[Owen POV]
The movie resumed. After their house burned down, they tried to dig up the picture of the mother and wife from the charred remains.
They had no insurance money, no savings—nothing.
"I'm getting paid Friday. I can use that money to get us a motel," Timmy said as he crouched next to his son, eating a sandwich Scott Michael got from his girlfriend.
Scott said, "I'll organize something at school."
"Charity? I told you how I feel about that—"
"It's not charity," Scott told him. "Nor will I beg."
After his wife died, Tim always tried to do everything on his own, and he passed that attitude down to his son.
Thus began their first day living in the car. They had to survive there for three days before they could find a place to stay. Technically, they were homeless now.
As the movie entered Act 2, we saw how they were trying to get some money to rent an apartment.
Scott Michael worked at a car wash, took a part-time job at the movie theater, and busked on the street with the pink guitar he borrowed from his girlfriend.
In a couple of days, he managed to earn around two hundred bucks. He kept his money in his girlfriend's lingerie drawer at her house.
There's also a subplot where Kimberly (Sarah) helped drive Scott around for his busking work, and he sang a funny song at the stand up comic cafe, which made a lot of people laugh in the cafe.
He sang the assumption song. The song was playing around with the PG 13 line, but it managed to pass it.
"♫♪ There was an old farmer who lived on a rock.♫♪
"♫♪He sat in the meadow just shaking his… Fist at some ♫♪"
People would automatically find the words that rhymed inside their mind, which made the song feel absurd to them.
"♫♪…boys who were down by the crick. Their feet in the water, their hands on their… Marbles and playthings, and at half past four♫♪"
"♫♪ There came a young lady, she looked like a… Pretty young creature, she sat on the grass♫♪"
He ended the song with, "If you think this is dirty, you should go check yourself!"
The audience burst into laughter.
In the story, Scott was paid over 500 dollars for his performance and tips. This was also when he started to tell people his house just burned down after his girlfriend told him to do it.
Tim went to work, wearing the lone suit that had survived the fire. His beard became unkempt as he couldn't groom himself, living in a car.
Then, it happened.
"You're firing me just because I couldn't shave my beard?" he asked, incredibly irked by his incompetent superior, played by David Koechner.
"You have to adhere to a strict dress code while you're here. It says so in your contract."
Tim became frustrated and accused him, "In the contract?! Are you kidding me?!"
"If you don't like it, you can quit. It's not like you're doing anything here," the boss taunted.
No one spoke up for him. The other employees turned their gazes away—even his so-called friends.
When his son heard about it, he was furious.
He tried to justify it. "At the very least, you got severance, right? You worked for sixteen years. The severance might be enough to rebuild our house. Right?"
"There's no severance," Tim said with a sigh.
"How can you just take that without standing up for yourself? Why can't you just tell them that your house is gone?! Is your ego too big to understand that you need that job?!"
It caused an argument between father and son. They continued to live in the car, still trying to earn enough money for rent.
Even with their struggles, Tim stopped his car when he saw someone moving into the neighbourhood.
A young, scary looking woman who wore a long silk glove, her hair tied into a ponytail, and she wore a giant hat– titled, covering half of her face. Lisa Kudrow entered the movie, her character was named, 'Naomi Swann'.
She just sat on her box, staring blankly into space.
"Hey, do you need some help?" Scott approached her. Naomi was taken aback, and then she nodded. Then, she saw Timmy smiling proudly at his son.
The other neighbors were only gossiping without trying to help her, but Tim and Scott went to help her carry her boxes of stuff into the house.
Scott and Naomi had some moments together. He helped her fix her pipes and she told him that three of her previous husbands died, which was why the people around didn't help her.
She told Tim that he was a great father. While the two bonded, the son had some moments with his girlfriend.
"Thanks for letting me take a nap on your floor today." He told her.
"There's so many times a girl can ask, "How about the bed?"
He sang a flirty song with her, and they almost kissed when the girlfriend's mother burst into the room.
On the same day, the father and son duo was robbed at gunpoint, and the thief took away their car.
Now, they had truly lost everything—except for the picture of the mother.
The son wanted to fight off the man, but the dad continuously pulled him back, which showed the hot-headedness of a teenager.
Their relationship was tested too. They were constantly arguing, until one day, Tim asked, "What makes you pull away from me so much? Do you hate me now? What is the matter with you?"
Scott Michael paused. "Remember when you were dating Amanda?"
"Like three years ago?" Timmy was confused.
