I Can't Look At You Straight On
Resurrecting old projects in preparation for NaNoWriMo. This one is entirely the fault of Hal Hartley. If any film school students out there fancy adapting this, you're more than welcome - just ask.
INT. RECORD STORE. DAY
(DORA is sitting behind the counter. She has punky makeup and a voice that could strip paint. The shop is empty. She’s reading Simone de Beauvoir, and every so often, she tugs her chewing gum out from her mouth in long strings before winding it back in and turning a page. The clock on the wall is ticking quietly, barely heard over the Bach solo cello suite in G. The bell above the door jingles as JONNY comes in. He is a slight, pale man with bitten nails, wearing dark trousers and a baggy sweater. He doesn’t exude confidence. He walks up to the counter.)
DORA (without looking up): Unless it’s vinyl, don’t bother.
JONNY: I guess you don’t want coffee then?
DORA (looks up at that): Coffee? Huh. I see no coffee. Thou art a fibber and a scoundrel, sir, begone from my domain lest the wrath of the caffeine deficient record store clerk fall upon thee-
JONNY: But verily, yea, I say unto thee, that, that, thou shalt show mercy and kindness to all men, especially those who come bearing gifts-
DORA: Ooh, really? What do I get?
JONNY : Well, not a gift exactly, but I remembered that I owed you from last week, so I thought that if you wanted to go for lunch..
DORA: Yeah, sounds good. (She leans back and looks at the clock.) I’ve got about 10 minutes before I can go. That o.k.?
JONNY: Yeah, fine.
(He wanders around behind the counter and sits in the other chair. They are comfortable in each other’s presence in the way that siblings are.)
DORA: I’m just going to finish my chapter...
(While she reads, JONNY flips through the small stack of LP’s on the counter. [Velvet Underground’s first album, Lou Reed’s Transformer, The Amazing Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, Tom Waits’ Big Time etc.] He eases the Simone album out.)
JONNY: Mind if I put this on?
(DORA grunts. JONNY removes Bach from the turntable and blows dust off Simone, meticulously placing the needle on the record, face puckered in concentration. “My Baby Just Cares For Me.” starts in the background. JONNY resumes his seat and tidies the records, pressing the edges flush. DORA suddenly slams her book shut and down on the table. The record skips.)
DORA: So?
JONNY: So?
DORA: So did you ask her out yet?
JONNY: Ask who?
(It’s obvious that he’s playing for time; he briefly meets DORA’S gaze and then looks away.)
JONNY: I-oh-well-uh- uh-no...
(DORA just glares.)
JONNY: (defensively): It’s not like that, I couldn’t just...well...you know...
(DORA keeps glaring.)
JONNY (finally): It’s just too weird or something.
DORA: Too weird? How is it weird? You like someone, you ask them out.
(It’s evident that they’ve had this conversation before)
JONNY: It’s more complicated then that!
DORA:How exactly is it more complicated? Is she seeing someone?
JONNY: I don’t think so.
DORA: You don’t think so? You mean you don’t know?
JONNY: Well, I’m pretty sure she’s not, it’s just that she talked a lot about someone named Richard who she was really pissed off at, but I don’t think she’s seeing him, or if she is, I don’t know if it’s serious, but I don’t think that she is...
DORA: Who is he?
JONNY: Not sure exactly, she just sounded really irritated.
DORA: You didn’t ask?
JONNY: Well, she wasn’t talking to me. She was talking to Isabelle, at the photocopier. I went to staple a bunch of reports and there she was. Talking about some guy named Richard.
DORA: So you eavesdropped?
JONNY: No! I was waiting! To use the copier, with, you know, the automatic stapler.
(Flashback: JONNY standing awkwardly in a generic office space, clutching a stack of paper and blinking, watching people who are off camera and whose dialogue is obscured by the office noise.
Then back to the record store.)
DORA: So did you actually say anything to her? Or did you just stand there and smile anxiously?
JONNY: I have a perfectly normal smile. I was a bit nervous, but not anxious. Why d’you think I looked anxious? Do I generally look anxious?
