Twelve Trees of Christmas Page #3

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tree if you know it,

if not you can email me with it later.

Is there anything else?

Who's going to judge?

To be determined.

What are you doing here?

Is it not a public meeting?

Yes.

But, for people with hearts,

not fungi with black souls.

That's cute.

Nice move, by the way.

Um, going to my grandmother.

Thank you.

You really won't leave

this alone, will you?

Nope.

Okay.

I tell you what, I'm going to do a tree,

because I love competition,

and I'm pretty sure that

I'm going to beat you.

So.

Oh, not a chance.

Not a chance, she says.

Nope.

Okay.

You're on.

You're on.

Signup sheet is, uh?

Yeah.

Hi.

Hi.

Hi.

Oh, hi.

I remember you from

the computer lab, right?

I loaned you a pen.

I'm Artie.

Deirdre.

I know.

You're the artist.

Did I tell you that?

I just know.

I signed up to do a tree,

but I have no idea what to do.

I've got some great ideas

for an electronic display,

but I'm not really the

creative professional.

Well, I'm more of an amateur myself.

I work at a gallery in the village.

Well, maybe we could work together.

I studied here, so technology's

going to be my theme.

A collaboration...

I'd love to.

When do you think we can get to work?

Really? Oh.

Okay, I don't know,

um... tomorrow afternoon,

I've got the equipment in my apartment.

Okay, great, your place.

Around four o'clock?

Perfect.

Perfect!

I'm right around the corner.

Okay.

I'll see you at four.

See you then.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye!

Hi.

Wow.

Twice in one day.

I didn't think anybody ran

into each other in New York.

What?

What, you're not still mad at me

for entering into the contest?

Nope.

Yes.

No, you know what?

I am mad at you for mocking my contest

by signing up for a

tree, but I am furious

with you for tearing down our library.

Wow! Dramatic.

It is low to taint Christmas

with your malicious lies.

What were you planning on?

Putting a little devil at the

top of your Christmas tree?

Did you not mastermind this entire thing

to have my grandmother

see all the pretty trees

and get all teary and

sentimental, and then

cancel her permission for redevelopment?

I'm just trying to bring

a little perspective

to how important this building is.

You don't have to tell me

about how important this building is.

I know how important this building is.

This building is my grandfather's

crowning achievement.

Oh, then why are you tearing it down?

Change is difficult for people,

but you should know that Jane Eyre.

We would still be living in caves

if people didn't push things forward.

I know change is scary,

but it's completely necessary.

Well...

You are betraying your

grandfather's legacy.

Let's just talk about

what's really going on here.

See, I think you're afraid that

your cushy job is going to change,

so you've turned this into a crusade.

Oh.

See, that is just wrong.

You know, you're just...

You're half, half as

clever as you think you are.

That's still twice as clever as you.

My goodness...

Tony, darling, who are

you quarreling with?

Oh... Oh, that's Cheri, the librarian.

She's waged war on me.

On you? Tony, that's absurd.

I've never met anybody so stubborn.

See, she's upset with me

because I've entered into

this Christmas tree decorating contest.

You're decorating?

Well, that's...

No, no, no, no,

it's nothing like what you do.

Oh... You flatter me.

You are such a gentleman.

You know what? I'd be delighted.

Be...

You're going to decorate

a Christmas tree?

Isn't that beneath you?

Don't you have a reputation to uphold?

My reputation is built

on making people happy.

Making you happy.

How much would this cost me?

Let's negotiate. Over lunch?

Okay.

Hi, Charlie.

Tony...

I need you to have a

security crew on standby.

Why?

I've moved up the demolition date.

It's December 26th now.

I want you to be prepared

to empty the building out

of anything that could be left behind.

Wow. Why?

That's a week and a

half ahead of schedule.

It's going to screw everything up.

The publicity machine will

be down for the holidays.

Everybody will be drinking

eggnog and singing carols.

The library will be dust

before their New Year's

hangovers wear off.

Then we've avoided any negative press.

The supreme art of war is

to subdue your enemy without fighting.

Charlie...

You're not getting

nostalgic on me, are you?

You know what nostalgia is?

It's just a fondness for the past.

It's as dead as the words

on the pages in those books.

And the library is just a

graveyard for those words.

We're building for the future.

For the living. Don't forget that.

Who is it?

Tony Shaughnessy.

Hi.

Don't worry. I come in peace.

Were you hoping I was asleep

so you could smother me with a pillow?

Ha. Maybe.

I was just thinking about what you said,

and I would like you to know that

I am not betraying my

grandfather's legacy...

I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.

I was upset. It was totally out of line.

No, no. This is my fault.

This is my fault for suggesting that

you have an ulterior motive

for holding the contest.

You're right. I do.

Coffee truce?

Sure.

Sure.

I'll put a pot on.

Okay.

You know, it's weird,

it's like, this is my home,

but still I feel like

I don't know it all.

That's the trouble with boarding school.

I was really, really

envious of all you guys.

Really?

Yeah.

Yeah, because you could do

whatever you wanted to do.

You could study whatever

you wanted to study,

you could go wherever you wanted to go.

It wasn't quite as carefree as all that.

But it was compared to me.

I was born into the family business.

My grandfather stapled an application

to Harvard business school to my crib.

What, you didn't want to

go into the family business?

Yeah, sure, I guess. I don't know.

Come on, you're such a huge success.

Am I?

Yeah.

Okay, what is your

definition of success?

Um... I don't know.

I guess living your passion every day.

And helping other

people and enjoying life.

Wow.

You are a little bit of a Pollyanna.

I'm sorry, but you know.

What about that thing,

it's called money?

Do what you love and

the money will follow.

I've always believed

that successful people

attract money.

It's not money that makes you a success.

That's really sweet.

Why?

What's your idea of success?

Well, money!

What did you expect me to say?

I'm a Shaughnessy.

We have a bottom line to uphold.

We have a reputation to keep.

Nothing but first class all the way.

Well, you have a lot of money

so you must be very happy.

Don't you think I'm happy?

Why do you care what I think?

I should go.

Uh, thank you for the coffee.

So, uh, if I need to talk to you...

If I have any questions

about the contest...

I'll, uh...

I'll call you at the library.

Yeah, um...

Yeah, you should do that.

Okay.

I'll see myself out.

Great.

Do that.

Excuse me?

Can you tell me where

the top of the tree is?

Isn't she beautiful?

She's amazing.

Um, fairytale Christmas tree.

Close. Fantasy.

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