FADE IN:
EXT. STREET, BELOW WINDOW - NIGHT
Two men are beneath a streetlight.
FIRST MAN
Well, I told you, I'm not looking
for her anymore. Why did you call
me?
SECOND MAN
I called you because you paid me
to find her, and there she is -
I've done my job.
FIRST MAN
But I paid you - you didn't need
to call me out to see where she
is. I would have been satisfied
just to know that you found her
and I knew where she was - that
was all I wanted.
SECOND MAN
It has to be completion. No, I
don't smoke anymore. The job has
to be complete, you know, you ask
me to do something, I'm a
professional, whatever you say
now, your words to me were, "Take
me to her." And that's what I've
done. It's up to you what you do
with it.
FIRST MAN
And she's okay?
SECOND MAN
That's none of my business. Why
you want to find her, who she is,
who you are, what she does, if
she's well or sick, who her
friends are, none of that
interests me. My brief was simple
- take you to her. There she is,
up there, on the second floor,
third window along, the one with
the light in. That's her, I've
completed my task. I can go.
They walk off in opposite directions.
INT. CAFE/BAR - NIGHT
The FIRST MAN, whose name is Neil, is sitting on his own at
a table near the window. It's raining outside. It's warm
inside. The bar is half full, a friendly atmosphere. A man
and a dark-haired woman sitting on stools at the bar are
talking intimately.
MAN AT BAR
But it's never the same the
second time around, is it.
WOMAN AT BAR
It will never work. He is too old
for her anyway and where will
they go? Morocco? Beirut? South
Africa? She would never go with
him.
MAN AT BAR
But if she loved him...
WOMAN AT BAR
She doesn't. You can see how she
is with him, she cuts him short
all the time, every time he
speaks.
MAN AT BAR
Well if I was him, I'd...
WOMAN AT BAR
No-one can put up with that.
There is just no way they will
stay together, even though they
love each other, which I'm sure
they do, there's no framework to
what they're doing - they just
have no sense of...
MAN AT BAR
Direction.
WOMAN AT BAR
...where they are. You can't
blame her.
MAN AT BAR
You can't blame either of them.
That's just the way it is. It
never works second time around.
Have you finished your christmas
shopping?
WOMAN AT BAR
I have one left to buy and I
don't know what to get. He's so
difficult. Some people you just
know straight away even though
they already seem to have
everything, and others, even
though they have almost nothing,
you can't think of anything.
MAN AT BAR
They have nothing because they
want nothing.
WOMAN AT BAR
Something like that. Maybe I'll
just forget it.
MAN AT BAR
He'll cut you. He'll drop you and
won't speak to you again.
WOMAN AT BAR
He'll understand. He's a dreamer.
He knows what it's like, I mean,
to be always looking for
something and not finding it.
MAN AT BAR
That's what he's like. Exactly.
WOMAN AT BAR
You have him off to a T.
MAN AT BAR
We're the same in a lot of ways.
I just wish he'd leave her or
they hadn't got back together.
It's too late now, they've done
it.
WOMAN AT BAR
We'll just have to sit and watch
the whole drama mechanically
unfold before our eyes and
pretend we didn't see. I hope
they don't invite me around. No
one else will be there. Will you
be there?
MAN AT BAR
Probably. It will probably be
just you and me, the second time
around. How sad will that be. He
treats her like dirt. I'm going
now. I might see you next week.
I'll ring you, maybe. Sometime.
WOMAN AT BAR
Just like that?
The man gets up and leaves. Neil watches the woman and goes
to the bar to get another drink. He's served by a young
girl who reveals her lower back as she bends down to reach
a bottle beer. Neil picks up his beer and turns to the
woman.
NEIL
I always find it strange at this
time of year. It's coming up to
christmas but it feels like
autumn.
WOMAN AT BAR
(sussing him)
It's mild really. I don't mind
it.
NEIL
You prefer the summer though,
waking up when it's hot and the
day has already begun. It's a
different feeling - you want to
spring out of bed and get
started.
WOMAN AT BAR
I can't say that I ever feel like
that. But you definitely feel
better in the summer. It's
probably a physical thing, some
hormone, some chemical or
something that switches in.
NEIL
Have you ever lived anywhere hot?
She shakes her head and looks straight at the bar.
NEIL
I have. I worked in Africa for
five years. But there it was
different again - the night fell
so quick that that in itself was
a kind of...
WOMAN AT BAR
Depression?
