The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby

by
Ned Benson

Rough Draft
EXT. 12TH STREET AND AVENUE B, EAST VILLAGE, NEW YORK CITY -
A COUPLE SUMMERS AGO - NIGHT

CONOR LUDLOW, 27 at the time, somewhat handsome, dressed like

someone out of a Kerouac novel, stands at an ATM machine in a
corner grocery store looking a bit frustrated. He takes the
transaction record, but no cash...

He crumples the piece of paper, tosses it in a nearby trash

can, and heads down the avenue, pensive. We follow him toward
11th as he weaves through the various other EAST VILLAGERS
enjoying the June night...

A GIRL in a colorful skirt, One.org t-shirt, and flip flops

walks by with her terrier...

A WAITRESS sucks on an American Spirit in front of her

dive...

TWO THIRTY-SOMETHING SCRUFFY GUYS carrying a couple grocery

bags pass...

A YOUNG COUPLE, eating Ice Cream sandwiches, strolls by in

mid conversation...

HIPSTER GIRL
(as she passes)
...Yeah, but what if what you feel
is wrong?

Conor glances at them quickly while continuing up to the

front of a somewhat upscale restaurant called Uovo on the
corner of 11th and B.

INT. UOVO RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS

He steps in the door and into the fog of various dinner

conversations.

He sees the MAITRE D and they trade gratuitous grins. He

works his way past OTHER PATRONS (an array of suits, artsy
fartsies, and pseudo-bohemians), a WAITER, and a BUS BOY over
to a table along the wall where ELEANOR RIGBY, then 27, as
close to a heyday Katherine Ross as you can get and dressed
the best she can barely afford to be (a black vintage
blouse), leans back against the banquet. She sits in front of
a close to finished chocolate biscuit and two glasses of
Cabernet...

She hints a smile up at him.

He sits and puts his napkin back on his lap.

 2.

ELEANOR
And?

CONOR
Would you still love me if I
couldnt pay for dinner?

She looks at him, placid...

ELEANOR
Possibly.

She faintly grins then looks around the restaurant.

CONOR
So, how do we do this?

ELEANOR
Im thinking.

After a second...

CONOR
(quietly)
We could fake a big loud fight,
throw some shit, they kick us out
of here.

ELEANOR
Its been done...Itll draw too
much attention.

She leans over, reaching, and starts to take off her shoes
under the table...

CONOR
What are you doing?

ELEANOR
(matter of fact)
Taking off my heels...Im gonna
walk out first. You wait for the
right moment when the Maitre Ds
not looking...or whenever, and Ill
meet you down the street.

The Maitre D passes back toward the kitchen.

Eleanor stands, turning a couple heads, and walks toward the

door.

CONOR
Hold on...
 3.

Too late.

Conor, a bit confused, watches her go - cool as a cucumber as

she heads out.

Then the Maitre D passes back to the front and Conor remains
at the table, forced to look for the right moment.

After a couple seconds, he folds his napkin, places it on the

table, and peeks back over toward the Maitre D who answers
the phone...then Conor stands.

He begins to meander past the other tables toward the door,

doing his best to face away from the Maitre D.

He nears the front of the restaurant where A SMALL GROUP OF

BANKER LOOKING TYPES, rolled up sleeves and loosened ties,
waits for a table, and Conor hears...

VOICE (O.S.)
Sir. Excuse me, sir...?

Conor turns and sees A WAITER behind him indicating the bill
in his hand...

The Maitre D glances and notices with the phone still to his
ear...

Conor waves to the waiter politely as if in appreciation...

CONOR
Thank you.

EXT. UOVO/AVENUE B - MOMENTS LATER

He busts out the front door and emerges on Avenue B breaking

into a full sprint...

He weaves in and out of ANONYMOUS PEDESTRIANS...he looks back

at the restaurant: the waiter steps out followed by the
Maitre D...

Conor turns ahead and sees Eleanor, her heels dangling from
her hands by her skirt, strolling barefoot further down the
street...

CONOR
Hey!

Eleanor turns and sees Conor barrelling toward her.

 4.

ELEANOR
(to herself, referring to
the fact that hes been
busted)
Oh fucker.

She starts into a run down the block ahead of him...Then she
cuts through the middle of traffic on Avenue B to the other
side of the street.

Conor follows and narrowly misses a collision with A DELIVERY

GUY on a bicycle. He spins and heads down the sidewalk after
Eleanor...

As they near the top of Tompkins Square Park, he catches up

with her at full speed. They continue running and she starts
to giggle...

ELEANOR
(out of breath)
You look like an idiot when you
run.

He does.

CONOR
(panting)
Thanks.

Conor looks over his shoulder and then turns into the park.
Eleanor follows him onto the asphalt path...Its darker in
the park away from the street lights.

Conor then veers off the path between some benches onto a
grassy quad (in order to cut through the park more easily)
not realizing its wet, probably from the sprinklers...he
slips, slides, takes a good piece of grassy sod with him, and
lands with a rather dramatic and hard thud on the wet
ground...

Eleanor runs up to him and drops to her knees by his side.

Shes out of breath, starting to sweat, and tries to suppress
laughter...

ELEANOR
Baby...baby, are you okay?

Conor groans.

CONOR
...Im dying.

Eleanor pants...
 5.

ELEANOR
It was pretty epic, though.

They take a moment to catch their breath.

CONOR
Did we lose them?

Eleanor looks around.

ELEANOR
I dont know...did they even chase
us?

She collapses to the ground and lies down next to him as they
still try to catch their breath...

And thats when they notice the FIREFLIES, little flares of

light in the dark pockets of the park around them.

They rest there and watch...

After a moment...

CONOR
This is pretty good, isnt it?

ELEANOR
Yeah...it is.

She turns and looks at him a beat, then moves in and starts
to kiss him...he stops a moment...

CONOR
(half teasing, close to
catching his breath)
Theres only one heart in this
body, have mercy on me...

ELEANOR
Shut up.

She continues to kiss him there on the ground as the

fireflies ignite around them.

A COUPLE YEARS LATER

EXT./INT. THE MIDNIGHT KITCHEN - AVENUE A - EARLY EVENING

 6.

The modest open space of the eatery and bar is understated -

polished concrete floors, cheap mood lighting, minimalist
tables and benches, an adequate D.J. booth, an enclosed
kitchen in the back, a glass front looking out to the street.

The Cure or something totally depressing plays over a speaker

system.

ALEXIS COHEN, mid-20s, pale features, coltish, sexy depending

on who you ask, stocks the bar in a black tank top, a pair of
Dickies, rubber bracelets, and sings ironically along.

SIA, the busgirl/waitress, around thirty, precocious, cute,

Japanese-American, sets a table.

Conor, around thirty now, slightly more cleaned up in a

rumpled oxford, jeans, and trendy reading glasses sits at the
bar looking a bit frazzled while attending to some paper
work.

He looks up and listens...

CONOR
What the fuck are we listening to?

ALEXIS
The soundtrack of my life.

CONOR
Thats nice. Change it before I go
dive off a bridge.

He goes back to his paperwork.

She peers over at him.

ALEXIS
Something youd rather listen to?

CONOR
(without acknowledging
her)
Anything that doesnt make me want
to kill myself.

ALEXIS
Its just a song, Conor.

CONOR
No, its a reflection of your
stable instability...
 7.

Shes used to this, smirks, and steps over to the D.J. booth
to change the song.

STUART EDELMAN, thirtyish, slightly round, in a white chefs

jacket, Dickies, and a pair of Vans steps out of the
kitchen...

ALEXIS
Youve developed a real talent for
being an asshole.

Again, Conor doesnt acknowledge her.

CONOR
Well, some day you can to.

Stuart surveys Conor as he pencils in some numbers on a

ledger in front of him and takes a seat at the bar next to
him...

STUART
What are you getting pissy about
now?

CONOR
Theres the compassion I was
waiting for.

STUART
Im here to help.

Alexis puts on Everybody Hurts by R.E.M., smiling in self-

amusement.

CONOR
(reacting to the song)
Seriously Alexis.

Stuart suppresses a smile as she turns it up.

CONOR (CONTD)
Its not fucking funny.

ALEXIS
(competing with the
volume)
Its kind of funny.

Conor stands up, walks over to the ersatz D.J. booth, and
rips the iPod out of its adapter socket...

Then he walks to the entrance, opens the door, and flings the
thing as hard as he can down the street...
 8.

He returns toward his seat.

A car alarm goes off in the distance.

Stuart and Alexis share a confused look...

ALEXIS
That was yours...just so you know.

Conor looks up at her. He didnt and feels stupid for a

second, but doesnt show it, then goes back to his work.

STUART
(a bit concerned)
Maybe you should take a stroll, go
home for a bit before the rush.

CONOR
We dont have a rush and Ive got
too much fucking crap to deal with.
Im getting fucked by interest
rates, the leasing agents trying
to crawl up my ass, the expense of
your organic produce is exorbitant,
Brooklyn Lager hasnt shown up, and
please dont use the word should
in my vicinity. Ever.

Stuart observes him with a Buddhistic calm.

STUART
Finished?

Conor looks to him.

CONOR
All I asked for was some happy
music.

STUART
Youre full of shit in a really
good way.

Conor takes a moment and realizes this.

CONOR
Im gonna take a stroll.

He grabs his shoulder bag from the floor...

STUART
Be careful. Its a dangerous world
out there.
 9.

CONOR
Apparently.

Stuart shares a concerned look with Alexis and they watch

Conor step out.

EXT. AVENUE A NEAR 7TH STREET - A LITTLE LATER

Conor trudges through the bustle in the long blue light of

the late April evening...

A few VISUAL ART STUDENTS blabber, a GUY in a Yankees jacket

yaps on a cell phone, an ELDERLY LADY pushes a personal
grocery cart, and A YOUNG COUPLE walks THEIR TODDLER in a
stroller...

Conor glances at the couple as they go by.

He passes the Coffee and Computers Internet Cafe storefront

and turns west on 7th Street and walks past a building under
renovation plastered with posters for some horror movie, a
D.J.s upcoming show, etcetera.

He eventually walks up to a slightly dilapidating ivy covered

brownstone...

INT. STAIRWELL OUTSIDE CONORS APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

Conor walks up the stairs to the gray enamel painted door of

his apartment with the mail in hand.

INT. CONORS APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS

He steps onto the creaky wood floors of the apartment. Its

pretty dark with the exception of whats left of the evening
hanging outside.

He flips on the light to reveal the small foyer. An aging

metallic blue ten speed leans against the wall. A pile of
taped up boxes sit in front of a closet door.

He drops his bag and the mail on the floor and walks through
the living room filled by a bland couch and a coffee table
littered by a few text books, a book bag leaning against it,
an ashtray, a scented candle, some Village Voices, a Beatles
Revolver poster hangs on the wall, all under a small old
crystal chandelier probably passed down by family.
 10.

A goldfish swims tight laps around a cartoonish plastic

castle tower in a fishbowl on the adjacent kitchens counter.
Conor goes over and looks into the bowl...

CONOR
Hello Ralph.

He takes some fish flakes from a little container and drops

them in...then crosses to a hallway past a bathroom and into
the bedroom.

INT. BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS

He stops and looks at the bed...

A wave of brown hair sprawls out from underneath the

comforter onto a pillow under a framed movie poster for
Claude Lelouches A Man and A Woman.

Conor wears a concerned look, but goes and collapses on the

bed next to the lump under the covers, stares up at the
ceiling...

ELEANOR
(muffled from under the
covers)
What time is it?

CONOR
Five something.

Scattered voices and noise carries in from the street

below...

CONOR (CONTD)
(wondering)
Make it to class today?

ELEANOR
(still muffled)
Uhuh.

A beat.

CONOR
You okay?

Eleanor Rigby, now Eleanor Ludlow, surfaces...

ELEANOR
I sort of forgot how to fall asleep
last night.
 11.

She starts to sit up and takes the covers off her. She wears
a pair of panties and an NYU t-shirt. Somethings changed in
her face though. She looks worn, gaunt.

She remains there, gathering herself.

He rolls over toward her and reaches his fingers hopefully

into the lining of her underwear just above her hip...

She doesnt seem to register his touch...

ELEANOR
Dont.

He pauses awkwardly, pulls away...they get stuck in a quiet

moment.

ELEANOR (CONTD)
I had this bizarre dream that you
were having an affair.

CONOR
(teasing)
Howd you guess?

ELEANOR
Ive had it four times in the last
month.

CONOR
Who am I having an affair with?

ELEANOR
I can never make out her face...
Some vague girl with dark hair.

CONOR
Maybe its you.

ELEANOR
It isnt.

CONOR
I wouldnt worry about it too
much...Want to order some food
before I have to head back?

She looks at him then away, thinking...

ELEANOR
Maybe you should.
 12.

CONOR
Huh?

ELEANOR
Maybe you should go have an affair.

He looks to her and cant quite tell if shes being

serious...

CONOR
What do you mean?

ELEANOR
I dont know...Things havent been
particularly chipper in here.

CONOR
Were getting by.

ELEANOR
I dont want to keep tucking things
away, Conor. Pretending alls well
and good.

His brow furrows.

CONOR
How did we get from food to this?

ELEANOR
Can you take this seriously for a
second?

CONOR
I dont really want to take this
seriously for a second.

The phone rings.

Conor peeks over at it then back at her.

ELEANOR
It could be a good thing, help
clear the air or at least shake us
up a little bit.

Another ring.

CONOR
How exactly does that clear the
air?
(MORE)
 13.

CONOR (cont'd)
Maybe on your planet that works,
but I mean, fucking around isnt
usually the best way to smooth
things over.

Another ring.

CONOR (CONTD)
Are you gonna get that?

ELEANOR
You get it if you want.

And another ring.

CONOR
I dont want to get it.

ELEANOR
Its probably your dad again.

It stops. A quiet couple seconds...

CONOR
Is that what you want?

ELEANOR
What?

CONOR
To go fuck around?

ELEANOR
I dont know what I want. No.

CONOR
Jesus...is it?

ELEANOR
(hard)
No.

She stands there, fragile.

Conor walks over to her and puts his arms around her, holds
her. Shes unresponsive as they stare over each others
shoulders.

CONOR
Are we really doing this badly?

She releases from him.

 14.

ELEANOR
Conor, its been an impossible day
in an impossible month of an
impossible fucking year, so please
dont ask a retarded question like
that.

She walks out to the little hallway and into the bathroom
leaving Conor standing pensively next to the empty space she
left behind.

