Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Part 1 - Dave Gives Kathy Some Time and Space

The day after Dave Morgan goes all out on a romantic birthday dinner, he is dumped by his girlfriend Kathy. When she moves in with her old college friend Ally, she takes everything, including the light switch covers. Dave’s depression affects his life to the point that students stop attending his college classes and his mother no longer calls because he “bums her out.”


EXT. TWO BEDROOM APARTMENT – NIGHT.
Through a window, we see a late 20’s couple in the middle of a very animated discussion. DAVE MORGAN is following behind KATHY SPENCER as she picks items up from tables and shelves and puts them into a box tucked under her arm. She shows little emotion; his arms are waving.

INT. DAVE’S APARTMENT – NIGHT.
Inside the apartment. Dave is upset, but Kathy is very matter of fact as she picks things up.

DAVE
C’mon Kath. Wasn’t last night great? The wine,
the birthday dinner, the three orgasms? My jaw is
still stiff.

KATHY
Sex isn’t everything.

DAVE
Oh no? It seemed pretty important while you were
holding my ears begging me not to stop.

KATHY
I never beg.

DAVE
Sorry. I meant “help guide me in pleasing you”.

KATHY
I need some time, for myself.

DAVE
But Baby, I’ll give you time. I’ll stay at work more,
hang out with the guys all night if I have to. You’ll
think you live alone, I’ll be gone so much.

KATHY
It’s more than that. I’m, I’m in a place where I
need to focus on my career.

DAVE
Seems to me you don’t do anything but work
now.

KATHY
And I don’t think I should have to apologize for
that.

DAVE
I’m sorry. I just meant…

KATHY
It’s a tough business Dave, and people get hurt.
I’m out there everyday, going up against girls six
months younger than me, with longer legs and
bigger boobs. If I’m going to make it as an agent
in this business, I can’t have any distractions.

DAVE
Oh, so now I’m a distraction like loud music or
fireworks.

KATHY
More like a yapping Pekinese.

DAVE
Nice. You’ve resorted to name calling, you social
climbing praying mantis. I hope your rock stars
all fly small, private planes.

KATHY
What’s that supposed to mean?

DAVE
You’ll figure it out.

KATHY
I’m staying with Ally. Don’t call me until you cool
down.

She turns to Dave and runs a finger down his chest and hooks it into the top of his pants.

KATHY (CONT’D)
But when you do, I think we can still see each
other, still, you know, “date.”

DAVE
Why?

KATHY
Maybe the occasional dinner and a fuck, but
without the dinner. And you won’t have to cuddle
all night. Doesn’t that sound nice?

Kathy is kissing his neck as she says that.

DAVE
Do you hear yourself? I get more affection from
my right hand than you.

She coolly snaps back to her packing as if she never tried to seduce him.

KATHY
Suit yourself. I hope you two will be very happy
together.

Dave slams the door behind him as he leaves her to pack.

OPENING TITLES – DIALING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
As the titles and credits roll , we follow Kathy’s hands, in a closeup, as she moves about the apartment, packing up her stuff. As she progresses, it is obvious she is not very discriminating about taking things which are likely shared. Soon she is taking nearly anything not nailed down, and if she can loosen the screws, she takes that too.

INT. DAVE’S APARTMENT – NIGHT.
Dave is alone in the apartment after Kathy has moved out. Kathy has taken most of the things that make a place livable. He is left with the only second hand furniture, a pot, and old magazines. The wall shows the obvious signs of where pictures were hanging. In the bedroom, she has taken the face plates on the light switches. The shower curtain rod, toilet paper holder and towel hooks are gone. Dave tries to close the blinds but she has taken the cords.

INT. COLLEGE LECTURE HALL - DAY
The lecture hall is crowded; Dave Morgan is a popular instructor of anthropology. Dave is at the front in the light of an overhead projector. The students are copying the information, but Dave is
just staring into space, not moving the slide forward. As the class finishes copying, they begin to get restless. A student tries to get Dave’s attention, but he does no look up. Then someone floats a paper airplane down. A ball of paper is fired out of the darkness and hits Dave on the head, but he pays no attention.

