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	M Y   B E S T   F R I E N D ' S   W E D D I N G

	by Ronald Bass
	First Draft Screenplay

	--------------------------------------------------------------

	INT.  BOULEY RESTAURANT, NEW YORK - NIGHT

	Dim lighting, crowd buzz, a long line of the rich, the celebrated,
	the congenitally impatient.  Everyone in this queue holds a
	reservation at least an hour overdue.  Tourists can't even make the
	line.  PAN ahead to...

	... the burnished dining room, the tables of power, the elegant
	service.  Covertly, many eyes are drawn to the one table receiving
	by far the most lavish service of all.  Captains hover, presenting
	delicacies, pouring wines, murmuring obsequiously to a guest whose
	person they screen from our view.  We can see, however...

	... the honored guest's companion.  Ignored, bemused, across the
	table.  This is DIGGER DOWNES, 36, darkly attractive.  Kind eyes,
	an intellectual's mouth, Saville Row's most unobtrusive and
	conservative chalk-stripe suit.  He is gay, but you wouldn't guess
	it.  Loyal and wise and generous, and you might.  He watches with a
	quiet twinkle, as the Captains now step back, revealing to us...

	... their most unlikely icon.  JULIANNE POTTER, almost 28, wears
	her favorite bulky sweater over a bunch of other stuff she pulled
	together in fifteen seconds.  She is unkempt, quick, volatile,
	scattered, and beneath it all, perhaps because of it all, an
	original beauty.  Dark liquid eyes, a cynical mouth, slender
	expressive fingers, which point to...

				CAPTAIN
		    A variation on our squid ink
		    risotto.  Trace of Moselle, to
		    sweeten the stock.

	She doesn't like that idea at all.  Shoots him a sharp look of
	doubt that makes him smile.  Murmur...

				CAPTAIN
		    Don't kill us on this one, it's
		    a long shot.

	Places the moist lump of black rice before her.  She takes a
	surprisingly small amount, rolls it over her tongue.  Makes dead
	flat eye contact with Digger.  And nods, it's actually quite nice.
	The Captain breathes with relief.  She turns her dark eyes to him.
	The tone says they're pals...

				JULIANNE
		    I'm writing it up as inventive and
		    confident.  Which it is.  Off the
		    record, I'll need an extra boat of
		    the ink.  Or a salt shaker.

				CAPTAIN
		    I'll toss a coin.

	As the Captain splits, Digger looks around at the other tables,
	which makes many pairs of eyes awkwardly glace away.

				DIGGER
		    Is it ever embarrassing, having
		    your bum kissed in public?

				JULIANNE
		    If your ass isn't chapped, you
		    are not a good-writer of note.

	She glances at her two remaining waiters, who shamelessly fawn
	nearby.

				JULIANNE
		    Is it sad to be an editor, and bask
		    only in reflected insincerity?

				DIGGER
		    I've adjusted, and thanks for asking.

	She leans forward, as if sharing something conspiratorial.

				JULIANNE
		    See the pull of a book like
		    Twenty Chefs, is not who I
		    put in.  It's who I leave out.

				DIGGER
		    Which is everyone you couldn't
		    get in.

				JULIANNE
		    Plus some guys whose food I don't
		    like.

	Pushes the risotte across to him.  He lifts a fork.

				DIGGER
		    This fellow from Newsday ever
		    call?

	She shrugs.  Pulls a cellular out of a large, jumbled bag.

				JULIANNE
		    I'll buzz my machine.  Inventive
		    and confident, yeh?

	She dials.  He tastes.

				DIGGER
		    Needs salt.

				JULIANNE
		    Is Newsday a real interview, or
		    just some cute guy you're setting
		    me up w...

				DIGGER
		    ... I don't send you men, anymore.
		    You don't know what to do with them.

	She's punching in her code.

				JULIANNE
		    Sometimes I do.  Like for two months.

				DIGGER
		    ... weeks.

	Over the phone, we hear her answering machine...

				MAN'S VOICE (V.O., soft)
		    Hey.  It's Michael.

	And her face changes.  Warms.  Just to hear the guileless voice.

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    God, it must be, what, months, huh?
		    I can't wait to talk to you.  I'm
		    in Chicago at the Ritz Carlton...

	She looks impressed and surprised.  Fancy place for this guy.

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    Call me four in the morning,
		    whatever, we gotta talk.

	As she hangs up.  She still has that look in her eye.  Digger has
	never seen that, and he likes it very much.

				DIGGER
		    Who called? The man of the
		    moment?

	She smiles.  A sweet, natural smile that makes us like her, too.
	The Bohemian sophisticate has vanished.

				JULIANNE
		    No, no, the opposite.  That's
		    my best friend, Michael O'Neal.
		    He sounds desperate to talk.

				DIGGER
		    The wandering sportswriter.

	He pushes the risotto back her way.

				DIGGER
		    I didn't know you two had a
		    past.

	Her gaze sharpens.  Hmmn?

				DIGGER
		    The look in your eye.

	She blushes.  Shakes her head, no way.

				JULIANNE
		    Sophomore year at Yale we had
		    this one hot month.  And, you
		    know me, I got restless...

	He knows her.  She got restless.

				JULIANNE
		    So I get up the nerve to break
		    his heart.  I tell him there's
		    this dreamy exchange student
		    from Pakistan who wants to,
		    you know...

	He knows.

				JULIANNE
		    And he gets this... look.  He
		    says, "I knew I couldn't hold
		    your interest", which, of course,
		    makes me feel like the shallow
		    bitch I've always been...

	He nods, yeah.

				JULIANNE
		    Then he says, "But what makes
		    me want to cry.  Is I'm losing
		    the best friend I ever had."

	Hears the feeling.  In her voice.

				JULIANNE
		    And when he said it, I knew.
		    I felt the same.

	Silence now.  She covers with a smile.

				JULIANNE
		    So I cried.  For maybe the third
		    time in my life.  And I kissed
		    him.  And we've been best friends
		    ever since.

	Ever since.  Fingers turning her wine glass...

				JULIANNE
		    Nine years, we've seen each other
		    through everything.  Losing jobs,
		    losing parents, losing lovers...
		    travelled all over, we've had the
		    best times.  The best times of my
		    life, maybe.  Just drinking and
		    talking.  Even over a phone.

				DIGGER
		    Kindred spirits.

				JULIANNE
		    No, he's nothing like me.  He's
		    like you.  Only straight.

	No offense taken.

				JULIANNE
		    He's the salt of the earth.  Kind
		    and loyal and generous.  The one
		    constant thing in my life, is he'll
		    always be there.

				DIGGER
		    He's still in love with you.

	That stops her.  She has to say...

				JULIANNE
		    Maybe.  But it never gets in
		    the way.

	Something she probably hasn't confessed out loud before.  Digger
	understands.

				DIGGER
		    Well, he has a true friend in
		    you.

	He wants her to know he sees that.

				DIGGER
		    Whenever George tells someone
		    how steadfast I am, he always
		    makes me sound boring.

				JULIANNE
		    Solid and genuine is not boring.
		    Michael can be completely insane...

	A young waiter arrives.  Sets a boat of black squid ink beside her
	plate.

				JULIANNE
		    There was this one night in
		    Tucson, like six years ago...
		    we got amazingly drunk, I mean,
		    Keith Richards time...

	The kid tops off her glass of meursault.  Looking at her.

				JULIANNE
		    God, I haven't thought of this
		    in so long...

	The waiter hanging now.  Openly listening.

				JULIANNE
		    I can even believe we did
		    this...

	Digger sees the guy listening, gestures to her with his eyes.  So
	she looks up.

				JULIANNE
		    Could you give us a minute?

	The kid stunned, speechless.  People lose jobs for a lot less.

				JULIANNE
		    You won't miss much, I promise
		    there was no sex.

	He reddens and disappears.

				DIGGER
		    I've lost interest.

				JULIANNE
		    He takes a razor from his dinky
		    little dopp kit, cuts his fingertip,
		    takes my hand, does the same to me...

	She places the tips of her index fingers together.

				DIGGER
		    Blood oath.

				JULIANNE
		    He says, "Swear.  When we're both
		    28, if we've never been married...
		    we marry each other!"

	And laughs again.  Can you believe that?  But Digger isn't smiling.
	She wonders why.  Begins to spoon black squid ink onto her risotto.

				JULIANNE
		    See, he figured that would be a
		    sign from God, or someone of
		    comparable authority, that we'd
		    misunderstood our destinies.

	He still has this real serious look.  She's still spooning ink.

				JULIANNE
		    We never talked about it again.  I
		    don't know what made me think of...

				DIGGER (quietly)
		    I do.

	And everything.  Stops.  She lifts her spoon, mesmerized by the
	gravity of his tone.

				DIGGER
		    You'll be 28 in three weeks.
		    How old is he?

	Holy.  Fucking.  Shit.  It hits her like a ton of lead bricks.  She
	shovels some swampy risotto into her mouth, without looking.

				JULIANNE
		    You think...

				DIGGER
		    Desperate.  To talk.

	She shovels in more drippy black goop.  It is really disgusting.

				JULIANNE
		    He's not proposing marriage,
		    there's no way I'm buying one
		    word of th...

				DIGGER
		    Then why are you compulsively
		    eating? If you're not hysterical?

	More goes in.  Her lips and mouth completely black.  Like a circus
	clown.

				JULIANNE
		    He can't do that to me!

				DIGGER
		    We're about to find out.

	Ink is now dribbling out of the black hole of her mouth and down
	her face.  She absently dabs a napkin, keeping some of it from
	reaching her sweater.

				JULIANNE
		    When I turn him down...

	She realizes the full weight of the truth.

				JULIANNE
		    We'll never be the same.

				DIGGER
		    I have a suggestion...

				JULIANNE
		    I'll have to kill myself before I
		    call him.

	Staring in each other's eyes.

				DIGGER (sadly)
		    That was it.

	INT. JULIANNE'S BATHROOM - LATE NIGHT

	Julianne furiously scrubs her blackened tongue with a toothbrush.
	Gray foam pours from her mouth, spattering the oversized basketball
	jersey she wears as a nightshirt.  In the mirror, her troubled eyes
	dwell on Michael, flick to the cordless phone standing ominously on
	the closed toilet lid.

	She spits, sticks her tongue way out.  Incredibly black.  Great.
	Depressed, terrified, and disfigured for life.  She snatches up the
	hated phone, and wanders aimlessly into...

	... her bedroom.  West Village view.  Defiantly jumbled, aggres-
	sively eclectic.  Traces of wonderful taste mixed with I-like-it-
	you-got-a-problem-with-that? She stumbles around, rehearsing...

				JULIANNE
		    This is awkward timing, Michael,
		    I just joined this convent, and
		    they never give your deposit ba...

	Stops.  Full-length mirror.  She straightens her hair, to look her
	best.

				JULIANNE
		    Michael, I'm married.

	Not enough.

				JULIANNE
		    ... and I have two weeks to live.

	Changes tone...

				JULIANNE
		    Michael, I'm trying to be gay,
		    don't confuse me.

	She turns to continue pacing, and walks straight INTO a dresser.
	Stuns her, momentarily.  Enough, already! She punches up the
	number, primping absently in the mirror.  When it connects...

				JULIANNE
		    I was calling Michael O'Neal,
		    but seeing it's so late, I could
		    just leave a mes...

	No such luck.  Cut off.  Waits.  And then...

				JULIANNE (soft)
		    Good evening, sir.  You've been
		    enrolled in the Obscene Call Of
		    The Month Club, and th...

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    Hey! God, it's so good to hear
		    your voice.

	She forgets herself.  Because it's good to hear his, too.

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    I've been calling for days!

				JULIANNE
		    Yeh, well my old machine kept
		    eating messages.  I tried
		    constructively ignoring it in
		    hopes of improvement, but finally...

				MICHAEL (V.O., urgent)
		    Look, I have to ask you something.

	She swallows.

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    Something so incredibly important,
		    that if you turn me down, I don't
		    know what I'll d...

				JULIANNE (bright)
		    I just have to tell you this one
		    thing first, okay? I mean this
		    will hand you the biggest laugh
		    of your adult life...

	Silence.  Come on girl, suck it up.

				JULIANNE
		    I was thinking about you, and I
		    remembered this unbelievably insane
		    night we spent together in Tucson,
		    like a thousand years ago?

	More silence.  Really quiet.

				JULIANNE
		    I mean, there's no way you could
		    possibly remember the...

				MICHAEL (V.O., soft)
		    Are you kidding?

	Stops her.  Like a brick wall.  The sweetness in his voice.

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    I think about that night all
		    the time.

	She's going to have a heart attack.

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    But it's not why I called.

	She blinks.  It's not.  And just as a tsunami of relief begins to
	sweep away...

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    I called because I met someone.

	And her smiles breaks off.  Like a spine snapping.  Because there is
	something in his voice.

				JULIANNE
		    Well, that's great.  You haven't
		    really had anybody since Dingbat
		    Jennylee...

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    You don't understand.  I've never
		    felt this way about anybody!

	Never.  She sits down, hard.  Right on the floor.

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    And she's all wrong for me!

				JULIANNE
		    Well, somet...

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    I mean she's a junior at Chicago
		    University, she's twenty years
		    old! Like when I first met you.

	Like when.  Julianne's mouth is suddenly dry.

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    And her dad is like this billionaire
		    who owns the White Sox and some cable
		    empire, and you know how I've always
		    been miserably awkward around those
		    kinda stuffed suits...

	She's finally making her mouth work...

				JULIANNE
		    Well, sure.

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    But they're so down to earth, such
		    wonderful people...

				JULIANNE
		    You've met her parents.

				MICHAEL (V.O., quiet)
		    Well.  Sure.

	Wow.

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    See.  We're getting married.
		    This Sunday.

	There's a knife in her heart.  She can scarcely breathe.

				JULIANNE
		    Michael, it's Wednesday night,
		    you can't possibly be getting
		    married on Su...

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    Actually, it all starts tomorrow.
		    It's one of those four-day weddings,
		    with all the traditional events, and
		    ten million people flying in from
		    Madagascar such.

				JULIANNE (incredibly lame)
		    Aren't you... working this weekend?
		    I mean, is that responsible?

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    Well, the Sox are at home.  SI's
		    letting me do a profile on the Big
		    Hurt.  That's Frank...

				JULIANNE
			    (barely audible)
		    ... Thomas, yeh.

	She's staring at herself in the mirror.

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    Jules.  I'm scared.

	A straw to lunge at.

				JULIANNE
		    Well, maybe we should talk ab...

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    I need you.

	So heartfelt.  A lifetime of emotion welling in her eyes.

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    If you can't come.  And hold my
		    hand.  I'll never get through this.

	Oh.

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    Please come, please.

				JULIANNE
		    W...

				MICHAEL (V.O.)
		    I can't wait for you to meet her!

	HOLD ON Julianne.  Staring in the mirror.  Like watching the end of
	her life.

	INT.  BEDROOM - LATER

	The closet, the armoire, all the drawers are wide open.  Two huge
	suitcases open on the bed, into which Julianne is flinging clothes,
	as she fumbles to smoke and dial at the same time.  Over the phone,
	now...

				DIGGER (V.O., machine)
		    You've reached Digger and George.
		    Brevity will be appreciated.

	BEEP.

				JULIANNE (in a rage)
		    IT'S ME AGAIN, WHY AREN'T YOU GUYS
		    UP HAVING SAFE SEX??

	SNATCHES up a tiny, clingy, sexy dress.  Pouts at it.

				JULIANNE
		    OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, WHY AREN'T
		    YOU INTERRUPTING IT TO ANSWER
		    THE PHONE??

	She holds the dress against her body.  It's hot.

				JULIANNE
		    YOU, YOU, YOU! IT'S ALL ABOUT
		    YOU, ISN'T IT??

	She clicks OFF.  Checks the dress in the mirror.  Raises the short
	skirt a little higher.

	INT. DIGGER'S CHEROKEE, JFK AIRPORT - EARLY MORNING

	Digger driving the open-air Cherokee up the ramp to United Airlines
	departures.  Julianne, wind-whipped, trying to light a fresh
	cigarette from the butt of the last one.  He glances over.  Hates
	to see this...

				DIGGER
		    You can't get lung cancer and
		    die in four days.  Go to Plan B.

	She sucks deep.  Really deep.

				JULIANNE
		    You have no appropriate sense
		    of emergency.  My best friend
		    is ruining his life.

				DIGGER
		    No, he's ruining yours.

				JULIANNE
		    Same difference.  If you love
		    someone, it's your duty to save
		    them from themselves.

				DIGGER
		    You have a real philosophy of
		    life.

				JULIANNE
		    It's called the Law of Love,
		    asshole.

	She is tight enough to snap.  And at the edge of tears.  Staring
	out at the skycaps, clinging to her cigarette, as he eases to the
	curb.

				DIGGER (gently)
		    Why don't we have a drink? You
		    could catch a later fl...

				JULIANNE
		    I'm a busy girl.  I've got four
		    days to break up a wedding, and
		    steal the bride's fella.

	She finally looks at him.  He doesn't say anything.

				JULIANNE
		    He's adored me for nine goddamn
		    years.

				DIGGER
		    I can see why.

				JULIANNE
		    She knows him maybe five seconds,
		    plus she has billions of dollars,
		    plus she's perfect, so don't go
		    feeling sorry for Miss Pre-Teen Illinois!

	He's not.  So her voice softens.  Which shows the hurt.

				JULIANNE
		    And don't go feeling sorry for
		    me, you don't know me that well.
		    We're only friends.

				DIGGER (softly)
		    I stand corrected.

	Tears now.  Stand in her eyes.

				JULIANNE
		    I'm making a big mistake, huh?

				DIGGER (shrugs)
		    Maybe you'll learn something.

	He wraps his hand over hers.  She looks down at it.

				JULIANNE
		    I'm gonna bring him back, man.
		    Against all odds, y'know.  Cos
		    if I don't...

	She wraps her fingers around his.

				JULIANNE
		    ... I gotta live with it forever.

	Looks in his eyes.

				JULIANNE
		    And at my wedding.  I'll be the
		    only bride with her own best man.

	And she kisses his cheek.

	Jumps out of his car.  Before she cries.  Yanks her bags from the
	back.  Brave smile.

	They trade small salutes.  And then she's gone.

	INT.  O'HARA AIRPORT, CHICAGO - MORNING

	The jetway disgorging passengers into the swarming ant colony
	called O'Hare.  Julianne lugging multiple carry-ons, trying to pull
	fly-away strands of hair into place, nervous as a schoolgirl,
	looking all around, and...

	... there he is.  MICHAEL is tall and square-shouldered, a boyish
	grin, an unruly shock of hair.  He looks gorgeous, sweet, and just
	dangerous enough to be irresistible.  Worthwhile stakes.  His face
	lights to see her, and she...

	... RUNS to his arms, shedding bags along the way, slamming off
	heedless civilians, to be...

	... SWEPT OFF the earth in strong arms, spun around, laughing like
	crazy, their cheeks tight together.  When he sets her down...

	... he kisses her nose.  His arms are still around her.

				MICHAEL (murmurs)
		    Can you believe it? Can you believe
		    I'm actually gonna do this?

				JULIANNE (lost in his eyes)
		    Not hardly.

	He beams.  Turns.  She follows his gaze, and...

	... there she is.  KIMBERLY WALLACE is 20, small and slender, but it
	is a body to die for.  The face is striking, not at all perky and
	vapid, but lovely and interesting.  Worst of all, intelligent.

	She walks toward them purposefully, her eyes locked to the woman in
	her fiancee's arms.  At the last moment, Michael releases Julianne
	and Kimmy...

	... THROWS her arms around the startled visitor.  HOLDS her tight,
	with such genuine warmth that Julianne can only, slowly, hug back.
	As Michael beams.

				KIMMY
		    This just makes everything so
		    perfect.

	Her arms stay around the slightly dazed Julianne.  The younger
	girl leans close, confides...

				KIMMY
		    All I've heard, from the day I
		    met Michael, is Julianne this,
		    and Julianne that...

				JULIANNE
		    Well, we're...

				KIMMY
		    I think the best part of marrying
		    this guy is finding you.

	Pale gray eyes.  Alive with joy and intimacy.

				KIMMY
		    I've never had a sister.

	INT.  KIMMY'S CONVERTIBLE - DAY

	Kimmy TEARING down the throughway in her Mercedes 500 SL, a
	dashing, confident driver.  Julianne riding shotgun, hair flying, a
	total wreck, in the open convertible.  Michael is happily crouched
	on the little platform behind their seats, hugging his knees.  The
	roar of the wind makes it impossible for him to hear them.

				KIMMY
		    My heart's in my throat, here.
		    Right off, I have to ask this
		    monstrous favor...

				JULIANNE
		    You need a few dollars.

	Kim glances over.  At eighty miles an hour.  A bittersweet look.

				KIMMY
		    Dry.  Just like he said.

	Her eyes at once admiring and regretful.

				JULIANNE
		    Excuse me?

				KIMMY
		    I can be quick.  I can even
		    be funny.

	Shakes her head.  An endearing youngster.

				KIMMY
		    But I can't be dry.

				JULIANNE
		    Can you watch the road?

				KIMMY
		    See.  Dry.  It's in the delivery.

	She looks back to the highway.

				KIMMY
		    This is a very presumptuous
		    and burdensome fav...

				JULIANNE
		    ... you want a menage on your
		    wedding night.

				KIMMY (straight back)
		    No, that wouldn't be burdensome.

	Julianne studying the delicate, angular profile.  Hard not to like
	this kid.

				KIMMY
		    My classmate Angelique shattered
		    her pelvis line dancing in
		    Abeline on Spring Break.

	Looks over.  The sweetest smile.

				KIMMY
		    Be my maid of honor.

	Julianne just blinks.

				KIMMY
		    You can't believe what it'd
		    cost to bring in a temp.

				JULIANNE
		    Uh.  How about promoting a
		    bridesmaid?  Someone you know
		    for at least forty-five minutes.

	We CUT OFF a huge SEMI who BLASTS his horn.  Kimmy fearless,
	oblivious, and analytical...

				KIMMY
		    The bridesmaids are my only two
		    female relatives under forty.
		    Identical twin debutantes from
		    Nashville, who are basically
		    vengeful sluts.  With amazing
		    bodies!

				JULIANNE
		    Which was the disqualifying
		    factor?

				KIMMY
		    The twin part.  I like to remain
		    impartial in my contempt.

	Sees the off-ramp, and SLICES across FOUR LANES of speeding bullets
	in a heart-stopping nanosecond.  This kid could drive for Penske.
	Julianne has to pound her chest to get her heart started.  Looks
	back to see if Michael fell out...

	... he is absurdly wind-blown.  Gives her a beautiful grinning
	thumbs-up.  Loves this stuff.

				KIMMY
		    This means I have four days
		    to make you my new best friend...