EXT. WEST VILLAGE - THE NEXT MORNING

Its a stunning cool Saturday morning in the city.

Conor, carrying two coffees in one of those cardboard trays

and what looks like a bag of muffins, walks up Bank Street, a
tree lined, cobble-stoned street of beautiful old townhouses.

He steps up to the black lacquered door of a handsome

brownstone. He listens. Some seventies rock like the Eagles
seems to play from a stereo somewhere nearby. Conor slightly
shakes his head, puts the coffee and bag down, reaches into a
nearby plant pot and procures a key...

INT. BRICK TOWNHOUSE - CONTINUOUS

Conor enters and the Eagles, Lifes Been Good, to be more

exact, is louder. Much louder.

The foyer opens to a living room. Tall ceilings, nice

moldings. A Cy Twombly on the wall. Floor to ceiling
bookshelves on the other wall. A modern dining room and a
probably rarely used stainless kitchen beyond it.

Conor hikes up a stairway to the left with the coffee toward

the music...

He reaches the top of the stairs and steps through a doorway

to the right into a den. The music is now deafening. A
television broadcasts Dr. Phil talking to a an unhappy
looking couple.

A MAN, maybe sixty, disheveled graying hair, slouches into a

couch in the middle of the room concealed behind the open
pages of the Saturday New York Times, seemingly oblivious to
the volume of his music, Dr. Phil, and to Conor. He wears a
pair of pin-striped boxer shorts, socks, not much else.

Conor puts the coffee and bag down on a coffee table in front
of the man, and stands there, still unnoticed...
 15.

He goes over to some built-in cabinets, adorned by art books

and picture frames, one with a photo of A COUPLE, an older
man and younger woman, other photos with VARIOUS FRIENDS
including one with the chef Alain Ducasse, and a photo a
Conor when he was maybe 5 dressed as a cowboy with a cap gun
on his hip.

Conor opens the cabinet up and reaches for the stereo

receiver to turn the volume down.

As the volume lowers, a faint pounding can be heard from the

other side of the wall, then a faint voice...

VOICE BEHIND THE WALL (O.S.)

Thank frickin God...! Asshole!

Dr. Phil becomes audible.

Conor sits down on a chair across from the man.

CONOR
Whats the paper saying today?

SPENCER
Apparently everyones going to die
of something.

He remains behind the paper.

CONOR
I heard about that.

SPENCER
I cant keep up with all this shit.
The ice caps keep melting,
something exploded in Baghdad, the
Democrats are a bunch of pussies,
bird flu, Richard Serras opening
at the MoMA, supposedly lime green
is the hot color for spring, the
stupid Knicks lost again...My head
feels like its about to burst.

CONOR
You could try reading without the
music or the T.V...or both.

SPENCER
I cant stand the silence.

CONOR
(moving on)
I brought you a latte.
 16.

He places the cup of coffee on the table in front of him.

SPENCER
I think my memory might be
evaporating.

CONOR
(ignoring him)
They were out of bran muffins, so I
got you a blueberry.

SPENCER LUDLOW, Conors father, folds down the paper. Hes

beginning to cross the threshold of the old. His good looks
going soft, but theres a faint glimmer lingering.

SPENCER
I despise blueberries.

He reaches for the coffee, takes a sip.

CONOR
(dry)
Youre in good spirits.

SPENCER
Im all I can offer...What are you
doing here, anyway?

CONOR
(confused)
You left like ten messages saying
you needed to talk.

Spencer looks at him blankly.

SPENCER
Told you. Evaporating. Times
rubbing me out.

He looks in the bag at the blueberry muffin. Grimaces.

CONOR
Wheres Sylvie?

SPENCER
Who?

He knows who.

CONOR
That obnoxious French woman you
married.
 17.

Spencer goes back to reading the paper, puts his feet up on

the coffee table, then...

SPENCER
She wanted a change of scenery.

Conor lets this settle, surprised.

CONOR
When did that happen?

SPENCER
I dont know...two weeks ago.

Conor searches for the appropriate response...

CONOR
Wow.

SPENCER
I try not to get emotional about
these things. It helps me stay
objective.

CONOR
Thats one way of doing it.

SPENCER
I do much better alone anyway.

No he doesnt.

CONOR
Okay.

Conor looks at him or what he can see of the man hiding

behind his paper.

CONOR (CONTD)
Why am I here?

SPENCER
I need a new manager to run the
place...

CONOR
(quickly)
No.

SPENCER
Will you let me finish?
 18.

CONOR
I like my little spot. We do fine.

SPENCER
Youre better than that.

CONOR
Im not up for this conversation
right now.

SPENCER
I didnt furnish you with a six
figure education to run some pop
stand. Im offering you a real
restaurant...

CONOR
I dont need the help, dad.

SPENCER
If you got the strings...Im trying
to do something for you, you
schmuck.

CONOR
Well, now that you put it that
way...

SPENCER
Oh, fuck off.

CONOR
Look, Im not sure exactly where
Im going, but Ill get there on
time.

Spencer gives him a long, hard look...

SPENCER
Whatever lets you sleep.

He goes back to the paper.

Conor, a bit miffed, watches him hiding behind it.

EXT. THE EAST RIVER PATH - AROUND THE SAME TIME

Eleanor, in a long skirt, a pair of old Nikes, a green French

military jacket, rides the metallic blue ten speed down the
path near the F.D.R. Drive heading toward the Williamsburg
Bridge.
 19.

She passes FAMILIES taking Saturday morning strolls, some

JOGGERS.

She notices the water taxi passing by on the river and then
turns west up Rivington Street.

EXT. WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE - MINUTES LATER

Eleanor now bikes on the pedestrian path across the bridge

toward Brooklyn, a heaviness in her expression.

A SCRUFFY GUY on a skateboard cruises by, checks her out.

Eleanor continues toward the middle of the bridge then gets

off the bike and walks along with it.

A SEPTUAGENARIAN COUPLE in a somewhat heated discussion

shuffles toward her...

ELDERLY MAN
...Ive got no regrets about it.

ELDERLY WOMAN
Well, thats your problem.

After they pass, Eleanor takes a few more steps and leans the
bike against the railing.

Then she pushes herself up onto the railing on the side of

the bridge. She gets her balance and hovers over the East
River...

AN AFRICAN AMERICAN GUY up ahead the walkway notices and

begins to run over to stop her...

THE GUY
Hey!?

A JERSEY GUY yells from a passing van...

JERSEY GUY IN VAN

Do it! Jump!

A FEW PEOPLE turn to look...

She takes a breath without looking down and decisively

jumps...

As she falls, she faces back up, her arms outstretched...

It seems shes reaching back, but she plummets away, getting

smaller and smaller until splashing into the river below.
 20.

EXT. 7TH STREET - LATE AFTERNOON

Conor walks down the street towards his building...

INT. CONOR AND ELEANORS APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

Conor enters into the foyer.

CONOR
El...? You here...?

He steps into the living room, peeks around, realizes shes

not there...

He goes over to feed Ralph his fish food and watches him
surface for the little flakes...

He notices the answering machine blinking...

Then the phone rings...then again.

Conor reaches for it...

CONOR
Hello?

EXT./INT. BETH ISRAEL HOSPITAL - LATER THAT EVENING

Conor runs up to a reception desk and looks to THE MIDDLE

AGED RECEPTION LADY, a cross around her neck, next to a small
nearby T.V. broadcasting Access Hollywood and talking with a
placid, plain looking, MIDDLE AGED MAN in a white button down
shirt, black slacks, holding some pamphlets and a Bible.

CONOR
Eleanor Ludlows room, please.

The receptionist gives him a weird look, quickly shares a

look with the plain man then glances back to her computer.

Conor notices this.

She types into a nearby computer.

RECEPTIONIST
Room 2010. Second floor.

He runs off to the stairs.

 21.

The PLAIN LOOKING MAN, AN EVANGELIST, watches him and then

looks back to the receptionist, questioning.

EXT./INT. ROOM 2010 - MINUTES LATER

A DOCTOR opens the door, and lets Conor step in alone...

Its a shared room, but the first beds empty...

He walks past a curtain that bisects the room and sees

Eleanor, flushed, hooked up to an I.V. drip in a bed next to
a window without a much of a view. She looks off into
nothing.

He stares at her, overwhelmed, not really sure what to do...

She looks over at him, slightly groggy, expressionless.

He leans down next to her, pushes her hair out of her face...

CONOR
(attempting levity)
I figured you wouldve gone for the
Brooklyn Bridge.

Nothing.

CONOR (CONTD)
(lovingly)
What the hell are you doing, El?

Again nothing.

CONOR (CONTD)
I cant stand the silence so please
just say something.

After a second...

ELEANOR
(softly)
I cant do this anymore.

CONOR
You cant do what?

She looks at him, some tears, no sobs, not anxious for a

conversation...

ELEANOR
Im not going back to that
apartment. Ever.
 22.

CONOR
Okay.

He has no idea what else to say.

ELEANOR
Some days everything seems okay,
you know, but then I hit the
afternoon and it all goes to shit.

CONOR
I know...I mean, I dont know, but
well move. We can go where ever
you want.

She looks to him, hesitant...

ELEANOR
I think you should spend some time
on your own.

CONOR
What?

ELEANOR
I think we should take a break.

CONOR
What do you mean a break?

ELEANOR
Dont be stupid...Ive been
thinking about it for a while.

CONOR
(dry)
Since you survived a jump off a
bridge this morning?

He regrets having said that.

ELEANOR
(harder)
Yes..., and for a couple months
before that.

He thinks about this a moment, incredulous...

CONOR
I guess Im noticing things less
than I used to.
 23.

ELEANOR
I guess so.

After a reflective beat, reality hits him...

CONOR
No fucking way!

ELEANOR
This can be pretty easy, Conor.
Were still on the young side, and
theres more than a lot we havent
done...theres all the scattered
scenery to see. Ive never been
anywhere, and I feel like Ive been
holding my breath for so long,
waiting for something grand to
happen so I can forget the loss you
suppose you share with me.

CONOR
Okay...so lets get the hell out of
here, well get a place outside the
city, or go to Paris, or trek
through Mongolia or wherever...

ELEANOR
(stopping him)
Conor.

CONOR
God damn it, El. Youve been the
star of my life story since the
second I first saw you...Dont pick
up and bail on me.

ELEANOR
Please be cool about this.

CONOR
Be cool? How do you expect me to
react?! Gee, El, that sounds
fuckin dandy, yeah lets call it
quits, seems reasonable in the
grand scheme of the last seven
years of my life.

ELEANOR
No..., but Im just some other
girl. Ill age just like the rest
of them. You wont miss me.

He squints at her like shes insane...

 24.

CONOR
What?!

She looks back him, silently pleading.

He thinks...

CONOR (CONTD)
So were just gonna fizzle into
some memory?

ELEANOR
I dont know.

CONOR
You cant forget what you want to
forget, El.

ELEANOR
Then Ill distract myself.

Hes at a loss.

ELEANOR (CONTD)
Ill spare telling you that its
all for the best, that I only mean
well and all that crap cause I
dont really think that...

CONOR
What the hell do you think then?

ELEANOR
The only way I can guess how to do
any of this is if I start from
scratch...alone...try some other
version of myself.

CONOR
Theres no scratch, Eleanor. Life
kind of sticks around.

ELEANOR
Maybe, but this is what I want.

CONOR
What if what you want is wrong?

She looks up at him trying to find the guy she thought she
used to know...
 25.

ELEANOR
Where have you been, Conor...?
Where the fuck have you been for
the last six months...? Why does it
feel like Ive had to do this all
alone?

He stares at her, taking a good moment, wondering the same

thing.

CONOR
I dont know...Ive been here with
you.

He knows he hasnt.

She wears a sad, disappointed expression.

ELEANOR
Let me do this, Conor. Please? Im
not asking you to understand, but
if you actually care about me, let
me do this..., dont call my
parents, dont call a shrink, dont
fight me. Just let me disappear for
a while.

He resigns against the wall and leaves a pause...

CONOR
So, what happens now?

ELEANOR
You walk out the door.

CONOR
And then?

ELEANOR
I dont know...Youll figure it
out.

They remain there, stuck in mute.

INT. CONOR AND ELEANORS APARTMENT - LATER THAT AFTERNOON

Conor rests on his side sunken into the couch. He stares over
at the Yankees game on their crappy, obsolete television.

The door buzzes.

Conor looks to it, but doesnt move.

 26.

It buzzes again.

He pushes himself up and heads over to the door.

He opens it to find the SAME placid, plain looking, MIDDLE

AGED EVANGELIST from the hospital in his white shirt and
black slacks. He holds a pamphlet.

CONOR
(skeptical)
Hi.

PLAIN LOOKING MAN

Im looking for Conor and Eleanor
Ludlow?

He holds out the pamphlet to Conor...

Conor looks at him blankly, then at the pamphlet, takes it

and reads the cover: When Your Loss Seems Unbearable...

He opens it. Inside theres a softly drawn picture of Jesus

Christ.

Conor looks up at him, deadpan, as if hes gone through this

before...

CONOR
(calmly)
How did you get this address?

PLAIN LOOKING MAN

The hospital.

Conor nods his head slightly, then after a beat...

CONOR
(dry)
Dyou think if I fall to my knees,
everything will turn out all right?

The man looks at him, unsure.

PLAIN LOOKING MAN

(pensive)
Umm...well...losing a child isnt
an easy thing to explain.

CONOR
(calmly)
What the fuck do I have to explain?
 27.

Another uncertain look from the man as Conor stares through

him, incredulous.

PLAIN LOOKING MAN

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing at all. I
just wanted to give you this.

CONOR
You know how many of you assholes
weve had to deal with over the
last couple months?

PLAIN LOOKING MAN

Umm...No, I dont.

Conor hands him back the pamphlet.

CONOR
Id appreciate it if youd fuck
off, thank you.

The man looks at him a second, almost says something else,

decides against it, then retreats down the stairs.

Conor watches him go and retreats behind the door.

EXT./INT. THE MIDNIGHT KITCHEN - AFTER MIDNIGHT

Conor sits, gloomy, on a steel counter in the kitchen

clutching a half drunken bottle of cheap Shiraz and eating a
piece of chicken satay from a skewer.

Stuart stands nearby in his chefs jacket, smoking a joint,

holding a mixing bowl, pretty shocked and thinking of
something appropriate to say, while the pans sizzle on a
range.

Its quiet for a couple moments...

STUART
Brutal.

Conor says nothing.

STUART (CONTD)
Im pretty sure she wants you to go
after her.

