WHAT IF - SEASON 6 EPISODE 17 - WHATTA MAN
HI, YOU GUYS AND GALS OUT THERE! THIS WILL BE THE LAST EPISODE RELEASED THIS SIDE OF CHRISTMAS AND POSSIBLY NEW YEAR´S TOO, SO FROM ME TO ALL OF YOU, I WISH YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS, WHERE EVER IN THE WORLD, YOU MAY BE.
I THINK, WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT IT´S BEEN YET ANOTHER TRYING YEAR WITH INFLATION RUNNING WILD EVERYWHERE AND A WORLD, THAT SEEMS TO BE GETTING CRAZIER WITH EVERY YEAR THAT GOES BY. THERE AREN´T A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE CAN SAY ARE GUARANTEED ANYMORE, EXCEPT FOR DEATH AND TAXES OF COURSE, BUT I WILL GUANRANTEE YOU ONE THING: THAT WHEN WE REACH THIS TIME NEXT YEAR, THIS SERIES WILL STILL BE SOMETHING YOU CAN LOOK FORWARD TO. EVEN THOUGH IT´S BEEN PROBLEMATIC FOR ME TO KEEP A REGULAR SCHEDULE GOING THESE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS, THERE´S STILL PLENTY OF STORIES LEFT TO TELL AND THANKS TO THE CONTINUED LOVE SO MANY OF YOU CONTINUE TO SHOW FOR IT, THE SERIES WON´T END, UNTIL I FEEL LIKE I´M COMPLETELY TAPPED OUT OF THEM.
1. Int. Banting Hallway. Day.
Paige is smiling widely, while Ashley and Terri get a good reunion hug in.
Ashley:
This is seriously the best surprise ever!
Paige:
I figured you wouldn´t mind it, if I brought her along!
Ashley:
Not at all!
Terri:
How´s college life treating you?
Ashley:
Better, now that you´re here.
Paige:
Have you seen Andy lately?
Ashley:
That´s a long story. Let´s go down to the campus cafe, and I´ll tell you all about it.
They look glad to be reunited.
2. Int. Campus Cafe. Day.
Paige and the others are getting reaquinted over a cup of coffee.
Ashley:
I haven´t seen all that much of him lately, since he got fired from here.
Paige:
Why did he get fired?
Ashley:
Turning up high for work, from what I´ve heard. I hate to tell you, but you really did a number on him, Paige. He was so depressed after you got arrested, that he slipped into addiction and had to take a little trip to rehab.
Paige clearly feels guilty over it.
Paige:
You don´t have any idea, how I can get in touch with him?
Ashley:
If you have his phone number, that´s probably your best chance to. I wish, I could tell you more, but when you don´t really talk to someone anymore ...
Paige:
It´s okay, Ash. The only one to blame here is myself.
Terri:
To talk about something less depressing, what´s your new roomie like?
Ashley:
You mean the world´s biggest neat freak, who drives me nuts on a daily basis?
Terri:
She can´t be that bad!
Ashley:
You haven´t see anything yet, until you´ve met Gertie! I´m not sure that the girl doesn´t have OCD coming out her ears!
Just as she says that, a very particular looking girl their own age comes in, Ashley sees her and tries to hide herself behind Terri. It doesn´t work though, and the girl comes almost storming over to them.
Gertie:
There you are! I´ve been looking all over for you.
Ashley:
What is it now?
Gertie:
You put your nasty, dirty panties in with my laundry again! I thought, I told you the last time ...
Ashley:
Is it really that big of a deal?
Gertie:
We have rules for a reason! Sometimes, I really wonder, if you were raised in a tent!
Ashley:
I´ll try not to do it again, okay? I´m here with my old friends, so can we talk about it some other time?
Gertie:
No! I want to talk about it now!
Ashley:
Well, I don´t, so do me a favor and get lost! Hopefully somewhere, where they´ll never find you again!
Gertie storms out of there in anger, while Paige and Terri try to take in their first impression of her.
Terri:
Wow!
Paige:
That gave me some serious "Serial Mom" flashbacks!
Ashley:
Can you see now, why she´s impossible to live with?
Ashley shakes her head at the situation.
OPENING CREDITS
3. Int. Youth Hostel Room. Evening.
Paige and Terri are getting settled into their room at a local youth hostel, that looks as cheap to live in, as it is. Paige tries calling Andy up, but has no luck.