"Yeah. Remember, you guys went on a date. You introduced me to her, and then you stopped dating her?"
"That's because—"
"I know the reason why. I was eavesdropping when you talked with her in the living room."
Tim inhaled sharply, scolding, "That's not good behavior."
Scott ignored it and said, "She told you, 'I wish your son wasn't here.'" His face was filled with pain and ache. His voice became teary.
"And that's not even the worst part. You replied, 'Yeah…'" he said softly.
Sarah gasped as she saw the scene. Many in the audience felt the same shock, since Tim had been built up as the loving dad from the beginning.
"So, I'm just giving you what you want. You don't have to burden yourself with raising me anymore. Because after I graduate, I'm gone..," Scott said, then left while Tim was still processing it.
Finally, the story entered the last act. It was already an hour into the film, with each act timed at around half an hour.
The next morning, Tim sat in the motel room they were forced to pay for last night alone. His son had left early in the morning.
The air was heavy, and the silence pressed on his chest.
His mind replayed that conversation over and over, the look on his son's face, the tone in his voice. Then his eyes lit up and he mustered, "Wait a second…"
He found Scott later that day, helping Naomi fix her washing machine after getting back from school.
The boy had gotten good at fixing things lately—everything except his relationship with his father.
"He doesn't want to talk with you." Naomi sipped on her tea, still dressed elegantly.
"I assume he told you everything?" Tim looked at Naomi with disbelief.
"Yeah, and I'm on Scott's side." Naomi said with a slight smirk.
Tim stood by the door awkwardly before saying, "Scott, I remembered that night with Amanda."
Scott froze, looking over his shoulder. "Don't," he said quietly. "I don't need to hear it."
"No, you really do," Tim insisted. "You got it all wrong."
Scott frowned. "I heard you say it, Dad. You said 'yeah.' I remember."
Tim exhaled deeply, rubbing his forehead. "Son… that wasn't about you. That was about—well, I should start from the beginning…" He hesitated, then muttered, "Um… That day, Amanda and I… We were about to, Um… you know, do something…adult."
Scott blinked. "What?" His face was completely clueless about it.
"Doing the horizontal mambo." Tim said.
Scott was still clueless.
"Knocking boots?" Tim tried hard.
Naomi joined in, "Gave the dog a bone."
"Bumped uglies."
"Made whoopee."
Scott was clueless about everything. Naomi sighed and said, "They want to have sex."
"WHAT? EWWWW!" Scott was shocked. The audience laughed at the joke.
Tim said, "Yeah. You come back early that day. When she said, 'I wish your son wasn't here,' and I said 'yeah' because—well, you were literally right there. So we can't do it there."
"No! Stop! Eww!" Scott put his fingers in his ears.
Naomi, sitting on her couch, slowly raised her teacup and said, "So then, what happened?"
Tim turned to her, "We went to a motel later that night, and she broke up with me the next morning because apparently I'm 'too much.'" He made air quotes dramatically. "Her words, not mine."
Naomi choked on her tea, and Scott's entire face turned red. "Dad, please stop talking."
"What? I'm being honest here." Tim said abruptly. "How can you even think that I will say I don't want you? You're… everything to me."
"I… You can just make it up last night." Scott didn't believe him.
"You've been mad at me for three years for something that wasn't even true!" Tim shouted back.
"How can I confirm it?" Scott asked.
"We can ask Amanda." Tim said decisively.
Naomi said casually, "Can I join? I'm just really enjoying what's happening right now."
There was an awkward moment with Amanda later on. The relationship between the two finally eased up and they were more open with each other now.
The next day, Scott came back to Naomi's house with his girlfriend, Kimberly.
"We should do something about that company," Scott said suddenly.
Tim raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Scott leaned forward, his eyes determined, "you worked there for sixteen years, Dad. Sixteen years. They fire you because you didn't shave after our house burned down. That's insane. We can't just let them get away with that. So, my awesome girlfriend came out with something."
Kim cheekily stood forward and said, "We hit them where it hurts. Public. Image."
The next day, the two of them stood in front of the toilet paper company's building, holding cardboard signs.
One read: "FIRED AFTER HOUSE FIRE."
The other said: "HOUSE BURNT DOWN. COMPANY SAID 'SO WHAT.'"
Scott called a lot of his friends, and they were circling in front of the company, protesting.
Within hours, a local news van pulled up. Naomi has some contact with the media.
By the next morning, the headline on every local station read–
"Father Fired After House Fire — Community Rallies Behind Him."