DORA: Never mind; what did you say?
JONNY: Uh-
(Flashback to JONNY, eyes huge, gripping his stack of paper, anxious smile glued to his face.)
JONNY: Do you have a tan?
(Back to the record store. DORA is looking either disbelieving or revolted.)
DORA: Do you have a tan?
JONNY: Mmhmm (nodding)
DORA (ominously): Do you have a tan?
JONNY (looking worried): Yeah. That’s o.k., isn’t it? I thought it was, you know, complimentary, and it’s summer, and her skin looked darker than usual and I thought that, that maybe she’d been tanning and most women appreciate being asked about stuff like that, and, uh, that wasn’t a good thing to say, was it?
DORA: Do you have a tan? Jonny, whatever made you think that was a good chat-up line? That’s almost as bad as “Do you like football?”
JONNY: Why would I ask her if she liked football? I don’t like football.
DORA: That’s not the point. The point is that when you say something, it should be something that has some sort of basis, in, in...(she looks for the word and flaps Simone about in exasperation.) You know, context.
JONNY: You mean I should have asked her what she was photocopying?
DORA: Or, even, you know, ‘hi, how are you’ might have worked. But, ‘do you have a tan?’ What on earth were you thinking?
JONNY: She looked like she had a tan, all right?
DORA: Nooo, she probably just had a Godzilla glow from standing too near the photocopier. And you don’t just say something of that apropos of nothing; you say something like, “Oh, you look tanned, were you on holiday?” And then it leads to a conversation or something...What did she say?
JONNY: She said “no” And then she just walked off.
DORA: See? Now she probably thinks you’re some creepy desperate loser who hangs about the photocopier trying to meet women.
JONNY (bitterly): Well, that just did wonders for my self-esteem.
DORA (repentant): I didn’t mean it like that. Just, I don’t know, think before you speak to her next time, yeah? Say something that isn’t so, so, weird.
JONNY: I do think, Dora. I think like mad, and I get it all planned out in my head, what I’m going to say, and I think about what she might say, and then I’m standing there, and she’s standing there and I open my mouth and some voice that I have no control over just says these things. I can’t help it-
DORA: Well, don’t tell her that; She’ll think you’re not only a creepy desperate loser but schizo into the bargain.
JONNY: Great. Thanks Dora, really appreciate that.
(A pause, as they regard each other with irritation and affection.)
JONNY (capitulating): I just, I don’t know. I don’t know why I can’t, just ask her, you know? I just...(he shrugs)
DORA: Are you scared?
JONNY: Scared?
DORA: Scared that she’ll say ‘no’?
JONNY: No! No, not at all! I’m o.k. with it; I can handle it if she says ‘no’; I was just going to ask her for a drink anyways, so it wasn’t like it was a date. No, it’s fine if she says ‘no’ I can manage, it’ll be fine, it’s, it’s o.k.
DORA: That would be yes then.
JONNY: Yeah.
(They sit in silence. DORA looks up at the clock.)
DORA: Come on then. Coffee. (She reaches over and jogs his shoulder gently.) Just ask her, Jonny. The worst she can say is ‘no’, right?
JONNY: Right.
(Ellipses. Dissolve. JONNY and DORA sitting behind the desk with copious amounts of coffee in front of them.It’s a bit later, and people are floating around the shop, browsing through the racks of vinyl. DORA is finishing up a sale. JONNY is picking idly at the corner of the Velvet Underground album with his thumbnail. The Velvet’s song ‘Sweet Jane’ is playing on the turntable.)
DORA: Thanks. Have a nice day. Jonny, if you shred that corner I’m gonna kill you. Do you know how much that depreciates the album?
JONNY (stops picking): Since when did you become a capitalist?
DORA (sniffy): I’m not. I happen to have a high regard for the concept of album art.
JONNY: Oh, yeah, like this is high art? (He waves the Velvet Underground album at her; it’s the one with the picture of the banana on the cover.)
DORA (outraged): That’s Warhol! And Lou!
