Jones St., Chapter 7: Pages 17-18

Page 17, 5 Panels- Myers' Apartment, Jones St., Las Vegas NV

Panel 1: Cut to an action shot of Randall a minute later, just about to take a seat on the couch nearest to Tara on the recliner. He looks over in the direction of his son, extending the bottle of water toward the same leftward direction; the background of the walkway and the kitchen is also visible behind him.

RANDALL [curious, to Tara]: So what sparked it, if I may ask? Something to do with the Book Critic job?

Panel 2-3: A two-part set of panels that moves back to Tara at the recliner, reaching out to grab the bottle which appears in the right of the panel view (along with his arm) in Panel 2; his eyes down toward the table as he does it. In Panel 3, it disappears as he grabs it; the young man's right hand moving toward the bottlecap to open it.

TARA [shaking his head, to Randall; Panel 2]: Not at all. I--I've had a great time, really enjoyed the challenge and the work. No, it's... TARA [Cont., more sheepish; Panel 3]: It has to do with Melanie.

Panel 4: Back to Randall a few moments later, taken from Tara's perspective as if we're looking at it from his eyes. The look on his face shifts from curiosity to a mix of curiosity and a touch of saddened surprise at what he thinks had happened.

RANDALL: Oh no, did you guys break up?

Panel 5: Back to Tara in the same setting/layout as Panel 3. He has unscrewed the tap to the flavored water, holding the cap closed in his right hand. There is a look of befuddlement in his eyes just a split second before taking a swig.

TARA [unsure]: No we didn't. At least, I...I don't think so.

Page 18, 6 Panels- Myers' Apartment, Jones St., Las Vegas NV

Panel 1: Back to Randall in the same setting and layout as the second-to-last panel of the previous page. The angle of the panel view is also similar to what we saw in that Panel 5; his look shifts to one of confusion.

RANDALL [looking for clarification, to Tara]: You don't think so? I'm going to need a little more information. For starters- what happened?

Panel 2: Back to Tara in the same setting/layout as the last panel of the previous page. The bottle of Cascade Ice (1/3 drank after the end of Page 17) is in his right hand, resting in the middle of the same arm rest as he speaks.

TARA [trying to recollect, to Randall]: Well, it...she hasn't texted me back in nearly three weeks.

Panel 3: Cut to a side-shot of him and Melanie in flashback mode, back in the Jimmy John's that we saw earlier in the issue. The conversation that we saw at that moment is going on now, with Melanie looking away toward her sandwich after the comment about her late ex-fiance.

TARA [Cont. narration caption]: I think it has something to do what something I said on our second date about past boyfriends that I think insulted her.

Panel 4: Back to Randall in the same setting/layout as the page's first panel. He slightly shifts his positioning on the couch to the side as he speaks; the look on his face shifting to one of doubt in terms of the explanation given.

RANDALL: I'm not sure that's the reason why, though mentioning a person's past relationships, more often than not, is a terrible idea.

Panel 5: Back to Tara in the same setting/layout as Panel 2. He looks on with a degree of intrigue at what he said, raising the bottle up in trajectory to his lips to take another swig after his line of dialogue.

TARA: What do you think it was then?

Panel 6: Back to Randall in the same setting/layout as Panel 4. He moves his body position toward more of a crouch, matching what we have seen from Tara for the majority of the page, speaking with the same curiosity that we saw back in the top of the page.

RANDALL: Not sure. Tell me what happened on this second date?