Two days later, they were called into the office. The same boss who once smirked at Tim now looked nervous, his tie slightly crooked.
"Look," the boss said, forcing a smile, "we may have acted… hastily. We'd like to offer you your position back. With a small bonus."
Tim looked at Scott. Scott looked at Tim. Then, with a faint grin, Tim said, "Keep the job. We'll take the severance instead."
The boss blinked. "That's not on the table—"
"Then maybe I'll tell Channel 7 about how you tried to cover this up," Scott interrupted, holding up his phone. The man paled instantly.
"Also, add on some emotional damage compensation too." Scott added.
"Look, you can take your job back, or we will sue you for defamation." The boss said firmly.
Tim scoffed and said, "You build the company as a family friendly brand. The protest hurts your stock market value, and you're losing hundreds of thousands per hour. Are you sure you can afford to sue us right now? Because once that goes into the media too, your company's screwed."
Scott finally saw a new side of his dad. The assertive side.
"So you can either bleed a lot of blood, or just a small cut if you act right now." Tim added. "Either way, I'm never going to go back to a company that treats its employees so callously."
"I–"
Before the supervisor could say anything, the boss- played by Micheal Caine, entered the office and said, "We will give you your well deserved severance."
"Boss–" The supervisor became stunned.
Micheal Caine turned to the supervisor and said, "As for you. You're getting demoted."
It was a happy ending for the job subplot.
"We finally have enough money to rebuild." Tim said as he checked his severance payment.
Weeks later, construction began on their house. The walls slowly rose in a montage with the same opening melody accompanying it.
Scott and Tim were seen a few times, helping build the house up. Naomi visited often, bringing food and sarcastic remarks. Scott's girlfriend helped decorate.
And for the first time in a long while, Tim laughed freely.
Then, the scene where Scott and Kimberly shared their first kiss inside the house played.
Scott still does his fundraiser for the school to get some money for furniture and such. But most importantly, it was because his girlfriend wanted him to do it.
It was the last scene of the movie.
"This song's called Imagine," he said softly.
[Imagine- Shawn Mendes]
He began to sing, his voice gentle but full of hope.
"♫♪ Oh, there she goes again, every morning, it's the same
You walk on by my house, I wanna call out your name ♫♪"
Sarah nudged my arm in the movie theater and said, "You tricked me. You said the song is getting cut out."
"♫♪ I wanna tell you how beautiful you are from where I'm standin'
You got me thinkin' what we could be 'cause♫♪"
Claire widened her eyes slightly, and said, "He has a really good singing voice. Maybe he can do the musical."
"♫♪ I keep craving, craving, you don't know it but it's true
Can't get my mouth to say the words they wanna say to you ♫♪"
The song closes the plot between Scott and Kim, and they finally evolve from just being close childhood friends to lovers.
"♫♪ This is typical of love, can't wait anymore, won't wait
I need to tell you how I feel when I see us together forever ♫♪"
"♫♪ In my dreams, you're with me, we'll be everything I want us to be
And from there, who knows? ♫♪"
Scott glanced at Kim who was in the audience. Her face showed she was mesmerized by him, while he stared at her with a gaze full of love.
"♫♪ Maybe this will be the night that we kiss for the first time
Or is that just me and my imagination? ♫♪"
As he sang, the camera panned to Tim watching from the crowd, smiling proudly. Naomi clapped along, suddenly she pulled Tim towards her and kissed him.
By the time the final chord faded, Scott's girlfriend ran onto the stage and kissed him. The audience cheered, laughing and crying all at once.
Fade to black.
Then, one last line appeared on the screen:
"Sometimes you have to lose everything to find out what was holding you together all along."
The song continued over the credits. I'd requested that we show the bloopers during the end credits — I've always loved watching movie bloopers.
It showed Steve Carell making Lisa Kudrow break character several times, and I even cracked up the film crew a couple of times myself.
The crowd applauded as the movie ended. It definitely had that '90s indie movie vibe, and people were really enjoying it.
After seeing the movie, Claire decided to move the screening schedule up. It would hit theaters in a month, following a short marketing push — two weeks after Swingers finished its run.
It wouldn't interfere with Swingers' potential audience since Swingers was rated R, while this one was PG-13. They targeted completely different crowds.
When the screening ended, I changed back into Jack Kennedy after celebrating with Payne, Chbosky, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Steve Carell at a restaurant.
The reason was simple — a relative was coming to visit.
"You're related to the Terminator?" Michael was stunned when he heard Arnold Schwarzenegger was coming to visit me at the office.
