The First Kiss

DECEMBER 1983

SCENE: Jenny's house. It's a cold, rainy morning in December, before Christmas.

A doorbell rings, and JENNY hurries down the stairs and through her living room, putting her robe on:

JENNY: I'm coming. Who is it?

DAVID : It's me Jenny, David.

JENNY quickly opens the door.

It's miserable outside, but DAVID is cheerful.

DAVID: Oh, did I wake you up?

JENNY: Yeah, but come on in!

As DAVID walks in, he's trying to manage an umbrella, and keep something behind his back, away from JENNY's view.

DAVID: I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure I caught you before you left for the hospital.

JENNY: Oh, well, I worked the late shift last night.

DAVID: Oh! Does that mean you're off for the morning?

JENNY: Yeah, I am.

DAVID: Terrific! Can we have a little celebration?

JENNY (laughs): What are we celebrating?

DAVID: The fact that I ... [he shows her the roses and a bag he'd been hiding behind his back] ... am a free man!

JENNY is very happily surprised.

LATER, they sit on the couch, getting ready to have coffee and the pastries DAVID brought with him:

JENNY: So, Gilligan confessed?

DAVID: No, not yet.

JENNY: You want cream and sugar?

DAVID: No, just black, thanks ... but, his footprint does happen to match that found in the garden, and a security guard has come forward and identified him as having been there that night in a security guard's uniform. So, I think it's just a matter of time.

JENNY: I am so happy for you!

DAVID: Thank you. I tried to call you last night, to tell you the news, and when you weren't home, I have to confess to a sinking feeling that ... well, you know, that you and Brad had somehow patched things up.

JENNY (very sure of herself): No. And that's not going to happen.

DAVID: You know, for many reasons, I have been unable to level with you. [He pauses]. See, David Renaldi is a little more complex figure than the world believes.

JENNY: Really? Because the world already believes that David is a very complex figure.

DAVID: I'm going to tell you a story, a true story, about a secret life, and it has to be just between you and me. There can be no ... it has to be completely confidential.

JENNY (surprised): If it's so confidential, why are you going to tell me?

DAVID (quietly): Don't you know?

JENNY: No, I don't.

DAVID: I feel like I've known you for a long time. Lately, I seem to be unable to stop thinking about you, even fantasizing about you.

JENNY: I've been thinking a lot about you too.

Both are quiet for a moment, just looking at each other, and then ..

JENNY: David, I ...

DAVID: I know, I know, I know ... I'm embarrassing you, and staring like an idiot ...

JENNY (laughing): No, you're not. Come on! Tell me about this big secret of yours.

DAVID (focused): I want you to know everything there is to know about me, and I want to know everything about you. I got a lot of catching up to do, and I don't know where to start.

JENNY: Start at the beginning.

DAVID: Okay! My entrance into the morass of international politics ... occurred totally by accident. That's a good beginning. It was Czechoslovakia, and I was performing a recital, with an orchestra in a small city.

FADE OUT as DAVID continues his story.

Later ...

DAVID: ... the only thing I don't know, and won't know, until Gilligan confesses, is if they meant to kill me and set Scott up, or if they indeed meant to kill Scott and let me take the rap. Anyway, there you have it. A sort of capsule version of David Renaldi's activities in the underworld of Europe and Latin America, and how tiny, tiny San Carlos managed to invade my life in sleepy Llanview.

JENNY has been staring at him, listening intently: It's absolutely incredible!

DAVID (quickly, smiling): Okay, your turn.

JENNY laughs: What do you wanna know?

DAVID: Everything. All right, umm .... why you became a nun, why you left the order, married Brad, divorced Brad, thought about remarrying Brad ... now, let's face it. For a small town Oklahoma girl, you've led a pretty complex life yourself. ... If it's not too personal, maybe you could just tell me about your life with Brad.

JENNY: I'd love to explain it to you. I've never really understood it myself. Umm ... I always felt like I wanted to take care of him. I have a tendency to do that. And, I wanted to change him.

DAVID: The nun-nurse.

JENNY (quietly): Yeah. I had a lot of disappointments, should've learned my lesson. I just kept thinking that good would triumph, and all that other ... nonsense.

DAVID: You know that's not nonsense.

JENNY: Why does it always seem that way?

DAVID: Look, I have to believe that your relationship with Brad was not based solely on the beauty and purity of saving him.

JENNY: You're right. We had some ... some great times, when I thought his life was straightened out. I should've known that it was never going to work.

DAVID: Jenny, you believed in him.

JENNY: Yeah, I did, but I'm not going to make that mistake again.

DAVID pauses for a moment, and then very directly asks JENNY what he most wants to know.

DAVID: What do you think of our chances?

JENNY (she's taken aback, but smiles): That's quite a question.

DAVID: You want me to withdraw it?

JENNY (slow but sure; at this point, DAVID lightly touches her hair and places his hand on her shoulder): No. I umm ... when I was with Brad, I ... I couldn't let myself think that I had any feelings for you. He put so much emphasis on our friendship, that I kinda downplayed it myself. And then that night that you came over, and I was very upset, and you made me feel so terrific, and took care of me ...

DAVID (lost in the moment, quiet): Yeah ...

JENNY: ... I realized I didn't need to deny those feelings about you anymore. The fact that I was attracted to you too.

DAVID: Do you remember when you came over to my apartment, and told me that you believed in me? And I was trying to act real cool, and real casual, and meanwhile my heart was kinda blasting out of my chest! [JENNY laughs]. What I really wanted to do, was to take you in my arms and tell you that your belief in me meant everything to me, and that I was ready to die for you at that moment.

JENNY: David, I ...

DAVID: I know. I know. I'm going way too fast. This is just a little new for me, you know?

JENNY: Me too.

DAVID (holding her hand): Look. There's one more secret ... to get out. And when that secret is out, you're looking at a truly free man.

JENNY: Sure you don't wanna tell me about it right now?

DAVID (slowly, and nervously, as he begins to lean forward to kiss her): I can't. There's one other person who has to hear it first. But then you'll be the very, very next to know.

DAVID hesitates, and briefly brushes his forehead against hers before they kiss. And then ...

DAVID: Boy, do I feel like a lucky guy.

JENNY (smiling): I feel lucky too.

They kiss again, and gently embrace. Then JENNY looks into his eyes, her stare very direct and intense.

JENNY softly touches her forehead to his and smiles.

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Truly Madly Deeply:
Memories of David and Jenny