The Wager Page #5

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drive you home.

I m beat.

Don tyou ever

take a day off?

Yeah, about as

often as you do.

You know,

ifyou everwant

to go see Charlie

and his mom,

itd mean

a lot to him.

You knowwhat

Kenny said about that.

Justwait till

the timing s right.

[Sentimental instrumental

music playing]

Hey!

Nice pad.

(Michael)

Hey.

Hi,

you okay?

Ljust heard about

the accident.

So who was he?

Nobody,

he was a guy from the firm.

He heard thatwe were

separated; itwas stupid.

I put an end to it

before it even started.

I m sorry.

Well, it looks

like you

havent destroyed

the house yet.

No, not yet but

it sure feels empty.

Only thing left to eat

is a box of cereal.

So why

are you here?

I dont know,

I:

I m sorry,

I I shouldnt have come.

[Sentimental instrumental

music playing]

(male)

Annie?

Oh, no.

Annie?

[Cell phone ringing]

(male)

Todaywe are gathered

to celebrate Annie Steele,

a woman who never failed to

practice what she believed.

Her life was not only an

inspiration but a standard

for us all to look up to.

Is he okay?

One of Annie s

life verses come from

the Sermon on the Mount

(Kenny)

I dont know.

(male)

Where Jesus says,

'Do not store up treasures

'on earth where moth

and rust destroy...

'Where thieves break

in and steal.

'Store up for yourselves

treasures in heaven.

'But seek first His kingdom

and His righteousness

and all these things

shall be added to you.'

[Solemn instrumental

music playing]

Give me

a minute.

Leave me

alone, Tanya.

Michael,

I m here for you.

Don t tell

Don t tell me that.

You re not

here for me.

Hey, buddy.

Kenny.

I need to talk

to you, alone.

I need to get

back to work.

Why dont you

take a few days?

Well talk about it after

youve had some time.

No, listen to me.

I need to go back

to work now.

Don tyou think

it might be good

to have a little

time to grieve?

No, I dont.

Thereve been three things

that matter to me in life.

Without those three

things, I m nothing.

She was

one of em.

That lady down

there, she s another.

You knowwhat the

third thing is,

so dont tell me

I dont have that either.

Ill put a call

into the studio,

seewhere things

stand with Colin.

One more thing,

I want you

and everything else

I need for this Oscar show

at my house

at 7 in the morning, okay?

Kenny?

Well win this.

[Music]

Lord, ifl m not supposed to

sign this, tell me now please.

[Music]

Are you okay?

(male)

Canwe help?

No, she didnt

have that much stuff.

I got it.

Why you all in

the dark?

Hey, guys,

you really need

We know, we re going

to bed in a second.

(female)

Sorry.

It s so messed up

around herewithout Annie.

I m sure theyll

hire someone

as soon as

they can,

not that theyll

replaceAnnie but

Why dont

they hire you?

Cause I dont know

the first thing

about this

kind ofwork.

He s an

actor, Tessa.

I know

it s just

You know that thing that

made Annie so special?

I dont

have that.

You re not

even gonna try?

Believe me,

I have tried.

I dont have

what it takes.

I think you do.

Annie says we re

all branches

and thatwe

cant produce fruit

unless we re

attached to the vine.

He doesnt

care, Tessa.

So didyou

talk to Sara?

Charlie s mom,

she came here

looking for Annie

and we didnt know

what to do so we

told her to call you.

No.

I didnt

get a call.

Can I

have this?

Yeah.

Do you think

you re gonna win?

I... I have to.

Mylife

depends on it.

(male radio announcer)

All right, the

Academy Awards are tonight.

We re talking

about it.

Everybody s waiting to see

will scandal ridden

Michael Steele dare

show his face?

And if he does, is it

possible for him to win?

(Kenny)

Keep the press out,

hold the divorce proceedings,

hold the grieving,

hold the controversy,

hold the phone.

There s a time for

everything, right, buddy?

And this is the time to get

you ready for the red carpet

and the big Oscar show.

[Cell phone ringing]

I m not even

gonna answer that.

What are

you nervous?

What do

you think?

I win today or I spend

the rest of mylife on

some VH1

'WhereAre TheyNow? ' special.

At leastyoull

still be on TV.

[Cell phone ringing]

Uh, I gotta

take this one.

Let s get

to it, people.

No time

for mistakes.

Michael.

(Michael)

Just get here

as soon as you can.

(Kenny)

No, no, no, no,

I told you.

You cant ask about

the sister, the boy,

the lawsuit

or the divorce.

I wont give

you the interview

ifwe dont get

a guarantee, capiche?

Okay,

I gotta go.

Hey,

you okay?

I dont think

I can do this, Kenny.

Oh, no, you re

Michael Steele.

I got this whole red carpet

thing set up for you.

It s all gonna turn

around after today.

All right.

That s what

you re telling me,

butwhat arent

you telling me?

All right.

'Chasing Evidence' is all

but dead at this point.

Colin wont budge.

I cant get anyone to look

atyou for other stuff

till some of this

personal drama clears up.

It s not

looking good.

What ifwe win?

Lfwewin, we might be

able to salvage some things.

Problem is, the studio

sides with Colin,

they can sue you for

breach of contract.

You could

lose everything.

Unfortunately,

in this town,

you are guilty

until proven innocent.

Hey.

It s gonna be okay.

How?

I dont know.

(female)

Here we are at the corner

ofHollywood and Highland

1 hour away from

the Academy Awards.

And right behind me,

the stars are about to arrive.

Don t look

at me like that.

Like what?

Like you dont

want me here,

like we havent been with

each other from the beginning.

Kenny asked

me to come.

Why?

Cause he s

worried aboutyou.

I m fine.

Well, you

knowwhat?

He would like the

old Michael better.

We all did.

Rememberwhen he used to

obsess aboutyour career,

and you, you kept

a level head?

Well, you being here

certainlyisnt gonna help.

Lfl m not there, who are

you gonna forget to thank?

Ive failed in every

otherway, why stop now?

Add our divorce to the list

ofHollywood failed marriages.

So much for being

salt of the earth.

Guys, sorry to interrupt

butwe gotta go.

Joseph will get

us there on time.

(Kenny)

Yeah, and he would have

ifhe hadnt called

some emergency

an hour ago.

We got another

guycoming.

Let s go.

[Music]

All right.

Keep the focus

on the film.

On the award,

be gracious and brief

and Tanya s there

to deflect anything

that might come up.

(Kenny)

You have your

acceptance speech?

Don t lose that

and dontworry,

you re gonna

be great.

Everything s gonna

turn around.

Hard to believe

I waited mywhole life...

for this.

(female)

Here we are with a group

ofMichael Steele s fans

who have come out

to support him.

Despite all the controversy

surrounding Michael Steele,

are you here

to support

Yo, keep it down.

We re trying to

watch the Oscars.

[Cell phone ringing]

No, no, no, no,

no phone calls.

The time from now till

red carpet is sacred.

Thewrong

number anyway.

Excuse me, excuse

how much longer beforewe

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