Rupert Holmes, Howard Meltzer, and AMC own the rights to Remember WENN...I just like to play.
Note: I have been in the Victor/Betty camp since season 1. It's only recently that I've been willing to consider Scott.
Speculation: According to rumor and the lack of JBL's name on the main credits, Victor isn't staying...or is he???
Victor leaned back in his chair. He'd only been the General Manager at WENN for three weeks, and he was already uncomfortable. Everything seemed wrong. Nothing was the same. The station was actually doing well--it wasn't losing money.
Then there was Betty. Thoughts of her had kept him going during those long days and nights in Berlin. As had his plans for a dozen or so new radio shows.
Betty. He couldn't decide what was different. But there was something. She seemed distant at times, not the warm--he smiled at that--caring, loving person he had left a year earlier--or even that night he'd risked his life to see her.
He suspected that part of the reason involved Scott Sherwood. If he'd known that Sherwood would weasel his way into the station and Betty's good graces, he would never have given him that book of limericks to deliver.
And that lead to the other source of his dissatisfaction. The station did not need him anymore; in fact it had done very well without him. Betty too. She had gone from the fresh-faced kid to a talented writer--and manager. How he'd have like to been here.
The phone rang and Victor picked it up.
#
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Scott watched Betty as she passed out the scripts. "It was not meant to be," he told himself for the millionth time since Victor's return. "It's for the best. I didn't want to be tied down forever." The problem was, that he had considered it...His dreams--
Hilary snarled something at him. He reacted quickly and introduced the next show, then dashed out of the studio to avoid the diva's icy glares.
The greenroom was blissfully empty. Jeff avoided the station except when he was on the air; and Maple had left for dinner about 15 minutes earlier. That left Mackie and Hilary in the studio.
He sat down on the couch, as he remembered the events of just three weeks earlier. He pushed those thoughts out of his head and remembered further back--to a time when he had never heard of WENN.
The good ole days...
"Never existed," he told himself. They made great stories, and that was all. Until he'd come to WENN, he'd never realized just what was missing from his life. Things he had never considered to be important--had turned out...
"Don't start, Scott," he said outloud, then glanced over to the window. It made sense to him now. Why she'd turned against him so suddenly. She had learned that Victor was still alive, and apparently learned enough to see through his half-truths that had gotten him the job here in the first place.
He should never have stayed. He should have left, followed through with his original plan...not become emotionally involved. He liked everybody here--even Hilary.
And even Victor. Despite his having taken Betty, he liked the man. Victor was everything he hadn't been...honest, loyal, committed.
He heard the phone ring through the wall and smiled. Victor was even capable of carrying out a good con--for the good of the station.
Scott looked at the script he was still holding. He would leave--he wouldn't stay here and watch her with somebody else. Despite his curiosity if Hilary would finally murder Jeff (and how), or if she would remarry him. Right now he placed the odds at even money.
He could hear muffled voices from next door. One sounded like Betty. He stood slowly, now interested in what was happening next door.
There was no one in the hall, so he leaned against the wall next to the partially open door.
"...Victor, I'm delighted of course. But what about WENN?" He recognized Betty's voice.
There was a pause, then Victor responded. "I don't belong here anymore. This is an opportunity to do the things I've only dreamed of." Another pause, then Victor continued. "I'll need a good writer. Betty, I'd like you to come with me."
Scott walked back to the greenroom. This time he sat in a chair. There was no reason to stay now.
He'd get over her in time. Women were...Damn, she was leaving.
Why should that bother him anyway. It was time for him to be moving on anyway. To reestablish his wandering ways. A girl in every port, no commitment, no pain...
#
#
Betty knew she was hiding in the writer's room. She just didn't want to see or talk to anybody. That wasn't completely true. It was two people she didn't want to talk to.
She remembered back to her life in Indiana. It had been simple; her dreams had been simple. To be a writer, to fall in love, to have a family.
She'd just never considered it was possible to love two very different men at the same time.
Victor had asked her to come with him to Hollywood. She'd dreamed of writing for the movies so often--like the New Yorker--it had been a heady dream.
WENN didn't pay much, there was not much future, it was a dead end...It was home. She had been happy here. Despite everything: the squabbles, the bickering, the intrigue. These people had become family.