Paige:
Either he´s trying to avoid talking to me, or he´s gone deaf since the last time, I saw him.
Terri:
It could have happened.
Paige:
So could a lot of things. It doesn´t make them any more likely for that reason alone!
Terri:
Maybe, he´ll call you back later.
Paige:
Maybe, if I´m really lucky. I guess, if you make a guy so depressed, that he falls into drug addiction and ends up in rehab, it isn´t something that makes him want to reconnect with you!
Terri:
What do you think of our new, temporary digs?
Paige:
I think that I should praise my lucky stars, if I don´t get eaten up by bedbugs tonight!
Terri:
It´s not that bad! It´s cozy, in it´s own way.
Paige smiles at her.
Paige:
Remember the time, where you were so down over packing on few extra pounds, than the rest of us? Let me just say, how much I´m loving the new, positive you!
Terri:
I guess, you live and learn along the way.
Paige:
So, what are your plans for the weekend?
Terri:
I don´t know for sure yet. Perhaps, I could help Ash to get better along with her new roomie.
Paige:
Well, if it´s challenge, you´re looking for ...
Paige´s phone rings.
Paige:
Hold that thought!
She holds the phone up to her ear.
Paige:
Hi, Andy!
She listens for a moment at what´s being said on the other end.
Paige:
Okay, I guess.
She hangs up again.
Terri:
That was a short conversation!
Paige:
It was some girl named Cindy, who claims to be his new girlfriend. She wants to talk.
Terri:
That can´t be good!
Paige:
If it gives me a chance to get a message through to him, then it´s a prize, I´m willing to pay. Are you coming?
Terri:
And feel like the 5th wheel, while you two talk? I´ll pass.
Paige:
You could take a look around campus and see, if the ghost of my past failures is still lurking around there somewhere.
Terri giggles.
Terri:
If it is, I´d be shocked.
Paige:
Or of course, you could try to cheer Ash up a little.
Terri:
That sounds like a plan, I like much better!
Paige:
You´re sure to have a lot more fun, than I will. Wish me luck.
Terri:
Good luck.
Paige:
Thanks. I´m pretty sure, I´ll need it before this weekend is over!
Paige leaves and Terri lies down on her bed to test, if it´s comfortable.
4. Int. Cafe. Day.
Paige comes in and looks around for a girl, who´s around her own age. Seeing as there´s only one in there, she concludes that it must be Cindy, who she´s a little annoyed to see is very attractive, and walks over to her.
Paige:
Cindy?
Cindy:
I´m guessing that makes you Paige. Have a seat.
Paige sits down across from her and a waiter comes over to them.
Waiter:
Can I get you anything, miss?
Paige:
Just a coke, please.
The waiter leaves them again and Paige realizes, what she said, when Cindy looks at her sternly.
Paige:
That´s the only kind of Coke, I put in my body these days, just so you know.
Cindy:
You´re clean now?
Paige:
Going on close to a year. Getting to spend last Christmas in a jail cell, not knowing what would happen to me, or if I´d be spending the rest of my life in one, turned out to be the wake-up call, I so badly needed.
Cindy:
I´m glad for you. This is where the niceities end, however. I´ll be completely honest with you, I don´t want you anywhere near Andy anymore.
Paige doesn´t look like she´s ready to give up that easily.
Paige:
If I could just talk to him ...
Cindy:
Do you have any idea, what you did to him? He spent the next six months after you left, slowly killing himself, because he felt so guilty over giving you that first line. When I met him ...
The waiter comes back with Paige´s soda for her.
Paige:
Thanks.
He leaves them again.
Cindy:
When I met him, he was one step from the grave. If we hadn´t convinced him to go to rehab, he most likely wouldn´t have been here anymore. He´s still in a fragile state and you coming back into his life, is the last thing he needs right now.
Paige:
Don´t you think, he´s old enough to make that decision for himself?
Cindy:
All I know is that I don´t want you anywhere near him. If you can´t accept that, you and I are going to have a problem. Are we clear?
Paige doesn´t like it, but doesn´t want to hurt Andy anymore either.
Paige:
Yeah, I guess, we are.
Cindy:
Just seeing your number on his phone display was enough to nearly give him another breakdown. If you love him as much as you once did, then please, for his sake, leave him alone.
Cindy gets up and walks out of there. Paige takes a sip of her soda and wonders what to do. That´s when she sees a poster with Andy´s band´s picture of it (although without Andy and with a new lead singer) and the date and time, his old band is playing. She starts to get an idea.
