THE EASTER PARADE

Written by

Jesse Crall

Based on the Novel of the Same Name

By Richard Yates
INT. BATHROOM - MORNING

A face in the mirror.

EMILY GRIMES, 17, seated, applying blush. Thin, pretty but

looking a touch drawn.

A second face.

Emily’s sister, SARAH, 21, glowing. Radiant. Already made-up,

looming over Emily for a final look.

Sarah wears a striking dress made from Chinese silk in stark

contrast to her sister’s simple floral print.

A third face.

POOKIE, their mother, 50. Expressive. Cheap dye job and

stained teeth.

The faces crowd the mirror. They share this bathroom and its
rusting fixtures and are used to the jostling.

POOKIE
Oh, you’re stunning, Sarah.

Emily looks up to see her mother’s eyes on Sarah.

POOKIE (CONT’D)
I’ve never seen you look so lovely.

Sarah’s face departs and Pookie glances down at Emily.

POOKIE (CONT’D)
Make sure you conceal that scar,
dear.

And Pookie’s face leaves our sight.

Emily leans forward and we see a slight, silver scar running

down from eyebrow to lid.

Not much up close, certainly not from a distance.

But Emily takes some concealer and, leaning in further still,

goes to work with precise strokes she’s made before.

INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER

A basement apartment in Greenwich Village. Cramped, the

second-hard furniture crowding the living room in a way that
guarantees the endless banging of toes on chair legs.
 2.

The din from street traffic rattles by.

Pookie sizes up her daughters, Emily stiff, Sarah more

languid with her back against the wall.

EMILY
(to Sarah)
Do you and Tony have a song?

SARAH
A song?

She straightens her hat, a wide-brimmed straw number.

SARAH (CONT’D)
(to Pookie)
I don’t care about this silly
Easter parade. Tony and I were plan-

KNOCK KNOCK.

SARAH (CONT’D)
Oh, perfect.

Pookie moves to the entrance and opens the door to reveal:

TONY, 22, handsome in a blazer and slacks.

POOKIE
Well, if it isn’t Laurence Olivier!

Tony gives Pookie a strained smile and bends slightly to kiss

her cheek before catching sight of Sarah.

TONY
Oh, I say...smashing.

He sizes her up for a moment and she fails to hide her smile.

TONY (CONT’D)
Look, I’ve an idea. Can you wait a
minute?

He holds up a finger before exiting the room and bounding up

toward the apartment above.

INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER

Tony holds Sarah in his arms. He now wears an English cutaway

with a paisley ascot, waistcoat and trousers, matching
Sarah’s glamour.

Emily stands aside, watching them melt.

 3.

EXT. 5TH AVENUE - LATER

A SMILING WOMAN, 20, wearing a bonnet.

Beside her, a SOLDIER, 20, face still until she gives him a
bump and he grins.

TWIN GIRLS, 14, showing off their Easter finest, giggling.

An ELDERLY WOMAN, 70s, surrounded by 4 GRANDCHILDREN ages 8-

12.

A THRONG of people of all ages, processing slowly up 5th

Avenue, resplendent in the colors of spring.

Spectacular hats, vivid dresses, men in uniform.

And Sarah and Tony, POSING as the hot flash of a photographer

cuts the air and Sarah holds her position for a second shot.

Pookie watches from a small distance away with Emily at her

side.

POOKIE
United China Relief wanted her
photographed looking dazzling. Good
press for their work.

Tony and Sarah move in closer. And kiss.

POOKIE (CONT’D)
They have flair, don’t they?

Emily tries to stand straighter and adjusts her posture.

A look at Sarah, a look at an approaching Marine.

Hips out, hips narrow.

A look at Tony, his eyes on Emily’s sister.

POOKIE (O.S.) (CONT’D)

It’s here!

INT. KITCHEN - MORNING

Pookie spreads the New York Times Sunday Edition throughout

the kitchen as she holds her gaze on one page, the
rotogravure section.

Sarah and Emily flank her, looking over her shoulders.

 4.

SARAH
I can get eight-by-ten glossies
from the office.

We see the source of their gaze:

Significant space given to a shot of Sarah and Tony, the

picture of love and vitality, the Plaza Hotel just visible
behind them.

POOKIE
Oh wonderful. Get as many as you
can.

Pookie moves toward the kitchen counter and grabs her purse.

POOKIE (CONT’D)
And let’s get more newspapers, too.
Emmy?

She opens her wallet.

POOKIE (CONT’D)
Run down to the newsstand and get
eight more papers.

She looks at the amount of money she has.

POOKIE (CONT’D)
Six more papers.

EMILY
I can’t carry that many.

POOKIE
Of course you can.

EXT. POOKIE’S APARTMENT - LATER

Emily strides out into the spring sunlight, her mother’s

words in her ear.

POOKIE (V.O.)
You’re going to hang these photos
up for the rest of your life.

INT. EMILY’S BEDROOM - EVENING

Emily sits on the edge of her bed, staring at one of those

eight-by-ten glossies.

Sarah and Tony.

 5.

Tony.

INT. BATHROOM - LATER

Emily lies in the bathtub.

Eyes closed.

EXT. TAVERN - AFTERNOON

Emily enters a basement tavern restaurant near City Hall.

INT. TAVERN - LATER

Emily sits at a table in back, dark, waiting.

Waiting.

Until:

Her face perks up as WALTER GRIMES, 50s, enters.

HEADWAITER
Walter!

WALTER
Good to see you, Jeffrey.

BUS BOY
Hiya, Walter. What’s new?

Walter gives his hand a quick shake.

WALTER
Absolutely nothing.

Two PATRONS, sitting with a pitcher of beer, offer Walter a

toast as he passes.

WALTER (CONT’D)
Was the game this morning?

PATRON 1
I had the story filed by one.
DiMaggio homered, Ruffing threw a
shutout.

PATRON 2
If only every day could be so easy.

Bright, loose, everyone knows each other...

 6.

INT. TAVERN - LATER

Walter and Emily sit together...silent.

Walter sips his scotch.

WALTER
That’s something.

Emily smiles, eyes on the floor.

WALTER (CONT’D)
That’s really something.

Silence.

Emily starts to say something, stops, takes a sip from a

glass of lemonade.

WALTER (CONT’D)
If you didn’t get a scholarship to
Barnard, I don’t know how the hell
I’d pay for it.

He coughs into his napkin.

WALTER (CONT’D)
Best news I’ve heard in...I dunno
how long.

He pulls out a pack of Luckys and lights one.

WALTER (CONT’D)
You must’ve really impressed those
people.

EMILY
Did you go through Syracuse on a
scholarship, daddy? Or did you pay
your own way?

Walter exhales.

WALTER
Go through Syracuse? Honey, I
didn’t ‘go through.’

EMILY
I’m-

WALTER
-I only went for a year...then I
started working on the town paper
up there.
 7.

EMILY
Mother said-

WALTER
-Your mother has her own way of
dealing with information.

INT. TAVERN - LATER

Three empty glasses in front of Walter as he drains a fourth.

Emily moves around the remnants of a fruit tartlet on her

plate.

WALTER
Maybe if I’d finished, I wouldn’t
have been a copy-desk man.

Emily looks up but her father’s staring off into space.

WALTER (CONT’D)
You’ll go farther.

EXT. TAVERN - LATER

Walter and Emily move in opposite directions, away from the

tavern.

INT. TRAIN - DAY

Emily reads My Antonia on a train, Pookie beside her, pulling

at her stockings.

Pookie leans over and whispers something in Emily’s ear.

Emily nods, returns to her book.

Pookie places her hands on her lap, looks around, eyes

darting...

She rummages through her bag, chattering away. We hear

nothing, focusing on Emily forcing concentration at her book.

The train RUSHES under a bridge.

EXT. JAMAICA PLATFORM - LATER

Emily and Pookie, waiting for a train as the wind whips.

They’re alone.
 8.

INT. TRAIN - LATER

Emily reads, Pookie chatters in her ear. Again, we don’t hear

a word.

EXT. ST. CHARLES STATION - LATER

Emily and Pookie emerge from the tiny station on Long

Island’s North Shore and begin trudging toward town.

POOKIE
There aren’t any taxis, of course,
because of the war, but it’s only a
short-

EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - LATER

Emily and Pookie pass a ramshackle bait shop promising “Live

Worms” as one of Emily’s pumps turns on her on the dusty
road.

POOKIE
Just beyond this next field. Well,
first there’s a wooded-

EXT. SARAH’S HOUSE - LATER

As Emily and Pookie walk up a narrow driveway flanked by

trees and high hedges, Sarah approaches, beaming and
graceful.

SARAH
Hi! Welcome!

Dress swaying, bare feet across the grasses...a stark

contrast to Pookie and her lipstick not entirely-confined to
her lips and Emily, sweating and sore from the walk.

INT. SARAH’S LIVING ROOM - LATER

A spare living room with old furnishings, some antiques but

other pieces simply worn.

Paintings with a military theme line most of the walls. Or a

nautical bent. A model ship sits atop one bookcase holding
little in the way of literature.

A bright, color photo of Sarah and Tony from the Easter

Parade reigns prominent above the fireplace.
 9.

Pookie stares at it, sherry in hand.

POOKIE
Isn’t this lovely?

Emily forces a smile.

SARAH
We’ll have the big house once
Tony’s parents no longer want it.
It’s a lot.

POOKIE
But I imagine you’ll soon have some
help.

She glances at Sarah’s stomach.

SARAH
Oh, Pookie.
(to Emily)
You’re...you start at Barnard?

EMILY
Yes, I-

POOKIE
-Does it get drafty here at night?
I imagine there’s a draft.

SARAH
It’s not so b-OH!

And Tony emerges, holding two more glasses for himself and
Sarah.

SARAH (CONT’D)
Lovely.

She rises, takes the glass, and she and Tony wrap their arms
together to take a drink from each other’s glass before
untangling.

With ease.

Pookie swoons.

Emily keeps her eyes on Tony as he finds his way to a chair

before her eyes dart back to Pookie, draining her glass

POOKIE
There’s something GRAND about this
place. It needs a grand name.
 10.

She slurs a little.

Tony takes a sip, then a chuckle.

TONY
Overgrown hedges.

POOKIE
Ooh I like it. But not-how about
‘Great Hedges.’ Great Hedges.

She beams.

Tony offers a slight nod.

TONY
Mm-hmm. Rather nice.

POOKIE
That’s what I’m going to call it,
anyway. Great Hedges. St. Charles,
Long Isl-

Her voice fades as Emily rests a hand on her face to give a

casual appearance as her eyes move up to the Easter Parade
portrait, then to Sarah, then to Tony.

She stays on Tony as he says something to Sarah.

EXT. SARAH’S HOUSE - LATER

Evening. Emily leads Pookie out the front door, her mother a
touch unsteady, laughing about something, waving a cigarette.

They get a few yards down the driveway when Emily turns
around to see Sarah and Tony, holding each other, snug and
backlit.

Tony offers a wave, which Emily returns.

POOKIE
You should say more, you’re always
so quiet, nobody likes a-

INT. POOKIE'S APARTMENT - EVENING

Emily sits in the living room, book in hand but eyes on

Pookie.

Pookie reaches for a piece of fudge, chewing chewing chewing

away.
 11.

She licks her finger and turns the page of her magazine.

Emily hears the chewing, hears the lick, hears the turn of
the page as if drilled directly into her ear.

A bus RATTLES past the apartment outside.

And Pookie again: Licks, sticks, turns.

Silence.

Silence.

Licks, sticks, turns.

Emily JUMPS up.

EMILY
I think I’ll go to a movie. There’s
supposed to be a fairly good one at
the Eighth Street Playhouse.

POOKIE
Oh. Well, all right, dear, if-

EXT. WASHINGTON SQUARE - LATER

Emily plunges into the night, sucking in deep breaths of air

as she glides past the glowing park lamps.

She feels her loose, marigold dress dance with every step and
manages a rhythm as she walks.

SOLDIER
Excuse me, miss?

Emily finds a tall SOLDIER, 20, striding alongside her.

SOLDIER (CONT’D)
Can you tell me where Nick’s is?
The jazz place.

Emily stops.

Thinks.

EMILY
Well, I know where it is. I mean,
I’ve been there a few times.

She turns, hands on hips.

 12.

EMILY (CONT’D)
But it’s sort of hard to tell you
how-

She laughs, just a little.

EMILY (CONT’D)
...how to get there from here.

And she points one way.

EMILY (CONT’D)
I guess the best thing would be to-

EXT. FIFTH AVENUE - MOMENTS LATER

And they’re walking together, Emily babbling away.

EMILY
-go down Eighth Street to Greenwich
Avenue-

SOLDIER
-I got a better idea.

Emily stops, collects herself.

SOLDIER (CONT’D)
How’d you like to take a ride on
the Fifth Avenue bus?

EXT. FIFTH AVENUE - LATER

They climb together up to the top of a double-decker bus,

Emily ahead, trying to look, feel, seem smooth as she works
her way up.

A quick glance back at the soldier, a smile at each other.

EXT. BUS - MOMENTS LATER

The bus groans its way north.

SOLDIER
I’m just up on a three-day pass but
they’ll ship me off to-

And Emily sees Pookie smoking outside her apartment building,

prompting Emily to move away from the railing and lower
herself.
 13.

The soldier keeps talking but we hear nothing.

EXT. BUS - LATER

Madison Square Park. More riders, more traffic.

SOLDIER
-And my four brothers, well, only
three are in, Tom’s got flat feet-

Emily nods, bites her lip, let’s him know she’s really
listening.

SOLDIER (CONT’D)
But in Wisconsin-you from the city?

EMILY
Not really. We grew up in the
suburbs, mostly.

SOLDIER
Who’s we?

EMILY
Oh...my mother, she’s called
Pookie, I’m not sure how that...

EXT. BUS - LATER

Midtown. The bus lumbers across 42nd Street.

The soldier kisses Emily.

She jumps back a touch but the soldier doesn’t notice as he

moves his lips to hers again.

EXT. MIDTOWN - LATER

The soldier leads Emily down the bus.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - LATER

GIRLS and SOLDIERS neck on benches.

Emily and her soldier saunter on by, his hand on her

shoulder, steering.

Emily’s flush and clammy, the soldier breezy.

 14.

They pass one COUPLE...the girl slipping her fingers into her
soldier’s hip pocket.

Emily’s fingers move, tremble, return to her side.

SOLDIER
...but it’s funny. Sometimes you
meet a girl and it doesn’t seem
right at all; other times it does.
Like, I’ve only known you...

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - LATER

Darkness as the soldier leads Emily down a narrow path.

As they move under a solitary lamp, the soldier drops his

hand from Emily’s shoulder and works it toward her breast.

His thumb strokes her nipple, erect under cloth, and her arm
reaches out to his back.

SOLDIER
Lotta guys just want one thing from
a girl, especially after they’re in
the Army. I don’t understand that.
I like to get to know a girl...

EXT. MEADOW - LATER

Off the path. Light coming from distant lamps and the moon
high above.

Emily’s back hits grass as the solder holds himself over her.

EXT. MEADOW - MOMENTS LATER

Close on Emily as her chin lifts up as a sensation passes

through her.

EMILY
(softly)
Oh...

Heavy breathing from the soldier.

EMILY (CONT’D)
Oh Tony.

SOLDIER
Huh?
 15.

But his movements don’t break rhythm and Emily closes her
eyes, takes a deep breath in...

EXT. COUNTER - LATER

The noise, traffic, chaos of Times Square behind them as

Emily and the Soldier drink chocolate malteds at a stand-up
counter.

