Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by
Ned Benson
Rough Draft
EXT. 12TH STREET AND AVENUE B, EAST VILLAGE, NEW YORK CITY -
A COUPLE SUMMERS AGO - NIGHT
HIPSTER GIRL
(as she passes)
...Yeah, but what if what you feel
is wrong?
ELEANOR
And?
CONOR
Would you still love me if I
couldn’t pay for dinner?
ELEANOR
Possibly.
CONOR
So, how do we do this?
ELEANOR
I’m thinking.
After a second...
CONOR
(quietly)
We could fake a big loud fight,
throw some shit, they kick us out
of here.
ELEANOR
It’s been done...It’ll draw too
much attention.
She leans over, reaching, and starts to take off her shoes
under the table...
CONOR
What are you doing?
ELEANOR
(matter of fact)
Taking off my heels...I’m gonna
walk out first. You wait for the
right moment when the Maitre D’s
not looking...or whenever, and I’ll
meet you down the street.
CONOR
Hold on...
3.
Too late.
Then the Maitre D’ passes back to the front and Conor remains
at the table, forced to look for the right moment.
VOICE (O.S.)
Sir. Excuse me, sir...?
Conor turns and sees A WAITER behind him indicating the bill
in his hand...
The Maitre D’ glances and notices with the phone still to his
ear...
CONOR
Thank you.
Conor turns ahead and sees Eleanor, her heels dangling from
her hands by her skirt, strolling barefoot further down the
street...
CONOR
Hey!
ELEANOR
(to herself, referring to
the fact that he’s been
busted)
Oh fucker.
She starts into a run down the block ahead of him...Then she
cuts through the middle of traffic on Avenue B to the other
side of the street.
ELEANOR
(out of breath)
You look like an idiot when you
run.
He does.
CONOR
(panting)
Thanks.
Conor looks over his shoulder and then turns into the park.
Eleanor follows him onto the asphalt path...It’s darker in
the park away from the street lights.
Conor then veers off the path between some benches onto a
grassy quad (in order to cut through the park more easily)
not realizing it’s wet, probably from the sprinklers...he
slips, slides, takes a good piece of grassy sod with him, and
lands with a rather dramatic and hard thud on the wet
ground...
ELEANOR
Baby...baby, are you okay?
Conor groans.
CONOR
...I’m dying.
Eleanor pants...
5.
ELEANOR
It was pretty epic, though.
CONOR
Did we lose them?
ELEANOR
I don’t know...did they even chase
us?
She collapses to the ground and lies down next to him as they
still try to catch their breath...
After a moment...
CONOR
This is pretty good, isn’t it?
ELEANOR
Yeah...it is.
She turns and looks at him a beat, then moves in and starts
to kiss him...he stops a moment...
CONOR
(half teasing, close to
catching his breath)
There’s only one heart in this
body, have mercy on me...
ELEANOR
Shut up.
CONOR
What the fuck are we listening to?
ALEXIS
The soundtrack of my life.
CONOR
That’s nice. Change it before I go
dive off a bridge.
ALEXIS
Something you’d rather listen to?
CONOR
(without acknowledging
her)
Anything that doesn’t make me want
to kill myself.
ALEXIS
It’s just a song, Conor.
CONOR
No, it’s a reflection of your
stable instability...
7.
She’s used to this, smirks, and steps over to the D.J. booth
to change the song.
ALEXIS
You’ve developed a real talent for
being an asshole.
CONOR
Well, some day you can to.
STUART
What are you getting pissy about
now?
CONOR
There’s the compassion I was
waiting for.
STUART
I’m here to help.
CONOR
(reacting to the song)
Seriously Alexis.
CONOR (CONT’D)
It’s not fucking funny.
ALEXIS
(competing with the
volume)
It’s kind of funny.
Conor stands up, walks over to the ersatz D.J. booth, and
rips the iPod out of its adapter socket...
Then he walks to the entrance, opens the door, and flings the
thing as hard as he can down the street...
8.
ALEXIS
That was yours...just so you know.
STUART
(a bit concerned)
Maybe you should take a stroll, go
home for a bit before the rush.
CONOR
We don’t have a rush and I’ve got
too much fucking crap to deal with.
I’m getting fucked by interest
rates, the leasing agent’s trying
to crawl up my ass, the expense of
your organic produce is exorbitant,
Brooklyn Lager hasn’t shown up, and
please don’t use the word “should”
in my vicinity. Ever.
STUART
Finished?
CONOR
All I asked for was some happy
music.
STUART
You’re full of shit in a really
good way.
CONOR
I’m gonna take a stroll.
STUART
Be careful. It’s a dangerous world
out there.
9.
CONOR
Apparently.
He drops his bag and the mail on the floor and walks through
the living room filled by a bland couch and a coffee table
littered by a few text books, a book bag leaning against it,
an ashtray, a scented candle, some Village Voices, a Beatles’
“Revolver” poster hangs on the wall, all under a small old
crystal chandelier probably passed down by family.
10.
CONOR
Hello Ralph.
ELEANOR
(muffled from under the
covers)
What time is it?
CONOR
Five something.
CONOR (CONT’D)
(wondering)
Make it to class today?
ELEANOR
(still muffled)
Uhuh.
A beat.
CONOR
You okay?
ELEANOR
I sort of forgot how to fall asleep
last night.
11.
She starts to sit up and takes the covers off her. She wears
a pair of panties and an NYU t-shirt. Something’s changed in
her face though. She looks worn, gaunt.
ELEANOR
Don’t.
ELEANOR (CONT’D)
I had this bizarre dream that you
were having an affair.
CONOR
(teasing)
How’d you guess?
ELEANOR
I’ve had it four times in the last
month.
CONOR
Who am I having an affair with?
ELEANOR
I can never make out her face...
Some vague girl with dark hair.
CONOR
Maybe it’s you.
ELEANOR
It isn’t.
CONOR
I wouldn’t worry about it too
much...Want to order some food
before I have to head back?
ELEANOR
Maybe you should.
12.
CONOR
Huh?
ELEANOR
Maybe you should go have an affair.
CONOR
What do you mean?
ELEANOR
I don’t know...Things haven’t been
particularly chipper in here.
CONOR
We’re getting by.
ELEANOR
I don’t want to keep tucking things
away, Conor. Pretending all’s well
and good.
CONOR
How did we get from food to this?
ELEANOR
Can you take this seriously for a
second?
CONOR
I don’t really want to take this
seriously for a second.
ELEANOR
It could be a good thing, help
clear the air or at least shake us
up a little bit.
Another ring.
CONOR
How exactly does that clear the
air?
(MORE)
13.
CONOR (cont'd)
Maybe on your planet that works,
but I mean, fucking around isn’t
usually the best way to smooth
things over.
Another ring.
CONOR (CONT’D)
Are you gonna get that?
ELEANOR
You get it if you want.
CONOR
I don’t want to get it.
ELEANOR
It’s probably your dad again.
CONOR
Is that what you want?
ELEANOR
What?
CONOR
To go fuck around?
ELEANOR
I don’t know what I want. No.
CONOR
Jesus...is it?
ELEANOR
(hard)
No.
Conor walks over to her and puts his arms around her, holds
her. She’s unresponsive as they stare over each other’s
shoulders.
CONOR
Are we really doing this badly?
ELEANOR
Conor, it’s been an impossible day
in an impossible month of an
impossible fucking year, so please
don’t ask a retarded question like
that.
She walks out to the little hallway and into the bathroom
leaving Conor standing pensively next to the empty space she
left behind.
Conor puts the coffee and bag down on a coffee table in front
of the man, and stands there, still unnoticed...
15.
CONOR
What’s the paper saying today?
SPENCER
Apparently everyone’s going to die
of something.
CONOR
I heard about that.
