| Akoma |
-----
On a monitor inside the control room, Jennifer Atwater is concluding her report.
Dan: (on-air) That was Jennifer Atwater reporting live from the campus at the University of Miami, as the Hurricanes prepare during the penultimate week leading to their BCS Bowl game.
Tina: (on-air) The resurgent Washington Redskins are sending two of their offensive linemen, members of the "Hogs," to Honolulu for the Pro Bowl. Find out who, coming up.
Dan: (on-air) Plus, a cat fight between Kentucky and Arizona. Time in regulation couldn't decide a winner, but overtime foul trouble has given one of these teams a decided advantage. You're watching "Sports Night," on CSC. We'll be back.
Dave: We're out.
Chris: Two minutes back.
Jeremy leans back from his laptop and throws his arms up in disgust.
Jeremy: We live in the "City That Never Sleeps". One would be led to believe one could make dinner reservations at eleven-thirty at night.
Natalie: The city may be awake, but its people need to sleep.
Dana: How's that Stanford-Utah game coming along, Jeremy?
Jeremy goes back to typing on his laptop, clearly focused on his priority instead of Dana's priority.
Jeremy: They're still playing.
Dana: What's the score?
Jeremy: 42-38 Stanford.
Dana: That was the score you gave me twenty minutes ago. Have their offenses become anemic?
Jeremy: I don't have possession-by-possession updates.
Dana: I'm just saying, if you spent a little more time on updates and a little less time on finding out what restaurant serves the correct wine with flounder while hoping not to show your date you're a prude, then we might-
Natalie: I've got it, Dana.
Natalie begins typing on her laptop.
Dana: Natalie, no.
Natalie: Don't worry about it.
Dana: Nat-
Natalie: There. 46-43 Stanford; both teams are shooting under thirty percent in the second half.
Dana: Thanks, but still-
Natalie: I'm going to check on the footage. We might be able to fit it in at the tail end of the broadcast.
Natalie jumps down from her seat.
Dana: Stanford-Utah is Jeremy's responsibility.
Jeremy: I can handle it.
Natalie: Jeremy jumped in when I needed some help with the Thrashers-Rangers, Stars-Blues, and Blackhawks-Bruins. This is the least I can do to return the favor.
Natalie continues to follow her own plan, and she exits the control room.
-----
Kim walks over to the anchor desk. She hands Dan a piece of paper.
Kim: That's the shot sheet for the Spurs and Kings.
Dan: Thanks, Kim.
Dan scans over the sheet. With his pencil, he circles some important information.
Dan: Spurs are undefeated when Duncan scores at least 20 and Parker has a minimum of 8 assists. That's something I didn't know.
Kim: Yeah, I'd thought you'd like that.
Dan: Great job.
Kim: Thanks. Here's something else you might not know: cashmere.
Dan leans back in his chair and slyly looks at Kim as he figures out her hint.
Dan: Cashmere.
Kim: Yeah.
Dan: For a gift, you would like something cashmere.
Kim: A sweater would be nice.
Dan: Uh-huh.
Kim: They say cashmere is a girl's best friend.
Dan: I thought diamonds were a girl's best friend.
Kim: Are you sure?
Dan: Am I sure? Yeah, pretty sure.
Kim: Okay.
Dan nods his head and goes back to the shot sheet. He puts his pencil down.
Dan: You now want diamonds, right?
Kim: Only outside of you, they're a girl's best friend, Danny.
Dan smirks as Kim heads back to the control room.
-----
Inside the green room, Casey has his feet up on the table as he finishes off a pack of donuts, which were fresh from the vending machine.
As Natalie rushes inside the room, Casey puts his feet down.
Natalie: Casey.
Casey: What happened to the fruit inside the green room? There's no fruit here. I had to settle for donuts.
Natalie: Gee, Casey, if you give us advanced notice next time, we'll make sure to have a nice assortment for you.
Casey: That's all I ask.
Natalie: What are you getting Dana for Christmas?
Casey: Excuse me?
Natalie: You ask about fruit, I ask about gifts.
Casey: I'm not telling you-
Natalie: Casey.