5. Int. Bar. Evening.
Paige, Ashley and Terri are enjoying the show with the rest of the crowd, as Andy´s former band is rocking away on stage. She makes eye contact with her old pal Stone and they smile at one another.
6. Int. Backstage Area. Evening.
The girls have gotten backstage, where Paige gets a hug from a rather sweaty Stone.
Stone:
I was afraid, we´d never see you again.
Paige:
If you´d asked me a year ago, I wouldn´t have put money on this happening, but here I am! This is Ashley, who you´ve already met and Terri, an old friend from our Toronto days.
Stone:
It´s nice to meet you, Terri. Doing good, Ash?
Ashley:
More or less. You?
Stone:
Can´t complain. I need to change out these sweaty clothes, but afterwards, you and I need to have a talk, Paige.
He walks off to the changing room, while Terri can´t help herself from checking him out, as he walks away, to Ashley and Paige´s amusement.
Paige:
If you ask him nicely, he might let you watch him change, Terri.
Ashley:
We won´t tell Spinner anything.
Terri:
Tempting as it is, I´d better not. He seems nice, though.
Paige:
He is. Unfortunately, he was also my enabler, back in my drug-fueled days of shame.
Terri looks like she quickly lost all interest in him.
7. Int. Bar. Evening.
Stone and Paige are talking over a beer.
Paige:
The last time I was here, it was to sell drugs. How times have changed!
Stone:
You´re really one hundred percent clean?
Paige:
Stoney, I´m so clean that I think twice, before I take an Aspirin! I don´t think, you can get cleaner than that!
Stone:
Well, if no one else has said it, I´m proud of you, Paige.
Paige:
It means a lot to hear it, when it´s coming from you. What about you, now we´re at it?
Stone:
You getting busted made me think twice about a lot of things in my life, drugs being one of them. Can you believe, how messed up we both were?
Paige:
More than I´d like to. I tried to talk to Andy, but his new girlfriend Cindy would clearly rather see me jump off a bridge, than let me speak a word with him again.
Stone:
Girlfriend is one way of putting it. Another way would be "spare mom" or "jailor", if we´re being harsh.
Paige:
You´re not her biggest fan either?
Stone:
Since he met her, she´s practically been in complete control of his life. You know Andy, he´s too nice for his own good and always has been. It was only a matter of time, before someone took advantage of it. Maybe seeing you again will be just what the doctor ordered, to get him to wake up and see, what she´s doing.
Paige:
You know that I´d do anything for him, it´s just easier said, than done, when I don´t know where he lives anymore.
Stone:
I can tell you that. The question is, what are you planning to do with that information?
Paige considers it.
8. Ext. Banting Dorms. Evening.
Ashley is hugging Paige and Terri goodnight, before they part ways.
Ashley:
Please tell me that tomorrow will be the exact same as today!
Terri:
You´re not looking forward to going another round with Gertie?
Ashley:
No, but i´m sure, I will anyway! Some people, you just can´t get along with, no matter how hard you try!
Paige:
You mean like I used to be? We figured it our eventually, didn´t we?
Ashley:
It also helped greatly, that we didn´t have to live together!
Paige:
Have you tried actually talking to her and not just being hostile to her all the time?
Ashley:
Yeah ... the first couple of days, before I decided that I didn´t like her.
Terri:
I could try being a mediator between you, if you´d like. It always worked, when I had to separate you two!
Ashley:
If you think it´s worth a shot, I´m game. See ya tomorrow!
Paige:
Get home safely, although it´s not all that far.
Ashley:
I´m pretty sure, I´ll manage!
They wave goodbye and go their separate ways.
Terri:
Are you planning on making one last attempt at seeing Andy tomorrow?
Paige:
I might as well, now that I´m here anyway. Not that I´m hoping we´ll get back together or anything like that, I just don´t want his last impression of me, to be me at my worst.
Terri:
I guess, I can understand that.
Paige:
I´ll accept it, if he doesn´t want to talk to me. From what Stone told me about Cindy however, I don´t trust her any further, than I can throw her!
She looks determined to get done, what she came here for.
9. Int. Ashley and Gertie´s Dorm Room. Day.
It´s clear to see that it´s a room occupied by two very different girls. Everything on Gertie´s side is in complete order and very clean, while on Ashley´s side, it´s a completely different story with dirty clothes lying on the floor with visible dust here and there. Terri has placed herself in the middle of them, to signify that she isn´t siding with either of them. The air between the two room-mates is cold as ice, though.