SPENCER
I can’t keep up with all this shit.
The ice caps keep melting,
something exploded in Baghdad, the
Democrats are a bunch of pussies,
bird flu, Richard Serra’s opening
at the MoMA, supposedly lime green
is the hot color for spring, the
stupid Knicks lost again...My head
feels like it’s about to burst.
CONOR
You could try reading without the
music or the T.V...or both.
SPENCER
I can’t stand the silence.
CONOR
(moving on)
I brought you a latte.
16.
SPENCER
I think my memory might be
evaporating.
CONOR
(ignoring him)
They were out of bran muffins, so I
got you a blueberry.
SPENCER
I despise blueberries.
CONOR
(dry)
You’re in good spirits.
SPENCER
I’m all I can offer...What are you
doing here, anyway?
CONOR
(confused)
You left like ten messages saying
you needed to talk.
SPENCER
Told you. Evaporating. Time’s
rubbing me out.
CONOR
Where’s Sylvie?
SPENCER
Who?
He knows who.
CONOR
That obnoxious French woman you
married.
17.
SPENCER
She wanted a change of scenery.
CONOR
When did that happen?
SPENCER
I don’t know...two weeks ago.
CONOR
Wow.
SPENCER
I try not to get emotional about
these things. It helps me stay
objective.
CONOR
That’s one way of doing it.
SPENCER
I do much better alone anyway.
No he doesn’t.
CONOR
Okay.
CONOR (CONT’D)
Why am I here?
SPENCER
I need a new manager to run the
place...
CONOR
(quickly)
No.
SPENCER
Will you let me finish?
18.
CONOR
I like my little spot. We do fine.
SPENCER
You’re better than that.
CONOR
I’m not up for this conversation
right now.
SPENCER
I didn’t furnish you with a six
figure education to run some pop
stand. I’m offering you a real
restaurant...
CONOR
I don’t need the help, dad.
SPENCER
If you got the strings...I’m trying
to do something for you, you
schmuck.
CONOR
Well, now that you put it that
way...
SPENCER
Oh, fuck off.
CONOR
Look, I’m not sure exactly where
I’m going, but I’ll get there on
time.
SPENCER
Whatever let’s you sleep.
She notices the water taxi passing by on the river and then
turns west up Rivington Street.
ELDERLY MAN
...I’ve got no regrets about it.
ELDERLY WOMAN
Well, that’s your problem.
After they pass, Eleanor takes a few more steps and leans the
bike against the railing.
THE GUY
Hey!?
CONOR
El...? You here...?
He goes over to feed Ralph his fish food and watches him
surface for the little flakes...
CONOR
Hello?
CONOR
Eleanor Ludlow’s room, please.
RECEPTIONIST
Room 2010. Second floor.
He leans down next to her, pushes her hair out of her face...
CONOR
(attempting levity)
I figured you would’ve gone for the
Brooklyn Bridge.
Nothing.
CONOR (CONT’D)
(lovingly)
What the hell are you doing, El?
Again nothing.
CONOR (CONT’D)
I can’t stand the silence so please
just say something.
After a second...
ELEANOR
(softly)
I can’t do this anymore.
CONOR
You can’t do what?
ELEANOR
I’m not going back to that
apartment. Ever.
22.
CONOR
Okay.
ELEANOR
Some days everything seems okay,
you know, but then I hit the
afternoon and it all goes to shit.
CONOR
I know...I mean, I don’t know, but
we’ll move. We can go where ever
you want.
ELEANOR
I think you should spend some time
on your own.
CONOR
What?
ELEANOR
I think we should take a break.
CONOR
What do you mean “a break”?
ELEANOR
Don’t be stupid...I’ve been
thinking about it for a while.
CONOR
(dry)
Since you survived a jump off a
bridge this morning?
ELEANOR
(harder)
Yes..., and for a couple months
before that.
CONOR
I guess I’m noticing things less
than I used to.
23.
ELEANOR
I guess so.
CONOR
No fucking way!
ELEANOR
This can be pretty easy, Conor.
We’re still on the young side, and
there’s more than a lot we haven’t
done...there’s all the scattered
scenery to see. I’ve never been
anywhere, and I feel like I’ve been
holding my breath for so long,
waiting for something grand to
happen so I can forget the loss you
suppose you share with me.
CONOR
Okay...so let’s get the hell out of
here, we’ll get a place outside the
city, or go to Paris, or trek
through Mongolia or wherever...
ELEANOR
(stopping him)
Conor.
CONOR
God damn it, El. You’ve been the
star of my life story since the
second I first saw you...Don’t pick
up and bail on me.
ELEANOR
Please be cool about this.
CONOR
Be cool? How do you expect me to
react?! Gee, El, that sounds
fuckin’ dandy, yeah let’s call it
quits, seems reasonable in the
grand scheme of the last seven
years of my life.
ELEANOR
No..., but I’m just some other
girl. I’ll age just like the rest
of them. You won’t miss me.
CONOR
What?!
He thinks...
CONOR (CONT’D)
So we’re just gonna fizzle into
some memory?
ELEANOR
I don’t know.
CONOR
You can’t forget what you want to
forget, El.
ELEANOR
Then I’ll distract myself.
He’s at a loss.
ELEANOR (CONT’D)
I’ll spare telling you that it’s
all for the best, that I only mean
well and all that crap cause I
don’t really think that...
CONOR
What the hell do you think then?
ELEANOR
The only way I can guess how to do
any of this is if I start from
scratch...alone...try some other
version of myself.
CONOR
There’s no scratch, Eleanor. Life
kind of sticks around.
ELEANOR
Maybe, but this is what I want.
CONOR
What if what you want is wrong?
She looks up at him trying to find the guy she thought she
used to know...
25.
ELEANOR
Where have you been, Conor...?
Where the fuck have you been for
the last six months...? Why does it
feel like I’ve had to do this all
alone?
CONOR
I don’t know...I’ve been here with
you.
He knows he hasn’t.
ELEANOR
Let me do this, Conor. Please? I’m
not asking you to understand, but
if you actually care about me, let
me do this..., don’t call my
parents, don’t call a shrink, don’t
fight me. Just let me disappear for
a while.
CONOR
So, what happens now?
ELEANOR
You walk out the door.
CONOR
And then?
ELEANOR
I don’t know...You’ll figure it
out.
Conor rests on his side sunken into the couch. He stares over
at the Yankees game on their crappy, obsolete television.
It buzzes again.
CONOR
(skeptical)
Hi.
CONOR
(calmly)
How did you get this address?
CONOR
(dry)
D’you think if I fall to my knees,
everything will turn out all right?
CONOR
(calmly)
What the fuck do I have to explain?
27.
CONOR
You know how many of you assholes
we’ve had to deal with over the
last couple months?
CONOR
I’d appreciate it if you’d fuck
off, thank you.
STUART
Brutal.
STUART (CONT’D)
I’m pretty sure she wants you to go
after her.
CONOR
No she doesn’t.
28.
STUART
Maybe give her a couple days, then
go after her.
CONOR
(irritated)
Stu.
After a moment...
STUART
(as delicate as possible)
I guess it was about time, though,
right?.
CONOR
Will you shut the fuck up?!
STUART
I’m just trying to help you feel
better. I don’t know what the hell
to say. What do you say to that?
CONOR
Don’t say anything. Just have a
drink and let’s talk about the
weather.
ALEXIS
The dude at table two says he’s
gonna kick your ass if he doesn’t
get his chicken satay soon.
STUART
Tell him he can suck my balls.
ALEXIS
Might go over better if you tell
him yourself.
CONOR
I’ll deal with it.
SIA
We’re out of beer.
