We open with a Soliloquy Sequence this week, as Rick strolls on-screen, arms folded, and muses about success. He says that he always had a picture of what it would be like. We cut to a pan of the Atlantor model as Rick voice-overs, "And the closer I get, the picture keeps changing." We see Rick working alone at his desk in the dim office as his voice-over continues, "And I see how it isolates you, how it keeps you up at night. Success is a near-death experience." The voice-over pauses as we see Rick studying a newspaper article, a slightly sour look on his face. "And we who are about to die..." he concludes, and then laughs at his own pomposity. Thank god. At his desk, Rick's gaze travels to a small turtle figurine. Rick pushes himself out of his chair, and snatches the turtle as he walks away.
Cut to the building site, as on-screen text informs us that it's "Three Days Earlier." Heavy equipment plods in the background as Rick and some guy named Ralph confer on the lead time of some unintelligible aspect of the construction. Ralph claims "three weeks," and then, glancing around, warns, "He's coming back." He's referring to our favorite mini-monarch, Miles, who strides over purposefully and announces, "One last item: a copy of the site plan." Rick informs him that David has the plan, and that he's in the trailer. "Is he?" Miles asks, uninterested. Rick glances at Ralph, and then turns and starts toward the trailer while Miles observes, with just a touch of smart-assedness, "Isn't the advantage of a partnership that one can be in one location while one's partner is someplace else?" I do believe he's implying that he'd like David to be someplace else. Rick pauses, tries unconvincingly to look amused, and then continues toward the trailer.
Inside, he announces, "Now he wants to see his site plan," and starts rifling through a hanging file. David, in the background, asks whether Rick has seen the day's paper. "No -- let me guess: another article on how inhumane we are to change the skyline and actually do our jobs?" Rick mutters, barely interested. David slaps the paper down in front of him, saying that he did "go so far as to read it," and found out that one of the buildings slated for demolition -- a youth shelter called "A Better Place" -- was the first studio of "none other than Mr. Frank. Lloyd. Wright." Stunned, Rick turns to look at David, who dully says, "Uh-huh. It's what Karen's going to use to shut us down."
Miles chooses this moment to blow into the trailer, his trenchcoat billowing importantly behind him. "My site plan?" he asks, then adds, "Tempus fugit." Because saying "time flies" isn't pompous enough: he has to say it in Latin. "Sorry, Miles, we were just discussing Frank Lloyd Wright," David says, implying that they're dealing with more important matters. Miles lightly acknowledges that it's "a fascinating bit of trivia...if you believe what you read." David is taken aback at Miles's utter lack of concern. Mid-way through his reproach of Miles, the trailer door opens, and Ralph steps in. Miles turns abruptly and asks whether Ralph has seen his "turtle." I don't think I like where this is going. David trails off, realizing that no one is listening to him. He and Rick exchange a look as Ralph announces that he has not, in fact, seen Miles's turtle. He sounds appropriately anxious. But everyone can relax -- it turns out that Miles is actually referring to a little carved turtle, which he pulls out of his coat pocket and describes as a sixteenth-century Tibetan artifact. He explains that turtles were "thought to bestow longevity and to be indestructible." It was a gift from his niece, in case of you are in need of a gift for the egomaniac who has everything. The camera cuts in for a close-up of Miles's hands passing the turtle to Ralph's. The camera then cuts again, giving us another close shot of the turtle, this one revealing the very phallic shape of its head. Huh. Make of that what you will. Ralph admires the tiny amphibian while David, nonplussed, wrestles his jacket on. He shoots Rick a look and rolls his eyes as Miles declares, "We're all prone to a certain amount of fear." He doesn't sound convinced, however. It's more like he's trying to blend, and that he heard that these humans bond over a sense of shared emotion. Miles drones on, "But to spread fear. Deliberately. It's like coughing without covering your mouth." David finishes bundling up and shoves past Miles, heading for the door. Miles doesn't even turn his eyes toward the disturbance, but keeps his gaze fixed on some distant, philosophical point. Rick watches with a heavy expression as the door closes behind David. Miles turns to him and declares, "You are not frightened by what they print in the paper, are you Rick." Rick doesn't seem so sure.
Lily and Crusty, meanwhile, are scanning racks of Valentine's Day cards. My, they're awfully chummy, given the scene that went down last time we saw them. Maybe ABC or whoever's in charge should stop playing eeny-meeny-miney-moe when it comes to ordering the episodes? Anyway, Lily mutters that Rick's "been working really hard. I should get him something really nice for Valentine's Day. But what?" Crusty contemptuously thumbs thought the cards, her bottom lip protruding as she pouts, "You know, I'm not lonely enough -- I need to have an entire day set aside to remind me of my loneliness." Yeah, that's right, Crusty. Way back when the card companies and marketing departments sat down and dreamed up this stupid sham of a holiday, they had your personal torture in mind. Suck it up, baby. You're not the only one who's alone. Witness the lonely souls I encountered wandering aimlessly through the grocery store on the big day, averting their eyes as they shuffled along, trying to make it look like they were shopping for two. Then again, I think we've all been in Crusty's shoes, and when you're alone, it does in fact seem like the rest of the world is conspiring to rub your nose in it and make you feel like a freak. Anyway, just as Crusty's whining about her single status, David walks toward the door past the card rack and spots Lily. He comes over to say hello, and Crusty asks, "David -- Rick's David?" "I'm my own David, thank you very much," he answers with a curt half smile. Lily introduces Crusty, who busts out, "We've met." David looks blank. Crusty insists that they met at Booklovers, and David insists that he'd remember if they had, implying that he wouldn't forget someone as foxy as Crusty. Which is certainly a different tune than he was singing that night. Anyway, Crusty bristles, "Well, obviously you don't." David rapidly blinks several times, and their eyes lock. Lily, sensing the disturbance in The Force, decides the safest course of action is to get the hell out of there, and announces that she's going to get some bagels. Crusty takes a few steps toward David and replaces a card on the rack as David says, "I remember you now. I found you annoying." She doesn't flinch, but proudly claims, "I am annoying." You know, there are some rare moments when I just adore Crusty. Without pausing, she declares that she found him pretentious. "Can I have your number?" David immediately asks. Crusty hands David her business card and facetiously warns him, "Never. Call." He informs her that that's the plan. Love is in the air...and my heart is somewhere near my throat. Crusty and David? Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Cut to an assortment of red and pink paper, Elmer's glue, and other arty-crafty crap spread over the Mannings' kitchen table. Grace, Wannabe, and Zoe are busily constructing valentines as Lily bounces through the back door with groceries. "Oh my goodness! You're making valentines!" she sing-songs, beaming brightly. Grace warns her, "Don't be thrilled, or we'll stop." Lily removes her coat and approaches them at the table, happily noting that they "put newspaper down and everything!" Wannabe shoots Grace a look. Lily cheeks, "Grace, who's your valentine for?" Wannabe starts spouting that they shouldn't even be the ones doing this: "The entire point of Valentine's Day is for men to admit how much they want us." You know, for once, I like where this girl is coming from. Mr. Josh, if you're reading this, make a special note of that, would you? Lily, however, looks unimpressed by Wannabe's proclamation and snides, "That's quite a theory." Wannabe is undeterred. "It's a fact. Valentine's Day should be about worship. Like, bow down and worship at mah feet 'cause you know you want to," Wannabe hams. She and Grace laugh while Lily casts them a disapproving look. Oh, please. Little close to home, there Lily?