JONNY: So?
DORA: It’s LOU REED! It’s GREAT! (She’s choking on her coffee and fuming. JONNY begins fiddling with the corner of Transformer instead, and then pulls the whole record out and examines it.)
JONNY: He looks kinda like a chimp, doesn’t he?
DORA: LOU REED IS GOD!!
JONNY: No, actually, I think he might be a chimp. Doesn’t he look simian to you? (He keeps talking over DORA’S furious protests) Look, he looks like a chimp, he’s like, the missing link...Oh, hey, Look, look. (He holds the two albums up.) And they wonder why there’s a banana on the cover...
(DORA is near to apoplexy and has turned bright red.)
DORA: Get out! You’re a disgrace to civilization and culture, you know-nothing-
JONNY : Ohh my God. (He is staring at the door with a fixed expression of horror.)
DORA: What? (She follows his gaze. A YOUNG WOMAN with a nice face, pinned up hair and professional-looking clothes has come in and is browsing through the limited selection of CD’s at the far end of the store. JONNY looks like he wants to crawl under the counter.)
JONNY: That’s her.
DORA: What?
JONNY: That’s her. There, by the window.
DORA: Which one?
JONNY: White skirt.
DORA: Oh, o.k. She looks nice. (Trying to bolster confidence more than anything.)
(TheYOUNG WOMAN finds a CD and begins heading towards the counter. JONNY tries to shred the Transformer and Velvet Underground sleeves simultaneously. DORA watches him narrowly for a moment, gauges the YOUNG WOMAN’S progress, and stands up.)
DORA: I’m just going to run to the bathroom-cover for me?
JONNY: But-I-no-wait-
(But DORA has briskly maneuvered her way out from behind the counter, and JONNY is left standing alone behind it, clutching the albums rather as he clutched his paper in the flashback. DORA returns briefly, grabs the albums from his damaging grip and carries them off. The YOUNG WOMAN arrives at the counter.)
YOUNG WOMAN: Hi.
JONNY: Hi. (The YOUNG WOMAN pushes a CD across the table to him. JONNY stands paralyzed for a few seconds before registering it.) Oh, uh, right. (He rings in the CD. Neither of them speak He hands the CD back to her with the receipt and some of those informal wordless, non committal gestures and sounds people make to indicate that their part in a transaction has ended.)
YOUNG WOMAN: Could I have a bag?
JONNY: Oh, yes. Certainly. (He casts about for a bag.) Just hang on a second. (He vanishes down behind the counter, scuffling frantically through the shelves behind the desk. The YOUNG WOMAN waits relatively patiently, leaning her elbow on the counter and her chin on her hand. When JONNY stands back up with a bag he is almost face to face with her, and he startles backwards somewhat. He extends the bag and manages (another) nervous smile. The YOUNG WOMAN straightens up.)
YOUNG WOMAN: Look, this is going to sound a bit weird, but have we ever met? You look really familiar.
JONNY (with effort):Yeah. Yeah. We-uh-I work at Bedford’s too. In the legal department. I’m sure, I’m sure we’ve met. In the hall. I’ve seen you. Or, or the coffee machine. I’ve seen you there. I go there too. To the coffee machine. And to, well, work as well, because I work there...(He has gotten himself into a complete state by this point.)
YOUNG WOMAN: Yeah, yeah, of course. I knew I’d seen you somewhere, I just wasn’t sure where.
JONNY: Yeah, uh, work.
YOUNG WOMAN: So, do you work here too?
JONNY: Oh, no. Just visiting. A friend. She just stepped out, so...
YOUNG WOMAN: Oh. Yeah
JONNY: Mm hmm.
(Beat)
.
YOUNG WOMAN: Um, I should just head out, but uh, I guess I’ll just see you around then...
JONNY: Yeah, we’ll, we’ll see you later.
YOUNG WOMAN: Yeah.
JONNY: Yeah.
YOUNG WOMAN: All right then.
JONNY: Okay.