A SAILOR and a BLONDE, 20, feed each other french fries.

Emily looks ill as she drains the last of her drink.

SOLDIER
Ready?

He wipes his mouth with some thin paper napkins.

EXT. TIMES SQUARE - MOMENTS LATER

The soldier guides Emily down the crowded sidewalk as they

pass:

Another SAILOR who LEERS at Emily from behind thick glasses.

A DRUNK in a purple suit, staggering past.

A MUTTERING OLD WOMAN with greasy shopping bags in each hand.

Emily spots a trash can and:

SPRINTS over, reaching it just in time to project vomit in a

series of violent heaves.

The soldier looms behind.

SOLDIER
You okay, Emily? Want me to get you-

And she coughs up some more.

INT. BUS - LATER

Emily and the Soldier sit beside each other, quiet as the IRT
Local moves downtown.

EXT. WASHINGTON SQUARE - LATER

Under a lamp, Emily wan, the soldier looking very young in

the light.
 16.

EMILY
You’d better not take me home.

SOLDIER
You sure?

Emily nods.

He gives her arm a squeeze but doesn’t lean in for a kiss.

Emily swallows.

EXT. WASHINGTON SQUARE - LATER

Emily and the Soldier, 20 yards apart, walk in opposite

directions.

INT. POOKIE'S APARTMENT - LATER

Pookie traded in her fudge for a cigarette as she licks and

turns another page before glancing up at Emily.

POOKIE
How was the movie?

INT. EMILY’S BEDROOM - DAY

EMILY
What?!

Emily sits up in her bed and drops her book from her eyes.

Sarah’s bed is made-up and undisturbed at the opposite end of

the small room.

Pookie’s in the doorway, stricken.

POOKIE
Just this morning.

INT. MORTUARY - DAY

Emily in black, staring down at Walter in his casket. Face

made-up in those sickly hues that never manage to enliven the
dead.

Emily can’t bear to look but Sarah bends down and kisses
Walter on the forehead.
 17.

Emily sucks in a breath as a weeping Pookie, wearing too much

makeup, leans down and kisses Walter on the mouth.

Emily stares in.

INT. MORTUARY - LATER

Emily stands with an awkward bearing across from:

IRENE HAMMOND, 40s, smiling weakly.

IRENE
I can’t tell you how pleased your
father was about that scholarship.

Emily smiles, tries to say something...stops.

Irene turns to Sarah, now flanked by Tony, somber in an ill-

fitting dark suit.

IRENE (CONT’D)
I’m so glad we got to see you and
Tony together, though. Your father
though very highly of...

INT. LIMOSUINE - LATER

Emily and Pookie sit facing Sarah and Tony.

Pookie weeps quietly.

EMILY
You met Irene? Before...

SARAH
Yes, a number of times. She’s very
sweet.

TONY
Mmm.

A pause.

A choke from Pookie.

EMILY
I never knew daddy had a
girlfriend.

POOKIE
Sarah’s always been her father’s
baby.
 18.

SARAH
They were living together, Emily.
Geez.

INT. EMILY’S BEDROOM - EVENING

Emily rummages through a desk drawer, rifling through some

papers, some photographs...

EMILY
Mother?

Emily looks out.

EMILY (CONT’D)
Do we have any photos of daddy?

Emily rises and looks out into the hallway.

EMILY (CONT’D)
Pookie?

EXT. BARNARD COLLEGE - DAY

The impressive, four column facade of Barnard Hall.

Emily, books in hand, hustles past some bunting reading:

“Welcome Class of 1947”

INT. DORMITORY - EVENING

Emily walks with JANE, 18, both holding thick novels.

EMILY
And it’s not just a bore...it’s a
pernicious bore.

The classmate nods.

INT. HALLWAY - DAY

Emily waits outside a classroom as a few STUDENTS make their

way out.

Emily smiles at one in a familiar way as a YOUNG WOMAN in a

heavy sweater chatters away behind her.

YOUNG WOMAN
That was a pernicious bore.
 19.

Emily’s smile stays.

INT. MOVIE THEATRE - NIGHT

Lights up in a movie house.

Jane looks over at Emily.

JANE
I don’t know...I thought it was...

EMILY
Really well done. It captured the
best parts of Wertzel’s novel
without seeming too...weighed down.

JANE
Oh, I agree.

ESTHER
So do I.

Emily turns to see ESTHER, 18, seated on her other side.

INT. APARTMENT - EVENING

UNDERGRADUATES, GRAD STUDENTS and PROFESSORS mix in a cozy,

well-appointed apartment near campus.

Emily speaks in the entry with PROFESSOR LASLOW, 60s, shorter

than she is, rumpled, round glasses.

EMILY
...but forget the Soviets. Wallace
was a natural ally with labor on
domestic issues. Truman isn’t.

Laslow smiles a little and pats Emily’s shoulder.

LASLOW
Fair enough. Uncle.

He shuffles off to find a drink.

ANDREW CRAWFORD, 30, coat and slacks, a little sloppy, sidles

over to Emily.

ANDREW
I thought you did very well.

EMILY
I-what? What do you mean?
 20.

ANDREW
Just now. Talking to Laslow. I was
listening.

EMILY
Talking to who?

ANDREW
You don’t even know who he is?
Clifford Laslow, political science.
He’s a tiger.

EMILY
Oh.

ANDREW
Anyways, you did very well. You
weren’t intimidated and you weren’t
aggressive, either.

EMILY
But he’s just a little man in
bifocals.

ANDREW
That’s funny.

He doesn’t laugh but nods thoughtfully.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
Just a little man in bifocals...
(beat)
Can I get you a drink?

INT. APARTMENT - LATER

Closer to the fire now...Andrew hovering over Emily, droning

on.

ANDREW
...if the army doesn’t get me, and
there’s not much chance of that.
I’m a physical wreck...

Emily sips, nods...

ANDREW (CONT’D)
I like the classroom. I know it
sounds...

And his voice drifts away. Emily scans the party a little, at
a MIDDLE-AGED PROFESSOR laughing too hard at something said
by a pretty JUNIOR.
 21.

At Jane, trying to tie her hair back up.

At a GRADUATE STUDENT holding open a book and pointing to a

passage while his DATE looks down into it.

Then:

Emily looks back up at Andrew and his voice returns.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
I’ll take you home.

EMILY
No.
(beat)
Actually, I’m with someone.

ANDREW
Who?

EMILY
You wouldn’t know him; Dave
Ferguson. He’s over there by the
door. The tall one.

She gestures over to DAVE, 21, who catches Emily’s eye and
smiles.

ANDREW
Him. But he’s only about fifteen
years old.

EMILY
That’s silly. He’s 21.

ANDREW
Why isn’t he in the Army. Strapping
youth like that.

EMILY
He has a bad knee.

ANDREW
A ‘trick knee,’ right? A ‘football
knee.’ Oh, yes, dear God, I know
the type.

EMILY
Well, I don’t know what you’re
implying but I-

ANDREW
-Could I call you sometime? Can I
have your number?
 22.

Emily rolls her eyes.

INT. APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

...and writes down her number on a scrap of paper she places

against the wall.

She hands it to Andrew, who smiles as he folds it into his

breast pocket.

INT. ENTRY - MOMENTS LATER

Emily leaves with Dave, arm around her waist, but she offers
a glance back at Andrew, now speaking to another GRADUATE
STUDENT, late-20s, and not noticing her at all.

INT. SARAH'S LIVING ROOM - DAY

Sarah holds PETER, her newborn, in her arms while TONY JR, 1,
splays on the floor near her feet.

A sherry glass, empty, sits nearby.

SARAH
...I got a letter from Donald
Clellon last year and he-

POOKIE
-Who?

She holds a sherry glass in her hand.

SARAH
Donald Clellon, remember, I went
with him just before Tony-

POOKIE
-Oh right, of course, Donald
Clellon.

SARAH
It was a sad letter...He said he
was in the army now and he often
thought of me and that he was out
here at Camp Upton. So anyway-

POOKIE
-How long ago?
 23.

SARAH
I-a year. I think. Anyway, last
month, we had an air-raid scare--
did you hear about that?

POOKIE
Oh no!

Emily sips from her glass.

SARAH
Well it was nothing, of course...

Emily looks down at Tony Jr, drooling as Sarah’s talk

continues.

SARAH (CONT’D)
I wasn’t frightened, but some of
the little townspeople were. They
talked about it for days afterward.

She takes a sip.

POOKIE
When I was living in-

Sarah holds up a finger as she swallows.

SARAH
Anyway, they announced on the radio
that one of the soldiers at Camp
Upton had turned in the alarm by
mistake. And I said--I told this to
Tony and he couldn’t stop laughing-
I said ‘I bet it was Donald
Clellon!’

Pookie roars with laughter and Sarah joins her.

Peter begins to cry, leading Tony Jr. To join in, squished

faces of the babies and breathless hysterics from the two
women.

Emily furrows her brow as she waits for the noise to subside.

And waits.

EMILY
Well, but wait.

Peter moans a little but the crying stops.

 24.

EMILY (CONT’D)
Camp Upton is only an induction
center...they stay for a few days
before they go to other camps for
basic training and then they’re
shipped out to divisions.

Pookie catches her breath.

EMILY (CONT’D)
It if was a year ago that Donald
wrote you, he’s probably overseas
by now.
(beat)
He might even be dead.

Silence.

SARAH
Oh? Well, I didn’t know that, but
even so...

POOKIE
Oh, Emmy. Don’t spoil the story.
Where’s your sense of humor?
(beat)
I bet it was Donald Clellon.

EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - LATER

Emily and Pookie trudge back toward the station, past the
bait shop.

Emily opted for espadrilles to better manage the distance.

POOKIE
Donald Clellon.

And she laughs while Emily’s longer legs carry her further
ahead.

INT. DORMITORY HALLWAY - NIGHT

A STUDENT, 20, holds a phone out for an approaching Emily,

who grabs it.

EMILY
Thank you.
(into the phone)
Yes?
 25.

INT. GREEK RESTAURANT - NIGHT

Emily and Andrew sit in a booth across from each other in a

small Greek restaurant.

It’s late. The usual noise and din subsiding with limited
patrons and a skeleton staff.

ANDREW
I wasn’t at all certain you’d
remember me.

EMILY
Why’d you wait so long to call?

ANDREW
I was shy.

He opens his napkin and drapes it across his lap.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
I was shy and also I
was...miserably involved with a
young lady whose name shall not be
mentioned here.

EMILY
Oh.
(beat)
What do people call you, anyway?
Andy?

ANDREW
Oh, Lord, no. Andy suggests some
devilish, hell-for-leather sort of
fellow; not my type at all, I’m
afraid...I’m a physical wreck, you
know. Truth is...

His voice fades as he keeps talking.

INT. GREEK RESTAURANT - LATER

Andrew stuffs a rather large forkful of lamb into his mouth,

a sheen of grease around his lips.

Emily takes a modest sip of water.

ANDREW
...and as you may recognize, the
piano part in that sonata is one of
the most difficult pieces in the
world. Technically, I mean.
 26.

EMILY
Are you a musician, too?

ANDREW
Used to be, sort of. I studied
piano and clarinet for many
years...

EXT. GREEK RESTAURANT - NIGHT

Andrew holds the door open for Emily as she slinks out into
the air of Amsterdam Avenue.

Traffic light both in the street and on the sidewalk.

ANDREW
...I was one of these tiresome
little creatures called ‘gifted
children’...

He closes the door and they make their way north toward
111th.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
When it turned out I didn’t have
the talent to perform I tried
composing.

He wraps his overcoat in a little tighter around his torso.

Emily moves in to Andrew, expecting him to pull her in close.

He doesn’t.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
Studied composition at Eastman
until it was clear I didn’t...

EXT. DORMITORY - LATER

Outside Emily’s dormitory building, the thin exterior light

reaching her and Andrew as they approach the facade.

Emily pulls ahead and turns back to Andrew with one foot on
the front step.

EMILY
Would you like to come up for some
coffee?

Andrew takes two steps back into the darkness.

 27.

ANDREW
No...no, really. Thanks very much.
Some other time.

And he offers an awkward little wave of his hand as he turns

around and walks away.

Emily watches for a moment, that one foot still on the step.

INT. BEDROOM - LATER

Emily lies in bed, biting softly on her knuckle, book closed

at her chest. Jane Eyre.

INT. DORMITORY HALLWAY - NIGHT

Esther holds the phone out for an approaching Emily.

EMILY
Thanks, Esther.
(into the phone)
Yes, hello?

Pause.

A smile.

INT. ANDREW’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

A tiny studio dominated by a sofa-bed obviously purchased

used.

Emily sits on the edge, hands folded into each other, eyes
downturned.

She brightens as Andrew approaches from his kitchenette

holding two cups of coffee.

ANDREW
...and the real issue is what
happens after the war.

He hands one to Emily and sits beside her.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
We can hardly return to the
conditions that preceded it.

He leans back.
 28.

EMILY
The concert was lovely.

ANDREW
Mozart’s simplicity masks a
richness unparalleled among his
contemporaries. Or so I believe.

Emily leans back as well but Andrew shifts forward before

taking a sip.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
It’s more a matter of diplomacy
than force.
(beat)
We’re planning a new international
order. I’m skeptical that we can,
to steal from Paine, “begin the
world again.”

Emily pushes forward but Andrew leans back again.

Emily exhales and sets her coffee on the table before

reaching for a cigarette from an open pack.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
The blunt carnage of war can trick
us into thinking the world is less
complicated than it is...Like the
music tonight.

Emily nods as she lights.

EMILY
Mmm-hmm.

And as she takes a drag, Andrew LUNGES at her, sending

literal sparks flying up into Emily’s hair and down the front
of her dress.

EMILY (CONT’D)
Oh!

She jumps to her feet and Andrew looks mortified.

ANDREW
God, I’m sorry; that was clumsy...

Emily brushes the front of her dress.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
I’m always doing things like...you
must think I’m-
 29.

EMILY
-It’s all right. You startled me,
that’s all.

ANDREW
I know, I...I’m terrible sorry.

EMILY
No really, it’s...

INT. ANDREW'S APARTMENT - LATER

Quieter. Andrew makes a smoother embrace on the sofa-bed.

He’s tentative. Kissing, hands in modest positions along
Emily’s body.

He pulls away.

ANDREW
When’s your first class in the
morning?

Emily moves toward him.

EMILY
Oh, it doesn’t matter.

ANDREW
It does, though. Look at the time.
You’d better-

EMILY
-No, please. I want to stay.

Andrew freezes.

For a moment. Emily smiles at him. Warm.

Andrew tears off his tie and rips his tucked shirt from his
slacks.

Emily and Andrew pull the couch into a bed, arms furious,
breaths heavy even as they stand apart.

They’re naked and Andrew moves atop Emily, back flat on the
bed.

ANDREW
Oh...Oh Emily, I love you.

EMILY
No, no, don’t say that.
 30.

ANDREW
But it’s true. I have to say it. I
love you.

He moves his mouth toward one of her nipples, then stops.

The room goes quiet, the electricity and heavy breathing

slowed...

EMILY
Is somethi-

ANDREW
-Emily?

EMILY
Yes?

ANDREW
I’m sorry, it’s...I can’t. This
happened to me sometimes. I can’t.

EMILY
Oh.

ANDREW
I’m so sorry. I really am...Does it
make you hate...

EXT. BROADWAY - MORNING

Emily walks down Broadway, a touch disheveled, bag in hand.

A few dozen yards away, a pair of FRESHMAN bound through the

entry toward Barnard Hall.