	Brings Julianne's eyes back...

				KIMMY
		    And since I already know everything
		    about you.  Including intimate
		    facts I'm mortified to have heard,
		    but too envious to forget.  It's
		    time for you to learn about me...

	Easing off the freeway.  She meets Julianne's glance...

				KIMMY
		    Force yourself.  To get personal.

				JULIANNE (smiles)
		    Sounds like a plan.

	INT.  DRESS SHOP, NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE - MORNING

	The place is stunning.  High-ceiling, soft light, large rococo
	mirrors, Louis Quatorze sofas and chairs.  Michael wanders rest-
	lessly, fish out of water among designer displays and stylish
	female patrons.

	Takes a look at his watch.

	INT.  DRESSING ROOM - MORNING

	A period sitting room, ringed with mirrors along its tapestried
	walls.  Kimmy sits on a Louis Treize loveseat next to a stack of
	costly gowns.  Watching with an expertise beyond her years, as...

	... Julianne stands on a platform.  A seamstress fitting her into a
	sleek pale daffodil-colored gown.  There are pins everywhere, as
	the seamstress struggles toward a perfect fit.  Continuously
	looking to Kim for approval.

				KIMMY
		    If you'd rather the lilac...

	Julianne shakes her head.  This one is beautiful.

				JULIANNE
		    I thought bridesmaids had to wear
		    the same dress.

				KIMMY
		    Not you.  You won't be comfortable
		    unless you're distinctive.

	Julianne glances over.

				JULIANNE
		    What else did he tell you...

				KIMMY
		    ... you hate weddings, you never go.

	Oh.  Well, yeah.

				KIMMY
		    You're not up for anything
		    conventional, or popularly
		    assumed to be female priorities.
		    Including marriage.  Or romance.
		    Or even...

	And she stops.  Not wanting to offend.

				JULIANNE (quietly)
		    ... not even love.

	The look holds.  The seamstress keeps working, as if she's deaf.

				JULIANNE
		    That's why Michael and I were
		    the wrong fit.  Right from the
		    start.

				KIMMY
		    He said that, too.

	She stands up.  Walks to the platform.  Smooths her hand over the
	fabric down Julianne's back, along her hips.  Communicating to the
	seamstress with her irritated expression.

				KIMMY
		    Well, I thought I was like you.
		    And proud to be.  Until I met
		    rumpled, smelly old Michael...

	Pins start to come out.  Kimmy points, these, too!

				KIMMY
		    And then I found I was just a
		    sentimental schmuck.  Like all
		    those flighty nitwits I'd always
		    pitied.

	She leans forward.  So they can look at each other.

				KIMMY
		    Funny world, huh?

	Julianne swallows.  It is that.

				JULIANNE
		    I need a smoke.

	And before anyone can breathe, she steps OFF the platform RIPPING
	the living shit out of the gown, right down the side.  The seam-
	stress' eyes FLASH OPEN in abject horror.  Julianne, a deer in
	headlights, looks quickly around at the evidence of her screw-up in
	six different mirrors.

	Kimberly just steps to her, fingers the tear...

				KIMMY
		    It's mostly the seam.  Let's
		    get this to Carlos.

	And UNZIPS Julianne down the back.  In her rush to step out,
	Julianne STUMBLES,  but her arms are pinned by the pulled-down dress
	and she just...

	... TOPPLES like a felled oak, THUDDING on her face, the gown
	RIPPING some more, the seamstress SCREAMING like an idiot.

	Then.  Silence.  Julianne looking up helplessly, a trussed hog,
	bound in her dress.

				KIMMY (firm)
		     Just.  Don't.  Move.

	Like you talk to a three-year-old.  Deftly, Kimmy pulls the
	dress free, leaving Julianne in her underwear.  Signals to the
	seamstress, let's go.

				JULIANNE
		    Don't you have to be somewh...

				KIMMY
		    ... just my bridal shower.  And
		    Michael has to meet our dads and
		    the groomsmen at Comiskey for a
		    one-thirty game.

	Opens the door...

				KIMMY
		    Other than that...

	Closed SOLID.  Gone.

	INT.  DRESSING ROOM - LATER

	Julianne sits on the loveseat in her bra and panties, lighting one
	cigarette from the butt of another.  Suddenly, she hears...

	... an ARGUMENT outside the door.  Strains to listen.  It does sound
	like Michael and Kim.  We can't make out the words.  She jumps up,
	dashes for the door, STUBBING her toe on the platform, SHIT!, falls
	heavily AGAINST the door with a THUD that makes her wince, and...

	... the argument stops.  Damn.  She opens the door a crack.  Sees
	nothing.  Opens it wider to reveal...

	... a teenaged BOY looking right at her.  He sends a true shit-
	eating grin and she SLAMS the door hard enough to RATTLE walls.

	She PACES furiously, helplessly, arms around her half-naked self,
	until...

	... soft knock.  The door opens a crack, and her daffodil gown
	comes through it.

				JULIANNE
		    Come in, and shut the...

	Stops.  Because it's Michael who has entered.  With the dress.

				JULIANNE
		    ... door.

	So he does.  She flushes and SNATCHES up her own clothes, which
	were characteristically tangled in a heap, and tries desperately to
	untangle them enough to cover herself.  He is amazed and amused by
	her embarrassment.

				MICHAEL (laughing)
		    Should I turn around, or someth...

				JULIANNE
		    Michael, I'm in my underwear!

	She's TEARING at her clothes, only making more of a mess.

				MICHAEL
		    We've seen each other a lot
		    more naked than this.

	She seems ready to rip her clothes apart, so he gently takes them
	from her hands.  She tries to stand unselfconsciously as he easily
	untangles them.

				MICHAEL
		    I mean, we were skinny-dipping
		    in Greece, just as pals, less
		    than two years ago.

	She GRABS the clothes and covers the front of herself.  Looking at
	him with a mix of emotions she couldn't begin to sort out.

				JULIANNE
		    Things are different now.

	He looks in her eyes.  And nods, a little sadly.  Guess they are.

				MICHAEL (softly)
		    Well.  I leave with two thoughts
		    in my mind.

	He walks to the door.  Puts his hand on the latch.  Looks back...

				MICHAEL (even softer)
		    You're still a very pretty
		    girl.

	The look holds.  And holds.  There is such feeling on both sides,
	she doesn't know what to make of it.  She swallows.

				JULIANNE
		    What's the sec...

				MICHAEL
		    Mirrors.

	And he's gone.  She looks around at six different VIEWS of her
	uncovered backside.  Hmm.

	INT.  HOTEL UNDERGROUND GARAGE - DAY

	The parking valets wait by their stand as the convertible pulls up.
	These girls must be late for something, the way they're jumping out
	of the car.

				JULIANNE
		    ... luckiest guy in the Northern
		    Fucking Hemisphere, is all I'm s...

				KIMMY
		    What? Because I'm a little
		    understand...

				JULIANNE
		    ... most sentimental schmucks I
		    pity want a honeymoon after their
		    wedding.  Just to top it off.

	The valet gives Kimmy her ticket.

				KIMMY
		    I can't expect the NBA to hold
		    up the playoffs...

	They're walking fast toward the garage elevators...

				KIMMY
		    I'm excited Sports Illustrated
		    gave him this kind of shot, he's
		    only there a ye...

				JULIANNE
		    So your honeymoon is exactly where?

	Well...

				KIMMY
		    It depends.  If San Antonio sweeps
		    Sacramento, we could start there.
		    Or Phoenix.  Or depending on Indiana-
		    Clevel...

				JULIANNE
		    ... garden sports, all.  Little swing
		    of maybe fifty degrees Fahrenheit,
		    represents a packing challenge, but
		    there's fine food and cocktails at a
		    choice of Embassy Suit...

	At the elevator.  Kimmy SLAMS the button.

				KIMMY
		    It's his career, I'm supportive.
		    Look, I've been everywhere, I've
		    seen the world, I've laid on a beach.
		    I want to be with the man I love.
		    That's what makes it a honeymoon.

	End of story.  Okay?

				JULIANNE
		    I'm just saying he's lucky.

	An empty elevator arrives.  They get in.

				JULIANNE
		    Takes one woman in a billion to
		    put up with his array of shit.
		    The guy is a one-man festival of
		    idiosync...

	Kimmy SLAMS the penthouse button.  Looks at her calmly.  Go on.

				JULIANNE
		    Well.  You've been introduced
		    to the symphonic range of...

				KIMMY
		    ... his snoring, yeah.  He says
		    it's worse than ever.  That
		    snaffle one...?

	Julianne imitates an incredibly annoying high-pitched SNARL.  Three
	times.  Kimmy nods.

				KIMMY
		    Well now it has this sorta
		    phlegm rattle behind it...

	Stopped at the lobby.  A family of four gets in.  Oblivious, Kimmy
	DEMONSTRATES the phlegm rattle.  Really gets into it.  As the
	family watches, Julianne tries her own version.  Like that? No.
	More like this.  The family is looking at each other.

				KIMMY
		    Guess what? Earplugs work.

	Oh.

				JULIANNE
		    How about...

				KIMMY
		    ... cigars in bed? I broke him
		    on that.  But the bathroom's a
		    swamp, he wears Reeboks to dinner,
		    tells the same, admittedly funny,
		    jokes three hundred times...

	Sucks in a breath...

				KIMMY
		    ... loves action movies, subscribes
		    to Playboy for godsake, reads over
		    my shoulder, can't keep track of
		    the checks he writes...

	Ninth floor.  The family gets out.  The door closes.

				KIMMY
		    He sucks soup through his
		    front teeth.

				JULIANNE
		    A trademark move, don't touch
		    it.

				KIMMY
		    But he sure can kiss.

				JULIANNE
		    It's been awhile.  I'll take
		    your word.

				KIMMY
		    After two weeks of cataloguing
		    all his faults, I made a command
		    decision that changed my life.

	She SLAMS the EMERGENCY STOP button.  We JOLT to a halt.

				KIMMY
		    I threw the list away.

	Shakes her head.

				KIMMY
		    He's not a balance sheet, so
		    many wonderful qualities, so
		    many faults.  He's Michael.

	From her heart.

				KIMMY
		    And loving him means loving
		    all of this.

				JULIANNE
		    Do you get nervous in small
		    confined spaces?

				KIMMY
		    So it's sweet of you to be
		    protective...

				JULIANNE
		    Let me rephrase that...

				KIMMY
		   But nothing ever could, ever
		   did, give me a moment's pause
		   about this marriage...

				 JULIANNE
		   Do you get hysterical in small
		   confined spa...

				KIMMY
		    ... except one.

	Julianne's face.  Stops.

				JULIANNE
		    Oh, yeah?

	Kimmy nods.  Confides...

				KIMMY
		    You.

	A stopper.

				KIMMY
		    You'll always be there.  In his
		    mind.  The perfect creature he
		    loved for all those y...

				JULIANNE
		    Well, perfection can get wearing
		    after whi...

				KIMMY
		    I'm not joking.  I had to face
		    up to all my competitive drives,
		    and believe me, I've got 'em.

				JULIANNE
		    No.

				KIMMY
		    And the answer was so simple.

				JULIANNE
		    I was gonna predict that.

				KIMMY
		    You win.

	Julianne blinks.  Excuse me?

				KIMMY
		    You're enshrined in his heart
		    and memory.  Unassailable.
		    Which works out great.

				JULIANNE
		    I've missed a step.

				KIMMY
		    He has you on a pedestal.  And
		    me in his arms.

	Oh.  Julianne smiles.  LUNGES for the EMERGENCY button, YANKING it
	so hard it comes OFF in her hand.  A terrifying BUZZER ensures.

				JULIANNE
		    Jesus, we're trapped!

				KIMMY
		    Ju...

				JULIANNE
		    No, this happened to me once,
		    almost, it was excruciating!

	Begins BANGING random buttons, out of control.  Kimmy watching
	this.  Julianne looks WILDLY up...

				JULIANNE
		    There's a panel up there, you
		    could boost me...

	RIPPING off her platform shoes.

				JULIANNE
		    You know how little air is
		    in these things? I've seen
		    statistics! Once you're trapped
		    between floors...

	Kimmy taps her.  Points to the lighted panel.  It says PH, they've
	reached the Penthouse.

				JULIANNE
		    God! Then the door is jammed!

	Takes a heavy platform and begins BANGING the metal door with all
	her strength, sending resounding BOOMS throughout the area, as
	Kimmy reaches and...

	... presses DOOR OPEN.  The metal doors part, opening directly onto
	the banquet room, just as a mighty blow comes down, and the platform
	FLIES from Julianne's hand straight BETWEEN...

	... two identical stunning YOUNG WOMEN, serving as twin hostesses
	for the shower.  A beat of mutually-stupefied looks, and we hear
	the shoe CRASH somewhere, to a small spattering of SHRIEKS.

				MANDY
		    Mah Gawd, it's the bride,
		    and the woman she'll nevah
		    live up to!

				KIMMY (mutters to Julianne)
		    That would be us.

				SAMMY
		    Did she say th' wrong thang
		    agin? It is so in character!

	AMANDA and SAMANTHA NEWHOUSE, 19-year-old twins.  True Southern
	belles, with the faces of angels and bodies made for hot oil
	wrestling.  Mandy's hair is dyed ash blonde, Sammy's is amber.
	Otherwise, the experience is similar.

				JULIANNE
			    (thrusts out her hand)
		    I'm Julianne Potter, and...

				SAMMY
		    ... we'd be the vengeful sluts.
		    We came in complementary colors.

				MANDY
		    Have you sized up the groomsmen,
		    Jules?  As M. of H., you get
		    first fuck.  Don't pick the
		    short, hairy, rich one.

				JULIANNE
		    ... unless he has a hump.

	The girls cast identical blank looks at Kimberly.

				KIMMY (to the sluts)
		    Dry.  I told you.

				WOMAN'S VOICE (V.O.)
		    Is this Michael's Julianne?

	All eyes turn to an elegant woman of barely 40.  She has her
	daughter's hair and eyes and slender form.  But the bearing rules
	half an empire.  Fonda would envy.

				ISABELLE
		    I'm Isabelle Wallace, and my
		    handsome new son scarcely did
		    you justice, girl.

	She takes both of Julianne's hands, and our heroine is sort of
	magically charmed.  As if touched by Glinda the Good Witch of the
	North.

				ISABELLE
		    Now, my husband says to scoot
		    you over to the ballpark, so
		    you can hang with Michael.  But
		    first, you have to meet a lot of
		    really old women.

	Looking warmly in her eyes...

				ISABELLE
		    That is, if you've absorbed
		    enough profanity.

	Flicks a glance at the twins.  Leads Julianne off...

				MANDY (O.S., pouting)
		    We sayed one fuck.

	INT.  TAXI, SOUTH SIDE - DAY

	Cab crawling toward COMISKEY PARK through stifling traffic.
	Julianne oblivious, cellular to her ear...

				JULIANNE
		    Desperate measures! Do you
		    hear me?  Digger, are you the...

	SQUAWK.  Static.  Then...

				JULIANNE
		    I don't know, hit men, whoopee
		    cushions, saltpeter, something!
		    The girl is impossibly impregnable.
		    Even I want her to get the guy!!

	Listens.

				JULIANNE
		    Tell him the what? The truth...??

	She shakes her head.  What a guy.

				JULIANNE
		    That desperate.  May I never get.

	INT.  LUXURY BOX, COMISKEY PARK - AFTERNOON

	Game in progress.  Watched by Michael, three groomsmen his age, two
	middle-aged men, and one bodyguard.  Suddenly, a dull THUMPING at
	the door.  It keeps up.  They finally all look over.  The bodyguard
	gets the door, revealing...

				JULIANNE
		    Which of you gents ordered
		    two beers?

	One single tray.  Holding fourteen beers.  Balancing on one hand.
	Michael JUMPS UP, terrified at the impending mayhem this sight
	suggests...

				MICHAEL
		    Wow!  Lemme give you a ha...

				JULIANNE (sweetly)
		    Michael.  You'll unwittingly
		    imply that I'm clumsy.

	He stops in his tracks.  The guys whistle.

				MICHAEL
		    Think of that.  And as well as
		    I know you.

	She goes first to the bodyguard.

				  BODYGUARD
		    Sorry, ma'am, I'm on duty.

				JULIANNE (lovely smile)
		    It's Miss.  And thanks.  That
		    leaves two for me.

	Heads down the row...

				MICHAEL
		    Julianne Potter, this is Hank
		    and Gerry from SI, and you know
		    Daniel...

	She's nodding, flawlessly plucking two beers each from perimeter
	of the tray, keeping the rest perfectly balanced in the center.
	Michael is flat dumbstruck.  Next, a tall patrician gentleman with
	rolled-up sleeves on his hand-stitched silk shirt...

				MICHAEL
		    Oh.  This is my father-in-law,
		    Walter.

	Once again, she gracefully plucks two beers for the distinguished
	father-in-law...

				MICHAEL
		    How are you doing this? You're
		    on drugs.

	Sets them down.  The man has a smile wonderful in its ease.
	Murmurs...

				  WALTER
		    If he gives you grief, I'll have
		    him skillfully beaten, where the
		    wounds won't show.

				JULIANNE
		    I guess getting him whacked would
		    be politically out of the question.

				WALTER
		    Under the circumstances.  Charmed
		    to know you, Jules.

				JULIANNE
		    Nice meeting you, too, Walt.

	A nod between equals.  She moves on...

				MICHAEL
		    And, this guy, you know...

	She sure does, and effortlessly balancing her one-hand load, she
	dips to kiss a porky, balding guy with big-time shoulders.
	Straight on the lips.

				JULIANNE
		    Papa Joe.

	They go way back.  He is uncomfortable at this rich man's wedding,
	even as gracious as everyone has been.  His watering eyes twinkle
	at her, and the voice has a trace of Boston...

				JOE
		   You gonna be my boy's best man?

	Despite SHOUTS from the others...

				JULIANNE
		    Best everything, Joe.  But I'm
		    going to dance with you.

				MICHAEL
		    Dance?  You don't dance!  You
		    learn to dance??

	Her innocent smile.

				JULIANNE
		    Moves.  You've never seen.

	BIG reaction from the guys, as she heads toward Michael with the
	last of the beers, not looking down at the FIELDER'S MITT which
	lies right in her path, and as his lips part to scream a warning,
	she skips...

	... neatly AROUND it.  He's in shock.

				MICHAEL
		    You're an impostor! What have
		    you done with my best friend?

	As he takes away the remaining beers...

				MICHAEL
		    And how was the hot dog?

	Hot dog? His eyes fix on her left breast.  HUGE mustard stain.
	She can't believe it.

				MICHAEL
		    Cheap and unnecessary.  We were
		    looking anyway.

	EXT.  LUXURY BOX ROOF - DAY

	Michael and Julianne sit with their beers on the edge of the luxury
	box roof.  The game, the stadium, spread out beneath them.  Yet
	they are alone in the world.  She dangles her legs, and we can hear
	her kicking the glass below.

				JULIANNE
		    I just admire your maturity,
		    that's all.  I mean, there are
		    people who would find that kind of
		    perfection boring.  Day after day,
		    year after year...

				MICHAEL
		    ... see, that's what I thought at
		    first.  How can you like someone
		    that perfect? No potential for
		    long-range livability.

	Drinking their beers.  Side by side.  Both stare only at the game.

				MICHAEL
		    Luckily.  The closer I watched,
		    the more the fault came into
		    focus.  Each imperfection its own
		    adorable slice of vulnerability.

				JULIANNE
		    Such as.

				MICHAEL
		    She's too genuine.

				JULIANNE
		    Hate that.

				MICHAEL
		    How can you trust someone you
		    can never mistrust?

				JULIANNE
		    What's next?

	Keep sipping.  Never look at each other.

				MICHAEL
		    No matter how many times I
		    leave the toilet seat up, she
		    forgets and puts it down.

				JULIANNE
		    Endearingly absent-minded.

				MICHAEL
		    My very point.  Here's another one...

	Shakes his head.  This one really gets him.

				MICHAEL
		    Every day.  She makes the bed.

				JULIANNE
		    Quite the little eccentric.

				MICHAEL
		    At first, I thought it was a
		    gag, but she's always done it!

	This is not the ammunition Julianne was hoping for.

				JULIANNE
		    Is there a coup de grace in
		    here, somewh...

				MICHAEL
		    She admires.  Tommy Lasorda.

				JULIANNE
		    Waiter! Check, please!

				MICHAEL
		    She finds him "personable."

				JULIANNE
		    Can that kind of defect be
		    passed on genetically?

	She looks over now.  And Michael is looking back.  Smiling the most
	wonderful smile.  Her reaction shows that she thinks it's for her,
	until...

				MICHAEL
		    Then again.  She has a few good
		    traits.

	Hating herself for asking, but seeing no way out...

				JULIANNE
		    Gimme like, eight and nine off
		    the top ten list...

				MICHAEL
		    First girl I ever knew.  Who
		    lets me give her a bath.

	The look in his eyes.  She can hardly bear it.

				MICHAEL
		    And when I hug her, even in
		    public.  I don't have to let go
		    right away.  She lets me hold
		    her as long as I want.

	He seems so deeply in love.

				MICHAEL
		    Nice kid, don't you think?

	A beat.  A slow nod.  A quiet...

				JULIANNE
		    Looks like, from here.

	INT.  SOUTH SIDE CLUB - NIGHT

	A slender black woman sings a SOARING Gospel number, backed by
	three ladies who could each solo in any church choir.  It is
	mesmerizing, stirring, transcendent.  The unseen audience CLAPPING
	FIERCELY in rhythm, SHOUTING support.  SLOW PAN now...

	... every face is black.  We aren't in church at all, but a
	venerable blue club.  One of those places you'd swear everybody's
	played, from Robert Johnson to Bessie Smith and back again.  As
	the song ends, there is APPLAUSE, some RAPPING on tables with their
	knuckles or their drunks.  We keep PANNING to a far corner.  Three
	faces.

	Julianne leans across her beer to Kimmy...

				JULIANNE
		    How'd you find this pl...

	Kim shaking her head.  Looks admiringly to Michael...

				KIMMY
		    Lived here my whole life,
		    never heard of it.  Until
		    our first date.

	She reaches slender fingers.  Traces one back along his hair.

				KIMMY
		    He finds all these spots,
		    everywhere he goes, it's a
		    mystical gift.

				MICHAEL (shy)
		    Jesus, one d-back from the Bears
		    knows a place...

				KIMMY
		    It's not just clubs.  This guy
		    always knows the best everything.
		    The best guitar store, the best
		    beef ribs, the best Horowitz record,
		    was he always like the...

				JULIANNE
		    ... always.  The best dim sum, the
		    best camping stuff...

				KIMMY
		    Stop, we're embarrassing h...

				JULIANNE
		    ... best valley in New Zealand,
		    best... women's shoes...

