Following is a series of scenes where Nola and Mr. McCord are planning to go to the opening of Trish Lewis and Vanessa Chamberlain's restaurant. Nola is interested in the rich, younger brother of Trish, Josh Lewis!! That obviously went nowhere, but we get some very early Quola sparking moments where, perhaps, Nola sees Mr. McCord more as a man and possible suitor than just a creepy, mysterious employer. There are also directed shots, foreshadowing them as a romantic couple that look and feel good together, assuming the viewer did not pick up on what was planned in the first meeting in the gazebo not much earlier. One has to wonder if their height difference, which was classic Hollywood and created especially flattering angles for Nola when they later became romantic, was intentional or accidental. Only drawback to this series of scenes is that at the restaurant opening, the viewer has to sit through that sappy, bad song that Floyd wrote for Nola. That's what fast forward is for.
INT. NOLA'S BEDROOM THORNWAY ROAD - SOMETIME IN THE AFTERNOON
(NOLA checking herself out in the mirror against a new white "maternity" gown that Mr. McCord has bought for her. GRACIE is there to advise. )
NOLA: Honest?
GRACIE: Honest, look, this outfit is gorgeous. You couldn't even tell it was maternity clothes. You know what it looks like?
NOLA: What?
GRACIE: Some expensive, designer creation.
NOLA: Boy. Oh Gracie, in a few weeks, no designer in the world is going to be able to cover the fact that I'm pregnant. So these next few weeks really have to count.
GRACIE: You know, I have to admit, Nola. I really had my doubts about you taking this job, but now I think you really lucked out. I mean you got a great job and a generous boss that buys you things like that.
NOLA: You know the thing that worries me, Gracie, though, is WHY is Mr. McCord so concerned that I'm pregnant, and why is he so interested in who the father is, and WHY did he buy me these clothes, these pregnant clothes?
GRACIE: Well, look, don't even ask. Just relax and enjoy it. You know, even Mrs. Renfield was friendly and nice when I came in, and she gave me this coffee and these crescent rolls. NOLA: Yeah, well, you know, she can be really nice too, but she's just like he is. I mean, following me all around the house, asking me all sorts of questions, about ‘Who the father is' and all that stuff.
GRACIE: Hmm, did you tell that it was Floyd?
NOLA: (almost shrieking in shock of such a suggestion) NO! I didn't tell them it was Floyd. I just said a story to cover it.
GRACIE: Nola, you said you're on a campaign to quit lying.
NOLA: Gracie, it wasn't a lie. It was . . . it was more like I wished it to be true.
GRACIE: You know, I’ll never forget that day when you came into the shop last summer, and you were all excited about going to Las Vegas with some guy. You were going to get married and start a whole new life.
NOLA: (sadly) Yeah, I'll never forget it. It really hurt a lot. I never been so humiliated in my life. Tell you one thing, Gracie, I made a list, I made a list of all the people that were responsible for what I had to go through, and some day, somehow, I'm gonna make 'em pay for it.
GRACIE: Nola, you are starting to sound like your boss when you told me you heard him on the phone, saying he's gonna make some guy pay for something. Remember that?
NOLA: Well, whatever, it's just, uh, I'm glad I didn't lose my job after going to the police about that hat thing.
GRACIE: Mmm, I'll say. Look, I better get back to my job, if I want to keep it.
NOLA: Okay.
GRACIE: Um, look, you have a great time tonight.
NOLA: All right
GRACIE: And um, be sure and give Tony my love?
NOLA: Okay, All right, all right, wait, wait a minute, why don't you come? Why don't you tell him that yourself? You can come to the bar, there'll be plenty of room, that's where he's going to be working.
GRACIE: Well, I don't know, you never know, I might do that, if I can find something to wear. NOLA: Oh, you can find something to wear, come on, you can sit with, uh, Floyd and I at our table. Uh, It's going to be a really special table too cause, uh, Josh Lewis picked it out personally.
GRACIE: (excitedly) Josh Lewis, did he call you here?
NOLA: (girlish excitement) No, no, I went by the restaurant, and we had this wonderful little talk and everything. That's why I don't want the dress to look like a pregnant dress.
GRACIE: I can't believe you, Nola. You have got so many irons in the fire right now.
NOLA: Well Gracie, you know, that's the funny thing about life, uh, things can work out the way you want them too if you're clever, you know. So I'm just gonna make sure, I'm gonna do my best, so I have a good future for me and my baby, before I go into hiding for the last month.
GRACIE: Well, my money's on you, kid.
(Later, NOLA is placing a small framed photo of Kelly on her mantle in her bedroom.)
NOLA: (to the picture) Happy birthday. I hope this is going to be a birthday you'll never forget.
(Later, NOLA is sitting at her desk on the phone in her bedroom.)