Emily watches them until they disappear behind the gates then
follows, feet heavy as she walks.

INT. ANDREW'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Andrew pushes off Emily and lies flat on his back, face
looking up at the low ceiling.

ANDREW
Tell me the truth. Has this ever
happened to you before? Has a man
ever failed you this way before?

EMILY
Sure.
 31.

ANDREW
You’d say that even if it wasn’t
true. Ah, God, you’re a nice girl.
Listen, though...

INT. ANDREW'S APARTMENT - NEXT NIGHT

Andrew spits toothpaste into his bathroom sink as Emily,

seated on the sofa, lights a cigarette.

The size of the apartment keeps them close even in separate

rooms.

ANDREW
The rest of the time, I’m fine. My
God, sometimes I can screw and
screw until...

INT. ANDREW'S APARTMENT - NEXT NIGHT

Andrew slides a shirt over his soft torso as Emily sits up in

bed, sheets pulled over her breasts.

ANDREW
It’s only a thing that happens to
me sometimes. Do you believe that?

INT. CLASSROOM - DAY

Emily looks over at a STUDENT, hand outstretched, responding

inaudibly to some prompt.

Emily rolls her shoulders a little, conversation happening

around her but unheard by us.

Then, the noise breaks and Emily snaps her head forward.

EMILY
What? I’m sorry, could you
repeat...

INT. ANDREW'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Emily and Andrew, beside each other in bed.

EMILY
There’ll be other nights.
 32.

ANDREW
Do you promise? Do you promise me
that?

EMILY
Of course.

INT. EMILY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Emily, alone in her own bed, reaches under the sheets...

INT. WEST END BAR - DAY

Andrew and Emily sit across from each other at The West End,
a bar friendly to students and locals of a more bohemian
persuasion.

EMILY
Well, that’s...very brave of you,
Andrew.

ANDREW
It’s not brave.

He squeezes Emily’s hand.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
It’s an act of desperation. It’s
something I probably should have
done long ago.

She averts Andrews eyes and sips at her beer.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
But this is the difficult part...

Andrew releases from Emily and drains his scotch.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
I don’t think we ought to see each
other while I’m in therapy. Let’s
say for at least a year. Then I’ll
look you...

EXT. WEST END BAR - LATER

Andrew kisses Emily’s cheek at the curbside before holding

open a cab door.

Emily carries a dozen yellow roses in her hand.

 33.

INT. TAXI - MOMENTS LATER

As the cab pulls away onto traffic, Emily glimpses back at

Andrew, then straight ahead with a look not unlike relief.

INT. BOOKSTORE - DAY

Emily stands atop a ladder, placing multiple copies of the

same book into open spaces before making a quick descent.

LARS (O.C.)
Excuse me? Do you have any Dryden?

Emily lands and turns around to see LARS, 20s, blonde and
handsome in a heavy sweater.

She smiles.

INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY

A rundown hotel room on a low floor, the sounds of Hell’s

Kitchen resounding through the thin walls and open window.

Emily in bed, running her hand down Lars’ smooth, muscular

back.

EMILY
And you really speak four
languages?

LARS
I never told you that. I’m only
fluent in French and Spanish. My
Italian’s very sketchy, very...

INT. TOWNHOUSE - NIGHT

Emily leans against the wall of a narrow hallway, a more

engaged gathering going on in the next room.

Laughter, conversation, the movement and shadows of bodies.

Speaking beside her is a drawn-looking LAW STUDENT.

LAW STUDENT
Law might be an inherently
bourgeois profession but it can
still assist a Marxist movement. I
really believe...
 34.

INT. LAW STUDENT’S BEDROOM - DAWN

Emily sits up in bed, naked, and stares at the first sign of

morning light making its way through the window.

The Law Student kisses her neck, just under her jaw, and
Emily melts back down into the pillows.

INT. JAZZ CLUB - NIGHT

A filled jazz house, a 4-piece combo (PIANIST, DRUMMER,

BASSIST, SAXOPHONIST, all white, all 20s) play to an engaged
crowd mostly consisting of STUDENTS.

Emily, with Jane at her side, stares at the Drummer, who’s

seen Buddy Rich play a few too many times but isn’t bad.

The Drummer does one final fill and as the last piano note
drops beneath the applause, his eyes find Emily’s.

INT. DRUMMER’S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Emily pulls up her stockings, seated on the bed’s edge.

The Drummer takes a drag on a cigarette as swing jazz plays

from an LP.

DRUMMER
I just can’t be tied to one girl.

EMILY
No, I understand.

DRUMMER
Nothing personal, you were...

INT. DORMITORY - NIGHT

Jane hands an approaching Emily the phone off the wall.

EMILY
Thanks, Jane.
(into the phone)
Yes?
(beat)
Hello, Andrew.

INT. WEST END BAR - AFTERNOON

Andrew looks up at the WAITER, Emily seated across.

 35.

ANDREW
Two beers.
(beat)
Or no, wait. Two very dry, extra
dry martinis.

He smiles at Emily, who tries to smile back.

INT. WEST END BAR - LATER

Two empty glasses sit in front of Andrew.

ANDREW
...I’ve turned the first corner. I
feel so much better. I-I feel I
know who I am for the first time in
my life.

Emily holds onto her first glass, not-quite empty.

EMILY
Well, that’s wonderful, Andrew.

INT. GREEK RESTAURANT - LATER

Dinner. Andrew drains a glass of wine, his face flushed, his

words a touch slurred.

ANDREW
...and that’s what Dr. Goldman
keeps telling me. He says I’ve
spent my life apologizing.

He breathes heavily for a moment, then leans forward.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
Have you been with anyone? Any-any
affairs?

And he offers a rueful laugh as Emily thinks of what to say.

EXT. AMSTERDAM AVENUE - LATER

Andrew and Emily walk up Amsterdam together, she holding him

up a touch.

ANDREW
This is taking on all the aspects
of a major sporting event. A
championship fight, or something.
(MORE)
 36.

ANDREW (CONT'D)
The contender’s been in training
for a year; can he make it this
time?

A quick shadowbox from Andrew, startling Emily a bit.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
Stay tuned for Round One, after
this word from-

EMILY
-Don’t, Andrew.

She settles her arm around his back.

EMILY (CONT’D)
It’s not like that at all. We’ll
just go upstairs and...

INT. ANDREW'S APARTMENT - LATER

Andrew leans forward in the bed, Emily back against the

pillows, as much distance between them as possible.

ANDREW
I won’t have anything to drink
tomorrow.

Long pause.

EMILY
Okay.

INT. ANDREW'S APARTMENT - NEXT DAY

Andrew writhes over Emily, his body making sustained,

powerful movements.

INT. ANDREW'S APARTMENT - LATER

Andrew sits on the bed’s edge pulling up his socks, his body
language different, his face content.

ANDREW
Oh, Emily, oh, if only this had
happened the first time, last year,
instead of all those miserable
nights.

He laughs.
 37.

Emily remains back against the pillows, her face still.

We hold on her as Andrew continues to speak.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
But that’s all in the past. All in
the past. Now let’s think about the
future. I’ve got a...

And keep holding as Andrew’s words fade into nothing.

INT. CITY HALL - DAY

Andrew and Emily stand facing each other, him in a cheap dark
suit, Emily in a simple white dress.

He slides a ring along her finger.

A YOUNG COUPLE just married themselves serve as witnesses,

their clothes of a similar vintage.

EXT. CITY HALL - LATER

Andrew and Emily emerge from City Hall, him boisterous, her
steady.

ANDREW
Why don’t we try that place?

He gestures out to:

The same tavern Emily ate with her father 4 years prior.

Emily stares at it, memory charged.

Andrew takes a few steps ahead before noticing her absence.

He spins around.

EMILY
Okay.

INT. POOKIE’S KITCHEN - NIGHT

Pookie looks around the corner of her kitchen at Andrew,

sipping coffee in the next room.

Pookie’s kitchen, small and spare of all but necessities,

barely fits her and Emily.
 38.

POOKIE
I like him. He was intimidating at
first but once you get to know
him...

Emily offers a thin smile.

POOKIE (CONT’D)
He must be very intelligent...

EXT. MRS. CRAWFORD’S HOME - DAY

A small home, tidy, in the New Jersey suburbs.

Andrew’s MOTHER, 60s, looking older than her years, hair

tinged blue, heavily powdered, sits beside a white Persian
cat on a sofa covered in chintz.

Emily and Andrew sit in chairs facing her.

MRS. CRAWFORD
Have you heard Andrew play?

ANDREW
Mother, please, you know I don’t
play any more.

MRS. CRAWFORD
(to Emily)
He plays like an angel.

INT. MUSIC ROOM - LATER

A small covered patio boasting an upright piano, old, out of

tune...

Andrew sits at it while his mother and Emily stand apart,

watching.

Andrew begins to play.

The notes clang a little, his heart not in it.

Rushing. Chopin, just a passage.

Mrs. Crawford beams.

Emily’s eyes land on:

A photo resting on the walls of Andrew as a fat boy in a

sailor suit, holding a clarinet.
 39.

A missed note prompts Andrew to at first play even faster.

He then comes to a self-imposed conclusion, dropping the

tempo and landing on a pace more in line with the
composition.

His shoulders loosen before the last note, which he POUNDS

with disdain.

His mother’s smile doesn’t break but Emily’s eyes remain off
fingers and keys.

EXT. ENGLEWOOD STATION - EVENING

Emily and Andrew wait their train outside the modest

Englewood Station.

They look distant.

INT. ANDREW'S APARTMENT - LATER

Emily holds Andrew in bed as he weeps in her arms, his face

buried in her body.

INT. ANDREW’S CAR - LATER

A used Buick, lumbering eastbound on Route 25A as it cuts

through Manhasset.

ANDREW
So...at last I get to meet your
beautiful sister and your dashing,
romantic brother-in-law.

Emily drags on a cigarette.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
I feel as if I’d known them for
years.

He’s not smiling.

INT. ANDREW'S APARTMENT - FLASHBACK

From the previous night...Andrew tries to mount Emily but

freezes.
 40.

INT. ANDREW’S CAR - PRESENT

ANDREW
Was he in the service?

EMILY
Who?

ANDREW
Laurence Olivier. Who’d you think I
meant?

INT. ANDREW'S APARTMENT - FLASHBACK

Emily scrubs her leg in the bathroom while Andrew sits

hunched and dejected on the edge of the bed.

INT. ANDREW’S CAR - PRESENT

ANDREW
At least he didn’t storm the
beaches at Normandy and win the
Silver Star with fourteen Oak-leaf
Clusters.
(beat)
We’ll be spared that kind of
evening.

EXT. SARAH'S HOUSE - LATER

The Buick slows to a narrow lane leading to Sarah’s property.

A small, hand-written sign reading “Great Hedges” greets

them.

EXT. LAWN - LATER

Sarah and Tony lay atop an expansive blanket draped across

the grass.

Their three children, the youngest still too small to walk,

toddle, crawl and wander around them.

Emily and Andrew approach, their car parked a few yards

behind them.

EMILY
I wish I had a camera...You make a
lovely picture.
 41.

SARAH
Emmy!

And Sarah springs to her feet, bounding forward toward them

while Tony follows, more reticent.

INT. SARAH'S LIVING ROOM - LATER

Cocktail hour.

Emily and Andrew watch Sarah and Emily intertwine their arms
as they have the first sip of their drink.

A stale evening. Silence. Then:

TONY
Philosophy...

Andrew nods at Tony, now swirling ice cubes in his empty

glass.

TONY (CONT’D)
I’m afraid that whole field’s
rather a mystery to me. Must be
very difficult to read, let alone
teach.

ANDREW
Oh, well, you know...we get up
there and try to educate the little
bastards.

Tony begins to chuckle and it turns into a full laugh. Emily

smiles a smile of relief at Andrew.

TONY
I say, are we ever going to eat?

SARAH
I’ll have just one more cigarette.
Then I’ll get the boys to bed, and
then we’ll...

INT. SARAH’S KITCHEN - LATER

Sarah pulls a noticeably overcooked roast from the oven while

Emily, helping bring in plates, looks in on the culinary
massacre.
 42.

INT. DINING ROOM - LATER

The four sit around the long table, generous portions of the
roast and its similarly scalded vegetables still on plates.

Drinks were consumed more liberally, with Andrew flushed as

he speaks.

ANDREW
And it’s a film that...I don’t see
how anyone could fail to be moved
by it.
(beat)
Anyone with any belief in humanity.

A drowsy Tony smiles back at him.

TONY
Oh, I believe in humanity.
Humanity’s perf’ly all right with
me.

He perks up and Sarah begins to laugh, expecting a joke.

TONY (CONT’D)
I like everyone but coons, kikes
and Catholics.

Sarah’s laughs cuts out and she lowers her eyes.

Silence.

ANDREW
Is that something they taught you
in your English public school?

TONY
Mmm?

ANDREW
I said...is that something they
taught you in your English public
school?

Tony looks over at Sarah, still downcast.

TONY
Sorry, perhaps I...

He falters, looks into his drink...

Smiles at Andrew and Emily, says nothing.

 43.

INT. ANDREW'S CAR

The Buick rushes its way back toward Manhattan along the dark
highway.

ANDREW
The Country Squire...

He grips the steering wheel tight.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
He was raised with the English
upper-middle class.
(imitating Sarah)
“Tony’s practically an engineer.”

EMILY
It was inexcusable.

ANDREW
He lives in a place called Great
Hedges. Sired three sons out of his
beautiful wife. He’s a Neanderthal.
A pig.

EMILY
Wholly inexcusable.

Andrew breathes in.

Breathes out.

ANDREW
Ah, but you love him, don’t you?

Andrew changes lanes to blast past a truck.

Emily feels tensions from both the speed and Andrew’s remark
build inside her.

EMILY
What? What do you mean? I don’t
‘love’ him.

ANDREW
You’ve told me. You can’t take it
back now. You told me you had
fantasies about him. You had
fantasies that you were-

EMILY
-Oh, come on, Andrew.
 44.

ANDREW
And I can imagine what you did to
support those fantasies. To flesh
them out, so to speak. I’ll bet you
masturbated over him. Didn’t you?

Emily stares out the passenger’s window, wincing with every

declaration.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
Oh, I’ll bet you tickled your
little nipples until they came up
hard, and then you-

EMILY
-Stop it, Andrew.

ANDREW
And then you went to work on your
clitoris. Picturing him all the
time. Imagining what he’d say and
how he’d feel and what he’d do to
you. And then you spread your legs
and shoved a couple of fingers up
your-

Emily snaps back to face Andrew.

EMILY
-I want you to stop this, Andrew.
If you don’t stop it I’ll open this
door and get out of this car and-

ANDREW
-All right.

The car slows to a manageable speed.

Emily keeps her eyes on Andrew’s profile, still, steady in

the dim blue light of the dashboard.

Emily turns back out the window, looking out at flat land
unfolding, the only prominence the high lights of a radio-
tower far off on the distance.

Emily keeps her eyes fixed on the lights until the car pulls
too far ahead and her gaze returns forward to the road.

EXT. MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS - LATER

The car slows around a corner and pulls against the curb on a
residential block.
 45.

ANDREW
Do you want to know something,
Emily?

He kills the ignition.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
I hate your body.

Emily stares at him.

ANDREW (CONT’D)
I hate what it put me through last
year. What it’s putting me through
now. I hate your sensitive little
tits. I hate your ass and your
hips. I hate...

Hie voice softens into nothing as Emily continues to stare

and stare.