Conor stops and surveys the place: Table two’s OCCUPANTS, all
in their twenties, A DISAFFECTED GUY WITH LONGISH HAIR, A
TALL LANKY GUY WITH A SOUL PATCH AND A BASEBALL CAP, A PUDGY
GUY WITH A CREW CUT, AND A GIRL WITH BANGS, look like they’re
in an indie rock band, and attempt coolness to the point it
pisses you off with their funky t-shirts, tatoos, and trendy
jackets. They sit toward the front of the bar in heavy
conversation.
The longish haired guy, who threw the ice cube, shoots Conor
a look and a questioning gesture with open hands.
CONOR
(over the music)
What’s your problem?
CONOR
Your problem? What is it?
CONOR
It’ll be here, guy.
CONOR
It’s coming...(adding) and I’d
appreciate it if you didn’t
threaten my chef.
CONOR
I said don’t threaten my chef,
asshole, or I’ll drop kick you out
the fucking door...You’ll get your
food when it’s God damn good and
ready.
CONOR
Not that I know of.
The guy stands and looks at him squarely. ONE OF HIS FRIENDS,
the TALL LANKY GUY in a “Where the Wild Things Are” t-shirt,
reaches to calm him.
CONOR (CONT’D)
Sit down.
The long haired guy shoves him, and with that, Conor takes
him by the lapels of his trendy jacket and slams him against
the wall...mayhem ensues.
EVERYBODY explodes from TABLE TWO and rushes into the clumsy
scuffle.
The PUDGY GUY grabs Conor and throws him across the table
knocking over cocktails and shattering glasses...
Sia runs over to try to settle things down, but can’t really
do anything...
Conor gets up from the floor, hurdles toward the pudgy guy,
and is met by the long haired and lanky guys. They pounce on
him, knock him to the floor...
Stuart pops out from the kitchen to find out what the hell’s
going on and sees the dogfight in the middle of the
restaurant.
Conor holds a bar towel full of ice over his left eye...
Alexis sits on the bar next to him, reaches for the towel and
scowls at his black eye beneath it.
SIA
We should probably consider hiring
a bouncer.
CONOR
We can’t afford a bouncer.
STUART
The cops showing up was decent
publicity.
SIA
Yeah, there were like forty
bystanders.
32.
CONOR
I appreciate the optimism.
STUART
Wrong choices can produce right
results.
CONOR
Yeah, and the other way around.
ALEXIS
You sound like my grandparents.
ALEXIS (CONT’D)
Want an Advil or something?
CONOR
You can skip the bogus compassion.
ALEXIS
That’s a bit aggressive.
CONOR
I’m sort of in a shitty mood.
ALEXIS
Well, we’re adapting.
Conor looks to Alexis, at the end of his rope for the day.
CONOR
Everyone get out of here.
CONOR (CONT’D)
Go home. I’ll deal with the rest.
STUART
Are you sure you’re okay to...?
CONOR
(hard)
Good night.
Conor pulls his bag onto his shoulder and locks the front
door of the restaurant...then heads up the sidewalk toward
home...
New York seems empty for the time being and he steps into the
Avenue...
Conor opens the door and steps into the dark apartment. He
puts his bag down then heads to the bedroom.
He turns away and goes back into the living room. He grabs
the phone and dials...It goes directly to a recorded voice...
He hangs up, tosses the phone across the room and it clatters
along the ground.
Conor, unshaven and with his black eye, stands in the musty
off-white stairwell outside his front door with the BUILDING
MANAGER, EZRA, a Hasidic Jew in a suit.
CONOR
...You can’t be serious?
EZRA
Sure I can. I’m not letting you
break the lease without a month’s
notice.
34.
CONOR
That’s ridiculous.
EZRA
Life’s ridiculous...and it’s
contractual.
CONOR
Motherfucker.
EZRA
Watch your mouth.
CONOR
Sorry.
CONOR (CONT’D)
I’m not staying here.
EZRA
How about...you use it as storage?
Pay me the rent, move everything
out in a month.
CONOR
Is that a possibility?
EZRA
I could make an exception.
CONOR
Oh...thanks.
Conor pulls his stuff through the door and puts it down...
Spencer stops mid-bite and looks at his son, with the black
eye and his things, standing in the entry way.
He wipes his mouth on his shirt sleeve and steps out of the
kitchen, taking the temperature of the situation.
CONOR
I thought I could stay here for a
little bit.
SPENCER
Hey Ralph.
SPENCER (CONT’D)
You know where the guest bedroom
is?
CONOR
Yup.
SPENCER
Towels are in the closet in the
hallway...there’s not much in the
fridge. I got some Cheerios.
CONOR
I can get some stuff.
SPENCER
I’ve gotta head to the restaurant.
CONOR
Okay.
36.
SPENCER
Night.
CONOR
Night.
Conor stands there a moment, grabs his duffle bag and hauls
it and the fish bowl up the stairs.
CONOR (O.S.)
...No clue where she is. She turned
off her cell phone service and like
that she’s gone.
STUART
No comment.
CONOR
Knock it off.
STUART
(with a mouthful of food)
I’m invoking my fifth amendment
rights. I pretended to try and be
helpful the other night and look
what happened.
CONOR
I was off balance, but with some
hindsight I think I can deal a bit
better.
STUART
A couple days qualifies as
hindsight?
37.
CONOR
Fuckin’ A, Stu.
STUART
I got nothing for you.
CONOR
I’m asking you a simple question.
You don’t have to dance around it
like you’re gonna hurt my feelings.
STUART
With the exception of my dog, I’ve
never woken up next to someone for
more than three days in a row,
Conor, so I’m not sure how I can
say anything near relevant to your
situation.
CONOR
I opened a restaurant for you,
asshole.
STUART
You opened it for you, and
according to the Village Voice,
it’s “a bar with uninspired food.”
CONOR
Whatever. I fight for its life for
you and I’m incurring the cost of
an extra waitress cause she “looked
at you the right way.”
STUART
I thanked you, didn’t I?
CONOR
I’m not asking for some new agey,
psychoanalytical bullshit. I’m
asking for my friend’s opinion even
if it’s an uninformed piece of
crap.
STUART
(quoting Pat Benatar)
We are young.
(MORE)
38.
STUART (cont'd)
Heartache to heartache, we stand.
No promises no demands...Love is a
battlefield.
CONOR
You’re a fucking idiot.
STUART
I feel like I’m walking on
eggshells...
STUART (CONT’D)
I’ve tried talking to you about
this over the however many months
it’s been, but that hasn’t exactly
flown on multiple occasions...I’m
not really sure how to be your
friend anymore, hasn’t been the
easiest thing...You’re no fucking
picnic. So, I’m just here. I’ll sit
here and just shut the hell up.
CONOR
I asking you now.
Stuart looks down into his coffee cup, on the spot, summoning
the courage...
STUART
To be completely honest, you guys
not making it kind of makes sense
to me...
STUART (CONT’D)
...And anyone who flirts with
extinction i.e. Eleanor, should
probably do what they need to do in
order to get their life in order.
CONOR
Thank you.
39.
STUART
You’re welcome.
CONOR
I don’t want to end up one of those
people who grabs at all the
pointless, trivial crap in life and
let’s all the really important
things slip away.
STUART
So don’t.
STUART (CONT’D)
I saw her on the street the other
day on my way to lunch.
CONOR
Where?!
STUART
Union Square.
CONOR
Did you talk to her?
STUART
Nope, she didn’t see me. I think
she might have been heading to
class. She had her books and all
that.
CONOR
Why didn’t you tell me?!
STUART
Because...well, I just did.
ALEXIS
Whatcha guys talking about?
Sia sits on the bench next to Stuart and leans her back
against him.
STUART
The weather.
Conor sits across the street from the Albert List Academic
Center near 14th Street on Fifth Avenue.