Terri:
Let´s try to keep it on an "I feel" level and avoid any name calling or other nastiness, shall we?
Gertie:
Why should I trust you to be impartial?
Terri:
Even if you don´t know me, isn´t anything better, than how it is now?
Gertie silently agrees with her, which Ashley sees as a small victory already.
Terri:
Who wants to go first?
Ashley:
I will. I "feel" like you´re completely out of your mind, Gertie! It isn´t normal to be as much of neat freak, as you are!
Gertie:
Yeah? Well, I feel like if someone in here would just behave like a normal human being, not throw her clothes around and actually do a tiny bit of dust busting here and there, then we wouldn´t be in this whole mess!
Terri:
Ashley, your rebuttal?
Ashley:
I feel like I would probably have more freedom in prison, than I do living with her!
Gertie:
You feel like it´s a prison? I´m the one, who has to both look and smell your dirty laundry, every time, I set foot in my own home!
Ashley:
I´m not that bad!
Gertie:
If there was a messy police, you´d be the first one, they´d arrest!
It quickly ends up with the two of them in a shouting match, while Terri wonders to herself, what she´s going to do with them.
10. Ext. Apartment Building. Day.
Paige is waiting outside of the apartment building, Andy lives in, and is hoping for the best, but it´s clear to her, that it isn´t working. She sees what looks like the janitor coming up to the door and decides to try something out, so she walks over to him.
Paige:
Are you the janitor?
Janitor:
What gave it away?
She smiles at him.
Paige:
Just a hunch, I guess. My brother lives in there, and he´s been dealing with a depression lately. My family are all worried, since we haven´t been able to get in touch with him for several days now. I don´t suppose, you could let me in?
He thinks about it for a second.
Janitor:
I´m really not supposed to let anyone in, who doesn´t live here.
Paige:
Please! I just want to be sure that he´s okay, and then I´ll be our of there, I promise. You would be doing my entire family a huge favor.
She gives him a pleading look, and it makes him give in.
Janitor:
Alright. Do you know which apartment he lives in?
Paige:
Yes, it isn´t the first time, I´m here. Thanks so much for this!
Janitor:
If this doesn´t give me great karma, I don´t know what will.
He unlocks the door and lets her in.
11. Int. Stairwell. Day.
Paige comes up to Andy´s door and knocks on it, while looking rather nervous. It´s a moment before it opens and she stands face to face with the man, she left behind almost a year earlier. They smile tentatively at one another.
Andy:
I wasn´t expecting to ever see you again.
Paige:
Now that I´m here, can I come in?
He nods and she looks glad.
12. Int. Andy´s Apartment. Day.
Paige is sitting in a comfy looking armchair, while she looks around at his new digs, as she waits for him. It clearly looks like it has more of a woman´s touch to it, than his old (more "functional looking") place did. He returns with a couple of cups of coffee for the two of them and puts one of them in front of her, before taking a seat on his couch.
Paige:
It´s a nice place, you have here. Not that I don´t have lots of great memories from you old one, I´ll be the first to admit.
Andy:
We had some great times, didn´t we?
Paige:
Or at least we did, before I screwed it all up, like I usually do.
Andy:
Are you seeing anyone?
She shakes her head.
Paige:
I haven´t felt like it. Maybe, it´s because I still don´t think, I deserve happiness, after what happened to that girl. I´m not sure.
Andy:
You can´t keep blaming yourself for the rest of your life, Paige. We all make mistakes.
Paige:
Yeah, well, most of those mistakes don´t end up with someone dying. Andy, I can´t begin to tell you how sorry I am, for lying to you and inadvertedly making you feel, like it was your fault, what happened. It´s no one´s fault, except for my own.
Andy:
If I hadn´t given you that first line and talked it up, like I did ... if there´s one moment in my life, I´ll regret for as long, as I live, it´s that one.
Paige:
If you hadn´t, then someone else probably would have, sooner or later. You really ended up in rehab, because of me, huh?
He nods.
Andy:
After you left, like you did, I was feeling constantly, like I was to blame for everything. It´s amazing how much a bit of self loathing like that, can make you hit depths, you never thought imaginable. If it hadn´t been for Cindy giving me a taste of tough love, I probably would have been dead by now.
Paige:
You´re alive and that´s the main thing.
Andy:
I could say the same about you.
They smile sadly at one another.