(The awkwardness of trying to end a conversation with someone you don’t really know and want to get away from. Finally the YOUNG WOMAN gives a little wave and heads off with alacrity to the door. JONNY watches her leave. DORA has been watching quietly from the staff door during the conversation, and now she slides back behind the counter.)
DORA: Nice one, Cyrano. (But her voice is gentle rather than sarcastic, and after a minute she looks over at him with concern. JONNY doesn’t meet her gaze, instead looking out across the counter and raising his right hand to bite at his thumbnail. His face is miserable.)
Ellipses. Dissolve. The store is empty again, the clock reads five minutes to six. Tom Waits’ “ Big Time” is playing quietly. DORA is reading again. JONNY is leafing through a magazine.
DORA: Here. Listen to this. (She reads:)
“In one of the avenues I noticed a young couple walking ahead of me; the boy was resting his hand lightly on the girl’s shoulder. Suddenly moved by the sight, I said to myself that it must be sweet to go through life with someone’s hand on one’s shoulder, a hand so well-known that one barely felt its weight, and so ever-present that loneliness would be banished for good.”
(Pause.)
JONNY: She puts it well, doesn’t she?
DORA: Yeah.
(They fall back into silence. Tom Waits sings on, the song ‘Falling Down’.The clock ticks. DORA dog ears her book and sticks it down under the counter before turning to JONNY.
DORA: Home time?
JONNY: Sounds good.
(He waits while DORA puts her jacket on, locks the register, turns out the lights. They go out of the shop, DORA turning the shop sign to say ‘Closed’ on the way. The door swings shut, jingling slightly, DORA and JONNY’S receding conversation fading away out of shot as the camera stays on the door.)
JONNY: I was thinking about takeaway. Where’re you headed?
DORA: Takeaway sounds good-Indian?
JONNY: Chinese?
DORA and JONNY: Thai...
END. (‘Falling Down’ continues to play over credits.)
(-acknowledgments to Suzanne for providing anecdotal evidence of ridiculous and peculiar pick-up lines, Debbie and Matthew for the conversation about Lou, and ‘Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter’ for the Simone de Beauvoir quote (page 144 in the penguin edition.)
INT. RECORD STORE. DAY
(DORA is sitting behind the counter. She has punky makeup and a voice that could strip paint. The shop is empty. She’s reading Simone de Beauvoir, and every so often, she tugs her chewing gum out from her mouth in long strings before winding it back in and turning a page. The clock on the wall is ticking quietly, barely heard over the Bach solo cello suite in G. The bell above the door jingles as JONNY comes in. He is a slight, pale man with bitten nails, wearing dark trousers and a baggy sweater. He doesn’t exude confidence. He walks up to the counter.)
DORA (without looking up): Unless it’s vinyl, don’t bother.
JONNY: I guess you don’t want coffee then?
DORA (looks up at that): Coffee? Huh. I see no coffee. Thou art a fibber and a scoundrel, sir, begone from my domain lest the wrath of the caffeine deficient record store clerk fall upon thee-
JONNY: But verily, yea, I say unto thee, that, that, thou shalt show mercy and kindness to all men, especially those who come bearing gifts-
DORA: Ooh, really? What do I get?
JONNY : Well, not a gift exactly, but I remembered that I owed you from last week, so I thought that if you wanted to go for lunch..
DORA: Yeah, sounds good. (She leans back and looks at the clock.) I’ve got about 10 minutes before I can go. That o.k.?
JONNY: Yeah, fine.
(He wanders around behind the counter and sits in the other chair. They are comfortable in each other’s presence in the way that siblings are.)
DORA: I’m just going to finish my chapter...
(While she reads, JONNY flips through the small stack of LP’s on the counter. [Velvet Underground’s first album, Lou Reed’s Transformer, The Amazing Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, Tom Waits’ Big Time etc.] He eases the Simone album out.)
JONNY: Mind if I put this on?
(DORA grunts. JONNY removes Bach from the turntable and blows dust off Simone, meticulously placing the needle on the record, face puckered in concentration. “My Baby Just Cares For Me.” starts in the background. JONNY resumes his seat and tidies the records, pressing the edges flush. DORA suddenly slams her book shut and down on the table. The record skips.)