CONOR
No she doesnt.
 28.

STUART
Maybe give her a couple days, then
go after her.

CONOR
(irritated)
Stu.

After a moment...

STUART
(as delicate as possible)
I guess it was about time, though,
right?.

CONOR
Will you shut the fuck up?!

STUART
Im just trying to help you feel
better. I dont know what the hell
to say. What do you say to that?

CONOR
Dont say anything. Just have a
drink and lets talk about the
weather.

Alexis strolls into the kitchen.

ALEXIS
The dude at table two says hes
gonna kick your ass if he doesnt
get his chicken satay soon.

STUART
Tell him he can suck my balls.

ALEXIS
Might go over better if you tell
him yourself.

She hops up on the counter next to Conor, messes up his hair,

gives him a sympathetic kiss on the cheek, grabs the bottle
of Shiraz and takes a pull.

Conor ignores her.

CONOR
Ill deal with it.

He hops off the counter and walks out of the kitchen.

 29.

Stuart and Alexis exchange glances as he steps out.

INT. MIDNIGHT KITCHEN DINING AREA - CONTINUOUS

Conor steps out of the kitchen and gets blasted by The

Raconteurs from the iPod in the D.J. booth.

The place is about half-filled with what some call EMERGING

ADULT EAST VILLAGERS. TWO GUYS sit at the bar and pester
Sia, who tends it and prepares a drink tray. She looks over
to Conor...

SIA
Were out of beer.

He looks to her, shrugs, nothing he can do about it. He moves

on, as Alexis makes her way back to the bar behind him.

Conor stops and surveys the place: Table twos OCCUPANTS, all
in their twenties, A DISAFFECTED GUY WITH LONGISH HAIR, A
TALL LANKY GUY WITH A SOUL PATCH AND A BASEBALL CAP, A PUDGY
GUY WITH A CREW CUT, AND A GIRL WITH BANGS, look like theyre
in an indie rock band, and attempt coolness to the point it
pisses you off with their funky t-shirts, tatoos, and trendy
jackets. They sit toward the front of the bar in heavy
conversation.

A COUPLE, obviously in the throes of a new relationship,

flirts at another table.

Sia passes through with some Vodka tonics for them.

Conor stands there a second longer when an ice cube comes

flying across the room and hits him in the temple...

He winces, rubs his head...then looks to the source over at

none other than table two.

The longish haired guy, who threw the ice cube, shoots Conor
a look and a questioning gesture with open hands.

Conor walks over to the table, holding onto his composure...

CONOR
(over the music)
Whats your problem?

LONG HAIRED GUY

(pretending not to hear
him)
Huh?
 30.

CONOR
Your problem? What is it?

LONG HAIRED GUY

Yeah, wheres our fucking food,
guy?

Conor looks at him, annoyed.

CONOR
Itll be here, guy.

LONG HAIRED GUY

You said that like a month ago.

CONOR
Its coming...(adding) and Id
appreciate it if you didnt
threaten my chef.

Conor turns to head back to the kitchen.

LONG HAIRED GUY

What was that, shithead?

Conor stops, shedding his composure, turns back.

CONOR
I said dont threaten my chef,
asshole, or Ill drop kick you out
the fucking door...Youll get your
food when its God damn good and
ready.

The long haired guy reflects disbelief...

LONG HAIRED GUY

Are you fucking kidding me?

CONOR
Not that I know of.

The guy stands and looks at him squarely. ONE OF HIS FRIENDS,
the TALL LANKY GUY in a Where the Wild Things Are t-shirt,
reaches to calm him.

CONOR (CONTD)
Sit down.

LONG HAIRED GUY

Fuck you.
 31.

The long haired guy shoves him, and with that, Conor takes
him by the lapels of his trendy jacket and slams him against
the wall...mayhem ensues.

EVERYBODY explodes from TABLE TWO and rushes into the clumsy
scuffle.

The PUDGY GUY grabs Conor and throws him across the table
knocking over cocktails and shattering glasses...

Sia runs over to try to settle things down, but cant really
do anything...

Conor gets up from the floor, hurdles toward the pudgy guy,
and is met by the long haired and lanky guys. They pounce on
him, knock him to the floor...

Conor reaches and pulls one of them down with him...

Alexis makes her way from the bar...

Stuart pops out from the kitchen to find out what the hells
going on and sees the dogfight in the middle of the
restaurant.

They run over to try and break it up.

INT. THE MIDNIGHT KITCHEN - LATER THAT NIGHT

Conor holds a bar towel full of ice over his left eye...

Alexis sits on the bar next to him, reaches for the towel and
scowls at his black eye beneath it.

Stuart finishes sweeping up leftover glass on the floor.

Sia cleans up the bar.

SIA
We should probably consider hiring
a bouncer.

CONOR
We cant afford a bouncer.

STUART
The cops showing up was decent
publicity.

SIA
Yeah, there were like forty
bystanders.
 32.

CONOR
I appreciate the optimism.

STUART
Wrong choices can produce right
results.

CONOR
Yeah, and the other way around.

ALEXIS
You sound like my grandparents.

A pause as Stuart continues sweeping.

ALEXIS (CONTD)
Want an Advil or something?

CONOR
You can skip the bogus compassion.

ALEXIS
Thats a bit aggressive.

CONOR
Im sort of in a shitty mood.

ALEXIS
Well, were adapting.

Conor looks to Alexis, at the end of his rope for the day.

CONOR
Everyone get out of here.

Everyone stops and looks at him...

CONOR (CONTD)
Go home. Ill deal with the rest.

STUART
Are you sure youre okay to...?

CONOR
(hard)
Good night.

They exchange awkward looks and go for their jackets, bags,

things.
 33.

EXT. THE MIDNIGHT KITCHEN - EARLY MORNING

The long dark moments linking night and dawn.

Conor pulls his bag onto his shoulder and locks the front
door of the restaurant...then heads up the sidewalk toward
home...

New York seems empty for the time being and he steps into the
Avenue...

He walks across the abandoned street, Tompkins Square Park

off to the right.

INT. CONOR AND ELEANORS APARTMENT - MINUTES LATER

Conor opens the door and steps into the dark apartment. He
puts his bag down then heads to the bedroom.

He flips on the light and looks at the empty bed.

He turns away and goes back into the living room. He grabs
the phone and dials...It goes directly to a recorded voice...

AUTOMATED VOICE (O.S.)

The Cingular Wireless number you
have dialed is not in service...

He hangs up, tosses the phone across the room and it clatters
along the ground.

He surveys the apartment, Ralph in his fishbowl, the boxes in

front of the closet in the foyer, his and Eleanors stuff.

He stands there at a loss...

INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE CONOR AND ELEANORS APARTMENT - THE NEXT

DAY

Conor, unshaven and with his black eye, stands in the musty
off-white stairwell outside his front door with the BUILDING
MANAGER, EZRA, a Hasidic Jew in a suit.

CONOR
...You cant be serious?

EZRA
Sure I can. Im not letting you
break the lease without a months
notice.
 34.

CONOR
Thats ridiculous.

EZRA
Lifes ridiculous...and its
contractual.

Conor breaths a little exasperation...

CONOR
Motherfucker.

EZRA
Watch your mouth.

Conor looks at him, surprised.

CONOR
Sorry.

He looks back into the place.

CONOR (CONTD)
Im not staying here.

Ezra observes Conor and attempts a sympathetic look, knowing

what Conors been through, and thinks about it...

EZRA
How about...you use it as storage?
Pay me the rent, move everything
out in a month.

CONOR
Is that a possibility?

EZRA
I could make an exception.

CONOR
Oh...thanks.

Conor remains there thinking a moment in front of him then

turns and heads back into the apartment.

EXT. WEST VILLAGE - EVENING

Conor turns off of sparsely populated Hudson Street and walks

west down Bank Street wearing a pair of Wayfarer sunglasses
to cover his bruised eye. He lugs an old duffle bag, his
shoulder bag, and carries Ralph in his fish bowl with plastic
wrap over it.
 35.

He steps up to his fathers building, puts down the bag and

goes to the plant pot for the key...

INT. SPENCERS TOWNHOUSE - CONTINUOUS

Conor pulls his stuff through the door and puts it down...

He pushes his sunglasses onto his head, looks up and sees

Spencer, in a Valentino suit and shirt standing ahead in the
kitchen eating a bowl of Cheerios.

Spencer stops mid-bite and looks at his son, with the black
eye and his things, standing in the entry way.

He wipes his mouth on his shirt sleeve and steps out of the
kitchen, taking the temperature of the situation.

CONOR
I thought I could stay here for a
little bit.

Spencer looks at the fish bowl in Conors arms, then after a

pause...

SPENCER
Hey Ralph.

Spencer continues to study Conor, who remains there

deadpan...

SPENCER (CONTD)
You know where the guest bedroom
is?

CONOR
Yup.

SPENCER
Towels are in the closet in the
hallway...theres not much in the
fridge. I got some Cheerios.

CONOR
I can get some stuff.

They stand there in what seems like a wordless understanding.

SPENCER
Ive gotta head to the restaurant.

CONOR
Okay.
 36.

Spencer walks past him, grabs his keys...

SPENCER
Night.

He heads out the door.

CONOR
Night.

Conor stands there a moment, grabs his duffle bag and hauls
it and the fish bowl up the stairs.

EXT./INT. 9TH STREET MARKET - A LATE SUNDAY MORNING

Alexis stands outside with Sia on the sidewalk having a smoke

near some PEOPLE WAITING OUTSIDE for a table...

CONOR (O.S.)
...No clue where she is. She turned
off her cell phone service and like
that shes gone.

Inside, Conor, sunglasses on his head, the eye still bruised,

his stubble growing, sits across from Stuart over some plates
of scrambled eggs and coffee at the front table next to the
window in the busy restaurant.

STUART
No comment.

Stuart takes a bite of toast.

CONOR
Knock it off.

STUART
(with a mouthful of food)
Im invoking my fifth amendment
rights. I pretended to try and be
helpful the other night and look
what happened.

CONOR
I was off balance, but with some
hindsight I think I can deal a bit
better.

STUART
A couple days qualifies as
hindsight?
 37.

CONOR
Fuckin A, Stu.

STUART
I got nothing for you.

CONOR
Im asking you a simple question.
You dont have to dance around it
like youre gonna hurt my feelings.

STUART
With the exception of my dog, Ive
never woken up next to someone for
more than three days in a row,
Conor, so Im not sure how I can
say anything near relevant to your
situation.

Conor glares at him...

CONOR
I opened a restaurant for you,
asshole.

STUART
You opened it for you, and
according to the Village Voice,
its a bar with uninspired food.

CONOR
Whatever. I fight for its life for
you and Im incurring the cost of
an extra waitress cause she looked
at you the right way.

STUART
I thanked you, didnt I?

CONOR
Im not asking for some new agey,
psychoanalytical bullshit. Im
asking for my friends opinion even
if its an uninformed piece of
crap.

Conor waits for it.

Stuart ponders what to say...

STUART
(quoting Pat Benatar)
We are young.
(MORE)
 38.

STUART (cont'd)
Heartache to heartache, we stand.
No promises no demands...Love is a
battlefield.

Conor shoots him a sharp look...

CONOR
Youre a fucking idiot.

Stuart shakes his head slightly, at a loss...

STUART
I feel like Im walking on
eggshells...

Conor squints at him questioningly.

STUART (CONTD)
Ive tried talking to you about
this over the however many months
its been, but that hasnt exactly
flown on multiple occasions...Im
not really sure how to be your
friend anymore, hasnt been the
easiest thing...Youre no fucking
picnic. So, Im just here. Ill sit
here and just shut the hell up.

CONOR
I asking you now.

Stuart looks down into his coffee cup, on the spot, summoning
the courage...

STUART
To be completely honest, you guys
not making it kind of makes sense
to me...

Conor looks up at him, blasted, but keeps it close to his

vest.

STUART (CONTD)
...And anyone who flirts with
extinction i.e. Eleanor, should
probably do what they need to do in
order to get their life in order.

Conor holds his stare a moment...

CONOR
Thank you.
 39.

STUART
Youre welcome.

Conor looks off in thought for a second, glassy eyed.

Stuart looks uncomfortably at him.

CONOR
I dont want to end up one of those
people who grabs at all the
pointless, trivial crap in life and
lets all the really important
things slip away.

STUART
So dont.

Stuart takes a sip of coffee, looks at him, gauging, then

gives in...

STUART (CONTD)
I saw her on the street the other
day on my way to lunch.

CONOR
Where?!

STUART
Union Square.

CONOR
Did you talk to her?

STUART
Nope, she didnt see me. I think
she might have been heading to
class. She had her books and all
that.

CONOR
Why didnt you tell me?!

STUART
Because...well, I just did.

Sia and Alexis come back to the table.

The guys go quiet.

Alexis, big round sunglasses resting on her head, sits next

to Conor, gives him a smile.
 40.

ALEXIS
Whatcha guys talking about?

Sia sits on the bench next to Stuart and leans her back
against him.

STUART
The weather.

EXT. THE NEW SCHOOL - THE NEXT AFTERNOON

Conor sits across the street from the Albert List Academic
Center near 14th Street on Fifth Avenue.

He still sports the sunglasses, still hasnt shaved. A cup of

Dean & Deluca coffee rests on the step next to him, and he
sort of hides behind a Village Voice.

He studies the buildings front door as STUDENTS and TEACHERS

of varying ages flow in and out...

And then Eleanor appears, a dark somber star in the midst of

it all, taking his breath away for a second...

She buttons her green jacket up then slings her shoulder bag
over her head.

Conor stands clumsily, knocking over his coffee, leaving it

there and watching her walk uptown...

He starts to follow her on the opposite side of the street.

She turns onto 14th Street and heads east.

Conor rushes across the intersection darting between taxis.

EXT. UNION SQUARE - MOMENTS LATER

The area swarms with PEDESTRIANS and VENDORS.

Conor continues to tail her up Union Square West past some

STUDENT PROTESTERS milling about and accosting people with
Enough is Enough and Bring them home signs...

He stays a little ways behind her as they pass the Coffee

Shop on Union Square West, occasionally stopping to adjust
his pace in order not to get too close.
 41.

He looks ahead at her dark hair pulled back in a knot, her

jacket with the collar up - Its possible he forgot what her
cool elegant steps looked like after years of close
proximity.

When they reach the top of Union Square just past the
Starbucks, she crosses the crosswalk and heads down into the
subway station...

Conor stops a couple yards from the top of the stairs for a
moment and thinks about what hes doing...