				MICHAEL
		    I tried those on.  When you
		    weren't looking.

	Now he's grinning at Julianne.  And she likes that a lot.

				JULIANNE
		    Where was that, Florence, huh?

				MICHAEL
		    Firenze.

	Together in the memory.  As Kimmy watches.

				JULIANNE
		    The Vespa? Me hanging on behind
		    in the rain all night?

				MICHAEL
		    Till the gas ran out.

	And, the first sniff of left-out...

				KIMMY
		    I love Florence.

	Julianne's eyes flicker.  Could this be a teensy opening? Keeps
	her eyes, her easy smile, and her killer instincts trained on
	Michael.

				JULIANNE
		    Take her there.

	He nods, okay.

				JULIANNE
		    I mean, now.  She's perky,
		    she deserves a honeymoon.

	He draws a breath...

				JULIANNE
		    I heard.  If San Antone sweeps
		    Sacramento.  What is this shit?
		    You gotta get off the road by
		    September anyway, when does Fall
		    Quarter start?

	And the happy couple look at each other.  They are awkward.
	Julianne's heart soar like eagle.

				KIMMY
		    Uh.  I'm not coming back.  For
		    senior year.

	Could this be.  The Mother Lode?

				JULIANNE
		    Don't architects find a degree,
		    sort of... an asset?

	The couple still staring in each other's eyes.

				KIMMY
		    Well, the school will be here.
		    Architecture will still be around.
		    Right now...

				MICHAEL
		    I travel every week.  College
		    ball, motor sports, training
		    camps...

				KIMMY
		    The most important thing. Is
		    being together.

	And she smiles.  Beautifully.

				KIMMY
		    I'm just a baby.  I've got all...
		    the time... in the world.

	EXT.  CLUB - NIGHT

	Michael putting Kim in the back of a cab.  As Julianne watches.

				MICHAEL
		    Because I could come...

				KIMMY
		    To the twins' soiree?  So they
		    can paw you and drool...?

				JULIANNE (calls out, helpful)
		    They're gonna drool anyway!

	Kim smiles.  He kisses her, tenderly, through the open window.  She
	waves past him at Julianne.

				KIMMY (to both)
		   Enjoy each other.

	And drives off.  As he watches after, Julianne comes up behind him.
	Slips her hand up onto his shoulder muscle.  Starts giving a little
	massage.

				JULIANNE
		    Should I whistle down a cab?

				MICHAEL
		    Hey, cabs are expensive.  I'm
		    cheap, remember?

	Turns his head, to see her.  She's still rubbing his shoulder.

				JULIANNE
		    Sometimes.  About the dumbest
		    things.

	Share a smile.  As always, it covers a lot of years.

				MICHAEL
		    The El's right down the street.
		    Unless you're afraid of the
		    neighborhood.

	She looks around.  It is an issue.  But she remembers...

				JULIANNE
		    No.  I'm always safe with you.

	She means that.  He takes her by the hand.  They begin walking...

				JULIANNE
		    Pretty amazing girl, you've got.
		    Make that kind of sacrifice.

				MICHAEL
		    What, leaving school...

				JULIANNE
		    ... all of it.  She's leaving her
		    family, her friends, everything she
		    knows.  She's putting her career
		    on hold, and she seems a pretty
		    ambitious, driven, kind of pers...

				MICHAEL (quietly)
		    In her way.

				JULIANNE
		    All to follow you in this dumb
		    job, where you travel 52 weeks
		    a year to College Station, Texas,
		    and such.  It's not a job for a
		    grown man, Michael, Peter Pan
		    never married.

	He's let go of her hand now.  Looking down at the pavement before
	him, fists in his jacket pockets.

				JULIANNE (softly)
		    I don't think she's naturally
		    the... submissive type.  Aren't you
		    afraid she's gonna choke on this
		    stand-by-your-man shit after awhi...

				MICHAEL (real quiet)
		    No.

	Hit a nerve.  This is promising.

				JULIANNE
		    I mean Walter owns the Sox, cable
		    sports... most girls in her spot would
		    be angling to get Daddy to offer you
		    some juicy gig right here in t...

				MICHAEL
		    She would never.  Never.  Even think
		    of that.

	Paydirt.  Julianne's Geiger Counter is going berserk.

				JULIANNE
		    I guess you're right.  That would
		    be deceitful... manipulative...
		    controlling... emascula...

				MICHAEL
		    I got the point.

	He looks over at her.  No smile on his face.  An edge we haven't
	seen.  She shrugs...

				JULIANNE
		    Still.  All's fair in love and
		    w...

				MICHAEL
		    That would be a girl.  I don't
		    even know.

	They've reached the stairs to the El.  A rickety train RATTLES
	above them.  As they start up, she slips her arm around his
	waist...

				JULIANNE (murmurs)
		    Forgive me, okay? I was talkin'
		    crazy.

	He slides his arm around her shoulder.  Pals.  They climb out of
	frame.

	INT.  HOTEL BATHROOM - LATE NIGHT

	CLOSE on a shallow pool of water in a bathroom sink.  Green powder
	pouring in, a hand SWIRLING it around, until...

				JULIANNE (O.S.)
		    It's Albanian, I think.  Or Mongolian.
		    Or Canadian.  One of those.  I bought
		    it downstairs...

	... it becomes truly disgusting lumpy green mud.

				JULIANNE (O.S.)
		    I figure, what the hell.  Can it
		    make me look worse?

	Follow the hand up as it SLATHERS the shit across her face in great
	green dripping gobs.  She's juggling the wall phone, trying to keep
	it mudless, as she assures Digger...

				JULIANNE
		    Dig, of course.  Of course, of
		    course, of course, of course I
		    have a plan.  Certainment!

	More green slime.  The Julianne we know disappears.

				JULIANNE
		    How? I ask myself, what would
		    Lucy Ricardo do in this situa...

	Desecrates three hotel towels, wiping her hand.

				JULIANNE
		    Well, one worked, once.

	THROWS them in the bathtub.  Fastidiousness a short suit.

				JULIANNE
		    Ricky wouldn't let her in
		    the show.

	Reaches for her toothbrush, absently.  All her attention is on the
	conversation and the hideous green face in the mirror.

				JULIANNE
		    I recall it differently, but
		    we digress.

	Without looking, picks up a tube of hotel shampoo...

				JULIANNE
		    So in the version, you're Ethel,
		    with better fashion instincts.

	Squeezes it all over the toothbrush.

				JULIANNE
		    This puts you in charge of Plan B,
		    the unprincipled and insanely
		    dangerous back-up plan...

	Lifts it toward her mouth, liquid shampoo dripping from the
	bristles.

				JULIANNE
		    In case simple lying doesn't work.

	At the last second.  She stops.  We don't know why, because she's
	still never looked at the brush.

				JULIANNE
		    Question.  What happens if you
		    brush your teeth with shampoo?

	Turns on the tap.  Tries to scrub the toothbrush clean, and DROPS
	the phone into the green swamp, which SPATTERS all over her front.
	Euucch.  She's stymied, agitated, circling the sink, leaning down
	to it...

				JULIANNE
		    HOLD ON.  I'M COMING IN FOR YOU!

	She sets the toothbrush down in her toiletries kit.  Decides to
	YANK on the phone's cord, and the receiver SPRINGS out, BOPPING
	her in the face.  She's so filthy at this point, she just wipes it
	clean on her nightshirt.  Tells Digger...

				JULIANNE
		    You okay? This is one of those
		    problem phones.

	Lifts the toothbrush and tube of paste from her kit.

				JULIANNE
		    Right.  Your role.  You know guys
		    from Sports Illustrated, yes? I
		    mean, you can walk right in there...

	Squeezes on the paste, lifts the brush to her mouth...

				JULIANNE
		    You could get access to letterhead,
		    for example.

	JAMS it in her mouth, brushing as...

				JULIANNE (mouthful)
		    ... or even, maybe, their fax.

	Stops.  The funniest look on her face.  Down to the toothpaste
	tube...

	Which says BEN GAY.

	Oh.

	INT.  TIFFANY'S - MORNING

	Julianne and Kimmy cruise the stately display cases.  Everywhere,
	the Tiffany logo, the silent, watchful staff in morning coats.  As
	they browse, Julianne takes a blueberry Danish from a paper sack,
	and begins to eat.

	The staff notices.  So does Kim.

				JULIANNE
		    It's an homage thing.

	Hmm?

				JULIANNE
		    Awkward girls grow up on Audrey
		    Hepburn movies.  You wouldn't
		    understand.

	Kimmy doesn't.  But wipes a blue glob from Julianne's face.

				KIMMY
		    Anyway, I think you're wrong.

	Wrong?

				KIMMY
		    What you were saying before.

	Before?

				KIMMY
		    About Michael's job.

				JULIANNE
		    Oh, that.  I forgot I even said
		    th...

				KIMMY
		    I just think you're wrong, is all.

				JULIANNE
		    Probably am.  Forget I brought it
		    up.

	Points to some jade pins.  Kimmy wrinkles her nose.

				KIMMY
		    I mean, he loves his job.

				JULIANNE
		    Bad games, bad towns, bad pay, bad
		    flights, bad hotels, real bad food.
		    Homeless, rootless, lonely, maybe
		    your copy gets into one issue out
		    of four...

	Smiles.

				JULIANNE
		    What's not to love?

	None of this is lost on Kimmy.  She's wondered the same.

				KIMMY
		    But he always says...

				JULIANNE
		    ... whatever is manly and
		    independent.

	Kim nods slowly.  Way ahead of her.

				JULIANNE
		    Why would he trade that for
		    running, say, a big piece of
		    the PR at a powerful, complex,
		    challenging conglomerate like
		    your dad's?

	Kim stares back.  A strange look.

				KIMMY
		    That's just the sort of thing
		    my father and I discussed.

	Julianne just blinks.  Amazed.

				JULIANNE
		    I'm not stupid.  Say, how
		    about this?

	Pointing to tiny golden scissors in the novelty case.  Kim so
	absorbed by the main topic, she has to force herself to focus on...

				KIMMY
		    For the twins? What in the
		    world is th...

				JULIANNE
		    Gold nose hair clippers.

	Points to the tiny hand-lettered sign.  Indeed.  Kimmy shrugs, not
	quite it.

				KIMMY
		    So you don't think Michael's
		    as happy with his job as...

	Julianne points to a matched pair of large...

				KIMMY
		    Gold dog collars? They don't
		    have dogs.

				JULIANNE
		    Hello.

	Kim nods, oh.  But can't keep her mind off...

				KIMMY
		    You think he'd accept?

	Hmm?

				KIMMY
		    Michael.  A job like that.

	Oh, well...

				JULIANNE
		    By any yardstick that involves
		    sanity, it would be the greatest
		    thing that ever happened to him.
		    Present company excepted.

	Kimmy nodding slowly.  Her yearing achingly apparent.

				JULIANNE
		    On the other hand, he's proud.
		    Last thing a man wants to admit,
		    is being trapped in a dispiriting
		    dead-end job that can never
		    support a family.

	A very sweet smile.

				JULIANNE
		    Throw a man a life preserver.
		    He'll say, "Thanks, anyway,
		    I'd rather drown."

	Kim nods again.  Right.  They are so bonded at this moment.

				KIMMY
		    So... one almost has to...

				JULIANNE
		    Exactly.

				KIMMY
		    Exactly what?

				JULIANNE
		    What you said.  Make it appear
		    that he's doing you the favor.

	Kimmy bites her lip.  Her eyes go down.  Self-conscious to admit...

				JULIANNE
		    I couldn't really... do that.
		    After, you know...

	Her voice trails off.

				JULIANNE (kind, but wise)
		    ... lying.  All the time.

	That brings the gray eyes up.  Julianne bats her dark ones...

				JULIANNE
		    Oh, darling, my pitiful desires
		    and ambitions are dirt beneath
		    the manly boots of your priorities!

	Kimmy has to smile small.  A self-awe gal.

				JULIANNE (pouring it on)
		    Two hundred seedy motels a year?
		    Dinners out of vending machines?
		    Waiting for you in vermin-infested
		    corridors of dark crotch-rot locker
		    rooms? This stuff makes me hot!!

				KIMMY
		    The very words I've used.

	Julianne 'thinks it over.' Kimmy waits for guidance.

				JULIANNE
		    We make Dad your co-conspirator.
		    Michael does a favor for Walter.

	Simple.

				JULIANNE
		    Walter's reorganizing his public
		    relations, needs a brilliant guy
		    who's close to him, who he can
		    completely trust.

	Kimmy nodding.  Hope overriding reason.

				JULIANNE
		    So you beg.  Michael, please do
		    this for Daddy, please, please,
		    please, blah, blah, blah... it's
		    only for six months...  it would
		    mean so much to me to help him out...

	Turns up her palms.  Viola!

				KIMMY
		    He'll see right through it.

				JULIANNE
		    Only.  If he wants to.

	They share a smile.

				JULIANNE
		    In six months, he'll be happy,
		    settled, successful...

				KIMMY
		    He won't get mad, huh?

				  MR.  MOONEY (O.S.)
		    May I be of any help, whatsoever?

	Mr.  Mooney is the most gracious Brit salesperson ever to offer
	kindness, intelligence and thoughtfulness to a customer.  He is
	large, sixty, with disappearing hair, watering eyes, and a manner
	that makes you think of immediately hiring a butler.

				JULIANNE
		    Bridesmaid gifts for two, well,
		    assertive, outspoken, Tennessee
		    debutantes.

				KIMMY (still focused)
		    He won't be mad?

				JULIANNE (to Mooney)
		    Nothing here seems to quite capture
		    their distinctive personalities.

				  MR.  MOONEY
		    Something customized, perhaps?
		    We can fashion most any item
		    from gold.

	Ah.  Julianne nodding.  Reflecting.

				MR.  MOONEY
		    An object that might represent
		    what is closest. To their heart.

				KIMMY (under her breath)
		    Don't even think dildo.

	Julianne digs through her jumbled bag...

				JULIANNE
		    Could you do this...

	Tossing an object on the counter...

				JULIANNE
		    In 24 carat?

	It is a MASTERCARD.  A gold one.

				KIMMY (softly)
		    Bingo.

	They smile at each other.  More bonded than ever.

				KIMMY
		    You don't think he'll be mad.

	A beat.  Can Julianne even make herself do this?

				JULIANNE
		    Your call.  You can live a lie.
		    In a fabulous selection of Red
		    Roof Inns.  Or you can make one
		    desperate stab at hap...

				KIMMY
		    I just don't want to freak him
		    out.

	What do you think? Julianne stares into the soft gray eyes.  It's
	now or never.  The smile of a dear sister...

				JULIANNE
		    How mad could he get?

	INT.  FASHION RESTAURANT - LUNCH HOUR

	Julianne enters with a really nervous Kimberly in tow.  Approaches
	the maitre d'.  We CLOSE to hear...

				MAITRE D'
		    Oh, Mr. Wallace and his guests
		    have retired to the humidor.

	Points to an escalator, leading to the mezzanine.  Behind a glass
	wall, what looks like a British men's club.  Thirty guys and a
	billion cigars.  As Julianne starts toward it...

				MAITRE D'
		    Oh.  Mademoiselle.

	She turns back.  Loves this shit.

				MAITRE D'
		    It's unofficial, of course.  But,
		    traditionally, the humidor is for
		    gentlemen, only...

				JULIANNE
		    Great.  I've got this girlfriend
		    at the Justice Department?  With
		    all this time on her hands?

	Her look is every bit as hard as his.  He gestures to the
	escalator.  She takes Kimmy's hand, and up they go.  We can see
	Walter in a big leather chair, enjoying a major stogie.  Kimmy
	licks her lips.

	They enter.  Every head turns.  A nice range of reactions, from
	offended to attracted and points in between.

				JULIANNE (murmurs)
		    Piece of cake.  I'll hang, and
		    think happy thoughts...

	Kimmy nods.  Heads over toward her father.  Julianne walks,
	confidently, even provocatively, to the wall lined with bins of
	cigars.  Every eye in the place is on her butt.

	She runs her fingers over a few contenders.  Plucks one out,
	examines it, puts it back.  Walks a little farther.  Selects
	another, big and black.  Rolls it expertly in her fingers.  Sniffs
	along its length.

	A guy comes over.  Could be 40, successful, a broker's pin-stripe.
	Nearly as attractive as he thinks he is.

				GUY
		    Know what you're looking for,
		    little lady?

	Little lady, huh? She glances at his coven of buddies, who pretend
	not to notice.  Then, straight to the guy's blue eyes.

				JULIANNE
		    Yeah.  Do you?

				GUY
		    I asked first.

	Ah.  Wit.  She holds up her cigar...

				JULIANNE
		    I like 'em long and hard.  Kind
		    of... big around.

	Runs it under her nose.

				JULIANNE
		    Smell is important, I'm a believer
		    in that.

	Takes a match from a cut crystal bowl.

				JULIANNE
		    But you never know what you've
		    got.  Till you run your tongue
		    over it.

	And she does.  Moistening the full length of the cigar.  The boys
	are laughing openly.  She STRIKES the match.  As she lights up...

				GUY
		    I meant.  What you're looking for
		    in a man.

	She glances at his wedding ring.  Then, straight into his eyes.

				JULIANNE
		    Actually, I'm partial to married
		    gentlemen.

	The way she says that.  The guy swallows.  We can see some of the
	air has been sucked from the room.

				GUY
		    Why is that?

				JULIANNE
		    It's so much time.  When I phone
		    the wives.

	Explosive LAUGHTER from the peanut gallery.  As she jams the big
	Clemente Churchill into her mouth, she sees Kimmy waving her over
	from across the room.  Without even looking at the guy she's just
	put away...

	... she crosses the room, Walter stands politely, looking very
	dapper, very powerful, and focusing on her with considerable
	interest.  He waits until she sits on the edge of a costly leather
	hassock.

				WALTER
			    (simply)
		    Your idea?

	She can't read this guy.  Maybe that's how he built an empire.  She
	nods, yeah.

				WALTER
		    You're a woman of insight.

	He sits on the arm of his chair.  Close enough to speak quietly.

				WALTER
		    My wife and I love this marriage,
		    and deplore its circumstances.

	He puffs his cigar.  Julianne puffs her.  Kimmy looks on, a kid
	watching the grown-ups...

				WALTER
		    As you guessed, my daughter is
		    unhappy about giving up her life.
		    And, in my opinion, cowardly in
		    avoiding the necessary confrontation.

	Then he stops.  As if reading Julianne's eyes.

				WALTER
		    Mike has a world of ability.
		    I'd do anything to have him in
		    my company.

	One more puff.

				WALTER
		    Except ask him.

	Julianne is a little stunned.  Kimmy looks helpless.

				WALTER
		    He'd resent it.  And me.  And,
		    most important, Kim.

	No smile on his lips.  Straight talk.

				WALTER
		    He's a great kid, but he's still
		    a kid.  Instead of recognizing
		    that his resistance comes from
		    insecurity, he'd turn it to anger.
		    To protect himself...

	Spreads his hands...

				WALTER
		    ... from realizing that he's
		    ignoring my daughter's needs,
		    despite how very much he loves her.

	He looks to his daughter now.

				WALTER
		    They both have some growing up
		    to do.  But they're good people,
		    they're starting with love.
		    They've got time.

				JULIANNE
			    (softly)
		    I think you're making a mistake,
		    sir.

	His eyes come back to her.  A little sharply.

				WALTER
		    And that interests me.  How
		    someone who knows him so well
		    could be so wrong.

	A formidable guy.  She meets his gaze.

				JULIANNE
		    See, I love him, too, as much
		    as anyone here.  And for a
		    whole lot longer.

	From her heart.

				JULIANNE
		    I think I know best what would
		    make him happy.

	INT.  TOILET STALL - DAY

	Julianne, fully dressed, sits on the closed lid of a toilet seat.
	The stall is tiny enough to arouse claustrophobia in an astronaut.
	Her cellular phone pressed to her ear, she is listening angrily,
	smoking ferociously, every call in her body running at red-line.

				JULIANNE
		    Okay, okay, okay, okay, I hear
		    you, all right?

	She closes her eyes.

				JULIANNE
		    It is stupid, dishonest, desperate
		    beyond belief, and can't possibly
		    ever work.  It can only end in
		    humiliation and disgrace.  Now can
		    I say two words?

	Deep drag on the cigarette.  For strength.

				JULIANNE
		    Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!
		    Do it! Do it!

	She's striped her gears.  COUGHS horribly.

				JULIANNE
		    All right, twelve words.

	INT.  PUBLIC RESTROOM - DAY

	Julianne exits the stall.  To face three BLACK TEENAGE GIRLS.  Just
	staring at her.

				TEENAGER
			    (supportive)
		    You do it, girl.

	Julianne nods to the kids.  They nod back.  Damn straight.  She
	exits the restroom, into...

	... glaring sunlight.  We are in the middle of the BROOKFIELD ZOO.
	And sitting on a bench, eating popcorn from a bag...

				MICHAEL
		    Wow.  What was going on in
		    there?

	She shudders.

				JULIANNE
		    Some crazy person.

	EXT.  ZOO - DAY

	Michael and Julianne walking together.  He's eating his popcorn.
	She carries a cardboard container with nachos, a gooey fudge waffle
	cone, and a large drink.

				MICHAEL
		    You're not eating.

				JULIANNE
		    I never eat when I'm serene.

				MICHAEL
		    You never eat when you're
		    despondent.

				JULIANNE
		    I switched that around when you
		    weren't looking.

	She swirls a single nacho chip in cheese.  But her heart isn't in it.

				MICHAEL
		    Last zoo we were in was...
		    Beijing, yeah?  Sure.  The rhinos
		    were fucking.

				JULIANNE
		    Boy, those were the days.

	And when she looks over.  His eyes are waiting.

				MICHAEL
			    (softly)
		    Yeah, they were.

	They're passing the hippo pen.  But they don't notice.

				JULIANNE
		    That was nice.  The way you
		    said that.

	So was that.  He's feeling restless, something.  Doesn't know quite
	what to say.

				MICHAEL
		    It's weird being the groom.  All
		    these things Kimmy has to take
		    care of...

				JULIANNE
		    You need a baby-sitter.  That's
		    what I'm here for.

	He holds her eyes.  Then looks down.  Awkward.  And the way he's
	doing it begins to excite her.

				JULIANNE
		    Say it.

	He looks up, neither one of them noticing that as they walk, she is
	about to...

	... CRASH into a chest-high metal stand that displays animal facts.
	We have followed him as she is WIPED from frame.  His face from
	shock... to amusement.

				MICHAEL
		    Now, there's my girl.

	... to tenderness.  PAN back to see her wearing everything from her
	cardboard container.  Nachos, fudge sauce, Diet Coke, the works.
	It is really awful.  Kids, bystanders, laughing cruelly.  Her eyes
	fill with tears, and she tries bravely to smile against it...