After a few moments, we return to Andrew, face red and

quivering. And his voice returns:

ANDREW (CONT’D)
I hate your body.

Rage contorts his face as Emily shrinks in her seat, too

stunned to leave.

INT. LIBRARY - DAY

We hear the sound of fingers on a typewriter.

Emily moves along the high shelves of a research library,

pulling on one volume and moving toward a BROKER, wearing a
grey suit.

INT. EMILY’S APARTMENT - DAY

Emily, hunched over the typewriter at a desk by her small

window, types away.

EMILY (V.O.)
Abortion: A woman’s view.

BEGIN MONTAGE of Emily over the next few years:

Emily dips a small watering can into a fern beside her desk.
 46.

EMILY (V.O.)
It is painful, dangerous, “immoral”
and illegal, yet every year more
than...

Emily smiles at another broker, standing at her counter at

the library.

Emily taps ash from a cigarette in bed as the broker slides

on his slacks.

EMILY (V.O.)
...X million women get abortions in
America.

A YOUNG SECRETARY, 20s, leads Emily down a path with offices

on either side.

Emily sets the fern down at a new desk in an office of her

own.

EMILY (V.O.)
Like many girls of my age, I had
always assumed that abortion is a
dreadful thing--

A REALTOR, 40s, leads Emily up to the high windows of an

empty Chelsea apartment.

Emily looks up, then down before turning to the realtor.

EMILY (V.O.)
--to be approached, if at all, with
the fear and trembling one reserves
for a descent into the outer
circles of hell.

Emily types at a desk facing the high windows.

A party fills her new apartment, TWO DOZEN MEN AND WOMEN in
their 20s and 30s.

Drinking, laughing.

Emily lets a MAN in a thin black tie feel the fabric of her
emerald-colored dress.

EMILY (V.O.)
Like many...women of my age, I had
always assumed that abortion...

And Emily falls backward into bed, laughing as the man

collapses beside her.
 47.

Emily stubs out a cigarette at her desk at work, staring at

copy:

‘HOTEL BAR’ BUTTER

HITS SALES PEAK;

MARGARINES FADE

She stares for a moment.

EMILY (V.O.)
But should women suffer for...no.
Should women rethink. Reimagine.

Emily lights another cigarette.

Emily walks along 22nd Street, arm in arm with a BLONDE MAN,
30s.

EMILY (V.O.)
Should something so common prove
itself contro-

Emily walks along 22nd Street, arm in arm with an OLDER MAN,
50.

EMILY (V.O.)
Should...Is abortion...

Emily walks along 22nd Street, arm in arm with a lanky YOUNG
MAN, 20s.

They turn and head up the short steps as Emily pulls out
keys.

EMILY (V.O.)
Why should women find
themselves...How should women find
themselves...

Emily stares at the typewriter at home. At the words written,

rewritten.

She rips the paper from the typewriter...

INT. POOKIE'S KITCHEN - NIGHT

Emily sits at Pookie’s table, a small fruit tart in front of

her.

Pookie exhales cigarette smoke. She has false teeth now, much
whiter than before.
 48.

POOKIE
...and of course if you want to be
a career girl that’s fine. But
you’re 30. Don’t you want to...

INT. POOKIE’S LIVING ROOM - LATER

Emily holds her head in one hand as noise from outside

filters in through the thin windows and walls.

POOKIE
...and he was so presentable. Fred
Stanley. Anyways, that’s what Sarah
said when you brought him out.

She’s slurring her words. We see her seated across from Emily
in the tight living room, sherry in her hand.

POOKIE (CONT’D)
You know it’s been six months since
I was out at Great Hedges? Sarah
never invites me. Never invites me.

Emily nods.

POOKIE (CONT’D)
And she knows how I love it out
there, how I love to spend time
with the children...

Her voice fades into nothing as Emily leaves a cigarette

hanging in her lip, smoke swirling her face, ash ready to
drop to her lap at any moment.

INT. EMILY’S OFFICE - DAY

Emily looks through a glass partition at JACK FLANDERS, 40,

speaking on the phone.

His office is larger, nicer...her managing editor.

He smiles...

Laughs.

Emily frowns and returns to a folder filled with research.

INT. FOOD FIELD OBSERVER OFFICES - DAY

Emily stands outside her office, frozen as Jack exits his and
strides toward a YOUNG COPYWRITER, late 20s.
 49.

MAXINE, 30s, sidles up to Emily.

MAXINE
I know...

Emily’s face flushes.

EMILY
Know what?

MAXINE
You wanted the job...

Emily smiles for a second, then composes herself.

EMILY
Right...

INT. JACK’S OFFICE - DAY

Jack stands, staring down at a mark-up.

Photos of supermarket meats with copy and blurbs.

JACK
Why so many pictures?

Emily stands opposite his desk, shifting her weight from one
side to the other. Just a little.

EMILY
They sent six. I only used four.

JACK
Mm...

He looks down, then holds the copy up.

JACK (CONT’D)
You know something, Emily? There
are times when a word---one word---
is worth a thousand pictures.

And Emily laughs.

Very hard.

And continues.

When she catches her breath, knees weak, she finds Jack
offering her a shy smile.
 50.

INT. EMILY’S OFFICE - LATER

Emily takes a seat at her desk.

And grabs her typewriter.

Lifts it.

And feigns smashing it into her face.

She sets the typewriter down, gently.

Knock Knock.

Emily looks up as Jack opens her office door.

JACK
Emily? Think you might come out for
a drink with me after work tonight?

INT. JACK’S LIVING ROOM - MORNING

Emily walks through a small, spartan living room toward a

bookshelf.

She wears a too-large bathrobe that couldn’t possibly be her

own.

Jack makes coffee in the kitchen, not far away.

Emily browses the titles for a moment...

And pulls one out with a smile.

She turns it over.

EMILY
My god, Jack. You were a Yale
Younger Poet.

JACK
Yeah, well, it’s kind of a lottery.

He pours cream into a mug.

JACK (CONT’D)
They have to give it to somebody
every year.

Emily pulls out a second volume.

Jack makes sure she’s not watching when he smiles.

 51.

INT. JACK’S BEDROOM - EVENING

Emily lies flat on her stomach in Jack’s bed, reading one of

his volumes.

Jack removes his tie, tosses it on an ottoman and falls into

bed beside her, moving his lips to the back of her neck.

EMILY
What are you doing on a trade
paper?

Jack lifts his face up.

JACK
Got to have some kind of job for
the child support...besides, it’s
easy...

INT. EMILY’S APARTMENT - DUSK

Light from the setting sun streams into the high windows of
Emily’s apartment.

She lies on her couch, reading one of Jack’s volumes.

Ring.

Emily smiles.

EXT. EMILY’S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

Emily passes across the window and grabs the phone off her
desk.

She laughs and the back of her body presses against the
window.

INT. JACK’S APARTMENT - EVENING

Jack lets Emily into his apartment as she removes her light
autumn coat.

JACK
Honest to god?

Emily hands him one of the volumes.

EMILY
Oh, I liked them all, Jack. Really.
Let me think...
 52.

She takes a few steps in as Jack shuts the door and follows
her.

JACK
I loved the one...”Celebration.” It
almost made me cry.

INT. EMILY’S OFFICE - DAY

Emily looks at Jack through the glass partition.

He’s on the phone but this time doesn’t smile until his eyes
meet hers.

INT. JACK’S LIVING ROOM - EVENING

Jack stands over a letter lying flat on his little dining

table.

Emily approaches, holding a glass of wine in each hand.

EMILY
I thought you hated teaching.

JACK
Well, but Iowa’s different...The
way I understand it, this
‘workshop’ is separate from the
rest of the English department.

He takes a glass.

EXT. MOVIE THEATRE - NIGHT

Emily walks with her body folded into Jack’s toward a movie
theatre advertising “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”

JACK
...because the idea is, see, the
teachers are supposed to produce
their own stuff while they’re out
there, so they give you plenty of
time...

Jack reaches the box office.

INT. JACK’S KITCHEN - NIGHT

Emily chops onions while Jack watches in the next room, glass
of scotch in hand.
 53.

JACK
...Besides---oh, I know this sounds
dumb, but it’s kind of an honor to
be invited out there.
(beat)
Must mean somebody doesn’t think my
last book sank me forever.

INT. JACK’S BEDROOM - LATER

Emily in bed, body under covers...

Jack slides in beside her.

Emily moves to turn out the lamp-

JACK
I do want to go. But only on one
condition.

EMILY
What’s that?

Pause.

JACK
If you come with me. And stay with
me. And be my girl.

Emily moves toward him in a soft embrace.

INT. SARAH’S KITCHEN - AFTERNOON

SARAH
Oh, I like him. I really like him a
lot...

Sarah puts the finishing touches on a sloppily arranged

cheese plate.

SARAH (CONT’D)
Tony does too, I can tell.

Emily grabs onto a second plate, a mess of olives, carrots

and celery falling into each other.

Emily starts to move out of the kitchen but Sarah lowers her
voice and she stops.

SARAH (CONT’D)
You know what I think you ought to
do?
 54.

EMILY
What?

SARAH
Marry him.

Emily sighs and sets the plate back down on the counter.

EMILY
What do you mean, ‘marry’ him?
You’re always telling me to ‘marry’
people, Sarah. You say that about
every man I bring out here.
(beat)
Is marriage supposed to be the
answer to everything?

Sarah looks hurt.

SARAH
It’s the answer to an awful lot of
things.

INT. SARAH’S LIVING ROOM - LATER

Sarah’s two oldest sons, Tony Jr, now 14, and Peter, now 13,
play guitars in front of:

Emily, Jack, Sarah and Tony, with the youngest child, Eric,
watching with a sulky expression.

TONY JR. & PETER

(singing)
Bye bye, love
Bye Bye, happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I’m gonna cry

Jack grabs Emily’s hand and holds it, tight.

INT. SARAH’S DINING ROOM - LATER

Kids gone, only the two couples around the table.

Jack cuts into a piece of salmon, decides against eating it

and looks across at Sarah instead.

JACK
I understand you’re on the radio.
 55.

SARAH
Oh, not anymore...that’s all over
now.
(beat)
But I did enjoy it---especially
writing the scripts. I love to
write.

She smiles and lifts a drink to her face, nervous.

Swallows.

SARAH (CONT’D)
Actually...I’ve...I’ve been working
on something. A book. Maybe.

INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER

Sarah sits in a chair, barefoot, ankles tucked beneath her

butt.

She holds a manuscript in a shaky hand.

She reads in a too-loud voice.

SARAH
...George Fall was in many ways a
noble man, but he was not unique.
In his time there were countless
others like him.

Tony downs his drink, looking bored.

SARAH (CONT’D)
Men who dared, who gave up comfort
and security to confront a
wilderness, to face adversity
against seemingly hopeless odds, to
conquer a continent.

She pauses, inhales.

SARAH (CONT’D)
In a very real sense, then, the
story of George Fall is the story
of America.

Sarah nods with a shy smile, sets the manuscript down and
reaches for a whiskey and water waiting at her side while
some light clapping resounds.
 56.

INT. TRAIN - LATER

Jack and Emily sit beside each other on the train as it

passes through the Long Island night.

JACK
Your sister’s very sweet...and she
does write well. I wasn’t just
saying that.

EMILY
I wasn’t just saying it, either. I
know she does...
(beat)
I just can’t get over how matronly
she looks, though. She used to have
the most beautiful figure I’ve ever
seen.

JACK
Yeah, well, that happens to a lot
of full-blown women...
(beat)
Your brother-in-law, though...he’s
kind of a boor.

EMILY
I always get the most terrible
headaches when I go out there. I
don’t know why, but it never fails.
Could you sort of rub the back of
my neck?

And Jack moves his hand toward Emily...

EXT. HIGHWAY 6 - DAY

A two-lane highway splits verdant corn fields as a used Buick

carrying Jack at the wheel and Emily beside him chugs along.

EMILY (V.O.)
A New Yorker discovers the Middle
West.

The car drives through Iowa City’s main drag, with tidy
stores and a traffic light planted in the middle of the
intersection.
 57.

EMILY (V.O.)
As an Easterner, born in New York
itself, I greatly enjoyed showing
stray, bewildered Middle Western
visitors through my part of the
world.

The car crosses over the gentle Iowa River.

EMILY (V.O.)
Here, I would explain: this is the
way we...no.

The car passes by some of the campus buildings.

EMILY (V.O.)
I wondered if bewilderment would
find me, transplanted...

And then down a residential street with plain, one-story

homes and broad lawns.

EMILY (V.O.)
I wondered if...I wondered if...

INT. MAIN ROOM - DAY

Emily sits at a small desk at the opposite end of the room

from Jack, working at a desk of his own.

Her fingers hit keys on a typewriter.

EMILY (V.O.)
Would I find myself in similar
straits, lost in a new part of the
country? Or would this adventure
finally...

JACK
Writing a letter?

The clacking stops.

EMILY
No; something else. Just a sort of
idea I have. Does the typewriter
bother you?

JACK
Course not.
 58.

INT. HOUSE PARTY - NIGHT

A more ornate living room, one long lived-in by its

occupants.

A party with dozens of IOWA FACULTY MEMBERS and their

SPOUSES, all ages, some with a bohemian bent, others more
staid...

EMILY (V.O.)
I hoped for new perspectives...

Emily, in a crimson dress that matches her lipstick, laughs

at a comment of Jack’s that provokes only a polite smile from
an OLDER MAN holding a glass of whiskey.

EMILY (V.O.)
What was I missing in New York that
I could only find by leaving?

Emily nods as a WOMAN IN BUTTERFLY GLASSES, 50s, grabs her

shoulder and leans in, as if sharing some conspiratorial
remark.

EMILY (V.O.)
I expected the journey by car to
prove far less substantial...

Emily stands by a fireplace, drink in hand, alone.

EMILY (V.O.)
...far less...significant than the
journey taken by...

She accepts a light from a STATELY MAN, 70s, and then looks
for Jack, finding him in deep conversation with a YOUNGER
PROFESSOR, 30s.

EMILY (V.O.)
I expected the easiest journey of
all would be the one we took by
car.

Emily accepts a farewell kiss from a PROFESSOR, 60s, his

SMALL WIFE at his side...as Jack holds the front door open.

INT. BUICK - LATER

Jack drives Emily down a quiet residential block.

EMILY
I liked the older man...What’s his
name? Hugh Jarvis?
 59.

JACK
Yeah, well, Jarvis is okay, I
guess. He wrote some good stuff 20
years ago but he’s washed up now.

Jack makes a left and pulls onto their street.

JACK (CONT’D)
What did you think of that little
bastard Krueger?

EMILY
He seemed very shy. I liked his
wife, though; she’s---interesting.
She’s somebody I’d like to get to
know.

Jack pulls into their driveway.

JACK
Mm. Well, if that means having the
Kruegers out for dinner or anything
like that, you’d better forget
about it right now.

He kills the ignition.

JACK (CONT’D)
I don’t want that phony little son
of a bitch in my house.

INT. MAIN ROOM - DAY

Emily stares at her typewriter, fingers still.

She sighs.

Sits back.

And turns around to find Jack gone.

INT. DINING ROOM - AFTERNOON

Jack pours scotch into a glass by the bar cart he’s set up.

JACK
Ah, these kids. These fucking kids.
Give ‘em half a chance and they’ll
eat you alive.

He takes a deep swallow as Emily watches.

 60.

EMILY
Did you get a chance to read what I
wrote?

JACK
What?
(beat)
Give me half a sec, okay? I need to
be in the right state.

INT. BEDROOM - LATER

Jack strokes Emily’s bare thigh.