Then, he lets her disappear.

INT. GUEST ROOM, SPENCERS TOWNHOUSE - NIGHT

The Velvet Undergrounds Rock & Roll seeps loudly under the
guest room door.

Rain taps against the windows. The guest room is French

Modern, twin beds, some prints hang on the wall. It feels
like it was decorated with a womans touch. A bedside clock
reads 5:03 p.m. Ralph swims in the fishbowl on the bedside
table between the beds...

Conors eyes open from a nap. He sits up on the bed closest

to the window and gets his bearings. His eye remains bruised.
He still hasnt shaved and the pillow left an indent in his
face. His hair is frazzled and hes fully clothed from
whatever he did earlier in the day.

His duffle bag slumps on a nearby chair, yet to be unpacked,

some clothes spilling out.

He stands up, heads to the door, and gets blasted by Lou

Reeds voice in the hallway.

He heads down the hall until he reaches the den and peers
in...

INT. THE DEN - CONTINUOUS

He sees the back of Spencers head as he reads the paper, the

music plays, and a commercial for Valtrex airs on the
television. An open bottle of Macallan stands on the table
next to an glass with a finger of Scotch still in it.

Conor groggily walks over to the cabinet, turns the stereo

down, and stands there for a moment.
 42.

The commercial becomes audible...it shows COUPLES on bike

rides and walking on the beach, smiling, while the voice over
discusses vaginal herpes.

Conor observes his father, recently showered in a button down

and boxers...

Spencer folds down his paper, peers over at his son, his
frazzled hair...

SPENCER
Im not here to approve or
disapprove, just so you know.

CONOR
Huh?

SPENCER
Your mother always gave me crap for
never stepping up to the plate.

Conor looks at him, confused.

CONOR
What?

SPENCER
She thought I never stepped up.

CONOR
What does that have to do with
anything?

SPENCER
Youre a bit like me.

CONOR
(annoyed at the comment)
No...Im not.

Spencer gives him a wooden look then glances to the paper,

and then back to Conor to make another attempt.

SPENCER
So...what else?

CONOR
We dont have to keep talking.

SPENCER
Youre the one who came in here.
 43.

CONOR
To turn down your stupid music.

SPENCER
(stern)
I like it loud.

CONOR
Okay, lets not get into a row over
it.

SPENCER
Look, everyday I try to do one
thing that makes me happy, to make
life nice, and usually thats
listening to my stupid music and
reading the stupid paper. Its the
best way Ive found to get along
with myself, so you can head back
to the guest room and count the
raindrops.

Conor looks at him, confused again.

CONOR
Count the raindrops?

Spencer sees his reaction, while another commercial comes on

for some airline showing picturesque views of Asia, Europe,
etcetera in the background.

SPENCER
Ive never been too good at this
type of thing.

CONOR
What type of thing?

SPENCER
Never mind...

Spencer looks away a moment then attempts to explain...

SPENCER (CONTD)
You shouldnt consider it your job
to investigate the expanse of
memory called the past and judge
what was correct and what wasnt.

CONOR
What the hell are you talking
about?
 44.

SPENCER
You shouldnt be interested in
regretting things.

CONOR
Im not.

Conor remains a moment, his brow furrowed in confusion at the

encounter...then he goes over to the cabinet, turns the music
back up and walks out of the room.

Spencer, also confused, watches him go.

EXT. SECOND AVENUE - THE NEXT DAY

Conor walks with a glazed look amidst the multitude of FOOT

TRAFFIC down the sidewalk...

His cell phone rings its annoying ring tone as he walks by

the Orpheum Theater. He pulls it out of his pocket, looks at
the I.D., and picks it up...

CONOR
Whats up, Stu?

INT. COSI SANDWICH CAFE - SAME TIME

Stu speaks into an earpiece while sitting in front of a half

eaten sandwich. He hides behind a copy of Cosmopolitan
Magazine and tries to be discreet at a table in the corner
looking across the room at Eleanor ordering.

STUART
Im looking at her right now.

INTERCUT BETWEEN CONOR AND STUART

CONOR
What are you talking about?

STUART
Your wife is ordering a sandwich
across the room from me. Chicken
salad, I think.

CONOR
Are you stalking her or something?

STUART
No. We just happen to enjoy the
same sandwich establishment.
 45.

Conor stops.

CONOR
Where are you?

STUART
Cosi. Thirteenth and Broadway...She
just got a lemonade...Conor...?
Hello?

He hung up.

EXT. 10TH STREET - MOMENTS LATER

Conor runs full speed down the street weaving his way west
and crosses through 4th Avenue.

INT. COSI SANDWICH SHOP - MINUTES LATER

Conor comes through the door huffing and puffing.

TWO NYU GIRLS give him a weird look and crack up as they pass
him on the way out.

He peers around the busy cafe, and then sees Stuart waving at
him with the magazine in his hand.

Conor walks up to him still panting.

CONOR
And?

STUART
She left.

CONOR
What do you mean she left?!

STUART
Exactly what it sounds like.

Stuart looks at Conor, curiously.

STUART (CONTD)
Im confused.

CONOR
So am I.
 46.

STUART
You ran over here, but you guys
separated because she needed to
spend the rest of her life away
from you?

CONOR
It was my first reaction.

Stuart furrows his brow in curiosity.

STUART
What are you doing, Ludlow?

CONOR
Im not quite sure.

EXT. THE COFFEE SHOP - THE NEXT AFTERNOON

Conors parked at a table outside the Union Square staple. He

wears his sunglasses, pretends to read an issue of the Daily
News, and sits in front of an untouched glass of Coke.

WAITRESS
Are you ever gonna order some food,
cause otherwise I need the table?

A WAIFISH WAITRESS stands over him.

CONOR
Yeah, no, Im just still waiting
for someone.

She glares at him and then steps away to attend to some

SLASHIES (model/actors) at a nearby table.

Conor goes back to watching the pedestrian traffic intently,

the throngs of NEW YORKERS, SOME NYU STUDENTS drinking
coffee, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS soliciting,
SHOPPERS, BUSINESS PEOPLE typing into Blackberries,
MESSENGERS...

And then he sees Eleanor appear between a small cluster of

PEOPLE...

She walks by with her book bag over her green jacket, and
passes heading down towards the New School.

Conor makes his move.

As hes about to step away...

 47.

WAITRESS
Hey! Dude!

Conor turns and sees the waitress holding up his check.

CONOR
Right. Sorry.

He reaches into his jeans pocket, pulls out some bills and
gives her a few crumpled singles, then he steps onto the
street and looks to the right for Eleanor.

He hurries down the street, peering ahead to find her...he

bumps shoulders with A GUY WITH HEADPHONES on...

CONOR
(looking back)
Excuse me.

He continues and then he sees her...

Shes about fifteen yards in front of him. He slows down and

lags behind to follow her.

He notices A FEW GUYS eye her as she walks by them...

She stops at a crosswalk and Conor abruptly banks right and

pretends to look into a nearby Wine Store window.

Eleanor turns to look behind her then looks back ahead. The
light turns green and she walks on.

Conor resumes tailing her.

Eventually she turns onto 14th Street and walks up and in to

the entrance of the Albert List Academic Center at the New
School.

Conor watches her walk through the doors...

And then proceeds after her.

INT. ALBERT LIST ACADEMIC CENTER - CONTINUOUS

He walks into the lobby, bypassing the reception area, and

notices her heading, along with a swarm of OTHER STUDENTS,
through some double doors ahead.

He heads for them...

 48.

INT. LECTURE HALL - CONTINUOUS

Conor steps into the large sunken tiered space, probably two
hundred seats, almost half filled.

GRADUATE STUDENTS climb down stairs and find their seats,

which face down at a chalk board and a desk.

Conor sees Eleanor cross the room as she works her way into a
row of seats.

Worrying that she might see him, he crosses to the opposite

aisle, waits for her to settle then finds a spot a number of
rows above her...

He watches her sit and take out her notebook...

A LATE TWENTIES PREPPY TYPE GUY, attempting to be smooth,

walks into Eleanors row and takes the seat next to her,
giving her a quick look as he does.

She gives him a gratuitous grin then stands and moves over a
seat.

Conor enjoys this.

A SIXTY-SOMETHING HAPHAZARDLY DRESSED WOMAN, the professor,

scurries down the stairs and drops her bag and a big plastic
bottle of Diet Coke on the desk in front of the black board.
She looks to the class as she takes out her notebooks...

PROFESSOR
Lets do this.

INT. LECTURE HALL - A BIT LATER

Conor, dazed by the lecture on the Methods of Cultural

Criticism, looks to his left and then to AN ANALYTICAL
LOOKING STUDENT just in front of him to the right and taps
him on the shoulder.

CONOR
(hushed)
Do you have some paper and a pen I
could borrow?

The guy turns to look at Conor, impassively. He reluctantly

snaps open his three ring binder to take out a piece of
paper, reaches for a pen out of his computer bag, and passes
them over his shoulder in a slightly annoyed manner.
 49.

CONOR (CONTD)
Thanks.

Conor writes something, folds it twice and writes something

else on the front of it.

He taps the analytical guy on the shoulder again who turns a

little bit more annoyed this time.

ANALYTICAL GUY
(hushed)
What?!

Some GRAD STUDENTS glare.

CONOR
Can you pass this toward that girl
down there?

Conor points ahead to Eleanor.

The guy turns back to him and gives him an Are you an
idiot? look.

CONOR (CONTD)
Please?

Hesitantly, the guy turns and taps THE KOREAN AMERICAN GIRL
diagonally in front of him who gives the analytical guy a
weird look. He refers her to Conor then she gives the look to
him.

Conor clasps his hands together in a sign of pleading.

The girl relents and passes it diagonally ahead to A BEARDED

THIRTYSOMETHING STUDENT in glasses and a V-neck who looks at
her like shes crazy, and then obliges after she points up to
Conor.

Conor gives him a hopeful, gratuitous smile.

Then the bearded guy reaches and taps Eleanor on the shoulder
with the note in his hand.

She turns and looks at him and the note, mildly disgruntled.
She takes the piece of paper and sees her name written on the
front...

She opens it...

It reads Hi.
 50.

She turns to look behind her with a puzzled expression, which

turns toward anger when she eventually notices Conor six rows
behind her.

He raises his hand in a placid hello-like gesture.

She turns away and sits there a good moment staring ahead...

Then, out of frustration, she shoves her things into her bag,
sidesteps out of her row and makes her way out of the
classroom.

The STUDENTS who helped Conor pass the note observe

curiously.

Conor makes his way out of his row and hustles up the stairs
to catch up with her.

INT. ALBERT LIST ACADEMIC CENTER LOBBY - MOMENTS LATER

Conor runs up behind Eleanor.

CONOR
Hey?

She ignores him and hurries through the lobby.

They walk at a quick pace side by side.

Conor searches for something to say...

Eleanor tries to escape...

EXT. ALBERT LIST ACADEMIC CENTER - CONTINUOUS

She bursts out the door followed by Conor into the late
afternoon.

He chases her up Fifth Avenue toward the curb at 14th Street.

CONOR
Hey Rigby!

She turns hard.

ELEANOR
What the fuck are you doing?!

SOME PEDESTRIANS are surprised and rubberneck as they pass.

 51.

CONOR
I barely got a chance to respond to
you the other day before you went
AWOL.

ELEANOR
What did I ask you, Conor?

CONOR
Just let me talk for a second.

ELEANOR
What did I ask you?!

CONOR
Give me a God damned second!

ELEANOR
Ive given you plenty of seconds!
So do me a favor and please leave
me alone!

Conor stops and looks at her, slightly devastated...

CONOR
Fine!

He abruptly turns, walks obliviously onto the crosswalk and

into traffic on Fifth Avenue...

Eleanor glances to see him go...

A taxi hits its breaks, screeches, but not quite in enough

time to stop from shellacking Conor and bouncing him off the
hood and onto the ground.

ELEANOR
Conor...!! Shit!

She hurries to him in the Avenue.

THE UKRAINIAN CABBIE hops out and runs in front of his cab.
He surveys the minimal damage and looks to Conor groaning on
the asphalt.

CABBIE
(accented)
Are you fucking stupid?!!

Eleanor kneels down next to him.

ELEANOR
Conor...?
 52.

Hes dazed, bleeding from his nose, and looks up at her

before fading out.

EXT. 14TH STREET AND FIFTH AVENUE - A LITTLE LATER - EVENING

Flashing lights...

Conor foggily squats on the curb as A PARAMEDIC dabs at his

bloody nose and leaves him with an ice pack on his head then
walks back to her nearby ambulance.

A police cruiser sits behind it. COPS question the cabbie.

BYSTANDERS in the background cant help but peer over at the

commotion and gossip about what might have happened.

Eleanor sits down next to Conor on the curb.

ELEANOR
(gently, almost teasing,
echoing the taxi driver)
Are you fucking stupid?

CONOR
Pretty much.

He looks over at her, sees a big piece of lint or something

on her shoulder. He reaches to remove it.

She flinches.

He shows her the piece of lint and blows it off his

fingers...

CONOR
I thought you needed a change of
scenery?

ELEANOR
I figured Id spent two years
trying to get my friggin Masters,
might as well finish the
thing...get past existence as a
perpetual student first.

CONOR
How are the methods of cultural
criticism?

ELEANOR
Theyre fine.
 53.

A beat.

CONOR
Where have you been staying?

ELEANOR
None of your business.

They share a pause.

ELEANOR (CONTD)
Is that what you so desperately
needed to say to me?

CONOR
No.

ELEANOR
What was it then?

Another beat.

CONOR
I was gonna say something really
good that would have solved our
problems and made everything all
better, but Ive forgotten what it
was.

She looks at him, hints at a sad smile then smothers it.

ELEANOR
Thats too bad.

CONOR
Yeah, it is.

After a moment.

ELEANOR
Im gonna go.

CONOR
I just want some time to talk it
out, El..., and then you can
disappear to wherever it is you
disappear to.

Eleanor looks at him, pensive...

The paramedic comes back over.

 54.

PARAMEDIC
You ready sir?

Hes shaky at best.

CONOR
I was born ready.

The paramedic helps him up and leads him to the ambulance. A

SECOND MEDIC helps him in...

Eleanor remains there, as stoic as possible, watching them

load him up.

Conor looks to her from inside the ambulance.

CONOR (CONTD)
See you round?

Eleanor pensive, doesnt answer.

CONOR (CONTD)
Can I keep stalking you?

ELEANOR
Goodbye, Conor.

