Stuck in Love Page #6

Oh...

Hubba, hubba.

Have you had this the whole time?

Yeah.

Why on Earth... you are

endlessly frustrating.

Oh, I would definitely

f*** you in this outfit.

How do you feel?

Good.

Oh, right?

Okay, come on.

Hey, Mom!

Hey!

You made it. Hi.

Hi.

I'm Kate.

I'm Erica.

Nice to meet you.

Hey, can I help you

find something?

I was looking for some aspirin.

I have a headache.

Oh, should be in there.

I got it.

Thank you.

William.

Hey.

It's so good to see you again.

How are you?

Great to see

you, too, Leslie.

This is my son, Rusty...

Hi.

And his girlfriend, Kate.

Hello.

Nice to meet you.

This was so nice of you to do

this for Samantha, really.

This is great.

I'd have done the

same thing for you

if you'd published Suit Monkeys

under my watch. Yeah, well...

I would like you to meet your

daughter, Samantha Borgens.

You might think you've

met Samantha before,

but this Samantha just received a

starred review from Publisher's Weekly.

And life will never

be the same again.

Hi, Dad.

Congratulations.

Thank you so much.

And this is my boyfriend, Lou.

Hi.

Nice to meet you. Very nice

to finally meet you, yeah.

Mr. Murphy is a talented

writer as well.

He's my Patricia Highsmith.

I don't know.

Samantha, can I steal

your father for a little bit?

There's so many young

writers around here

who are just dying to meet him.

He's all yours.

Come on.

Come on. Come on.

Hey, Sis. Congratulations.

Thank you so much for coming.

It's so nice to finally meet you.

Sam tells me you're a

huge Stephen King fan.

I'm like the biggest Stephen

King fan in the world.

I love The Sand.

It's my favorite one.

What?

Since when?

What do you mean?

Who doesn't like Stephen King?

She doesn't like Stephen King.

I don't not...

let's leave them.

Let's get... She calls

herself a novelist.

You guys continue this.

We're going to go.

Girls.

Yeah.

Two champagnes, please.

How old is she?

I wouldn't believe you

if you told me she was 18

much less 21.

How old are you?

This is my party.

Stop acting like a p*ssy.

Nobody's going to tell on you.

And I haven't even told you about

the big tip I'm going to leave you.

As far as I know, you ordered

these drinks for yourself.

I didn't even see her here.

And here's the drinks

you ordered, Miss. Enjoy.

I will...

Thank you.

Samantha!

Oh, sorry...

Don't worry about it. It's your night.

Go have fun.

Ladies and gentlemen, could I

have your kind attention, please.

You may come forward if you wish.

I have been trying to get William Borgens

up here to speak to my class for years.

He's never said no, but he's

never said yes, either.

Tonight, I have him at a

certain disadvantage.

My entire class is here, Bill.

And I insist you come up

here and say a few words.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Mr. Borgens.

Your professor, while a very nice

man, is a sneaky son of a b*tch.

The reason Leslie could never get me up

here to talk about the process of writing

is I'm not sure I have much to say

about it that could benefit you.

I still find it all very mysterious,

years after I wrote my first book.

And I'm not sure what it

is that compels a person

to continue to play make believe

even after they're an adult.

My favorite book is a collection

of short stories by Raymond Carver

called What We Talk About

When We Talk About Love.

And in the closing lines of the

title story, Carver says...

"I could hear

my heart beating.

"I could hear everyone's heart.

"I could hear the human

noise we sat there making.

"Not one of us moved.

"Not even when

the room went dark. "

And I think that

that's what writing is.

It's listening for that beating heart,

and when we hear it,

it's our job to decipher it

to the best of our abilities.

I'm here because my daughter

Samantha's book is being published

in case you haven't heard.

This is her success.

I love you, Dad.

I love you, too.

This seat taken?

Louis invited me.

Well, that was a calculated risk.

How long you been here?

Mm, I was waiting in my

car for about an hour

trying to build up

the courage to come in.

So that's what 19 looks like.

She's all grown up now.

No.

She's still just a baby.

You going to talk to her?

I don't know.

I'm scared.

Yeah, she's scary.

She's all I've done with my life,

and she doesn't want me.

Hey...

you want some courage?

Free of charge.

Yes, please.

Your favorite book...

John Cheever's

The World of Apples.

I got you that signed first edition.

Yeah.

That's your favorite book, right?

Um, well, I really liked it.

Oh, Jesus.

I even told you what to read.

Sometimes.

I'm sorry.

Anyway, she swiped it

from my library.

She did?

Yeah.

It could only have been her.

She thought that it

was your favorite book.

That's what I had told her, and...

I think she was hoping to

find some piece of you in it.

Go talk to your daughter.

Yeah.

Hi.

Would you sign this for me?

Uh, what's your name?

Sam, I don't want to cause a scene.

Really? I...

I'm Louis, by the way.

I believe we met over the phone.

Hi. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, too.

Yeah.

Name?

Come on, Sam, don't do this.

It's okay, Louis.

No name, no problem.

Guess we'll go with a signature

and no personalized note. Sam.

I just wanted to tell you that...

I love you.

I love you so much.

I'm so proud of you.

Thank you.

Hope you enjoy it.

Kate? Kate?

No, it's just me.

Mom, I didn't know

you were coming.

You Okay?

You looking for Kate?

Yeah, I've been looking

everywhere for her.

I can't find her.

Are you worried?

Yeah.

I'm going to go

check in the house.

Okay, have you guys seen Kate?

I've been looking for her everywhere.

I can't find her.

I'm freaking out.

Yeah, the last time I saw

her, we were at the bar.

I got her a champagne,

but that was ages ago.

You what?

You got her champagne?

She's underage.

It's no big deal.

No, it is a big deal, okay,

because she has a history

and she has a drug problem,

so she can't drink.

She has a drug problem?

She had a drug problem.

Come with me.

She has a drug problem.

Did you give that girl another one?

What girl?

She said they were for you.

Did you see where she went?

Have you seen her?

I don't know. She

left with some guy.

Jesus.

Calm down.

I don't want to calm down.

She's 16 and she's f***ed up.

Take it easy.

We'll find her, okay.

Did you look at the guy's ID?

Do you remember his name?

I look at dates, not names.

She left with Gus.

Who the f*** is Gus?

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, all right?

You had no right.

I didn't think that your Mom

wanted to miss the most

important night in your life.

We are not having this

conversation right now,

and just stop following me.

Would you just shut up?

Just shut up!

I'll call you later.

Just please answer.

Jesus, Dad,

this isn't a family vacation.

Hey, shut' up, get in the car.

You're acting like a child.

Come on, guys.

It's number 608.

There it is right there.

You guys wait here.

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