				JULIANNE
		    See, I can only do it with
		    beer.

	He takes out his handkerchief.  And with that and his hands, gently
	scoops the worst of the mess off her.  The fact that he's touching
	her breasts and her body is something they pretend not to notice.
	She laughs softly, and a few tears fall, even though she doesn't
	know why.  Such an odd, raw, confusing moment.  To the world
	looking on, they are lovers.

				MICHAEL
			    (murmurs)
		    See, better already.

	And he kisses her face.  Not quite her lips.  But only an inch away.
	We can feel her heart pounding.  He strips off his shirt, only a tank
	top underneath.

				MICHAEL
		    We'll go back to the bathroom,
		    you'll put this on...

	Okay? She sniffles, okay.  Swallows.

				JULIANNE
		    Bet you're glad I'm here to
		    take care of you.

	He puts his arm around her.

				MICHAEL
		    Bet I am.

	Holds her close, as they start toward the restroom...

				MICHAEL
		    Hope that crazy person's not
		    still there.

	We're on their backs...

				JULIANNE (O.S.)
		    She doesn't scare me.

	EXT.  BEACH CLUB, LAKE MICHIGAN - SUNSET

	Julianne in T-shirt and shorts, rushes onto the deck of a sprawling
	beach club.  Clutching her bag, she quickly surveys the scene...

	... the entire beach has been taken over by the wedding party.
	Young folks, old folks, little kids, maybe 200 people.  We SCAN
	with her to find a crowd around...

	... a three-on-three volleyball game.  Kimmy and two groomsmen on
	one side, facing Michael and the Tennessee debs.  The twins wear
	spectacular bikinis and are surprisingly athletic, as well as
	predictably uninhabited.  As the next point begins, Kimmy serves...

	... Sammy in back makes a nice dig, lobbing to Mandy who sets for
	Michael's vicious SPIKE straight THROUGH his best man's hapless
	defense.  The crowd cheers Michael, and as he turns, Mandy gives
	him a savage...

	... CHEST BUMP of congratulation, that any NFL linebacker would be
	proud of.  It puts the surprised Michael straight on his butt.
	Laughter, applause.  The twins pull him up and Sammy gives him a
	hot kiss on his ear that makes the crowd react.  Kim plays good
	sport.  Julianne watches Michael's body for a beat, then...

	... dashes off.  Down the beach, several barbecue grills have been
	set up.  Manned by beach club staff and family alike.  Michael's
	pop, Joe, is dispensing beers from a keg.  Kim's mom, Isabelle, is
	coordinating the beans, potato salad and corn-on-the-cob table.
	Julianne races across the sand to...

	... a huge smoky grill where Walter is basting baby back ribs,
	clearly enjoying himself.  Julianne runs up to him, says something
	into his ear.  He looks at her.  Then turns his station over to a
	club steward, and follows Julianne down toward the lakeside.

	CLOSE now.  As they stroll together, she's a little breathless.
	He's watching her profile, curious, silent.  At the water's edge...

				JULIANNE
			    (whispers)
		    Is anybody watching?

				WALTER
		    I hope so.  This is all too
		    mysterious to waste on just me.

	She reaches into her big bag.  Pulls out a single folded sheet of
	paper.

				JULIANNE
		    I picked up Michael's messages
		    for him, at our hotel.  I stole
		    one...

	His face darkens.  The easy smile fades.  He holds up his palms...

				WALTER
		    Julianne, reading my son-in-law's
		    mail, is not something...

				JULIANNE
		    Sir, this is important! Haven't
		    you ever in your life cut one
		    corner, to make something important
		    turn out right?

	His smile returns.  Just a little.

				 WALTER
		    Matter of fact, that's how I got
		    married.

	The look holds.  She thrusts the paper out.  He still doesn't take
	it.

				JULIANNE
		    It's a fax from Sports Illustrated
		    from Ben Isaacson, Michael's boss.

				WALTER
			    (quickly)
		    I know Ben.

	She opens the paper.

				JULIANNE
		    "Mike.  We still have no answer to
		    our E-mail of Wednesday.  Which
		    option do you select? I don't mean
		    to rush you, but Personnel needs to
		    tie up the loose ends."

	He takes the paper.  We see it now.  Looks authentic.

				JULIANNE
		    I think he's been fired.

				WALTER
		    It doesn't say th...

				JULIANNE
		    He's said some things over the
		    past few weeks.  Look, this is why
		    I came up with the idea of you
		    offering him a job.

	He looks up.  He's listening.  Closely.

				JULIANNE
		    And why I couldn't say anything
		    before in front of Kim.

	She bites her lip.  Seems so earnest.

				JULIANNE
		    I just think of how... desperate
		    he must be feeling.  He's marrying
		    a rich man's daughter, and he's
		    about to become destitute.  You
		    know the kind of job market he'll
		    be facing?

	He does.

				WALTER
		    And you think he's kept this to
		    himself.

				JULIANNE
		    He's too proud to beg for help.
		    And if you wait till this comes out,
		    your offer will be like charity.
		    Completely humiliating.

	He's staring at her.  But his mind is working behind his eyes.

				JULIANNE
		    If you do it now, it's like he's
		    helping you.  He can accept with
		    dignity.

	He taps the paper with the back of his knuckles.

				WALTER
		    This fax could mean... any number
		    of things...

	She nods.  She knows that.

				WALTER
			    (softly)
		    Maybe.  I should call Ben.

				JULIANNE
		    Then it could all come out, sooner
		    or later.  Nobody should be in on
		    this.  Just you and me.  Or, more
		    correctly, I.

	She takes the paper back.

				JULIANNE
		    What if, what if I could find
		    that E-mail?

	The long straight look.  Maybe he's hooked.

				JULIANNE
		    I never noticed.  Kimmy has your
		    eyes.

	INT.  LOBBY, RITZ CARLTON HOTEL - TWILIGHT

	Tall, gangly, young DESK CLERK.  Lank hair, pimples.  He looks up,
	beams to see...

				JULIANNE
		    Hello, again.

	She's flirting her ass off.

				JULIANNE
		    You still haven't straightened
		    that tie.

	And she reaches across the desk with her lovely, slender hands.
	Does it for him.  Her fingers brush his chest on the way back.  We
	can assume a woody.

				JULIANNE
		    You know, my friend, the one
		    whose message I picked up...  ?

	He does.  His eyes flick toward his stately female SUPERVISOR,
	helping another guest across the way.

				JULIANNE
		    Well, he's still with the wedding
		    party.  And he asked me to get
		    something he needs real badly from
		    his room...  ?

	The boy swallows hard.

				JULIANNE
		    He's in 1526.  If you could just
		    let me ha...

				BOY
		    See that woman?

	Not only does Julianne see her.  The woman is looking back, while
	she's talking to her customer.  Not a pleasant look.

				BOY
		    She said, if I ever pull a stunt
		    like that again...

				JULIANNE
		    You'll lose your job...

				BOY
		    ... tear my pecker off.  Is what
		    she said.

	INT.  HOTEL CORRIDOR - TWILIGHT

	An elevator OPENS, revealing Julianne, carrying a gym bag.  She
	looks down the long hallway, sees a maid's cart.  Heads the other
	way, briskly, to...

	... a small ALCOVE.  Opens the gym bag, pulling out a bath towel.
	Begins to yank her top up OVER her head...

	ANGLE... the young MAID now pushing her cart down the hall, wheels
	SQUEAKING, and from nowhere...

	... Julianne DARTS into her path, barely covered by the towel held
	tight across her, she is grinning, blushing.

				JULIANNE
		    Help me!

	The maid can only blink.

				JULIANNE
		    I locked myself out, 1526, please
		    hurry!!

	And looks frantically up the hall, mortified that any moment a
	stranger could happen upon her predicament.  Her eyes dart back to
	the maid.  PLEASE.  The maid just stares.  Stares.

				JULIANNE
		    Uno-cinco-does-ses.

	Oh.

	INT.  MICHAEL'S ROOM - TWILIGHT

	Julianne alone in his room, looking around frantically.  No worries
	about this guy making his bed every day, stuff, clothes, strewn
	everywhere, the bathroom looks like a cherry bomb just detonated.
	She's tramping through a bachelor's debris, wearing only her towel,
	looking, looking...

	There it is.  The corner of his LAPTOP sticking out from beneath a
	discarded bedspread.  She SNATCHES it up, OPENS it, sets it on the
	cluttered desk, and...

	... stops.  There are wallet-sized SNAPSHOTS of Kimmy.  Some alone.
	Some as a little girl.  Some with Michael.  And next to them...

	... the plastic fold-out wallet inset.  That he has not yet quite
	rearranged.  So she picks it up.  Leafs through, until she finds
	what she was praying would be there...

	... Julianne grinning.  Michael's arm around her.  On the deck of a
	boat.  They have drinks in their hands.  Happiness in their eyes.

	And she stares at it.  Jesus, God, how long has he carried this
	around?  She flips through further, all the rest have her in them.
	Maybe half a dozen.  Her heart is throbbing.  Her eyes are damp.

	Back to the one on the boat.  She slips it from the plastic window.
	Holds it.  Then, gently...

	... puts it back where it belongs.  PUNCHES up the goddamn laptop.
	This is it, girl!  Do or die.

				JULIANNE
			    (murmurs)
		    You wouldn't change your
		    password, would you?  You
		    never change anything.

	Those words make her bite her lip.  Damn, I'm becoming a senti-
	mental slob.  TYPES in...

				JULIANNE
			    (murmurs)
		    Shoeless... Joe.

	Yes!  We're in!  Punching keys.  Letters flying across the screen.
	Okay, we're ready.  Types...

				JULIANNE
			    (reads as she types)
		    Mike.  I hate this downsizing
		    shit as much as you do.  But I
		    know this can't become as a
		    complete surprise...

	INT.  BEACH CLUB CARD ROOM - EVENING

	Through the window, the wedding party barbecue has extended into
	night.  Lanterns, music, lots more food, lots more drinks.  In the
	distance, on the sand, Michael is slowdancing with Kimmy.  Some-
	where nearby, the soft CLICKING of keys.  We PULL BACK to see...

	... a small clubby room.  Books, leather, polished woods.  Only
	two people here.  Walter, looking on stony-faced, as a determined
	Julianne grimly "struggles" to "find" what she's looking for in
	Michael's laptop.  And then...

	... she stops typing.  Looks at the text on the screen.  Her eyes
	sharpen as she "reads" what Walter can't see.  It's an Oscar
	performance for our desperate girl.  She turns the screen around...

				WALTER
			    (reads)
		    Mike.  I hate this downsizing...

	He reads.  Reads.  Reads.  All the air comes out of him.

				WALTER
			    (softly)
		    And Kimmy doesn't know.

	She shakes her head.  Nope.  No way.

				WALTER
			    (signs)
		    I'll tell her I've reconsidered.

	She nods, gravely.  Right.  He looks in her eyes.

				WALTER
		    You're a smart girl, Jules.

	She forces up a fleeting smile of gratitude.  But Walter isn't
	smiling at all.

				WALTER
		    Wish my daughter.  Bad your
		    guts.

	INT.  CHARLES TROTTER'S BAR - NIGHT

	The hot saloon in Chinatown.  Upscale, downscale, jammed, Michael
	and Kimmy at a small table in a far corner.  CLOSE on them...

				MICHAEL
		    Sure you're okay?

	She looks really scared.  Turns her drink in her hand.  Looking
	down at it.

				MICHAEL
		    It's not just a gag, huh?

				KIMMY
		    No, it's, uh... a real big favor.

	He takes her hand, tenderly.

				MICHAEL
		    I wish you'd just... come out
		    with it.  I mean why are we
		    waiting for Jules?

	She smiles up at him.  The best she can.

				KIMMY
		    Moral support.

	She loves him so much, and she is sick with worry.

				KIMMY
		    What's good of having a big
		    sister, if she...

	Stops.  Gestures with her eyes.  Because her big sister has just
	entered...

	... looking fabulous.  Julianne wears a long sleek sarong, slightly
	see-through.  Her hair is bound up with silver pins.  As she moves
	through the room toward us, we can see that, for once, her make-up
	is flawless, understated.  When she arrives at the table...

	... Michael is beaming, admiringly.  He stands up.

				MICHAEL
			    (softly)
		    Wow and wow.  You have a date,
		    after this?

				JULIANNE
		    Never can tell.

	He holds her chair.  She exchanges an intimate smile with the
	anxious Kim.

				MICHAEL
		    You make me think of that song,
		    we used to...

	And he starts humming.  The song is, "The Way You Look Tonight."

				MICHAEL
			    (singing)
		    Someday.  When I'm awfully low...

	They sit.  He looks from Julianne to his bride.

				MICHAEL
		    Okay, kid.  You're on.

	Kim's eyes flick to Julianne, who nods, supportively.  The kid
	takes a breath.

				KIMMY
		    It's really my father.  Who
		    needs the favor.

	His face sort of comes to a stop.  Nothing she can read, yet.  He
	nods, yeah...?

				KIMMY
		    He's... he's reorganizing some of
		    the divisions of the company...

	His eyes flick to Julianne.  She looks down.

				MICHAEL
			    (quiet)
		    He never mentioned that.  Neither
		    did y...

				KIMMY
			    (blurting)
		    ... and public relations is a big
		    problem area for him.

	She can see it now.  In his eyes.  She just can't tell how bad.

				KIMMY
		    He needs someone incredible,
		    someone really close, who he
		    can trust...

				MICHAEL
		    Like family, huh?

	So quiet.  So cold.  She is terrified.

				KIMMY
		    It would only be, maybe, six
		    months? Or three or four? It
		    would mean so much to him...

				MICHAEL
		    To him.

	She swallows.  Straightens her spine.

				KIMMY
		    And to m...

				MICHAEL
			    (sharp, to Julianne)
		    ... and you knew about this.

	Real quiet.  Against the noise of this place.

				JULIANNE
		    I think you ought to listen to
		    her, Michael.  This is her life,
		    too.

	Just the thing.  To bring that anger near the surface.  He turns
	to Kim...

				MICHAEL
		    Well, which is it?

	A demand.  Sharp.  Accusing.  She doesn't like that...

				MICHAEL
		    You gonna tell me Daddy thought
		    this one up? All of a sudden, I'm
		    the only jerk alive who can help
		    him deal with the press?

	She's trapped.  Angry, scared.  A deer in headlights.

				MICHAEL
		    Why don't you start being honest
		    for one fucking sec...

				JULIANNE
		    Michael!!

				KIMMY
			    (near tears)
		    I am honest!

	Silence.

				KIMMY
		   All of a sudden, I'm supposed to
		   drop out of school, forget my
		   family, forget my career, forget
		   all the plans I had for my life...

				MICHAEL
		    Well, forgive me for screwing up
		    your plans!

	He can't even believe he's hearing this.

				MICHAEL
		    I'm sure glad I'm hearing all
		    this now, before it's too late!

				KIMMY
		    What is that sup...

				MICHAEL
		    And what am I supposed to do with
		    my life, huh? I am 28 years old!
		    I work in a low-paying, low-status,
		    zero-respect job which,
		    unfortunately, I happen to fucking
		    love.  How inconvenient.

	Shrugs.

				MICHAEL
		    No problem.  A little bullshit
		    about Daddy's "needs," and presto,
		    I'm a lap dog in high society.

				JULIANNE
			    (softly)
		    Michael, it sounds like a
		    wonderful opportun...

				MICHAEL
			    (whips around)
		    Does it, really? How come you
		    never took some sell-out
		    establishment job? You had plenty
		    of chances!

	Glares in her eyes.

				MICHAEL
		    I'll tell you why.  Because that
		    isn't you.  And it isn't me,
		    either!  We're the same person!

	Back to Kim...

				MICHAEL
		    What a sweet little picture.  Mommy
		    and Daddy aren't losing a daughter,
		    they're gaining a eunuch!

				KIMMY
		    Well, if that's the way you f...

				MICHAEL
		    Damn straight, it's how I feel!
		    What's their wedding gift, a little
		    gold collar that says "Mikey-poo"?
		    Or do I have to change my name to "Binky"?

	She's crying now.  Real tears on her face.

				MICHAEL
		    Great!  Tears!  The big equalizer.
		    You wait till two days before the
		    wedding to drop this on me, and
		    I'm just supposed to roll over and
		    drool!

	She is sobbing now.  She can't help herself.  Which makes him
	totally crazy.  He jumps up.

				MICHAEL
		    Fine.  I'm an insensitive, chauvinist
		    asshole, and you're well rid of m...

				KIMMY
		    MICHAEL!!

	A wrenching cry from her heart.  It stops him cold.  And before
	Julianne's astonished eyes, Kimmy reaches out a trembling hand...

				KIMMY
		    Michael, you are so...

	Choking back the sobs.

				KIMMY
		    ... so right.  And I am so very
		    wrong.

	Michael blinks.  Julianne blinks.  For different reasons.

				KIMMY
		    We can't go down two roads.  And
		    still be together.

	Her fingers stretch, beckoning.

				JULIANNE
		    Uh, Kimmy...?

				KIMMY
			    (ignores her)
		    We settled this.  And I reneged.
		    That wasn't fair.

	Please, please, take my hand.

				KIMMY
		    You have to forgive me, and forget
		    this ever happened...

	People are watching, staring.  These two see only each other.

				KIMMY
		    ... or I'll die.

	A frozen, forever moment.  He steps to her...

	... LIFTS her up in his arms.  Into the deepest, most heartfelt
	KISS.  And as she clings to him, people begins to APPLAUD, and
	whistle, and laugh.

	Julianne.  In her pretty dress.  Closes her eyes.

	INT.JULIANNE'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

	Julianne in her nightshirt, her back to us, sobbing into her
	cellular as she paces the room...

				JULIANNE
		    ... see that's what I never
		    counted on! I never heard of
		    a brilliant moron before!

	We CLOSE as she WHIPS around, startling us with her grotesque day-
	glo PURPLE face mask.  The green was better.

				JULIANNE
		    I mean, the little twerp
		    GROVELED!!

	Losing it.  We know the drill.

				JULIANNE
		    SHE IS SO WRONG FOR HIM!

	Clutching the phone.

				JULIANNE
		    Michael and I are the same person!
		    Self-absorbed and imperfect and
		    vaguely loveable! We deserve
		    each other!

	Tears are flowing.  Which, over this mask, is not a pretty sight.

				JULIANNE
		    I'm out of hope, I'm out of sneaky
		    ideas, I'm at the end of my
		    rapidly-fraying hysterical little
		    rope!  Help m...

	She TRIPS over an open suitcase, and DISAPPEARS from frame.  The
	THUD is slightly alarming.

				JULIANNE (O.S.)
		    God, I hate this hotel.

	HOLD.  On nothing is particular.

				JULIANNE (O.S.)
		    And I hate talking to your machine!

	INT. JULIANNE'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING

	REAR VIEW of Julianne asleep on the floor, sunlight streaming in.
	A soft knocking on a door, somewhere nearby.  She barely stirs.
	The knock becomes a strong RAPPING, and she fights for conscious-
	ness.  Her back still to us, she...

	... rises, STUMBLES to the door, which is now pulsing with an
	insistent POUNDING, and THROWS it OPEN, as we SNAP to...

	REVERSE ANGLE... CLOSE on Julianne's face, still encased in a now-
	decomposing PURPLE MASK, her eyes SPRINGING wide, she SCREAMS in
	shock, and we SNAP BACK to...

	ORIGINAL ANGLE... Digger, watching impassively at the high-strung
	SHRIEK.  In the silence that follows...

				DIGGER
		    You stole my line.

	He touches his face, and she realizes!

				JULIANNE
		    Oh, shit!

	Starts CLAWING at the overripe mask, but he grabs her wrists.

				DIGGER
		    Chill.  We don't want your face
		    coming off with it.

				JULIANNE
		    Chill?  Since when do you say
		    ch...

				DIGGER
		    When I'm talking to children.

	She looks in his eyes.  Realizing at last.

				JULIANNE
		    You flew all the way h...

				DIGGER
		    I noticed.  I'm on the noon back.
		    We have this thing with George's
		    family in the Hamptons.

				JULIANNE
			    (soft)
		    You're butting in.

	He still holds her wrists.  She brings one of his hands to her
	lips.  Kisses his knuckles.

				JULIANNE
			    (softer)
		    I really resent this.

	INT.  BATHROOM - MORNING

	Julianne seated at the sink, staring into the mirror, as Digger
	gently applies soup, cloth and water to easing away the mask.  A
	paleontologist restoring a Bronze Age artifact.  By the side of the
	half-filled sink, rests her plugged-in curling iron.

				JULIANNE
		    What I mean, when I say annoyingly
		    perfect, is that there is nothing
		    annoying about her perfection.
		    It is vulnerable and endearing.
		    And that is annoying as shit.

				DIGGER
		    You like her.

				JULIANNE
		    If I didn't have to hate her, I'd
		    adore her.

	She looks up at him and WINCES, as the movement makes him scrape
	her face.  He's sorry.

				JULIANNE
		    Last night, she was crying, these
		    big, real tears, when she thought
		    she'd lost him.  It was like there
		    was a knife in her heart...

	Looking in his eyes.  Needs him to hear.

				JULIANNE
		    ... and I put it there.  I hated
		    myself, I grieved for her, I
		    couldn't enjoy one second of it!
		    And then, when it didn't work...

	Can you believe this?

				JULIANNE
		    I was devastated.

				DIGGER
			    (softly)
		    Go figure you.

				 JULIANNE
		    Because I realized.  When I see
		    him say "I do," that knife will
		    be in my heart.  And it will be
		    there every...

	She holds his wrists now.  To stop him.  To plead for
	understanding.  Forgiveness.

				JULIANNE
		    ... every time I think of him,
		    forever, which could be a lot.

	She almost choked on that last part.  So she composes herself.

				JULIANNE
		    You watch a guy caress his
		    girlfriend's butt.  You see an
		    Old Spice commercial.  Sentimental
		    moments are everywhere, when
		    you're in the right frame of mind.

	She swallows hard.  Fights for a grip on her determination.

				JULIANNE
		    There are 18,250 nights in the
		    next 50 years...

				DIGGER
		    You've been working on this, huh?

				JULIANNE
		    ... and having "done the right
		    thing" will only really be
		    comforting, oh, maybe, five,
		    six times.

	She sets her jaw.

				JULIANNE
		    This is my whole life's happiness.
		    I have to be ruthless.

				DIGGER
			    (quietly)
		    And you believe that.

				JULIANNE
		 	    (unconvincing)
		    Sure.

	His eyes are gentle and merciless at once.  No way she gets off
	this hook.

				JULIANNE
		    He was in love with me every day
		    for nine years.  I can make him
		    happier than she can.

				DIGGER
		    It's not his happiness you're
		    feeling guilty about...

