MARSHALL APARTMENT
"Hey!" Alex springs up from his spot
on the bed, where he has been reclining with a book held above his face.
"I thought I heard you out there. What are you doing here?"
Don enters the room and comes to
stand at the foot of the double bed. "I came by to see you. It's been too
long."
"Yeah, it has. Here, sit down." Alex
pulls in his feet so that Don can take a seat on the end of the bed.
"Your mother went out," Don says.
"I thought I heard that, too. She's
got some hot date, I think." Alex combines a roll of his eyes with an indifferent
shake of his head.
"I'm glad she went out, actually.
It'll give us a chance to talk in peace." Don draws in a heavy breath and
then releases it slowly. "I've been thinking, Alex ... I want you to know
how sorry I am for missing so much of your life. When your mother and I
split, you were this little boy, and over twenty years later there's this
amazing young man suddenly back in my life. I missed so much--too much--of
what came in-between."
Alex's response comes quickly. "It's
not like you were obligated to be there. You were married to my mother
for what, the first year of my life? You had every right to leave when
you found out I wasn't yours."
Don isn't sure if he detects something
of a sting behind the words.
"I really got blinded by how angry
I was with your mother," Don says. "I should have made an effort to stay
in touch with you. But I wanted nothing to do with her, and then I had
a new life with Helen
and Courtney ...
I just want you to understand that
it wasn't because of you that I wasn't around."
"I do understand. Like I said, it
wasn't, like, your job or anything to raise me. My real dad knew I existed
and he didn't really care. I'm just happy that I got to get to know you
now."
"The feeling's mutual, kid." Don
slaps a hand down lightly on the young man's knee. "And I want to be here
for you. So if there are things you want to discuss--"
"What?" A note of alarm now sounds
sharply in Alex's voice.
"Courtney mentioned that things have
been rough with you and Lauren. And I know you probably haven't had the
chance to discuss these things with your mother, let alone a guy, so I
wanted to let you know that I'm here to talk."
Alex's deep blue eyes, which have
settled on the bedspread, glance up at Don. "Thanks."
Don allows a moment before he realizes
that he's going to have to direct the conversation here. "So ... are you
and Lauren still seeing one another?"
"Not really," Alex says. "I mean,
I don't think so. We--things got kind of weird one night and we haven't
really talked since then. I think it's pretty much over."
"Well, what went wrong?"
Alex feels as if time has frozen
and trapped him as he attempts to work out an answer. "It just wasn't ...
we weren't clicking right, you know? Like -- we can be good friends and
stuff, but it didn't really feel like a relationship."
"That happens."
"Yeah. And like, I feel like I'm
just at this point where--I don't know, it's like I don't know what I want."
"What do you mean?"
"Like ..." Something catches in Alex's
throat. "Like, I graduated almost a year ago and I'm still not really doing
anything. I've been writing a lot and I want to really push to get published,
but it's going so slowly and I feel like I need to really be working right
now, doing something to earn some money and get out on my own."
Don nods. "I can understand that."
Alex continues full-force. "So it's
just like everything is so up in the air right now that the idea of getting
into anything serious or solid seems kinda weird. Maybe this time just
needs to be about me and figuring out what I'm gonna do, what kinda life
I'm gonna live, you know?"
"Absolutely." Don softens his tone
a bit as he asks, "Are you sure that's it?"
"Yeah." Alex nods rapidly. "Yeah.
It's just that there's so much to think about ..."
"All right." It's pretty clear to
Don that Alex isn't going to offer anything else, and he isn't sure what
questions to ask to go deeper. "Look, Alex. I can relate to everything
you're saying about this being a confusing time. I've been there. You're
trying to choose a path for your life and it seems like you need to get
it all right in one shot. Just take it easy, okay? You're a smart kid,
and from what I've read of your work, you're also very talented. Things
will come together."
"Thanks," Alex manages, a little
awkwardly. Don wonders if he's even accustomed to fielding simple compliments.
Probably not, knowing Sally.
"I just want you to know that I'm
here for you, okay?" Don adds. "Any time you want to talk or run something
by me or have me read something of yours -- I'm only a phone call away.
And I think you know where I live." He smiles.
Alex returns the smile, though not
with total comfort. "Thanks, Don."
"It's my pleasure." Don rises from
the bed. "Give me a call if you need anything, okay? And good luck with
the writing."
Alex reclines back on the bed, holding
his hands behind his head. He listens to Don exiting the apartment, leaving
Alex alone with the ghost of his words.
They haunt Alex's mind hours after
Don has left, through a quiet day and deep into the night.
END OF EPISODE #212
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towards Andy? Do you think you have an insight into the muddled relationship
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