Arnold had actually been at the premiere. Claire had invited him and his wife, and though they initially came out of politeness, by the time the credits rolled, they realized 4CLOVER wasn't going to be an ordinary film studio.
Elena helped me with the meeting with Wes Craven first. The director wanted to know who I used for the color correction, and wanted to send his master film to them too.
Payne and Chbosky also wanted the colour balancing they saw in the film– the experimental one.
So Cahaya has two potential clients now. She could charge 50,000 dollars per film, and people would still use her service since it was faster and cheaper than waiting for the Technicolor lab.
"Now, it's the big one." Claire muttered, fully nervous after Wes Craven left.
When the clock hit five, Arnold arrived with Maria.
The entire office froze. Some of them just stood there, starstruck, as the Terminator himself walked through the glass door.
Arnold had that larger-than-life presence that made even a quiet room feel like a movie set. He was dressed casually—black leather jacket, jeans, and that disarming grin that seemed to stretch half his face.
"Jack!" he boomed as he approached, his voice echoing. "Maria told me about you. I said, 'No way, I've never seen him at Hyannis Port!'" He laughed loudly, shaking my hand with enough force to crush a soda can.
I smiled faintly. "Yeah, I don't really go to family gatherings."
"That's what she said!" Arnold slapped my shoulder like an old friend. "She told me, 'There's this quiet Kennedy in Hollywood, starting up a film company.' I thought it was gossip—until she showed me your name on the invitation."
Maria nodded, amused. "Everyone in town's been talking about a Kennedy funding indie films in L.A. We didn't know it was you until Donovan called."
Maria was the Kennedy adjacent– still within the Hyannis port Kennedy clan, but has a different last name.
Arnold grinned wider. "So we came to the premiere! Thought we'd be polite, say hello, leave after twenty minutes…"
He gestured animatedly. "But the movies were good! The first one is good. The second one is also good. Third, it's great. It had heart. It's been a long time since I saw something like that. Even Maria cried a little."
"I didn't cry," Maria said with mock indignation. "I teared up."
Arnold turned back to me, chuckling. "So I told her after the film—'Okay, this kid's not just another Hollywood dreamer.' You've got something here."
Inside my mind, I thought, 'Wow, he talked a lot.'
I didn't expect him to talk this much.
"I heard rumors about you having your own directorial debut?" Arnold asked, which I assumed was the main reason he came to see me.
I smiled, nodding slightly, "Want to see it? There's only some plans, but I would love to hear your thoughts on it."
Arnold came with me to the make-shift studio.
He looked around the office, taking in the film reels, editing machines, and piles of storyboard sketches.
His eyes landed on the previsualization monitor—an early test for my next project, the action film. It showed a raw, handheld shot– a fighter moving through a narrow hallway, disarming opponents with brutal precision in one continuous take.
Arnold stepped closer, his eyes widened slightly. "You shot this yourself?"
"Yeah," I replied. "It's a rehearsal. I'm testing rhythm and angles before building the set. I'm still casting the actors though. Then, they might need two weeks of training before we can shoot it."
Arnold studied it, arms crossed. Even without dialogue, he understood the beat of it—the flow, the timing. He tilted his head, impressed.
"You're doing something smart here," he said with a grin. "I love it."
Then, he sighed slightly, "You know, I start shooting Batman & Robin next month. I play Mr. Freeze. Big sets, big toys, lots of ice puns." His eyes flashed reluctance.
"This kind of energy—you don't find that in studio films anymore." He commented.
Maria laughed. "He's been complaining about the script all week."
Arnold waved her off. "Hey, it pays for the house! But when I see something fresh like this, I get excited again."
He turned back to me, expression suddenly sincere. "You're not an ordinary director, Jack. You're thinking like someone who's been in front of the camera and behind it."
Then, after a beat, his grin returned. "And since you're family… I'll do something for you."
I raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"
"I'll do a cameo in your movie," Arnold declared proudly. "Cheap. No backend points, no negotiation. I'll do it because it's your first directorial debut—and because family helps family."
Maria sighed, amused. "You're really doing this?"
"Of course!" Arnold said. "One line. Maybe I get blown up. People will go, 'Wait, was that the Terminator?'"
He pointed at me with mock sternness. "But you better make me look cool when I explode, okay?"
I couldn't help laughing. "Deal."
Arnold extended his hand again. "Then it's settled. The Terminator will die for free in your movie."
Suddenly, I got the big name for the movie.