JACK
Oh, baby, you know what you are? I
keep saying ‘You’re great’ and
‘You’re perfect’ and...

He kisses her shoulder.

JACK (CONT’D)
‘You’re tremendous’ but none of
those words...

Emily looks blank and keeps her eyes off his face.

INT. MAIN ROOM - DAY

An overflowing ashtray, a glass empty but for the pools of

ice long melted at the bottom...

Jack grimaces.

JACK
Who the hell ever said I was
supposed to be a poet anyway?

Emily turns her chair around to look at the back of Jack’s

head.

EMILY
Can I read some of what you’ve been
working on?

JACK
No. You’d only lose what little
respect for me you have left.

EMILY
Did you read what I-
 61.

JACK
-You know what it’s like? It’s like
bad light verse. Not even good
light verse. Dum de dum...

INT. HALLWAY - LATER

Emily carries her typewriter down the hall.

JACK (V.O.)
...de dum, and dum de diddly poo. I
should’ve been a songwriter in the
1930s, only I probably would’ve
failed even at that.

She tucks the typewriter under her arm and thrusts the closet
door open.

JACK (V.O.)
I know I had it---I could feel it,
the way you feel blood in your
veins...

Emily sets the typewriter on the closet floor and shuts the
door.

INT. MAIN ROOM - AFTERNOON

And Jack drags on a cigarette.

Exhales.

JACK
...and now I reach for it and reach
for it, and it isn’t there.

EXT. EMILY’S HOUSE - DAY

Winter in Iowa. Snow blankets the lawns and builds in little

piles along the plowed street.

Some light Christmas decorations grace the homes, with a

wreath on Emily’s door.

INT. BEDROOM - LATER

Emily sits on the edge of the bed, phone in hand.

 62.

EMILY
Merry Christmas, Jack. I’m sorry I
missed you, I expect you’re with
the kids.

Long pause.

EMILY (CONT’D)
Call anytime, I’ll be here.

EXT. EMILY'S HOUSE - AFTERNOON

Emily trudges out to the mailbox, bundled up in a heavy

jacket and gloves for the short walk out.

She pries the box open and takes a small stack of letters.

INT. DINING ROOM - LATER

Emily sets the mail on the dining room table, a pile for Jack
in its own place.

She tears neatly at one of the letters.

INT. MAIN ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Emily stands by the front window, light streaming into the

main room.

Sarah’s voice reads the letter Emily holds in her hand.

SARAH (V.O.)
...Pookie has lost her job---the
real estate agency went bankrupt---
and naturally we’ve been very
concerned about her. But Tony came
up with a very generous solution.
He is fixing up the apartment over
the garage into a nice little...

INT. DINING ROOM - LATER

Emily pours herself a glass of gin.

INT. BEDROOM - EVENING

Emily sits up reading in bed. The Wapshot Chronicle.

She glances at the phone.

 63.

Glances back at her book.

INT. ENTRY - DAY

Emily carries a small bag through the front door, followed by

Jack lugging a suitcase.

JACK
...because here’s the thing, Emily.
I did a lot of thinking on this
trip. Did me good to get away and
kind of put things in
perspective...

INT. BEDROOM - LATER

Jack takes folded clothes from his suitcase while Emily

places some of his socks in drawers.

JACK
...and the only thing that stands
in the way of getting a book done
by summer---the only thing---is my
own half-assedness. If I’m careful,
and lucky---you have to be lucky as
well as careful---I can bring it
off.

Emily grabs a stack of folded underwear off Jack’s bed.

EMILY
Well, that’s wonderful, Jack.

INT. LAUNDROMAT - DAY

A long row of washing machines.

Emily sits, focusing on one, a whirl of suds and soaked cloth

visible through the machine’s porthole.

Emily takes a bite from a chocolate bar, content. Serene.

INT. KITCHEN - EVENING

Emily stands over a boiling pot of water as the sound of the

front door SLAMMING resounds.

She winces.
 64.

JACK (O.S.)
Ah, that fucking Krueger.
(beat)
I’d like to kick his balls in, if
he has any.

INT. DINING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Jack swallows a sip of scotch.

JACK
...the cutesy-poo little bastard
with the dimpled chin and the
charming wife and the three cutesy-
poo little...

Jack and Emily sit across from each other at the dinner
table, London broils and broccoli on their plates.

JACK (CONT’D)
...here’s the thing, baby. Try to
understand. I’m what the kids here
call ‘traditional.’ And Krueger’s
what they call ‘experimental.’ He’s
thrown everything...

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

Lights out, Jack and Emily in bed.

JACK
....and baby, here’s the kicker---
here’s the punchline: the little
cocksucker is nine years younger
than me.

Emily wakes up in the earliest reaches of dawn, Jack gone.

She pats his empty bedside a few times.

INT. HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Emily moves with groggy steps into the dark hallway.

EMILY
(weakly)
Jack?

Rounding the hallway, she sees a stream of smoke and hears

the sound of ice hitting glass then liquid being poured.
 65.

Emily sighs.

And turns back to return to bed.

INT. MAIN ROOM - AFTERNOON

Emily stokes the flames in the fireplace.

Jack sits behind her at his desk.

JACK
I wish to God you could’ve known me
when I was working on my first
book. Or even my second.
(beat)
That was me.

INT. COUNTRY ROAD - DAY

Spring. Sun high, sky blue.

Jack and Emily lope down a road a mile out of town, trees on
either side, no homes in sight.

A fox terrier bounds ahead.

EMILY
Cindy!

And the terrier stops and turns before ambling back to them.

Emily bends down to give her a rub.

EMILY (CONT’D)
Oh, good dog! Good dog!
(beat)
Wasn’t that neat, Jack?

JACK
Yeah. Sure was.

INT. MAIN ROOM - LATER

Cindy runs through the open door, followed by Emily and Jack,
who moves right for...

INT. DINING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

...the bar cart.

 66.

EMILY
(to Cindy)
We’re going to have to keep you out
of the mud, Cindy...

Emily watches Cindy hop on the couch before her eyes move to
Jack taking a drink in the next room.

EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - DAY

A new stretch of road, most of the trees giving way to wide

fields.

Emily notices one solitary oak in the middle of some

otherwise open expanse.

She leads Jack to the tree.

And removes her suede jacket.

And drops it to the ground.

Jack gently sets a naked Emily back against the soft ground
and hovers over, smiling a little.

INT. MAIN ROOM - LATER

Jack sits on the couch, whiskey in one hand, book at his lap.

Emily sits curled on a chair, the New Yorker in hand.

JACK
Wow...that was really---that was
really something.

Emily looks up.

EMILY
Well...what’s the point of living
in the country if you can’t do
things like that occasionally?

INT. DINING ROOM - AFTERNOON

Emily hovers over a small pile of mail with one letter in

hand.
 67.

SARAH (V.O.)
...I have shelved my George Fall
book because it turned out that I
couldn’t proceed very far without
doing research in Montana. Can you
imagine me ever getting to Montana?

We hear Sarah’s giggle.

EXT. EMILY’S HOUSE - DAY

Heavy rains pour from the sky as dozens of earthworms writhe

around the driveway.

Emily watches through the window.

INT. MAIN ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Jack turns around from his typewriter.

JACK
What do you see out there, anyway?

Emily keeps staring out.

EMILY
Nothing much. Just thinking, I
guess.

INT. BEDROOM - DAY

Emily vacuums the carpeting.

Slips clean covers onto a pillow.

Wipes at a mirror in tight, circular motions.

Tries to shift a cardboard box placed on a high shelf in the

closet...

...and it falls on her.

Some winter clothes, boxed for the spring, fall out.

Emily begins to fold them and put them back when...

She feels something in the pocket of one of Jack’s jackets.

She pulls out...

A fifth of bourbon, half-full.

 68.

She stares at it for a moment.

And places it back in the pocket.

INT. MAIN ROOM - MORNING

Emily sits with a cup of coffee and Cindy in her lap...

She sings softly.

EMILY
How do you do, my Cindy?
How do you do today?
Won’t you be my partner?
I will show you the way.

Jack looks over at her from the dining room where he sits
with the open paper and a half-eaten piece of toast and the
runny remnants of a fried egg on a plate.

JACK
Know what? The way you carry on
with that dog, anybody’d say you
want a baby.

EMILY
A baby?

JACK
Sure.

He moves over toward her, his fingers playing with a lock of

her hair.

JACK (CONT’D)
Doesn’t every women want a baby
sometime?

Emily looks up at the shape of Jack looming over her but

fails to meet his eyes.

EMILY
Oh, I don’t know...Sure, I guess
so. Sometime.

JACK
It might be pointed out that you’re
not getting any younger. When I got
married...
 69.

EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - AFTERNOON

Trees thick with leaves, grasses lush, sun high and warm.

Cindy takes the lead ahead of Jack and Emily.

JACK
...Listen: Not now---oh, not now,
baby, but soon---as soon as the
damn book’s done---do you think you
might...consider marrying me?

He takes both of Emily’s hands.

Her eyes land on a trace of egg yolk on his chin.

EMILY
Well, I don’t know, Jack. It’s a
thing I’d have to think about, I
guess.

JACK
Okay.

He lets go, begins walking again.

JACK (CONT’D)
I know I’m no prize package.

EMILY
It’s not---I just don’t know if I’m
ready for--

JACK
Okay.

INT. DINING ROOM - EVENING

We HEAR the clack clack clack of Jack’s typewriter as Emily

holds a glass scotch to her lips.

JACK (O.S.)
Son of a bitch.

She drinks. Most of it in one gulp.

INT. MAIN ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Emily stands beside Jack as he looks up from his work,

ashtray full, notes and crumpled drafts surrounding him.
 70.

EMILY
Jack, things aren’t right; I think
we both...

INT. KITCHEN - LATER

We see Jack RAGING at Emily, words unheard, before he throws

his drink at a wall and it SHATTERS.

INT. BEDROOM - LATER

Jack wraps himself around Emily’s calves, weeping.

INT. MAIN ROOM - NIGHT

Emily curls under a blanket on the couch, Cindy on the floor

beneath her.

EXT. EMILY'S HOUSE - DAY

Emily starts down the driveway toward a cab, carrying one

small bag and a suitcase.

No sign of Jack.

She hears a bark and turns to see Cindy at the window.

Emily’s stares at her for a moment and heads back toward the
taxi before her face can crumple into sobs.

INT. BEDROOM - MORNING

Emily awakens with a MAN’S bare arm and leg pinning her down
in bed.

She tries to remove herself.

Tries.

Tries harder, finally forcing her body free and knocking over
the bedside table with a CRASH of broken glass.

The man moans a little but hardly stirs.

She looks around the room.

Unfamiliar.

She finds her clothes draped around a corduroy armchair.

 71.

Men’s clothes law strewn on the floor.

INT. BATHROOM - LATER

Dressed, Emily combs at knots in her hair, wincing a little.

INT. BEDROOM - LATER

Emily rights the knocked over table.

And writes a quick note:

Be careful.

Broken glass on floor.

E.

EXT. MORTON STREET - LATER

Sunlight assaults Emily as she moves across the sidewalk

toward the curb to hail a cab.

INT. EMILY’S BATHROOM - LATER

Emily scrubs away at her face in the shower, moaning with

equal parts agony and relief.

INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER

Emily, hair wet, robe on, moves toward a ringing phone at her
desk.

She lets it RING a third time.

Then a fourth before she picks it up.

EMILY
Yes?

We hear Sarah on the other end.

SARAH (O.S.)
Emmy? Look, it’s about Pookie, and
I’m afraid it’s bad news.
 72.

EXT. ST. CHARLES STATION - LATER

Emily walks toward Sarah, waiting outside an old Plymouth.

SARAH
Oh, I’m so glad you’re here, Emmy.
I feel better about everything
already. It’s really not such a...

INT. SARAH’S CAR - LATER

Sarah drives past a massive pink and white shopping center.

EMILY
It’s funny...when I first came out
here this was all open country.

SARAH
Things change, dear.

EXT. DRIVEWAY - LATER

The Plymouth cruises slowly past the old “Great Hedges” sign.

EXT. SARAH'S HOUSE - LATER

Emily and Sarah tromp across the crunching gravel toward the
garage apartment.

SARAH
...you must be starving but I think
we ought to look in on Pookie
first. I mean, I don’t want to have
her just lying there...

INT. POOKIE'S APARTMENT - LATER

Emily looks grim as she stares downward.

Sarah glances at Emily with nervous eyes.

SARAH
Do you think we could get her into
bed? For when the ambulance comes?

EMILY
Right. Good idea.

Emily and Sarah fix the bed up, from the mess it was into
something more presentable.
 73.

Emily grabs a sheet and holds it out.

We see her LIFT Pookie, nude but now mostly covered by the
sheet, into bed with great effort.

Eight different empty bottles of Bellows Partners’ Choice

whiskey grace the small room.

Emily breathes heavily.

Sarah tries to comb at Pookie’s hair.

SARAH
There. That’s a little better. Now,
if you can sort of turn her, I’ll
bring her feet up and we’ll...

The sisters stand back from the bed, looking at their mother,
covered, comatose, still.

SARAH (CONT’D)
You know something? I’d give a lot
to have that good a figure when I’m
her age!

EXT. SARAH'S HOUSE - LATER

FOUR YOUNG PARAMEDICS in white uniforms load Pookie’s

stretcher into the back of their ambulance while Emily and
Sarah watch.

INT. HOSPITAL - LATER

Emily and Sarah stand outside Pookie’s small room as a

DOCTOR, 50s, speaks.

DOCTOR
...cerebral hemorrhages can prove
quite unpredictable...

INT. SARAH’S CAR - LATER

Sarah drives down a highway graced by expansive new suburban

housing developments.

SARAH
...and of course institutions cost
money and we haven’t got any
money...
 74.

INT. RESTAURANT - LATER

A roadside restaurant.

Emily and Sarah face each other in one of the booths, Sarah’s
plate clean, Emily’s with half a club sandwich and barely-
touched mixed fruit.

Both have drinks, neither one on their first.

EMILY
Well, Sarah, how do you manage?

SARAH
Oh, we do. Just barely, but we do.

She sips her cocktail.

SARAH (CONT’D)
On the first of every month, I sit
down at the dining-room table---and
I make the boys sit with me too, at
least I did when they were younger;
it’s been good for them to learn
about handling money---and I divide
everything into accounts. First and
foremost is the G.H. Account. That
covers-

EMILY
G.H.?

SARAH
Great Hedges.

EMILY
Why do you call the place that?

SARAH
What to you mean? It’s always been
called---

EMILY
-Pookie gave it that name, baby. I
was there when she thought it up.

SARAH
She did?

Sarah looks stunned.

They both reach for their drinks.

 75.

INT. SARAH’S LIVING ROOM - LATER

Late at night.

Emily sits cross-legged on the floor, near an array of liquor

bottles on the coffee table.

Sarah melts into the sofa.

SARAH
...and after you were in bed, daddy
took me to the drugstore and we had
black-and-white ice cream sodas.
And on the way home---I can still
remember that street, the way it
curved around---on the way home he
said ‘Baby, can I ask you a
question?’ Then he said ‘Who do you
love more, your mother or me?’

EMILY
My god. Did he really say that? And
what did you say?

SARAH
I told him...

She sniffs.

SARAH (CONT’D)
I told him I’d have to think it
over. Oh, I knew, of course, I knew
I loved him so much...

Sarah’s voice closes into silence as Emily stares into her

drink.

Stares.

Sips. Looks back up at Sarah.