				JULIANNE
			    (proudly)
		    I don't know the meaning of the
		    word guilt!

				DIGGER
		    Impressive.

				JULIANNE
		    I am breaking her heart in the short
		    run, but doing her a gigantic favor!
		    She would be miserable tagging
		    along after this insensitive doofus!

				DIGGER
		    The man you love.

				JULIANNE
		    Beyond reason.  The feminist
		    warrior will rise up in this kid,
		    and she'll be standing over his
		    sleeping form with a butcher
		    knife, selecting from a short
		    list of body parts!

				DIGGER
		    Someday she'll thank you.

				JULIANNE
		    Let's not get carried away.

	And the defenses drain from her clay-ravaged features.  The real
	Julianne is glimpsed.

				JULIANNE
		    I'd settle for.  Someday, I'll
		    forgive myself.

	For...?

				JULIANNE
		    For doing this terrible thing.

	Her eyes tear up.

				JULIANNE
		    Which, by the way, I can't
		    figure out how to do.

	As the tears fall, he wipes at them, discovering...

				DIGGER
		    Jesus.  You're supposed to take
		    your make-up off before you
		    apply the m...

				JULIANNE
		    I KNOW THAT!  I WAS DISTRACTED BY
		    GRIEF!

	Oh.

				JULIANNE
		    Guess what I brushed my teeth
		    with last night?

	He thinks about this.  Following her eyes to the toiletries kit, he
	browses for a moment...

				DIGGER
		    Zit cream?

				JULIANNE
		    I wish.

				DIGGER
		    Neosporin?

				JULIANNE
		    Try less appropriate.

				DIGGER
		    Ben Gay.

				JULIANNE
		    That was Thursday.

	He stops on that note.

				DIGGER
		    Elmer's Glue?

				JULIANNE
		    DON'T BE RIDICULOUS, WE'RE HAVING
		    A SERIOUS CONVERSATION!

	She's hysterical.

				DIGGER
		    I give.

				JULIANNE
		    I can't even say it.

	Now.  He's curious.

				JULIANNE
		    A hint.  The first word is
		    "Preparation." Then comes a
		    letter of the alphabet,
		    perilously close to G.

	She reaches to test her curling iron, BURNS her finger, SHIT!
	KNOCKING the appliance into the half-filled sink.  She LUNGES for
	it, and a terrified Digger GRASPS her arm...

				DIGGER
		    Considering the circumstances,
		    I'm not wholly against suicide...

	Huh?

				DIGGER
		    Just not by electrocution in
		    front of me!

	Oh.

				DIGGER
		    I've got this noon flight.

	He reaches to pull the plug from the wall, and now she LUNGES to
	grab his arm, slipping, her face falling forward, stopping an inch
	above the sink.

				JULIANNE
		    How do you know you can touch
		    that plug? Are you a licensed
		    contractor?

				DIGGER
		    What do you suggest?

	She looks from the plug down the cord, to the submerged curling
	iron.  And back.

				JULIANNE
		    Maybe they just seal off this
		    room.  They have others.

	He's staring at her.  Sweet, but intense.

				DIGGER
		    I didn't mean about that.

	Oh.  Again.

				JULIANNE
		    If I hear the words "tell the
		    truth," or any paraphrase thereof,
		    I dive into the sink and pull you
		    with me.

	Looking at her.  Looking at her.

				DIGGER
		    Let's go meet Michael.  I'll
		    wait downstairs.

	INT.  ARMANI - MORNING

	Julianne has cleaned up pretty good.  She sits with Digger on a
	fashion-fabric sofa.  They are side-by-side, studying something
	with equal concentration.  And slight concern.

				DIGGER
		    I suppose it's too late to
		    start over.

				JULIANNE
		    It's too late to start over.

	PULL BACK to reveal Michael in his wedding tux, submitting to a
	final fitting from a stylish fitter.

				MICHAEL
		    You guys are heartless, my
		    bride picked this out.

				JULIANNE
		    Like I said, dazzling.

				DIGGER
		    Is she going to dress you
		    every day?

	Michael smiles over.  Digger smiles back.  They live each other.

				MICHAEL
		    Yeah, it's in the contract.

				DIGGER
			    (softly)
		    Well, then, I'll take it up
		    with her.

	Michael motions, okay, c'mon over.  Digger rises, goes to Michael,
	the fitter steps back as Digger shows him...

				DIGGER
		    The cut here, here... this
		    line...

	Fingers lightly traveling over the lapel, the side-stitching, the
	cloth straight down the spine...

				DIGGER
		    ... trouser width, this is all
		    classic.  Which means safe,
		    something I'd wear.

				MICHAEL
		    I should look different.

				DIGGER
		    You should look like you
		    dressed yourself.

	Yes? Michael's grin is back.  Playful and friendly.

				MICHAEL
		    And I'm supposed to respect
		    your fashion tips, because
		    you're what, a New Yorker?

				DIGGER
			    (quiet smile)
		    Something like that.

	Julianne loves that the boy are getting on.

				MICHAEL
			    (means this)
		    Long trip.  Pretty nice of you
		    to come.

				DIGGER
		    Well, I'm close to her.  I wanted
		    to meet the one that got away.

	Said so naturally.  That embarrasses Michael, who looks down, his
	smile suddenly awkward.

				DIGGER
		    What?

				MICHAEL
		    I'm just glad someone finally put
		    this thing in its proper perspective.

	Steals a glance at Julianne.  She rolls her eyes.  What a goofball,
	my outrageous friend.

				MICHAEL
			    (to Digger)
		    Stay, huh?

				DIGGER
		    I honestly wish I could...

				MICHAEL
		    I'll call George's parents.
		    Tell them I need a best man who
		    actually looks after me.

	Julianne comes over.

				JULIANNE
			    (softly)
		    They'd say that's my job.

	She runs her hands over his jacket, smoothing it everywhere.  With
	tenderness that approaches transparency.  Glances back at Digger...

				JULIANNE
		    I'll take it home from here.

	Pinches Michael's ear.  Looks in his eyes.

				DIGGER
		    Two words.

				JULIANNE
		    Major.  Dish.

				DIGGER
		    Manicure...

	She looks down.  Michael's nails are unclipped, with layers of
	impacted dirt.  She touches his fingertips, a little more softly
	than she may have intended.

				DIGGER
		    Fly.

	Everyone looks down.  She ZIPS Michael up.

				MICHAEL
			    (to Digger)
		    You don't miss much.

				DIGGER
		    Part of being a New Yorker.

	INT.  HAIR SALON - MORNING

	Cutting edge salon.  Loud, PULSING MUSIC.  Digger and Michael in
	adjacent chairs, heads back, each smoking impressive cigars as
	their hair is styled.  Digger's stylist is a hot trashy female.
	Michael's is a tall, flamboyant male in a day-glo vest.

	Each man has one hand soaking, the other being worked on by a
	manicurist, so Julianne goes from one to the other, removing their
	cigars so they can exhale.  A seraglio feel to the way she does
	this.

	Now she's arguing with Michael's stork-like stylist.  We can't hear
	over the music, but she keeps tugging on Michael's hair, pretty
	passionate about her point of view.  Suddenly, she GRABS the
	scissors to do it herself, and Michael...

	... BOLTS out of the chair.  WHOA!

	EXT.  O'HARA AIRPORT - DAY

	Skycaps, guests of impatient travelers, a bus offloading forty
	Japanese tourists.  A taxi cuts off a van to reach the curb.  Out
	jumps...

	Michael.  Opening the door for Digger and Julianne.  Digger says
	something, Michael gives him a strong HUG.  Julianne raises one
	finger to Michael, back in a second.  Leads Digger off by the hand.

	CLOSE on them now.  Alone in the throng.

				JULIANNE
		    Bye, handsome.

	Digger just stares at her.  Those maddening judgemental eyes.

				JULIANNE
		    You're going to say it, aren't
		    you?

				DIGGER
		    Tell him you love him.  With
		    all your heart.

				JULIANNE
		    I'm taking my next book to
		    Viking.

				 DIGGER
		    Tell him you've loved him for
		    nine years, but you were afraid
		    to realize it.

				JULIANNE
		    I'm moving this book to Viking.

				DIGGER
		    Tell him you're afraid of love.
		    Afraid of needing.

				JULIANNE
		    Needing.

				DIGGER
		    To belong to someone.

	He touches her hair.

				DIGGER
		    We all do, beautiful.  I'm sorry
		    about that.

	Staring in her eyes.  Even Julianne has run out of words.

				DIGGER
		    Tell him you know this is the
		    worst, dumbest, cruelest moment
		    to do this to him.  But there
		    it is, and he has to choose.

				JULIANNE
		    And what will he do?

	Digger isn't smiling.  His voice low, beneath the crowd...

				DIGGER
		    He'll choose Kim.  You'll stand
		    by her at her wedding.  You'll
		    kiss him good-bye.  And you'll
		    go home.

	He holds up one finger.  Almost touching her nose.

				DIGGER
		    This is what you've come to do.
		    Now do it.

	Wow.  She looks frightened and moved, all at the same time.  She
	kisses him on the lips.

	And walks away.  He watches her go through the crowd.  Take
	Michael's hand.  Lead him back toward the taxi.

	EXT.  SKYLINE CRUISE BOAT - DAY

	The skyline of Chicago moves past us.  Slowly.  The NBC Tower,
	Cityfront Center...

				MICHAEL (O.S.)
		    Big weddings are so strange.

				JULIANNE (O.S.)
		    You keep saying that.

	Up ahead, the Wrigley Building draws closer...

				MICHAEL (O.S.)
		    Kim has all this stuff to do,
		    I hardly see her.

				JULIANNE (O.S.)
		    Well, you've got the rest of
		    your lives.

	REVERSE ANGLE... they lean on the rail of a cruise boat, easing down
	the Chicago River.  Wind-blown.  Close together.

				JULIANNE
		    Getting your bed made.  Every
		    day.

	They smile at each other.  Seem so comfortable together.

				JULIANNE
		    You miss her, huh?

				MICHAEL
		    No.  I've got you.

	She nods.  That you have.  Staring in her eyes...

				MICHAEL
		    Don't you throw up on boat?

				JULIANNE
		    If you like.

	And she LURCHES over the railing, emitting a BARRAGE of incredibly
	disgusting sounds, her feet FLAILING in mid-air.  He laughs, as he
	pulls her back down to the deck.  Of course, it was all a joke.  He
	brushes back her hair.  Sighs.  Stares.

				MICHAEL
		    I've been thinking a lot the
		    last couple days.  About us,
		    actually.

				JULIANNE
			    (casual)
		    Have you.

	He has.

				JULIANNE
		    Well.  There's a lot of memories
		    to choose from...

				MICHAEL
		    It's more than that.

	That tightens her throat pretty good.  When she tries to speak, out
	comes a dry CROAK that makes him laugh again.  Softer, this time.

				MICHAEL
		    I mean, it's embarrassing to
		    say it this way, but...

	He stops.  Her eyes WIDEN in a burlesque of anticipation.  So he
	smiles.  She knows how to put him at ease.

				MICHAEL
		    You've sort of been... y'know,
		    the woman in my life.

				JULIANNE
			    (straight back)
		    You've been the man in mine.

	Passing under the Michigan Avenue Bridge.  No one knows quite what
	to say.

				MICHAEL
		    And I was thinking this could be
		    our last time.  Alone.  Together.
		    You know?

				JULIANNE
		    Except for the hot affairs we'll
		    have twice a year.

				MICHAEL
		    Except for that.

	She's smiling so easily.  Who would guess her stomach is double-
	knotted.

				MICHAEL
		    I can hardly wait for your
		    wedding.

				JULIANNE
		    Me either.

	She watches his surprise.

				MICHAEL
		    Boy, I never thought I'd hear you
		    say that.  Can I come?

	She holds herself together.  Real soft with...

				JULIANNE
		    I couldn't have it without you.

	He's glad to hear that.  And then...

				MICHAEL
		    It's normal to have... second
		    thoughts, huh? To be scared.

	Is this a change of direction? Or is it the direction she's been
	praying for.

				JULIANNE
		    I wouldn't know.  I never had
		    that many first thoughts.

				MICHAEL
		    I mean, you commit to a wedding.
		    And then it seems like... this...
		    momentum, you know?  You forget
		    you... chose it.

	She nods.  Understands.

				MICHAEL
		    You and I.  I mean, in all our
		    relationships with other people...
		    We didn't use the word "love"
		    a lot, did we?

	We didn't.

				MICHAEL
		    Kimmy says.  When you love someone.
		    You say it, you say it out loud.
		    Right now.  Or the moment...

	Long beat.

				MICHAEL
		    ... passes you by, yeah.  She's a
		    smart girl.

	Off in distance, the Centennial Fountain SHOOTS an eight-foot JET
	of water across the river.  For Michael and Julianne it goes
	unnoticed.

				MICHAEL
		    We don't have a song.

	Hmm?

				MICHAEL
		    Kimmy and I.  We don't have a song.
		    Is that a bad sign?

	All Julianne can do is shrug.  Then...

				MICHAEL
			    (sings, softly)
		    Someday, when I'm awfully low...
		      And the world is cold...

	She doesn't want to cry.  So she puts all the strength she has into
	fighting it back.

				MICHAEL
			    (sings)
		    I will feel a glow just Thinking of you...
		      And the way you look.  Tonight.

	He stops.  Smiles that sweet, boyish smile.

				MICHAEL
		    Dance card filled?

				JULIANNE
		    I'll check.  I have it on
		    powerbook, these days.

	He holds up his arms.  And she moves into them.  He begins to dance
	with her, turning so slowly.  And, yes, people are watching.

				MICHAEL
		    	    (sings in her ear)
		    With each word, your tenderness grows,
		      Tearing my fears apart...

	She holds him closer.  Bites her lip.

				MICHAEL
			    (sings)
		    And that laugh
		      That wrinkles your nose,
		    Touches my foolish heart.

	He stops.  He looks at her.  She's still in his arms.

				MICHAEL
		    Where did we first hear th...

				JULIANNE
		  	    (straight back)
		    The night we met.

	Right to his eyes...

				JULIANNE
		    The night we fell in love.

	He doesn't know what to do with that.

				MICHAEL
		    So we heard it... like, right
		    that... that first...

				JULIANNE
		    We danced to it.  Just like this.

	Just like this.  A long beat.  And he has to say...

				MICHAEL
		    I won't lose you, will I?

	Her eyes close.  Then open.  Utterly lost in his.

				JULIANNE
		    No.  Because I won't let you.

	INT.  WALLACE ENTERPRISES - DAY

	Julianne in crisp chalk-stripe trousers and a buttoned-up dress
	shirt.  Her coat slung over her shoulder, she wanders through
	the Saturday-deserted office space.  Desks, cubicles, monitors,
	silent.  A row of executive offices standing empty, waiting for
	the custodian.  Turning a corner, we hear...

	... life, at the end of the hallway.  A grand conference room with a
	glass wall.  Walter, in shirtsleeves, running a strategy meeting
	for five.  DEIDRE, his personal secretary, clicking every word into
	her laptop at warp speed.  Walter sees Julianne through the glass.
	A comic take of pleased surprise.  He comes out to greet her...

				WALTER
		    I thought Michael was picking
		    me up.

				JULIANNE
		    I told him, get the important
		    stuff, Kim's ring.  I'll collect
		    the inconsequentials.

	Meaning, you.  They smile at each other.  Then...

				WALTER
		    Kim said, when he turned down
		    the job, there was no friction.

	Julianne thinks back.

				JULIANNE
		    Friction.  No.

	He smiles at her line reading.  But his mind is always probing.

				WALTER
		    I haven't caused... a problem,
		    have I?

				JULIANNE
		    Nobody has.  So far.

	Her bright grin.  His eyes linger on it.

				WALTER
		    Well, you're a little early...

				JULIANNE
		    I need to make some calls.
		    Could I use... your office?

	INT.  WALTER'S OFFICE - DAY

	Julianne enters the spacious corner office, high above the city.
	Closes the door, quietly, behind her.  So anxious, she is
	practically hyperventilating.  She goes, slowly to the vacant
	cherrywood desk.  Its computer and monitor standing silent.  She
	is stalking it, like a deadly animal.  And then.  She is there.

	Talking to herself, her own desperate support network...

				JULIANNE
			    (softly)
		    You can do this.

	Sacred, filled with doubt and conflict.  Her hands clutch at each
	other.  Then, one flicks out.  And the computer goes ON.  The
	screen GLOWS.  Waits for her.  Her mouth is sand, her stomach
	water.  She pulls the paper from her pocket...

	... looks at it.  Looks to the monitor.  And begins.  To type...

				JULIANNE
			    (mumbling to herself)
		    E-mail address.  To Ben Isaacson,
		    Senior Editor, Sports Illustrated,
		    from... Walter Wallace.

	And stops.  Her heart is thumping.

				JULIANNE
		    See, you can do it.  It's easy.

	Doesn't look easy.  Licks her lips.

				JULIANNE
		    You do it fast, it's over.  Like
		    it never happened.

	She sits.  And recites as she types...

				JULIANNE
		    Ben.  I need a favor.

	Here we go.  This is it.  Types...

				JULIANNE
		    My daughter's every happiness.
		    And my wife's.  And, least of
		    all, my own, are in your hands.

	Nods, okay.  Breathing hard.  Types...

				JULIANNE
		    Knowing you value our friendship,
		    and the... cooperative
		    relationship between our companies...
		    I am hopeful of your help.

	Touch, that.  Thinks.  It has to be.  Types...

				JULIANNE
		    I have offered Mike O'Neal, my
		    new son-in-law, a great opportunity
		    in my company.  This would also
		    enable my daughter to settle in
		    Chicago, near us, and pursue her
		    dreams and plans.

	Almost there.  Almost.  Types...

				JULIANNE
		    To his own detriment, as well
		    as ours, Michael will not accept
		    our offer.  While he works for you.

	She stands up.  Stares at the screen.  Walks away.  Walks back.
	Still standing, types...

				JULIANNE
		    My daughter joins me in this
		    plea for your cooperation and
		    discretion.

	Is there a SOUND?  Outside the door.  She HOVERS over the ESCAPE
	key.  Waits.  Waits.  Silence.  Types...

				JULIANNE
		    With gratitude.  For your
		    understanding.  Walter.

	She hits a KEY.  The screen goes BLANK.  The computer asks... DO
	YOU WISH TO SEND?  She tells the computer...

				JULIANNE
		    Are you crazy?  Get him fired?

	Types NO.  The computer asks HOLD FOR LATER? And she types YES.

				JULIANNE
		    Just till tonight when I bring
		    him back.  To look for...

	She glances to her huge bag.  Rummages through, pulling out a manila
	folder.  Lays it by the blank computer.  Fans out a few pages in a
	natural, disorderly way.  Takes a step back...

	And stares.  Struck to her gut.  But when she has done.

	INT.  CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY

	Walter alone with Deidre now, signing a stack of documents, as she
	efficiently places one after another before him.  When he glances up,
	he sees Julianne wandering the halls.  Stands, tells his secretary...

				WALTER
			    (going through stack)
		    Off to rehearsal.  Send out this,
		    and this, not this, this, and...
		    that's it.

	Slips on his coat.  Oh... and by the way...

				WALTER
		    I'm holding four or five E-mails
		    I wrote over lunch...

	On his way through the door...

				WALTER
		    Send 'em out.

	INT.  CHAPEL, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO - DAY

	Julianne and Walter enter the rear of a striking Gothic CHAPEL,
	pastel light slanting in through stained glass windows.  We now
	see the full effect of her outfit, a man's-style chalk stripe SUIT,
	tailored to fit her body, set off by a bold silk tie.  Solid
	dynamite.  She hangs back, while Walter proceeds down the vaulted
	nave toward...

	... Michael, Kimmy, Isabelle and Joe, who stand casually joking by
	the altar.  Scattered around are assorted groomsmen, ushers, an
	obvious flowergirl.  Coming toward us, up the aisle...

	... the MINISTER, early 40s, lean and quite attractive.  Mandy is
	HANGING on his arm, pressing her body against him as they walk,
	murmuring urgent murmurs close to his ear.  He's a really good
	sport, and really uncomfortable.  Sammy is walking backwards,
	right in front of them, DROPS her bag, and BENDS to retrieve it, as
	if oblivious to major cleavage on immediate display.

	Julianne is so lost in her own anxiety, she doesn't even notice,
	until...

				MANDY
		    Reverend Dyer, this is
		    Kimberly's somewhat butch
		    maid of honor...

				SAMMY
		    ... Mr. Julianne Potter,
		    prominent New York drag queen.

	Today, the girls' voices are charmingly musically Southern, with
	none of the extreme accents we heard at the shower.  The minister
	extends his hand...

				MINISTER
		    Billy Dyer, Julianne.  And I
		    love the suit.

	She shakes his hand, smiles graciously, but her eyes flick to
	Michael, now approaching up the aisle.  The girls lead the minister
	away.  Michael arrives.  Looks her up and down.

				MICHAEL
			    (softly)
		    Takes me back.

				JULIANNE
		    Well.

	She smiles.  One that glows a little.

				JULIANNE
		    You sang the song.  Least I
		    could do was wear the outfit.

	He nods.

				MICHAEL
		    Except now you're better-
		    looking.

	Oh, yeah?  Yes, ma'am.  As she loses herself in his eyes...

				MICHAEL
		    I got the ring.

	He pulls the box from his pocket.  Somewhere, an ORGAN sounds.  And
	as he is about to hand her the box...

				MANDY/SAMMY
			    (sing)
		    Swi-i-ng low-ow-ow...
		       Wee-ee-eet Char-i-ot...

	Such exquisite two-part harmony, Michael stops to watch.

				MANDY/SAMMY
			    (sing)
		    Comin', to car-ryyy
		       Me ho-o-o-me...

	It is amazing.  Soulful vengeful sluts.  He is enthralled.  Julianne
	simply impatient.  She wants his attention.

				JULIANNE
		    No accents today.

				MICHAEL
		    Yeah, Kim told me they were
		    giving you their Dueling
		    Scarlet's act.  Actually,
		    they're sophomores at Juilliard.

	She takes the box from his hand.  Opens it, as the singing CONTINUES
	throughout.  The ring is delicate hammered gold.  One of a kind.

				MICHAEL
		    Will she like it?

				JULIANNE
			    (whisper)
		    Yes.

	She's staring at the ring.

				KIMMY (O.S.)
		    My groom-person!  Your family
		    needs you!

	His master's voice.  He gives Julianne a smile.  And goes.  She's
	left with the box.

	Gazes at the ring.  Lifts it out.

				MANDY/SAMMY
			    (O.S., singing)
		    Well, I look over yon-der,
		       And what did I see-ee-ee?

	Slips it on her left hand.  Ring finger.

				MANDY/SAMMY
			    (O.S., singing)
		    Comin too car-ryyy.
		       Me ho-o-ome...