She buttons her green jacket up then slings her shoulder bag
over her head.
When they reach the top of Union Square just past the
Starbucks, she crosses the crosswalk and heads down into the
subway station...
Conor stops a couple yards from the top of the stairs for a
moment and thinks about what he’s doing...
The Velvet Underground’s “Rock & Roll” seeps loudly under the
guest room door.
He heads down the hall until he reaches the den and peers
in...
Spencer folds down his paper, peers over at his son, his
frazzled hair...
SPENCER
I’m not here to approve or
disapprove, just so you know.
CONOR
Huh?
SPENCER
Your mother always gave me crap for
never stepping up to the plate.
CONOR
What?
SPENCER
She thought I never stepped up.
CONOR
What does that have to do with
anything?
SPENCER
You’re a bit like me.
CONOR
(annoyed at the comment)
No...I’m not.
SPENCER
So...what else?
CONOR
We don’t have to keep talking.
SPENCER
You’re the one who came in here.
43.
CONOR
To turn down your stupid music.
SPENCER
(stern)
I like it loud.
CONOR
Okay, let’s not get into a row over
it.
SPENCER
Look, everyday I try to do one
thing that makes me happy, to make
life nice, and usually that’s
listening to my stupid music and
reading the stupid paper. It’s the
best way I’ve found to get along
with myself, so you can head back
to the guest room and count the
raindrops.
CONOR
Count the raindrops?
SPENCER
I’ve never been too good at this
type of thing.
CONOR
What type of thing?
SPENCER
Never mind...
SPENCER (CONT’D)
You shouldn’t consider it your job
to investigate the expanse of
memory called “the past” and judge
what was correct and what wasn’t.
CONOR
What the hell are you talking
about?
44.
SPENCER
You shouldn’t be interested in
regretting things.
CONOR
I’m not.
CONOR
What’s up, Stu?
STUART
I’m looking at her right now.
CONOR
What are you talking about?
STUART
Your wife is ordering a sandwich
across the room from me. Chicken
salad, I think.
CONOR
Are you stalking her or something?
STUART
No. We just happen to enjoy the
same sandwich establishment.
45.
Conor stops.
CONOR
Where are you?
STUART
Cosi. Thirteenth and Broadway...She
just got a lemonade...Conor...?
Hello?
He hung up.
Conor runs full speed down the street weaving his way west
and crosses through 4th Avenue.
TWO NYU GIRLS give him a weird look and crack up as they pass
him on the way out.
He peers around the busy cafe, and then sees Stuart waving at
him with the magazine in his hand.
CONOR
And?
STUART
She left.
CONOR
What do you mean she left?!
STUART
Exactly what it sounds like.
STUART (CONT’D)
I’m confused.
CONOR
So am I.
46.
STUART
You ran over here, but you guys
separated because she needed to
spend the rest of her life away
from you?
CONOR
It was my first reaction.
STUART
What are you doing, Ludlow?
CONOR
I’m not quite sure.
WAITRESS
Are you ever gonna order some food,
cause otherwise I need the table?
CONOR
Yeah, no, I’m just still waiting
for someone.
She walks by with her book bag over her green jacket, and
passes heading down towards the New School.
WAITRESS
Hey! Dude!
CONOR
Right. Sorry.
He reaches into his jeans’ pocket, pulls out some bills and
gives her a few crumpled singles, then he steps onto the
street and looks to the right for Eleanor.
CONOR
(looking back)
Excuse me.
Eleanor turns to look behind her then looks back ahead. The
light turns green and she walks on.
Conor steps into the large sunken tiered space, probably two
hundred seats, almost half filled.
Conor sees Eleanor cross the room as she works her way into a
row of seats.
She gives him a gratuitous grin then stands and moves over a
seat.
PROFESSOR
Let’s do this.
CONOR
(hushed)
Do you have some paper and a pen I
could borrow?
CONOR (CONT’D)
Thanks.
ANALYTICAL GUY
(hushed)
What?!
CONOR
Can you pass this toward that girl
down there?
The guy turns back to him and gives him an “Are you an
idiot?” look.
CONOR (CONT’D)
Please?
Hesitantly, the guy turns and taps THE KOREAN AMERICAN GIRL
diagonally in front of him who gives the analytical guy a
weird look. He refers her to Conor then she gives the look to
him.
Then the bearded guy reaches and taps Eleanor on the shoulder
with the note in his hand.
She turns and looks at him and the note, mildly disgruntled.
She takes the piece of paper and sees her name written on the
front...
It reads “Hi.”
50.
She turns away and sits there a good moment staring ahead...
Then, out of frustration, she shoves her things into her bag,
sidesteps out of her row and makes her way out of the
classroom.
Conor makes his way out of his row and hustles up the stairs
to catch up with her.
CONOR
Hey?
She bursts out the door followed by Conor into the late
afternoon.
CONOR
Hey Rigby!
ELEANOR
What the fuck are you doing?!
CONOR
I barely got a chance to respond to
you the other day before you went
AWOL.
ELEANOR
What did I ask you, Conor?
CONOR
Just let me talk for a second.
ELEANOR
What did I ask you?!
CONOR
Give me a God damned second!
ELEANOR
I’ve given you plenty of seconds!
So do me a favor and please leave
me alone!
CONOR
Fine!
ELEANOR
Conor...!! Shit!
THE UKRAINIAN CABBIE hops out and runs in front of his cab.
He surveys the minimal damage and looks to Conor groaning on
the asphalt.
CABBIE
(accented)
Are you fucking stupid?!!
ELEANOR
Conor...?
52.
Flashing lights...
ELEANOR
(gently, almost teasing,
echoing the taxi driver)
Are you fucking stupid?
CONOR
Pretty much.
She flinches.
CONOR
I thought you needed a change of
scenery?
ELEANOR
I figured I’d spent two years
trying to get my friggin’ Masters,
might as well finish the
thing...get past existence as a
perpetual student first.
CONOR
How are the methods of cultural
criticism?
ELEANOR
They’re fine.
53.
A beat.
CONOR
Where have you been staying?
ELEANOR
None of your business.
ELEANOR (CONT’D)
Is that what you so desperately
needed to say to me?
CONOR
No.
ELEANOR
What was it then?
Another beat.
CONOR
I was gonna say something really
good that would have solved our
problems and made everything all
better, but I’ve forgotten what it
was.
ELEANOR
That’s too bad.
CONOR
Yeah, it is.
After a moment.
ELEANOR
I’m gonna go.
CONOR
I just want some time to talk it
out, El..., and then you can
disappear to wherever it is you
disappear to.
PARAMEDIC
You ready sir?
CONOR
I was born ready.
CONOR (CONT’D)
See you round?
CONOR (CONT’D)
Can I keep stalking you?
ELEANOR
Goodbye, Conor.
CONOR
(into phone)
...No...You don’t have to candy
coat it, just get to the point,
please...Well, is there any way for
me to bootstrap it...? How about
like negotiating a trade credit on
some of the operating expenses...?
Come on, throw me a bone...You
gotta be fucking kidding me...?
(MORE)
55.
CONOR (cont'd)
I don’t have one written at the
moment, no...That’s just
glorious...No, no, I understand,
I’ll go play the fuckin’ lottery.
(aside) Fuck me!
CONOR
Sorry.
CONOR (CONT’D)
No, no, not you...Yes...I get it, I
get it...How long do I have...?
Fine... Let me call you tomorrow
and we’ll work out the logistics...
yeah...Sure.
CONOR (CONT’D)
(to himself)
Unreal.
He puts the phone in his pocket and walks off toward his bar.
Stuart puts on his coat and gives Sia a nod toward the door
or the international sign for “let’s get the hell out of here
and go back to my place.”
STUART
It’s been real, everyone.
ALEXIS
No, it hasn’t.