SARAH (CONT’D)
...he said “As soon as I can
arrange a few things I’m going to
have you come and live with me. It
might not be right away but it’ll
be soon, and we’ll be together
always.

Sarah smiles.

EMILY
God. And then of course he never
did anything about it.
 76.

SARAH
I stopped expecting it to happen
after a while. I stopped thinking
about it.

EMILY
And you had to go on living with
Pookie and me.
(beat)
I had no idea you went through
anything like that.

SARAH
Oh, don’t misunderstand. He loved
you too; he always used to ask me
about you, especially later, when
you were growing up...

Emily fumbles for a cigarette.

SARAH (CONT’D)
...what you were like, what you’d
want for your birthday---you know.

Emily lights.

SARAH (CONT’D)
It’s just that he never really got
to know you very well.

EXT. ST. CHARLES STATION - MORNING

Emily waits on the platform for the train.

INT. BALDWIN ADVERTISING - DAY

Emily strides past the lobby of an advertising firm with

HANNAH BALDWIN, 50, trim, energetic, well-dressed.

HANNAH
I want you to understand, Emily,
you have a real future with us. We
love you, really we...

They pass through a pair of glass doors, Hannah holding one

open for Emily before following.

INT. MICHAEL’S BEDROOM - MORNING

Emily reads a copy of the New York Review of Books, stomach

flat in bed.
 77.

In the nearby bathroom, MICHAEL, 40, shaves.

EMILY
There aren’t very many people you
can enjoy spending Sunday with.

MICHAEL
Mmm.

A dip of razor into water.

EMILY
We don’t even have to spend every
day together...there’s a distance
and then we--

Something catches her eye and her gaze steadies on the page.

She reads for a moment.

MICHAEL
What’s the deal?

Michael’s now over Emily’s shoulder, face shaven.

He dabs at it with a hand towel.

EMILY
Nothing. Just...something here
about a man I used to know.

Michael bends over a little toward the page.

MICHAEL
Yeah? Which one?

We see FOUR MEN on the page.

One is Jack Krueger.

Emily reaches her finger to Jack’s forehead.

EMILY
Him.

MICHAEL
Looks like he lost his last friend.

EXT. NURSING HOME - DAY

Autumn. The leaves colored and rich on the few trees

scattered before a modest Episcopalian nursing home.
 78.

Emily exhales smoke just outside the entrance before tossing

away a cigarette.

INT. POOKIE’S ROOM - LATER

POOKIE
Emmy! I knew you’d come today!

Pookie sits in a half-raised hospital bed, her face made-up

and smiling.

But she slurs her words and speaks with great labor.

POOKIE (CONT’D)
And isn’t it wonderful how
everything’s worked out so well for
us? Just imagine! Sarah’s a real
princess. And look at you. I always
knew...

INT. RESTROOM - LATER

Emily puts her hands through running water before moving them
to her face in a small public restroom at the nursing home.

INT. POOKIE’S ROOM - LATER

EMILY
Are you...comfortable here?

POOKIE
Oh, it’s nice enough, of course
it’d be nice, built right into the
White House--but I’ll tell you
something, dear.

Pookie leans forward and Emily takes a slow step toward her.

POOKIE (CONT’D)
Some of these nurses don’t know how
to behave when they’re dealing with
the President’s mother-in-law.
(beat)
Anyway, I know you must be
terribly...
 79.

INT. HALLWAY - LATER

Emily walks with haste past other rooms, passing by elderly

figures in wheelchairs, closed doors, open doors revealing
sickly figures in bed...

INT. NURSE’S STATION - MOMENTS LATER

Emily peers into a nurses’ station, where TWO YOUNG NURSES

drink coffee in their uniforms, magazines in hand.

EMILY
Excuse me. I’m Mrs. Grimes’
daughter--Mrs. Grimes in 2-F.

NURSE ONE
Oh, you must be Mrs. Kennedy.

NURSE TWO
Can I have your autograph?

INT. EMILY'S APARTMENT - MORNING

Emily kisses Michael on the cheek just before he exits her

front door, coat in hand.

She watches him move down her hallway but he doesn’t turn
around.

She doesn’t shut her door until he rounds a corner and moves
out of sight.

EXT. NURSING HOME - DAY

Winter now, the snow thin on the grass and the trees bare.

INT. POOKIE’S ROOM - LATER

Emily holds a heavy coat in her hands as Pookie speaks with

even more struggle.

POOKIE
It was that place in New Jersey,
the one that always smelled like
mildew. Remember?

Emily nods with a small smile.

 80.

EXT. TRAIN PLATFORM - LATER

Emily, bundled up, drags on a cigarette, holds...

Exhales with a deep sigh as a train comes rumbling toward its

stop.

EXT. MICHAEL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Emily presses herself closer to Michael in bed.

MICHAEL
You ever gonna go back to your
place?

EMILY
Do you want me to? I-

MICHAEL
-Fine with me. Just curious is all.

INT. POOKIE'S ROOM - DAY

Springtime. Emily in lighter clothes, some sun streaming past

the mostly-closed curtains.

A NURSE rushes in holding lipstick and a mirror, which Pookie

grabs.

EMILY
Thank you, she was asking for both
and didn’t like my shade.

The nurse offers a sympathetic smile.

Pookie holds the mirror to her face and frowns.

She struggles to uncap the lipstick with one hand.

Emily takes it from her, uncaps it and hands the lipstick to

Pookie.

Pookie stares a moment longer before applying lipstick to the

glass, outlining her reflected lips.

INT. ROUGH RIDER ROOM - DAY

A restaurant at The Roosevelt Hotel with murals of Teddy

Roosevelt and the Rough Riders gracing the walls.

Emily moves toward Sarah, already seated at a table.

 81.

Sarah looks heavy, tired, her teeth stained and too much
bright costume jewelry clashing with her drab suit.

SARAH
Come sit down, dear. You look
wonderful.

EMILY
So do you.

A WAITER approaches as Emily slides into her seat.

WAITER
Something from the bar, ladies?

SARAH
Oh, yes. I’d like an extra dry
martini, straight up, with a lemon
twist.

EMILY
White wine, please.
(to Sarah)
I have to get some work done this
afternoon.

Silence.

Sarah smiles and Emily smiles back.

SARAH
Pookie. Pookie’s becoming, well,
it’s a discipline problem. That’s
what the nurse said. Nurse Sheryl.
You know her. Do you know her?
Anyways, apparently she burst...

Sarah’s words fade as Emily nods, nods.

Looks around a little.

A MARRIED COUPLE, 30s, sit with their SON, 8, dressed in a

blazer and looking very proper as he cuts into a piece of
chicken.

An ELDERY MAN, 70s, well-dressed, eats soup alone.

A pair of WOMEN, 40s, laugh together.

A BUS BOY carries a tray of empty glasses.

When Emily looks back, the waiter swaps out Sarah’s empty
martini glass with a new one.
 82.

SARAH (CONT’D)
...thank you...and the State
Hospital is free. Oh, but I
understand it’s very nice.

EMILY
I see.

Silence.

Sarah sips.

Then looks up at Emily.

SARAH
I suppose I really shouldn’t have
this.
(beat)
My doctor told me I drink too much.

EMILY
He did?

SARAH
Oh, it wasn’t a grim warning or
anything; he just told me to cut
down. He said my--you know--my
liver’s enlarged. I don’t know.
Let’s not talk about sad things any
more. I hardly ever get to see you,
Emmy, and I want to hear...

Emily helps Sarah out of her chair, plates and glasses

already cleared.

SARAH (CONT’D)
Oh dear...I suppose I-thank you,
Emmy...

She steadies herself and Emily disengages.

SARAH (CONT’D)
I’d better go to my room and rest.
Tony’s taking me out to dinner
before the show. I’m fine.

She staggers a little and Emily approaches again.

SARAH (CONT’D)
No, I’m fine. I can manage.
 83.

INT. ROOSEVELT HOTEL HALLWAY - LATER

Emily walks with an unsteady Sarah down the narrow hotel

hallway.

SARAH
I’ll get a little sleep now and
I’ll be fine.

INT. SARAH’S ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Sarah falls into bed, clothes and shoes on. Emily watches
over.

EMILY
Don’t you want to take your clothes
off?

SARAH
I’m fine.
(beat)
I’m seeing A Funny Thing Happened!

INT. EMILY’S OFFICE - LATER

Emily at her desk in a more impressive office than before.

Larger, more afternoon light streaming into her window...

She looks at a research packet, back at the typewriter...

Grabs a cigarette from the pack at her side, lights, drags,

exhales.

Realizes a lit one sits smoldering in her ashtray.

INT. EMILY’S KITCHEN - NIGHT

Emily shakes chicken bones off her plate into the garbage
before moving to the sink.

As she turns the water on, a RING from the next room.

INT. LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Emily reaches for the phone.

EMILY
Yes?

Pause.
 84.

EMILY (CONT’D)
Sarah, why aren’t you at the
theatre?

INT. TAXI - LATER

Emily, dressed, sits in back of a cab as it inches its way

through traffic moving uptown.

INT. ROOSEVELT HOTEL HALLWAY - LATER

Emily walks toward Sarah’s room, feet quiet as they hit the
carpeting.

Sarah’s door sits open a few inches.

Emily knocks anyways.

SARAH (O.S.)
Anthony?

EMILY
No, baby, it’s me.

SARAH
Oh. Come on in, Emmy.

INT. SARAH'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Emily slides in and gently shuts the door behind her.

Darkness.

EMILY
Are you all right? Where’s the
light?

SARAH
Don’t turn it on yet. Let me talk a
minute first, okay?

The weak, blue light filtering through the window reveals

Sarah’s outline in bed.

SARAH (CONT’D)
I’m awfully sorry about this, Emmy.
I probably shouldn’t have called
you but the thing is---well,
I’ll...

She takes heavy, labored breaths.

 85.

SARAH (CONT’D)
...I’ll start at the beginning,
okay? When Tony got back here I was
still--you know--I guess, and we
had a terrible fight about it and
he said he wasn’t going to take me
to the play, and he--anyway, he
went to the play alone.

EMILY
He went to the play alone?

SARAH
That’s right. Oh, you can’t blame
him. I wasn’t in any condition;
that part of it’s all my fault. But
I just--the point is, you and I had
such good talks last summer, and I
just called you up because I sort
of needed someone to talk to.

EMILY
I see. Well, I’m glad you did call.
Can I turn the light on now?

Pause.

SARAH
I guess you might as well.

Emily feels along the wall for a light switch for a moment
before hitting it.

A flick and light floods the room.

We see blood.

Blood on the tangled sheets.

Blood down the front of Sarah’s slip.

Blood all over her swollen, wincing face.

Blood in her tangled hair.

INT. BATHROOM - LATER

Emily dabs a warm, wet cloth to Sarah’s face.

SARAH
Can you imagine this face walking
through the Alvin?
 86.

She laughs a little.

INT. SARAH’S ROOM - LATER

Tony holds a tumbler with a generous amount of whiskey in it

as Emily faces him, coiled across the room.

EMILY
...if you ever touch my sister
again I’ll...I’ll kill you.

SARAH
It’s okay, Emmy.

Her voice is gentle. She holds a glass as well.

Emily’s eyes go from Sarah to Tony then to Tony’s hands. He

holds a tumbler out to her and she takes it.

INT. TAXI - NIGHT

Less traffic now as a taxi carries Emily downtown.

She takes a long drag on a cigarette.

INT. EMILY'S LIVING ROOM - MORNING

Emily, showered and in her robe, reads the Sunday Times at

her couch.

The phone RINGS.

She sets the paper down.

Sighs.

Gets up off the couch.

EXT. WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK - LATER

Baby carriages, COLLEGE STUDENTS throwing frisbees, somehow

crowded and serene at one.

Emily finds Sarah on a bench, the same suit from the previous
day wrinkled, her face bruised.

Emily sits beside her.

 87.

SARAH
I didn’t know our old house was
gone.

EMILY
That whole block was torn down
years ago. When they built the
student center.

Sarah looks behind her.

INT. COFFEE SHOP - LATER

Small but only half-filled, the breakfast crowd mostly gone.

Bits of egg yolk and sausage remain on Sarah’s plate.

EMILY
...and you can stay at my place for
as long as you’d like. We can work
at finding you a job and-

SARAH
-I know, dear, and it’s very sweet
of you to offer. But what could I
possibly do?

EMILY
There’s any number of things you
could do...

Emily falters.

EMILY (CONT’D)
But that’s not important. The only
important thing now is to make up
your mind. Either go back to St.
Charles or start a new life for
yourself here.

Sarah sits silent for a moment.

SARAH
I’d better go back. I’ll take the
train out this afternoon.

EMILY
Why? Because he ‘needs’ you?

SARAH
We need each other.

Emily sighs.
 88.

In the booth across the aisle, a YOUNG COUPLE, both 20, sit
beside each other, whispering, smiling, her fingers tracing
elliptical patterns on the inner thigh of the boy’s jeans.

EMILY
What you’re really afraid of...what
you’re really afraid of is that
Tony might leave you.

Sarah lowers her face.

SARAH
That’s right.

INT. BAR - NIGHT

A semi-crowded bar in the West Village.

Emily leans in toward a GREY-HAIRED MAN, 50, in a tailored

suit.

EMILY
I have a sister whose husband beats
her all the time.

GREY-HAIRED MAN
Yeah? Really beats her?

Emily nods as she swallows a drink of scotch.

EMILY
Really beats her. Been beating her
for twenty years.

INT. BEDROOM - LATER

The grey-haired man pulls Emily’s dress down off her

shoulders.

EMILY
I know this sounds awful but...I
think she sort of enjoys it. She
said to me once, ‘I was a virgin
when I got married and I’ve been a
virgin ever since.’ Isn’t that the
damndest statement you’ve...

LATER.

Emily lies in the fetal position in bed, naked with sheets up

to her breasts, burying her face in her hands.
 89.

EXT. MIDTOWN - DAY

Emily exits a cab and strides toward a massive steel and

glass Midtown tower. She carries a manilla envelope under her
arm.

INT. HOWARD’S OFFICE - LATER

HOWARD DUNNINGER, 50, deep-voiced and powerfully-built,

approaches Emily as his SECRETARY, 20s, closes the door
behind her.

HOWARD
Let me take your coat, Miss Grimes.

He hangs it as Emily moves toward his desk with awkward

caution.

HOWARD (CONT’D)
Sit down--no, come around here and
sit beside me; then we can go over
the material together. In general,
I think it’s fine.

They sit together, layouts spread across Howard’s desk.

He looks at copy. Emily looks at him.

HOWARD (CONT’D)
There’s just one point. One
phrase...You say Tynol has ‘the
natural elegance of wool.’

And then Emily’s eyes catch a very young, pretty woman in a

photograph staring back at her.

HOWARD (CONT’D)
...and that could be construed as a
misrepresentation, you see, when
we’re talking about a synthetic.

She turns back to Howard.

EMILY
I don’t get it. If I say ‘You have
the patience of a saint,’ it
certainly doesn’t mean you are one.

HOWARD
Ah...

Howard leans back and smiles.

 90.

HOWARD (CONT’D)
But if I say ‘You have the eyes of
a strumpet,’ there might
conceivably be room for doubt.

Emily smiles before a laugh overtakes her. Howard joins in.

As they quiet, Emily looks back at the photo.

EMILY
Is that your daughter?

Silence.

HOWARD
No, it’s my wife.

EMILY
Oh. She’s lovely. Uh...
(beat)
I should...

INT. NATIONAL CARBON - LATER

Emily walks down the long hallway running from Howard’s

office toward the lobby, the doors to the offices she passes
all closed.