NEIL
No. Just a kind of sadness, like
it came too early. And what was
there to do, unless you could get
into a town. Oil lamps are just
not the same.
WOMAN AT BAR
What were you doing there?
NEIL
Working with the government.
Helping them to finance their
development. They had tremendous
problems with money leaking out,
everywhere, and the donors
demanded more control, so I was
sent to manage the situation. It
was useless.
WOMAN AT BAR
Sounds like a thankless task. Are
you working now?
NEIL
Not exactly. I mean I am but I'm
not doing very much. I'm a
freelance researcher.
Demographics mostly.
WOMAN AT BAR
What do you mean?
NEIL
Where people are. What they do.
Changes in the population and the
effect that has. Three out of
four people are now aged thirty
to forty.
WOMAN AT BAR
That can't be right.
NEIL
Not everywhere - in some towns.
What do you do?
WOMAN AT BAR
I own and run a small publishing
company. Children's books mostly.
And pets. We have a fine run in
canine stories.
NEIL
You're an expert on dogs then?
WOMAN AT BAR
No, my writers are. I just have
to know a good dog story when I
hear one.
NEIL
A shaggy dog story?
WOMAN AT BAR
Exactly.
NEIL
You remind me of someone.
WOMAN AT BAR
A good memory, I hope.
NEIL
Oh yeah, an old girlfriend.
WOMAN AT BAR
What was her name?
NEIL
Gillian, I think.
Two men enter the bar and stand next to Neil and the woman.
Neil moves aside to let them enter and sits down on the
stool next to her.
NEIL
Gillian Armitage. 1984, I think.
WOMAN AT BAR
You were a bit vague. You must
have had a lot.
NEIL
(smiling)
Oh yeah, I'm a regular Lord
Byron.
WOMAN AT BAR
Really? Do you know about Lord
Byron?
NEIL
Casanova then.
WOMAN AT BAR
There are even rumours about him.
NEIL
There are rumours about everyone
these days. People are nothing
but rumours. Famous people I
mean.
WOMAN AT BAR
And us.
Neil touches the sleeve of her sweater.
NEIL
I like your jumper. I thought it
was wet: it glistens.
WOMAN AT BAR
It's lambs wool with a thread
woven into it.
NEIL
(touching her again)
It's really nice. Doesn't it
itch?
WOMAN AT BAR
No, it's very soft. I like the
feel of it.
NEIL
It would itch me. I've always had
sensitive skin. Things make me
itch.
WOMAN AT BAR
(instinctively scratches
her arm)
But if you're honest, you're just
waiting for the right person to
come along.
NEIL
What!?
WOMAN AT BAR
I can read what's on your mind.
I'm a mind-reader.
NEIL
How does that work?
WOMAN AT BAR
You just put yourself in the
other person's place. It's easy
when you know how. You lived in
Paris and fell in love with a
woman. She was dark; she wore her
hair like this...
(she holds her hair up
at the back)
and...
(pauses)
you lived somewhere high up, with
shutters on the windows, and a
view over an institution, a
statue of Jesus in the distance.
Something happened, you came home
one day and she was gone - she'd
discovered something about you,
something you'd done. There was a
letter on the bed, you picked it
up and read it, you sat down and
started crying. You walked over
to the window and looked out, the
wind blew one of the shutters
back. You turned back towards the
room and saw yourself in the
mirror, your face darkened with
grief and smeared with tears.
There's something in the sky
behind you - a balloon, no, a
plane trailing an advertising
ribbon, the words "Véracité,
égalité, ...", but the rest is
lost.
NEIL
I've been searching for her
since, to, to make up.
WOMAN AT BAR
Some things you can't make up.
NEIL
There might be another chance, if
we meet again. I tell myself I'm
not looking for her anymore, but
I am. I know where she lives.
WOMAN AT BAR
It's not far from here.
NEIL
We could walk there now.
WOMAN AT BAR
You could be with her before you
know it.
NEIL
Let's pay up and go.
They pay up and go.
EXT. STREET, BELOW WINDOW - NIGHT
Neil and the woman from the bar are beneath a streetlight,
same as opening scene.
NEIL
So this is it?
WOMAN FROM BAR
This is where I live. Do you want
to come in?
NEIL
It's been so long, I can't
remember. I've been looking for
you so long.
WOMAN FROM BAR
It's just another start.
NEIL
They say it can't work the second
time around.
WOMAN FROM BAR
But it's two different people. It
always is. Let's go up and see.
FADE OUT.