Zoe hunches over the table and concentrates on a sheet of the newsprint, asking, "Isn't Rick's last name Sammler?" Grace wants to see why Rick is mentioned in the paper. "What's 'Atlantor'?" Zoe asks, scrunching up her nose. Lily explains that it's the name of the corporation...and Wannabe pipes up over her to ask, "Isn't he mowing down, like, an entire neighborhood?" Lily frowns at her and snaps the tops off a bunch of carrots. I feel you, girlfriend. Grace asks, "What's 'A Better Place'?" Wannabe says that she knows somebody who stayed there when her grandmother threw her out for being a lesbian. Lily declares that she's going to make a valentine. Grace remains fixated on the article, saying that it says all the people in the neighborhood pitched in to fix up the shelter; Wannabe chimes in that her friend would have killed herself if it weren't for A Better Place. Disturbed by all this ugly talk, Zoe looks up from her valentine, sighs, and rolls her eyes like a princess in training. Wannabe continues with her public service announcement, explaining that the shelter distributes clean needles. Zoe interrupts to ask why people would want clean needles. Lily's about to intervene and explain it in nice small words, but Zoe interrupts again with, "Oh, right. Heroin." Lily stares at her, then casts an agitated glance in Grace's direction, as Grace gripes, "And they're tearing this place down just to build Rick's building?" Lily quietly states, "It's not Rick's fault." Grace wants to know whose fault it is, then. Zoe turns and waits for Lily's reaction. Lily opens her mouth a couple of times, but nothing comes out. Wannabe condescends that Lily has to say that since she's dating Rick. Lily straightens her back and looks like Wannabe just bent over and talked out her ass. "Continued on page twenty-seven," Grace says to herself, then starts rifling around the table for the page in question. Zoe shoves Grace's arms out of the way and whines, "Mom!"
Cut to boxes of propaganda materials: buttons, bumper stickers, flyers, etc. The camera pans over the stuff, following the sound of Karen's voice as she sighs and says that she's glad they got everything printed in time for the demonstration. She hands several boxes to a woman wearing something akin to a raspberry fedora. Raspberry Fedora thanks her and says that she'll be back to pick up the rest tomorrow. Jessie comes in the front door, followed by Rick. Karen thanks him "so much" for picking Jessie up, and says that she "just got so busy." Rick closes the door somewhat on the forceful side and surveys the picket signs and other anti-Atlantor stuff. He chooses not to comment, but instead asks Karen for Rosenfeld's (that's Dr. Wise-Ass) last bill. Karen goes off in search of it. The camera zooms in on Rick's face as he surveys the goods without Karen in the room. His expression clouds.
Jessie follows Karen to the dining room and asks if there's going to be "another one of those meetings" there. Karen says there will be the night. Jessie says that it's kind of hard to study with all the people in the house. Rick says that Jessie can come to his place. Jessie asks Karen whether it's okay, and Karen hesitantly points out that Rick would have to "pick [Jessie] up at [Karen's] office," adding that it's not a problem for her, if Rick's okay with it. He is. Jessie says goodbye and heads upstairs, and Rick uncomfortably glances around. He's about to tell Karen that he's got to go, when her pager beeps. We get a close-up of the display screen, which says, "Hearing set for fourteenth." "Valentine's Day," she says softly. "Excuse me?" Rick asks. Karen looks up, realizing that she spoke out loud. She says that she was just thinking out loud, and Rick says he has to get back to the office so...Karen tells him to wait, and then asks whether he'd like to have Valentine's Day to himself, since he'll be taking the kids for an unscheduled day to help her out. "Yeeeah," Rick says cautiously, then catches himself sounding paranoid and asserts, "Yeah. Yeah I would." It would strike me as a generous move, if Karen didn't already know that Rick's ass will be sitting in court along with hers on Valentine's Day. Rick heads out, but not before taking another good long look at the opposition's war chest. And, yes, I mean the stuff piled up in Karen's living room. Perverts.
Back at his dim office -- seriously, can't two architects afford a couple of lamps and some light bulbs? -- Rick surveys the newspaper article David showed him earlier. Incidentally, it made the front page of the city section.
We cut to Rick, settled comfortably on the Soliloquy Stool, reminiscing about the first days of his partnership with David. He gets out the words, "When we first started out, I was --" before David interrupts, "I was taller than him back then." The spotlight expands to reveal David seated to Rick. Rick laughs a little, then finishes what he was going to say: "I was a total wreck." David disagrees. Rick repeats that he was a total wreck. David disagrees again. Rick turns to him, saying, "Are you kidding? I was. I lived in fear." David: "No. Not really." After thinking it over for a half-second, however, he concedes, "Oh. Yeah. I guess you were." They both chuckle, and David turns and looks disarmingly into the camera.
Back at the office, the atmosphere is decidedly less chummy. Rick glances over at David, working at his desk, and he voice-overs, "I'd look at David, and he was always...uh..." We cut back to Soliloquy Rick, who continues, "He never seemed to notice how close we were -- you know, this close [holds up his hand with thumb and forefinger a smidgen apart] -- to total, abject failure." The camera swings over for David's reaction. "I knew we'd succeed," he says. Back to Rick, who adds, "And I thought, 'Well, he must know. He must know something.'" David says, "I knew it because...I knew him." Aww, old married couples are cute, aren't they? David once again stares disarmingly into the camera. He's grown on me, I have to admit.
Office. Rick glances at David again, then down at the newspaper. As he picks it up, the Strings of Impending Trauma swell. Rick folds the paper in half, then tosses it carelessly to the side of his desk. Into a trash can, from the sound of it. This, of course, gets David's attention. He looks up from his keyboard long enough to shoot Rick a disillusioned glance, then goes back to work.
