Toll House Tales: All Fired Up -106

Doogie has an idea…  Will Fran cooperate?  Is Julie capable of breaking away from her button-down corporate existence?
FADE IN – BLACK SCREEN WITH WHITE WRITING

Thursday Afternoon

FADE OUT

FADE IN:
INT. OFFICE HALLWAY

Doogie is walking down the hallway holding a deli bag. Julie is not with him.  Fran bumps into him in the hallway, where he hands over the “goodie” bag.

FRAN

Did you scare her off?

DOOGIE

Nah! Quite the contrary. Duty called.

Doogie motions with his hand to his head pretending to hold a phone.

FRAN

Uh huh (sarcastically). Sure, like I believe you (she winks). You know what I think?

DOOGIE

I know that I don’t want to know… Now get back to work you!

FRAN

Thanks for the salad. I’ll get you some money before we leave tonight.

DOOGIE

Don’t worry about it… I know where you work.

He winks and they both retreat to their cubicles.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN – BLACK SCREEN WITH WHITE WRITING

Thursday Afternoon  — Several Hours Later

FADE OUT

FADE IN:

FRAN’S CUBE

Fran is sitting with her headset on, checking e-mails. The camera reveals that there is a partially eaten salad and nearly empty water bottle nearby. She takes her headset off and stands up to stretch. As she’s drinking from the water bottle, she sees a wadded up piece of paper comes flying over the wall. It bounces off her desk and lands on the floor near her chair.

She reaches over, picks is up and opens it up. She makes out what’s on the front — It’s a picture of a light bulb. She opens it up and it reads,

“Trip of Dreams: If you invite her, she will go. –D”

Fran shakes her head, speaking to herself.

FRAN

What’s gotten into that guy?

Hearing the ding of her email, she figures that Doogie has sent a message to explain himself. Instead, she sees that it is a message from Gayle. She scans it and smiles. Talking to herself.

FRAN

What? She found an even cheaper airfare? I’ve never even heard of
that website. She’s amazing!

Just then another piece of wadded up paper comes flying across her desk. She catches it before it lands on the floor.

FRAN

Humm… I’d say the boy is on a mission.

She stands up to stretch while reading it:

“Go the distance! – D”

There’s a smiley face inside the D. She crumples it back up and tosses it into her trash can in one smooth motion.

FRAN

Whatever. Must be the “love bug” with all this cryptic stuff.

She looks at the clock and then exits her office.

CUT TO:

EXT. BATHROOM
Fran is just exiting the bathroom when she nearly collides with Doogie.

DOOGIE

Fancy meeting you here.

FRAN

Dude, like…are you, stalking me or what?

DOOGIE

What? No. I was just.. uh… just on my way to get my afternoon Snickers.

FRAN

Yeah right. (she points in the other direction). It’s that way. But as long as you’re here (pause).  Okay, I’ll do it. Not sure why you thought I wouldn’t…

They walk together down the hall towards the candy machine.

DOOGIE

You will? That’s awesome!

Changing direction in the hallway. He starts walking faster with Fran in pursuit.

FRAN

Now where you going?

DOOGIE

Come on. You can ask her in person.

FRAN

What?!

DOOGIE

Maybe she’ll be at her desk.

FRAN

Huh?

DOOGIE

Didn’t you read my message?

FRAN

The “Field of Dreams” paper wads? Yeah, so?

DOOGIE

No. The email I sent. Shortly after I hit send, I jumped up on my chair to see if you were at your desk. Since you weren’t. I thought maybe you were going to…

FRAN

(cuts him off) I never read your email. What are you on about?

DOOGIE

Oh. I see. Well. I just had this brilliant idea that you should ask Julie to go along with you to Oregon.

FRAN

What? That’s it. You are way too love sick for words. But you know, I’ll humor you for the moment…  (pause). So, what gave you this “brilliant” idea?

DOOGIE

I don’t know… I guess I just thought that it would be kind of neat if you end up having a girls weekend… like an all female version of “Return of the Secaucus Seven” if you know what I mean.