NOLA: Well, this is Nola Reardon, Mr. McCord's household supervisor, and I'm just wondering why the draperies weren't delivered this morning?? No, I paid cash for ‘em. Well, I think you should know that Mr. McCord has just recently moved to Springfield. And I think you would be interested in know that he has a thirty room mansion that he'd like to furnish. You're going to send a messenger right out? Yeah, thank you. (hangs up phone, then to herself) I kind of like having this power. Hmmm. (reacts to KNOCK at door and gets up to answer it)
NOLA opens door to reveal FLOYD.
NOLA: (sounding a little annoyed, can you blame her) Floyd?
FLOYD: Hi Nola, Mrs. Renfield said it was okay for me to come up here and talk to you.
NOLA: (sternly) You're not supposed to be here ‘til 7:30!
FLOYD: Well, that's why I came by. That and more importantly, I can't tell you how I felt when I received this letter in the mail this morning. It was the first letter I ever got from you.
NOLA: Well, I don't write many letters. It was, uh . . . special circumstance.
FLOYD: Well, I don't know what they were, but I was really touched by your concern, the way you expressed it, about me being the father.
NOLA: (annoyed) Floyd, Good Lord (pulls him into room), get in here. (Nola checks to be sure no one is outside to door to have heard what Floyd said about being the father). The whole point of the letter was so that Mr. McCord and Mrs. Renfield wouldn't know that you were the father.
FLOYD: Well, I'm sorry, I forgot for a minute.
(Nola SIGHS)
FLOYD: But I don't see why you have to make up this big story about somebody else being the father.
NOLA: Sit down, sit down for a minute. I did it for your own protection, because ever since I started working here, Mr. McCord and Mrs. Renfield have been very protective about me and the baby, asking all sorts of questions, who the father is, why isn't he here assuming his part of the responsibility. I'm afraid they're gonna do something terrible to you.
FLOYD: Nola, you know that I would love to be around you more and I would do anything that I could . . .
NOLA: (interrupting) They'll let the dogs loose on you or something. You're gonna end up in a box in Mr. McCord's . . . (reacts to another KNOCK at door and then sweetly answers) Who is it?
MR. MCCORD: (Off camera) Mr. McCord, Nola. 
NOLA moves to get the door again. Opens door to reveal Mr. McCord in one of his trademark velvet smoking jackets with insignia.
MR MCCORD: (realizing Floyd is there) Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you had company.
FLOYD: Hi, Mr. McCord. I just uh . . . Mrs. Renfield said it was okay for me to come up here, uh, (to Nola) I just came by to tell you that I wouldn't be able to pick you up tonight, because I have a rehearsal at the restaurant, so I'm sending a taxi to come and pick you up.
MR MCCORD: That's very generous of you, Floyd. But I have car and driver, and since I'm going too, I'll be glad to give Nola a lift.
FLOYD: Well, that's very democratic of you, Mr. McCord, but it's not necessary.
MR MCCORD: (confused) Democratic? Why?
FLOYD: Well, uh, you're being Nola's boss and everything. I just assumed that you wouldn't want to walk in the same place with one of your employees.
MR MCCORD: Oh, Floyd, I don't think of Nola as just an employee. And besides, those class distinctions you were referring to . .well, they're outmoded and . . .
NOLA: (laughing, trying to end conversation) Well, I guess that does it, huh? That solves everything? OK.
FLOYD: Yeah, I guess so.
NOLA: Yeah
FLOYD: I guess I'll just head out to the hospital.
NOLA: (trying to get him out of there) OK.
FLOYD: Oh and Nola, don't forget that it's Kelly's birthday tonight.
NOLA: (shortly) Right, right
FLOYD: And I know that things have been very strained between you guys. (Camera moving in on Mr. McCord's reaction to the Kelly discussion whom he is convinced is Nola's baby's father) But I just thought that if you picked up a card or something that it might help to patch things up. OK? (FLOYD moves to leave and shakes Mr. McCord's hand) Nice seeing you, Mr. McCord.
MR MCCORD: (reciprocating) Floyd. (Floyd leaves) Uh, Kelly must be the uh, medical student I met at Cedars Hospital the other day? I'm sorry that you had a falling out with a friend, Nola.
NOLA: Well, sometimes that happens. You know, you get close to somebody and their wife gets jealous.
QUINT: If you had this, uh, falling out a few months ago, that must have been just about the time you discovered you were pregnant?
NOLA: You're right about that.
INT. THORNWAY ROAD STUDY - LATER THAT NIGHT
(MR. MCCORD is all dressed up in a tux looking very very hot.)
MRS RENFIELD: (bringing flower corsage to Mr. McCord) Did you call the florist and ask them to deliver this?
