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Eames stared at her boss, Leight. She felt so tired. Her wheels had been going around and around on this topic for days. There seemed to be no solution.
"This," said Leight patiently, "is what we decided on when we produced these episodes. You get mad with him for awhile, then you get over it. Do you really not want to be his partner?"
"No, no it's not that it's--" Suddenly she looked down at her hands. She'd been wringing them. Her composure was slipping.
"Look it's not reality, it's television. You're a character. Who cares if it doesn't happen in real life."
"Someone might. But it's my life. I want to be as real as possible. Wouldn't you want that, if the tables were turned?"
He sighed, leaning forward and cocking his head to one side. Suddenly she thought of her old master, Rene Balcer. She could trust Rene. "What is this really all about, Eames? You don't want to replace Bobby, so why . . .?"
She groped for the words for what had been weighing her down for so long. "I know I'm not real but . . .I'm afraid of giving false hope to people. I'm afraid of not being real enough."
"Are you afraid of the base audience not caring anymore?"
"No, from what you told me about the forums, we're doing okay. But . . . I guess I feel I might be letting them down somehow, by being loyal to Bobby I'm giving them the happy ending and not the true one. How can the audience trust me, after that? How can they trust the show anymore?"
"I want to show you something. A fan wrote this, pasted it on the forum, then erased it for whatever reason. I want to know if you like this any better."
QUOTE
In reality, this is what would happen:
She’s pissed at him, and he’s pissed at her. She’s been yelling at him thus far, and he’s had absolutely enough.
“You managed to contact the Chief of D’s but just not your partner?”
That is it. He says the words that change everything. “Well, Alex, if you feel that way why don’t you get yourself a new partner.”
She is stunned. Can he really mean this? Then her anger catches up again. “Fine Bobby. I will.”
“You’ve already written one letter. Nice long list of my qualities. Adding ‘disloyal’ should just about do it.”
“FINE!” She holds open the door for him. He walks out. They never speak to each other again.
She’s pissed at him, and he’s pissed at her. She’s been yelling at him thus far, and he’s had absolutely enough.
“You managed to contact the Chief of D’s but just not your partner?”
That is it. He says the words that change everything. “Well, Alex, if you feel that way why don’t you get yourself a new partner.”
She is stunned. Can he really mean this? Then her anger catches up again. “Fine Bobby. I will.”
“You’ve already written one letter. Nice long list of my qualities. Adding ‘disloyal’ should just about do it.”
“FINE!” She holds open the door for him. He walks out. They never speak to each other again.
When she's finished, he just looks at her. She doesn't say anything. The tears say it all.
"Eames," he says finally, "it's true that you aren't real. But neither are a lot of things. We still derive hope from them, we look to them for inspiration, for meaning. If Jesus had never existed, if he were just a story in a book, people, I believe, would still look to his teachings, the things he said about loving one another, as inspiration for how to live, how to be a better person. That is what fiction is about sometimes. Not giving false hope, but--giving them a good example of forgiveness and trust so that they aren't as scared of doing it for themselves."
She stared at him for a long moment. It made sense, but even so. . . "But we're just some drama series, this isn't The Sopranos, this is a spinoff show for crying out loud!"
He looked at her with a mixture of exaspiration and amusement. "Does that mean we should not strive to be as good as we can be, the way we see it? Should you be a bitch, walk out on him, let your friendship die just because we're not the number one show on the air?"
And yet--"Why should I trust him?"
"Because he's never lied to you before remember?" he said in a soothing voice. "It's okay Eames. Everything is okay. Nothing bad will happen if you forgive him and trust him again. That's what the world needs, that's what you need."
The tears were coming again. "I'll still have some doubts about this tomorrow."
"I know. But people get better. Just tell yourself, it's okay, it's okay. Eventually it'll pass. You just gotta wait it all out."
He turned and started walking away. "Hey Warren!" she shouted after him. He looked back.
She nodded at him. "You, uh, you did okay. Different, but--you didn't do too bad."
He grinned. "Why, thank you Alexandra."
