Thursday, July 1, 1993
SCENE: CLIFF HOUSE patio. The house perches on the side of a cliff overlooking a sharp ravine. To get to the patio, HOLLY and MICHELLE have to descend several steps. The main entrance to the house opens off the patio, and the house appears to have only a main room, an upstairs bedroom, and a bath and kitchen.
MICHELLE: Wow! It’s beautiful!
HOLLY: Hold it! Watch what you’re doing! [MICHELLE tests the railing] Oh, don’t do that, hon, please!
MICHELLE: Oh, it’s sturdy! This is so cool, Holly! How many thousand feet above sea level are we?
HOLLY: Please don’t hang on to the railing! [The camera focuses on HOLLY as she warily says . . . ] It didn’t look this high in the brochure!
Cut to the SPAULDING ENTERPRISES BOARDROOM, where ROGER shakes the hands of two board members, with JENNA looking on.
ROGER: Mr. Andre, Ms. Thomas. It is so good to see you both. I trust Jenna’s been telling you what an encouraging second quarter we’ve had.
MR. ANDRE: Of course.
JENNA: Roger?
ROGER: [to the MEMBERS] Umm, be with you in a minute.
The BOARD MEMBERS leave the room.
ROGER: Well, I stopped by Accounting for the preliminary balance sheets, but I see you already have them.
JENNA: Yes. Your participation is neither required nor expected.
ROGER: Oh, c’mon. Didn’t you get my
message? You didn’t expect me to
let you fend off the board of directors all by yourself?
That heartless I’m not.
JENNA: Roger, I’m one of the few people
who’ve never accused you of lacking a heart. Now, what I’m saying today is
that you now lack a job. And you may pick up your severance check from my
secretary.
Back at the CLIFF HOUSE, HOLLY rolls a grill
onto the patio, while MICHELLE admires the view, holding a ball in her hand as
she talks.
MICHELLE:
How could they build a house like this?
HOLLY: Very carefully, I could think.
MICHELLE: If there’s an earthquake or something it’d probably fall right off.
MICHELLE [moving to the railing]: I’ll bet there’ll be a pretty sunset.
HOLLY [joins her]: Makes you feel very small, doesn’t it?
MICHELLE: When you think about heaven, makes you feel kind of like this looks.
HOLLY: Uhmm.
MICHELLE: Big, and no one else there.
HOLLY: Oh, I don’t know. There’s gonna be a lot of people in heaven. Gotta be as crowded as Miami, maybe. [She smiles a bit at MICHELLE, but the child is lost in her own thought.]
MICHELLE: Yeah, but I don’t know if they can see each other.
MICHELLE absentmindedly drops her ball over the railing, and the camera shows only part of the great distance it falls.
MICHELLE [counts as it falls]: One, two, three!
HOLLY: You let it go!
Both HOLLY and MICHELLE laugh nervously.
HOLLY: Why don’t you shuck the corn while I get the grill started?
MICHELLE: I’m not really hungry yet.
HOLLY: You will be, by the time these coals get hot.
MICHELLE: This is nice, just you and me.
HOLLY: Is it? I mean, it is for me, but you’re used to having half the town of Springfield in your backyard over the Fourth.
MICHELLE: It’s too much for my dad to do. [MICHELLE shucks the corn.] I mean, I could help, but he doesn’t like to ask me to do things.
HOLLY: You seem different, though.
MICHELLE: Do I?
HOLLY: You don’t seem as angry with him.
MICHELLE: Sometimes I am. But he never gets mad back.
HOLLY: Yeah, he’s very patient, your dad. It can drive you crazy sometimes. [MICHELLE grins.] But you know he’s also a very private man, and there will be times when you’ll want him to say things to you and he just can’t—or won’t. But he’ll always be there for you, and that’s no small thing. He’ll never close the door, and he’ll never hold anything you do or say against you. And he will always be kind. That’s very important. He’s always been that for me, for all these years. So I know that you’ll be able to love him again like you used to, like you want to.
As the scene closes, HOLLY and MICHELLE are lost each in her own train of thought. MICHELLE’S expression is particularly hard to read—it’s hard to tell whether she’s mulling over her relationship with ED—or Holly’s relationship with him.
At SPAULDING . . .
ROGER: So, this is a little test, huh?
JENNA: No, it’s not. I’m firing you.
ROGER: Why?
JENNA: Oh, let’s say “tardiness,”
shall we? The workday starts at 9 A.M., not 5 P.M.
ROGER: I was at the Club the— [ROGER
catches himself.] Can we stick with one point at a time, please? Just for a
moment? Fact is, Jenna, you need
me.
JENNA breathes an annoyed sigh, but they’re interrupted by a BOARD MEMBER.
MEMBER: Before we begin, I really wanted to—
JENNA: And you are?
ROGER: Uh, Ms. Clark! Good to see you, glad you could make it! Could you just give us a second please?
MS. CLARK [as ROGER shows her the door]: Well!
ROGER: Now, how do you hope to chair a meeting of the board when you don’t know who’s on it!?
