Cliff House: Moments of Perfect Clarity

Friday, June 18, 1993

SCENE: The TOWERS. Early evening. HART, in work clothes, approaches HAMPTON SPEAKES.

HART: Uh, sorry. I was working and didn’t think I’d be coming. Look, have you seen Jenna Bradshaw around? She should be having dinner here.

HAMP: No, I . . . haven’t seen her . . . and we do have a dress code after six.

ROGER appears and interrupts them.

ROGER [to HART]: Do you know that you can buy jeans that way now? I don’t know what they do. I guess they hire people with really fat knees to put them on and sit down first. . . .[to HAMP] Uh, I haven’t seen Jenna. Has she called?

HAMP: No, and I can’t guarantee that I can save you a table, either.

ROGER [to HART]: Hold on, son, let me buy you another beer.

HART: Do me a favor. Drink it for me, all right? Gotta go.

As HART leaves, HOLLY and ED appear and walk past ROGER. They sit at a table well within his sight, but don’t acknowledge his presence in any way.

ED: I'm not complaining, but is there any reason I'm being wined and dined this evening?

HOLLY: I’m planning a get-away where nobody can bother me, and I mean nobody.

The pianist plays. The tone is mellow.

HOLLY: I thought the Fourth of July would be a good time to take a vacation.

ED: Yeah. So what do you want from me? Want me to check the house, mow the lawn?

HOLLY: No. How’s therapy coming?

ED: Uh, Michelle still doesn't say a great deal. I think she’s stopped equating it with brainwashing though. Why?

HOLLY: Well, I wouldn’t suggest this if you were on the verge of some break-through or something, but if not . . . If you think she would enjoy it, I’d like to take her with me.

ED: That’s a nice offer.

HOLLY: I’d love her company.

ED: Well, you know Michelle would love it. And, you know, the Fourth was always such a big deal at our house. Maureen always used to come into her own ... There was a lot to celebrate, so those tend to be the days Michelle doesn’t spend a lot of time looking at me.

HOLLY: She misses her mother, and so do you. That's all.

ED: On the other hand, we both owe you so many kindnesses already.

HOLLY: If it weren’t for Michelle, I’d still be in bed with the covers over my head since January. The gratitude is all mine.

HOLLY touches ED’S hand. ROGER stares at them.

The bartender interrupts ROGER’S contemplation.

BARTENDER: May I freshen up this drink for you, Mr. Thorpe?

ROGER: Max, there are moments when life just presents itself to you with perfect clarity. And I’m havin’ one of them. So, uh, no thanks.

ROGER continues to stare.

The pianist asks GILLY if she would like to sing. When she says no, DON tells her, “Feel free to change your mind.” GILLY has a message for ROGER. She isn’t going to be able to get much through to him, though. During their conversation, he stares at HOLLY and ED, and only hears GILLY insofar as her words merge with his own thoughts.

GILLY: So, Roger, I’ve made some decisions. Now, I don’t know what you’re going to think about them. Uh, I have an idea, but I can’t let things go on as they are, and I think even you understand that.

CUT to HOLLY and ED

HOLLY: Well, it’s a little bit of a strain working with Alan-Michael.

ED: Careful! There’s Bauer blood in that boy.

HOLLY: I’m not about to bad-mouth your nephew, but . . . he’s always been Blake’s Achilles’ heel, which for her extends from the neck up—or is it the neck down?

ED: Is there any reason you can think of that Roger’s been staring at us all evening?

HOLLY [looks at ROGER for a second]: He always does that.

ED: I thought I’d dropped off his radar screen until recently, but I guess you never have, have you?

HOLLY: I think he likes to keep close tabs on everybody ... [with an edge] but his sprightly little girlfriend!

ED: You haven’t mentioned anything to him, have you?

HOLLY: About what?

ED: Me. I mean, Maureen and me?

The pianist begins playing, “I’ll Be Seeing You (In All the Old Familiar Places).”

HOLLY: Ed!

ED: I’m sorry. I guess there ought to be a separate checkroom right next to the coats for guilty consciences. I’m sorry.

HOLLY shakes her head, and then notices . . .

HOLLY: There's that song. That's your song. Do you remember? Hey, dance with me. Dance with me, damn it!

HOLLY and ED step out onto the dance floor together.

HOLLY: This was in your mother’s kitchen. And the song came on the radio, and you were singing it.

ED [remembering]: Oh!

