My Best Friend's Wedding Script - 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 <u<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<u< 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.
