 Sumner Sloan, Diane s ex-fiancé and old English professor, tells her that he submitted one of her old unfinished novels to an editor at a publishing house, the editor who sees promise in it and sees the possibility of it being published. Diane hasn t yet finished it, in fact she hasn t written anything since she started working at Cheers. Sam secretly overhears their conversation, and thinks that their impending wedding may be holding back Diane in her writing career, something she s always wanted. He tries to talk her into postponing the wedding to finish her novel. She in turn suggests that they get married that night at the bar instead of waiting for their original wedding date. Sam daydreams about himself and Diane in old age together, she having forgone her writing career. The picture is a happy one, and back in reality, he agrees to Diane s request to get married that evening. With the exception of the guys at the bar betting on them actually going through with it and Carla s wailing at the prospect of Sam marrying Diane, the wedding is going smoothly until a phone call comes through for Diane: the publisher has decided to publish her novel and give her a huge advance to finish it. Despite Diane saying "I do", she is obviously distracted. Just before they are announced man and wife, Sam calls it off, as he doesn t want to be the person standing in the way of the one thing she really is good at and which she loves doing. He convinces her. This is only supposed to be a six-month postponement of the wedding while she finishes her book, but Sam knows he is saying goodbye to Diane for good.