INT. EMILY'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Emily sips from a glass of red wine as Walter Cronkite talks

about Barry Goldwater on the television.

INT. EMILY’S APARTMENT - DAY

Light streams through the windows as Emily moves toward her

RINGING phone.

EMILY
Yes?
(beat)
Howard!

INT. RESTAURANT - DAY

An airy French restaurant.

HOWARD
...well, separated is a euphemism.
The fact is she left me.
(MORE)
 91.

HOWARD (CONT'D)
I suppose she wanted to see what
freedom is like.

Emily sets down her glass of white wine.

EMILY
Isn’t it a little romantic to keep
her picture on your desk?

Howard smiles.

HOWARD
Pure cowardice. It’s been there so
long I thought people in the office
might think it looked funny if I
put it away.

EMILY
Where is she now?

HOWARD
California. She wanted to put the
greatest possible distance between
us, you see.

INT. TAXI - LATER

Emily smiles as she rides a cab down a residential block in

Lenox Hill.

Howard sits beside her.

INT. HOWARD’S KITCHEN - MORNING

Emily reads The New York Times, crusts of toast left on her
plate.

Howard emerges, buttoning his shirt, hair still damp from a

shower.

HOWARD
Do you mind if we start using your
apartment? This place reminds me of
her.

INT. EMILY’S BEDROOM - EVENING

Emily runs her hands down the bright neckties hanging in her
closet.
 92.

INT/EXT. HOWARD’S BUICK - DAY

Howard drives Emily down a highway flanked with trees

bursting with color.

HOWARD
We don’t have to stop in Vermont.

EMILY
No?

HOWARD
You ever been to Quebec?

Emily smiles, shakes her head.

HOWARD (CONT’D)
Screw it, let’s go to Canada.

EXT. ALVIN THEATRE - EVENING

Howard hands Emily a ticket as they move toward the entrance

of the Alvin Theatre, High Spirits on the marquee.

INT. EMILY’S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Emily moves closer to Howard on the couch, curling into his

body as he runs his hand through her hair.

Emily closes her eyes.

INT. DINING ROOM - EVENING

Emily carries two wine glasses into the dining room, setting
them atop placemats with a large salad bowl in the middle.

HOWARD
There!

Emily jumps slightly.

HOWARD (CONT’D)
What you did just then--the way you
held your hair back with one hand
and set the glasses down--that
could have been Linda.

Emily furrows her brow.

 93.

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Howard nurses a bourbon, not his first, while Emily keeps a

bored eye on an overproduced ad for the Chevy Impala playing
on the television.

HOWARD
...but you have to understand about
Linda. It wasn’t just that she was
my wife; she was all I ever wanted
in a woman. She was--how can I
explain it?

EMILY
You don’t have to explain it.

HOWARD
Yes I do. Have to get it straight
in my own mind or I’ll never get
over her. Listen. Let me tell you
how I...

EXT. CHRISTMAS TREE LOT - EVENING

Emily and Howard, bundled up, round the corner in a small

tree lot.

Emily keeps a few steps ahead.

HOWARD
...she was still in college--she
went to Barnard, same as you---and
when her classes were over every
day she’d--

EMILY
-I like this one.

Howard hardly gives it a glance.

HOWARD
Fine. So, every day she’d hurry
down to my place in order to...

INT. EMILY’S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Fire on, “Waltz for Debby” on the hi-fi, Emily unwraps a

Christmas ornament to add to a half-decorated tree.

Howard remains on the couch, drink in hand.

 94.

HOWARD
...she was a great companion.
(beat)
Why do I keep saying ‘was’? It’s
not as if she were dead. She was a
great companion for me and now
she’ll be a great companion for
some other...

INT. EMILY’S BEDROOM - LATER

Emily slides into bed, nightgown on.

Silence. Howard reads Travels With Charley, the lamp beside

him the room’s only light.

EMILY
Hasn’t it occurred to you that I
might be a little jealous?

HOWARD
Mm.

He sets the book down.

HOWARD (CONT’D)
No, as a matter of fact that hasn’t
occurred to me.
(beat)
I don’t get it. How can you be
jealous of something that’s in the
past?

EMILY
Oh, Howard. Come on, now.

Emily sits up.

EMILY (CONT’D)
What if I spent whole evenings
going over all the wonderful,
wonderful qualities of different
men I’ve known?

Howard gives her a serene look before opening the Steinbeck

up again.

HOWARD
(chuckling)
Wouldn’t bother me.
 95.

INT. DINING ROOM - EVENING

Emily looks up from a glass of wine, beef stroganoff

simmering on her plate.

EMILY
And I suppose you’ll see Linda out
there, won’t you?

Howard looks bemused.

HOWARD
I don’t see how. I’ll be in Los
Angeles; she’s way up north of San
Francisco. It’s a big state.
Besides...

INT. EMILY'S BEDROOM - MORNING

Howard, in a suit and with his heavy coat draped on, pushes
hard on his suitcase.

HOWARD
Can you zip while I hold this down?
I can’t seem to get this goddamn
suitcase shut.

Emily exhales smoke from her cigarette before sticking it in

her mouth and holding it there as she zips up Howard’s
suitcase.

INT. EMILY’S OFFICE - DAY

Emily leans back in her chair, a research packet from

National Carbon in her hand, glass of whiskey on her desk.

INT. EMILY’S LIVING ROOM - AFTERNOON

Emily picks up her phone.

EMILY
(brightly)
Yes?
(beat)
No, I’m not interested. Thank you.

INT. EMILY’S BEDROOM - EVENING

Emily sits smoking on the edge of her bed, face made up.
 96.

She hears keys in the door as Howard and his suitcase emerge.

HOWARD (O.S.)
Em?

Emily reaches over to the ashtray and stubs out the

cigarette, which sits smoldering as she moves toward the
kitchen and Howard.

EMILY (O.S.)
Welcome home, Baby.

INT. EMILY’S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Emily lies on her side in the darkness, eyes open.

Heavy breathing from a sleeping Howard at her side.

RING.

A quick inhale from Emily.

RING.

She sits up as Howard stirs.

A reach for the phone on the bedside table.

EMILY
Yes?
(beat)
The hospital?! What hospital?

Later.

Lights on as a groggy Howard sits up in bed while Emily

prowls the floor.

EMILY (CONT’D)
God, Howard, Sarah’s in Central
Islip.

HOWARD
What’s that?

EMILY
It’s where my mother is. The state
hospital. The insane asylum.

HOWARD
Well, Emily, listen, her husband
couldn’t have just put her there.
If she’s been committed...
 97.

EXT. CENTRAL ISLIP HOSPITAL - DAY

Chilly. Emily wears a coat as she navigates the absolutely

massive hospital, comprised of an endless array of dismal
brick buildings flanked by spindly trees.

Emily holds two cartons of cigarettes as she rounds a corner

and checks for...

No. She turns around, rushing a little now to find...

EXT. VERANDA - LATER

...Sarah.

Sarah sits out on a heavily-screen veranda, bundled in

housecoat.

Beside her sits MARY ANN, 40s, in a similar outfit.

SARAH
Emmy! Mary Ann, I want you to meet
my brilliant sister, the one I was
just telling you about.

A bandage done up like a turban covers all of Sarah’s scalp.

SARAH (CONT’D)
Emmy, this is my very best friend,
Mary Ann Polchek.

Mary Ann looks cagey but Emily manages a amiable smile.

EXT. VERANDA - LATER

Emily and Sarah sit a bit apart from Mary Ann and TWO OTHER
WOMEN, smoking and looking drawn.

SARAH
You’ll have to give my love to
Pookie. I’m not sure how you get to
her--

Sarah thinks for a moment before faltering a little.

EMILY
How are you feeling?

SARAH
Fine!

Emily waits for Sarah’s smile to fade. It doesn’t.

 98.

EMILY
How did you hurt your head?

SARAH
Oh, that was just stupid. All my
own fault. I got up in the middle
of the night because I couldn’t
sleep, and I went downstairs to get
a glass of milk. And on the way
back I was almost to the top of the
stairs when I slipped and fell all
the way down. Wasn’t that stupid?

Emily nods, offering a little smile of her own.

EMILY
Were you badly hurt?

SARAH
No, no, it was nothing.

Sarah indicates vaguely toward the head bandage.

SARAH (CONT’D)
This is nothing.

EMILY
It’s good to see you looking so
well.

Later.

They sit in silence, looking outward, smoking.

Emily glances toward Sarah and they catch each other’s eyes.
Sarah smiles, Emily smiles back.

Emily stubs out her cigarette.

EMILY (CONT’D)
Do you...think things’ll be alright
when you go home?

SARAH
How do you mean?

EMILY
You think you still might want to
come to New York?

SARAH
Oh, no. That was just silly. I’m
sorry I bothered you with all
that...
 99.

EXT. CENTRAL ISLIP HOSPITAL - LATER

Back on the grounds of the hospital, Emily lost again, with

quick turns back behind her and scans of numbers on buildings
as she walks.

One carton of cigarettes remains in her clutches.

A sign at a pathway intersection reads: E-4 to E-9. Emily

stares for a moment.

The sign beneath says: MORGUE.

Emily gazes out at twin smokestacks rising against the gray

sky.

EMILY
Excuse me, sir.

Emily approaches an ELDERLY MAN, 70s, sitting on a bench.

EMILY (CONT’D)
Can you tell me where-

ELDERLY MAN
Don’t mess with me, lady. Don’t
mess with me.

Emily keeps walking, now on a path close to the roadside.

A taxi slows up toward the curb and the DRIVER sticks his
head out the window.

CAB DRIVER
Taxi?

Emily looks back at the array of buildings. And the

smokestack. She holds the cigarette carton tight.

EMILY
Yes. Thank you.

EXT. EAST HAMPTON - DAY

August. The white sands of East Hampton beach.

Emily falls into a low wave and emerges laughing.

She waves at Howard, on the beach toweling down.

He waves back.

Later.
 100.

Emily and Howard walk the beach, close to a low fence beaten
down by the winds.

EMILY
It’s beautiful...

HOWARD
Imagine if life could be like this
year-round...

They walk a moment in silence, Emily grabbing onto Howard’s

hand and swinging their arms a bit. Up down. Up down.

EMILY
Howard?
(beat)
I was thinking I might call my
sister. Maybe we could...sort of
make a detour and stop off to see
her on our way home...

EXT. SARAH’S HOUSE - LATER

Tony opens the door a few inches, looking to see who it is.
Recognizing Emily, he opens it wider.

EMILY
Hello, Tony. This is Howard
Dunninger. Howard, Tony Wilson.

TONY
Mmm.

INT. LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Tony leads Emily and Howard into the living room where Sarah
sits curled up on the sofa.

Her son, PETER, now 24, rises from the chair to greet them.

PETER
Aunt Emmy!

EMILY
Peter, how are you!

They embrace before Peter moves on to greet Howard.

Sarah watches for a moment. There’s something wrong with her

mouth, which looks all collapsed.
 101.

SARAH
Oh, Emmy!

She tries to hide her mouth with her hand.

SARAH (CONT’D)
I forgot to put my teef in!

EMILY
That’s all right. Sit still.

But Sarah makes no effort to move.

SARAH
Come sit beside me, Emmy. It’s so
wonderful to see you.

She takes both of Emily’s hands, keeping a tight grip as

Emily takes a seat.

SARAH (CONT’D)
My very own baby sister. Do all you
people realize this is my very own
baby sister?

Emily tries to avoid looking at Sarah’s mouth, instead

focusing on Tony’s paint-stained dungarees.

Peter’s are similarly-stained.

EMILY
(to Peter)
Have you finished at the seminary
yet, Peter?

PETER
One more year to go. It starts next
week.

SARAH
Oh, Emmy. My brilliant little baby
sister--I love you.

EMILY
Well. That’s nice.
(beat)
I mean, you know. I love you too.

SARAH
Isn’t she marvelous? Isn’t my
little sister marvelous? What do
you think, Howie? Is it all right
to call you Howie?
 102.

HOWARD
Sure. I think she’s marvelous.

Later.

Sounds from off-screen, Tony explaining something inaudibly.

Boots moving down stairs.

Emily sits with Sarah, alone in the living room. Still close
on the couch.

Sarah hasn’t let go of Emily’s hands.

EMILY
I didn’t know you lost your teeth,
Sarah. When did that happen?

SARAH
(offhand)
Oh, I don’t know; couple of years
ago.

Her hair looks cropped and uneven, her face puffy.

EMILY
You’re looking very well.

SARAH
Peter!
(beat)
Tell the story about the old Negro
priest you met in Africa.

Peter moves back into the living room.

PETER
Never mind that now, Mom.

SARAH
Oh, please. Come on, Peter.

PETER
Mom, I’d rather not, okay. It isn’t
a ‘story’ anyway.

Howard and Tony enter.

SARAH
Of course it is. When Peter was in
Africa he met this wonderful old
Negro priest, and he--

PETER
-Mom, will you cut it out.
 103.

He smiles at Sarah and she sighs.

PETER (CONT’D)
(to Howard)
What kind of legal work do you do
sir?

HOWARD
Oh, compliance, mostly. I’ve been
at this-

SARAH
-Anthony?

She looks up at Tony from her perch on the couch.

TONY
Mmm.

And Tony moves back into the kitchen.

HOWARD
I’ve been at this company in
Midtown for 12 years now. It’s
uh...well, it’s not exactly on par
with missionary trips to Africa.

Tony returns, holding a glass of what looks like orange

juice.

He hands it to Sarah. Peter watches.

SARAH
Thank you, dear.

TONY
Anybody else want...coffee or
something?

Sarah takes a long sip.

EMILY
No thanks. Actually, we’d better be
going; it’s a long drive.

SARAH
Oh, you can’t go. You only just got
here. I won’t let you go.

She takes another sip and brightens.

SARAH (CONT’D)
Peter. Will you do me a favor? One
little favor?
 104.

PETER
What’s that?

Pause.

SARAH
Get the guitar.

PETER
Oh, no, Mom.

He takes a seat, his earlier smile gone.

SARAH
Please, Peter.

PETER
No.

SARAH
All you have to do is go out to
your car and get it, and bring it
back in here, and play “Where Have
All the Flowers Gone.”

TONY
He doesn’t want to, dear.

Emily breaks from Sarah’s grip and gets to her feet.

EMILY
We really must be going.

SARAH
But-

EMILY
It’s been lovely as always, Sarah.
And Peter, it was...

INT. EMILY’S DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Emily pulls a festive Christmas Card from a torn envelope.

She opens it, reads quickly...

INT. EMILY'S LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Howard sits on the couch, stiff drink in hand, legal papers

on his lap.

A decorated tree glitters behind.

 105.

EMILY
Do you think I ought to call her?

HOWARD
Just because she didn’t sign a
card? No, honey, if she’s in any
kind of trouble, she’ll call you.

EXT. UPPER EAST SIDE - DAY

Emily walks down Madison Avenue, bundled up, a light dusting

of snow on the sidewalk and atop parked cars.

She stops at a toy store, small with exquisite, hand-crafted

pieces at the window.

She zeroes in on a meticulously-rendered wooden elephant,

painted elaborate colors.

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Emily wraps the elephant.

INT. DINING ROOM - DAY

Emily signs a card.

INT. POST OFFICE - DAY

Emily waits in a long line at the Post Office, package in

hand.

INT. EMILY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Howard and Emily lie in bed, lights out, their bodies apart.

EMILY
Howard?

Howard grunts.

