Cut to Leery’s Fresh Fish. Gale puts several bags of food on the counter, and Audrey walks up to her.
GALE: You think this will be enough?
AUDREY: Putting into thought the ravenous hunger us actor-types tend to have—
Gale groans.
AUDREY: It’ll do, though.
She turns to leave, noticing a familiar face sitting at a corner table. It’s Mike Potter, with a copy of ‘The Amber Shadow’ in his hands.
AUDREY: Mister Potter—didn’t see you there.
Mike looks up from his book, startled.
MIKE: Oh, hello Audrey.
AUDREY: Now, why aren’t you lending a hand with our little project, hmm?
He gives a fake smile. As usual, Audrey was making him quite uncomfortable.
MIKE: I didn’t want to intrude, young lady. If Dawson or Joey wanted me to help out, they could always ask.
AUDREY: Oh, this couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that you’re getting flashbacks from the subject matter? Don’t take it personal, ok? From what I hear, Dawson’s used his personal life as source material, too.
MIKE: I’m sure Mitch would get a much more flattering depiction, though.
She looks at him, curiously.
AUDREY: Mitch? Oh, right—Dawson’s dad, where is my brain? Did you know him?
MIKE: A little. The Leerys were always more Lillian’s friends than mine, but—I guess you could say I looked up to him. He was the kind of man I always wished I could be.
Audrey’s face softened for a moment. She handed Mike one of the bags.
AUDREY: Come on—you can help me cater, ok?
MIKE: But—
AUDREY: Move your kiester, mister!
Mike looked over at Gale, who was laughing her head off. With a shrug, he reluctantly followed Audrey out the door.
*****
JOEY: Idiot! Can’t you do anything right?
Curious, Dawson poked his head out from behind a set piece. Much to his surprise, he saw a very nervous Pacey backing away from a furious Joey.
PACEY: Hey, now take it easy, Potter…
JOEY: Oh, ‘take it easy’, he says. I’m not the one who scheduled the chase scene at twelve noon!
PACEY: What’s wrong with it!
JOEY: When have you ever seen a ‘mysterious fog’ in the middle of the day, Pacey! It needs to be a night shoot, otherwise it’s not scary!
DAWSON: What’s going on?
Joey turned to Dawson, then back to Pacey.
JOEY: Your lacky here seems to think he knows better than the actual filmmakers.
Pacey crosses his arms, annoyed.
PACEY: Lacky? I don’t think—
JOEY: Tell me something I don’t know!
Pacey’s eyes narrow.
PACEY: You know what? I don’t need this crap! Dawson, when you’re through with little miss prima donna here, can you meet me in the editing room?
Pacey storms off. Joey seems quite proud of herself. Dawson, on the other hand…
DAWSON: Have you lost your mind?
JOEY: I beg your pardon?
Dawson sighed.
DAWSON: Ok, I agree on the night-shoot thing—but you pretty much pushed every button Pacey has back there.
JOEY: It isn’t my fault. You know what he’s like—
DAWSON: You’re missing the point—you were acting like Todd just now. Old-school Todd—and that’s not a good thing, Jo.
JOEY: Oh, so you think you can do better?
DAWSON: In all honesty, yes. At least until you can get a level-head.
JOEY: So you’re saying I’m a head case, is that it?
DAWSON: I didn’t say that!
JOEY: Well, it sure sounded like you implied it, Dawson!
DAWSON: All I meant is that you can’t go around yelling at people just because—
JOEY: Well, excuse me for worrying more about getting the job done than being ‘nice’.
Dawson stared at her for a long moment, recognizing the signs. He knew better than to continue arguing.
It was then that he noticed every pair of eyes was focused on the two of them. Both the rest of the crew and casual passer-bys.
DAWSON: Take five, everyone!
Joey gaped at him in surprise.
JOEY: We can’t just take a break now! The schedule—
DAWSON: Is on hold until you calm down! Got it?
Dawson stormed off. Joey went the opposite direction, circling around a corner. Once she’s out of sight of the rest, she collapses against the wall, hand over her heart, and starts to pant heavily.
JOEY: (mumbling) What was that?
*****
Inside the school, Pacey is seated in the editing room when Dawson storms inside. He slams the door with such force that one of the posters falls off the wall.
PACEY: Trouble in paradise?
DAWSON: Don’t start with me!
Pacey shakes his head.
PACEY: In case you didn’t notice, I was on the receiving end of a Joey Potter temper tantrum as well.
Sighing, Dawson sat down, burying his head in his hands.
DAWSON: I just haven’t seen her that mad in a long time, especially not at something so trivial as a scheduling mishap. She’s being so unreasonable.
PACEY: Dawson? Maybe it ain’t my place to say, but in my experience, whenever she’s being unreasonable, something usually happened to set her off. You wouldn’t happen to know what that was?
Dawson gives him a guilty look.
PACEY: Spill, Leery—I’m not going through another screaming match because you forgot an anniversary!
DAWSON: No, nothing like that. I just—I may have edited part of the screenplay to make it more cinematic—and Joey may have misinterpreted as harsh criticism.
Pacey stared at him in disbelief.
PACEY: Man, how can someone as smart as you be such a freaking moron?
DAWSON: Excuse me?
PACEY: If you don’t know what I mean, you’re doing something wrong Dawson.
Dawson groans, looking at the screens in front of him.
DAWSON: I don’t know how they do it in Hollywood, Pace—balance a personal life and a filmmaking career. It’s taken me a long time, but I—I feel like I’ve finally figured out how to handle my relationship with Joey. In retrospect, I’ve also got a handle on my career. But right now, it seems like the two are directly opposed, and I can’t find a way around it. But I promise you, Pacey, that I have things under control.
