I’d finished my Twins script for The Littles and was about to take it to Jean’s condo when Lori Crawford called. When I told her I’d finished the script, she said, “Bring it to me. I’ll give it to Jean. He’s going out of town with Andy.”

Curiosity piqued by her brief phone call, I arrived at the studio to feel a different vibe. It wasn’t something I could put my hands on, but it was in the air. I’m a keen observer of human nature. It’s part of my stock-in-trade. It didn’t take me long to realize there were some people here who knew what was going on and others that didn’t. As I walked past Jeff Wernick’s office, DIC’s in-house attorney offered a friendly smile. I smiled back. Legal Affairs was in on it.

I saw Andy sitting in Jean’s glassed on office. Jean glanced at me and said something to Andy. Andy turned to look at me, his face expressionless. I reminded myself not to ever get into a poker game with him. It was no surprise that the heads of the studio knew what was happening.

I walked into Lori's office and handed her my script. She was busier than usual, her words clipped, telling me she didn’t have a lot of time, that she had other things on her plate. She was in on whatever was happening.

When I said I was going to start working on the treatments for my next two Littles’ episodes she said, “Hold off on that.”

My heart fell.