And what about Victor? She'd loved him for a long time. He loved her...But she would never be his first love. She knew that. Had known that. His love would always be theater and creating. Even Grace Cavendish had mentioned that at his eulogy...Was it just a year ago--it seemed longer.
Betty just didn't know if she could be his second love. He'd asked her to come with him as a writer. Did he mean anything else? Would Victor ever ask more?
Did she want that?
"Hey, Betty." She jumped at the sound of Mackie's voice. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, but we need the next script."
She smiled slightly as she stared at the typewriter. "I'm almost done." She picked up a pile of papers lying next to the machine. "Take these. I'll bring the last two pages in a couple of minutes."
"Sure thing." Mackie studied her a second. "Is everything okay?"
"Fine. I've been thinking."
"If you want to talk..."
"Thanks Mackie...but..."
"I know. Victor said he was leaving. Are you?"
"I don't know..." She started typing, hoping Mackie wouldn't ask anymore questions. He didn't.
#
#
#
She was tired, Betty realized as she ran her hand along the wall. She had spent the night staring at the ceiling debating her future.
In the end, it was that debate itself that had finally given her the answer.
Her mother had given her only one piece of advice about love. *Be sure.* And she wasn't sure about Victor. She wasn't really sure what she was refusing.
She opened the station door. "Good morning, Gertie."
Gertie looked up from her book. "Good morning, Betty. Well?" Betty smiled at the woman's insatiable curiosity, but didn't respond. She continued down the hall. She'd stayed late and worked on scripts. All the scripts for today were finished. She liked the feeling of being one day ahead.
"Hello, Jeff," she said as she passed studio A. Bedside Manor was on. She stood and watched the antics of Scott and Hilary through the window.
"Oh, hi," he said after a few seconds. "I can't stand what they've done with this show. They've made a mockery of it...But with Scott leaving--"
"Scott's leaving?" She was surprised.
"So he hinted." Jeff looked at her. "Victor, Scott, you..."
She shook her head. "I'm staying."
Jeff suddenly smiled. "I'm glad." He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Almost time for the morning news."
"Oh, Jeff. Don't tell anyone yet."
"Sure." He motioned toward the window. "Not even..."
"Nobody. Please?"
Jeff nodded.
#
#
Victor was sitting in his office when he heard her voice, but let her pass. He wasn't sure if he was ready to hear her answer. He waited a few minutes before following her down the hall.
"Hello Betty," he said as he stepped into the writer's room.
"Victor." She frowned. "I've been thinking....And I'm not going to California."
He didn't answer for a second. "Betty...I..." He wasn't sure what to say, even though he wasn't surprised by her answer. He'd suspected it. "I'm leaving this morning."
"Today?" Victor saw her puzzled look.
"I've recommended that Mr. Sherwood take over as General Manager." He leaned against the door. "He told me about the monument. It seems Pruitt never told anyone else. He'll take good care of the station." He didn't add and of you.
He walked toward her desk. "Take care, Betty."
"You too, Victor. Good luck."
He reached down and took her hand. "I'll miss you."
She smiled as she stood. "Same here." He ran his hand over her chin then bent down to kiss her. "Good-bye Betty."
She didn't follow him to the door.
#
#
Scott exited the studio with a shake of his head. "Take care, she's got her claws out this morning."
Jeff raised an eyebrow. "I always do. But thanks for the warning." Scott watched him enter the studio and grinned at the evil glare Hilary cast her ex-husband. He turned toward the greenroom and almost bumped into Victor. He glanced at the single suitcase the man was carrying.
"You leaving?" Scott asked, a bit surprised.
"Yes." Victor handed him a set of keys. "You are now the general manager. I expect you to take good care of the station."
Scott took the keys. "When is Betty leaving?"
"She's not." Victor's voice took a dangerous tone. "And if you do anything to hurt her, I know people--" He let the sentence hang.
Scott grinned. She was staying. "I wouldn't dream of hurting her. Good luck, Victor." They shook hands.
"Take good care of her." Scott wasn't sure if he meant the station or Betty, but Victor was already walking out the door.
He jingled the keys and smiled. He would stay...For a little while longer anyway. And not today, but soon, he would ask a certain brunette writer out to dinner.