DORA: So?
JONNY: So?
DORA: So did you ask her out yet?
JONNY: Ask who?
(It’s obvious that he’s playing for time; he briefly meets DORA’S gaze and then looks away.)
JONNY: I-oh-well-uh- uh-no...
(DORA just glares.)
JONNY: (defensively): It’s not like that, I couldn’t just...well...you know...
(DORA keeps glaring.)
JONNY (finally): It’s just too weird or something.
DORA: Too weird? How is it weird? You like someone, you ask them out.
(It’s evident that they’ve had this conversation before)
JONNY: It’s more complicated then that!
DORA:How exactly is it more complicated? Is she seeing someone?
JONNY: I don’t think so.
DORA: You don’t think so? You mean you don’t know?
JONNY: Well, I’m pretty sure she’s not, it’s just that she talked a lot about someone named Richard who she was really pissed off at, but I don’t think she’s seeing him, or if she is, I don’t know if it’s serious, but I don’t think that she is...
DORA: Who is he?
JONNY: Not sure exactly, she just sounded really irritated.
DORA: You didn’t ask?
JONNY: Well, she wasn’t talking to me. She was talking to Isabelle, at the photocopier. I went to staple a bunch of reports and there she was. Talking about some guy named Richard.
DORA: So you eavesdropped?
JONNY: No! I was waiting! To use the copier, with, you know, the automatic stapler.
(Flashback: JONNY standing awkwardly in a generic office space, clutching a stack of paper and blinking, watching people who are off camera and whose dialogue is obscured by the office noise.
Then back to the record store.)
DORA: So did you actually say anything to her? Or did you just stand there and smile anxiously?
JONNY: I have a perfectly normal smile. I was a bit nervous, but not anxious. Why d’you think I looked anxious? Do I generally look anxious?
DORA: Never mind; what did you say?
JONNY: Uh-
(Flashback to JONNY, eyes huge, gripping his stack of paper, anxious smile glued to his face.)
JONNY: Do you have a tan?
(Back to the record store. DORA is looking either disbelieving or revolted.)
DORA: Do you have a tan?
JONNY: Mmhmm (nodding)
DORA (ominously): Do you have a tan?
JONNY (looking worried): Yeah. That’s o.k., isn’t it? I thought it was, you know, complimentary, and it’s summer, and her skin looked darker than usual and I thought that, that maybe she’d been tanning and most women appreciate being asked about stuff like that, and, uh, that wasn’t a good thing to say, was it?
DORA: Do you have a tan? Jonny, whatever made you think that was a good chat-up line? That’s almost as bad as “Do you like football?”
JONNY: Why would I ask her if she liked football? I don’t like football.
DORA: That’s not the point. The point is that when you say something, it should be something that has some sort of basis, in, in...(she looks for the word and flaps Simone about in exasperation.) You know, context.
JONNY: You mean I should have asked her what she was photocopying?
DORA: Or, even, you know, ‘hi, how are you’ might have worked. But, ‘do you have a tan?’ What on earth were you thinking?
JONNY: She looked like she had a tan, all right?
DORA: Nooo, she probably just had a Godzilla glow from standing too near the photocopier. And you don’t just say something of that apropos of nothing; you say something like, “Oh, you look tanned, were you on holiday?” And then it leads to a conversation or something...What did she say?
JONNY: She said “no” And then she just walked off.
DORA: See? Now she probably thinks you’re some creepy desperate loser who hangs about the photocopier trying to meet women.
JONNY (bitterly): Well, that just did wonders for my self-esteem.
DORA (repentant): I didn’t mean it like that. Just, I don’t know, think before you speak to her next time, yeah? Say something that isn’t so, so, weird.
JONNY: I do think, Dora. I think like mad, and I get it all planned out in my head, what I’m going to say, and I think about what she might say, and then I’m standing there, and she’s standing there and I open my mouth and some voice that I have no control over just says these things. I can’t help it-
DORA: Well, don’t tell her that; She’ll think you’re not only a creepy desperate loser but schizo into the bargain.
