Speaking of that airline flight, Paul is supposed to go with Pete to a convention in L.A., to seek out client contacts at an aeronautics convention of some kind. They want to get ahead of Kennedy’s promise to put a man on the moon and help the government “sell” that idea in some way. Paul was apparently supposed to go to Mississippi with his girlfriend at the same time to register voters, and she’s furious that he’s blowing it off. You can see Paul’s more excited for the West Coast trip. And who better to break it to him than our lovely Miss Holloway that Don will be taking his place at the last minute? You see, Don thought he and Betty having a silent, late-night encounter at her parents’ house was a reconciliation. When she froze him out and sent him away upon their return home (“You don’t like grieving”, she told him), he clearly decided to cut and run…to California. And Joan, whom he told to tell Paul the news in a memo, seized the moment to embarrass Paul in front of the guys for the way he’s acted towards her instead. Love it. It seemed like not being in the know about Harry’s baby shower–or even knowing the name of the receptionist these days (“Hi, Donna!” “It’s Allison.”)–were wake up calls to him to get his head back in the game or risk being eased out sooner than later.
