Down the Middle

A 65th birthday party for Rex (Tom Bergeron) - Aurora’s father, Karen’s boss - turns out to be a surprise retirement party, creating an unlikely partnership between Karen and Aurora who are not happy with the arrangement.

Having discovered her enthusiasm for their new partnership, Aurora hijacks Karen for a working lunch where they run into Mark (James Lesure), the handsome owner of Sagestone Brewery as well as a former client, and Karen is smitten.

Aurora arrives late to work (again) and reveals that she has planned a drinks meeting with Mark (James Lesure) for the brewery that night! Karen is furious about the lack of prep time, prompting Aurora to introduce Karen to a new communication method, NVC, but that proves ineffective when Aurora, Karen and Herschel show up for the meeting with Mark.

Karen wakes up hungover, realizing her best friend, Teri the cat, is missing. What happened last night? She calls the office only to learn that Aurora has taken the entire staff to the park for a guided meditation AND has set a pitch meeting with Mark (James Lesure) on Friday - only 72 hours away!

Karen arrives at work the next day, greeted by Aurora who tries to give an off-the-cuff practice pitch for Mark (James Lesure), only proving that they are in big trouble for Friday. Later, Karen arrives home to find a pet psychic on her porch, hired by Aurora to help find Teri. But she ends up teaching Karen an important lesson about Aurora, sending Karen out the door to Aurora’s with a revelation and an apology.

Now committed to their partnership, Karen and Aurora create a campaign for the brewery. The team shows up to pitch Mark (James Lesure) and find his tough as nails ex-wife, Beverly (Leonora Pitts), there to weigh in, too. The pitch is a success, but as the team celebrates, they discover that a critical piece of the campaign hasn't been budgeted, putting the account at risk, again!