	Touches it.  Turns it on her finger.  So many emotions.

				MANDY/SAMMY
			    (O.S., singing)
		    It was a hand.  Of a-a-angels.
		       Coming' for me-e-ee...

	Tries to pull it off.

				MANDY/SAMMY
			    (O.S., singing)
		    Comin' for to carry me home.

	It won't come.  Not even close.

	INT.  CRAB HOUSE - NIGHT

	CLOSE on a bowl filled with squares of butter.  HEAR the butt of
	conversation from a rowdy, friendly joint.  Julianne's right hand
	REACHES to the bowl, fingers trace the rim innocently, then...

	... SLIDE the bowl into Julianne's lap beneath the table.  Her right
	hand MASSAGES all the butter into a gooey revolving mess.  We can
	pick out familiar voices now, family in distance, the twins closer.
	As, hidden from view, Julianne brings...

	... her left hand from her pocket.  Yep.  The ring is still there.
	The finger already red and swollen from pacicky efforts to pull it
	off.  And as APPLAUSE surrounds us, Julianne...

	PLUNGES her ring finger into the morass of grease, frantically
	TEARING at the ring, butter SPLURGING on her pants, everywhere, as
	we PULL BACK to see...

	... the long table covered with butcher paper, the family at the far
	end, the twins down here with us, a mug of beer for each place, as
	team of waiters with heaping platters of CRABS, which they...

	... FLING across the butcher paper, as APPLAUSE continues from
	everyone but Julianne, who still struggles secretly.  As the waiters
	set huge wooden MALLETS in front of each guest, Joe O'Neal rises,
	POUNDS the table with his mallet for attention.

				JOE
		    Like to welcome ever'body to
		    our little rehearsal supper...

	He COUGHS, unaccustomed to public speaking.  Walter and Isabelle
	clap and call out support.  So Joe lifts his mallet...

				JOE
		    Okay, everyone stand up!

	And everyone does.  With one exception.  Trapped.  She JAMS her
	left hand in her coat pocket, SMEARS her right palm sort of clean
	on the underside of the table, GRABS her mallet and JUMPS UP.

				JOE
		    To the bride, uh, goes the
		    honor... of cracking the first
		    crab!

	Everyone applauses by banging their mallets.  Joe RAISES his high.
	Everybody imitates.

				KIMMY
		    But first, a toast!

	And everybody SNATCHES up their beers with their left hands, as
	Julianne DROPS her mallet with a HORRIFIC CRASH, grabbing her beer,
	looking up to...

				JULIANNE
			    (on the spot)
		    I'm right-handed.

	A hugely embarrassing half-second.  Bailed out by...

				KIMMY
		    To our host, my cuddly Papa
		    Joe.

	All turns.

				KIMMY
		    Who taught me to play "Blue
		    Hawaii." On my nose.

	With a look at Julianne, Kim sets down her mallet gently, and
	performs a nasal HUM of the tropical standard, strikingly her nostril
	repeatedly for vibrato.  It is charming, and everybody watches.

	INT.  HOTEL BALLROOM - LATER

	CLOSE on an actual, living, if geriatric, LION.  He blinks from his
	cage, bored as hell.  HEAR the surrounding noise, chatter, LOUD
	Sinatra music, of a very large party.  PULL BACK to see...

	... and overdecorated BALLROOM, in dim and dramatic lighting,
	dripping with the trappings of ANCIENT ROME.  The mingling guests
	are the neatly one hundred females of the wedding party, most of
	them older women.  They are served by wandering well-built ATHLETES
	in Roman togas or gladiator costumes.  PAN TO...

	...  Julianne, still in her suit, hiding by a table piled with a
	carload of grapes.  Her left hand still buried in her pocket.  The
	eyes of a hunted animal.  From nowhere...

				MANDY/SAMMY (O.S.)
		    Boo!!!

	She JUMPS a foot, both hands FLYING UP, left one awkwardly slamming
	back into its pocket.  The girls have snuck up behind her.  They
	have changed into hot gowns that are really only wide ribbons
	wrapped around their bodies.

				MANDY
		    I know why you're scared of our
		    party.  It's too hip.

	Sinatra singing "Stranger In The Night." Hugely-muscled, half-naked
	black and white studs, serving enchanted blue-haired ladies.

				SAMMY
		    Kimberly wanted to tickle the
		    grandmas, so we figured, give
		    'em a cheap thrill.  Walter
		    supplied the decorative
		    touches...

				SAMMY
			    (points out the jokes)
		    Nose tackle from the Bears...
		    power forward from the Bulls...
		    defenseman from the Black
		    Hawks... my personal favorite,
		    the designated hitter...

				MANDY
		    ... I'm partial to the tight end.

				SAMMY
		    This is USDA Prime, largely
		    available, beef.  With no notice-
		    able competition, present company
		    excepted...

	Now they stare at her.  With identical, really odd, smiles.

				SAMMY
		    And yet here you are.  All
		    celibate and reclusive.

				MANDY
		    With those big, dark, haunted eyes.
		    As if you were harborin' some...
		    unspeakably... guilty... secret.

	Oh.

				JULIANNE
		    Well, I'm worried about something.

	Something.  Their expressions are deliciously, identically
	expectant.

				JULIANNE
		    Oh.  I left this really important
		    file in Walter's office.  I have
		    to send my editor some...

	Some...

				JULIANNE
		    ... figures.  On territorial sales.
		    To close my book deal.

	Uh-huh...

				JULIANNE
		    So Kim gave me the key.  And
		    Michael's on his way, to drive
		    me down to Wal...

				SAMMY
		    Oh.  We thought it was the ring.

	Julianne blinks.  Ring...?

				MANDY
		    The one you better get the fuck
		    off your third finger left hand.

	Ah.  That ring.

				JULIANNE
		    Well.  See.  That was a...
		    reflex to see if it would...

				MANDY
			    (helpful)
		    ... look good on Kimberly.

				JULIANNE
		    Right.  And then it didn't want
		    to come off.  Exactly.

				SAMMY
		    Maybe it's happy there.

				MANDY
		    Oh the way out of the crab house?
		    We asked Michael if we could see
		    the ring?

				SAMMY
		    He said you told him.  It'd be
		    safer with you.

				MANDY
		    An so it is.

	Julianne for once is speechless.  To our amazement, the girls wear
	identical smiles of kindness and support.

				MANDY
		    Shut up, sugar, he's on his way.
		    Let's get to work.

	INT.  HOTEL KITCHEN - NIGHT

	Huge gleaming chaotic kitchen.  Cooks, waiters, working at top
	speed.  The three women RACE in, look around frantically, half the
	guys stop to ogle the twins.  CUT TO...

	ANGLES... and industrial-sized jar of peanut butter.  Julianne's hand
	PLUNGES in, halfway to the rolled-up sleeve at her elbow.  SMOOCHES
	it around, real good.  PULL BACK to reveal...

	... she is surrounded by the twins and six guys, all SHOUTING
	conflicting instructions.  Julianne FLINGS off the excess SLOP.
	Tugs for all she's worth...

				EIGHT PEOPLE
		    TWIST IT!  TWIST IT!

	Nada.  It won't budge.  A sous chef WIPES her hand with a towel, a
	janitor CRASHES a tool kit onto the counter.  THROWS it open, pulls
	out...

	... a spray can of WD-40.  Instantly, her hand is BLACK.  The guy TUGS.
	No movement.  He can't believe it.

				JANITOR
		    It's mental, lady, you ain't
		    trying!

	Sammy is rummaging through her handbag, pulling out...

				SAMMY
		    There is nothing so tight, this
		    can't help it...

	... a tube of jelly.  The letter K-Y.  Julianne just gives her a look.
	Mandy pushes through with a butcher's CLEAVER...

				MANDY
		    I saw this on Hard Copy.  People
		    cut off body parts and the
		    hospital sew 'em back o...

	The look has turned toward her.

				JULIANNE
			    (cold)
		    I saw the show.

				MANDY
		    ... well, maybe it works on
		    fingers, too.

				FLOWER GIRL (O.S.)
		    Aunt Mandy...?

	Everybody turns.  The little girl in the doorway.  Southern accent...

				FLOWER GIRL
		    Mr.  Michael's here.

	Everything gets real quiet.  Mandy takes charge.  She rolls down
	Julianne's left sleeve, RIPS the hem out of the cuff, so that it
	flaps down over her hand, covering the ring.  Sammy wipes the black
	stuff from Julianne's fingers.

				MANDY
		    Don't worry, baby.  You could
		    pick your nose with that finger
		    and Michael would never notice.
		    He's a man.

	The twins lead her off.  We're on their backs for...

				MANDY (O.S.)
		    Personally, I think Mr.  Michael's
		    marrying the wrong girl.

				SAMMY (O.S.)
		    You're much more his type.

	EXT.  DOWNTOWN STREET - NIGHT

	VIEW through a heavy glass door of the empty, dimly-lit lobby.
	PULL BACK to see Julianne, just as she...

	... KICKS the shit out of the glass! Almost breaks her foot.

				JULIANNE
		    I can't believe this!

	PULL BACK farther to see Michael still trying keys from a large key
	ring in the heavy lock.  Sign over the door says WALLACE ENTERPRISES.
	Traffic hustles by, oblivious to her suffering.

				MICHAEL
		    It's no big deal, she just gave
		    you the wrong keys that's s...

				JULIANNE
		    ISN'T THERE A GUARD?  A JANITOR?
		    A FUCKING CLEANING WOMAN? I'LL
		    TAKE A BURGLAR!  SOMEBODY'S
		    GOTTA BE IN TH...

	And she SLAMS her whole BODY against the glass, making it rattle ominously.

				JULIANNE
		    WHERE'S A BRICK?  FIND ME A
		    GODDAMN BRICK!!

	She looks around wildly, hysterical.

				MICHAEL
		    What is the big deal about
		    getting this file tonight?

	A good question.  She needs a good answer.

				JULIANNE
		    I promised Digger I'd E-mail him
		    those figures.

	From his face, that wasn't it.

				JULIANNE
		    They are very important figures.

	Apparently.  He's just staring at her.

				JULIANNE
		    I'm up against a deadline.

				MICHAEL
		    Me, too.  I'm getting married
		    tomorrow.

				JULIANNE
		    That's my point!!

	Now.  He really doesn't get it.

				JULIANNE
		    I mean, tomorrow... we'll all be
		    busy with more important things.
		    So...

	So?

				JULIANNE
		    ... tonight's my last chance.

	He sighs.

				MICHAEL
		    I forgot how cute you look.  When
		    you get impossible.

				JULIANNE
		    It's just... up there... right in
		    front of Walter's... y'know, computer.
		    If memory serves.

	Helpless.

				JULIANNE
		    We could use... his computer, to...
		    just E-mail those suckers right ou...

				MICHAEL
		    Tomorrow is Sunday.  Nobody's doing
		    business.  Crack of dawn, Monday,
		    Walter'll take you up there...

	Her eyes fill with tears.  He is mystified.  Smiles tenderly.

				MICHAEL
			    (softly)
		    Give it up, kid.

	Touches her hair.

				MICHAEL
		    You can't win 'em all.

	And slowly, he takes her hand.  Leads her way.  She takes one
	backward glance at the locked door.  Her last dream dies.

	INT.  LOBBY, RITZ CARLTON - NIGHT

	Michael and a disconsolate Julianne board the elevator.  He presses
	15, she pushes 11.  Michael carries a handful of messages slips and
	an envelope.  As the car starts up, she folds her arms across her
	chest, at the edge of tears.  He doesn't know what to do.

				MICHAEL
			    (gently)
		    Listen up, huh? Even if you blow
		    this deal, how big could it be?

				JULIANNE
			    (voice nearly cracking)
		    You're right.  Easy come, easy go.

	He's really concerned, can't bear to see her so upset.

				MICHAEL
			    (softly)
		    Jules?

	She won't look at him.  She wants to die.  The bell RINGS, the doors
	open to her floor.  She just walks out.

	And he follows.  They stand now, she with her arms crossed, lip
	trembling.  She can't believe how close she is to losing it.

				MICHAEL
		    This thing means that much to
		    y...

				JULIANNE
		    It means a lot.

	He nods.  Okay.

				MICHAEL
		    I'll call the house, Walter's
		    probably not even asleep...

	Her mouth drops.  She can't believe this.

				MICHAEL
		    I'll drive you out there, we'll
		    get the key, we'll go back to
		    the office...

	She THROWS her arms around his, HUGGING him so hard, so close.  He
	laughs, she is so weird.  She pulls back, beaming, glowing.

				MICHAEL
		    Come on, we'll call from your
		    room.

	She claps his hand.  As they head down the hall...

				MICHAEL
		    If I fall asleep on the altar
		    tomorrow...

	He's trying to flip through the message slips in his free hand...

				MICHAEL
		    ... you better be there to...
		    funny, these are all from Ben.

	She's at her door, turning the key.  He looks at the envelope.

				MICHAEL
		    The fax is from Ben, too.  Man,
		    it's my wedding, and my boss can't
		    leave me alone...

				JULIANNE
			    (entering her room)
		    ... maybe it's congratulations.

	He follows her in, opening the envelope.  Stops.  Reads.  And his face
	suddenly... freezes.  To stone.

				JULIANNE
			    (turning to him)
		    Michael? What ha...

				MICHAEL
			    (reading)
		    Mike.  I can't believe I'm doing
		    this to you on the night before
		    your wedding.  But I think you
		    need and deserve to know...

	And he looks up to her.

				MICHAEL
		    ... what you're marrying into.

	He hands it toward her.  She takes it, hesitantly, and he walks past.
	Toward the phone.

				JULIANNE
			    (reading)
		    I received the following E-mail
		    this afternoon... "Ben, I need a
		    favor.  My daughter's every
		    happiness...  "

	Her eyes BUG OUT of her head.  Holy shit! We can hear him DIALING the
	phone.  She keeps reading, it's all there.  How did this happen?

				MICHAEL (O.S.)
		    Isabelle?  I need to talk to
		    Kim...

				JULIANNE
			    (reading)
		    "Mike, the funny thing is, he's
		    offering you a gig you'd be
		    stupid to turn down..."

				MICHAEL (O.S.)
		    I'm just tired.  Please put her
		    on?  Thanks.

				JULIANNE
			    (reading)
		    "Maybe you should take the job.
		    And dump the girl."

	And when she turns...

				MICHAEL
		    Jules.  Could you give me a
		    minute?

	He looks more sick than angry.  As if the heart has just been cut
	out of him.  She doesn't know what to say or do, so she just stands,
	staring dumbly.

				MICHAEL
		    Please?

	She nods, stumbles out of her room, closing the door behind her.
	Now she's in the empty corridor, clutching her big jumbled bag,
	sinking down to sit on the carpet, her back against the door.

	She doesn't look elated.  She seems frightened, distraught, and
	most of all, confused.  Because she can't understand why.  She digs
	absently through her bag.  Cigarettes.  Box of matches.

	She lights up.  Draws deeply.  Somehow, she seems near tears, and
	laughs bitterly at that.  Shakes her head at how fucked-up she finds
	herself.  Squeaking wheels approach, but she is too lost to hear them.

				BELLMAN
		    Miss, are you locked out,
		    or something?

	She looks up.  A small, wiry man of nearly 60, in a slightly faded
	but neatly-kept uniform.  On his cart, a ton of bags.

				JULIANNE
		    No, I just stepped out, because...
		    it's a non-smoking room.

	And inhales deeply.  Leans back against the door, to look up at him
	more comfortably.

				BELLMAN
			    (politely)
		    Well, it's non-smoking floor,
		    too.  Maybe you could go to the...

				JULIANNE
			    (seriously)
		    Why don't you have me arrested?

	That wasn't sarcastic.  He doesn't know what to say.

				JULIANNE
		    I mean that.  Arrested, convicted,
		    put in solitary.

	Another puff.

				JULIANNE
		    See, I'm a dangerous, criminal
		    person.  I do bad things to
		    honest people.  This, see, this
		    smoking?  Tip of the iceberg.

	Waves her hand.

				JULIANNE
		    Make a citizen's arrest, I won't
		    struggle.  It'll be like getting
		    Al Capone on tax evasion.

	Now she seems angry.  But not at him.  Her eyes fill with tears.

				BELLMAN
		    Can I... Can I help you, miss?

	She squints at his nameplate.

				JULIANNE
		    Do you smoke, Richard?

				BELLMAN
		    Yes, ma'am, I do, but it's...

				JULIANNE
		    ... a non-smoking floor, yeah.
		    Well, you know what?

	And she takes the cigarette from her lips.  Turns it around, holds
	it out to him.  Go ahead.  He doesn't move.  Please! And so...

	... he reaches down, takes the cigarette from her hand.  Staring in
	her eyes, he takes a deep drag.  Savors an expert nostril-inhale of
	his exhaled smoke.  Hands the cigarette back to her...

				BELLMAN
		    My grandmother always said,
		    "This, too, shall pass."

	She swallows.  Wipes at her eyes.  Finds a smile.

				JULIANNE
		    Thanks, Richard.  If you weren't
		    on duty, I'd buy you a drink.

	He just nods.  She waves.  He waves back, pushes his cart down the
	hall.  As she watches him go, the door behind her suddenly OPENS,
	and she...

	... FALLS through it, flat on her back at Michael's feet.  Staring up
	at him, seeing that he looks as bad as she feels, she takes raw, deep
	drag.

				JULIANNE
		    What happened?

				MICHAEL
			    (softly)
		    It's over.

	And crouches down.  Close beside her.  The cigarette drops from her
	hand, unnoticed on the carpet.  So he lifts it, crushes it on the
	heel of his shoe.

				MICHAEL
		    I want you to quit this shit,
		    it'll kill you.

	She just nods, obediently.  Okay, I will.

				MICHAEL
		    She denied it.  Said I was crazy
		    and paranoid.

				JULIANNE
		    A bad combination.

	He tries to smile.  It's really hard.

				MICHAEL
		    There's this big brunch tomorrow
		    morning?  At her place.

	He lets the air out.  Slow.  So he won't cry.

				MICHAEL
		    She said "How can I call everything
		    off, what do I tell everybody?"

	Shakes his head.  Can you imagine that?

				JULIANNE
		    Michael...

				MICHAEL
		    No, it's for the best, it really
		    is.  We were so wrong for each
		    other.

				JULIANNE
		    Maybe tomorrow, you'll feel dif...

				MICHAEL
		    The job thing would have broken
		    us up, eventually, anyway.  She
		    couldn't have lived with it.  I
		    know that now.

	Julianne nods.  Maybe that part is right.  Maybe it would have
	ended anyway.  Maybe she can pretend she's not a monster.

				MICHAEL
		     And she's right, I'm crazy to
		     fall for someone.  I hardly
		     knew.

	Looks deep in her eyes.  He's so glad she's there.

				MICHAEL
		    Hey.  You still got that ring?

	She holds up her left hand, the flapping sleeve falls away.  The
	ring is on a finger that is swollen and raw.

				JULIANNE
		    I tried it on.  But it won't
		    come off.

	He smiles at that.  A sad smile of friendship.  Then takes her
	finger gently...

	... into his mouth.  It is something like a kiss.  And when he
	removes her moistened finger...

	... he pulls the ring OFF.  Nothing to it.  She blinks.

				JULIANNE
		    It's mental, you know.

	He doesn't understand that.

				JULIANNE
		    Should we take a walk?  Or
		    maybe some food sent up, or
		    something...

				MICHAEL
		    I just want to be alone.  Is
		    that okay?

	She nods, sure.  He kisses her cheek.  Stands up.

				MICHAEL
		    Maybe I'll go back to New York.
		    Hang with you for awhile, huh?
		    Ben'll understand.

	She nods again.  Whatever you say.  He steps into the open doorway...

				MICHAEL
		    Or we'll go somewhere.  If you
		    have the time.

				JULIANNE
		    If San Antonio sweeps
		    Sacramento...

	They smiles at each other.  For real.

				JULIANNE
		    I've never been to Texas.

	Imagine that.  The look holds.  Just above a whisper...

				MICHAEL
		    Thanks for coming to my wedding.

	And then he's gone.

	IN.JULIANNE'S BATHROOM - LATE NIGHT

	Julianne brushing out her hair in the bathroom mirror, eyeing her
	image with evident dissatisfaction, as she listens to the receiver
	RINGING.

				DIGGER (V.O.  MACHINE)
		    Digger and George are with
		    family in the Hamptons until
		    Monday morning.  Brevity is even
		    more in order than usual.

	BEEP.

				JULIANNE
		    Hey, handsome.  Brevity this...

	Her eyes find the pack of cigarettes.  Next to her toiletries kit.

				JULIANNE
			    (softly)
		    I won.

	Her fingers touch the pack.  As if an object of significance.  Takes
	it up.

				JULIANNE
		    Amazing, huh?  I didn't do things
		    quite your way.  But... I got it
		    down.

	Cradling the phone against her shoulder, she carefully tears the top
	of the pack completely open.

				JULIANNE
		    And forty years and nine grand-
		    children later, when I sit with
		    Michael on some rustic porch,
		    slogging through our sweet swamp
		    of nostalgic memories...

	Reaches the pack toward the toilet.

				JULIANNE
		    No one is going to sweet the
		    details...

	Turns it upside down, emptying a dozen cigarettes into the john.

				JULIANNE
		    Of one weekend in Chicago.

	Drops the lid with a CLATTER.  Hits the FLUSH.

				JULIANNE
		    Talk about celebration...

	She lifts a tube from her toiletries kit.  Stares at it, real
	close.

				JULIANNE
		    I'm gonna brush my teeth with
		    actual toothpaste.

	Turns it over, reads all the writing.  Yep.

				JULIANNE
		    I guess I'm too exhausted to
		    feel the elation I so richly
		    undeserve...

	Squeezes some paste onto her brush.  Carefully.

				JULIANNE
		    So I'm gonna hold calls at the
		    desk... while I get my...

	Start brushing.

				JULIANNE
			    (around, her mouthful)
		    God, it is toothpaste, they
		    should sell this stuff
		    commercially! Anyway, a girl
		    does need her...

	Squints at her image.  Laughs, spewing a little foam.

				JULIANNE
		    ... well, we're a bit past
		    worrying about beauty sleep.
		    Let's just settle for not
		    frightening small animals.

	She SPITS.  Tells Digger's machine...

			 	JULIANNE
		    Anyway, I couldn't have done
		    it without you.  Even though I
		    did, if you follow that.

	Wipes her mouth.  Stares off.  The eyes a little dreamy.

				JULIANNE
		    Three words:  Happily.  Ever.
		    Well, you know.

						     SMASH CUT TO:

	INT.  BEDROOM - MORNING

	Julianne sprawled all over the bed, mouth open like a carp,
	sleeping mask against the daylight.  A sudden RAPPING at the
	door, and she...