Pacey looks at him, doubtfully.
PACEY: When we started this thing, you told me it was an equal partnership, remember? That I'd be working with you and not for you, and that you'd listen when I made suggestions. Remember?
Dawson nods.
DAWSON: Of course.
PACEY: Well, Joey's wigging out. She doesn't calm down soon, this whole project is gonna come crashing down. We can't afford that to happen.
DAWSON: Pacey…
PACEY: You’re confused, Dawson! You can’t think straight because it’s Joey, so I want you to listen to me—let me finish directing this movie!
Dawson’s eyes went wide.
DAWSON: That’s—that’s preposterous, Pacey! You don’t know the first thing about directing!
PACEY: You’re right—I’ve only been watching you since I was thirteen, bro. These past couple of months I’ve been involved in every facet of movie-making process. Maybe I’m not a prodigy like you, but you’re personally involved with the starlet/writer. Can you really trust yourself to make the tough choices right now?
Dawson doesn’t answer. He appears to be having an internal struggle with how to respond.
Pacey leans in close, his eyes showing complete sincerity.
PACEY: I know how much your job means to you, Dawson. I wouldn’t even suggest it if I didn’t honestly believe I could pull it off. I’m not doing this to steal your thunder or anything, pal—I’m doing this to help. So please, this one time—just trust me.
Dawson sighs.
DAWSON: If, at any time, there’s something you’re unsure of—
PACEY: I know exactly who to ask.
Dawson smiles.
DAWSON: I must be crazy. Don’t mess this up, Pace!
Pacey grins from ear-to-ear.
*****
Sitting on the dock, Joey is shaken out of her reverie by a familiar voice.
AUDREY: Grub’s here, everyone!
She looks up to see Audrey arrive with the food—accompanied by her father.
JOEY: (muttering) Oh, this just completes my day…
She quickly attempts to move out of sight, but it’s too late—Mike has already seen her. Heaving the bags of food on a table, he makes his way over to her.
MIKE: Joey?
Faking a smile, Joey turns to face him.
JOEY: Hi. I—didn’t know you’d be here.
MIKE: Audrey invited me.
Joey glared at her roommate, who was waving happily.
JOEY: (bitterly) Did she now?
Mike sighed, looking away.
MIKE: I knew it. I shouldn’t of come.
JOEY: No—no, I’m glad you’re here. I mean, you can stay if you want to. I want to see what you think of the movie.
He pauses, giving her an amused look.
MIKE: Isn’t the book usually better?
With that, he pulls out his copy of her book, which Joey stares at in surprise.
JOEY: You read it?
MIKE: In the process, actually. Quite revealing.
JOEY: It’s—it’s not you, dad. That is, the character in the book isn’t you—I just…
Mike waited patiently, as Joey thought on her next words.
JOEY: I don’t even know what I’m doing here, really. When I wrote this thing, it was supposed to just be a short story for class. Then, one by one, everyone started saying how great it was. That I should do more with it.
MIKE: Well, they were telling the truth, Joey. You have so much talent. It would be a shame to let it go to waste.
She sighed, looking at the book in his hands as if it held the secrets of the universe.
JOEY: How many times has it been now, dad? How many times have I—have I ‘gotten over’ what happened with you, and with mom—only to turn about and have those old doubts creep up on me again. I hate myself for it, so I thought that if I could—I don’t know, write out that part of me on paper then it would all go away. That ugly part of myself that’s so filled with anger and doesn’t trust people. Then maybe I could do in fiction what I can’t seem to pull off in real life.
Mike’s eyes go downcast.
MIKE: So, you still hate me?
Joey shook her head.
JOEY: No, I—a part of me will always hate what you did, dad. I can’t help that. I’m hard-wired that way, or something. But at the same time, I want so badly to one day look at you and not see the man that destroyed my childhood.
MIKE: I’d like that, too.
He sat down on the dock, still holding the book.
MIKE: I think we all have someone we’d rather be. For some it’s an action hero they see on television, for others it’s a famous movie star—or, in your boyfriend’s case, movie director.
Joey laughed, despite the conversation.
MIKE: I’m not perfect, Joey—far from it, actually. It’s taken me a long time to realize that I don’t have to be. So if you want to stay little bit angry at me, go ahead. No one ever said you had to forgive everything.
Joey half-smiled, sitting next to him.
JOEY: Thanks for understanding. And I really don’t mean to…
MIKE: Don’t worry about it. If you can’t hear harsh truth’s from the people you love, you can’t hear it from anyone.
Joey did a double-take.
JOEY: Hey? Thanks.
She got up and began to depart. Mike opened the book and began to read again.
*****
As the crew continued their break, Pacey walked out amongst them. In his hand he held a megaphone.
PACEY: Ok, gang—slight change of plans!
Everyone covered their ears, and spun to look at him.
PACEY: There’s been a rearrangement of the pecking order. No, I didn’t kill Dawson, and no—I can’t tell you were his body is, neither.
Laughter could be heard from the crowd.
PACEY: What I can say, though, is that we need to hustle if we’re gonna meet that deadline. So while our stars are recuperating, we’re gonna fill in the gaps. Chris, make sure the explosives are ready for tonight—Dougie, your solo scene’s coming up. The rest of you go over the script one last time. We’re gonna finish this thing if it kills us!
Pacey put down the megaphone, smirking at the commotion which suddenly surrounded him.