JONNY: Great. Thanks Dora, really appreciate that.
(A pause, as they regard each other with irritation and affection.)
JONNY (capitulating): I just, I don’t know. I don’t know why I can’t, just ask her, you know? I just...(he shrugs)
DORA: Are you scared?
JONNY: Scared?
DORA: Scared that she’ll say ‘no’?
JONNY: No! No, not at all! I’m o.k. with it; I can handle it if she says ‘no’; I was just going to ask her for a drink anyways, so it wasn’t like it was a date. No, it’s fine if she says ‘no’ I can manage, it’ll be fine, it’s, it’s o.k.
DORA: That would be yes then.
JONNY: Yeah.
(They sit in silence. DORA looks up at the clock.)
DORA: Come on then. Coffee. (She reaches over and jogs his shoulder gently.) Just ask her, Jonny. The worst she can say is ‘no’, right?
JONNY: Right.
(Ellipses. Dissolve. JONNY and DORA sitting behind the desk with copious amounts of coffee in front of them.It’s a bit later, and people are floating around the shop, browsing through the racks of vinyl. DORA is finishing up a sale. JONNY is picking idly at the corner of the Velvet Underground album with his thumbnail. The Velvet’s song ‘Sweet Jane’ is playing on the turntable.)
DORA: Thanks. Have a nice day. Jonny, if you shred that corner I’m gonna kill you. Do you know how much that depreciates the album?
JONNY (stops picking): Since when did you become a capitalist?
DORA (sniffy): I’m not. I happen to have a high regard for the concept of album art.
JONNY: Oh, yeah, like this is high art? (He waves the Velvet Underground album at her; it’s the one with the picture of the banana on the cover.)
DORA (outraged): That’s Warhol! And Lou!
JONNY: So?
DORA: It’s LOU REED! It’s GREAT! (She’s choking on her coffee and fuming. JONNY begins fiddling with the corner of Transformer instead, and then pulls the whole record out and examines it.)
JONNY: He looks kinda like a chimp, doesn’t he?
DORA: LOU REED IS GOD!!
JONNY: No, actually, I think he might be a chimp. Doesn’t he look simian to you? (He keeps talking over DORA’S furious protests) Look, he looks like a chimp, he’s like, the missing link...Oh, hey, Look, look. (He holds the two albums up.) And they wonder why there’s a banana on the cover...
(DORA is near to apoplexy and has turned bright red.)
DORA: Get out! You’re a disgrace to civilization and culture, you know-nothing-
JONNY : Ohh my God. (He is staring at the door with a fixed expression of horror.)
DORA: What? (She follows his gaze. A YOUNG WOMAN with a nice face, pinned up hair and professional-looking clothes has come in and is browsing through the limited selection of CD’s at the far end of the store. JONNY looks like he wants to crawl under the counter.)
JONNY: That’s her.
DORA: What?
JONNY: That’s her. There, by the window.
DORA: Which one?
JONNY: White skirt.
DORA: Oh, o.k. She looks nice. (Trying to bolster confidence more than anything.)
(TheYOUNG WOMAN finds a CD and begins heading towards the counter. JONNY tries to shred the Transformer and Velvet Underground sleeves simultaneously. DORA watches him narrowly for a moment, gauges the YOUNG WOMAN’S progress, and stands up.)
DORA: I’m just going to run to the bathroom-cover for me?
JONNY: But-I-no-wait-
(But DORA has briskly maneuvered her way out from behind the counter, and JONNY is left standing alone behind it, clutching the albums rather as he clutched his paper in the flashback. DORA returns briefly, grabs the albums from his damaging grip and carries them off. The YOUNG WOMAN arrives at the counter.)
YOUNG WOMAN: Hi.