Apparently, time passes. We know this because, even though we're still at the office, we're now following a cleaning lady as she drags an enormous garbage can behind her. She shuffles past the area where Rick and David are now seated together, talking about personal stuff. "What did you get her last year?" David asks. "Cricket," Rick answers. "Oh, right. Brilliant," David deadpans. "Exactly," Rick sighs, trudging over to David's desk. "But I can't keep showering her with insects." David says that the cricket was one of his best ideas. That was David's idea? Who knew? Did I mention that he's growing on me? Steadily? Rick counters that it wasn't David's idea, to which David responds that he was the one who explained the significance behind the cricket. Rick argues that David explained the significance, but he didn't tell Rick to get Lily one. "Of course not. It's a ridiculous gift," David answers. He gestures toward the plans on his desk and says, "They're doing this on the cheap, you know." Rick says that he'll talk to Ralph about it. David says that Rick won't, since he hasn't even read the article in the paper. They're interrupted by a young girl who enters, shuffling a couple of envelopes and uncertainly saying their names. David corrects her pronunciation of his name, but she's not too concerned, since her job there is now done: they've been served. Dun-dun-duunnn! She tells them that the hearing is set for the fourteenth, and David calmly jokes, "Wow, and we didn't get you anything." He coolly pulls his notice out of the envelope, while Rick puts on his bewildered face and stares after the girl. David reads that it's an injunction to stop construction by order of the court. "Happy Valentine's Day," he says. See, I told you old married couples are cute.
After commercials, we find Lily at the same store where Crusty and David met. Apparently, it's a diner that sells cards. Okay. Glancing around, Lily notices Crusty and David huddled in a booth, sharing a muffin. What is it with muffins and sexual overtones on this show? I'm going to start having a Pavlovian reaction every time I go into Tim Hortons, for crying out loud. I could get arrested. Lily does an abrupt about-face, looking stricken. Then she takes another look, just to make sure that her eyes aren't deceiving her. Realizing that the Four Horsemen must be galloping around the corner about now, she hightails it out of there.
Cut to Karen's office, where she's on the phone saying, "The good news is, we got the injunction. The bad news is, we're building our house on sand." An architectural metaphor. See what she did there? Jessie is in the background, sharing the couch with Karen's assistant, Sange, who's in the process of eating a banana. Jessie takes a close look at the fruit and leans in, saying, "I guess I kind of do like bananas." He asks if she's seen "those miniature bananas" and breaks off a piece of his for her. You know, if you read that sentence out of context, it could really make your head spin. We cut between their inane conversation and Karen's very weighty phone conversation, and get the distinct impression that Karen does not feel confident that she'll be successful in the courtroom, and that she doesn't appreciate all the vocal fruit loving while she's trying to focus. Suddenly, Rick looms in the doorway saying, "Jess, let's go." Karen hangs up and says, "Hi." Rick just looks at her, tight-lipped. She tells him to hang on; she's got Rosenfeld's bill, she just has to find it. He presses his lips together in the universal gesture of unfriendly friendliness. Sange smiles around his banana at Rick -- is he coming onto him, or what? -- but Rick just ignores him and tries to hurry along. Karen glances toward the office from a small filing cubbyhole, where she's searching for the bill. Rick practically yanks Jessie out of the office, and Karen pleads for him to wait. He quietly tells Sange to tell Karen to mail him the bill. Jessie shares a helpless look with Sange and calls a good-bye to Karen, who's still hunched over the files. Karen stares at their backs with speechless surprise, and then catches Sange spying on her reaction. I'm not sure how Karen reacts to this, because my stupid ABC affiliate decided it would be a good idea to plaster an enormous station logo with the time and temperature over her face. So all I can tell you is that at 10:15 PM on Valentine's Day, it was 31° in Buffalo.
Cut to Jessie at Rick's place, where she's bouncing a tennis ball off his front door. Grace and Wannabe knock and enter, giving her a warm hello. Well, that's nice to see. Jessie rushes to keen to Eli that Rick wouldn't want all these people here while he's out, and we see that there's a third party with the girls: Spencer Lewicki. Wannabe walks into the living room, having overheard Jessie's protests, and says that they're there for "research purposes." Grace protests, but Wannabe insists that it's true. Eli notices Spencer in the kitchen raiding the fridge and sniffing at something he's found. Eli asks who he is. "Just this person," Grace says distastefully. "He's not really going to be staying." Eli menaces us with his guitar, but before he can start playing, Wannabe chirps that Grace is writing an "exposé" on A Better Place for the school paper. "What about it?" Jessie asks with a broad smile. "How it's being torn down by money-hungry white males," Wannabe supplies. Oh, boy.
Spencer comes tripping in, wholly absorbed in devouring whatever he found in the fridge -- a pizza pocket? Eli informs Mr. Social Graces that he was saving the unidentifiable foodstuff for later. Just send Wannabe to the grocery store to steal you a few more, crybaby. Spencer apologizes and tosses the remainder of the thing onto the coffee table. Grace looks disgusted. "You think our father is money-hungry?" Jessie asks Wannabe. Eli mutters that he doesn't know anything about A Better Place, anyway. "I always forget how brainwashed you are," Wannabe condescends from somewhere high atop her gilded mount of enlightenment. Jessie asks why Wannabe thinks Eli is brainwashed. Before she can answer, Spencer weighs in, saying, "So, you'll go to a mall, but white males shouldn't build it." "Why are you here?" is Wannabe's reasoned response. "Who do you think created civilization?" Spencer asks. "You?" Eli "quips." Um, just play your guitar, would you? Spencer answers his own question: "Males! Men!" Spencer mutters that "progress isn't evil," while Wannabe informs Eli that he has "to form an opinion about this." Almost at the same time, Eli and Jessie say that he doesn't. Grace, meanwhile, has taken up the debate with Spencer, saying, "You call what they're doing 'progress'?" Spencer hops out of his seat, emphatically saying, "Yes!" For some reason, he's still talking around a mouthful of food. What is he, a squirrel? Chew and swallow, boy. It's very simple. Anyway, he argues that "tearing down old building so that new ones can be built is how all cities are formed." Grace looks disgusted (and I'm pretty sure it's by his viewpoint, rather than the mouthful of cud he's working on). He turns and makes an impassioned pitch to Eli and Wannabe, saying that "everything we depend on -- expressways, and hospitals, Wrigley Field! -- they're there because men tore something down and built them!" He's met with silence. Wannabe works her gum and looks unimpressed. Eli clutches his guitar and looks...well, like he doesn't know how he should look. He looks to Wannabe for a clue. Grace is steaming. She can't even close her mouth, she's so furious. Spencer does the smart thing and sits down, asking Jessie, "So, this is your dad's place?" Eli asks everyone to leave for a second, and Grace heads for the door. He adds that he needs to talk to Grace. She stops like she just got a dart in the ass.
