good morning.
aren't you late?
this is so sad.
i'll see you tonight.
great. bye.
brinkley is my dog. he loves the streets of new york as much as i do --
i like to start my notes to you as if we're already in the middle of a conversation. i pretend that we're the oldest and dearest friends -- as opposed to what we actually are, people who don't know each other's names and met in a chat room where we both claimed we'd never been before.
hello, christina. it's a beautiful day. isn't it the most beautiful day?
don't you love new york in the fall?
nothing.
in love? no. yes. of course i am. i'm in love with frank. i'm practically living with frank. do you think you could get our christmas mailers out this week?
is it infidelity if you're involved with someone on e-mail?
of course not. i don't even know him.
no!
it's not like that. we just e-mail. it's really nothing, on top of which i'm definitely thinking of stopping because it's getting --
confusing. but not really. because it's nothing.
i can't even remember. the day i turned thirty i wandered into the over thirty room for a joke, sort of and he was there, and we started chatting.
books. music. how much we both love new york. harmless. harmless. meaningless. bouquets of sharpened pencils.
forget it. we don't talk about anything personal. we made a rule about that. i don't know his name, what he does or exactly where he lives, so it will be really easy to stop seeing him, because i'm not.
good morning, birdie.
jessica and maia, how are you today?
hey, you forgot to pick up the garbage last week and i got a ticket. and you're late today -- i could have gotten another.
of course there was --
that guy went ballistic on me.
not exactly.
once i read a story about a butterfly in the subway, and today i saw one. i couldn't believe it. it got on at 42nd
-- and got off at 59th, where i assume it was going to bloomindale's to buy a hat that will turn out to be a mistake. as almost all hats are.
i guess i've read pride & prejudice about 100 times --
-- and every time i read it i worry that elizabeth and mr. darcy are not going to get together -- but the truth is whenever i think about my favorite book i always think about the books i read as a child --
have you been to krispy kreme?
can someone help me out here?
don't let her. i believe in this, i completely believe in this. it happened to madame bovary, at least six times.
yes! who was she?
what police and reporters?
who?
a dead body. that's so sad. but you fell in love. that's so great.
it has nothing to do with us. it's big, impersonal, overstocked and full of ignorant salespeople.
but they don't provide any service. we do.
so really it's a good development. you know how in the flower district, there are all these flower shops in a row so you can find whatever you want. well, this is going to be the book district. if you don't have it, we do.
that is so sweet, frank. thank you. that is so sweet.
although.
what is that doing there?
that sound is familiar.
that whirring?
i know where i've heard it before. i know.
don't you have another one at your apartment?
you're turning my apartment into a typewriter museum.
when?
nothing.
i don't know. i was just wondering about my work and all. i mean, what is it i do exactly? all i really do is run a bookstore --
but i don't know if i --
but i just --
i am a lone reed. i am a lone reed.
sometimes i wonder about my life. i lead a small life. well, not small, but circumscribed. and sometimes i wonder, do i do it because i like it, or because i haven't been brave? so much of what i see reminds me of something i read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around?
my mother would never have wanted us to have a website. "every book you sell is a gift from your heart." she always said that.
it's out of the question. we're a fixture in the neighborhood. we're practically a landmark. men for women, women for men, women for women -- what is this?
what a stupid way to meet someone.
my little thing on the internet is just a lark.
and i do not plan to meet him. why do i get the feeling that you are in here somewhere?
you are a runner. some day you will make eye contact with another runner and --
i know. what are you supposed to do there?
sit. you're supposed to sit.
i'll tell you what i hate. big fat legs like stumps.
the worst, the worst -- i could never, under any circumstances, love anybody who had a sailboat.
if i had to get up on saturday morning knowing that i was about to go down to the pier and unravel all those ropes and put on all that sunblock --
and then you have to go out on the boat, and you sail and sail and sail until you are bored witless, and then, only then, do they say, let's turn around and you realize the trip is only half over, only it's not, because the wind has changed --
so then there's more talk about the wind. while you just float up and down trying not to get nauseous. and when you finally get back, you have to clean up the boat.