13. Int. Ashley and Gertie´s Dorm Room. Day.
Terri is rubbing her temples to get a headache away, while the shouting match between the two roomies is still ongoing.
Gertie:
Are your parents cave-people or something?
Ashley:
Are yours as crazy, as you are? It would explain a lot!
Terri:
Guys, I thought we agreed on "I feel" statements only.
Gertie:
Okay! I feel like if I have to live with her for one more day, I´ll lose my mind!
Ashley:
At least, we can agree on one thing, then!
Terri:
CAN YOU BOTH JUST SHUT UP FOR ONE SECOND? Jeez, it´s like I´m dealing with a pair of nine-year-olds here and not nineteen-year-olds!
Gertie:
She´s the one, who´s behaving childish!
Ashley:
Me? Are you listening to the lies, she´s spewing, Terri?
Terri:
You´re not being any easier to deal with, Ash! How either of the two of you ever managed to live with anyone else before now, has to stand as the mystery of the century!
Ashley and Gertie both sulk at what Terri said, but at the same time have to agree with her.
Terri:
Look, the way I see it, you have two choices right now. Either you try to behave like adults and find some common ground, or one of you moves out.
Gertie:
It´s not gonna be me!
Ashley:
I was here first! It´s only fair if you´re the one, who moves out!
Gertie:
Like that makes any difference? It´s my room too, as much as it is yours!
Terri:
Isn´t there one single thing, you can agree on?
Both girls think about it for a second.
Gertie:
I don´t think this is working, for one thing. Can we agree on that much?
Ashley:
Yeah, I guess so.
Terri:
That´s a start! What else?
Ashley:
We both like going here. It would have been better, if I wasn´t sharing my dorm room with a ...
Terri:
Ash, come on! This name-calling isn´t getting either of you anywhere.
Ashley:
Sorry. Look, I guess, I can try to be more attentive, when it comes to picking my clothes up off the floor and not put my clothes in your hamper.
Gertie:
That would be great!
Terri:
Gertie, is there something, you want to say to Ashley?
Gertie:
I guess, if I really have to and have no other choice, I can try not to be as particular, as I have been. It´s just that it pisses me off, when you show that kind of disrespect to me. I´m not used to it at home.
Terri looks glad, that at the least, they´re finally getting somewhere now.
14. Ext. Apartment Building. Evening.
Paige comes out, after having a long talk with Andy. It happens to be just when Cindy is coming up to the building, and she´s not looking too happy with Paige.
Cindy:
I thought, we agreed that you´d stay away from him.
Paige:
No, we didn´t. You agreed that with yourself.
Cindy:
He doesn´t need you in his life anymore, now that he has me! Get it through your head!
Paige:
Cindy, I´m going to say this as diplomatically, as I can. Andy is a grown man, who can make his own decisions on who he wants and doesn´t want to talk to. Not to mention that you´re not the boss of me and never will be! If you had just been some girl, I would have told you get lost, but for his sake and since you´ve been there for him, I ... have to thank you for taking care of him for me.
Cindy looks surprised at Paige´s reaction to her.
Cindy:
Thanks, I guess.
Paige:
Just promise me, that you´ll take good care of him. As much as I love him, I´d rather see him happy with someone else, than not have anyone.
Cindy:
I don´t know, if I would feel the same way.
Paige:
That´s how it is, when you´re truly love someone. If you don´t feel that way, let him find a girl, who will.
Paige walks away from Cindy, who tries to take it all in.
15. Int. Marco´s Car. Evening.
Paige and Terri wave goodbye to Ashley, as they drive away from the campus.
Paige:
Did you get anywhere with them?
Terri:
Enough that I´m pretty sure, they won´t kill one another. Anytime soon, anyway.
Paige giggles a little.
Terri:
Either way, it was great practice, if I want to work with children in the future.
Paige:
You´re not sure anymore?
Terri:
After dealing with those two for an afternoon, who would be? How did it go with you and Andy?
Paige:
We had long talk. I don´t know, if I´ll see him again, but at least I have peace of mind and I know, he´ll be okay now.
Terri:
It almost sounds like you´re ready to leave the past behind.
Paige:
Maybe, I can and maybe, I can´t. This was a big step in the right direction, I can tell you that much.
Terri:
Do you still love him?
Paige:
Part of me always will. He´s still one hell of a great guy, that boy!
Paige looks more ready to deal with the future now, than she was before.
CLOSING CREDITS