JENNA: Well, gee, I’ll sink or swim. I think that’s something you said recently! It’s the only way I’m gonna learn! You also said that Spaulding Enterprises belongs to me, but I don’t think you ever really believed it. I finally do.
JENNA: The hell it isn’t personal! The only reason you were employed here is because you were my lover!
JENNA: Oh, no, Roger! You are not gonna try and divide me into two people the way you do it to yourself. I will not be two different halves, one-half the one who waits at home while you are God knows where, the other is a lady executive who you humor to keep your horizons bright. Spaulding Enterprises has always been personal to me—every inch, every dime of it! And you are not going to pressure me into keeping you around for the corporate good—
ROGER: Jenna ... Jenna ...
JENNA: Because it doesn’t exist. All right? It’s a mirage! The only thing that counts is what is good for me, and you are no longer good for me!
ROGER: Will you listen to me!? Holly is no threat to you! [JENNA gives an exasperated sigh.] Yes, I have some very deep regrets.
JENNA:
Oh?
ROGER:
I ... I destroyed our marriage. I destroyed our whole family, and in a
way that she could never forgive.
JENNA: What way?
ROGER [thinking for a moment]: I was a much younger man; loss was beyond my comprehension. Can you understand that?
JENNA: Yes, perhaps I can.
ROGER: It’s said that there are lessons to be learned from loss. I was never much interested in learning them. I know you can understand that. You never give up anything without a fight. None of this matters, I’m tellin’ you. Ed Bauer is the one after Holly, and I’m tellin’ you, for Holly, life holds no greater thrill than that!
JENNA: And you don’t sound like you really believe that.
ROGER [frustrated, runs his hands through his hair]: God! I am being as honest with you as I know how!
JENNA: So, Holly doesn’t want you, except
for the occasional kiss, and I’m not supposed to worry about that, even though
you’ll be pining away. Is that your explanation?
Is that what I’m supposed to do?
ROGER:
Okay, look. You’ve got no
history here. You’ve got nothing,
no one, to ... snag on ... as
you glide by. But wasn’t there
anyone in your life ... that if you could just set the clock back and make it
right, would maybe heal something in you that’s been bleeding ever since?
That’s what this thing with Holly is for me. And that’s all!
The rest of it, I tell you, is long gone.
Please, please, please, don’t turn me away.
It makes me scared, for both of us.
Just tell me what I’ve got to do to prove myself to you, and so help
me, I will do it.
ROGER: Just not the sort of suggestion I was expecting to come up in the middle of this argument.
JENNA: You’ve finally said something that made sense to me. You put your connection with Holly in words that I understood. Do you know how rare that is, for me to ask you a question and you actually answer it? I don’t think you’ve ever done that before.
ROGER: It’s not deliberate. I don’t deliberately set out to keep you at arm’s length.
JENNA: No, it’s just that you feel that any word you say can and will be held against you in a court of law—any court, anywhere. You always feel like you’re on trial, don’t you?
ROGER laughs, but not to put JENNA down; she does understand something about him. ROGER smiles at her.
JENNA: There are things I know about you without having to be told. You are not exactly the man of mystery to me that you fancy yourself to be. But I used to be that way with you, didn’t I, in the beginning? Then I fell in love. I can’t account for that. There have been many men who have loved me better, and I am sure there will be many more, but no one that I wanted so desperately to love me back. I say “desperately,” but don’t mistake me. I can go on either way. I would just prefer to do it with you, rather than without you.
ROGER kisses her tenderly, lightly, on the lips.
ROGER [very softly]:
Now, just listen to me. If I
marry you now, you are gonna wonder for the rest of your life if I married you
for you, or for the job, for the money, Spaulding.
JENNA: No, you could have done this when the arrangement would have been much more convenient for both of us, but we didn’t, for some reason. Now it’s all or nothing, Roger. And if you’re telling me all Holly is to you is an unfulfillable wish that things could have been different, then I’m offering you a way to free yourself of that. Marry me.
ROGER kisses her fingers, but shakes his head: “Oh, honey, I can’t. Not now.”
JENNA: Get out!
ROGER: This is an impulse you haven’t thought through.
JENNA: Get out, Roger!
As ROGER closes the door behind him, he sees DAVIS.
DAVIS: So, you still got a job, or not?
ROGER: You’re the last person I want to see right now.
ROGER: Hey, you don’t want to do that, Jon?
DAVIS: I’ve got a gun in my pocket, and I know how to use it.
DAVIS: You owe me ten million dollars. Are you gonna ask your board of directors for it, or shall I?
DAVIS has the gun on ROGER.
ROGER: Oh, Jon, Jon. I’ve just been canned. Shooting me isn’t going to get you ten million dollars. It won’t even get you ten cents.
DAVIS: They gave you a nice golden parachute, Roger.
ROGER: A lead parachute. I’m going nowhere but down.
DAVIS: Well, they I think you’d better convince Ms. Bradshaw to reconsider. Now. Did you think I was bluffing?
ROGER: Look, let’s leave Jenna out of it. You’ll get your money.
DAVIS: I thought you didn’t have it.
ROGER: I have it.