Casey: -because you'll run down to Dana and spill the goods.
Natalie: She's expecting something involving a diamond.
Casey looks offended.
Casey: Has Dana been snooping around my apartment? I've kept my receipts inside my wallet, so the only way she could have found out is if she had been rummaging through my personal belongings.
Natalie is surprised.
Natalie: Dana's right. You're really doing it. I can't believe Dana is right.
Casey: The earrings were meant to be a surprise, but now I don't know what to expect.
Natalie: Earrings?
Casey stands up.
Casey: You know, Natalie, I can't believe Dana would be crafty enough to learn about this.
Natalie: You're giving Dana diamond earrings.
Casey: Now, I'm not so sure.
Casey crosses his arms, turns, and faces the window looking out onto the studio.
Casey: Unbelievable.
Natalie: Yeah.
A thought crosses Casey's mind. He becomes curious, drops his arms, and turns to Natalie.
Casey: You seem very surprised about the earrings.
Natalie: Only because diamond earrings aren't what Dana's expecting.
Casey: But she's expecting something with a diamond.
Natalie: A ring.
Casey: A what?!
Natalie: Hey, Dana is going on her intuition, and you know how accurate Dana's intuition is when it comes to personal relationships.
Casey's anger completely subsides and fear begins to emerge.
Casey: Dana is expecting a diamond ring? She's expecting an engagement ring?
Natalie: Yeah.
Casey: An engagement ring. I was thinking we could move in together-
Natalie: Move in with Dana.
Casey: Isn't that the same-
Natalie: Because your apartment barely accommodates you.
Casey: Well...
Natalie: And Dana owns a much larger place, while you are still renting your little hole.
Casey: It's a nice little hole.
Natalie: But I wouldn't give notice to your landlord just yet.
Casey: Because Dana is expecting an engagement ring-
Natalie: And not just a bunkmate.
Casey: I see.
Casey sits down.
Natalie: Aren't you glad I care about the two of you?
Casey: Besides being too nosy-
Natalie: I prefer to say "overly curious."
Casey: Yeah.
The two look up at a television monitor to see the night's broadcast has resumed.
Natalie: I better get back.
Casey: Don't say anything to Dana.
Natalie: I won't.
Natalie turns to leave.
Casey: Natalie.
Natalie: Casey, you've got to trust me.
Casey: Okay. Thanks, Natalie.
Natalie exits as Casey tries to figure out a way not to disappoint Dana.
-----
"We're going to be 30 seconds long."
"We can drop 64."
The crew continues their work inside the control room.
Dana: Yeah, 64 and maybe 65.
Chris and Will set up the next segments, Dave directs to cut to the center camera, Elliott hands a note to Jeremy, and Natalie walks into the room.
Dana: And where have you been?
Natalie: I was checking on Stanford-Utah.
Dana: Did you get lost?
Natalie: I wasn't gone that long.
Natalie takes her seat.
Dana: You were gone the whole c-break plus the following three segments.
Natalie: It didn't seem that long.
Dana: Nat-
Natalie: I bet that outfit is a nylon blend.
Dana: Wha-
Natalie: You're pleasant when you wear natural fibers. You're irritable when you don't.
Dana: My outfit has nothing to do with my irritability.
Natalie: Then you won't need to change clothes to be pleasant to Casey.
Dana: Don't-
Dave: Dana?
Dana: What?! Oh. How are we running?
Dave: About 35 over.
Dana: Okay. Drop 64 and 65.
Dana leans toward her mic.
Dana: Dan, Tina? We're dropping 64 and 65. You guys keep losing time. Let's keep it tight.
Dana sits upright in her chair.
Dana: I'm mad at you, Natalie.
Natalie: Not because I was gone for five minutes.
Dana: No, yes. That's part of it. You've gotten into my head. You've worked your little, evil doubts into my head.
Natalie: Your intuition is telling you Casey is not going to propose to you.
Dana: You're just messing with me.
Natalie: I'm just trying to make you think clearly.
Dana: We're going to talk about this after the show.
Natalie: Okie-dokie.
