Too good to be true I guess
I'm not too late, am I?
You came
Here I am
What changed your mind?
I decided that life's too short
Not to say "yes" every
Once in a while
I'm glad you did
I gotta say though, I'm a little
Embarrassed for overdressing
Ope, that reminds me
Ta da!
You are full of surprises
Is that a bad thing?
I guess we'll find out
So, why is it you wanted
To see me again, Mr. Jackson?
You know you don't have
To call me that, right?
I know, I just like the sound of it
It's got a nice ring to it
Now tell me, what'd
You want me for?
Well, since you asked,
Our adventure earlier was quite thrilling
I just wanted to get to know you better
Our adventure?
What, you telling me you sneak
People out the back door all the time?
And here I thought I was special
Oh, stop it
So, do you get to know
People better often?
No, no, no
I haven't made any friends
Since the third grade
You're kidding
No, like, seriously
I've been best friends with my
Friend Lewis since I was eight
And haven't looked back since
You mean, you
Weren't "Mr. Popular" in high school?
Are you kidding?
I was a total dork in high school
Nobody gave me a second glance
Hmm
What?
That's just kind of
Surprising to me
What, that I was a dork?
No...that's pretty apparent
I mean that people weren't
Trying to be friends with you
Purely because you're
Because I'm famous?
No...No, that didn't happen 'till
After high school
How exactly did you become famous?
If you don't mind me asking
See, my dad owns a record company
That he originally started here
When he and his top songwriter
Went their separate ways he was
Desperate to find a replacement
I had dabbled with songwriting a bit
Growing up, but I never intended on
Anyone hearing what I wrote
When my dad got wind of my
Songs he practically sold my soul
To the devil for me
He produced them and they
Became hits overnight
You must be a really good writer then
I guess
People want it, so I just keep doing it
Before long my dad trained
Me to do what he does
So...here I am
And that's why you're in New York?
To sign new talent?
Yep
Purely here to make old pops proud
I just need to find someone to
Sign and then it's a one-way
Ticket back to that Californian hellhole
It's funny you say that because I actually
And you know what the worst part is?
All of those people that show
Up to the auditions think they
Want it all; the money, the fame, the attention
But they have no idea what it's really like
I'm sure that it's got its perks
Yeah, right
I would give it all up in a heartbeat
You really mean that?
Of course
Sure, on the outside it
All looks incredible
Going to red carpets, people
Wanting your autograph, but they
Never tell you the bad stuff
That comes with it
So then what do you want? If the
Record label isn't your dream, then what is?
You want to know what my dream is?
To be treated like an ordinary guy
I just want people to stop trying
To use me to get what they want
If my mother knew how much I
Let people walk all over me she'd
Smack me upside the head and tell
Me to stop catering to everyone else
Maybe you should tell her how you feel
I do. I tell her every day
And?
She doesn't say a whole lot
Really? Why's that?
My mom passed away a few
Years ago before all of this
But even then she could tell
I was a people-pleaser
She knew I let everyone
Walk all over me
I'm so sorry
She would tell me, Jamie, life is
Too short not to do things for yourself
She's right
Yeah, she always was
I might not be your mom, but if you
Ever need to talk...I'd be happy to
I really appreciate it
Are you close with your dad at all?
No, not at all
He's a total workaholic
And he expects me to be one too
That's awful
You get used to it after a while
He might be my dad, but
He's not my friend
Maybe you should try explaining
How you feel to him
I'm not even sure where
I'd begin if I'm honest
The man knows nothing about me
It never hurts to try
Perhaps
Though I think I enjoy
Talking to you way more
Oh, stop it
You don't mean that
I'm just your average waitress
No, but you're not
You know why I enjoy
Talking to you so much?
Because you talk about things
Other than music
It's like people don't realize that I
Have a life outside of the studio
It's always "did you finish this Album"?
Or "please take me on as an artist"!
I enjoy other things too, you know
Like ice fishing, long car rides,
drinking hot cocoa on Christmas morning
Knitting
Knitting?
Look, the point is there's more
To me as a person than music
But to everyone else that's
All I have to offer
People become friends with me
And use me to get where they want to be
It's just nice to meet someone
That doesn't want to use me
Anyway, enough about me
What's your dream?
My dream?
Surely you've got some big dream
In that smart head of yours
I guess I'm not quite
Sure what I want
I'm usually more focused
On what other people want for me
And that right there is
The issue, Clarice
People like us need to do
What we want for ourselves
Not for other people
Maybe I'll get there one day
Until then, I'll keep
Working at the diner
Do you enjoy it?
I do. I enjoy the people, mostly
It's nice seeing the regular
Customers all the time
Every day they come in with
Something new to tell me
As you can tell, I don't get out
As much as I used to, so it's nice
That my entertainment comes to me
That's a fun way of looking at it
I'm glad it makes you happy
Thank you
It certainly beats my old job
Oh yeah?
What was that?
You're gonna make fun of me
No, I won't
C'mon, tell me
I used to work at the zoo
No way
Yes way
I wouldn't have guessed you were an animal person
Oh, I'm not
I didn't work there for the animals
I worked there because
Oh my gosh, this is so stupid
No, now you have to tell me
I worked there because during
The Christmas season they would
Set up Christmas lights all
Along the paths of the park
There would be hundreds of thousands
Of lights twinkling at night
I worked there just so that I could
See those lights every day for two
Months out of the year
They were breathtaking
That sounds amazing
It really was
It's getting late, I really should get back
I've got to be up early tomorrow morning
Thank you for this
I told you a night out
Would do you some good
Okay, okay, enough
With the I told you so
Perhaps I'll see you around
Perhaps you will
Goodnight, Mr. Jackson
Goodnight, Miss?
Foster
Clarice Foster
Foster, hmm
What a nice name
Careful, don't wear it out
Goodnight, Miss Foster