The elevator opens, and a board member, MR. TAGGERT, steps off. DAVIS has his gun in his right-hand pocket before MR. TAGGERT sees it.
DAVIS: Well, then let’s go get it.
ROGER decides to pull a fast one.
ROGER: Mr. Taggert, you know my attorney,
Jon Davis?
MR. TAGGERT: Yes, how do you do? [Reaching out his right hand to shake DAVIS’S]
DAVIS takes his hand off the gun, and ROGER grabs him and knocks him down.
MR. TAGGERT: Help, help!
JENNA comes through the door.
JENNA: What’s going on? I’ll call security!
ROGER: No, no! Hey, listen, he’s got a gun!
DAVIS flees, and ROGER chases him.
Later, at SPAULDING, BLAKE comes into the
BOARD ROOM as JENNA, alone, straightens up a few papers.
BLAKE:
Have you seen my father? I
have good news for both of you. I’ve
actually persuaded the Journal to start carrying Spaulding advertising
again.
JENNA:
Who asked you to?
BLAKE:
Dad did.
JENNA: Well, I have no interest in supporting Holly’s news rag whatsoever. [To a SECURITY GUARD] Oh, good, you did that little job for me, and changed the locks?
SECURITY GUARD: Yes, ma’am
JENNA: And did the police catch hold of this Davis fellow?
BLAKE: Jon Davis?
SECURITY GUARD: We lost him, Ms. Bradshaw. No telling how he found his way down there, but we think he must have gotten out by the sub-basement.
JENNA: Well, as long as he’s out of the building.
SECURITY GUARD: The police found somebody who saw him leaving the parking lot, not long after Mr. Thorpe.
JENNA: Ah, I wonder if we ought to let Mr. Thorpe know that was happening.
SECURTY GUARD: Oh, we’ve been trying to locate him.
BLAKE: Why?
JENNA: Well, keep trying.
BLAKE: Have you tried my mother?
JENNA [To the GUARD]: Why don’t you give that box to Miss Thorpe, here?
BLAKE: Wait a minute, these . .
JENNA [not bothering to look at BLAKE]: Those are your personal belongings from your office, along with your father’s personal belongings. I do hope he saves you a spot in the unemployment line . . . because, uhm . . . you’re fired.
At that nice little punch line, JENNA walks out of the room, leaving BLAKE gaping.
HOLLY: Okay, I’ve got mustard, ketchup, relish, mustard, mustard, mustard . . . I know my hamburgers are a little bland. [Suddenly startled; she can’t see MICHELLE] Michelle?
HOLLY looks around the patio, into the room, and over the patio railings.
HOLLY: Michelle? Michelle? Michelle! MICHELLE! MICHELLE!
Suddenly, she hears MICHELLE’S voice from . . . underneath?!
MICHELLE: I’m right here, Holly.
HOLLY: What are you doing? Where are you?
Cut to a shot of MICHELLE crawling along the rock underneath the patio and clutching a bunch of purple wildflowers.
MICHELLE: I’m here.
HOLLY: You okay?
MICHELLE: I’m fine.
HOLLY [finally seeing her again]: Ugh! What are you doing down there?! How did you get down there?!
MICHELLE:
I ... I just climbed over the railing.
HOLLY grabs MICHELLE’S arm and helps her
back up.
HOLLY: C’mon. C’mon. What are you doing? You trying to kill yourself, or are you trying to scare me to death?!
MICHELLE: I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you calling.
As MICHELLE puts her feet back on the patio, HOLLY breathes a sigh of relief.
HOLLY: Honey, I would be upset with anybody I was in charge of who tried to do anything as dangerous as that. But you, honey, you!
MICHELLE: I’m sorry. I’ll never do it again. I promise.
HOLLY: Listen to me. I am supposed to be the adult here, right? I’m supposed to be the one who knows what she’s doing. Now, I haven’t been that for a while, although that’s beginning to change. Do you know why that is? That’s because of you. Now, I know I was nice to you when you were sad and you were lonely—well, I wasn’t always nice, but—and in return, you know what you did for me? You made me feel like I was the most important person in the world. Not many people have done that for me—your dad, and now you, his daughter. And that means more to me than I can say. That’s why I cannot afford to have anything happen to you, you understand?
MICHELLE [hugging her]: I’m sorry. [Handing her the flowers] I was picking these for you. They must be pretty strong flowers to grow in rocks.
HOLLY [smiling at her, and laughing an astonished laugh]: Thank you. Do you want to eat anything now?
MICHELLE: Oh, no. I’m done. Do you want anything?
HOLLY: No, I couldn’t.
As MICHELLE carries the plates in, HOLLY gets up, still holding the flowers, and stares out over the ravine. She turns as a gentleman caller makes his way down the steps to the patio. It’s ROGER, and HOLLY looks surprised.
HOLLY: Roger!
ROGER [putting on a jaunty straw hat with a red, white, and blue band]: Be kind to your web-footed friends?
Next:
Roger's Magic Show
Copyright
© 1999 by Michael Zaslow's ZazAngels. All rights reserved.
01/04/06 05:14:55 PM