Episode Report Card Niki: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Flirting with Disaster
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 12 | Aired on 02.06.2001
Lily looks at him with interest, so he continues, "My fiancée broke up with me." Lily is shocked, saying she didn't even know he was engaged. She moves back into the staff room, saying that she's sorry. He apologizes, saying he shouldn't have even brought it up -- it was "very unprofessional and mostly very boring." Lily assures him that's not the case. He says that is fiancée was "a great girl. She just wasn't into having a very very busy...husband, apparently. What can you do?" Lily says, "Well, I hope it works out for you. Whatever that ends up meaning." He looks at her closely and takes a few steps towards her, thanking her and saying, "I think it will. And it's given me a chance to look at my life and what I want. Have new experiences. Make new friends. Connect with new people." Lily tries to look like he's not making her uncomfortable, but she's not pulling it off. She, like the rest of us, can pretty much figure out what "new experiences" Graham wants to have, and with whom. She stammers out some stuff about never knowing how things are going to work out and "...it's all...very mysterious." She becomes self-conscious and smiles, looking down at her shoes and then back up at him. She says she should...and he interrupts to say that he'll check on the coffee in a while...blah blah blah supposedsexualtensioncakes. After he leaves, Lily stands there, looking reflective, and crossing her arms tightly across her chest.
After commercials, Lily drops by Booklovers with a couple of muffins. Judy declares her "the sweetest human being on the face of this earth." People will say anything when they're hungry enough and there're baked goods involved. Lily tells her that she can't stay, and Judy immediately decides that Lily isn't the sweetest person, after all. Judy makes some asinine remark about only eating the muffin tops because they have no calories. I say it's asinine not because it's obviously not true, but because Judy is so bird-like (and that's a compliment) that she hardly has to worry about her weight. And Lily, as we've already covered, certainly doesn't need to, either. Judy asks how it's going in "the war zone." Lily answers that "nobody's killed anyone yet, but there's still time." Judy asks after Graham, and Lily says he's fine. She picks infinitesimal bits off the top of her muffin and carefully places them in her mouth. Perhaps the spit bucket was unavailable? Judy prods and makes knowing faces, while Lily insists, "He's not like that. He knows about Rick. But he does flirt with me." She puts another crumb on her tongue before adding, "And, I'm maybe flirting back." Okay, the way she's fiddling with that muffin now is just downright sexual. It's muffin molestation! Judy leans on the counter and says, "It's funny to watch you learn about these things." Lily wants to know what things Judy's talking about. "Work perks. Like flirting. It doesn't have to mean anything. It's just what gets you out of bed in the morning. Or gives you someone to dress up for. Nice outfit, by the way," Judy says, waving her fingers in the direction of Lily's clothing. She is wearing a sharp gray mohair coat. Anyway, Lily smirks, looks down at her outfit, and fiddles her muffin. "So you're saying that a certain amount of flirting is normal?" Lily asks. Jesus, was she kidnapped by the Amish and locked in a trunk for the past twenty years? I mean, I know she was married, but she wasn't dead, for god's sake. ["I certainly hope that doesn't mean that you engage in workplace flirtation when your boss isn't watching. (Heh.)" -- Wing Chun]