FRAN

All girls? And like somewhere along the line, you’ll just happen to find yourself in Portland and then you’ll offer to take “us” (air quotes) out for a gourmet dinner followed by a night on the town.

DOOGIE

No way! I’ll be right here. Waiting with baited breath… or as Robin Williams would say, “worm on tongue,” to hear how it went. Fran looks him in the eye and shakes her head.

FRAN

You know. I’ve trained myself to always look for the story behind the story…

Just then her cellphone rings.

FRAN

This is Fran. (pause) Hey, girl! (pause) Yeah. That was thoughtful of you. Thanks. (pause) Yeah. I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve got it booked.

Doogie is jumping up and down while Fran is talking, trying to get eye contact.

DOOGIE

Ask her. Ask her. Come on (he pleads).

FRAN

Excuse me (she covers the speaker of the phone). Scram. Let me deal
with this. Go get your candy bar.

Doogie looks like he realizes he may have overstepped. So he slowly backs away and heads in the other direction. Fran returns to her call.

FRAN

Sorry about that. (pause) What? Oh that? That was just Doogie. He had this wild hair about turning my trip to see you into a girls weekend. (pause) What’s wrong with that? Well… it’s just that he wants me to invite his new potential love interest of his… Julie.

Fran is now walking and talking on the cellphone– doing both at a fast clip.

FRAN

Reading between the lines… I think he’s testing a theory. He wants to take two hard driving, hard working women away from the office environment for a weekend to see if they continue to be as driven– or, when released from the clutches of corporate…or what he refers to as “the work dragon,” they are actually fun to be around.

(pause) Why do I think that? Because he’s been telling me that theory for years and now he’s especially motivated since his mini-breakthrough with the market research specialist, Julie.

(Pauses) For real! In fact, I am pretty sure they almost had lunch together today.

At this point, Fran has walked back into her cube and is sitting.

FRAN

(pause) What? Sure I read your email. (pause). Okay… I scanned it. You know me.

(pause) The answer is in the email?

Okay…Sure, I’ll read it again.

Then the desk phone rings.

FRAN

Sorry, Gayle. I’ve got to hop.

(pause) Catch you later.

She hangs up and quickly grabs the other phone before it rolls into voicemail. She re-opens Gayle’s message and scrolls down — this time noticing the link to the 2 for 1 deal. She speaks into the phone.

FRAN

Yeah. Right. Got it. Bye.

(then speaks to herself)

Again? How’d she know? How does she always seem to know?

FADE OUT.

FADE IN – BLACK SCREEN WITH WHITE WRITING

Thursday Early Evening

FADE OUT

FADE IN:
INT. OFFICE

It is now early evening and dark outside. Fran is seen in her office moving around. She looks at the clock and shakes her head.

FRAN

Where did the day go? At least thing have quieted down. I guess now I get to actually DO my day job. This really sucks.

Fran reaches into her side drawer and pulls out a CD. She pops it into her computer and turns on the speakers. PAT BENATAR’S “TREAT ME RIGHT“ begins to play… not too loudly, but just enough to allow her to escape into the music.

Just outside Fran’s cubicle, Doogie is seen with his jacket on and his briefcase in hand. He hears the music, steps in and sits down in the chair opposite her desk.

DOOGIE

Nothing like ending your day with a little Benatar, eh?

FRAN

I wish I was ending it. I’m so far behind, due to all those conference calls, that my day is just starting.

DOOGIE

And like how much to you think you’re going to accomplish? You’ve got to be fried.

FRAN

Benatar is my secret weapon.

DOOGIE

I don’t want to come in here tomorrow and see you slumped over
…drooling on your keyboard. That would be kind of gross.

FRAN

Yucko, Bucko! Nice imagery there…

DOOGIE

I’ll bet that if you get an early start tomorrow, you’ll get everything you needed to accomplish tonight done in a third of the time or less.

Just then Fran’s stomach emits a growl that wasn’t missed by Doogie.