MR MCCORD: (taking flower corsage) Oh I did, thank you. (To show how isolated he has been) Uh Mrs. Renfield, men do still give women orchids don't they?
MRS RENFIELD: They certainly did in my day. And I'm sure Nola will enjoy the attention. Oh, they are for Nola, aren't they?
MR MCCORD: Of course, although if I didn't have my own reasons for going tonight, I probably would have backed out by now.
MRS RENFIELD: I will be interested to see if you're right about that young man being the father of her baby.
MR MCCORD: Oh, he has to be. He fits Nola's description to the letter. He's a medical student. He married someone else this past summer. And Nola's considering the name Kelly for her child.
MRS RENFIELD: There is something else I forgot to mention. Nola said that the father of her child and the chief of staff of his hospital are very close.
MR MCCORD: I see. I'll try to check that out tonight. And if this young man happens to be the . . . .
(Mr. McCord looks in the direction of Mrs. Renfield toward the entrance to the STUDY. NOLA is posing there in her new, white maternity evening gown with wrap and white gloves that Mr. McCord bought for her. Although, it looked nothing like a maternity gown, especially in those days. It was one of the more body revealing gowns that Nola ever wore on the show.)
MR MCCORD: (with a smile) Nola, you look lovely.
NOLA: Oh, thank you.
MRS RENFIELD: Is that a new dress, Nola?
NOLA: (excitedly) Yes, yes. (Nola sashays and spins into the study carrying a small wrapped box) It's one of the maternity dresses that Mr. McCord gave me. Isn't it beautiful??
MRS RENFIELD: It's very becoming.
MR MCCORD: (noticing wrapped box) Is that a gift for someone?
NOLA: Um, yes, it's a birthday gift, and he's gonna be there tonight at the opening, so I just thought I'd give it to him there.
MR MCCORD: Oh, I see. (handing over flowers) Well, these are for you, and I hope the color matches the dress.
NOLA: (takes flowers and looks down at them in awe, quietly) My, oh they're orchids, they're gorgeous.
MR MCCORD: (smiling, oh chemistry) I'm glad you like them.
NOLA: You know, I can't get over you. You're just so generous. (Nola moves to hug him as he puts his arm up for her to take, blocking the hug at that time to retain his mysterious, distant quality. Is he even really human quality of the time)
MR MCCORD: Not really. 
NOLA: (noticing he wants her to take his arm) Oh
MR MCCORD: Are you ready to leave?
NOLA: Oh yeah, sure. Oh, yeah (She picks up gift again, shuffles gift and flower box and then takes his arm). Thank you. You know, when I first started working here, I felt like Janet Leigh in "Psycho," but now I feel like Cinderella.
(QUINT looks confused by Nola's movie reference.)
MRS RENFIELD: Enjoy your evening.
MR MCCORD: Thank you. Mrs. Renfield, be sure that someone lets Lucifer and Damien out tonight. I don't want any intruders on the grounds while we're gone.
MRS RENFIELD: Of course, Mr. McCord.
NOLA: (to Mrs. Renfield) Well, see you in the morning.
MRS RENFIELD: Have a lovely time, Nola.
NOLA: Oh, I intend to.
(Nola happily takes Mr McCord's arm again and they leave for the evening, totally foreshadowing the fabulous romantic couple they are later to become!!)
 |
Originally aired December 1981  "Mrs. McCord . . . Mrs. Quinton R. McCord . . . Mistress of the McCord Manor."
|
Quinton (then called Mr. McCord by Nola and just about everyone else in town -- even his elders) takes a pregnant Nola to San Francisco under the pretense that they have work to do there, but actually he just wanted to get her out of Springfield when Blanche Bouvier showed up. Going to San Francisco was quite a big deal for a girl like Nola, and she was impressed by and enjoyed all the luxuries that Mr. McCord could afford.
INT. SAN FRANCISCO HOTEL -- AFTERNOON
(NOLA and BELL BOY enter room with her many shopping packages.)
NOLA: Great, thank you, you know, just put them anywhere where there is room.
BELL BOY: Is there anything else you'd like while I'm here, Mrs. McCord?
NOLA: (turning to him) Oh, I'm not . . . Um, no, no, it's fine. Thank you
(Bell boy waits for tip)
BELL BOY: (stalling) Christmas shopping?
NOLA: (playing along) Yeah, yeah, you know what, I just hope my husband doesn't get upset, because I got a little carried away. (realizing bell boy wants tip) Oh Yeah, right! I know what you're standing there for (she goes for purse) . . . I've seen a lot of movies. I've seen this happen all the time. (She pulls a bill out of her purse)
BELL BOY: Oh yeah?
NOLA: Yeah, here you go. Oh, wait a minute (pulls a bigger bill out of purse). There you go.