When everyone leaves, Grace immediately launches into a defensive explanation of her article, but Eli's not interested in that. There are larger issues looming: Wannabe's Valentine's Day present, for instance. Eli says that there's a pair of earring that he knows Wannabe really wants, but he wrote a song for her. He asks Grace which one she thinks he should give Wannabe. Grace is deflated. She thinks for a second and blurts, "Uh, song," while flapping her arms in a "whatever" gesture. Eli smiles and says yeah, that's what he thought.
Wannabe comes flying back into the room, saying that they "should go there." Eli doesn't know what she's talking about. Apparently, Wannabe feels she needs to stand on the furniture -- in her shoes, I might add -- to get her point across. She's talking about the shelter. Eli grabs her around the waist and swings her off the chair. She keeps trying to convince him why they should go to the shelter, but he's too busy tickling her to think about it. Grace's wheels are turning, though.
Meanwhile, over at PagesAlive.com, Lily is yammering into her headset. "Are you serious? He didn't even mention it?" she asks. Rick says no. She glances over her shoulder toward Crusty's office and whispers that, yesterday, they "ran into him," and this morning, she saw them sitting together, talking. Rick repeats that David didn't mention anything, and Lily thinks that's very odd. Rick thinks maybe it slipped David's mind because they "got served last night." "Served what?" Lily asks. Rick clarifies that he's not talking restaurants, and Lily clicks. Rick still feels the need to exposit, "As in injunction. As in Karen. Shutting us down." Lily feels terrible for him. At that very moment, one of the editors yells out a question: "'Atlantor' -- is it '-or' or '-er'?" Because she works at an online magazine and obviously hasn't heard of Google or, say, any of the Chicago dailies' websites, or, oh I don't know, the Atlantor company website. I know, I know, somebody had to alert Lily to the fact that they're doing an article on Rick's project. ["It bugged me, too; that's not how you fact-check. No wonder PagesAlive is going under." -- Wing Chun] Anyway, Lily is distracted because she knows the answer, but she can't just yell it out while Rick's complaining in her ear about "what a big mess" everything is. Rick gets distracted when David strides by, glaring at him. He whispers that he'll have to call Lily back. "Yeah, me too," she answers.
Lily rushes over to the "'-er' or '-or'" girl to find out why she needs to know how to spell "Atlantor." Lily asks her to scroll down a bit, so that she may see more of the article. The girl says that it's got to be quick, because she has to get the article "proofed" so that it can go online that night. Lily's surprised that it's going up so soon. The girl explains that it's "part of the Valentine's issue. [Crusty's] doing a whole thing on divorced couples from hell." Nice to see that Crusty's budding romance hasn't softened her at all. Speak of the devil -- there she is in the doorway of her office, calling Lily. "Okay, here's the continuity from last week," I think. Lily's going to get reamed for threatening Crusty and Graham, or there's going to be some kind of fall-out. But no -- Crusty just wants to explain to Lily why she didn't tell her about the article with Rick. Because Crusty always feels the need to justify things to her underlings. Anyway, she claims that she purposely didn't tell Lily because, that way, Lily could honestly tell Rick that she didn't know anything about it. Crusty was trying to protect Lily's relationship. Crusty then flaunts her fine news sense, saying, "Come on -- a divorced couple duking it out in public? Who wouldn't want to read about it? I mean, naturally I'm gonna get into it." I bet David Pecker over at The National Enquirer is quaking in his boots. Okay, I bet he isn't. I just think his name is funny. Crusty adds that she thinks the other two couples in the article come off a lot worse than Karen and Rick do. Lily doesn't look comforted. Crusty asks what's upsetting Lily more: that she described Lily's "boyfriend as having one of the more acrimonious divorces in Chicago" or "that paragraph [Crusty] threw in towards the end about [Rick's] terrible reputation." It's clear that Lily didn't know about the paragraph or Rick's terrible reputation. Lily's face falls. "Oh, Lily, please don't look so devastated!" Crusty pleads, "Please! I hate when you look devastated!" Except when Lily looks devastated because the driver of PagesAlive's gravy train can't keep his hands off her. Then she's just a pain in the ass. Lily apologizes, chews her lip, and looks down at her lap. "Oh, you're doing it again," Crusty whines. She tries to reassure Lily by saying, "So he's a Type A. So what? It's the type of piece that it is. The person comes off like this total nightmare. Like this one-dimensional, one-sided...But it's only because you're presenting one side." Lily asks why not present all sides, then. Oh, she's so naïve, isn't she? Crusty's not really sure what to make of the question. She stares hard at Lily and asks, "You're kidding, right?"
Later, at Manning Manor, Lily calls the girls to dinner. Rick comes up behind her, and she whispers to him, "I brought a copy home in case you wanted to read it." Isn't it live by now, though? Lily rustles up a hard copy of the article, just as Zoe comes bounding into the dining room. Lily mutters something at Rick, and he flattens the papers against his stomach as if Zoe were trying to steal his answers on a test. Grace joins them, flipping open a small notebook and breezily taking a seat. Lily asks her to put the notebook away, since they're about to eat. "I actually wanted to ask Rick some questions," Grace pomps. "For her article," Zoe adds. Rick looks pleasantly surprised. "What article?" Lily demands. Grace says that she's writing an article about A Better Place. "Well, of course you are. Who isn't?" Rick says, attempting light-heartedness. Lily wants to know why Grace has "this sudden interest in A Better Place." Grace challenges, "So, what, now you don't want me to care about what happens in the world?" Lily says that's not the case, but Rick pipes up that it's okay; Grace can ask him questions. Lily and Rick talk over each other, as he prattles that he has nothing to hide, and she blathers that she just doesn't understand why Grace has this sudden interest in it. Grace rolls her eyes. Rick asks her what she wants to know. She's about to answer, when Zoe spots Lily trying to hide the PagesAlive hatchet job. She asks what Lily's got, and won't accept that it's nothing, because "nothing is nothing." Lily asks her to eat, please. Grace asks her first question: "So what was your reaction? I mean, when you read in the paper the other day about A Better Place and how much it means to people?" Rick stares into his spaghetti, struggling for an answer like a kid who forgot to cram for his oral exam in poli-sci. Grace prods, "Did you feel anything? Or...or..." Rick caves under the inquisition and confesses that he didn't read the article in the newspaper. "You didn't?" Grace asks. "You didn't?" Lily echoes. Rick struggles to explain his position: "There are aspects of city building -- of building a city -- that you may not fully understand." "Like, you mean, how you can't build something without tearing something down?" Huh. Okay, so she does understand those aspects of city building. Rick is a little thrown but tries to recover. He stammers that "anything you truly admire about a city -- any city -- was the site of something else first, and something had to be torn down to accommodate the bigger better building." He cites the Empire State Building as an example, asking, "You wouldn't wanna not have the Empire State Building, would you?" Grace looks up from her notebook, where she's been scribbling furiously, and asks, "Why not?" Cue Rick's open mouth. Big sigh. Change of subject. He asks what other questions she has for him. "Nothing, that was it," she answers. Zoe is as shocked by this news as Rick is. "Gracie," Lily says. Grace snaps, "Mom, you just asked me to put my notebook away, so I'm putting it away." As she forks in a mouthful of spaghetti, Grace shoots Rick the stank-eye. What the hell did he do? He answered her question, didn't he? "Fine," Lily says coolly. "Fine," Rick echoes. "Fine," Zoe chirps. The sullen silence that follows begs to differ.