They shut the ambulance doors and it drives off.

She pulls herself together, and walks away.

EXT. ABE LEBEWOHL PARK, EAST VILLAGE - A COUPLE AFTERNOONS

LATER

A gorgeous day in May.

Conor, with a few leftover bruises, a band aid on his

forehead, speaks into his cell-phone as he moseys by the
small park by St. Marks...

CONOR
(into phone)
...No...You dont have to candy
coat it, just get to the point,
please...Well, is there any way for
me to bootstrap it...? How about
like negotiating a trade credit on
some of the operating expenses...?
Come on, throw me a bone...You
gotta be fucking kidding me...?
(MORE)
 55.

CONOR (cont'd)
I dont have one written at the
moment, no...Thats just
glorious...No, no, I understand,
Ill go play the fuckin lottery.
(aside) Fuck me!

AN OVERWEIGHT MIDDLE AGED LADY shoots him a cross look as he

passes by her.

Conor turns back to her.

CONOR
Sorry.

He goes back to the phone.

CONOR (CONTD)
No, no, not you...Yes...I get it, I
get it...How long do I have...?
Fine... Let me call you tomorrow
and well work out the logistics...
yeah...Sure.

He hangs up the phone, shaking his head in disbelief.

CONOR (CONTD)
(to himself)
Unreal.

He puts the phone in his pocket and walks off toward his bar.

INT. THE MIDNIGHT KITCHEN - LATE NIGHT

The place is empty with the exception of Conor and company.

Teddybears with Iggy Pop or something like them plays from

the D.J. booth.

Stuart puts on his coat and gives Sia a nod toward the door
or the international sign for lets get the hell out of here
and go back to my place.

She goes for her coat.

STUART
Its been real, everyone.

Alexis wipes down the bar.

ALEXIS
No, it hasnt.
 56.

Stuart veers toward Conor, in his reading glasses and sitting

at a table doing paperwork, tallying up receipts, numbers.

He pats him on the head.

CONOR
Oww.

STUART
Slow night.

CONOR
A couple people came in to use the
bathroom.

STUART
How we doing?

CONOR
Aside from officially being an
endangered species? Not too good.

STUART
Can you translate that for me?

CONOR
Fridays the only night were
pulling in any cash. Ive been late
on bills...Were not covering the
overhead.

Stuart sort of knows what hes talking about, and nods.

STUART
I see.

A couple seconds...

CONOR
You got a plan B?

Alexis looks over at them, listening in.

STUART
Burger King.

CONOR
Seriously.

STUART
Um, can we not do this right now?

He glances, indicating Sia waiting by the door.

 57.

Conor grins, cynically.

CONOR
Do I actually have a choice?

STUART
No.

Stuart winks at Conor, then he heads to the front and ushers

Sia out the door in front of him. He turns back to Conor...

STUART (CONTD)
I believe.

CONOR
In what?

STUART
A higher power...can you hear it?

CONOR
Not at the moment.

SIA
Later.

Conor watches them go.

Alexis bobs to the music, again glances over to Conor.

ALEXIS
Ive got a plan B.

CONOR
(ignoring her)
You can go home now.

She walks over and sits down on a chair next to Conor. She
looks at the scribbling on the accounting spreadsheets on the
table...then at him.

ALEXIS
Im applying to Law School.

CONOR
Why would you do that?

ALEXIS
Seems more impressive than pouring
drinks, and given everything thats
going on here and now, I figured
Id throw in my two cents.
 58.

CONOR
Mend the nations wounds?

ALEXIS
You cant just shrug everything
off.

CONOR
Sure you can.

She gives him a wry grin, shakes her head at his pessimism...

CONOR (CONTD)
What happened to your life in the
arts?

ALEXIS
Ill probably faze it into a Sunday
afternoon hobby kind of thing...and
I think its sort of indecent to
have things so worked out, that
they wind up like you thought they
would.

Conor looks up at her, struck by what she just said.

Alexis takes note of his seriousness...

ALEXIS (CONTD)
You gonna be okay?

CONOR
Probably.

ALEXIS
Were living in a world full of
probablys.

CONOR
Yes we are.

She watches him as he remains absorbed in his paperwork.

ALEXIS
Well, Im a decent listener if you
ever want to talk about whatever.

CONOR
Talking about whatevers overrated.
I prefer to let things stew inside
me and then have the occasional
violent outburst.
 59.

She hints a smile, but doesnt answer...He looks up to her.

Then she leans in and kisses him. He doesnt kiss back.

She stops and looks at him.

CONOR (CONTD)
Whyd you do that?

ALEXIS
Just seemed like the next
interesting thing to do.

Conor looks at her blankly.

CONOR
Im sort of married.

She returns a skeptical look.

ALEXIS
Yeah...well, I dont mind.

CONOR
I kind of mind.

ALEXIS
Nobodys looking.

CONOR
Maybe in some other life.

She looks at him gently then kisses him again...

He leans away...

CONOR
Stop it.

ALEXIS
Whens the last time you had a
proper shagging?

She steps over his chair and sits on his lap facing him. He
doesnt stop her.

She takes the glasses off his eyes, looks at him...then

kisses him some more...

He goes with it a bit longer this time...then stops again...

CONOR
I can already taste the regret.
 60.

ALEXIS
Stop thinking. Its not healthy.

She kisses him again, reaches for his belt.

CONOR
Alexis.

ALEXIS
Yes?

CONOR
Tomorrows going to be awkward.

ALEXIS
Probably.

She kisses him again.

INT. THE MIDNIGHT KITCHEN - EARLY MORNING

An hour before the sun shows its face...

Conor, rumpled, sits alone against the wall clutching another

empty bottle of cheap Shiraz, a look of disgust hangs on his
face...

He looks around the abandoned late night eatery...

Then he chucks the bottle across the room and it shatters on

the opposite wall.

EXT. BANK STREET - LATER THAT MORNING

Another lovely day in May.

Conor, dark circles under his eyes, walks under the tree
canopy on Bank Street, squinting into the sidewalk ahead of
him.

He steps up to Spencers townhouse, opens the front door, and

enters...

INT. SPENCERS TOWNHOUSE, GUEST ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Conor walks into the guest room and looks up to see Spencer
sitting on one of the beds, unshaven, dishevelled...

Spencer looks up, surprised to see Conor, still unshaven,

looking pretty dishevelled himself...
 61.

SPENCER
You look like shit.

CONOR
Thanks.

A beat.

CONOR (CONTD)
What are you doing in here?

SPENCER
Um...I came in to check on things.

Conor looks to the fishbowl on the bedside table and sees

Ralph at the surface, dangling upside down.

He says nothing, walks over and peers down into the glass
bowl at the dead goldfish...he reaches his hand in and lifts
him up in his palm to make sure...he sets him back in the
water...then he takes a seat on the twin bed across from his
father.

SPENCER (CONTD)
I was gonna feed him.

Conor faintly shakes his head, disbelieving.

CONOR
Fuckin Ralph.

Spencer doesnt say anything as Conor looks over at the bowl.

CONOR (CONTD)
Hes not supposed to give up on me
that quickly.

They sit there a beat.

CONOR (CONTD)
(quietly)
Stupid fish.

He lets out a breath...

SPENCER
I got him for Jack.

CONOR
(hard)
I know that...

After a second...
 62.

CONOR (CONTD)
Whats a two month old baby
supposed to do with a fucking fish?
Not only were we dealing with dirty
diapers, but we had to look after
this fucking thing.

Spencer looks uncomfortable, slightly shrugs, then looks back

to the fishbowl...

Conor gathers himself...

SPENCER
What do we do with him?

Conor looks to his dad, not sure.

EXT. HUDSON RIVER PARK - A BIT LATER

They walk across the Hudson River Drive and into the
manicured park on the edge of the river looking over at New
Jersey.

SOME PEOPLE walk their dogs. SOME read on benches. SOME take
a stroll.

Conor carries a little cardboard box in his hands.

His father walks next to him, squinting somberly into the sun
ahead.

Conor peeks over at him...

CONOR
Is something wrong with you?

SPENCER
Most likely...Why do you ask?

CONOR
All the reflective talk the other
night was a tad weird.

SPENCER
I suppose Id hit the sauce a
little hard.

CONOR
Youre not dying or something, are
you?
 63.

SPENCER
Not that I know of...

Conor looks at him inquisitively then looks ahead.

SPENCER (CONTD)
I forgot my name the other day,
though.

CONOR
What do you mean?

SPENCER
I was in Starbucks ordering a
coffee and the guy behind the
counter said, Your name, sir? And
I just stood there stuck in a
blank. No idea who I was for a good
minute until all I could do was
walk out.

CONOR
Im sure that happens to a lot of
people.

Spencer looks ahead...

SPENCER
Im on my way to senior
citizenship.

CONOR
Yeah, that sucks.

SPENCER
On a clear day, I can actually see
the end of my life staring me in
the face, heckling me.

CONOR
See, thats weird.

They reach the riverside and hover above it on the parks

ledge.

SPENCER
Seriously, its fucking bizarre.
You turn the corner of your street
one day, everythings changed and
you barely noticed it happen...Its
all been sucked away into some
cosmic vacuum cleaner...
 64.

He looks over at Conor again.

SPENCER (CONTD)
Youre the same age I was when you
were born. Thats absurd.

Conor squints, uncomfortable.

CONOR
Where are you going with this?

SPENCER
Im not going anywhere with it. My
slut of a wife left me gathering
dust on the couch and all of a
sudden the only thing Ive left to
do is nothing.

CONOR
Well, thats what you get for
marrying a woman half your age.

SPENCER
Fuck you.

CONOR
(calmly)
No, fuck you. Dont lay this owner
of the lonely heart bullshit on me.
Shes just another in a long line
of arm candy that Ive watched you
plough through over the seventeen
or however many years its been
since you got tired of my mother.
It was pretty inevitable youd age
out of it.

Spencer holds back for a thoughtful beat...

SPENCER
Do you think I enjoy feeling like
an asshole?

CONOR
It kind of seems like it.

A beat.

SPENCER
You know, I was warming up to try
to tell you something nice.
 65.

CONOR
What would that be?

SPENCER
We all know a little something
about sadness or grief or whatever
you want to call it.

CONOR
Yeah, well, I wanted less of it.

After a second, Conors brow furrows...

CONOR (CONTD)
Hows that nice?

SPENCER
Theres this new thing called
empathy.

CONOR
Just because Im crashing with you
doesnt mean we all of sudden have
to become pals.

SPENCER
No, it doesnt...

After an uncomfortable few seconds...

SPENCER (CONTD)
(making an attempt)
Have you talked to her at all?

CONOR
(seeing through him)
No.

Conor, avoiding the subject, looks at the box...

CONOR (CONTD)
Shall we do this?

SPENCER
Do we say a couple words for
closures sake?

CONOR
Does that really ever close
anything?

Spencer glimpses at him.

 66.

SPENCER
No.

Conor holds the box containing Ralph over the Hudson and then
lets it drop. It falls and falls and lands with a smack on
the river below.

Conor and Spencer watch it float off.

EXT. UNION SQUARE SUBWAY STATION - THE NEXT DAY

Conor stands in front of the same staircase that Eleanor

descended into the Subway when he first followed her.

He descends down into the station.

INT. GRAND CENTRAL TRAIN STATION - LATER

Conor squeezes his way off the subway through the crowd and
makes his way quickly through the station.

INT. GRAND CENTRAL TRAIN STATION - MINUTES LATER

Conor walks down a platform and hops on a train bound for

Stamford, CT, indicated by the monitor.

INT. TRAIN - A BIT LATER

Conor looks out at the passing scenery, the urban turning

into suburban then rural...

EXT. THE STREET IN FRONT OF A COLONIAL HOUSE - LATER

He steps out from a cab and walks up the gravel driveway of

the pretty, white, two story clapboard house surrounded by
lawn and some maple trees.

He walks up the front step onto a porch adorned with wicker

chairs, reaches the door, presses the doorbell...and waits.

After a couple seconds the door opens and A HANDSOME, PALE

WOMAN, around 60, steps from behind it...

She looks surprised to see him in his still dishevelled state

and quickly shuts the door in his face.

Conor remains there, confused...

 67.

Then she opens it again...Shes unsure how to act toward him,

but attempts to mediate it.

MARY
(with a remnant English
accent)
Sorry...I wasnt expecting you.

CONOR
No, no...I wasnt expecting me
either.

She steps out and gives him a hesitant hug, which he didnt
anticipate, but appreciates nonetheless...

She pulls away and looks at him, distant.

MARY
Hi.

CONOR
Hi...Is Eleanor here?

MARY
No...umm...no.

Conor deflates...

CONOR
Is she staying here?

Mary looks at him, not knowing whether to tell him or not for
Eleanors sake, then she defers with a discreet shrug.

CONOR (CONTD)
Okay then...sorry to barge in on
you.

They stand there, uneasily, then Conor turns to walk away.

MARY
You want to come in for a second?

Conor stops and looks to her.

CONOR
Would that be alright?
 68.

INT. THE RIGBYS LIVING ROOM - A COUPLE MINUTES LATER

Conor sits on the edge of a couch in the slightly

overdecorated room with its blend of 19th century European
antique furniture and dark wood floors.

Framed photos of Eleanor, her parents, and extended family,

some older ones in sepia tones, cover one of the walls of the
room in what seems like a collage of the past.

Mary Rigby, Eleanors mother, walks in the room and hands him
a glass of water while holding onto a glass of red wine, then
sits in an adjacent chair, looking at him and still unsure
how to behave toward him. A slight sternness hangs in her
expression.

CONOR
Thank you.

MARY
Sure you dont want a glass of
wine?

She sips from hers, studying him.

CONOR
I probably shouldnt get started.

Mary gives a slight smile.

Conor takes a sip of water.

CONOR (CONTD)
Can I ask hows she doing?

MARY
I dont know to be completely
honest...as good as she can be?

Conor nods...thinks a couple seconds...he looks over at the

wall of photographs, particularly a picture of him and
Eleanor on the wall wearing caps and gowns at their
graduation from NYU...

Theres an empty square of exposed wallpaper from a removed

frame next to it...

CONOR
Do I seem like a different person
to you?

She studies him.

 69.

MARY
Do you feel like a different
person?

CONOR
Kind of.

MARY
You look the same to me...

Shes about to say something, hesitates a moment...then...

MARY (CONTD)
You know I didnt like you when
Eleanor first brought you out here
for dinner...however long ago it
was...Jesus, how long ago was it?

Conor, slightly surprised by the comment, watches her getting

caught in her memory.