i know. there're all these people who wouldn't be caught dead polishing a doorknob in their house but put them on a boat and they want to rub down everything in sight.
this is her best friend tacy, whose real name is anastasia, and then in the next book betsy and tacy become friends with tib, whose real name, i am sorry to tell you, is thelma.
that might be an awful lot for your dad to buy at one time.
well, that's very nice of him.
oh, i don't really think that's your nephew --
let me guess. are you his uncle?
his grandfather?
a handkerchief. oh my, do children not even know what handkerchiefs are? a handkerchief is a kleenex you don't throw away. my mother embroidered it for me -- you see? my initials and a daisy, because daisies are my favorite flower.
you know what else children don't know? they don't know what a telephone booth is?
kathleen kelly. i own this store. are you are?
these are wonderful books. as annabel gets older the characters in the books do, too. you can grow up with betsy.
they're opening a foxbooks around the corner.
that's amazing. you can spell fox. can you spell dog?
the world is not driven by discounts, believe me. i've been in business forever. i started helping my mother here after school when i was six years old. i used to watch her, and it wasn't that she was selling books, it was that she was helping people become whoever they were going to turn out to be. when you read a book as a child it becomes part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your life does. i guess i've gotten carried away.
she was. how did you know that?
anyway. she left the store to me, and i'm going to leave it to my daughter.
oh, i'm not married. but eventually.
so foxbooks can.
here you go.
goodbye, annabel. bye, matt. what about cat? can you spell cat?
who?
i thought he was in mexico.
where did you see him?
how'd you know it was him?
william spungeon and tube socks.
what are you talking about?
it's never going to get to that. the store is fine.
neither do i. it just flew out of my mouth.
i mean, we're fine.
we're fine.
a white wine, please. oh, hello.
remember me, from the bookstore?
how's your aunt?
joe. it's joe, isn't it?
joe fox? as in --
fox? your last name is fox?
god, i didn't realize. i didn't know who you --
excuse me?
you were spying on me, weren't you? you probably rented those children.
i am your competition. which you know perfectly well or you would not have put up that sign saying "just around the corner."
next thing you'll be using twinkle lights.
little white christmas lights that twinkle. i use them in my window and on all my displays, as if you didn't notice.
how do you know that?
i'm in the book business --
frank --
i know what you mean and i'm completely jealous. what happens to me when i'm provoked is that i get tongue-tied. my mind goes blank. then i spend all night tossing and turning trying to think of what i should have said.
meet? omigod.
i don't think it's a good idea for us to meet.
that could be a fluke, right?
their store is new. it's a novelty. but it will all shake out. do you think i should put up more twinkle lights?
hey, guys. we are not going to fold.
george? where are you going?
laura! we're so excited about your new book. when should we schedule your signing?
we're doing great, aren't we?
what nut in the independent?
what?
omigod, i only have a credit card. is that okay?
hello.
no, i don't need any money. thank you very much.
fine.
this is such an odd christmas. i find myself missing my mother, who's been dead for ten years. new york at christmas is so loaded with all the things we used to do --
my first experience as a speechless person.
i always miss my mother at christmas, but somehow it's worse this year since i need some advice from her.
i don't think you can help.
my business is in trouble. my mother would have something wise to say.
no specifics, remember?
what?
the godfather?
what is it with men and the godfather?
frank, i've decided to go to the mattresses. do you think it would be a gigantic conflict of interest if you wrote something about us?
in a second.
omigod.
who?
i'm very pleased to meet you. i'm kathleen kelly.
we've organized pickets. channel 13 is doing a special.
you'd allow that? for me? for the store? that's incredible. although you wouldn't have to be photographed. i respect that. if it's television, they could just put one of those blurry dots in front of your face.
i had no idea william spugeon had a phone.
luca brasi sleeps with the fishes.
never mind. i'm ready. shoot.
they have to have discounts and lattes, because most of the people who work there have never read a book.
and i have to say, i have met joe fox, who owns foxbooks, and i have heard him compared his store to a price club and the books in it to cans of olive oil.
