Episode Report Card Niki: D | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT My Brilliant Career
By Niki | Season 1 | Episode 20 | Aired on 04.09.2000
Tiffany comes out and asks Jake where Grace is. She tells him they should really look for her. Jake doesn't understand what's going on yet. When he does, he calls Lily at work.
While Lily's hearing from Jake that Grace is missing, Crusty starts hollering from her office. Lily ignores her and keeps talking to Jake, running down the list of where Grace could be. Crusty pops her head out the door, and snaps, "Lily. Now. Please," while waving her arms like a madwoman. Lily continues to ignore her. When Crusty screeches for her yet again, Lily throws off her shackles (her headset) and storms into Crusty's office. She launches into a tirade, telling Crusty that her ex lost one of her children, and she's going to leave to deal with the situation, and if Crusty wants to fire her then she can go right ahead: "Because, even though I now know who Esther Dyson is, I'll never be able to do what you do. It was stupid of me to even try." Crusty's stunned. Lily stops in the doorway to inform Crusty that she's "waiting for Jake to call back, but right now [she] has to go to the washroom," and tells Crusty to answer the phones. Crusty's standing behind her desk, actually speechless for once. It's refreshing.
A few minutes later, Crusty comes into the bathroom after Lily. She asks Lily if something's "really wrong." Duh. She wants to know if Lily's "leaving for the night or quitting." She says they didn't get a chance to talk about Lily's work. "What's to talk about?" Lily asks, since "it wasn't in the ball-park." Crusty says she hates sports metaphors, but then goes right ahead and says that Lily's "been out of the ball-park. She's a rookie." She then points out that Lily may find it hard working for someone younger, but that she made the choices to get there. Crusty asks if she should cut Lily slack because of her age. Lily says no but she would "like some respect." Crusty turns this around, saying that she's been doing her job for eight years, and it's insulting for Lily to "bop in" and think she can do it after only two days. Lily sees her mistake and apologizes, but she's still making to leave. Crusty blurts that she wants Lily to come back. Lily wants to know why. Crusty tells her to "take a look around -- [she's] the only one [there] with a life" and she "brings a fresh element to the place." Lily's still making to leave, and Crusty heads into a stall. She calls out before Lily can get through the door. Lily responds through gritted teeth. Turns out Crusty needs a tampon. Lily says, "I don't think so" but the maternal side of her just won't let her leave, and she fishes around in her bag until she finds one. She passes Crusty the tampon under the door.