
Jay is looking depressed and is drinking a beer, while sitting by the counter. Amy is his bartender and friendly ear.
Jay:
Why was I born a moron, Amy?
Amy:
You tell me.
Jay:
You don´t want to contradict me, like a friend should in this situation?
Amy:
I can´t pretend to think that it´s clever to punch a co-worker, sorry!
Jay:
I only did so, because he was talking bad about Manny! I couldn´t allow him to do that!
Amy:
In case you didn´t know, Jay, most girls don´t want their man acting like a caveman any time someone says something bad about them.
Jay:
What if it´s one of the worst words, you could possibly call a girl?
Amy:
It´s still no excuse for resorting to violence!
He shakes his head and downs the rest of his beer, before putting the bottle on the counter.
Jay:
Get me another one.
She does and puts his new beer on the counter in front of him.
Jay:
What happened to the days when it was seen as proper and chivalrous to defend a girl´s honor?
Amy:
They went away, when we decided to be civilized in stead. Answer me truthfully, Jay. Were you starting to fall for her?
Jay:
No!
She shoots him a suspicious look and he gives in.
Jay:
Okay, maybe a little. Don´t tell Ellie, but last night I had a dream, where we were vacationing in Atlantic City with Emma and Spinner, who also got married there.
Amy:
Emma and Spinner?
Amy has to laugh out loud.
Jay:
I knew that I shouldn´t have told you!
Amy:
Did hell freeze over too?
Jay:
It was so vivid and I guess it could still have been in my thoughts, when I clocked that SOB. I love Ellie and it´s not that I want to ever break up with her, but Manny is a special girl in all the right ways. Unlike me and Ellie, we also have a ton in common. Not that it matters anymore, because I´m sure she´ll never speak to me again!
Amy:
Us girls say stuff like that all the time. Make it up to her and I´m sure you´ll be on her good side again.
Jay:
Any ideas?
Amy:
She needs a new job now, right? Couldn´t that be a place to start?
He considers what to do.
11. Int. Manny and JT´s Room. Evening.
Manny is lying on her bed looking just as down as Jay was, if not more. Caitlin comes in and looks at her with sympathy.
Caitlin:
You´re sure that you don´t want to come down and have dinner with the fam?
Manny:
I can´t even look my own daughter in the eyes because I feel like such a failure!
Caitlin sits down on the edge of the bed.
Caitlin:
I got fired from my first job too, you know? Not for something like what happened with you, but it hit me just as hard, as this does to you.
Manny:
When I woke up this morning, it felt like my life was on the right track and I had it all worked out. Now I´m back to where I started, the day school ended.
Caitlin:
It only feels that way right now, because the wound is still fresh. Once you get a new job, it´ll be in the past and all it will be is a memory and a lesson learned.
Manny:
I should have listened to you, I see that now.
Caitlin:
In many ways, the job market isn´t any different from high school. People still make un-based assumptions and they still believe, what they want to believe.
Manny:
High school never ends, does it? Only out in the adult world, you get fired in stead of getting detention.
Caitlin:
You´ll feel better in the morning, I promise. Most of us have tried what it´s like to get fired and if we can get over it, then you can too.
Manny:
Is this your way of telling me, that it´s not the end of the world?
Caitlin:
Far from it.
Her words of encouragement look like they´ve helped a little with Manny´s bad mood.
12. Int. Kitchen. Morning.
Manny is helping Caitlin with doing the dishes after breakfast. They wave goodbye to JT, Joey, Julia and Angie through the window, before they get into Joey´s car and drive off.
Manny:
Yesterday I would have gone with them.
Caitlin:
Still got the blues over that firing?
Manny:
It´s more the feeling of rejection that lingers. That and how hard I was with Jay.
Caitlin:
He did get you fired, remember?
Manny:
Yeah, but it was to some small extent my fault too. If I had taken your advice, then we´d both still have a job.
Caitlin:
Have you told him that?
Manny:
I will, when I see him next time.
She makes wide eyes at what she sees out of the window, which is Jay getting out of his car and walking up to the house.
Manny:
Which I guess will be sooner, rather than later!
Caitlin:
You don´t think he could have forgot, that you both got fired?
Manny:
It´s Jay, that we´re talking about, so I´m not ruling anything out!
The doorbell rings and she goes to answer it.
13. Ext. Joey and Caitlin´s House. Morning.
Jay is waiting by the door, that´s opened by Manny.
Manny:
This is a surprise!
Jay:
Are you still mad at me?
Manny:
A little, but I´ll get over it.
He looks pleased.
Jay:
I´m here to take you to the first day on your new job. Or our new job, if want to be exact.
She smiles widely.
Manny:
You got me a new job?
Jay:
It´s the least I could do after getting you fired, don´t you agree?
Manny:
What kind of job is it?
Jay:
Let´s leave that as a surprise for now. Although I can say with a great deal of certainty, that it´s one you´ll like more than your old one.
Manny:
Let me get my things and I´ll be right there! Do I need to bring a lunch or anything like that?
Jay:
No, just yourself.
She lets out a little squeal of joy before heading inside again. Jay looks glad, that he could do this for her.
14. Ext. Degrassi. Morning.
Jay and Manny come up to the school. Jay shudders.
Jay:
Sorry. Bad memories of being forced to learn!
Manny:
How did you swing this?
Jay:
First I went to The Dot, where the principal´s son works and found out where he lives. Then I went there and after some negotiations with the principal and an ample amount of pleading on my part, she agreed to give both of us jobs.
Manny:
You didn´t have to do anything naked to get it, I hope?
Jay:
No, but I had to agree to service both her and her son´s car for free, for as long as he goes here. He is a senior, right?
Manny:
He was, the last time I checked. Wow! Working at Degrassi is like the mothership is calling me home again!
Jay:
I´ll only be a lowly janitor, but I convinced her to find a special position for someone with your talents.
Manny:
You´re still not gonna tell me what it is, are you?
He shakes his head, which only makes her more curious.
15. Int. Manny´s Office. Morning.
Manny is getting settled in her new office, while Hatzilakos instructs her.
Hatzilakos:
There´s a lot of students here, who all have a lot of problems between them. Many more than our school counsellor can deal with over a work week, which is where you come into the picture.
Manny:
You´re not worried that I´ll make everything worse by giving them bad advice?
Hatzilakos:
What they need more than anything else is having someone to talk to, who speaks their language and understands what they´re going through in life. From the glowing recommendation that Jay gave me, I can´t think of anyone better for that job than you.
Manny:
What did he say exactly?
Hatzilakos:
That I would never find a more wonderful, compassionate or caring girl than you. He clearly cares a lot for you, that much was obvious from our talk. Are you two an item?
Manny:
That would be a big, emphatic no!
Manny looks delighted with how it all turned out.
CLOSING CREDITS