BELL BOY: (very happily) Oh, thank you
NOLA: You're welcome
BELL BOY: Thank you very much!
NOLA: Merry Christmas
BELL BOY: (leaving) Yeah, Merry Christmas to you too, Mrs. McCord
NOLA: Oh, thanks. (Bell Boy leaves) I'm gonna have to work eight hours for that tip. Oh well, it's fun thinking that I was rich and sophisticated. . . (with a flourish) . . . Mrs. McCord . . . Mrs. Quinton R. McCord (walking to desk in other room, humming, still enjoying the Bell Boy thinking she was Mrs. McCord) . . . Mistress of the McCord Manor. (she sits down and dials phone & pretentiously speaks) . . . Yes operator, I'd like to make a person to person call to Gracie Middleton.
(QUINT enters hotel room, but Nola doesn't see him)
NOLA: Uh, yes, I'd like to speak to Gracie Middleton please, long distance calling . . . Gracie?
GRACIE: (on phone) Nola? How many times have I told you not to bother me?
NOLA: No Gracie, really listen. Guess where I am?
GRACIE: Don't tell me you went to the police again to report Mr. McCord?
NOLA: No Gracie, I didn't go to the . . . Listen to me, I am in San Francisco (she separates every syllable of San Francisco)
GRACIE: Are you all right?
NOLA: Of course, I'm all right. Mr. McCord brought me along for a business trip.
GRACIE: Why?
NOLA: Oh, so I could help out, and have some fun, but you'll never guess what happened?
GRACIE: You're right, I'll never guess, so why don't you tell me.
NOLA; Okay, he called me Mrs. McCord.
GRACIE: Who did?
NOLA: Oh, the bell boy that helped me up with the packages, the Christmas presents.
GRACIE: What Christmas presents?
NOLA: Gracie, that's not the point, the point is that he called me Mrs. McCord.
(we see that Quint is overhearing this, and he smiles)
(A few moments later)
NOLA: Wait a minute, what difference does it make what I'm wearing?
GRACIE: Well, maybe he saw that you were pregnant, and that's why . .
NOLA: No, no, no, he didn't call me Mrs. because I was pregnant. He called me Mrs., because he thought that I was rich and sophisticated enough to be in this gigantic hotel and be married to the rich and famous Quinton McCord. Isn't that the most incredible thing that you've ever heard of?
(Quint enters the room where Nola is)
(A few moments later)
NOLA: Gracie, look, I love talking to you, but this is costing a lot of money.
GRACIE: Oh, I didn't think that the Mrs. Quinton R. McCord had to worry about things like that?
NOLA: Yeah, but Nola Reardon does, and after all the money I spent today . . . Gracie the stores were so gorgeous out here.
GRACIE: Oh, I'll bet. I can't wait to see all the stuff you got for yourself
NOLA: Look, I didn't buy presents for myself, I saw some really cute things for the baby, so I bought that. Then I saw this really great hat for Mr. McCord, so I bought that.
GRACIE: Well, that's nice. Well, gee, I hope you didn't get me anything, Nola.
NOLA: Well it's too late, Gracie, cause I already bought you something.
GRACIE: Well, I hope you didn't spend a lot of money.
NOLA: Well, I'm not going to tell you. Look, don't you buy me anything.
GRACIE: Well, I already did, but when am I going to get to give it to you? Will you be home for Christmas?
NOLA; Yeah, I don't know depends on if Mr. McCord finishes his business meetings and stuff, but I hope so, cause I really miss you, and I miss mom, and I want to be home for the holidays.
GRACIE: Well, I better hang up before you have me crying. Besides, I have to get back to my bleach job or my customer's hair is going to fall out and I'll get sued for Christmas.
NOLA: Okay Gracie, I'll talk to you soon . . . Bye bye.
(Quint acts like he just walked in room, and Nola turns around and gets out of chair.)
NOLA: Oh, hi Mr. McCord, did you just get back from your business meeting?
QUINT: Oh, a few minutes ago. I see you're on quite a shopping tour.
NOLA: Yeah, I did. I think I got a little carried away, but the stores were so gorgeous, and the sales help was so helpful.
QUINT: Well, as long as you enjoyed yourself.
NOLA: (happily) Oh, I had a wonderful time.
QUINT: Nola, I have some news, and I hope you're not too disappointed.
NOLA: What's that?
QUINT: Well, something's come up, and we have to go back to Springfield tomorrow morning.
NOLA: (excited): Really?
QUINT: You don't mind?
NOLA: No, of course I don't mind, it's like you're a psychic or something. I think it's kind of neat just coming out here for a few days of shopping, last minute shopping and then (sings) I'll be home for Christmas.
(Quint is charmed.)
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