EMILY (CONT’D)
I really wish you could have known
Sarah in the old days, before
everything went to pieces. She was
lovely.

HOWARD
Mm.
 106.

EMILY
Lovely and bright and full of life--
and this may sound silly, but...I
think if you’d known her then it
might’ve helped you to know me
better.

HOWARD
Oh...

He stirs a little, moves closer.

HOWARD (CONT’D)
I think I know you pretty well.

EMILY
No you don’t.

HOWARD
No?

EMILY
You don’t really. We hardly ever
talk.

HOWARD
Are you kidding? We talk all the
damn time, Emily.

Emily reaches over to turn on the bedside lamp.

EMILY
You never want to hear about my
childhood or anything.

HOWARD
Sure I do. I know all about your
childhood.
(beat)
Besides, everybody’s childhood is
pretty much alike.

EMILY
How can you say that? Only the most
obtuse, insensitive person in the
world could...

INT. EMILY’S LIVING ROOM - DAY

Emily lifts phone to ear, blue skies and sun shining in the
window behind her.
 107.

EMILY
Yes?
(beat)
Peter?

Silence.

And then Emily’s speaks with a tremble.

EMILY (CONT’D)
What did she--die of?
(pause)
I see.

INT. TRAIN - LATER

Emily and Howard, dressed in black, ride the train.

Emily glances out at the Long Island suburbs through a dirty

window.

EXT. ST. CHARLES STATION - LATER

Emily wanders to ERIC, 24, Sarah’s youngest son, wearing a

cheap black suit and mirrored sunglasses.

Eric shakes Howard’s hand before he and Emily exchange a

stiff hug.

INT/EXT. ERIC’S CAR - LATER

Eric drives through St. Charles, built up, stores like the
bait shop long gone...

Emily sits in the front passenger seat, Howard in back.

EMILY
Is Peter here yet?

ERIC
Everybody’s here.

EXT. GRAVESITE - DAY

A small gathering. Tony and a few of his CO-WORKERS, huddled

together, animated.

Sarah’s three sons, Eric, Tony Jr, and Peter. TONY JR’S WIFE,
20s, holding a BABY. THREE CLASSMATES of Peter’s.
 108.

A MINISTER speaks. We hear nothing.

Emily watches him scatter dirt atop Sarah’s coffin.

Later.

The various bodies move across the graveyard toward unseen

cars.

INT. SARAH’S HOUSE - LATER

Dark suits and black dresses, passing through rooms, drinks

in hands.

Emily emerges from the bathroom, hands trembling slightly.

From another room, a small eruption of laughter from a group

of men.

TONY’S FRIEND (O.S.)

...So I says ‘I got five bucks...
(raises his voice)
I got five bucks says Wilson don’t
catch nothin’ all day!

TONY (O.S.)
Ah, Christ, Marty.
(laughs)
You’ll be telling that story when
we’re all dead.

Emily stumbles slightly over a break in the rug. As she

rights herself, she sees:

A frames photo of Sarah and Tony looking radiant and so young

at the Easter Parade.

TONY’S FRIEND (O.S.)

Listen, Tony. You gotta eat, right?
Let’s everybody go grab a steak at
Manny’s.

Emily reaches out and straightens the photo.

INT. CHOP HOUSE - LATER

A dark restaurant with a solemn cast even beyond the

circumstances.

Different groups sit at different tables.

 109.

Emily sits beside Howard, her hands gripping the table as if

the world might tip over.

We see laughter but don’t hear it.

See conversations but don’t hear them.

Peter beside his father, close and sober.

Three of Tony’s co-workers engaged, one tracing the flight of

a plane with his hand.

A WAITRESS sets down more cocktails.

Howard drains his glass.

Eric takes an enormous bite from his steak.

Tony Jr’s baby wails.

Later.

Emily, standing beside a slightly-unsteady Howard, stops at

Tony’s table.

He rises and holds Emily’s hand for a moment.

...and points his finger to his temple before shooting it

forward.

TONY
Straight ahead.

INT. EMILY’S OFFICE - DAY

Emily looks up from her typewriter to see Hannah Baldwin

sauntering past with a YOUNGER COPYWRITER, 30s, laughing.

INT. EMILY’S BEDROOM - NIGHT

A tired Emily, phone to her ear, slumps her shoulders and

bows her head.

Later.

Emily looks into the bathroom where Howard’s spitting

toothpaste into the sink.

EMILY
My mother’s dead. Whaddya know
about that?
 110.

EXT. CENTRAL ISLIP MORTUARY - AFTERNOON

Emily exits a taxi outside the Central Islip mortuary.

She approaches Tony Jr, Eric and Peter, wearing a clerical

collar.

PETER
Good to see you, Aunt Emmy.
Normally they send a priest over
from the hospital to perform these
services but I asked if I could do
it and they said okay.

EMILY
That’s--that’s nice, Peter. That’s
very nice.

INT. CHAPEL - LATER

A small, dusty chapel. Dimly lit.

Peter wears an Episcopalian stole and reads unheard words

from a prayer book behind Pookie’s closed coffin.

Emily, Eric and Tony Junior sit in the front pew, the only
other figures in attendance.

EXT. ST. CHARLES STATION - LATER

Peter shuts the door of his car and he and Emily begin
walking toward the station.

PETER
...besides, I like working with
young people.

EMILY
Mm. Well that’s fine.
Congratulations.

PETER
What about you, Aunt Emmy?

EMILY
Oh, things are pretty much the same
with me.

Silence as they near the station.

PETER
I’ve always admired you, Aunt Emmy.
 111.

They stop outside the entrance.

PETER (CONT’D)
My mother used to say ‘Emmy’s a
free spirit.’ I didn’t know what
that meant when I was little, so I
asked her once. And she said ‘Emmy
doesn’t care what anybody thinks.
She’s her own person and she goes
her own way.’

Long pause. Emily swallows.

EMILY
Did she really say that?

PETER
As nearly as I can remember, that’s
exactly what she said.

INT. KITCHEN - EVENING

Emily sips from glass of scotch.

Howard appears in the kitchen doorway.

HOWARD
Drinking alone?

EMILY
Sure. I always drink alone when you
go on these trips. I’m getting in
practice for when you disappear to
California for good.

HOWARD
Cut it out, Emily. You mad at me?
What are you mad about?

EMILY
Of course I’m not mad at you.

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Emily drinks on the sofa, the room dark besides the light
from the television.

Cronkite says something about Thomas Eagleton.

And Emily takes another drink.

 112.

INT. DINING ROOM - EVENING

Emily sits at the dining room table as the sound of ice

hitting a highball glass resounds from the kitchen.

Howard’s suitcase sits on the floor, a heavy overcoat draped

atop.

Howard enters, glasses in each hand.

HOWARD
I don’t suppose it’s really news to
you that I’ve seen Linda
occasionally on some of these trips
over the past...however long it’s
been.

INT. HALLWAY - DAY

Emily watches Howard in the bathroom, placing razors and

shaving cream into a case.

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Howard scans the bookshelves, pulling out a hardback and

setting it down into a cardboard box at his side.

INT. EMILY'S APARTMENT - DAY

Emily holds the front door open for Howard as he exits with
two boxes in hand, staggering slightly.

INT. EMILY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Howard removes his silk neckties from the closet.

Emily, on the ground, holds his legs.

He looks down, ties in hand. We don’t hear her but she’s

weeping, begging...

INT. EMILY’S LIVING ROOM - MORNING

Emily sits at her home desk, phone book open, phone at her
ear.

EMILY
Oh, that’s terrific, Ted. She
sounds lovely.
 113.

INT. BALDWIN ADVERTISING - DAY

Hannah Baldwin shouts at Emily outside her office.

HANNAH
...was finished copy! That was
approved copy! It had the client’s
signature on it!

INT. HANNAH’S OFFICE - LATER

Emily stands in front of Hannah’s desk.

EMILY
...I’ve worked here too long to be
‘fired.’ I want to resign as of
today.

Hannah sighs and falls into her chair.

HANNAH
Oh, Emily, you are a child. Don’t
you see I’m trying to do you a
favor? If you resign you’ll have
nothing. If you let me fire you,
you can draw unemployment. Don’t
you even know that? Were you born
yesterday?

INT. CHELSEA APARTMENT - DAY

Emily clicks away at a typewriter at her old desk in a new

apartment.

Small, with none of the airy light that graced her old one.

As she types, we hear her read aloud:

EMILY (V.O.)
On the Dole: A woman’s story.

Emily wakes up on her couch in the middle of the night, four

cans of beer on the coffee table in front of her.

EMILY (V.O.)
If you’re fired from a job in New
York, you can receive unemployment
compensation checks for fifty-two
weeks.

Emily checks the front door to make sure it’s locked. She
unlocks the deadbolt and locks it again.
 114.

EMILY (V.O.)
After that, if you still haven’t
found work, your only recourse is
to go on welfare. There are more
than one and a half million people
on welfare in the metropolitan
area.

Emily walks down 9th Avenue in Chelsea, the wind kicking up

an array of garbage.

Hard rock blasts from an Impala idling at the light on 20th.

EMILY (V.O.)
I have always earned my living in
“professional” fields--as a
librarian, as a journalist, and
finally as a copywriter. I am now
in my ninth month of unemployment
status, with nothing but welfare in
sight.

Emily takes a drag on her cigarette, the flame burning in the

night air.

She exhales, tosses the butt to the sidewalk and moves back
through the entrance of her building, a bleak brick apartment
with a series of small windows, each covered with blinds.

INT. CORNER DELI - NIGHT

Emily pulls a Swanson dinner from the small freezer.

EMILY (V.O.)
My employment counsellors, public
and private, have done their best;
they tell me there simply aren’t
any jobs.

Emily reaches the CASHIER, a soft, stout man in his 60s who
smiles at her.

CASHIER
If all my customers were like you,
my life would be a great deal
happier.

EMILY
Mm? Why is that?

He rings up her items.

 115.

CASHIER
Because you help yourself. You pick
everything out for yourself and you
bring it up here. That’s wonderful.
Most people--especially the women--
they come in here and say ‘Box of
Wheaties.’ I go all the way back to
where the cereal’s kept, bring it
all the way back up, and they say
‘Oh, I forgot--box of Rice
Krispies, too’ So for thirty-nine
cents I’m getting a heart attack.
Not you. Not you, ever. You’re a
pleasure to do business with.

Emily counts out a handful of dollar bills.

EMILY
Well. Thank you.

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Emily eats from the Swanson tray, can of beer at its side, an
open book propped on her lap, light from the nearby lamp
barely streaming to the pages.

EMILY (V.O.)
Perhaps no one can fully explain
this predicament, but at the risk
of displaying an easy and all too
fashionable self-pity, I will
hazard a guess: I am a woman, and I
am no longer young.

INT. EMILY'S APARTMENT - DAY

The typewriter sits untouched, dust building on its dark

finish.

The paper with Emily’s text sits curdled in its place.

INT. EMILY’S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Emily sits on the edge of her bed, a simple mattress and box
spring low to the floor.

She peels through a series of opened envelopes at the surface

before finding what she’s looking for.

She slides out the letter, a wedding announcement:

 116.

Mr. And Mrs. Martin S. Gregory

Have the honor to announce the marriage of their daughter

Carol Elizabeth

To

The Reverend Peter J. Wilson

On Friday, the eleventh of October, nineteen sixty-nine

St. John’s Church

Edwardstown, New Hampshire

Later.

Emily sits on the floor, three boxes scattered around her,

endless piles of letters and envelopes removed...

She finds another envelope after furious efforts and pulls

another letter from it:

The Reverend and Mrs. Peter J. Wilson

Announce the birth of a daughter

Sarah Jane

Seven pounds, six ounces

December third, nineteen seventy

INT. EMILY’S KITCHEN - FLASHBACK

Emily sits in her brighter, old kitchen, letter in hand

smiling.

EMILY
Oh, look, Howard. They named her
after Sarah. Isn’t that nice?

HOWARD (O.S.)
Mm. Very nice.

INT. EMILY’S BEDROOM - PRESENT

Emily holds the letter in her hand and keeps staring down
into it.
 117.

INT. EMILY’S APARTMENT - DAY

Emily stands, phone in hand, its long cord reaching down to

her desk.

EMILY
...oh, Peter, now it sounds like
I’ve invited myself.

Silence. Emily smiles.

INT. EMILY’S BATHROOM - NIGHT

Emily washes her pantyhose in the sink under a 25-watt bulb

as others hang drying on the shower curtain.

INT. NEW YORK PORT AUTHORITY - MORNING

Emily carries a small suitcase through the bus terminal,

finding a bench and collapsing into it.

She pulls out a pack of cigarettes, lights.

Exhales.

INT/EXT. BUS - DAY

Spring. Blue skies above soft rolling hills in rural

Massachusetts.

Emily looks out the window as she drags on a cigarette.

EXT. EDWARDSTOWN BUS STATION - DAY

Emily moves toward Peter, wearing a clerical collar beneath a

well-fitting grey suit.

He takes her bag as they hug before moving toward his car,
parked in a small lot.

INT/EXT. PETER’S CAR - LATER

Peter drives along a two-lane road leading out of the small

town.

EMILY
It certainly was--nice of you to
ask me.
 118.

PETER
It was nice of you to come.

EMILY
Is your house far from here?

PETER
Only a few miles.

Silence for a moment.

PETER (CONT’D)
I’ve thought of you often since
this Women’s Lib movement began.
You’ve always struck me as the
original liberated woman.

EMILY
Liberated from what?

PETER
Well, you know--from the old,
outmoded sociological concepts of
what a woman’s role should be.

EMILY
Jesus, Peter. I hope you do better
than that in your sermons.

PETER
Better than what?

EMILY
What are you, one of these ‘hip’
priests?

PETER
(smiling)
Oh, I guess I’m fairly hip, yes.
You have to be, if you’re working
with young people.

Quiet as Peter makes a right and the road takes a gentle

slope upward.

EMILY
I was---very pleased that you and
your wife named your daughter
after, after Sarah.

PETER
Good. I’m glad you were pleased.
(beat)
(MORE)
 119.

PETER (CONT'D)
And I’ll tell you what: if we have
another girl we might name her
after you. What would you think of
that?

EMILY
Well, I’d be very--that would be
very--

Emily falters, collapsing her face into her hands as tears

run and she turns toward the passenger door.

PETER
Aunt Emmy? Aunt Emmy, you okay?

Emily inhales...

EMILY
I’m fine. I’m just...tired is all.
I didn’t get much sleep last night.

Silence. Emily collects herself a little, still unable to

turn toward Peter.

EXT. PETER’S HOUSE - LATER

Peter pulls up to the open garage attached to a tidy white

home with navy blue trim and a basketball hoop in the
driveway.

Emily emerges from the car, breathing heavily.

She staggers away from the car, taking a few steps down the
driveway before stopping, bending down with her hands on her
knees, dress wrinkled...

She turns around and sees Peter, moving toward her with
gentle caution, her suitcase in his hand.

EMILY
Oh, Peter, I’m sorry.

She can’t meet his eyes.

EMILY (CONT’D)
I can’t--I can’t tell you how sorry
I am.

PETER
You don’t have to apologize. I
think you’re probably very tired
and need some rest.
 120.

Pause.

EMILY
Yes, I’m tired. And do you know a
funny thing?
(beat)
I’m almost fifty years old and I’ve
never understood anything in my
whole life.

Silence.

PETER
All right. That’s all right, Aunt
Emmy.

He takes a breath, relaxes his face.

PETER (CONT’D)
Now. Would you like to come on in
and meet the family?

FADE TO BLACK.