You know, I probably shouldn't be, but I'm sort of persuaded by Rick's Empire State Building argument. Admittedly, it's only because I harbor an unnatural love for the place. I have two rolls of film, shot one night on a drunken rampage through the streets of Manhattan, to prove it. There's more to that story, but for the sake of my dignity, I'll stop right there. Anyway, where the hell was I? Right. Dinner craps out and we fade to commercials.
After the break, we return to find Rick sitting at his counter, having a little breakfast and glancing over the PagesAlive article, which is titled "Divorced Couples from Hell." Doesn't that sound like it should be a Fox special? Jessie strolls up to the counter and asks what Rick is reading. He goes for the quick cover-up. Eli comes into the kitchen with the cordless phone plastered to his ear. It sounds like he's making plans with Wannabe. After he hangs up, Eli nonchalantly tries to ask what Rick's plans are for the day; is he going to be at the site, for instance? Rick says that he has a meeting with the lawyer over the Atlantor case. The kids move into the dining room with their breakfast -- is Jessie actually eating? -- and Rick looks over the article again. He wearily tosses it onto the counter and says, "You know I admire your mother and what she's doing, right?" Eli casts a suspicious sidelong glance. Rick continues, "Because what she's doing is [sigh]...is very admirable." Rick sounds incredibly sad. Eli exchanges a look with Jessie and says, "Yeah, we know." Rick pushes Jessie for a response. She turns and wishes him "good luck tomorrow." Rick looks worn out.
Cut to Rick at his office, in the midst of a meeting with Miles, David, and a man who, I assume, is the lawyer. He's giving them a pep talk, telling them that they're "revitalizing a blighted urban area, and [they're] willing to relocate these people." David looks like he thinks it's a lot of bullshit, while Miles spins his turtle on the lid of his coffee cup and absently murmurs his assent. "I mean, what more can we do?" the lawyer asks. Miles makes an "eh" face and gestures like "who knows?" while keeping his attention focused on his turtle. The lawyer finally asks, "What is that thing?" David, his voice a bored monotone, offers, "It's a bronze turtle." Rick chimes in, "Sixteenth century." David adds that Miles's niece gave it to him. David makes it clear that he's heard about this turtle at least one too many times. Miles shoots him a challenging look. David gets down to things, pacing and asking, "Am I the only one who thinks we have a serious problem here?" Miles cuts in, "As opposed to the make-believe kind?" He shoots David a piercing glare.
Now that Miles has the floor again, he is going to regale everyone with yet another tale, saying ponderously, "You know, I'm reminded of that marvelous story about Bertrand Russell." David folds his arms and bitterly mutters, "Ah, yes. That story." Undeterred, Miles continues, "Russell was lecturing on astronomy, describing how the earth orbits the sun and so forth, and when the lecture was over, an old woman stood up and said, 'This is all poppycock. The world is a flat place supported on the back of a turtle.' And Russell said, 'Aha, madam! But what is the turtle standing on?'" We see David grinding his teeth to nubs in the background, staring petulantly at some distant point on the floor. Miles goes on, as Miles is wont to do, "And the woman said, 'Very clever, young man. But it's turtles. All the way down.'" I think Miles needs to find an interest apart from turtles. David looks pained. Maybe he's bored with the turtles, too. Miles looks at his little statue and laughs smugly. The lawyer forces a chuckle, while Rick tries really hard to look amused.
Miles further tortures David by explaining the moral of his story. He enunciates even more clearly than usual, as if to be sure that David doesn't miss a syllable, as he explains, "People refuse to accept reality. They form their foolish, irrational opinions and stick to them. This development will be built." He shifts his penetrating stare from David to the other men, and his tone becomes jovial, as he adds, "They'll be huffy and puffy. But in the end, nothing will be blown down, and people will move on to some other bedtime story. There are turtles all the way down, gentlemen, and there is no convincing anyone otherwise. The question is, what are you willing to do?" Miles turns to David with a devilish grin as he asks this final challenge, and David stares back with a look of unflinching hatred. After a pause, Rick asks, "To fight this injunction?" Miles clarifies: "For greatness." Rick looks thoughtful for a second. David breaks the silence this time, snatching his coat, turning on his heel, and quickly saying over his shoulder, "I'm gonna drop by the site." He mutters something about tests that need to be done, and Rick tells him to go later. They're like a couple who don't want to fight in front of their guests during a cocktail party. David knows he can slip out of there because Rick won't make a scene in front of company. David thanks the lawyer for his "pep talk," and then mutters, almost inaudibly, to Miles, "And the turtle anecdote." Miles smiles indulgently without taking his eyes off his turtle. Rick again asks why the trip can't wait until later, but David just keeps on striding toward the door.
We cut to another Soliloquy Sequence, as Rick and David continue musing about their partnership. David says that partners are there to tell the truth for one another -- to be brutally honest and remind one another of who they are. "Because sometimes you forget," they both say and then laugh.
A city bus pulls up to a curb, and Wannabe, Eli, and Grace pile out onto the sidewalk. People are chanting in the background, and as the three head toward the source, the words become distinguishable: "No more Atlantor!" They come upon a group of picketers waving the signs we saw earlier in Karen's living room. Wannabe coolly surveys the scene while Eli squints, and Grace spins around, looking like Alice right after she fell down the rabbit hole. The bulldozers and other machines rumble in the background, undisturbed by the demonstrators' presence. As a pickup truck tries to pull out of the site, however, the protesters' swarm it and sort of tap and swat at its sides. It's pretty tame. Grace looks like she just found heaven.
