Love of Her Life (6 page)

HARMONIA

Honesty.  No secrets. 

CHIEKO

That's what I like about you.  Your

willingness to be vulnerable.  It

shows fearlessness. 

HARMONIA

Why did I fantasize about the

bartender?

CHIEKO

It doesn't matter why.  It's what's

so.  You did.  Period.  And it bothers

you that you did. 

HARMONIA

I said I wouldn't. 

CHIEKO

You said you wouldn't and you did. 

I got it.  Anything else?

HARMONIA

I like him.  Why?

They look at each other - 'it doesn't matter why' - and laugh. 

HARMONIA

That is a beautiful dress!

She takes a dress off the rack and admires it.  It's a little black rayon dress with dragonflies all over it. 

CHIEKO

It's you. 

Harmonia buys the dress. 

INT.  DELTA QUEEN LOUNGE - NIGHT

Harmonia wears the new dress and dances with Eric.  The Bartender watches them while he works.  Harmonia checks to see if the Bartender is watching her. 

The song changes to a slow one.  Eric smiles and opens his arms, an invitation.  Harmonia glances at the Bartender.  He is looking at her.  The moment she looks his way, he looks down, busies himself. 

She declines Eric's invitation to slow-dance. 

INT.  BARTENDER'S CABIN - NIGHT

The Bartender (Orion) lies in bed, hugging a pillow.  He stares at the ceiling, half conscious, drifting. 

ORION'S FANTASY:

Harmonia lies in his arms, both fully clothed. 

HARMONIA

I don't know when I lost my will to

live.  No, I do.  I know exactly

when. 

He kisses her temple. 

HARMONIA

It was 2001.  After that I was an

automaton and I didn't care. 

BARTENDER

Were you aware? 

HARMONIA

That I was an automaton and I didn't

care?  Yes.  And I couldn't make

myself care. 

He lifts her hand in his and studies it. 

BARTENDER

About anything?  You have beautiful

hands. 

HARMONIA

You almost sound like him.  He looks

at hands every day.  He's a poker

dealer.  People are hands. 

BARTENDER

Are you still mad at him?

HARMONIA

I can never stay mad at him.  I try. 

Real hard. 

The Bartender takes a silver ring off his little finger.  He slips it onto Harmonia's ring finger.  It's far too big. 

HARMONIA

What are you doing? 

He tries the middle finger.  Too big. 

HARMONIA

Are you falling in love with me? 

You shouldn't.  I'm in love with

him. 

He tries the thumb.  It fits. 

BARTENDER

He's a fantasy, the man you think

you love. 

Harmonia admires the ring.  It's an artistic braided design. 

HARMONIA

I've always like silver better than

gold. 

BARTENDER

You prefer fantasy to reality. 

She sits up and gives him a queer expression. 

HARMONIA

We all live in our heads. 

She stands and stares out the window. 

BARTENDER

Stuck in my reality. 

He reaches for her and pulls her back into his arms.  She lays next to him and admires the ring on her thumb. 

HARMONIA

You don't mind?

He laughs. 

BARTENDER

Competing with my own fantasy?  It's

the story of my life. 

HARMONIA

And every other man's really. 

Sometimes a fantasy of himself is a

man's worst competition. 

BARTENDER

Or best. 

She kisses his cheek. 

HARMONIA

Friends. 

She takes the ring off and puts it on his little finger. 

BARTENDER

Why did you say yes?

There is a knock at the door.  The Bartender opens it.  A server delivers lunch on a tray.  The Bartender gives the server a generous tip on the way out. 

He feeds Harmonia. 

HARMONIA

You aren't the manipulative type. 

He takes a bite of salad and contemplates. 

BARTENDER

Did you see the Seinfeld episode

where Costanza decides to do the

opposite of everything he normally

would do?

HARMONIA

Yes. 

She opens her mouth like a baby bird.  He teases her.  She snatches the salad off the fork.  She talks with food in her

mouth. 

HARMONIA

That's the very thing I did.  That's

why I'm here now. 

BARTENDER

Here with me?  Normally you wouldn't

do what?

He tears a bread roll apart and butters it.  He feeds her. 

HARMONIA

Here on this boat.  Meeting a man

I'm in love with and haven't met. 

Choosing to love him unconditionally. 

BARTENDER

The choice of him was against your

grain in the first place?

HARMONIA

It was. 

He reacts, stunned and curious. 

HARMONIA

I had my sights set much higher. 

And what I was after was within reach,

too.  I merely had to go for it. 

BARTENDER

I was wondering.  I thought you had

low self esteem. 

HARMONIA

There is no such thing. 

He pours coffee. 

HARMONIA

Lots of milk and a sprinkle of the

blue stuff. 

He prepares her coffee.  She sits up. 

BARTENDER

No such thing as low self esteem?

HARMONIA

It's a way we delude ourselves.  We

buy into the idea because it allows

us to focus attention on ourselves. 

BARTENDER

Aha.  Guilt free. 

HARMONIA

Slave morality. 

BARTENDER

Nietzche. 

She smiles. 

HARMONIA

That's why I said yes. 

EXT.  DELTA QUEEN SUN DECK - NIGHT

The boat moves southbound on the Mississippi.  Chieko and Harmonia sit on the deck with coffee cups. 

CHIEKO

Did he try?

HARMONIA

Only to entice me. 

CHIEKO

You've got to respect that. 

Harmonia nods in agreement. 

HARMONIA

He put a ring on my finger. 

Chieko checks her hands, questioning. 

HARMONIA

His ring.  It fit my thumb.  His

fingers are thick. 

Harmonia gets a dreamy look.  Chieko slaps her knee. 

They both laugh.  They catch themselves, look at each other,

and bust out again.  They simultaneously say "myth!"

CHIEKO

What's your next move?

END ORION'S FANTASY

INT.  DELTA QUEEN LOUNGE - DAY

The Captain sits at the bar with an almost empty bottle of  water.  The Bartender finishes with a customer and wipes the

counter in front of the Captain. 

CAPTAIN

You should tell her. 

The Bartender shakes is head. 

CAPTAIN

I think it's a mistake. 

BARTENDER

It's the only way to know. 

CAPTAIN

Not knowing is more fun.  You're

both backwards.  You already have

something special.  What you're doing

now is making it ordinary. 

Mike sits next to the Captain.  The Captain leaves. 

CAPTAIN

Talk some sense into this fool. 

The Bartender sets a beer in front of Mike. 

MIKE

What's that about?

The Bartender shrugs. 

MIKE

What's the score?

BARTENDER

Reality zero.  Fantasy two. 

TITLE ON BLACK:  "ACE OF HEARTS"

EXT.  RURAL ROAD - NIGHT

Orion, much younger, stands alone.  A classic V8 Chevy leaves him in a cloud of dust.  A WOMAN is at the helm. 

Orion mops his eyes with his forearm.  He removes a cap revealing his full head of hair. 

ORION (V.  O.  )

Let me go with you. 

He stares into the tail lights as she accelerates away from him. 

INT.  CLASSIC V8 CHEVY - NIGHT

The woman driving has an 80's hairstyle and clothing.  She turns on the radio.  STATIC and a country western station, she passes, keeps turning the dial. 

Her expression is as placid as a Canadian lake in winter. 

She glances at Orion in the rearview mirror. 

WOMAN (V.  O.  )