	... sits BOLT UPRIGHT.  Utterly disoriented, until she pulls off
	the mask.  Stumbles out of bed, walking toward the firm KNOCKING,
	when...

	... it stops.  A message slip SLIDES beneath her door.  She lifts
	it, barely conscious.  This wakes her up.  In one.

				JULIANNE
			    (to the slip)
		    You're going where?

	EXT.  WALLACE ESTATE - DAY

	Julianne climbs from her taxi.  Only slightly in awe, she sets off
	past the reflecting pool, which fronts a mansion of graceful stone
	and timber.  It's a hike today, because the circular drives is
	clogged deep with Bentleys, Mercedes, and waiting limos, vying for
	space with a score of delivery vehicles of all kinds, maintenance
	trucks, catering and florist and food vans.

	INT.  GREAT ROOM - DAY

	Julianne escorted into an enormous room, where brunch is in
	progress for more than a hundred.  She looks from the vaulted
	ceilings, to the frescoed walls, the inlaid floors, the massive
	pipe organ above the stone staircase, the oil portraits of Scottish
	ancestors and their favorite dogs.

	Isabelle has risen from the main table, and comes to her.  All
	smiles.  Julianne is in the Twilight Zone.  What are these people
	laughing about?  Do they still think there's a wedding?

				ISABELLE
		    Jules.  We're so glad you
		    slept in.

	Takes her arm graciously.  This woman would make Anne Bancroft look
	coarse.  As they walk...

				ISABELLE
		    Now, you have a choice.  The idea
		    is bride and groom shouldn't see
		    each other on the magic day...

	Julianne looking all around.  Magic day it seems to be.  Where the
	bell is a bride or a groom?

				ISABELLE
		    So Michael stays put in the garden.
		    Kimmy stays in here...

	Pointing.  THERE she is, obscured by a cluster of the appropriately
	fawning.  She has the same hunted eyes and false, slightly manic
	smile Julianne wore yesterday.  This, at least, makes sense.

				ISABELLE (O.S.)
		    ... and the guests go back and
		    forth.  Where will you start?

	CLOSE on Julianne.  Watching the brave, frightened bride.

				JULIANNE
		    She looks tense.

				ISABELLE
			    (O.S., calmly)
		    Nerves.  I would never have
		    guessed.

	EXT.  ROSE GARDEN - DAAY

	A steward leads Julianne to the edge of an expansive rose garden,
	altogether elegant and comfortable with its long white picnic
	tables, where nearly a hundred guests casually dine, served by
	rolling carts.

	There, at the head table, Michael staring at us.  He looks like a
	poor attempt to cover a hard night.  She locks onto his eyes.  What
	the hell is going on? He looks helpless, miserable.  She gestures
	with her head, follow me.  Stalks off.

	EXT.  SCULPTURE GARDEN - DAY

	Bronze abstract pieces, some quite large, face a huge set of
	children's swings, regulation playground size.  Julianne sits in
	one, moving slightly back and forth.  Trying to hold on to her
	temper and her sanity.

	In the distance, trucks are winding their way to and from the pond,
	where crews are setting up tents, lights, heaters for tonight.  The
	circus has come to town.  When she looks back...

	Michael approaches.  Before he can draw a breath...

				JULIANNE
		    I had the craziest dream last
		    night?  Walter and Kimmy had
		    asked your boss to...

				MICHAEL
		    Look, I came down here to face
		    everybody.  I didn't want to
		    slink away like some coward...

				JULIANNE
		    But the Scotch salmon was so
		    fucking good, you decided to
		    stay for brunch!

				MICHAEL
		    She hasn't told anybody, what
		    am I supposed to do?

				JULIANNE
		    Get married, apparently.

	She comes OFF the swing, PUSHES him back two feet.

				JULIANNE
		    What the hell are you thinking
		    of, the goddamn wedding is SIX
		    O'CLOCK!!

	He swallows hard.  Trapped.

				MICHAEL
		    This is her family and her
		    fault.

				JULIANNE
		    And your point?

				MICHAEL
			    (ten years old)
		    Well.  How come she didn't...

				JULIANNE
		    BECAUSE SHE'S AS CHICKENSHIT AS
		    YOU ARE, YOU MORONS ARE MADE FOR
		    EACH OTHER.

	He just blinks.

				MICHAEL
		    Hey.  This is a serious matter.

	Thank you.  She POKES his chest, punctuating...

				JULIANNE
		    I'll be right back.

	INT.  KITCHEN - DAY

	A modern take on the Medieval castle kitchen, towering ceilings,
	dark wood, copper pots hanging, a series of walk-in coolers and
	freezers.  The place is a madhouse of activity, as prep cooks
	slice, chop, sort, every kind of food imaginable, and delivery
	teams bring more.

	The girls walk through.  Alone together in the eye of the
	hurricane.  Kim choked with excess sentiment...

				KIMMY
		    Look at all this beautiful food,
		    so lovingly prepared...

				JULIANNE
		    They'll eat it anyway, you ever
		    been to a walk?

	Kimmy's lip trembles.  This is not how she thought of her wedding.
	The din is so horrific, Kimmy leads them into a walk-in meat
	locker.  Even here, two BUTCHERS are dressing Eastern-fresh corn-
	fed carcasses.

				JULIANNE
		    You guys want to give us a
		    minute?

	The men blink at each other.

				JULIANNE
		    We'd like to be alone with
		    our pork.

	On that basis.  They leave.  Kimmy sits on a stack of packaged
	frozen fowl parts.  Stares up with big, sweet, wet eyes.

				KIMMY
		    How's he doing?

	Julianne cannot believe this.

				JULIANNE
		    Who?  The jerk who's running
		    your life?

				KIMMY
		    This must be... very, very,
		    hard on him.

				JULIANNE
		    What with the psychosis and
		    all, yeah.

	Leans in.  Listen...

				JULIANNE
		    When are you gonna come clean
		    with your folks?

				KIMMY
		    Don't you see...

				JULIANNE
		    If you're waiting for "Do you
		    take this man?", that's
		    considered poor form.

				KIMMY
		    ... that this is all my fault?

	Stops Julianne cold.  Your fault.

				KIMMY
		    Whatever delusions I drove him to,
		    there is truth at the heart of it.
		    I want him to work for my father.
		    I want to stay in school.  I want
		    a life of my own!

	Harder and harder for Julianne to push.  Her mouth is dry.

				JULIANNE
		    Yeah, well, lots of couples are
		    imcompat...

				KIMMY
		    I love him.

	Fragile and strong at once.  A plea.

				KIMMY
		    Tell him it's my fault and
		    that I love him.

	A long beat.

				JULIANNE
		    I'll be right back.

	EXT.  TENNIS COURT - DAY

	The court has become a giant holding pen for tonight's BALLOONS.
	There are maybe a billion in assorted colors already blowing in all
	directions, under clear plastic sheeting which has ben spread
	across the top of the court's chain-link fence.

	Michael stands outside the court, clutching the chain link like a
	prisoner, as Julianne comes through the gate.  From somewhere, we
	hear high, squeaky, alien voice-like SOUNDS.  Incongruous
	against...

				MICHAEL
		    How is she?

	Julianne absorbs this.  As the bizarre SOUNDS continue, she WHIRLS
	around...

				JULIANNE
		    KNOCK IT OFF!!!

	We now see three STONER COLLEGE GUYS, who have been filling the
	endless array of balloons from helium tanks at center court.
	Clearly, they've been inhaling their working materials.

				  STONER KID
			    (Minnie Mouse)
		    YES, SIR!

	A Nazi salute.  When she turns back...

				MICHAEL
		    I asked you...

				JULIANNE
		    She admits it's her fault.

	He absorbs that.  And then...

				MICHAEL
		    Do you think she still loves
		    me?

	We watch the struggle inside her.  Her voice drops...

				JULIANNE
		    Sure, she does.  She's crazy
		    about you.

	Now tears stand in both their eyes.  The stoners are doing their
	Alvin and the Chipmuks impersonation festival in the B.G., singing
	in castrato harmony.  But our two don't notice.

				MICHAEL
		    I keep asking, how can I explain
		    what happened? And I keep
		    getting that same answer all
		    night long.

	Which is...

				MICHAEL
		    I can't.  And it doesn't matter.
		    I drove her to it, because I
		    want things my way.  And even
		    if she did something tricky and
		    unfair... she was blinded by
		    love, okay?

	Julianne swallows.  For obvious reasons.

				JULIANNE
		    Does that make it right...

				MICHAEL
		    Love doesn't have to be right.
		    It just has to be love.

	The stoner are now helium-crooning "Bridge Over Troubled Waters."
	Actually, they're getting better.

				MICHAEL
		    She's giving up half her life
		    for me, and I'm bitching because
		    it hurts her.

				STONERS
			    (singing)
		    Sail on silver girl
		       Sail on by...

				MICHAEL
		    She's a saint!  And I'm a
		    worthless ingrate!

				STONERS
			    (singing)
		    Your time has come to shine,
		       All your dreams are on their way...

				MICHAEL
		    Tell her.  I'll marry her at six
		    o'clock, if she'll still have me.

	The stoners blend on the high note.  It's pretty moving.

				JULIANNE
		    I'll be right back.

	INT.  ORGAN LOFT - DAY

	PAN along a gigantic serpentine stack of wedding presents.  Nearly
	twelve feet high, the pile curves along the balcony, high above the
	diners in the Great Room, extending al the way to...

	... an organ loft.  Alone, above the noise of the party, Julianne
	and Kimmy have just reached the top of the staircase.  Trapped
	between ten tons of lavish gifts and the keyboard of the mammoth
	organ.  Dwarfed by their surroundings, Kimmy draws the hardest
	breath of her life...

				KIMMY
			    (whispers)
		    So.  What did he say?

	Julianne's eyes move over the young girl's face.

				JULIANNE
		    He said.  Marry me.

	Kimmy YELPS in her ecstasy, FLINGING herself against Julianne, and
	they go DOWN full length across the organ's pedals, BLASTING the
	room with a MONSTER CHORD of china-rattling volume and horrifying
	disharmony.

	As grown men and women SCREAM in spontaneous terror below, Kimmy
	begins to...

	... LAUGH.  And KISS and hug her new sister.  And holds her tight.

	EXT.  WILLOW POND - DAY

	Julianne and Michael walk the gravel path beside a breathtaking
	POND, ringed with WILLOWS that dig heavy branches to the water's
	surface.  He is relieved, reflective.  Head down, he never notices
	that she is...

	... dangerously freaked.  Too petrified even to hyperventilate,
	we're lucky she's breathing at all.  We watch her life unraveling
	before her glassy eyes.

				MICHAEL
			    (never looks up)
		    Thank God you were here.

				JULIANNE
			    (mumbles to herself)
		    Oh, yeah.

				MICHAEL
		    I was so confused, so conflicted,
		    so... unstable.

				JULIANNE
		    Well, it happens.

	They pass an expanse of lawn which has become the event parking
	area.  Family vehicles, delivery trucks, service vans.  Everything
	that couldn't fit on the circular front driveway.

				MICHAEL
		    I might have thrown away...

	Searching for the right words.

				JULIANNE
		    ... your one chance for true
		    happiness?

				MICHAEL
		    ... yeah, that.

				JULIANNE
		    You never want to do that, see,
		    that's always a... costly
		    turnover.  As they say in the
		    sport biz.

	There's a vague Stepford Wife quality to her voice.  He hears that
	now, and looks at her.  Maybe he can't tell she's frightened.  But
	he can tell she's something.

				MICHAEL
			    (softly)
		    Are you okay?

	She stops walking.  She can't look at him, so she looks around.
	Across the lawn crews are moving equipment into the brightly-
	colored tents, unfolding and setting up stacks of tables and
	chairs, raising the poles between which all those balloons will be
	strung.  At the center of it all...

	.... a huge topiary White Sox batter, just completing a murderous
	swing.  He's maybe fifteen feet tall.  She points to it...

				JULIANNE
		    The Big Hurt, huh?

				MICHAEL
		    Nellie Fox.  Walter likes the
		    past.  And he likes the little
		    guys.

	So Julianne nods.  Because she does too.  Squints up at Michael.

				JULIANNE
		    Got a minute?

	He nods, you bet.  Worried for her.  What is this? She looks in
	another direction, and we now see that we have nearly reached...

	... a stage that's been set up for the band.  Chairs, music stands,
	sound equipment.  A gleaming dance floor, already in place over the
	lawn.  Next to it, a shimmering white GAZEBO.  Like the centerpiece
	of a wedding cake.

				JULIANNE
		    Why is the dance floor by the
		    gazebo?

	She takes his hand.  They walk toward it.

				MICHAEL
		    Kimmy's idea.  She thought it
		    would be such a romantic place.
		    For our wedding dance.

	Looking down at her.

				MICHAEL
		    What's up?

				JULIANNE
		    Shhh.

	Up the white steps now.  Together.  The gazebo floor has been
	covered with hardwood.  The perfect place.  For a wedding dance.
	And Julianne...

	... turns, suddenly.  He almost runs into her.  She is staring up
	at him, so strangely, their bodies only inches apart.  He is caught,
	transfixed by the intensity in her eyes.

				JULIANNE
		    I have to say this quick, okay,
		    or I'll have this massive
		    coronary and you'll never have
		    to hear it.  Which you need to.
		    Does that make any sense at all?

	The coronary part does.  We can feel her heart beating from here.

				MICHAEL
		    Jules, what's wrong...

				JULIANNE
		    This is the dumbest thing I will
		    ever do.  So dumb, in fact, that
		    I can't.  I don't think.

	And then, she does.  She puts her hands flat on his chest.  Looks
	in his eyes.

				JULIANNE
		    Michael, I love you.

	A heartbeat passes.

				JULIANNE
		    I've loved you for nine years,
		    but I was too arrogant and
		    scared to realize it.  Now I'm
		    just scared.

	He stares at her, dumbstruck.  She moves even closer.

				JULIANNE
		    I know this comes at an
		    inopportune time, but I have to
		    ask this one really gigantic
		    favor, okay?

	Holds her breath.  And...

				JULIANNE
		    Choose me.  Marry me.  Let me
		    make you happy.

	And in a half beat of excruciating silence...

				JULIANNE
		    I know.  It sounds like three
		    favors.

	His eyes are loving.  They care for her.  She swallows, lost in
	them.

				JULIANNE
		    But when you think about it...

	Slides her arms around his neck, and raises her mouth...

	... to his.  The most beautiful kiss she will ever offer.  All of
	her heart is in this, and as his hands touch her body...

	... a SCREAM rips the world to pieces.  They whirl to see...

	... KIMMY, halfway up the path.  Her hands across her mouth, as if
	to stem the horror that pours forth as she SHRIEKS from her soul,
	and...

	... runs.  Back Down the path.  Michael BOLTING after her, SHOUTING
	her name.  A frozen moment, and...

	... Julianne TAKES OFF after him.  All three running, SCREAMING
	their various emotions at the top of their lungs, as workmen stop
	to watch from neighboring countries.

	Kimmy, staring from halfway there, has an insurmountable lead.
	LEAPS into her convertible and PEELS OUT, just TEARING up the
	gravel as she ROCKETS out of sight.  No way to catch her.  Still...

	... Michael is racing for the cars.  Julianne, sprinting her guts
	out, losing ground with every stride.  Michael JUMPS into a
	Cherokee...

				JULIANNE
		    MICHAEL, DON'T, YOU'LL NEVER
		    CATCH HER!!

	He GRINDS the gears.  She keeps RUNNING.  His engine FIRES.

				JULIANNE
		    SHE HAS TOO BIG A LEAD AND SHE
		    DRIVES LIKE A RABID ANIMAL!!!

	He BLASTS OFF.  She keeps going.  Gasping for air, clutching her side,
	she's dying here.  Slams into a florist's truck, looks inside, shit!
	Next, a butcher's van, looks inside, Jesus!

				JULIANNE
			    (to the world at large)
		    DOESN'T ANYBODY LEAVE KEYS
		    ANYMORE?  WHATEVER HAPPENED TO
		    TRUST??

	Up ahead, Michael has STALLED the Cherokee.  She still has a chance,
	DASHES to the next van.  BORNSTEIN EXTERMINATION, a handsome
	rendering of a rat above the TOXIC MATERIALS warning FLINGS the
	door open.  Stumbles in.  Keys!

				JULIANNE (O.S.)
		    THANK GOD, A SAMARITAN!!

	Michael SPEEDS away.  She KICKS the ratmobile in gear.

	LURCHES off.

	INT.  RATMOBILE, DOWNTOWN CHICAGO - DAY

	Julianne tearing through traffic, desperately struggling to keep
	Michael's Cherokee in view, while she shrieks into her cellular...

				JULIANNE
		    IT IS NOT GOING WELL!

	Down the block, Michael WHIPS around a corner.  We follow suit to see
	his destination dead ahead.  Union Station.  The DISPATCHER RADIO
	intrudes...

				DISPATCHER (O.S.)
		    Uh, Unit Four Baker Charlie,
		    how we cookin' on that Skokiie
		    infestation?

	Now she's steering the car, tearing at the radio controls, and
	screaming into the phone cradled on her shoulder...

				JULIANNE
		    THIS IS WHAT COMES OF TELLING
		    THE TRUTH!

				FIELD MAN (O.S.)
		    Copy, dispatcher...

				JULIANNE
		    OR EVEN PART OF IT!

				FIELD MAN (O.S.)
		    Uh, what happens if you got
		    that methyl-ethyl shit on
		    your hands?

	Michael RIPS into the train station's parking lot.  We SWERVE
	around a taxi, CUT OFF Harley, CAREEN into the lot...

				JULIANNE
		    GETTING WHAT YOU DESERVE IS
		    NOT FAIR!

				DISPATCHER (O.S.)
		    Uh, you got maybe thirty seconds
		    before you're sterile.  For God's
		    sake don't touch yourself, or
		    anything.

	Up ahead, Michael is OUT of his jeep and running.

				JULIANNE
		    AND I HATE TALKING TO YOUR
		    MACHINE!

	She SLAMS on the brakes, THROWING herself against the wheel.

				YOUNGER FIELD MAN (O.S.)
		    Uh, this is One Monkey Zebra.
		    It wasn't bees in the gal's
		    wall, it was cats!

	She TEARS the door open.  SCRAMBLE OUT...

				YOUNGER FIELD MAN (O.S.)
		    She says gas 'em, anyway,
		    she'll pay cash.  Uh... how
		    do I pay this?

	WITH Julianne now, RACING through the lot, Michael vanishes INTO
	the Station, she PLUNGES in after him, BOUNCING off bystanders,
	apologizing, lunging on, gasping for breath, past exhaustion,
	threatening clumsily through the crowd like a staggering drunk,
	catching a lucky glimpse as he heads...

	... DOWN a staircase to the TRACKS.  My God, what's he doing?  A
	second wind, fueled by panic, and she BOLTS after him, DANCING down
	the steep staircase somehow without killing herself, reaching the
	concourse to see him, running for...

	... Track 29, a train already RUMBLING, ready to pull out, she
	SPRINTS after him.

				JULIANNE
		    MICHAEL!!

	He DISAPPEARS behind the train, she FALLS, skids, springs up,
	pushes through gaping onlookers, almost there, the train PULLS
	AWAY...

				JULIANNE
		    NNNOOOO!!!

	But he's just standing there.  His back to us.  Watching it go.

	Her body nearly collapses with relief.  She pushes herself on, but
	her legs aren't working right in their maxed-out fatigue, and she
	lopes and staggers until she comes up behind him.  He's still lost
	in thought, staring after the train.

	She tries to speak, but there's no breath.  So she puts her hands
	on her knees and just GASPS for air like a dog.  Wheezing, panting,
	trying once more to speak, but she can't yet, and then he casually
	turns and...

	... JUMPS out of his skin!  A heart attack seeing her.

				JULIANNE
			    (croaks)
		    Don't speak!

	He just blinks at this sweaty, ripped-up, maniacal figure.

				MICHAEL
		    Uh.  I saw that moving...

				JULIANNE
		    DON'T SPEAK!

	FLINGING both her hands across his mouth.  A frozen beat.  He nods,
	okay.  Cautiously, she takes her hands away.  At least she has made
	him smile, in spite of everything.  At least she's done that.

				JULIANNE
		    I have to make a confession.
		    Another confession.  Besides
		    that I love you.  This is even
		    worse.

	This.  He's waiting to hear.

				JULIANNE
		    The E-mail?  You thought Walter
		    sent your boss?  I wrote that.

	You.  WHAT?!  Synapse overload.

				MICHAEL
		    You're not saying you actually...
		    you're saying that y...

				JULIANNE
			    (stricken with remorse)
		    ... wrote it, yeah.  I'm the
		    bad guy.

				MICHAEL
		    ARE YOU CRAZY?

	She nods her head wildly, hair flopping.

				MICHAEL
		    ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY INSANE??

	Bigger nodding.

				MICHAEL
		    ARE YOU ON DRUGS???

	Shakes her head, like a two-year-old.

				MICHAEL
			    (pacing in circles)
		    I mean, do you realize what
		    you've... well, of course you
		    realize, that's why you're
		    confessing, I mean... I mean...
		    how could you do that?

				JULIANNE
		    I didn't know it would get
		    sent.  I just wanted you to...
		    get mad at Kimmy... and...

	And watching.  As this begins to sink in.

				JULIANNE
		    I've done nothing but slimy,
		    underhanded, despicable, not
		    even terribly imaginative,
		    things.  Ever since I got
		    here.  Trying to...

	Staring in his eyes.  Eyes she can't read at this point.

				JULIANNE
		    ... to win you.  To win you
		    back.

	Tears in her own eyes now.  Big ones.

				JULIANNE
		    And I was blinded by love.
		    Like you said.

	Shaking her head...

				JULIANNE
		    But that doesn't excuse any
		    part of it.  I am pond scum.

	No...

				JULIANNE
		    Actually.  Lower.  I am the fungus
		    that feeds on pond scum.  Lower.
		    The layer of mucous that cruds up
		    the fung...

				MICHAEL
		    Lower.

				JULIANNE
			    (agreeing)
		    Lower.

				MICHAEL
		    The pus that infects the mucous
		    that cruds up the fungus.

	And to her amazement.  The trace of a smile...

				MICHAEL
			    (softly)
		    On the other hand, thank you.

	She blinks at that.  Which squeezes out a tear.

				MICHAEL
		    For loving me that much, that
		    way.

	He shrugs.  Just above a whisper...

				MICHEL
		    It's pretty flattering.

				JULIANNE
		    Except it makes me fungus.

				MICHAEL
		    Well, that part I knew.

	She's never loved him more.

				JULIANNE
		    So you have to marry Kim.
		    Because she will actually make
		    you happy.  I, in contrast, am
		    a shallow, neurotic psychopath,
		    with relatively little to offer.