56.
CONOR
Oww.
STUART
Slow night.
CONOR
A couple people came in to use the
bathroom.
STUART
How we doing?
CONOR
Aside from officially being an
endangered species? Not too good.
STUART
Can you translate that for me?
CONOR
Friday’s the only night we’re
pulling in any cash. I’ve been late
on bills...We’re not covering the
overhead.
STUART
I see.
A couple seconds...
CONOR
You got a plan B?
STUART
Burger King.
CONOR
Seriously.
STUART
Um, can we not do this right now?
CONOR
Do I actually have a choice?
STUART
No.
STUART (CONT’D)
I believe.
CONOR
In what?
STUART
A higher power...can you hear it?
CONOR
Not at the moment.
SIA
Later.
ALEXIS
I’ve got a plan B.
CONOR
(ignoring her)
You can go home now.
She walks over and sits down on a chair next to Conor. She
looks at the scribbling on the accounting spreadsheets on the
table...then at him.
ALEXIS
I’m applying to Law School.
CONOR
Why would you do that?
ALEXIS
Seems more impressive than pouring
drinks, and given everything that’s
going on here and now, I figured
I’d throw in my two cents.
58.
CONOR
Mend the nation’s wounds?
ALEXIS
You can’t just shrug everything
off.
CONOR
Sure you can.
She gives him a wry grin, shakes her head at his pessimism...
CONOR (CONT’D)
What happened to your life in the
arts?
ALEXIS
I’ll probably faze it into a Sunday
afternoon hobby kind of thing...and
I think it’s sort of indecent to
have things so worked out, that
they wind up like you thought they
would.
ALEXIS (CONT’D)
You gonna be okay?
CONOR
Probably.
ALEXIS
We’re living in a world full of
probablys.
CONOR
Yes we are.
ALEXIS
Well, I’m a decent listener if you
ever want to talk about whatever.
CONOR
Talking about whatever’s overrated.
I prefer to let things stew inside
me and then have the occasional
violent outburst.
59.
CONOR (CONT’D)
Why’d you do that?
ALEXIS
Just seemed like the next
interesting thing to do.
CONOR
I’m sort of married.
ALEXIS
Yeah...well, I don’t mind.
CONOR
I kind of mind.
ALEXIS
Nobody’s looking.
CONOR
Maybe in some other life.
He leans away...
CONOR
Stop it.
ALEXIS
When’s the last time you had a
proper shagging?
She steps over his chair and sits on his lap facing him. He
doesn’t stop her.
CONOR
I can already taste the regret.
60.
ALEXIS
Stop thinking. It’s not healthy.
CONOR
Alexis.
ALEXIS
Yes?
CONOR
Tomorrow’s going to be awkward.
ALEXIS
Probably.
Conor, dark circles under his eyes, walks under the tree
canopy on Bank Street, squinting into the sidewalk ahead of
him.
Conor walks into the guest room and looks up to see Spencer
sitting on one of the beds, unshaven, dishevelled...
SPENCER
You look like shit.
CONOR
Thanks.
A beat.
CONOR (CONT’D)
What are you doing in here?
SPENCER
Um...I came in to check on things.
He says nothing, walks over and peers down into the glass
bowl at the dead goldfish...he reaches his hand in and lifts
him up in his palm to make sure...he sets him back in the
water...then he takes a seat on the twin bed across from his
father.
SPENCER (CONT’D)
I was gonna feed him.
CONOR
Fuckin’ Ralph.
CONOR (CONT’D)
He’s not supposed to give up on me
that quickly.
CONOR (CONT’D)
(quietly)
Stupid fish.
SPENCER
I got him for Jack.
CONOR
(hard)
I know that...
After a second...
62.
CONOR (CONT’D)
What’s a two month old baby
supposed to do with a fucking fish?
Not only were we dealing with dirty
diapers, but we had to look after
this fucking thing.
SPENCER
What do we do with him?
They walk across the Hudson River Drive and into the
manicured park on the edge of the river looking over at New
Jersey.
SOME PEOPLE walk their dogs. SOME read on benches. SOME take
a stroll.
His father walks next to him, squinting somberly into the sun
ahead.
CONOR
Is something wrong with you?
SPENCER
Most likely...Why do you ask?
CONOR
All the reflective talk the other
night was a tad weird.
SPENCER
I suppose I’d hit the sauce a
little hard.
CONOR
You’re not dying or something, are
you?
63.
SPENCER
Not that I know of...
SPENCER (CONT’D)
I forgot my name the other day,
though.
CONOR
What do you mean?
SPENCER
I was in Starbucks ordering a
coffee and the guy behind the
counter said, “Your name, sir?” And
I just stood there stuck in a
blank. No idea who I was for a good
minute until all I could do was
walk out.
CONOR
I’m sure that happens to a lot of
people.
SPENCER
I’m on my way to senior
citizenship.
CONOR
Yeah, that sucks.
SPENCER
On a clear day, I can actually see
the end of my life staring me in
the face, heckling me.
CONOR
See, that’s weird.
SPENCER
Seriously, it’s fucking bizarre.
You turn the corner of your street
one day, everything’s changed and
you barely noticed it happen...It’s
all been sucked away into some
cosmic vacuum cleaner...
64.
SPENCER (CONT’D)
You’re the same age I was when you
were born. That’s absurd.
CONOR
Where are you going with this?
SPENCER
I’m not going anywhere with it. My
slut of a wife left me gathering
dust on the couch and all of a
sudden the only thing I’ve left to
do is nothing.
CONOR
Well, that’s what you get for
marrying a woman half your age.
SPENCER
Fuck you.
CONOR
(calmly)
No, fuck you. Don’t lay this owner
of the lonely heart bullshit on me.
She’s just another in a long line
of arm candy that I’ve watched you
plough through over the seventeen
or however many years it’s been
since you got tired of my mother.
It was pretty inevitable you’d age
out of it.
SPENCER
Do you think I enjoy feeling like
an asshole?
CONOR
It kind of seems like it.
A beat.
SPENCER
You know, I was warming up to try
to tell you something nice.
65.
CONOR
What would that be?
SPENCER
We all know a little something
about sadness or grief or whatever
you want to call it.
CONOR
Yeah, well, I wanted less of it.
CONOR (CONT’D)
How’s that nice?
SPENCER
There’s this new thing called
empathy.
CONOR
Just because I’m crashing with you
doesn’t mean we all of sudden have
to become pals.
SPENCER
No, it doesn’t...
SPENCER (CONT’D)
(making an attempt)
Have you talked to her at all?
CONOR
(seeing through him)
No.
CONOR (CONT’D)
Shall we do this?
SPENCER
Do we say a couple words for
closure’s sake?
CONOR
Does that really ever close
anything?
SPENCER
No.
Conor holds the box containing Ralph over the Hudson and then
let’s it drop. It falls and falls and lands with a smack on
the river below.
Conor squeezes his way off the subway through the crowd and
makes his way quickly through the station.
MARY
(with a remnant English
accent)
Sorry...I wasn’t expecting you.
CONOR
No, no...I wasn’t expecting me
either.
She steps out and gives him a hesitant hug, which he didn’t
anticipate, but appreciates nonetheless...
MARY
Hi.
CONOR
Hi...Is Eleanor here?
MARY
No...umm...no.
Conor deflates...
CONOR
Is she staying here?
Mary looks at him, not knowing whether to tell him or not for
Eleanor’s sake, then she defers with a discreet shrug.
CONOR (CONT’D)
Okay then...sorry to barge in on
you.
MARY
You want to come in for a second?
CONOR
Would that be alright?
68.
Mary Rigby, Eleanor’s mother, walks in the room and hands him
a glass of water while holding onto a glass of red wine, then
sits in an adjacent chair, looking at him and still unsure
how to behave toward him. A slight sternness hangs in her
expression.