Cut to Judy at the bookstore, passing the PagesAlive article back to Lily and commenting, "It's not that bad." She adds, "I mean, so he's insanely ambitious. So what?" Lily takes the pages and paces a few steps, whining, "He comes off like he has no conscience!" Judy tries to reason with her: "Who cares how he comes off? You know he has a conscience." She pauses. "Somewhere." Another pause. "Probably." Lily makes her exasperated face. She turns to demand, "So you don't trust him?" Judy counters, "Do you? That's what matters." Lily looks thoughtful and doesn't answer. Judy changes the subject, asking what Lily and Rick are doing for Valentine's Day. Lily says they're probably doing nothing, and gripes, "He's been so busy." Judy occupies herself with breaking off strips of scotch tape for the Valentine's Day decorations she's hanging. Lily says that she made Rick a valentine. "Of course, I kind of left it blank." She starts to say that she has to figure out what to write, but then stops herself to change course mid-sentence. "You know, it's not that I don't trust him. It's just...Okay, I don't trust him. Because every time I think I can, something happens. Or I'll hear about something that makes me wonder." She admits that she doesn't trust herself to know whether to trust him or not: "Let's face it, I trusted Jake." Well, she's got a point there. But I'm wondering to what she's referring when she says she heard things and things happened to cause her trust to waver. She's the one who slept with her ex, after all. All Rick did was get loaded at Thanksgiving. Oh, and snoop through his ex-wife's briefcase. Okay, so there's that. Judy doesn't say anything, but just carries on hanging a red foil banner, and looking really great in her black leather pants.
Cut to a big yellow banner that says "Stop Atlantor!" in Spanish. The camera pans from the fluttering sign along a mural-covered brick wall to Wannabe and Eli staging their own little demonstration. A demonstration of nauseating schmoopy teen love. They're making out on the curb. Way to be all into the cause, there, Wannabe. You're really going to save the shelter by probing your boyfriend's tonsils. They break long enough to glance across the street, where Grace has just finished asking a demonstrator --Raspberry Fedora -- some questions. The woman stops her as she's about to leave, and asks her to wear an anti-Atlantor button. Grace accepts it, and then strides off down the sidewalk, charged with moral indignation and a sense of purpose. I remember my idealistic black-and-white days. I was about Grace's age, and I'd go off on enraged tangents about the generations that came before, and the rainforests, and pollution, and animal testing, and people who eat meat. Man, that seems like a million years -- and a couple hundred hamburgers -- ago.
Karen, meanwhile, is fighting the fight from her office, where she's glumly looking over some notes. Sange tries to offer her a snack, which she refuses. She hopelessly shakes the notes and announces that she has nothing, and "they're gonna eat me alive." Sange says that he spoke with the Better Place people this morning, and that they're in shock. He mentions that someone kept repeating to herself, "How can this be? We were supposed to buy the building. They'd agreed." Well, isn't that convenient. Karen agrees. She perks up, asking, "They had an agreement? They had an oral agreement to purchase the building?" Sange chomps on a carrot stick and nods. He says that everyone knew. Karen lets out a happy sigh, grabs a legal pad, and tells him to start from the beginning.
Over at the building site, the war against Da Man rages on. Wannabe surveys the scene and then strolls back to Eli, complaining that she thought it would be more fun. He gives her a squeeze. She asks whether he's "lost all respect for [his] father." He answers, "I have respect for my father, okay? If I were an architect, and someone offered me tons of money to design something to take the place of all this, I'd do it in a heartbeat. And you would, too." For once, Wannabe has nothing to say. She just stares at him skeptically with her mouth hanging open, as usual. Oh, and she did actually change her pants for this episode, which is nice. Eli wants to get out of there. They spot Grace on the corner, across the street, talking to another group of people. Wannabe shouts over the din of traffic and construction to tell Grace that they're leaving, and that she should come. Grace insists that she wants to stay. Wannabe is reluctant to leave her there alone, but Eli wants to get the hell out of there, and the bus is about to leave, so he tugs Wannabe up the steps. Grace the ace reporter resumes her interviews.
Lily's busy at her desk at PagesAlive. If working on her valentine for Rick counts as "busy," I guess. She opens it, stares at the blank expanse inside, and grabs a fat black marker. See, that's a smart way to fill the space. Write with the thickest instrument you can find. "Dear Rick," she scrawls. And stops. And stares. I know how she feels. I hate writing cards. Although, I suppose in this case, her block is meant to suggest major relationship trouble. She puts her head in her hand and lets the marker hang over the page, just in case she's struck by sudden inspiration. She should just relax. We can't all be Hallmark, now, can we? And that's a good thing.
It's dark at the construction site, now, but those feisty protesters haven't given up; they've changed their chant, though, to "People. United. Will never be defeated." Rick pulls up across the street and strides toward the construction gate, not deterred by the boos and jeers from the crowd. He finds David at work in the trailer and lays into him: "We were both under pressure, David. But to just leave like that!" David tells him that he should just go back to the office. There's a warning edge in his voice. Rick says that he didn't appreciate David's leaving the meeting. David snorts derisively and responds, "Oh, you didn't 'appreciate' it? And you think I actually care at this point whether you appreciate it?" Rick makes his surprised "o" face for a few seconds and then manages, "What is this, David?" David says, "This is me being as clear as I know how to be with you." "Oh, this is you making a point. This is you taking a stand. Well, how courageous of you!" Rick snots. "Shut up!" David barks, chucking his pencil on the drafting table. "No, really, how gutsy of you, David! Go ahead, stand up. Stand up for the homeless kids that we're offering a bigger and a better home --" "Oh, and bigger is better, right?" "And stand up for Frank Lloyd Wright who's...who's dead!" David grits that he's standing up for himself. Rick stops and looks at him. There's silence for a second before David turns and disgustedly announces, "I quit!" Rick makes his surprised "o" face again, looking like he's about to have a seizure. "Right now? Today?" he finally stammers. David says that it's over -- that's it. Rick can't believe that David is leaving just like that, with no warning. David says he's been trying to warn Rick for months; Rick just didn't want to see what was going on, and David has needs, you know? He needs to feel attractive and appreciated, and Rick's so busy with Miles all the time -- doesn't he think that David could use a kind word or a night out every once in a while? Okay, he doesn't say that, but this seriously feels like a marriage that's falling apart. Heavy. David says he doesn't know what drove him to it -- "Maybe it was that last turtle anecdote?" -- but he's had enough. He says he doesn't believe in what they're doing, and he doesn't believe they should be doing it, "and to paraphrase e.e. cummings, 'There is just some excrement I will not eat.'" Rick's Adam's apple stops bobbing, and he goes in for a shot, demanding, "So is that why you sold me out to Christy? Huh? You figured 'I'm out of here. I may as well trash him. That'll end things!'" David looks at him for a moment and then says, "Actually, no. I did that just to hurt you." Rick looks wounded as David continues, "See, that's the part of this equation that you don't seem to get -- how disappointed I am in you." David makes for the door, and Rick turns, pleading, "David!" David holds up a hand and tells Rick not to do this. Rick says he "can't do this alone." David levels him with, "Rick, you've been doing it alone," and then pushes open the door. Rick takes a few deep breaths, looking shaken.