my mother used to say to me that every book you sell is a gift from the heart.
omigod.
don't tell me. not the slightest difference?
birdie?
oh my goodness, hello. what are you doing here.
thank you. but i'm a wreck.
are you writing another book?
should i discount?
if i discount i have to fire someone because i can't discount with this overhead but whom could i fire? i couldn't fire anyone.
what are you doing? let me go.
stop it. are you crazy?
i need help. do you still want to meet me?
we're meeting in a public place.
there's nothing to tell.
he's away. at the 32nd anniversary of the chicago seven trial.
not a bar. that place on 83rd with the cheesecake.
not anna karenina. pride and prejudice.
oh, yes. i'm expecting someone. please.
oh!
yes i do. i'm expecting someone.
do you mind?
would you please leave?
please?
the heroine of pride and prejudice is elizabeth bennet and she's one of the greatest, most complex characters ever written, not that you would know.
well, good for you.
if i really knew you, i know what i would find -- instead of a brain, a cash register, instead of a heart, a bottom line.
i just had a breakthrough, and i have to thank you for it. for the first time in my life, when confronted with a horrible, insensitive person i actually knew what i wanted to say and i said it.
meanness? let me tell you --
why are you doing this?
the first day you lied to me --
you did too --
i thought all that fox stuff was so charming. f-o-x.
"joe. just call me joe." as if you were one of those stupid 22-year-old girls with no last name. "hi, i'm kimberley." "hi, i'm janice." what's wrong with them? don't they know you're supposed to have last names? it's like they're a whole generation of cocktail waitresses.
that's not what i meant --
oh, you poor sad multimillionaire. i feel so sorry for you.
no, i won't. because the man who's coming here tonight is completely unlike you. the man who is coming here is kind and funny -- he has the most wonderful sense of humor --
if he's not here, he has a reason, because there is not a cruel or careless bone in his body. i can't expect you to know anything about a person like that. you've nothing but a suit.
he never came.
i think something happened, something terrible and unexpected that made it impossible for him --
he wasn't able to make it.
what could have happened?
maybe there was a subway accident.
a train was trapped underground with him inside.
or an automobile accident. those cab drivers are maniacs.
his elbows could be in splints -- so he can't really dial --
what?
what are you saying?
are you crazy? this man couldn't possibly be the rooftop killer.
that was different.
not that long. joe fox came in --
i don't want to talk about it. let's get to work.
there must be something to do. there's always something to do.
i have been thinking about you. last night i went to meet you and you weren't there. i wish i knew why. i felt so foolish.
and as i waited, someone else showed up, a man who has made my professional life a misery, and an amazing thing happened -- i was able, for the first time in my life, to say the exact thing i wanted to say it. and of course, afterwards, i felt terrible. just as you said i would.
i was cruel, and i'm never cruel. and even though i can hardly believe what i said mattered to this man -- to him, i'm just a bug to be crushed -- but what if it did? no matter what he's done to me, there's no excuse for my behavior. anyway, you are my dear friend, and i so wanted to talk to you. i hope you have a good reason for not being there last night, but if you don't, and if we never really connect again, i just want to tell you how much it has meant to me to know you were there.
not really. it doesn't matter. we'll just be like george bernard shaw and mrs. patrick campbell and write letters our whole lives --
when you had the thunderbolt?
close. we're going to close.
although it feels like such a failure. it feels like i'm quitting. it feels like.  mom.
don't say that. we don't know that for sure.
i mean, it's not like he was something normal, like a socialist or an anarchist or something --
absolutely. they buy leather jackets, they go see flamenco, they ride in gondolas, they eat in restaurants where guitarists sing malaguena sola rosa, but they don't fall in love with fascist dictators.
birdie is a very kind person, she's practically my surrogate mother.
she is not.
i have something to tell you. i didn't vote.
in the last mayoral election, when rudy giuliani was running against ruth messinger, i went to get a manicure and forgot to vote.
oh, i suppose you could never be with a woman who gets manicures.
you forgive me.