CONOR
Thank you.
MARY
Sure you don’t want a glass of
wine?
CONOR
I probably shouldn’t get started.
CONOR (CONT’D)
Can I ask how’s she doing?
MARY
I don’t know to be completely
honest...as good as she can be?
CONOR
Do I seem like a different person
to you?
MARY
Do you feel like a different
person?
CONOR
Kind of.
MARY
You look the same to me...
MARY (CONT’D)
You know I didn’t like you when
Eleanor first brought you out here
for dinner...however long ago it
was...Jesus, how long ago was it?
CONOR
Seven years.
MARY
Yeah, you sat there, in the exact
same spot seven years ago with a
glass of water cause you were too
afraid to have a drink in front of
me; this obnoxiously perfect kid
who ran off with my daughter’s
attention...
CONOR
Why are you telling me this?
MARY
I’m not sure. Just thinking out
loud, I suppose...I was looking at
you just now and feeling
old...well, older...
After a second.
MARY (CONT’D)
You grew on me, though.
CONOR
(moving on)
Look, I don’t want to interfere
with your life or with what she
needs to do, but I can’t just chalk
this one up to destiny...
CONOR (CONT’D)
I walked on with my life cause I
thought moving on was the best way
to go.
MARY
I guess people grieve differently.
CONOR
(trying to smother any
hint of emotion)
I really have no interest in
feeling like this.
CONOR (CONT’D)
I’d love there to be an
appropriate, articulate thing to
say...I just wanted the mundane
daily bullshit back instead of
reminding people of what nobody can
stand to be reminded about.
MARY
I assume Eleanor wanted something
else.
CONOR
Yeah...I assume.
MARY
And there’s nothing appropriate
about any of this.
Eleanor walks across the platform, lugging her book bag, but
Conor, in his daze, doesn’t notice her as she disappears down
the stairs.
STUART (O.S.)
Why do you have to be such a
stubborn asshole?!
Conor bursts into the kitchen with a meat and produce spread
sheet on a clipboard followed by Stuart.
CONOR
Because I feel like it.
STUART
Your father’s a culinary maverick,
essentially the Mick Jagger of the
restaurant game. You’ve got carte
blanche into a three star Michelin
world, you lucky fucker! Pull your
head out of your ass! All it takes
is a phone call to save us and you
want to drown with the ninety
percent of restaurants that fail in
this bitch of a city?
CONOR
Stu.
STUART
How did he do it?
CONOR
Huh?
72.
STUART
How’d your dad make it? Why don’t
you at least take a play from his
book?
CONOR
He married my mother.
STUART
What do you mean?
CONOR
She gave him the money her family
left her, helped him open his first
successful restaurant then he
dropped her like a bad habit. So,
go find some loaded, lonely woman
and we’ll go from there.
STUART
Well...
CONOR
I’d rather fail catastrophically on
my own than give him the
satisfaction of thinking he handed
me life on a platter.
STUART
That’s the stupidest thing in the
history of stupid things I’ve ever
heard.
CONOR
Jesus, Stu. What the hell do you
think’s gonna happen? Hey dad, can
my friends come work with me
too...? It’s not like a fucking
slumber party and as decent a cook
you are...
STUART
(interrupting)
I’m a chef, actually.
CONOR
Fine...You don’t exactly cut it in
those kitchens. No offense.
STUART
Oh, none taken.
More pots and pans clatter and clang as the scuffle goes on
in the background.
STUART (O.S.)
You stupid...!
Alexis, behind the bar, and Sia, setting tables, hear them
and look toward the commotion in the kitchen.
STUART (O.S.)
Oww...fucker!!
Then silence...
ALEXIS
We’re not open quite yet.
CONOR
(huffing)
You okay?
STUART
(also huffing)
I was number three in my class at
the New York School of Culinary
Arts, motherfucker.
CONOR
(through breaths)
I know that, moron...I loved our
little set up here, but the lease
has gotten prohibitively expensive.
(MORE)
74.
CONOR (cont'd)
Unless you want to camp out in the
kitchen.
STUART
I’ll buy the sleeping bags.
CONOR
It’s time to let it go. Time to
grow up.
STUART
I am grown up.
STUART (CONT’D)
When do we have to close?
CONOR
End of next week.
STUART
Can we try to promote one last
banger before we lock it down?
CONOR
Fine by me.
STUART
Can we abuse some heavy narcotics?
CONOR
Whatever honks your horn.
STUART
Sorry.
CONOR
Blow me.
Stuart steps out behind Conor and sees her across from
Alexis...
STUART
Holy shit.
ELEANOR
Good to see you too, Stuart.
STUART
What I meant was hi, Rigby.
ELEANOR
Uhuh.
STUART
Well, this has been nice, like old
times, reconnecting and all that,
but I’m gonna head back into the
kitchen.
ALEXIS
I’ll join you.
Alexis quickly walks out from behind the bar, avoiding eye
contact, and follows Stuart into the kitchen.
Conor walks behind the bar and stands across from Eleanor, at
a loss for words for a couple seconds, then...
CONOR
A Shirley Temple?
ELEANOR
Please.
CONOR
Your money’s no good here.
She looks at him and puts it away, sips from the straw.
ELEANOR
Business good?
CONOR
We’re closing.
ELEANOR
Sorry to hear that.
CONOR
Me too.
ELEANOR
So what’s next?
CONOR
I was thinking of developing some
interests that people might
actually take an interest in.
ELEANOR
You gonna work with your dad?
CONOR
You know, before you, I had no
fucking clue who I was. When I was
with you, I thought I’d figured it
out...Now, I’m back to wondering.
ELEANOR
When you figure it out again, tell
me how.
She looks at him, his bruises, the circles under his eyes,
deadpan.
ELEANOR (CONT’D)
Let’s get out of here.
77.
CONOR
What?
ELEANOR
Let’s go.
CONOR
Like, right now?
ELEANOR
That was the idea.
CONOR
Umm...
ELEANOR
I don’t believe in wasting time.
He looks back at her and then walks out from behind the bar.
She takes another sip of her Shirley Temple, stands and walks
toward the door.
CONOR
So, we’re just gonna drive
aimlessly?
ELEANOR
Yes.
ATTENDANT
Don’t forget to fill it up before
dropping it off.
CONOR
Will do.
No radio. No talk.
The sun’s descending and light sneaks through some heavy rain
clouds that are moving in. You’d have never thought the pike
could look beautiful with it’s industrial accents and
adjacent wetlands.
After a moment...
ELEANOR
Makes you want to applaud.
CONOR
Huh?
ELEANOR
The sunset.
CONOR
Oh...yeah. Pretty.
She looks over at him, confused and maybe annoyed, then flips
on the radio and tunes through the fuzziness past some smooth
jazz, a commercial, some Hip Hop, Phil Collins, and settling
on something totally depressing like Roxy Music.
ELEANOR
What are you doing?
CONOR
I can’t listen to that right now.
ELEANOR
Well, suck it up.
It’s pouring...
CONOR
I can’t see a fucking thing.
ELEANOR
So pull over.
A thunderclap...
CONOR
God damn it!
Conor pulls the car over to the shoulder, puts on the hazard
lights, looks out the window for the right moment...
80.
Cars and trucks roar by, spraying rainwater off the highway.
He tries the wipers again and they make the same awful
squeaky noise without really clearing the windshield.
CONOR
Fucker!
CONOR (CONT’D)
Of course we get the car with the
retarded wipers.
ELEANOR
Should we just wait it out?
CONOR
I don’t know...We could try and
make it to the next exit.
ELEANOR
What’s the hurry?
He looks to her as water drips down his forehead face and the
rest of him.
CONOR
What the hell are we doing here?!