CONOR
Seven years.

MARY
Yeah, you sat there, in the exact
same spot seven years ago with a
glass of water cause you were too
afraid to have a drink in front of
me; this obnoxiously perfect kid
who ran off with my daughters
attention...

She continues to study him.

CONOR
Why are you telling me this?

MARY
Im not sure. Just thinking out
loud, I suppose...I was looking at
you just now and feeling
old...well, older...

After a second.

MARY (CONTD)
You grew on me, though.

Conor looks down into his lap, unable to take the

compliment...
 70.

CONOR
(moving on)
Look, I dont want to interfere
with your life or with what she
needs to do, but I cant just chalk
this one up to destiny...

He looks toward Mary, but not at her...

CONOR (CONTD)
I walked on with my life cause I
thought moving on was the best way
to go.

MARY
I guess people grieve differently.

They remain there awkwardly a moment...

CONOR
(trying to smother any
hint of emotion)
I really have no interest in
feeling like this.

She watches him...He shakes his head, still trying to shake

the emotion off...

CONOR (CONTD)
Id love there to be an
appropriate, articulate thing to
say...I just wanted the mundane
daily bullshit back instead of
reminding people of what nobody can
stand to be reminded about.

A tear streams down his cheek.

She keeps her distance.

MARY
I assume Eleanor wanted something
else.

CONOR
Yeah...I assume.

Conor looks up at her, wiping his tear away, thinking about

what she just said...

She looks off pensively, then back to him...

 71.

MARY
And theres nothing appropriate
about any of this.

EXT. STAMFORD TRAIN STATION - LATER

Conor stands on the platform with a few SCATTERED PEOPLE

waiting to get on the train back to the city.

A train arrives on the opposite side of the tracks and pulls

away...

Eleanor walks across the platform, lugging her book bag, but
Conor, in his daze, doesnt notice her as she disappears down
the stairs.

EXT./INT. THE MIDNIGHT KITCHEN - THE NEXT DAY

STUART (O.S.)
Why do you have to be such a
stubborn asshole?!

Conor bursts into the kitchen with a meat and produce spread
sheet on a clipboard followed by Stuart.

CONOR
Because I feel like it.

STUART
Your fathers a culinary maverick,
essentially the Mick Jagger of the
restaurant game. Youve got carte
blanche into a three star Michelin
world, you lucky fucker! Pull your
head out of your ass! All it takes
is a phone call to save us and you
want to drown with the ninety
percent of restaurants that fail in
this bitch of a city?

CONOR
Stu.

STUART
How did he do it?

CONOR
Huh?
 72.

STUART
Howd your dad make it? Why dont
you at least take a play from his
book?

CONOR
He married my mother.

STUART
What do you mean?

CONOR
She gave him the money her family
left her, helped him open his first
successful restaurant then he
dropped her like a bad habit. So,
go find some loaded, lonely woman
and well go from there.

STUART
Well...

CONOR
Id rather fail catastrophically on
my own than give him the
satisfaction of thinking he handed
me life on a platter.

STUART
Thats the stupidest thing in the
history of stupid things Ive ever
heard.

CONOR
Jesus, Stu. What the hell do you
thinks gonna happen? Hey dad, can
my friends come work with me
too...? Its not like a fucking
slumber party and as decent a cook
you are...

STUART
(interrupting)
Im a chef, actually.

CONOR
Fine...You dont exactly cut it in
those kitchens. No offense.

STUART
Oh, none taken.

Stuart lets this settle.

 73.

Then he charges Conor, and tackles him. Pots go flying and

the two of them wind up in a loud and clumsy scuffle on the
kitchen floor.

INT. MIDNIGHT KITCHEN, OUTSIDE THE KITCHEN DOOR - CONTINUOUS

Upbeat Nouvelle Vague plays from the speaker system.

More pots and pans clatter and clang as the scuffle goes on
in the background.

STUART (O.S.)
You stupid...!

Alexis, behind the bar, and Sia, setting tables, hear them
and look toward the commotion in the kitchen.

STUART (O.S.)
Oww...fucker!!

Then silence...

A WOMAN, backlit by the light from outside, walks in the

front door.

Alexis looks over at her.

ALEXIS
Were not open quite yet.

INT. KITCHEN, THE MIDNIGHT KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER

Conor and Stuart lie on the kitchen floor staring at the

ceiling, huffing.

CONOR
(huffing)
You okay?

STUART
(also huffing)
I was number three in my class at
the New York School of Culinary
Arts, motherfucker.

CONOR
(through breaths)
I know that, moron...I loved our
little set up here, but the lease
has gotten prohibitively expensive.
(MORE)
 74.

CONOR (cont'd)
Unless you want to camp out in the
kitchen.

STUART
Ill buy the sleeping bags.

CONOR
Its time to let it go. Time to
grow up.

STUART
I am grown up.

After a beat, and some more breath catching.

STUART (CONTD)
When do we have to close?

CONOR
End of next week.

STUART
Can we try to promote one last
banger before we lock it down?

CONOR
Fine by me.

STUART
Can we abuse some heavy narcotics?

CONOR
Whatever honks your horn.

Conor pushes himself up, dusts himself off and reaches to

pull up Stuart.

STUART
Sorry.

CONOR
Blow me.

They give each other a half-assed handshake and step out of

the kitchen.

INT. MIDNIGHT KITCHEN DINING AREA - CONTINUOUS

Conor emerges through the kitchen door, stops in his tracks,

and sees Eleanor with a pony tail, in her green jacket,
sitting across the bar from an uncomfortable Alexis.

Eleanor turns and sees him.

 75.

Stuart steps out behind Conor and sees her across from
Alexis...

STUART
Holy shit.

ELEANOR
Good to see you too, Stuart.

Conor remains there awkwardly looking at her.

STUART
What I meant was hi, Rigby.

She doesnt care.

ELEANOR
Uhuh.

An uneasy beat as they all watch Conor and Eleanor looking at

each other.

STUART
Well, this has been nice, like old
times, reconnecting and all that,
but Im gonna head back into the
kitchen.

ALEXIS
Ill join you.

Alexis quickly walks out from behind the bar, avoiding eye
contact, and follows Stuart into the kitchen.

Sia hustles across the room and accompanies them leaving

Conor and Eleanor alone at the bar.

Eleanor stays cool as a cucumber.

Conor walks behind the bar and stands across from Eleanor, at
a loss for words for a couple seconds, then...

CONOR
A Shirley Temple?

ELEANOR
Please.

He grabs a glass, ice, mixes the ginger ale and grenadine

with a cocktail cherry on top and puts it in front of her.

She pulls out some cash, not taking it for granted.

 76.

CONOR
Your moneys no good here.

She looks at him and puts it away, sips from the straw.

ELEANOR
Business good?

CONOR
Were closing.

She looks at him a beat.

ELEANOR
Sorry to hear that.

CONOR
Me too.

Another beat as the kitchen door opens a crack for Stuart,

Alexis, and Sia to hear.

ELEANOR
So whats next?

CONOR
I was thinking of developing some
interests that people might
actually take an interest in.

She allows a grin.

ELEANOR
You gonna work with your dad?

He ignores that and looks at her, thinking...

CONOR
You know, before you, I had no
fucking clue who I was. When I was
with you, I thought Id figured it
out...Now, Im back to wondering.

ELEANOR
When you figure it out again, tell
me how.

She looks at him, his bruises, the circles under his eyes,
deadpan.

ELEANOR (CONTD)
Lets get out of here.
 77.

CONOR
What?

ELEANOR
Lets go.

Hes off guard.

CONOR
Like, right now?

ELEANOR
That was the idea.

CONOR
Umm...

He looks toward the kitchen, hesitant.

ELEANOR
I dont believe in wasting time.

He looks back at her and then walks out from behind the bar.

She takes another sip of her Shirley Temple, stands and walks
toward the door.

He watches her then follows her out.

EXT. AVIS RENT A CAR, 11TH AND BROADWAY - A LITTLE LATER

They stand self-consciously quiet, all the pressure in the

world to make this work, waiting for a car to be brought up
out of the garage as the afternoon begins to settle into
evening over Manhattan.

She looks over at him then looks away.

Then he looks to her...

CONOR
So, were just gonna drive
aimlessly?

ELEANOR
Yes.

He wears an uncertain expression, she notices.

A maroon Chevy Cobalt drives quickly up to them and screeches

to a halt.
 78.

Conor and Eleanor share a look.

THE ATTENDANT, a mid-forties Avis lifer, pops out and leaves

it running for them.

ATTENDANT
Dont forget to fill it up before
dropping it off.

Eleanor hops in the passenger seat.

CONOR
Will do.

Conor gets in and drives onto east 11th street.

EXT. THE NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE - AN HOUR LATER

They drive along the heavily trafficked interstate near the

Meadowlands.

INT. CHEVY COBALT - CONTINUOUS

No radio. No talk.

The suns descending and light sneaks through some heavy rain
clouds that are moving in. Youd have never thought the pike
could look beautiful with its industrial accents and
adjacent wetlands.

Eleanor looks over toward the sun as Conor, stuck in his

head, stares ahead out the windshield...

After a moment...

ELEANOR
Makes you want to applaud.

CONOR
Huh?

ELEANOR
The sunset.

He glances toward the sunset, stuck in his head.

CONOR
Oh...yeah. Pretty.

He looks back ahead.

 79.

She looks over at him, confused and maybe annoyed, then flips
on the radio and tunes through the fuzziness past some smooth
jazz, a commercial, some Hip Hop, Phil Collins, and settling
on something totally depressing like Roxy Music.

Conor listens a moment, glances at her with a furrowed

brow...then turns it off.

ELEANOR
What are you doing?

CONOR
I cant listen to that right now.

She flips it back on.

ELEANOR
Well, suck it up.

Conor sucks it up for a moment...then has to reach and change

the station. He settles on some cheesy, upbeat contempo-Pop
like Natasha Bedingfield or Fergie.

Eleanor glances over at him, a little miffed, then back

ahead, and they sit staring at the cars in front of them
listening to cheesy contempo-Pop...

A raindrop hits the windshield then another...

INT. CHEVY COBALT - A BIT LATER

Its pouring...

So much so that Conor cant really see out the windshield.

He turns the wipers up to full power, but they make an awful

squeaking sound and dont really help clear anything.

CONOR
I cant see a fucking thing.

ELEANOR
So pull over.

A thunderclap...

CONOR
God damn it!

Conor pulls the car over to the shoulder, puts on the hazard
lights, looks out the window for the right moment...
 80.

He hops out into the rain...

EXT. NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE - CONTINUOUS

He runs around to the wipers, picks them off the windshield

and tries to straighten them, getting completely soaked in
the process.

Cars and trucks roar by, spraying rainwater off the highway.

Conor finishes with the second wiper, runs back to the

drivers side door and hops back in.

INT. CHEVY COBALT - CONTINUOUS

Hes sopping wet, drenched, and squishes uncomfortably into

the drivers seat.

Eleanor looks at him, says nothing...

He tries the wipers again and they make the same awful
squeaky noise without really clearing the windshield.

CONOR
Fucker!

Eleanor hides a smile.

CONOR (CONTD)
Of course we get the car with the
retarded wipers.

ELEANOR
Should we just wait it out?

CONOR
I dont know...We could try and
make it to the next exit.

ELEANOR
Whats the hurry?

He looks to her as water drips down his forehead face and the
rest of him.

The rain pelts the car.

CONOR
What the hell are we doing here?!
 81.

ELEANOR
You tell me. Youre the one who
stalked me, said you had to talk,
and then showed up at my parents
house!

CONOR
You, just recently, like an hour
ago, waltzed into my bar and
suggested we drive aimlessly into
the perfect storm here!

A beat.

ELEANOR
(shaking her head)
This is funny.

CONOR
(dry)
Yeah, its fuckin hilarious.

After a good heavy moment of silence, he looks over at her...

CONOR (CONTD)
There was a brief moment when I
thought wed pieced together a
pretty decent life.

She doesnt reply, and looks somberly out the window.

He stares through the windshield at the blur of passing cars

in thought...

The water dripping down the windshield reflects on their

faces.

Another thunderclap.

Conor shakes his head slightly. Theyre quiet for a couple

more seconds...

CONOR (CONTD)
Im gonna move everything out of
the apartment next week...

Another beat as she thinks about this.

CONOR (CONTD)
You want me to keep anything for
you?

She ignores the question...

 82.

ELEANOR
Wherere you moving to?

CONOR
I dont know. I can stay at my
dads for a bit til I figure it
out.

After a second...

ELEANOR
How is Spencer?

CONOR
Im pretty sure hes losing his
mind...Sylvie left him and hes
getting talkative, waxing
philosophical. Same crap he always
pulls when hes between significant
others.

ELEANOR
I think its probably more than
just that.

CONOR
Maybe.

ELEANOR
At least you guys are talking.

A beat...

CONOR
What did you say to your parents
about us?

She looks at him, questioning.

ELEANOR
What would I say?

Conor thinks, after a second...

CONOR
(half-teasing)
That were fabulous.

She smiles, a bit sadly...after a moment...

ELEANOR
I feel like were living some
dreadful disaster cliche...
 83.

CONOR
We are.

She looks at him, soaking...she smirks.

ELEANOR
Youre sopping wet.

CONOR
You noticed.

She reaches and wipes and pushes the hair off his brow...

They share a look for a little too long...he gets

uncomfortable...

She instinctively moves in over the armrest and kisses his

cheek, pulls back, then looks at him up close, examining
him...

He reflects it...then kisses her softly on the lips...

She pulls back again...they sit there a moment looking in

each others general direction, gauging, considering.

She moves in again and kisses him more...

He drips rainwater, kisses back. Its a bit messy...a soggy,

beautiful kiss...

Then he has to pull away.

CONOR (CONTD)
Wait a second.

He looks down pensively, then out the window...then at her

about to tell her something...

She reads his expression...

CONOR (CONTD)
Shit...

After a couple seconds, she can guess.

ELEANOR
(calm)
You slept with someone else.

He looks at her...

CONOR
Im that easy to see through?
 84.

ELEANOR
Yes.

Her lips tighten in defiance, she breaths.

ELEANOR (CONTD)
Doesnt matter.

CONOR
What do you mean it doesnt matter?

ELEANOR
Arent we tired of this dance?

CONOR
What dance?

ELEANOR
I dont really want to go through
the motions of some stupid, never
ending argument that cant be won
or lost and leads to the same exact
spot were in at this particular
moment, except well both be more
tired.