it's not that, frank, really it's not. it's just.  frank.
what was?
what is it?
so are you.
i feel exactly the same way about you.
what? you don't love me?
me either.
i know.
that woman on television, right? sidney-ann.
i think she's a republican.
oh, somewhere out there, i'm sure. somewhere -- in cyberspace.
my store is closing this week. i own a store. did i ever tell you that? probably not. it's a lovely store --
i don't know. i'm going to take some time. i have a little money saved. i'm almost looking forward to it --
i'm sure she is.
it's not their fault. the truth is, the world is just.  different.
noel streatfeild. noel streatfeild wrote ballet shoes and skating shoes and theater shoes and movie shoes.  i'd start with skating shoes, it's my favorite, although ballet shoes is completely wonderful.
they know nothing, they know absolutely nothing.
i wonder whether change isn't a kind of infection. you start with one thing -- something you never ever thought would change and it does --
i have a cold.
my ears are blocked, my nose is clogged.
i'm lying in bed listening to joni mitchell and drinking cranberry juice which i am sorry to say is the exact same color as my nose. i keep thinking about my future. what future? what am i going to do?
who is it?
what are you doing here?
it's really not a good idea.
i have a terrible cold, can you hear it? i'm sniffling and not really awake --
-- and vitamin c, so i would really appreciate it if you would come some other time --
just a second.
what are you doing here?
just the home shopping network.
i was thinking about it. you put me out of business --
and now you turn up with flowers? did you come to gloat?
to offer me a job --
because i have plans, i have lots of offers. i've been offered a job by -- well, actually by --
former?
that's too bad. you seemed so perfect for each other. i don't mean to say things like that. no matter what you have done to me, there is no excuse for my saying anything like that. but every time i see you --
yes. i'm sorry. i'm starting over. thank you for coming. goodbye. thank you for coming. goodbye.
oh. thank you.
upper left.
how is george?
i love daisies.
they're so friendly. don't you think they are the friendliest flower?
when did you break up?
everyone is breaking up. you. me. this other person i know broke up with someone in an elevator. i think it was in an elevator. or just outside it. or after it. it got stuck. i think. and suddenly everything became clear. when i saw you, at the coffee place, i was waiting for him and i was --
i was not charming.
upper right.
i was upset. and i was horrible.
true. but i have no excuse.
no i am not saying that because i am done saying horrible things, even to you.
i don't hate you --
who?
i thought you hated pride and prejudice.
-- it was business. what is that supposed to mean? i am so sick of that. all it means is it's not personal to you, but it's personal to me, it's personal to a lot of people. what's wrong with personal anyway?
i mean, whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.
my head's starting to get funny. i have to go back to bed.
why did you stop by? i forget.
oh.
what?
nothing.
yes. i am.
i don't actually know him.
we only know each other -- oh god, you're not going to believe this --
yes.
yes.
yes.
i hardly think i need advice from someone who --
thank you for the daisies.
i will.
goodbye.
i have been thinking about this and i think we should meet.
that's what he said.
that's a terrible thing to say. it's not possible.
no.
i know this is probably a little late to be asking, but are you married?
he did too. he nailed me. he knew exactly what i was up to. which is just like him.
no.
i don't care about that.
that's very unlikely.
what?
what????
oh, you won't believe this, there was a moment when george thought he might be the rooftop killer, which was completely ridiculous --
his iq.
the number of times he's seen the godfather.
his address. no, no, no. he would never do anything that prosaic.
i could never be with anyone who has a boat.
so that clinches it. we'll never be together. i'll take care of these.
there's a children's book editor i know, from the store, and she's excited to read it. when i finish it. who would ever have thought i'd write? i mean, if i didn't have all this free time, i would never have discovered --
mister 152.  insights into my soul.
well. i keep bumping into you. hope your mango's ripe.
today.
i know. in riverside park.
who's that?
stop teasing.
yes.
what?
don't.
joe.
no.
who fights about that?
we would never.
please. i have to go.
i really do have to go.
i wanted it to be you. i wanted it to be you so badly.