81.
ELEANOR
You tell me. You’re the one who
stalked me, said you had to talk,
and then showed up at my parents
house!
CONOR
You, just recently, like an hour
ago, waltzed into my bar and
suggested we drive aimlessly into
the perfect storm here!
A beat.
ELEANOR
(shaking her head)
This is funny.
CONOR
(dry)
Yeah, it’s fuckin’ hilarious.
CONOR (CONT’D)
There was a brief moment when I
thought we’d pieced together a
pretty decent life.
Another thunderclap.
CONOR (CONT’D)
I’m gonna move everything out of
the apartment next week...
CONOR (CONT’D)
You want me to keep anything for
you?
ELEANOR
Where’re you moving to?
CONOR
I don’t know. I can stay at my
dad’s for a bit ‘til I figure it
out.
After a second...
ELEANOR
How is Spencer?
CONOR
I’m pretty sure he’s losing his
mind...Sylvie left him and he’s
getting talkative, waxing
philosophical. Same crap he always
pulls when he’s between significant
others.
ELEANOR
I think it’s probably more than
just that.
CONOR
Maybe.
ELEANOR
At least you guys are talking.
A beat...
CONOR
What did you say to your parents
about us?
ELEANOR
What would I say?
CONOR
(half-teasing)
That we’re fabulous.
ELEANOR
I feel like we’re living some
dreadful disaster cliche...
83.
CONOR
We are.
ELEANOR
You’re sopping wet.
CONOR
You noticed.
She reaches and wipes and pushes the hair off his brow...
CONOR (CONT’D)
Wait a second.
CONOR (CONT’D)
Shit...
ELEANOR
(calm)
You slept with someone else.
He looks at her...
CONOR
I’m that easy to see through?
84.
ELEANOR
Yes.
ELEANOR (CONT’D)
Doesn’t matter.
CONOR
What do you mean it doesn’t matter?
ELEANOR
Aren’t we tired of this dance?
CONOR
What dance?
ELEANOR
I don’t really want to go through
the motions of some stupid, never
ending argument that can’t be won
or lost and leads to the same exact
spot we’re in at this particular
moment, except we’ll both be more
tired.
CONOR
It’s not worth fighting over?
ELEANOR
Get over yourself, Conor.
CONOR
You’re supposed to say that’s
bullshit, Conor! You’re a selfish,
awful, hopeless person!
ELEANOR
No...I think we’re pretty far past
that...and you just said it for me.
The rain has weakened a little, but still patters the car.
ELEANOR (CONT’D)
I’m ready to go back to the city.
ELEANOR
You can leave me at the next
corner.
They sit there a moment and then she looks over at him. He
shares the look with her. A mutual look of impossibility.
Then she opens the door, steps out into the rain, and closes
it behind her.
Conor looks out through the rain covered window, watches her
walk off into the blurred city lights and disappear again.
He steps in...
CONOR
Hey Lydia.
LYDIA
(a bit of a Long Island
accent)
Hey you...I think he’s in his spot.
CONOR
Hi.
PHOEBE
Hello there.
Conor reaches over the bar for the nearest available glass
and pours himself some Scotch, takes a sip...
SPENCER
(still in his paperwork)
You could do what you want with the
place. Make it your own.
CONOR
What do you mean?
SPENCER
I’m done.
SPENCER (CONT’D)
It was pretty cool once upon a
time...Some of the same faces still
show up, except more wrinkly, or
sometimes less...the Stones were in
here last week after playing the
Garden, but mostly, people just
keep fading away.
SPENCER (CONT’D)
I’m starting to think I’ve done
this way too long.
CONOR
You’ve done pretty good.
SPENCER
Allegedly..., but my current
existence is about as action packed
as...you ever seen one of those
monotonous, low budget nature
videos they have on airplanes
before taking off?
CONOR
No.
SPENCER
Well, they suck...
SPENCER (CONT’D)
Complacency scares the living shit
out of me.
CONOR
I forfeited the loan and I’m losing
the lease on my bar. Eleanor’s gone
with the wind, I’m thirty years
old, my existence’s a fucking boat-
wreck.
SPENCER
(raising him)
I’m sixty. I lost my grandson this
year, something you’ve basically
forbidden to talk about. My third
wife just left me.
(MORE)
88.
SPENCER (cont'd)
I walk into a restaurant named
after your mother every afternoon.
It’s time to get the hell out of
Dodge for a while.
CONOR
I forbid you to talk about him...?
CONOR (CONT’D)
What the fuck are you gonna tell
me?
CONOR (CONT’D)
And now what? You’re gonna fly off
to never neverland, become a
Buddhist or some shit, return to
enlighten us all?
SPENCER
Fuck enlightenment...I’m hoping to
figure out some way to deal with
reality...
SPENCER (CONT’D)
Why’re you here, anyway?
CONOR
I was in the neighborhood.
Spencer notices.
SPENCER
What?
CONOR
You ever wonder exactly why you
fall in love with a specific
someone?
SPENCER
Not really...I think to myself,
something’s wrong here, but I can’t
quite put my finger on what it
is...
SPENCER (CONT’D)
There’s always one that haunts
you...Give her time. It’s the least
you can do given the circumstances.
CONOR
Circumstances suck.
SPENCER
In all the time since what happened
happened, any thought or any
reminder of him has been something
to run my mind as far the fuck away
as I can...
A quiet beat...
SPENCER (CONT’D)
A shooting star’s brief, but isn’t
one nonetheless glad to have seen
it?
CONOR
Aren’t you the delicate soul?
SPENCER
No one’s ever accused me of being
that.
SPENCER (CONT’D)
You hungry?
CONOR
Perpetually.
Spencer stands, gives Conor a quick pat on the head, and goes
to make him a plate in the restaurant’s kitchen.
90.
CONOR
Ughh.
Conor hurries down the Avenue in the late spring air, freshly
showered, haphazardly dressed in his signature untucked,
rumpled button down, jeans, sneakers, his shades...
Conor enters.
CONOR
(under his breath)
Fuck.
CONOR (CONT’D)
Hi.
ALEXIS
That was really awesome of you to
bail on us last night.
CONOR
What’d I miss?
91.
ALEXIS
I made three bucks in tips.
CONOR
Well done.
ALEXIS
(curious)
So...?
CONOR
(evasive)
So what?
Off his reaction she shuts up, and keeps stocking the bar...
STUART
Hey Alexis, any idea what our
capacity is in here?
He sees Conor.
STUART (CONT’D)
Oh, howdy...
CONOR
Howdy.
STUART (CONT’D)
And?
CONOR
(not up for it)
Does it really matter?
STUART (CONT’D)
(moving on)
Anyway...what’s our capacity in
here?
CONOR
Why?
92.
SIA
Our going out of business shindig.
STUART
I think we might have told a tad
too many people about it.
CONOR
Like how many people?
Conor runs chicken satay and a cheese plate to one table and
grabs a check from another.
CONOR
Beverage?
GUY
(deferring)
Baby?
GIRL
A Stella, please.
CONOR
We’re actually out of beer.
GIRL
(confused)
Um, okay...a Cabernet?
GUY
Same.
Conor observes them a moment too long and they give him a
weird questioning look...
GUY (CONT’D)
Something wrong?
CONOR
No, no...Sorry.
CONOR
Two reds!
Then Conor makes his way back toward the kitchen and is
snatched by a hand into the adjacent bathroom...
Alexis shuts the door shut behind Conor and they stand there
with Stuart in the dank restroom’s harsh minimal light in a
haze of smoke...
STUART
(to Alexis)
...Someday you’ll be engaged to be
engaged to some cool Scottish bass
player, you’ll live in like a
ridiculous loft in Tribeca, sip
Yerba Mate, and share a German
Shepherd or something. You’ll see.