DOOGIE

Hello? What’s that all about?

They both look over at the half-eaten salad.

FRAN

Hey man… I got busy.

DOOGIE

That’s it!

He picks up her briefcase and jacket from the chair and hands them to her.

DOOGIE

Come on. (sounding Yoda-like)

Nothing more you’ll do today.

He motions like the “these aren’t the droids you are seeking” scene.

DOOGIE

Now clear your mind of questions.

Fran nods. Stops the music. And follows Doogie into the hallway. As they head towards the lobby, Doogie pauses.

DOOGIE

Hang on a sec… One more stop, make, I must.

FRAN

Okay Yoda-man, but you better be quick. I may change my mind and settle back in.

DOOGIE

Come along then…

Doogie leads the way to Julie’s cubicle. He sees that she is focused on her monitor and talking into her headset. Fran notices and tries to pull him away. He shakes her off and taps on the side of the cubicle. Julie momentarily pauses, but doesn’t break away from what she’s working on.

DOOGIE

Alrightly then.  You have a good evening… and don’t stay too late…

Julie waves and then, without missing a beat, continues tapping away. Fran now successfully pulls him away and pushes him down the darkened hallway.

CUT TO:
EXT. PARKING LOT

Fran is seen unlocking her car and tossing her stuff onto the passenger seat. Doogie is parked a few cars away. He starts his car and pulls up close to Fran. He’s giving her a look.

FRAN

See? I’m outta here. For real!

Holds up her car keys and shakes them.

Don’t give me that look…  (pause)  I know…  you think I’m going to drive around the block and come back. (pause) That’s just silly…

DOOGIE

Easy sister. I was just going to remind you to seriously ponder what I said about making it a girl’s weekend…

FRAN

Yeah right. Sure. I’ll ponder it. No promises though… (pause) Now get along little Doogie (sounds like little doggie).

She waves him off and hops into her car. As the scene fades out, the only sound is of a car accelerating.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN:

INT. FRAN’S CAR

Fran is driving down the freeway, smoothly changing lanes while playing with the presets of her radio. She lands upon the familiar sounds of Pat Benatar and smiles as she begins to sing along.

FRAN

Cut it out, drop it, count me out –
baby stop it
Life is too short, so why waste
Precious Time
Life is too short, so why waste
Precious Time...

She hears sirens and turns off the radio. Looking into her rear view mirror and all around her. She is relieved to see that it is a CHP on the other side of the freeway. She looks down at her speedometer to make sure that she isn’t over the limit and then settles in in silence.

Until the lyrics start repeating in her mind.

FRAN
(out loud)

Yeah why waste precious time?

She looks to her right, signals a lane change and gets off at the next exit.

CUT TO:
INT. OFFICE HALLWAY

Fran is charging down the darkened hallway in the direction of Julie’s cubicle. She looks around and notices that the place is deserted with the exception of a desk lamp illuminating Julie’s cube. Fran stands in the entrance, striking a pose similar to Doogie’s earlier in the evening.

Julie doesn’t notice. So Fran gently knocks on the cubicle wall. Without even looking up, Julie speaks.

JULIE

Just a minute. I’ve got one more fact to check and then we’re good to go.

Fran raises an eyebrow and looks both ways in the hallway again to see if there’s someone else around. She then looks over on the floor near the doorway and finds a crumpled up piece of paper that missed the trash can. Smiling, she picks it up and playfully tosses it towards Julie. It bounces off her monitor

JULIE

Quit it, Doogie. Come on, I need to finish this.

Fran clears her throat and Julie finally looks up.

JULIE

Oh… Hey (stifling her mortification). Hey there, girl…

FRAN

Late night, eh?

JULIE

Uh huh… (pause) You didn’t happen to see that new VP of Biz Dev
on your way in did you?

Fran is thinking in her mind– and recalling that the parking lot was empty with the exception of the guard’s car (a older Civic) and Julie’s.

FRAN

Nah. Haven’t seen him.