CONOR
Its not worth fighting over?

She smiles softly, looks down.

ELEANOR
Get over yourself, Conor.

CONOR
Youre supposed to say thats
bullshit, Conor! Youre a selfish,
awful, hopeless person!

ELEANOR
No...I think were pretty far past
that...and you just said it for me.

The rain has weakened a little, but still patters the car.

Not a trace of feeling grazes Eleanors face.

ELEANOR (CONTD)
Im ready to go back to the city.

He glances over at her, expressionless, no words to say.

 85.

EXT. HOUSTON STREET, MANHATTAN - AN HOUR LATER

Its drizzling still as Conor drives the maroon Chevy over

from the west side.

INT. CHEVY COBALT - CONTINUOUS

They sit in a seemingly unbreakable silence.

ELEANOR
You can leave me at the next
corner.

Conor says nothing.

He pulls over to the curb at Houston and Thompson.

They sit there a moment and then she looks over at him. He
shares the look with her. A mutual look of impossibility.

Then she opens the door, steps out into the rain, and closes
it behind her.

Conor looks out through the rain covered window, watches her
walk off into the blurred city lights and disappear again.

EXT. THE MEATPACKING DISTRICT - LATER THAT NIGHT

Conor walks in the drizzle on the cobble stoned streets

across Ninth Avenue onto Little West 12th Street and up to a
restaurant named Ana.

INT. RESTAURANT ANA - MOMENTS LATER

He steps in...

The place is nice, really nice. A modern, incredibly elegant,

yet casual French bistro in the vein of Atelier Joel Robuchon
in Paris. Big space, a lot of wood finishing, black and white
tile floor, a gorgeous bar, old obscure Scotches, liquors, a
huge antique espresso machine...

Its emptied out by now. BUS BOYS, an actual staff in shirt

and tie uniforms, clean up tables and sweep the floor.

Nina Simone plays softly in the background.

Conor looks to the coat check.

 86.

CONOR
Hey Lydia.

LYDIA, the twenty-something coat check girl, looks up from

counting her tips, smiles...

LYDIA
(a bit of a Long Island
accent)
Hey you...I think hes in his spot.

Conor moves on to the ATTRACTIVE CONTINENTAL HOSTESS, PHOEBE,

in a suit at the reservations desk...

CONOR
Hi.

She looks up, smiles.

PHOEBE
Hello there.

He kisses her nonchalantly on both cheeks. They obviously

know each other.

Conor continues through and sees Spencer sitting ahead at the

end of the mahogany bar and going through some paperwork next
to an open bottle of 25 year old Macallan Scotch and a glass
full of it.

Conor sits down next to him.

Spencer ignores him, continuing his work.

Conor reaches over the bar for the nearest available glass
and pours himself some Scotch, takes a sip...

SPENCER
(still in his paperwork)
You could do what you want with the
place. Make it your own.

CONOR
What do you mean?

SPENCER
Im done.

Conor understands after a second and lets this sink in...

 87.

SPENCER (CONTD)
It was pretty cool once upon a
time...Some of the same faces still
show up, except more wrinkly, or
sometimes less...the Stones were in
here last week after playing the
Garden, but mostly, people just
keep fading away.

He peers off into the restaurant space...

SPENCER (CONTD)
Im starting to think Ive done
this way too long.

CONOR
Youve done pretty good.

SPENCER
Allegedly..., but my current
existence is about as action packed
as...you ever seen one of those
monotonous, low budget nature
videos they have on airplanes
before taking off?

CONOR
No.

SPENCER
Well, they suck...

Conor squints, slightly confused.

SPENCER (CONTD)
Complacency scares the living shit
out of me.

Conor takes another sip...after a moment...

CONOR
I forfeited the loan and Im losing
the lease on my bar. Eleanors gone
with the wind, Im thirty years
old, my existences a fucking boat-
wreck.

SPENCER
(raising him)
Im sixty. I lost my grandson this
year, something youve basically
forbidden to talk about. My third
wife just left me.
(MORE)
 88.

SPENCER (cont'd)
I walk into a restaurant named
after your mother every afternoon.
Its time to get the hell out of
Dodge for a while.

CONOR
I forbid you to talk about him...?

Conor glares over at him...

CONOR (CONTD)
What the fuck are you gonna tell
me?

Still no answer as Spencer looks away.

CONOR (CONTD)
And now what? Youre gonna fly off
to never neverland, become a
Buddhist or some shit, return to
enlighten us all?

SPENCER
Fuck enlightenment...Im hoping to
figure out some way to deal with
reality...

He looks back into his paperwork for a second.

Conor looks off...

SPENCER (CONTD)
Whyre you here, anyway?

CONOR
I was in the neighborhood.

After a pensive couple seconds, Conor looks to him...

Spencer notices.

SPENCER
What?

CONOR
You ever wonder exactly why you
fall in love with a specific
someone?

Spencer, perhaps surprised Conors asking him this, peers

over him...
 89.

SPENCER
Not really...I think to myself,
somethings wrong here, but I cant
quite put my finger on what it
is...

Conor contemplates that...

SPENCER (CONTD)
Theres always one that haunts
you...Give her time. Its the least
you can do given the circumstances.

CONOR
Circumstances suck.

Spencer glances at Conor looking off into nothing...

SPENCER
In all the time since what happened
happened, any thought or any
reminder of him has been something
to run my mind as far the fuck away
as I can...

A quiet beat...

SPENCER (CONTD)
A shooting stars brief, but isnt
one nonetheless glad to have seen
it?

Conor permits a slight grin.

CONOR
Arent you the delicate soul?

SPENCER
No ones ever accused me of being
that.

Spencer observes his son, worn out, scruffy...

SPENCER (CONTD)
You hungry?

CONOR
Perpetually.

Spencer stands, gives Conor a quick pat on the head, and goes
to make him a plate in the restaurants kitchen.
 90.

INT. SPENCERS TOWNHOUSE, GUEST ROOM - THE NEXT DAY

Conor wakes up with a start, perhaps hung over, still in his

clothes from the night before...

Sunlight blasts through the windows, blinding.

He looks over at the bedside clock. 2:11 p.m.

CONOR
Ughh.

He falls back against the pillow, disgusted by himself.

EXT. AVENUE A - LATER THAT AFTERNOON

Conor hurries down the Avenue in the late spring air, freshly
showered, haphazardly dressed in his signature untucked,
rumpled button down, jeans, sneakers, his shades...

He passes through the MYRIAD OF PEDESTRIANS, the SAME OLD

EAST VILLAGE LADY pushing her grocery cart, a guy in a Mets
hat, some other VILLAGERS enjoying the warm spring day with a
cup of Tasti-D-lite, all of them walking here and there...

INT. THE MIDNIGHT KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER

Conor enters.

Alexis, alone, stocks the bar listening to Gnarls Barkley on

the stereo system.

CONOR
(under his breath)
Fuck.

She looks up at him.

CONOR (CONTD)
Hi.

He walks over towards the bar...

ALEXIS
That was really awesome of you to
bail on us last night.

CONOR
Whatd I miss?
 91.

ALEXIS
I made three bucks in tips.

CONOR
Well done.

She looks at him deadpan, hesitates, then...

ALEXIS
(curious)
So...?

CONOR
(evasive)
So what?

Off his reaction she shuts up, and keeps stocking the bar...

Then Stuart blasts in with Sia...

STUART
Hey Alexis, any idea what our
capacity is in here?

He sees Conor.

STUART (CONTD)
Oh, howdy...

CONOR
Howdy.

He looks at Conor, inquisitive about Eleanor.

STUART (CONTD)
And?

CONOR
(not up for it)
Does it really matter?

Stuart continues to look at him, concerned, but letting it

go...

STUART (CONTD)
(moving on)
Anyway...whats our capacity in
here?

CONOR
Why?
 92.

SIA
Our going out of business shindig.

STUART
I think we might have told a tad
too many people about it.

Sia steps away evasively toward the bar.

CONOR
Like how many people?

INT. THE MIDNIGHT KITCHEN - FRIDAY NIGHT

Its packed...for the first time.

THE EMERGING ADULT NEW YORKERS in all their disaffected

glory spill onto the street in front, SOME smoking outside,
SOME texting, OTHERS just chatting each other up.

New Order blasts from the D.J. booth.

AN ACTUAL CROWD overwhelms Sia at the bar with drink

requests.

Conor runs chicken satay and a cheese plate to one table and
grabs a check from another.

He then heads to the door to seat a young TWENTY-SOMETHING

COUPLE at a table by the window...

CONOR
Beverage?

GUY
(deferring)
Baby?

GIRL
A Stella, please.

CONOR
Were actually out of beer.

GIRL
(confused)
Um, okay...a Cabernet?

Conor nods and looks to the guy, vaguely similar in style to

himself at a younger age - dressed like hes out of a Kerouac
novel.
 93.

GUY
Same.

Conor observes them a moment too long and they give him a
weird questioning look...

GUY (CONTD)
Something wrong?

CONOR
No, no...Sorry.

Conor turns toward the bar...

At the bar, he waves at Sia...

CONOR
Two reds!

He points toward the couples table.

Then Conor makes his way back toward the kitchen and is
snatched by a hand into the adjacent bathroom...

INT. BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS

Alexis shuts the door shut behind Conor and they stand there
with Stuart in the dank restrooms harsh minimal light in a
haze of smoke...

STUART
(to Alexis)
...Someday youll be engaged to be
engaged to some cool Scottish bass
player, youll live in like a
ridiculous loft in Tribeca, sip
Yerba Mate, and share a German
Shepherd or something. Youll see.

Stuart smokes a joint while sitting on the sink in front of

profane written notes on the walls such as You suck and my
balls scribbled next to it, a guy named Geralds phone
number (917.776.1112), a magic markered note that reads Life
is no way to treat an animal, and surrounding postings for
indie bands, nightclubs, an Obey sticker, etcetera.

ALEXIS
I prefer Labradors.

Conor looks to Stuart, slightly perplexed.

Theyre both a bit roasted.

 94.

CONOR
Shouldnt you be cooking stuff?

STUART
I think so.

Stu takes another drag, passes the joint to Alexis, and looks
to Conor.

STUART (CONTD)
Gives you wings.

He exhales, energetically hops of the sink, and busts out of

the bathroom, leaving Conor with her.

She takes a hit, nods slightly to the music.

They stand there awkwardly as she exhales.

CONOR
Well, here we are in the bathroom.

ALEXIS
(nonchalant)
You know I could fall hectically in
love with you?

Conor soberly searches for the appropriate response...

CONOR
Umm...Im not sure that would be
the sharpest idea.

ALEXIS
Whys that?

He doesnt respond, but she already knows the answer, and

passes the joint up to Conors mouth.

He grips it, takes a hit.

ALEXIS (CONTD)
Sod you two gallop off into the
sunset yesterday?

CONOR
Yeah, didnt you hear? Happy ending
and everything.

She looks at him as he exhales, coughs...

 95.

ALEXIS
Funny how a person, just by living,
can damage another person beyond
human repair.

CONOR
Hows that funny?

ALEXIS
I dont know.

She shares a look with him, kisses him on the forehead...

And she heads out into the noisy fog of conversation and
music.

Conor remains there in the hot-boxed bathroom.

INT. THE MIDNIGHT KITCHEN - A LITTLE LATER

The place is going off...

An Editors remix from the D.J. booth.

Sia pours shots of Patron into PEOPLES mouths along the bar
including Alexis.

ANYONE standing dances or attempts their version of dancing.

SOME PEOPLE sit in front of half-finished desert plates.

Conor stands there in the middle of it, antsy, high, with a

customers check in his hand...

Stuart moseys over with a drink for the each of them...

STUART
Kitchens closed forever.

Conor takes the glass, raises it with Stuarts...

CONOR
Chin chin, motherfucker.

He drinks whats in it, indifferently tosses it over his

shoulder, and it shatters on the floor behind him.

A FEW PEOPLE notice, but dont really care.

Conor looks to the check in his hands and then to the corner
table where the couple was sitting...
 96.

The girl has just stepped out the front door...the guys
heading for it...

CONOR
Hey?!

The guy turns and looks at him.

Conor waves the bill to remind him...

And the guy bolts out the door.

Conor stands there, pondering the irony of this situation for

a second...

EXT. THE MIDNIGHT KITCHEN - A COUPLE SECONDS LATER

He busts out the door behind them...

The avenues scattered with PEOPLE walking about...

Conor peers left then notices the couple heading down toward
Houston...

CONOR
Hey asshole!?

The guy turns back, sees Conor looking for him and he and his
girlfriend go from a jog to a sprint...

Rather than letting it go, Conor starts into a run down the
street after them...

He accelerates, and weaves in and out of the ASSORTMENT OF

PEOPLE moseying, wandering, and strutting in the East Village
night.

It gets a little too crowded on the sidewalk ahead and Conor

moves into the Avenue with traffic heading towards him. He
dashes in the space between the oncoming and parked cars and
looks ahead at the couple...

And its almost as if hes looking at himself and Eleanor

however many years ago it was...hes running after them,
chasing himself...

Theyre about a block ahead of him, scampering downtown. The

guy looks back again and is surprised to see Conor still
coming after them.

At East Third Street, the girl breaks off toward Avenue B,

and the guy keeps heading toward Houston.
 97.

Conor pursues the guy, close to a sprint...

A DRUNK DUDE walking up the street with SOME DRUNK FRIENDS

teases Conor and obnoxiously calls out...

DRUNK GUY
Run for your life!!

Ahead, the guy crosses through traffic to the west side of

the avenue.

Conor does the same, cutting in front of a cab. Hes narrowed

the distance a little bit as they reach Second Street.

The guy notices Conor closing in and weaves back east across
Avenue A again...

Conor follows and almost bowls into a GROUP OF DRESSED UP

STRONG ISLAND GIRLS who look back at the guy who just raced
by. They shriek and scatter out of Conors way...

GIRL
(hollering)
Watch it!!

Conor plows onward.

The guy crosses into Houston, and half way through, at the
island in the street, has to stop for fast moving traffic. He
scurries to the right then stutter steps his way through into
the Lower East Side...

Conor doesnt even look at the traffic. He makes a diagonal

beeline through the stream of taxis and oncoming cars as if
nothing matters other than catching this guy. A few horns
honk, an S.U.V. nearly mows him over...

Miraculously, he makes it to the other side of Houston.

Hes made up a bunch of ground from his kamikaze crossing and

closes in on the guy...

The guy turns back to take another peek, slowing himself

down, and then Conor makes his move...