ALEXIS
I prefer Labradors.
CONOR
Shouldn’t you be cooking stuff?
STUART
I think so.
Stu takes another drag, passes the joint to Alexis, and looks
to Conor.
STUART (CONT’D)
Gives you wings.
CONOR
Well, here we are in the bathroom.
ALEXIS
(nonchalant)
You know I could fall hectically in
love with you?
CONOR
Umm...I’m not sure that would be
the sharpest idea.
ALEXIS
Why’s that?
ALEXIS (CONT’D)
So’d you two gallop off into the
sunset yesterday?
CONOR
Yeah, didn’t you hear? Happy ending
and everything.
ALEXIS
Funny how a person, just by living,
can damage another person beyond
human repair.
CONOR
How’s that funny?
ALEXIS
I don’t know.
And she heads out into the noisy fog of conversation and
music.
Sia pours shots of Patron into PEOPLE’S mouths along the bar
including Alexis.
STUART
Kitchen’s closed forever.
CONOR
Chin chin, motherfucker.
Conor looks to the check in his hands and then to the corner
table where the couple was sitting...
96.
The girl has just stepped out the front door...the guy’s
heading for it...
CONOR
Hey?!
Conor peers left then notices the couple heading down toward
Houston...
CONOR
Hey asshole!?
The guy turns back, sees Conor looking for him and he and his
girlfriend go from a jog to a sprint...
Rather than letting it go, Conor starts into a run down the
street after them...
DRUNK GUY
Run for your life!!
The guy notices Conor closing in and weaves back east across
Avenue A again...
GIRL
(hollering)
Watch it!!
The guy crosses into Houston, and half way through, at the
island in the street, has to stop for fast moving traffic. He
scurries to the right then stutter steps his way through into
the Lower East Side...
It’s ugly.
CONOR
(groaning)
Owww...fuck, fucker.
GUY
Awww...mmmph...shit.
GUY (CONT’D)
(breathing heavily,
looking at the sky)
How much do I owe you?
CONOR
Huh?
GUY
How much do I owe you?
CONOR
Oh...umm...I don’t remember.
GUY
(into phone)
Hello...? Hi baby...I’m lying on
the sidewalk...it’s good, I’m
good...uhuh...on..., I’m not sure
what the street is.
CONOR
Essex just below Houston.
GUY
It’s Essex just below
Houston...uhuh...see you in a
minute.
99.
GUY (CONT’D)
Ow.
GUY
So, how much do you want?
CONOR
Don’t worry about it.
GUY
(confused)
What...? Hey?!
Conor turns...
CONOR
Yeah?
GUY
What the hell’s wrong with you,
man?
FADE TO:
Conor now sits on a step across Fifth Avenue from the Albert
List Academic Center with a “We are happy to serve you” cup
of New York Deli coffee.
No sign of Eleanor.
Conor closes the door of the emptied out “bar with uninspired
food” for the last time and locks it.
LEASING AGENT
(condescending)
Thank you, sir.
STUART
(dry, hard)
No, thank you.
CONOR
(to Stuart)
Easy.
LEASING AGENT
(to Stuart)
I’m not a bad guy, just so we get
that straight.
STUART
Whatever you have to tell yourself.
LEASING AGENT
(defensive)
You know...?
101.
CONOR
(mediating)
For the moment you are, so deal
with it.
The guy shakes his head, puts his bag over his shoulder,
recuperates, and they stand in an awkward moment as Conor and
Stuart wait for him to leave.
LEASING AGENT
So what’s the plan for you guys
now?
STUART
(dry)
We’re enlisting. Gonna go fight the
good fight on terror or whatever
it’s called now.
LEASING AGENT
Well, good luck with that...You’ve
got my particulars if you ever get
back into the game.
CONOR
Yes, we do.
LEASING AGENT
Take care now.
STUART
Have a nice life...
STUART (CONT’D)
Dickhead.
CONOR
You alright over there?
102.
STUART
It’s kind of fucking frustrating to
watch the last couple years of your
life disintegrate right in front of
you.
CONOR
It’ll wear off. I think.
VOICE (O.S.)
(mild French accent)
Hi handsome.
CONOR
(confused)
Hi.
She hops off the table and walks over to give him a kiss on
each cheek.
SYLVIE
(sympathetic)
How’re you doing?
CONOR
Stupendous, you?
SYLVIE
You were always full of shit.
CONOR
No, I just refuse to be enslaved by
the truth.
CONOR (CONT’D)
I’m guessing you guys are getting
the band back together.
SYLVIE
Yeah...World tour.
SPENCER
Um...we were waiting for you.
CONOR
(slightly dry)
Here I am.
SYLVIE
I’m gonna go have a smoke.
She walks past them out the front door leaving Conor with his
father...
SPENCER
You think you could check up on
things here every once in a while?
CONOR
Sure.
A beat.
SPENCER
You can stay around if you want.
104.
CONOR
No, no, I’m gonna find a new place.
I’ve got to deal with moving out of
the apartment anyway.
SPENCER
Right, right.
CONOR
Send me a postcard, I guess.
SPENCER
(referring to Sylvie)
I can explain.
CONOR
Why do you have to explain
anything?
SPENCER
It feels like I should.
CONOR
I don’t really need the backstory.
SPENCER
When did you get agreeable?
CONOR
There’s this new thing called
empathy.
SPENCER
There’s that.
SPENCER (CONT’D)
You’re mother once shouted at me
that it’s pretty easy to love
someone in memory, the trick is
loving them when they’re right in
front of you...Best thing she ever
said to me.
CONOR
The dead are easy to misquote.
SPENCER
I remember that one word for word.
CONOR
We’re in imminent danger of
sappiness.
SPENCER
Well, we can’t have that.
Conor enters into the little foyer and looks at the dank and
now stuffy apartment...
He drops the boxes down on the floor and goes to open some
windows...
He walks into the room with two big boxes and tosses them on
the floor next to the closet...
CONOR
Hello...? Hello...? Hello...?
He waits a second...
He looks past the disaster area over at the little foyer and
stands up...
Conor tapes up another box, retreats and falls into the couch
again...
ELEANOR
When did we get all this stuff?
108.
CONOR
(foggy)
Huh...? I don’t know. It
accumulated.
ELEANOR
You can store some of it out at my
parents if you want.
CONOR
I was thinking about getting a
storage unit until we figure things
out...
A beat.
CONOR (CONT’D)
You’ve been staying with them?
ELEANOR
Yeah.
CONOR
I’m sorry.
ELEANOR
For what?
CONOR
For everything.
CONOR
What are you thinking?
ELEANOR
How memory’s so fucking weird.
109.
CONOR
How’s that?
ELEANOR
I forget what he looked like...
He says nothing.
ELEANOR (CONT’D)
I’ll get a quick glimpse of his
eyes or some smile he gave me from
his crib and then he’ll vanish.
ELEANOR (CONT’D)
I can’t picture his face.
ELEANOR (CONT’D)
I can’t picture his face anymore.
A tear streaks down her cheek, she wipes it away, and looks
to Conor...
ELEANOR (CONT’D)
I wasn’t ready for what this feels
like.
CONOR
Me either.
After a second...
CONOR (CONT’D)
I really wish I could say something
that would make some sense of it.
ELEANOR
I’m not looking for words. I just
want him back.
He leans in and holds her, and she holds onto him as if she
might get sucked away...
110.
All of it...
After a moment...
ELEANOR
I love you.
Another moment...
CONOR
I know.
He looks around...nothing.
Eleanor’s gone.
CONOR
(off)
Lock the joint down.
STUART
(without looking up)
Will do.
PHOEBE
Night.
He walks across 14th Street and heads down 4th Avenue, which
is seemingly empty of people...