JONNY: Hi. (The YOUNG WOMAN pushes a CD across the table to him. JONNY stands paralyzed for a few seconds before registering it.) Oh, uh, right. (He rings in the CD. Neither of them speak He hands the CD back to her with the receipt and some of those informal wordless, non committal gestures and sounds people make to indicate that their part in a transaction has ended.)
YOUNG WOMAN: Could I have a bag?
JONNY: Oh, yes. Certainly. (He casts about for a bag.) Just hang on a second. (He vanishes down behind the counter, scuffling frantically through the shelves behind the desk. The YOUNG WOMAN waits relatively patiently, leaning her elbow on the counter and her chin on her hand. When JONNY stands back up with a bag he is almost face to face with her, and he startles backwards somewhat. He extends the bag and manages (another) nervous smile. The YOUNG WOMAN straightens up.)
YOUNG WOMAN: Look, this is going to sound a bit weird, but have we ever met? You look really familiar.
JONNY (with effort):Yeah. Yeah. We-uh-I work at Bedford’s too. In the legal department. I’m sure, I’m sure we’ve met. In the hall. I’ve seen you. Or, or the coffee machine. I’ve seen you there. I go there too. To the coffee machine. And to, well, work as well, because I work there...(He has gotten himself into a complete state by this point.)
YOUNG WOMAN: Yeah, yeah, of course. I knew I’d seen you somewhere, I just wasn’t sure where.
JONNY: Yeah, uh, work.
YOUNG WOMAN: So, do you work here too?
JONNY: Oh, no. Just visiting. A friend. She just stepped out, so...
YOUNG WOMAN: Oh. Yeah
JONNY: Mm hmm.
(Beat)
.
YOUNG WOMAN: Um, I should just head out, but uh, I guess I’ll just see you around then...
JONNY: Yeah, we’ll, we’ll see you later.
YOUNG WOMAN: Yeah.
JONNY: Yeah.
YOUNG WOMAN: All right then.
JONNY: Okay.
(The awkwardness of trying to end a conversation with someone you don’t really know and want to get away from. Finally the YOUNG WOMAN gives a little wave and heads off with alacrity to the door. JONNY watches her leave. DORA has been watching quietly from the staff door during the conversation, and now she slides back behind the counter.)
DORA: Nice one, Cyrano. (But her voice is gentle rather than sarcastic, and after a minute she looks over at him with concern. JONNY doesn’t meet her gaze, instead looking out across the counter and raising his right hand to bite at his thumbnail. His face is miserable.)
Ellipses. Dissolve. The store is empty again, the clock reads five minutes to six. Tom Waits’ “ Big Time” is playing quietly. DORA is reading again. JONNY is leafing through a magazine.
DORA: Here. Listen to this. (She reads:)
“In one of the avenues I noticed a young couple walking ahead of me; the boy was resting his hand lightly on the girl’s shoulder. Suddenly moved by the sight, I said to myself that it must be sweet to go through life with someone’s hand on one’s shoulder, a hand so well-known that one barely felt its weight, and so ever-present that loneliness would be banished for good.”
(Pause.)
JONNY: She puts it well, doesn’t she?
DORA: Yeah.
(They fall back into silence. Tom Waits sings on, the song ‘Falling Down’.The clock ticks. DORA dog ears her book and sticks it down under the counter before turning to JONNY.
DORA: Home time?
JONNY: Sounds good.
(He waits while DORA puts her jacket on, locks the register, turns out the lights. They go out of the shop, DORA turning the shop sign to say ‘Closed’ on the way. The door swings shut, jingling slightly, DORA and JONNY’S receding conversation fading away out of shot as the camera stays on the door.)
JONNY: I was thinking about takeaway. Where’re you headed?
DORA: Takeaway sounds good-Indian?
JONNY: Chinese?
DORA and JONNY: Thai...
END. (‘Falling Down’ continues to play over credits.)
(-acknowledgments to Suzanne for providing anecdotal evidence of ridiculous and peculiar pick-up lines, Debbie and Matthew for the conversation about Lou, and ‘Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter’ for the Simone de Beauvoir quote (page 144 in the penguin edition.)