Its ugly.

He reaches for the guys shoulder, grapples him, trips over

himself, they both lose their balance, and pull each other
down and bounce onto the sidewalk in a nasty spill that
probably hurts pretty badly...
 98.

They both wind up lying there, crumpled up on the ground near

a heap of black trash bags, out of breath...

CONOR
(groaning)
Owww...fuck, fucker.

He stares up at the sky still heaving...

GUY
Awww...mmmph...shit.

After a few moments of breath catching...

GUY (CONTD)
(breathing heavily,
looking at the sky)
How much do I owe you?

CONOR
Huh?

They keep gulping for air.

GUY
How much do I owe you?

CONOR
Oh...umm...I dont remember.

The guy reaches for his wallet in his pocket...his cell-phone

rings its annoying ring...he picks it up...

GUY
(into phone)
Hello...? Hi baby...Im lying on
the sidewalk...its good, Im
good...uhuh...on..., Im not sure
what the street is.

Conor remains on the ground, still trying to catch his

breath.

CONOR
Essex just below Houston.

The guy peers over at Conor, surprised...

GUY
Its Essex just below
Houston...uhuh...see you in a
minute.
 99.

The guy sits up...

GUY (CONTD)
Ow.

He pulls out his wallet and opens it...

Conor sits up.

GUY
So, how much do you want?

Conor pushes himself up, groans, and decides to let it go.

CONOR
Dont worry about it.

He begins to hobble away.

GUY
(confused)
What...? Hey?!

Conor turns...

CONOR
Yeah?

GUY
What the hells wrong with you,
man?

He considers the question, but doesnt answer...he shrugs and

turns up the street.

The guy gives him a curious look...

Conor continues walking away towards Houston.

FADE TO:

EXT./INT. COSI SANDWICH SHOP - THE NEXT DAY

Conor sits at a table near the front window with an untouched

mug of coffee and an open copy of the New York Times that he
stares over at the doorway. His scruffiness has turned into a
beard by now, a few slight bruises on his face remain.

Hes surrounded by the fog of conversations at the other

tables...but he just watches the PATRONS walking in and out
the door, chatting, laughing, walking off into their lives...
 100.

EXT. THE NEW SCHOOL - A COUPLE HOURS LATER

Conor now sits on a step across Fifth Avenue from the Albert
List Academic Center with a We are happy to serve you cup
of New York Deli coffee.

He studies the front door as the STUDENTS and TEACHERS of

varying ages flow in and out of the building...

No sign of Eleanor.

Eventually, he stands up and leaves.

EXT. THE MIDNIGHT KITCHEN - THAT AFTERNOON

Conor closes the door of the emptied out bar with uninspired
food for the last time and locks it.

Stuart stands behind him on the sidewalk with the LEASING

AGENT, a slight, bland, self-conscious man, late thirties,
uniformed in business casual with a black shoulder bag.

Conor locks the door to the place.

Stuart watches grumpily...

Conor gives the key reluctantly to the agent.

LEASING AGENT
(condescending)
Thank you, sir.

STUART
(dry, hard)
No, thank you.

CONOR
(to Stuart)
Easy.

LEASING AGENT
(to Stuart)
Im not a bad guy, just so we get
that straight.

STUART
Whatever you have to tell yourself.

LEASING AGENT
(defensive)
You know...?
 101.

CONOR
(mediating)
For the moment you are, so deal
with it.

The guy shakes his head, puts his bag over his shoulder,
recuperates, and they stand in an awkward moment as Conor and
Stuart wait for him to leave.

LEASING AGENT
So whats the plan for you guys
now?

STUART
(dry)
Were enlisting. Gonna go fight the
good fight on terror or whatever
its called now.

The leasing agent looks at him, unsure if hes telling the

truth or not.

LEASING AGENT
Well, good luck with that...Youve
got my particulars if you ever get
back into the game.

He reaches his hand out to Conor.

Conor shakes it.

CONOR
Yes, we do.

Stuart steps away evasively.

LEASING AGENT
Take care now.

STUART
Have a nice life...

The agent walks off.

STUART (CONTD)
Dickhead.

They remain there.

Conor observes Stuart brooding.

CONOR
You alright over there?
 102.

STUART
Its kind of fucking frustrating to
watch the last couple years of your
life disintegrate right in front of
you.

CONOR
Itll wear off. I think.

EXT. BANK STREET - A COUPLE DAYS LATER

Conor walks, in a hurry, down Bank Street up towards his

Dads place.

He heads up the front steps and through the door.

INT. SPENCERS TOWNHOUSE - CONTINUOUS

As he walks into the foyer, he sees a set of canvas suitcases

on the floor then two Hermes travel bags and a purse, which
he notes curiously.

VOICE (O.S.)
(mild French accent)
Hi handsome.

He looks up to see SYLVIE, his fathers wife,

thirtysomething, Parisian shabby chic, sitting on the dining
room table in jeans, a Marni blouse, and dangling her feet
like a little girl.

CONOR
(confused)
Hi.

She hops off the table and walks over to give him a kiss on
each cheek.

He goes along with the gratuitous gesture with a hint of

skepticism.

SYLVIE
(sympathetic)
Howre you doing?

CONOR
Stupendous, you?

She notes his dishevelled state, gives a tight grin.

 103.

SYLVIE
You were always full of shit.

CONOR
No, I just refuse to be enslaved by
the truth.

They stand there awkwardly scrutinizing each other.

CONOR (CONTD)
Im guessing you guys are getting
the band back together.

She smiles slightly.

SYLVIE
Yeah...World tour.

Conor nods as they share another uneasy moment until...

Spencer comes clumsily bounding down the stairs, more

energetic than usual, then stops short and attempts hiding
his enthusiasm when he sees Conor...

SPENCER
Um...we were waiting for you.

CONOR
(slightly dry)
Here I am.

They all assess each other until Sylvie interrupts...

SYLVIE
Im gonna go have a smoke.

She walks past them out the front door leaving Conor with his
father...

The two men stand uncomfortably, a couple steps from each

other...

SPENCER
You think you could check up on
things here every once in a while?

CONOR
Sure.

A beat.

SPENCER
You can stay around if you want.
 104.

CONOR
No, no, Im gonna find a new place.
Ive got to deal with moving out of
the apartment anyway.

SPENCER
Right, right.

Another uneasy beat.

CONOR
Send me a postcard, I guess.

SPENCER
(referring to Sylvie)
I can explain.

CONOR
Why do you have to explain
anything?

Spencer thinks about this.

SPENCER
It feels like I should.

CONOR
I dont really need the backstory.

Spencer smirks, surprised at his son.

SPENCER
When did you get agreeable?

CONOR
Theres this new thing called
empathy.

SPENCER
Theres that.

A moment. Spencer stands there, pensive...

SPENCER (CONTD)
Youre mother once shouted at me
that its pretty easy to love
someone in memory, the trick is
loving them when theyre right in
front of you...Best thing she ever
said to me.

Conor looks at him, deadpan...

 105.

CONOR
The dead are easy to misquote.

SPENCER
I remember that one word for word.

Conor swallows that.

CONOR
Were in imminent danger of
sappiness.

SPENCER
Well, we cant have that.

They both try to smother a smile.

EXT. 1ST AVENUE NEAR 5TH STREET - LATER THAT AFTERNOON

Conor walks out of a hardware store...

He trudges into the bustle carrying a tied up stack of folded

cardboard boxes.

THE PEDESTRIANS are out and about enjoying the spring

afternoon.

A SOLICITOR badgers a PUERTO RICAN LADY on the corner near a

parked ice cream truck.

Conor turns onto Seventh Street...

EXT. CONOR AND ELEANORS APARTMENT BUILDING - MOMENTS LATER

He passes the scaffoldings, walks down Seventh, and peers up

at the facade of his building as he reaches the front steps.

Its been a while.

He walks up the steps, drops the stack of boxes down, pulls

the keys out of his pocket, and opens the front door.

INT. CONOR AND ELEANORS APARTMENT BUILDING - MOMENTS LATER

Conor comes up the stairs lugging the layers of unfolded

cardboard boxes and reaches the door to the apartment.

A U.S. Postal Service box overflowing with mail sits next to

the door.
 106.

He stares at the door a moment.

INT. CONOR AND ELEANORS APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS

Conor enters into the little foyer and looks at the dank and
now stuffy apartment...

He drops the boxes down on the floor and goes to open some
windows...

INT. BEDROOM - LATER

He walks into the room with two big boxes and tosses them on
the floor next to the closet...

He opens the closet up and begins taking things off the

racks, some are his clothes, some are Eleanors...

He puts them in separate boxes...

INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER

Conor tapes up another box and marks it Eleanor Books with

a sharpie.

Hes sweating by now.

The place is pretty much a disaster area: a bunch of piled up

and marked boxes, stacks of books, tape, old wire hangers,
the A Man and A Woman poster, The Beatles poster, among
other wall hangings removed from the wall and resting on the
floor, random papers, etcetera.

The phone rings...and rings again...

Conor goes to it...

CONOR
Hello...? Hello...? Hello...?

He waits a second...

Then hangs up.

INT. STAIRWELL - LATER

Conor trudges up the stairs with more stacks of boxes.

 107.

INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER

Conor sits, indented into the couch, resting for a couple

moments...

He looks past the disaster area over at the little foyer and
stands up...

He walks to the closet in the foyer, moves the boxes in front

of the door out of the way, and opens it up. He steps in...

And comes out with a blue Bugaboo bag...

He puts it into a box and goes back for more...

He comes out with a Bedside Baby Sleeper stacked with a pile

of cloud print blankets, some printed baby clothes, and fits
them into the box...

He goes back again...and comes out with a Bugaboo stroller...

He stoically sets it next to some boxes and goes back in for

more.

INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER

Conor tapes up another box, retreats and falls into the couch
again...

He sits there holding his breath, disbelief in his

expression, and lets out a heavy sigh.

He lies down, and rests his head on the couch arm...

INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT

Conor wakes up after having dozed off and looks groggily

across the room...

Eleanor sits Indian style in her green jacket on the floor,

hunched over a small pile of baby photos, papers, trinkets,
and surrounded by the mess of boxes, unplugged lamps, and the
accumulation of stuff from over the years...she stares into
the mess and notices Conor awake...

ELEANOR
When did we get all this stuff?
 108.

CONOR
(foggy)
Huh...? I dont know. It
accumulated.

ELEANOR
You can store some of it out at my
parents if you want.

Conor studies her.

CONOR
I was thinking about getting a
storage unit until we figure things
out...

A beat.

CONOR (CONTD)
Youve been staying with them?

ELEANOR
Yeah.

He studies her another moment, her somber expression, the

circles under her eyes...

CONOR
Im sorry.

She looks up at him.

ELEANOR
For what?

He looks blankly back at her.

CONOR
For everything.

Eleanor looks down, drifts into a thought...

Conor notices the outline of a sad smile hanging on her face

as she looks at some of the photos on the floor...

CONOR
What are you thinking?

She looks up at Conor...

ELEANOR
How memorys so fucking weird.
 109.

Conor sits up...

CONOR
Hows that?

ELEANOR
I forget what he looked like...

He says nothing.

ELEANOR (CONTD)
Ill get a quick glimpse of his
eyes or some smile he gave me from
his crib and then hell vanish.

Again, no response, she looks to him.

ELEANOR (CONTD)
I cant picture his face.

Conor looks at her, shaking her head in disbelief.

ELEANOR (CONTD)
I cant picture his face anymore.

A tear streaks down her cheek, she wipes it away, and looks
to Conor...

ELEANOR (CONTD)
I wasnt ready for what this feels
like.

Conor lowers himself to the floor and clumsily crawls over to

her, slides the hair from her brow, looks at her at a loss...

CONOR
Me either.

After a second...

CONOR (CONTD)
I really wish I could say something
that would make some sense of it.

ELEANOR
Im not looking for words. I just
want him back.

She looks at him a moment, on the cusp of losing it...

He leans in and holds her, and she holds onto him as if she
might get sucked away...
 110.

And she loses it...

All of it...

And sinks into his shoulder, crying...as he stares over her,

past their stuff, and out the window.

INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT

Some scattered noise carries in from the street below...

Conor and Eleanor lie on their sides, emotionally exhausted,

on the creaky wood floor...Her back against his chest, her
arm resting inside his...

After a moment...

ELEANOR
I love you.

Another moment...

CONOR
I know.

He wasnt sure anymore...

They quietly stare off into space, resting, holding onto to

each other.

INT. LIVING ROOM - EARLY THE NEXT MORNING

Conor wakes up on the floor...

Next to the empty space that Eleanor left behind.

He looks around...nothing.

Eleanors gone.

EXT./INT. RESTAURANT ANA - SOMETIME LATER, PERHAPS A COUPLE

MONTHS - LATE NIGHT

Some sad song plays in the background.

Conor sits at end of the bar, in Spencers spot, doing some

paperwork...
 111.

Hes really cleaned up - a haircut, clean shaven, looking

sharp in a nice shirt, suit pants, a young version of his
father.

A BARTENDER, in a shirt and tie, wipes the upscale bar.

BUSBOYS move about cleaning up tables, mopping the floor.

Conor stands up, polishes off a glass of water, puts on his

suit jacket...

CONOR
(off)
Lock the joint down.

Stuart, also looking sharp in a nice shirt and loosened tie,

sits at a table going through a menu with Phoebe, the
hostess...

STUART
(without looking up)
Will do.

PHOEBE
Night.

Conor walks out.

EXT. MEATPACKING DISTRICT - MOMENTS LATER

Conor, hands buried in his suit pockets, walks on the

cobblestoned streets into the night.

He passes a few WANDERING PEDESTRIANS as he walks east.

EXT. UNION SQUARE - MINUTES LATER

He walks across 14th Street and heads down 4th Avenue, which
is seemingly empty of people...

As he continues, he senses something behind him, but keeps

walking...

EXT. AVENUE A - MINUTES LATER

When he reaches Avenue A, he stops at the crosswalk, and

turns to look behind him...Nothing.

He turns back ahead to see Tompkins Square Park...He

continues into the park...
 112.

EXT. TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK - MOMENTS LATER

Its darker in the park away from the streetlights.

Conor walks under the canopy of trees, along the pathway.

A FEW PEOPLE walk here and there...

As he nears one of the parks grassy quads, he stops...

And thats when he notices the fireflies, little flares of

light igniting in the dark pockets of the park around him...

He watches them and gets stuck in the memory for a moment...

Then he walks off and disappears.