	Okay?

				JULIANNE
		    Kim.  Nod your head.  Do as
		    you're told.

	He nods his head, still smiling.  Her tears are running now.  Maybe
	she doesn't notice.

				JULIANNE
		    Just promise you'll never tell
		    me who you would have chosen.
		    If I hadn't confessed.

	She chokes back a sob.

				JULIANNE
		    Cos if you would have chosen me.
		    Then I threw away a perfectly
		    good life.  Just to be a decent
		    person.  Which is a questionable
		    trade-off.  Right?

	He nods, slowly.  Because he's supposed to.

				JULIANNE
		    And if you would have chosen
		    some 20-year-old punk over me.
		    I'd have to kill myself.

	Ah.  His smile keeps getting smaller.  More loving.  More wonderful.

				MICHAEL
			    (whispers)
		    I'll take it to my grave.

	Good.  She looks around.

				JULIANNE
		    I'm so glad you didn't jump on
		    that train, before...

				MICHAEL
		    I came here, looking for her.

	For her.  The words leave a silence.

				JULIANNE
		    Why would she come here...

				MICHAEL
		    This is where I proposed.

	Stares deep in her eyes.  She needs to hear this.

				MICHAEL
		    I had to cover a game in
		    Milwaukee.  She saw me off.
		    And when the train started to
		    leave... I jumped up on the
		    step, I help the handle, and
		    without...

	He grins.  Has to admit...

				MICHAEL
		    ... without a thought in my head.
		    I shouted, "Marry me."

	I did.  Now her eyes tear up again.  And she doesn't know why.

				MICHAEL
		    And she gasped, and covered her
		    mouth, and the train was pulling
		    out, and suddenly she screamed
		    YES!  Just once.  And blew me a
		    kiss.

	What a girl.

				MICHAEL
		    I never forgot that.

				JULIANNE
		    It's two weeks.

				MICHAEL
		    Almost three.

				JULIANNE
		    That is so romantic.

	Which makes him reach and touch her hair.

				MICHAEL
		    I just wonder if you know why.

	Do you?

				MICHAEL
		    It's because romance isn't
		    mystery, and tricks, and doubts,
		    and halting, unspoken longings.
		    That's not the real romance.

	Tears in his eyes now.  First time.

				MICHAEL
		    The real romance is saying yes.

	Does she know that now?  He looks at his watch.

				MICHAEL
			    (sighs)
		    Woulda been a nice wedding.

	Oh.  That.

				JULIANNE
			    (urgently)
		    You can't believe you've lost
		    her!  Sooner or later, you'll
		    find her, and you'll look in
		    each other's eyes, and you'll
		    see all that love...

				JULIANNE
		    Course, if it's later rather
		    than sooner, I'd hate to be you
		    at six o'clock.
			     (beat)
		    You've got a lot of explaining
		    to...

				MICHAEL
		    I'm just thinking of how she's
		    hurting.  Lost.  Alone.  Like
		    her life is over.

				JULIANNE
		    That's little egotistical.

	He glares at her.

				JULIANNE
		    But, undoubtedly accurate.

	She claps her hands, galvanized by the emergency.

				JULIANNE
		    Okay, we'll split up.  You go
		    to every romantic place you
		    guys have, I'll go... someplace
		    brilliant, and the first one
		    who...

				MICHAEL
		    If you find her...

	Strange tone.  A gentle warning.

				MICHAEL
		    The kiss.  May be hard.  For
		    you to explain.
			    (beat)
		    Because the only fear she
		    really has, is...

				JULIANNE
		    ... me, yeah.  And she likes
		    Tommy Lasorda.  Case closed.

	Looks at her own watch.  Shit!

				MICHAEL
		    But if you do get to her first...

	She looks up.

				MICHAEL
		    There is something you are
		    authorized to say.

	EXT.  TAXI STAND - DAY

	Julianne sits on the fender of this guy's taxi.  The driver smokes,
	paces, while she waits for a connection on her cellular.  Then...

				MANDY (V.O.)
		    Wallace egregious residence,
		    Mandy speaking.

				JULIANNE
		    It's Jules, you guys haven't
		    had a call from, say, Kimberly,
		    have you?

				MANDY (V.O.)
		    Oh, she's slipped out, the
		    little monkey.  Prob'ly with
		    Michael, doin' the nasty.

	A shallow laugh...

				MANDY (V.O.)
		    Or crying in her nachos, down
		    at Comskey Park.

	Julianne's face SNAPS to alert.

				JULIANNE
		    Ex-cuse me?

				MANDY (V.O.)
		    I had this crank call?  From
		    some guy who thinks he saw her?
		    I said, what would a bride be
		    doin', on her wedding...

				JULIANNE
		    You are so right.  What a
		    nerve on that guy!  Bring my
		    dress to church, huh?

	Signals the driver, let's GO!

				JULIANNE
		    I want to pick up a little
		    something for the ceremony.

	INT.  LUXURY BOX, COMISKEY PARK - AFTERNOON

	Game in progress.  Julianne and the bodyguard stand in the doorway
	of the deserted skybox.  Everyone Walter knows is going to a
	wedding.  The box is empty except for one cardboard container of
	nachos, extra cheese, sitting alone before a pulled-back chair.

				BODYGUARD
		    She wouldn't confide in me,
		    so I called the house.

	He sighs.  Feels terrible about all this.

				BODYGUARD
		    Luckily, I got her cousin.

	Julianne nods.  Yeah, big break, there.

				JULIANNE
		    Going to the john, she said?

				BODYGUARD
		    Could be there awhile.

	INT.  WOMEN'S RESTROOM - AFTERNOON

	Julianne BURSTS into the enormous chaotic restroom.  Looks around
	wildly, no sign of Kim.

				JULIANNE
		    YO!  IMMIGRATION!

	Everybody stops.  Pays attention.

				JULIANNE
		    I GOT A WARRANT FOR MS. KIMBERLY
		    WALLACE!

	Silence.  From the long line of stalls...

				KIMMY
			    (O.S., sobbing)
		    In here, you bitch!

	Now everybody's really interested.  Julianne ignores them, strides
	to the stall.  KNOCKS, like it's a door.  No answer.

				JULIANNE
		    Let me in, baby, or I'll rip
		    this damn thing off its non-
		    code-compliant hinges...

				WOMAN (O.S.)
		    GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY FACE OR
		    I'M GONNA MESS YOUR SHIT UP!!

	Some scattered APPLAUSE.  From down the line...

				KIMMY
		     	    (O.S., still sobbing)
		    Over here, nitwit!

	Oh.  Scattered laughter.  Julianne moves down the line.  Stares at
	the door.  We hear the soft, muted crying from within.  Slowly,
	Julianne...

	... drops to her knees.  Bends her head low.  PEERS under the door.
	What she sees, prompts a sad warning...

				JULIANNE
		    Incoming.

	And she crawls UNDER the door, on her belly.  We go WITH her to
	see...

	... Kim fully dressed, perched on the closed toilet lid, her knees
	drawn up, her arms around them.

				JULIANNE
		    Pitiful.

	And pulls herself up to her knees.  Kimmy tries to glare, but it
	just isn't in her.

				KIMMY
		    Haven't you done enough?

	The world gets real quiet.  An entire bathroom is listening.
	Julianne cocks her head to one side.

				JULIANNE
		    In one minute.  You are going
		    to feel so foolish.

				KIMMY
		    WHY DON'T YOU JUST DRIVE A
		    STAKE THROUGH MY HEART?

				JULIANNE
		    Have you ever heard of.
		    Irony?

	Irony? Kimmy sniffles.

				JULIANNE
		    I threw my arms around your
		    husband.  And kissed him with
		    all my heart.  Because I was
		    so happy.  For you.  Nitwit.

	And leans close.  As Kimmy flinches.

				JULIANNE
			    (whispers)
		    He's going to take...
			    (big grin)
		    The job!

	A stunned pole-axed moment.  And Kimmy's eyes SPRING open.  You
	mean...?

				JULIANNE
			    (beaming)
		    With your dad, yeah.  Can you
		    guess why?  Bitch?

	Everything inside Kimmy BURSTS free in a torrent of tears...

				KIMMY
		    HE LOVES ME!!

	And DISSOLVES, sobbing, into Julianne's arms.  A beat, for Julianne
	to reflect, and then she strokes her tenderly.

				JULIANNE
		    Well, of course, he loves
		    you.

	Kisses the top of Kimmy's head.

				JULIANNE
			    (very soft)
		    Hell, even I love you.

	Kimmy holds her tight.  From her heart...

				JULIANNE
		    I never want to go through this
		    again.

				KIMMY
		    That's entirely understandable.

	ANGLES... outside the stall.  Julianne's feet sticking out under
	the door.

				KIMMY (O.S.)
		    Shit!  THE TIME!

	The two BURST out of the stall, hand-in-hand, at a desperate DEAD
	RUN past us.  HEAR them EXPLODE out the door, and...

	... five stalls OPEN.  Women exit, crying.

	EXT.  UNIVERSITY CHAPEL - TWILIGHT

	A taxi pulls up in front of an ivy-covered CHAPEL, fronted by nearly
	a hundred souls, milling about in attitude ranging from overstimulated
	curiosity to clinical hyperanxiety.  Our girls JUMP out of the cab,
	and half the crowd starts running toward us, twins in the lead...

				SAMMY
		    Whatever hap...

				JULIANNE
			    (cutting this short)
		    We were bonding, we lost track,
		    we're officially sorry, now
		    let's put it behind us.

	Kim WAVES at her mom by the chapel entrance.  And takes Julianne's
	hand for support.

				JULIANNE
		    Believe me, we got a bride who's
		    worth waiting for, yes?

	Everybody nods.

				JULIANNE
		    Out of our way.

	EXT.  DRESSING ROOM - TWILIGHT

	White.  Pure blinding white.  Across FRAME floats more white, this
	gauzy and ethereal.  It settles, its roots planting deeply in the
	bride's hair.  TILTS UP to...

	... the face of the woman who placed it there.  Julianne's eyes,
	appraising this bride we cannot see.  And so softly...

				JULIANNE
		    Don't worry, sugar.

	Don't worry.

				JULIANNE
		    When he looks at you, it will
		    be as if...

	The words stronger.  Because there is no smile.

				JULIANNE
		    ... he's never seen a woman
		    before.

	PAN DOWN the white until we are...

	CLOSE on the bride's perfect slippers.  HOLD.  And...

	INT.  CHAPEL - EVENING

	Begins to slowly PAN BACK UP the length of an exquisite gown.  We
	can tell from the organ, the nearby thrum of expectant voices, that
	we are nearing the moment.  We reach...

	... Kimmy's hand.  Firmly clasping Walter's.  Keep PANNING, the
	bodice, the lace, her throat, and finally, we are CLOSE on...

	... the face of the bride.  Now we understand the word radiant.  We
	also understand scared senseless.  Our perfect, unflappable Kimmy
	is in a trance of emotional overload where bliss and panic
	seamlessly blend.

	The organ's noddling stops.  Kimmy's eyes alerted, like a small
	animal bearing a predator approach her thicket.  Suddenly, the
	CHORD.  The Wedding March from Wagner's Lohengrin.  Here.  Comes.
	The bride.  And we SNAP TO...

	FULL ANGLE... Kim and Walter.  This is it.

				WALTER
			    (whispers)
		    Left foot.

	REVERSE ANGLE... Kim's POV, the chapel, every pew packed, every neck
	craning this way, the white satin carpet down the endless aisle to
	where...

	Michael waits.  Also in a zone of pseudo-consciousness.  From which
	he attempts a smile.  Not comforting.  Kim's POV WHIP PAN the
	groomsmen, the twins, LOCKING FOCUS on Julianne, standing strong
	and beautiful, a glow of her own in the daffodil dress.  She sends
	her little sister a WINK across the trackless miles of aisle.  You
	can do this, kid.  So...

	... Kimmy does.  On her father's arm, she walks the gauntlet of the
	world's intrusive admiration.  One step at a time.  The most beautiful
	she will ever be.  She is dazzling the crowd and managing to not throw
	up at the same time.

	And she's there.  At his side.  She glances back to her maid of
	honor, just to make sure she's not working without a net.  So
	Julianne...

	... CROSSES her eyes.  Which lets the kid smile and finally take a
	breath.  Have a little fun, huh? Kim nods, got it, turns to...

	The Minister.  Who stands before them with a calming presence.
	Thank God someone has done this before.  The crowd has hushed.
	The Minister's eyes are only for two.  His words are for all...

				MINISTER
		    Michael and Kimmy wrote these
		    words.  She asked me to confide,
		    mostly Michael.

	A ripple of laughter.  Gentle and fine.  They are setting in.

				MINISTER
		    So he gets to say them.

	A surprise.  A pleasant one.  The crowd adjust in its seats.  As
	Michael begins...

				MICHAEL
		    Why do people get married
		    anymore?

	And on these words.  We SNAP to Julianne.  Share her interest in
	the bluntness, the simplicity, the unorthodoxy of this beginning.

				MICHAEL (O.S.)
		    Why not live together amicably,
		    with no sense of obligation
		    beyond the moment?

	Her eyes.  She's listening.

				MICHAEL (O.S.)
		    As long as the sex is good.  As
		    long as no one more interesting
		    has wandered into view.  As long
		    as the thousand conflicts of two
		    individual wills remain
		    comfortably compromised.

	PANNING now.  Other faces.  Isabelle.  Proud to the bone.

				MICHAEL (O.S.)
		    And when one feels the urge to
		    move on, to explore the new.
		    No guilt, no disgrace, no
		    promise broken.

	Walter.  His eyes damp.  Against our expectation.

				MICHAEL (O.S.)
		    No agony of having dishonored
		    a time.  When our hearts.  And
		    the world were different.

	Joe nods, as he hears...

				MICHAEL (O.S.)
		    Marriage is a lot to put up
		    with.

	Julianne once more.  No breath.  Rapt.

				MICHAEL (O.S.)
		    The answer must be.  That there
		    is some need basic to the human
		    heart.  That embracing... the obligation
		    of commitment... fulfills.

	Her eyes have clouded.  As if Michael is talking to her.

				MICHAEL (O.S.)
		    Some need to belong to one another
		    in a way which rages against the
		    notion... that all is impermanent.
		    Against the notion of mortality.

	And suddenly, ALL the feeling rises in her throat.

				MICHAEL (O.S.)
		    Our love is bigger.  And longer.
		    Than life itself.

	And the tears come.  They come freely, unhidden, unnoticed.  As if
	they were needed.

	Michael now.  Looking at his bride.

				MICHAEL
		    That's what we want.  And marriage.
		    Is what we do about it.

	Kimmy smiles at him.  With love bigger than life itself.

				MICHAEL
		    We are fools in this.  Thank
		    God Almighty.

	He is done.  There is a silence.

				MINISTER
		    Boy, that was good!

	People LAUGH.  The Minister holds up a sheet of paper.  For the
	crowd to see.  Mostly paragraphs crossed out in red ink.

				MINISTER
		    Michael and Kim also edited what
		    they want me to say...

	More laughter.

				MINISTER
		    The idea was, we're only marrying
		    once.  We have to remember it
		    forever.  Let's keep to the good
		    stuff.
			    (squints at the sheet)
		    You may kiss the bride.

	Bigger LAUGHTER.  The Minister waves this off, his little joke.
	Turns to the best man, pantomimes the ring.  As the hammered gold
	circle is handed to Michael, Julianne absently scratches her still-
	swollen finger.  Mandy taps Julianne on the arm, and produces...

	... a matching ring.  Take it! Gives it to her.  So Julianne steps
	forward.  Places the second ring into Kimmy's waiting hand.  Their
	eyes meet, and hold throughout...

				MINISTER (O.S.)
		    If anyone here can show just cause
		    why this man and woman should not
		    be married, speak now.  Or forever
		    hold your peace.

	Julianne CLEARS her throat.  Kimmy's heart flutters.  In the
	silence... Julianne's wonderful smile.  Just kidding.

	Michael reaches for Kim's hand, turns her gently to him.  Places
	his ring on her finger.  Holds her hands.

				MICHAEL
		    Kimberly.  I promise to love.
		    And respect and comfort you.
		    To hear your voice and your
		    heart.  Until we are parted
		    by death.

	She swallows.  Smiles a fleeting, beautiful smile.  Fumbles
	slightly, putting the ring on his finger.

				KIMMY
		    Michael.  I promise to love and
		    respect and comfort you.  To
		    hear your voice and your heart.
		    Until we are parted by death.

	Staring in each other's eyes.  A moment so fragile, the Minister
	waits an extra beat.

				MINISTER
		    For the record, you each agree
		    to marry the other?

				KIMMY
			    (quickly)
		    I do!

				MICHAEL
			    (smiling)
		    I do.

	The Minister joins their right hands.

				MINISTER
		    We haven't said much about God
		    this evening, I know.  But He
		    is here.  And He is happy.  To
		    bless His wonderful children.

	CLOSE now on Julianne.  For the inevitable moment.

				MINISTER (O.S.)
		    In that Michael and Kimberly have
		    given themselves to each other by
		    solemn vows, and the exchanging
		    of rings...

	Unnoticed by the world.  Her eyes are close.

				MINISTER (O.S.)
		    I pronounce them husband and wife.
		    Those whom God has joined together,
		    let no one put asunder.

	The eyes open.  Wet, brave, ready for...

				MINISTER (O.S.)
		    Now.  Kiss the bride.

	Julianne watching.  As Michael does.

	EXT.  WALLACE POND - NIGHT

	This is what all the preparation was for.  Tables, lights, balloons,
	the guests dancing on the hardwood floor, at the base of the gazebo.
	The bride and groom among them, relaxed and happy.  Two who are one.
	PAN TO...

	... the stage, the band playing.  Julianne conferring with the twins
	and the band leader, clear that she's giving the instructions.
	Then, she takes her glass of champagne to the microphone...

	... KLUNKS it, for silence.  The band stops.  The dancers follow.
	All eyes are comfortably turned to the maid of honor.  She looks to
	the couple.  Just below her.  Then, to the crowd...

				JULIANNE
		    I'm a writer, too, not as
		    good as Michael.  But I do
		    steal from quality.

	She raises her glass.  Everyone at the table does the same.

				JULIANNE
		    This is to my best friend.  On
		    the occasion of his wedding.

	Shouts of support, a few whistles.  Silence.  She tells Michael...

				JULIANNE
		    If I have truly come to know
		    your bride as my new sister.
		    This is in her heart...

	She has to stop.  Swallows.  Because she will not let herself cry.

				JULIANNE
		    "Understand.  I'll slip quietly
		    away from the noisy crowd when
		    I see the pale stars rising,
		    blooming, over the oaks."

	Deep breath.  Looks in his eyes.

				JULIANNE
		    "I'll pursue solitary pathways
		    through the pale twilit meadows,
		    with only this one dream: You
		    come too."

	A hush.  SHARP applause.  From four hundred hands.  But not from
	his.  He is too moved.  Too understanding of what he has heard.

				JULIANNE
		    I don't have a wedding gift.
		    But this is on loan.  Until
		    you two find your song...

	And with that the band begins.  The opening phrases of a song we
	have come to know.  Michael seems overwhelmed.  Julianne nods
	toward the gazebo...

	... Michael takes his bride's hand, leads her up the stairs, into
	his arms, as the twins step to the microphone, and guests begin to
	applaud an unscheduled wedding dance...

				MANDY/SAMMY
			    (singing)
		    Someday, when I'm awfully low,
		       And the world is cold,
		    I will feel a glow just thinking of you,
		       And the way you look tonight.

	Soft two-part harmony.  As perfect as the words.

				MANDY/SAMMY
			    (singing)
		    You're lovely.  With your smile so warm,
		       And your cheeks so soft,
		    There is nothing for me but to love you,
		       Just the way you look tonight.

	Julianne can cry now.  Because she's tied with half the place.

				MANDY/SAMMY
			    (singing)
		    With each word, your tenderness grows,
		       Tearing my fears apart...
		    And the laugh that wrinkles your nose,
		       Touches my foolish heart.

	Julianne begins to sing.  Unheard.  Unseen.  Even by the man she's
	singing to...

				JULIANNE/MANDY/SAMMY
			    (singing)
		    You're lovely, please don't ever change,
		       Keep that breathless charm,
		    Darling, please arrange it, cos I love you...
		       Just the way you look tonight.

	The band keeps playing.  The dance goes on.  Two people lost in each
	other.  The way it's supposed to be.

	INT.  GREAT ROOM - LATE NIGHT

	Bedlam.  Julianne caught in the middle of the throng.  A young
	couple, dressed for travel, appear at the top of the staircase.
	The SHOUT are deafening.  The bride has her bouquet...

	... she spots Julianne far below.  THROWS it her way, Julianne
	reflexively GOES FOR IT...

	... not a fucking chance.  The twins nearly TRAMPLE her in the
	stampede, Mandy WRESTING the prize from Sammy's grasp.  Everyone
	CHEERS, and then the couple is...

	... FLYING down the stairs, RACING through the crowd with a
	protective phalanx of groomsmen bodyguards, heading for the door,
	for freedom...

	... Julianne, trapped in the crush, loses sight of the couple,
	struggles against the flow, suddenly panicked by the certainty
	that she will never see him before...

	And then, he's THERE.  He has Julianne in his arms.  Holding her
	so tight.  An embrace so wonderful, so terrible, she could go mad
	from the confusion alone.  Against the din, he murmurs in her
	ear...

				MICHAEL
		    Wherever I go.  However far...

	She sobs.  Holds him.

	Deep, deep breath.

				JULIANNE
		    You win a few, you lose a few.
		    Some get rained out.

	And to her surprise...

				DIGGER
			     (V.O., very softly)
		    You have a good time?

	To her greater surprise.  There are a few tears left, after all.

				JULIANNE
		    I did what I came to do.

				DIGGER
			    (V.O., even softer)
		    Good girl.

	She just can't speak now.  So she doesn't.

				DIGGER (V.O.)
		    I was thinking.  Maybe you might
		    visit us for awhile.  We've got
		    the room made up.

	This fucking guy.  God, she loves him.

				JULIANNE
		    I'll think about it.  I'm okay.

				DIGGER (V.O.)
		    Oh, you're more than okay.

	Just above a whisper...

				JULIANNE
		    You, too.

	And with the last of her strength...

				JULIANNE
		    If the sun comes up, I'll see
		    you tomorrow, huh?

	A chuckle.  At the other end.

				DIGGER (V.O.)
		     I'll play those odds.  You have
		     sweet dreams.

	We hear the CLICK.  She turns her back on the stars.  Shoulders
	straight.  Chin up.

	She walks from frame.

	FADE TO BLACK.  HOLD END CREDITS.

	--------------------------------------------------------------

My Best Friend's Wedding



Writers :   Ronald Bass
Genres :   Comedy  Romance


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