JULIE

I’m sure he’ll show up any minute…

Fran looks at her watch and then back at Julie.

JULIE

…yup. That’s the way the day has gone. As soon as I think I’m done, he asks for three more things.

FRAN

I think you’re safe for the evening. That guy’s probably settled down into his beverage of choice — which I seem to recall is an Old Fashion … don’t ask why I know that… but anyway, I think you can safely jet without interruption.

Julie looks very uncomfortable with that idea.

FRAN

Come on girl. You know, that if he thinks he can call you on a whim, he will… again and again and again. It’s a power thing. I learned long ago to turn off my phone at night.

Julie is scanning her computer screen while half-listening to Fran.

FRAN

In fact, this place can be an incredible sink hole. You’ve got to take a disciplined approach to everything — including making time for yourself– otherwise…  (pause) it could get ugly…

Julie now give Fran eye contact. Fran holds up her PDA.

FRAN

That’s why I don’t leave home without it. This baby makes sure I make time to work out and to go home.

JULIE

Really?

FRAN

Yeah. Okay, like I don’t always listen to it… but it is definitely a start. Like today,Doogie ended up pushing my butt out the door.

JULIE

Yeah, and here you are…

Seeing an opening, Fran gets quickly to her point of being there.

FRAN

Yeah… because I …er…forgot something (pause).

Julie gives her an impatient look.

FRAN

So… like what are you doing this weekend?

Julie looks surprised.  She pushes her chair back.

JULIE

Is that why you came back?  Seriously? Did Doogie put you up to this?

FRAN

Seriously, yes. Doogie, no. Let me rephrase. Have you ever been to Oregon?

JULIE

No. My travels have been pretty much limited. Oregon, huh? What’s up?

FRAN

A really good friend of mine lives up there and invited me up for the weekend. She’s really cool… used to work here. In fact, I think Doogie has her old cube…

JULIE

And…

FRAN

And mentioned to me that there’s some sort of airfare special this weekend  2-for-1 airfare walk-up…  So it crossed my mind that you looked like someone who could use a break.

Julie is looking interested but skeptical.

FRAN

Okay. There’s an ulterior motive.

JULIE

I knew it. So Doogie is involved, right? That guy is nice and all, but moving way too fast.

FRAN

Well… I’ll confess he put the idea in my head for a girl’s weekend, but the more I thought about it, this bringing along a friend made sense– because it would keep ME from bailing out at the last minute.

JULIE

What?

FRAN

You really think you’re the only one with obsessive compulsive work behavior.
I wrote the book on it and Gayle wrote it before me.

JULIE
(first denial)

Obsessive compulsive? I’m just doing my job.
(pauses) Really?

FRAN

Yeah. So the way I see it, if you come with me, then its like being workout buddies… we can push and pull each other and support each other’s efforts to let go of work for 48 hours.

JULIE

Yeah. I see what you’re getting at… and I appreciate you making a special trip down here to invite me… (pauses)

FRAN

Cool! So here’s the deal. Just pack play clothes and we leave right after work tomorrow. Oh yeah. Don’t worry about your car. I’ll let my pal the guard know that you’ll be leaving it here. He’s awesome. He’ll make sure nobody mucks with it.

JULIE

(long pause) Sounds great. (pause) …Wow, thanks for thinking of me. Sounds like fun… It’s just…

FRAN

Just… don’t worry. Sleep on it and let me know in the morning.

Now let’s get out of here.

Julie looks over at her desktop and then back at Fran.

JULIE

Sure. I’m right behind you.

Fran looks at her watch. Before she can say anything, Julie pipes up.

JULIE

I’ve just got one more email to send — get to him before he gets to me. Then, I promise, I’m shutting it down. Seriously… don’t wait around for me.

FRAN

Okay. But for this 48-hour thing to really work– we need you nice and rested up. Now please…

JULIE

I hear you. Have a great evening!

FRAN

You too!

Fran takes one last look and then exits.

FADE TO BLACK.

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>> Watch for Toll House Tales: All Fired Up -107