Submission Page #10

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- And I can offer up no worthy defense.

- [line clicks, beeping]

I...

[groans]

Well.

Nice talking to you too.

[vintage jazz playing]

[woman]

Falling in love again

Never wanted to

What's a girl to do?

Can't help it

Love's always been my game

Play it how I may

[man] I'm sorry, my friend,

but you have left me no choice.

I must request

your resignation.

[man] All sold out. Standing

room only, Herr Professor.

- [Professor] I will not go on.

- What happened to you?

Are you mad?

You have got to go on.

Put on his wig.

Don't get excited,

Herr Professor.

- Be calm, please.

- [people shouting]

Ladies and gentlemen,

an egg.

Crow! Kikeriki.

Kikeriki!

Kikeriki!

[strained crowing]

[crowing continues]

[laughing,

chattering]

[alarm beeps]

[exhales]

[Francis] We all know

why we're here...

to investigate the charges

brought by Miss Angela Argo

against

Professor Theodore Swenson.

This committee has already taken a

number of depositions under advisement.

Do you have

any questions, Ted?

Ted?

No. No.

I suppose we should

just begin.

Can you tell us

in your own words

what happened at Dean Bentham's

on the evening of November 6?

Well...

Did you ever notice

anything unusual

in Professor Swenson's

behavior toward Ms. Argo?

Well...

Did he do anything in class

that led you to suspect

that he was involved

inappropriately with Ms. Argo?

Did you ever see him with Ms. Argo

in a venue that surprised you?

- Well...

- Thank you for coming in.

We appreciate your honesty.

Thank you for your courage,

Miss Williams.

The committee appreciates

your help.

Could you tell us the reason for Ms.

Argo's visits to the health clinic?

This one time she came in... Sherrie

Swenson and I were on duty...

and she said that she had

been having suicidal thoughts.

She was worried that she'd never

meet a man she could love.

How did you respond?

She wanted to know

how we met our husbands.

So we told her, and it

seemed to give her comfort.

Well, thank you so much

for coming.

Okay, Angela.

Do you feel ready?

[clears throat]

[bell tolling]

Let us start by saying

that everybody understands

how difficult it has been

for you to do this,

how brave you are

for helping to make sure

that this kind of thing

is stopped.

I want to start

by asking,

when did you first realize

that Professor Swenson

was interested

in something beyond

the ordinary

student-teacher relationship?

Well, I caught him looking

at me in class a lot.

And then I found out

he checked out my book of

poems from the library.

And, um, I figured

something was going on.

[woman]

How did that make you feel?

It creeped me out,

big time.

How did things

between you progress?

I guess it was when I told him

that my computer crashed,

and he offered to take me down to

Burlington to the computer store.

Objection, Your Honors.

I did not offer. She asked.

Ted, you'll get

your chance.

And this isn't

a court of law.

Addressing us as "Your

Honors" isn't necessary.

All right. Okay.

Then what happened?

Nothing, at first.

He seemed

really nervous,

like he was scared

someone would see us.

And then?

When we were

on our way back,

he started talking about

his editor in New York

and asked if I would like

the guy to look at my novel.

And that's when he

put his hand on mine

and moved it to my leg...

Oh, my God.

That is bullshit, Angela!

That is complete

and total bullshit!

- Ted.

- It's bullshit.

- You'll get your say.

- It's bullshit.

- Please.

- Excuse the interruption.

Please continue.

Anyway, when we got back

to the dorm,

he offered to help me carry

the computer up to my room.

And you told him yes?

I was just feeling

totally passive,

like I was totally out of

control of everything.

And what happened next,

Angela?

I know this is hard for you,

but we do have to know.

Well... um...

Then we sort of

had sex.

Or we began to,

and then his tooth cracked.

- [woman] And?

- That ended it.

How did you feel?

Relieved.

I shouldn't have done it,

but I guess what he was offering

in exchange was too tempting.

Did he keep up his end

of the bargain?

He lied.

He said his editor

wasn't interested

and didn't want to take

a look at my book.

Go ahead, honey.

Tell 'em.

- Tell them the good news.

- Good news?

Please.

About a week ago, I got a call

from a guy named Len Currie.

Professor Swenson's

editor.

He said he'd found my manuscript on

the chair where they had had lunch,

and he picked it up and read

it on his way home in a cab,

and that he...

he's offered me a contract

to publish it.

[woman]

That is wonderful!

- Am I done?

- [Francis] Yes, of course. Thank you.

And, uh, congratulations

on your... on your book.

Thanks, I guess.

Now I have to finish it.

Ted, I imagine there are now some

things that you would want to say.

First of all, I'd like

to say that I'm sorry.

Sorrier than you can

even ever imagine.

I'm sorry that...

I ruined my marriage.

Sorry that I ruined my career.

I'm sorry that I sacrificed

my extraordinary wife

for an adolescent idea

of romance.

Sorry that I can't seem

to write a novel

that's nearly as good

as my first.

Sorry that my daughter

won't speak to me.

Sorry that... my father

set himself on fire.

And I'm sorry that I've spent

the better part of a decade,

which I will never get back,

among all of you.

I admit that my behavior

towards Angela was...

inappropriate

and unprofessional.

I regret it.

And I regret it so much.

But I do not agree with the way

it's been presented here today.

The truth has been twisted.

What happened

between Angela and me...

was personal,

and it was complicated.

But it was never, ever

a business transaction.

That's a lie.

That's it.

Excellent. Thank you.

And thank you all.

The committee will be letting

you know its decision

within, let's say,

the next two weeks.

[Ted's voice] In The Blue Angel,

Professor Rath, mad with grief,

wanders through the snowy

streets, broken and humiliated,

the cause of his own undoing.

He died in his classroom,

alone, forsaken,

clinging in vain

to a life no longer his.

But I'm not Professor Rath.

Yes, we both destroyed

the lives we had,

were manipulated

by forces unexplored,

feelings repressed,

ghosts from our past.

But I destroyed the lives

of others too...

those I loved the most,

those who trusted me.

And that is something

I have to live with.

"Why did I let it happen?"

I still ask myself.

Did I set myself on fire

to protest my own complacency?

Was it the only way I could shake off

my inertia and leap into the unknown?

I don't know.

All I do know

is that I'm writing again.

And for the moment,

that is enough.

Excuse me.

How is that?

[man] Sit beside

The breakfast table

Think about your troubles

Pour yourself a cup of tea

Then think about the bubbles

You can take your teardrops

And drop 'em in a teacup

Take 'em down

To the riverside

And throw 'em over the side

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