Cut to the picket line again. The protesters have switched back to "No more Atlantor!" These people are really starting to get on my nerves. Rick makes his way from the trailer, pulling on his gloves and ducking his head. As he reaches the gate, Grace happens to be walking the picket line right in front of him. He's stunned to see her. He asks what she's doing there, his voice a mixture of anger, shock, and hurt. "What am I doing here?" she asks, stepping out of the line. He asks whether Lily knows she's there. "Not exactly," Grace answers. Rick really looks like he's about to have a seizure now, or possibly a stroke. He contorts his face trying to force out some words, and finally pushes out, with great effort, "I'll give you a ride home." Grace says that she'll take the bus. He starts to protest and is interrupted by his cell phone. It's Lily. Grace uses this distraction to slip back into the picket line. Lily can hear the chanting in the background and asks Rick where he is. He snitches, "Lily! Lily! Do you know where Grace is?" She answers that Grace is at Wannabe's house. "No she's not! She's right in front of me -- protesting!" Rick manages to combine tattling and outrage, which is pretty impressive. Lily is bewildered. "What? She's protesting against...against...?" ME!" Rick shouts. "She's protesting against me!" Dude, she's protesting a building development. I think Rick needs a nice lavender bubble bath or maybe a couple dozen Valiums. Lily informs him that he's shouting and asks him to lower his voice. Rick struggles to get himself under control, looking and sounding like he's about to bawl and come totally unhinged at any moment. He snits that he offered Grace a ride home, and she refused. Lily asks to speak to Grace. Rick bellows to Grace, who ignores him at first, but after the second or third enraged "Grace!" she stops and shouts, "You can't order me around! You're not my father!" He yells that he realizes that. Raspberry Fedora stops protectively to Grace and butts in, shouting, "Leave her alone!" Lady, you've got enough to worry about -- like that monstrosity on your head -- without getting into this. Grace reluctantly comes over when Rick holds out the phone and says that her mother wants to talk to her. She grabs the phone from his hand, glowering, while Rick dazedly watches the demonstrators march past, waving their fists in his face and shouting at him. His expression quickly changes to one of unadulterated anger. Rick looks like he could shove a sign or two down someone's throat. Huh. Who knew?
After commercials, we follow Lily to her door as the bell rings. It's Rick, returning her wild child. Grace blows past Lily, her chin jutting out defiantly, and whips her knapsack onto the bench. She runs up the stairs, fiercely unbuttoning her coat, and throws it down onto the bench. Ah, there's nothing like a self-righteous, wound-up sixteen-year-old to make you thank god for birth control, is there? Lily just watches the little tantrum, turns to Rick, and says that she has to turn down her soup. He follows her to the kitchen. "You realize what this is, don't you?" he asks. She says she doesn't. He proclaims it "the perfect way for [Grace] to get back at [him]." Lily says that she thinks it's more than that. Rick asks what she means. Lily leans over the sink and starts brutalizing a carrot with a peeler, saying that Grace has "strong feelings about this, obviously." Rick asks why Lily thinks that is, and implies that he's the reason. Oh, get over yourself. Lily says that Grace had a right to be there, that's all. Rick tries to get Grace in trouble by wheedling that Grace didn't tell Lily the truth about where she was. Lily angrily turns from the sink and says that's between her and Grace. She looks at the now super-skinny carrot and tosses it on the counter, realizing that she's just destroying it. They're silent for a minute. She asks if she can get him something, and Rick's face softens as he shakes his head. She wearily suggests that maybe he should just go. He turns wordlessly, picks up his jacket, and pauses when Lily says she'll call him tomorrow. He just looks at her and then walks out.
We enter the hearing the morning as Atlantor's lawyer makes his summation to the judge. The judge then asks to hear rebuttal from "counsel for A Better Place." Karen steps up to the podium and starts in on the dangers of "embracing" too much change. We pan over to Rick, who watches her with a slightly glazed expression. The sound starts to fade out on her speech, so I guess we're in on it as Rick's attention lapses and he concentrates on staring at her in action. The sound fades back in as she begins to wrap up, saying, "These people had a contract, your honor. It was a done deal." She gestures toward the defense table, and the Better Place supporters turn a disapproving eye toward Rick and company. Karen claims that "it would be unconscionable to allow [Atlantor] to profit by representing otherwise." She urges the court to "render true justice." The judge calls a fifteen-minute recess. As everyone rises, Rick looks toward Karen. He keeps looking at her even after they've sat down again. She never turns her eyes his way, even when she turns around to reassure one of the people sitting behind her. Rick glances at the wall clock, which ticks ticks ticks and lets us know that time is passing.
The bailiff orders everyone to rise again as the judge enters the courtroom. Miles passes off his turtle to Rick as if it's a chunk of hash, muttering, "Take this," and keeping his hands low and his eyes averted. "For luck," Miles adds. Rick studies his face, no doubt shocked that Miles would ever suggest needing luck. As soon as the judge begins speaking, it's apparent that the case is going to move in Atlantor's favor. The judge claims that the court has determined the building is not, in fact, a historic landmark, and that she cannot uphold an unwritten contract since she's not a "mind reader." Bang goes the gavel, and that's it. Karen is deflated. Rick stares at her again, as the people in the courtroom rise, and Miles and the lawyer offer a round of congratulations. Karen finally glances in his direction as she bends to retrieve her briefcase, but her look is cursory and without warmth or recognition. She glances over again as Rick starts to move toward her in the aisle, but she makes it clear she doesn't want to have any contact with him. Miles inadvertently gets in Rick's way, congratulating him. Rick is obviously distracted.
Cut to Karen's office, where Rick is tentatively pushing open the door. Jessie rounds a corner and is surprised to see Rick poking his head around Karen's door. Jessie tells him "they're all in the conference room, so..." She offers him congratulations. "Why?" he asks. She turns and smiles at him with a pointed look. "Oh! Right," he says. He gestures toward her Better Place t-shirt and asks if Karen gave it to her. "Oh, you know, mom would never..." Jessie says uncomfortably. Rick hangs his head and apologizes. Jessie explains that she wanted to wear it as a show of support for Karen, who doesn't have anybody the way Rick does. Karen comes in to tell Jessie that Sange is leaving if she wants to say goodbye. Karen stops dead when she sees Rick perched on the edge of her desk. He stands and looks like he's going to say hello. She just blows past him and continues talking to Jessie. Jessie leaves, and Rick says that he could have driven Jessie home. "Rick, why are you here?" Karen asks, edgy. He looks at her without saying anything. She asks him to stop looking at her like that. "Like what?" he asks. She tells him that she doesn't need his "sympathy or to hear how sorry [he is]." Rick looks down like he's swallowing some words as Karen says, "You got lucky. That's all. This isn't over." He raises his eyes and looks at her for a few seconds before saying, "I am here...because you were excellent in there today." Karen's face softens. "And...I just wanted to say that," he adds softly. They look at each other across the great divide, and look like there are a lot of things they need to say, but neither one speaks. Rick turns and leaves. Karen stares after him.