HOLLY: And you made your mother laugh so hard she couldn’t breathe! You weren't even trying to be funny—that’s probably why you were. But it was the kind of funny that could make you cry at any minute. And I think for that half-hour she liked me, or she liked that you loved me. Remember? I guess it’s not the most meaningful moment in your memory, but I always remember it, because . . . there was something about that time . . . that made me feel that if life never changed, if it never got any better or any worse than this, then that would be fine. Of course, it did. It did change. And here we are, and here’s this song. You know, it’s like you see an old friend you haven’t seen in twenty years, and they have on exactly the same clothes as the last time you saw them, and so do you!

HOLLY and ED are cheek to cheek, with HOLLY talking into his ear. ROGER continues to stare, barely hearing GILLY.

GILLY: You see, Roger, you found out that I could live with almost anything to keep from losing what was most important to me. Well, I finally opened my eyes and realized that I’d lost it already, or it was as good as lost, and that, I can’t live with. So, I’m willing to risk whatever it takes to get it all back.

ROGER: I’d say you’re a very wise woman, Gilly.

MAX: Excuse me, Mr. Thorpe, you have a phone call. I’ll have it transferred to the bar.

ROGER: Thanks, Max. [to GILLY] Would you excuse me, please?

GILLY is a little puzzled at ROGER’S lack of attention, so she moves away from him and approaches HAMP. But HAMP brushes her off. So, GILLY goes to the pianist, DON, and says that she will sing, after all.

ROGER meanwhile, is talking to JENNA on the phone. She makes excuses for being late, none of which ROGER entirely believes—and he’s not without reason for his distrust. JENNA is with HART, who is blackmailing her to keep him silent about her shenanigans with BUZZ [the kiss he witnessed at Laurel Falls, for example]. HART now has a new convertible, and gets daily withdrawals from JENNA’S bank account. ROGER is distressed, for reasons JENNA can’t imagine. It’s a very bad moment for her not to be present.

While JENNA and HART continue to spar in the parking garage at TOWERS, Hart spots JON DAVIS.

HART: Davis! Jon Davis!

DAVIS smirks.

Upstairs at TOWERS, GILLY sings:

A chair is still a chair ... even when there’s no one sitting there ... But a chair is not a house ... A house is not a home ... when there’s no one there to hold you tight ... and no one there you can kiss good night ...

The camera pulls back to reveal HOLLY, and then ED.

A room is still a room . . . even when there’s nothing there but gloom . . .

The camera focuses on ROGER, and his eyes are on HOLLY.

But a room is not a house ... A house is not a home when the two of us are far apart ...

After a moment, HOLLY turns and quickly looks at him ....

And one of us has a broken heart ...

The camera shifts back to GILLY.

Now and then ... I call your name ... And suddenly your face appears ... but it’s just a crazy game ... when it ends ... it ends in tears ...

So darling, have a heart ... Don’t let one mistake keep us apart .... I’m not meant to live alone ... turn this house into a home ... when I climb the stairs, and turn the key .... darling, when I climb the stairs, and turn the key ... oh please be there, still in love ... with me.

HAMP knows that GILLY is singing to him. He grins at her, and they’re well on their way to “making up.”

At their table . . .

ED: You look sad and a little embarrassed. Why?

HOLLY: Oh, I don't know. I shouldn’t drag you along on my journey down Memory Lane.

ED: Maybe memory’s not a lane. It’s more of a maze. You just steered me from one path to another.

HOLLY: It’s not right. My memories aren’t your memories.

ED: Some of them are. Our past is a place I like to visit, too, on my own.

They look at each other.

HOLLY: How about if I follow you home, and I’ll spring my surprise on Michelle.

ED: Sounds good. She listens to you, not to me.

ED and HOLLY leave just as JENNA comes running in.

JENNA: Roger!

ROGER: What's the matter?

JENNA: It’s Hart! It looks like he’s trying to kill a man!

ROGER: What!?

JENNA: Come on!

They run out. All four—JENNA, ROGER, HOLLY, and ED—wind up leaving for the garage at the same time, and arriving to find . . .

HART, beating JON DAVIS

HART: Remember me?

DAVIS: Why? What do you want from me?

HART: Next time you kill a man, better get a good look at his marks! Remember old man Jessup?!

ROGER: Hey, hey! Hart! What are you doing?!

HART: I’m bloodying up the wrong guy!

Next Episode:
Moments, Part 2