One by one, students rise and exit. Soon it is a deluge leaving the hall . As they pass the projector, someone doodles an obscene picture on the overhead.

INT. DAVE’S PARENT’S KITCHEN – NIGHT
Dave is sitting on a tall stool at the eating counter of his mom’s kitchen. It is a comfortable, cluttered kitchen. MRS. MORGAN is bustling about as she prepares dinner. Four pots are steaming on the stove.

MRS. MORGAN
Don’t worry so much Honey. She’ll call. You two
are meant to be together. I’ve always had a sense
for these things.

DAVE
It’s been three days Mom. She would have called
by now. I’m just going to have to face it; I’ve
blown another relationship.

MRS. MORGAN
She’ll call, and if she doesn’t, well you just give
her another call. Maybe she isn’t getting her
messages. Didn’t you say this Ally girl never liked
you.

DAVE
That was a long time ago. I’m sure she’s gotten
over it by now.

MRS. MORGAN
These young girls can play pretty mean
Sweetheart.

DAVE
I don’t get it. I listened to her, I remembered her
birthday, our dating anniversary, the names of
her friends. What’s wrong with me?

The door opens and Dave’s younger brother TYLER enters. He is five years younger than Dave and wearing sweatpants that have been crudely cut of f at the thigh and a T-shirt that says “No Shirt, No Pants, Let’s Party.”

TYLER
You’re a chick, that’s what’s wrong with you.

MRS. MORGAN
Tyler, don’t tease your brother.

TYLER
You mean Sister, Mom. Only a chick talks about
her feelings as much as you. But since you are
only into other chicks, how will Mom explain her
ugly lesbian daughter at the country club?

DAVE
The same way she tells them about her lazy,
under-achieving other son who’s 28 and still in
school.

TYLER
You’re still in school.

DAVE
I’m a professor idiot.

TYLER
I believe you are only an associate professor.

DAVE
Didn’t you go back to high school after you got
your diploma?

TYLER
It was my extra senior year and the girls liked a
guy with some experience.

DAVE
I bet you were a big hit with the special needs and
foreign exchange students.

Mrs. Morgan hugs Dave to her chest.

MRS. MORGAN
Boys. Stop fighting. There’s nothing wrong with
you, Honey, not for a long time now. Kathy knows
how special you are. Any day now, she’ll come
running back. You’ll see.

7 comments:

Mama Dawg said...

I like it so far.

The part that made me laugh the most (and I know this is strange) was the part where you mentioned that Kathy took everything, including the cord for the blinds. Poor Dave couldn't even close his blinds to the sun!

More, please.

Mama Dawg said...

Oh, would you mind if I mentioned this on my blog? Get you a bit more traffic?

Trooper Thorn said...

Thanks Mama D. Feel free to spread the word.

Just Lisa said...

I'm sucked in! Gimme more!

sassy stephanie said...

"she takes everything, including the light switch covers"

This will be a good series. I can feel it. Actually, I've lived it, and it is great.

Trooper Thorn said...

Thanks for the kudos. Part 2 goes up later tonight (after the Winnipeg/Calgary football game. Go Bombers!)

Jennifer P. said...

If you ever decide that you're insanely bored and feel like cruising through my blog archives, I've got a post from earlier this month called "I Know Famous People"--and you can read about the circumstances that allowed me to read a first draft of the movie Clerks. This reminds me a lot of that. I'm a goody two-shoes, church-goin' kind of girl, so I have to pretend I'm someone else when I read this because it's not something I can relate to at all (had to do that with Clerks too), but I enjoy what I've read so far. You do have a way of pulling a reader in, and I can see what the movie would look like in my head. Now lets add some explosions and kung-fu fightin'!!!