Cut to Rick's office, where David is packing up the stuff on his desk. From his drafting table, Rick asks whether everyone has been told. David says that they have. Rick stands and walks over to David's desk, asking, "Wanna hear something funny?" David says that he does, so Rick tells him, "Lily thought you were interested in Christy." David looks up sharply. Okay, Rick. That bonding moment you're going for? You just stepped all over it. And you had dog doody on your shoe when you did. "I am," David says flatly. Rick lamely says, "Oh? Good." There's an awkward silence (lots of those tonight, aren't there?), and finally Rick breaks it with, "David..." David leaps in and jokes, "You know, we probably never should have gotten married in the first place." It sinks in for a second, then Rick laughs a little. David does too. Then David adds, "Well, the sex was great." He picks up the newspaper with the article that caused so many problems and hands it to Rick. It's a make-or-break moment as he waits for Rick to take it. Rick stares at it then back at David. "What can I say to make you change your mind?" Rick asks softly. "Nothing," David answers. Rick finally takes the newspaper and folds it in half. They slowly hug one another. David clears his throat, presses the lid onto the final box of stuff, then walks out. Rick watches sadly, flicking the newspaper helplessly with his fingers.
Back to the David and Rick Soliloquy, still in progress. Rick says, "We left out the other reason you have a partner. So you have someone to blame when things go wrong." "Exactly," David says. They burst out laughing. Rick claps him on the shoulder. Now I feel sad. I'm going to miss David and his sexist deadpan. I hope these crazy kids find a way to work it out.
The camera sweeps in around Rick's desk, which is bathed in a pool of light in the darkened office. Rick's sitting at the desk, reading the article. We're back where we were at the beginning of the episode. Full circle, as they say. Rick glances from the paper to the turtle on his desk then back at the paper. The Drums of Turning Point thunder in the background.
The phone to Lily's bed rings. Her alarm clock lets us know it's 1:59 AM. "Hello?" Lily husks groggily.
Quick cut to Lily padding into the kitchen in her bathrobe. Rick is right behind her. She asks if he's hungry and then yawns widely. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the turtle. She mistakenly thinks it's her Valentine's Day present, saying "Oh god! I have something for you too!" and rushes to the table to grab her home-made valentine. Rick starts to say that the turtle's not a gift, but Lily cuts him off, saying that she hasn't had a chance to finish her card yet. Rick looks down at the turtle and says, "This is just supposed to bring good luck." He mutters a bit about its history as he places it on the counter and then reaches into his other coat pocket. "This is what I really wanted to um..." he says whisper-quiet as he pulls out a ring box. I fall off the couch. Lily's face registers shock and a little dismay as she realizes what the box represents. Rick says they can still pretend it's Valentine's Day. Rick hands her the little box, and Lily looks alarmed. She points at it and asks, "Rick, is this...?" Her eyes pop as she forces out the question, "Are you..?" He smiles a little and tells her to open it. She backs up a few steps, leans against the table, and pops open the lid. She looks at the box's contents with awe. Rick explains that he bought it "this afternoon, after uh..." Lily looks up and breathes, "It's beautiful." Well, it's pretty damn big, that's for sure. Rick says she can "bring it back if it doesn't fit or just...or just..." She finally smiles, and her voice is thick with tears as she repeats, "It's beautiful. I would never choose another one." Rick is relieved. I beg the television gods not to let this happen -- they can't get married! For once, the television gods are listening. Lily looks at the ring again. Rick opens his arms wide and says, "This is where you throw your arms around me." She doesn't move, but looks up and says, "Yeah, I know." She shakes her head a little and lets out a deep breath. She says, "I mean, I wish I could just..." Rick looks sad and lets his arms drop. Lily struggles to get some words out. "There's a part of me that just, um...what about this whole problem with Grace?" she asks, wiping at a tear. Rick widens his eyes and shakes his head eagerly, thinking that a resolution is at hand. "What problem?" he asks, sitting to her. "I think Grace has a problem with me, which is why this is exactly --" "And how is getting married --" "Which is why this exactly what we all need." Lily's listening. Rick explains, "It will show her that I am really here, and that you and I are really --" "But we haven't even figured out --" Lily protests. Rick insists, "Lil, this is how we figure it out. And after this is settled, Grace won't have this problem anymore." Of course not; fairy tales always have happy endings. I think Rick did nip into the Valium bottle, after all. "Wait, what problem?" Lily asks. He cites the problem of Grace not respecting him, not accepting that he is an important part of Lily's life. The pressure is starting to get to Rick. With a forced chuckle, he chokes out, "Lil, why are you making this so hard?"
The kettle whistles, saving Lily from answering. She moves to the counter behind Rick and looks down at the ring again. She looks thoughtful a moment before asking, "Rick, what happened at the hearing?" Dully, he says they won. After a moment, he quietly adds that David quit. Lily tilts her head to the side in a sudden fit of understanding. "Rick, please don't ask me to marry you like this." "In a kitchen?" he halfheartedly quips. "I'm serious," she insists. "And I'm not serious?" he counters, his voice squeaky with tears. Lily thinks for a moment how best to say what needs to be said. "I want you to want to marry me because you want to spend your life with me," she says, smiling at the thought. "Not because you're scared. Of being alone." "I'm not scared to be alone," Rick says, sounding like he's aged a hundred years. "I am alone," he adds. Lily rolls her eyes a little and moves to him, hugging him from behind. She whispers that she loves him, and then says, "But this just seems...soon to me." Still thinking of being alone, Rick insists, "I'm not scared of it at all. I'm used to it." He seems to have discovered something. He takes the ring box, turns it over in his fingers, and then opens it. He sets it on the table on top of Lily's card saying, "There was no St. Valentine. It's all made up." He stands and moves to the door. Lily calls to remind him about his turtle, which he left on the counter. She wipes a tear then turns around and asks if it's really from the sixteenth century. "So I'm told," he says. "And it brings you luck," she says, moving toward him. "Not tonight," he answers sadly. She rests her head against his chest and he puts his arms around her. She looks at the turtle and murmurs, "It must've cost a lot." He close his hand around the figure and sighs, "Too much." He slowly pulls away, and walks out the door. Lily fights more tears, turns to look back at the ring on the table, then heads upstairs to bed. Well, that will make a nice surprise for the kids in the morning, won't it?