My thanks to the elderly Russian woman who blew me a kiss after I let her have two paperbacks in her native tongue for a dollar. I soon packed up the book shop, as the mist seem about to turn into a downpour.
Here's an excerpt from a rom-com screenplay, A Truth Universally Acknowledged, the story of a commodities trader and a magazine writer whose lives cross paths. I tried to emulate the Tracy-Hepburn vehicles. It is influenced mostly by Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice:
Mr. Barski laughs as he steps away. Suddenly Joe is alone. He begins to feel uncomfortable. He takes a class of champagne offered by a waiter. Women size him upas they pass. He smiles abashedly at each. Suddenly he is bumped from behind. He spiIls champagne and backs away, exchanging the glass from one hand to the other, licking at the fingers that have been wet. It is Kate who has bumped him. She takes exception, turns abruptly.
Kate:
Watch it ....
The angry look on her face at first goes blank, then evolves to surprise. They stare at each other.
Joe and Kate simultaneously:
What're you doing here?
Joe chuckles. Kate remains stern.
Joe:
I asked you first.
Kate:
You did not.
Joe:
Did too.
Kate:
You di ....
She pauses, realizing she is being baited. He smiles.
Kate:
My parents asked me to come.
Joe:
I'm representin' the Exchange.
Kate:
I didn't realize they were this desperate.
Joe:
Standards ain't what they useta be.
Kate:
You're not kidding. I'd've doubted you had a charitable bone in your body.
Joe:
In my pinky.
Kate:
You can always have it cut off.
Joe:
Somehow that's not the part I picture you cuttin' off.
Kate:
When one has no heart ....
Joe chuckles. Kate remains stern.
Joe:
Actually, I only do it for the write-off.
Kate:
Is that the first time you ever told the truth?
Joe feigns a shiver.
Joe:
Damn, it's cold in here.
Kate:
You should've covered yourself in polyester.
She attempts to step away. He grasps her arm gently. She glares, first at his hand, then into his eyes. He lets go.
Joe:
Hey, I'm sorry. I'm not the jerk you think I am.
Kate:
Oh?
Joe:
D'you get the roses?
Kate:
I threw them out.
Joe lowers his head.
Joe:
It's the thought that counts. Listen, if you should happen to be feelin' just a teensy bit bad about the stuff you wrote, I want you to know that it didn't cost me any customers, so it's okay. No hard feelin's.
Kate:
I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm not surprised. P.T. Barnum didn't get rich overestimating the public's intelligence.
Joe shakes his head.
Joe:
Boy, you are one hard case. You look dynamite tonight, by the way.
Kate:
You look almost human in the monkey suit. You must have everybody else here fooled
but me.
They stare at each other. Kate remains resolute in her dislike. As the orchestra breaks into Duke Ellington's "Satin Doll," both Kate and Joe coil.
Kate and Joe simultaneously:
Duke!
They gaze at each other briefly, surprised they have something in common, then look away.
Joe:
May I have this dance?
She shrugs. He takes her hand and leads her onto the dance floor. Kate is tense, as if she regrets having accepted. Other women look on resentfully.
Kate:
I never figured you for a jazz buff.
Joe:
I only just started learnin' about it, so don't quiz me.
Kate:
I picture you as "Disco Boy."
Joe:
I spent a lotta time in discos, had a lotta fun. Is there somethin' wrong with that?
Kate smirks.
Joe:
I figure you for the alternative scene.
She resents that he is right, but doesn't articulate it.
Joe:
I'm really surprised you like Duke. It's the most romantic music I ever heard, and I'd've bet you didn't have a romantic bone in your body.
She gives him an icy look.
Kate:
My father was always playing Duke on the stereo. It'd cheer him up after a tough day at work. I remember him holding me in his arms and dancing with me. I couldn't've been more then three.
Joe glows as he looks at her. She looks sway, as if regretting having divulged something so intimate.
Joe:
I knew there had to be somethin' human under that hard shell.
Off the dance floor, Mrs. Barski notices her daughter and pauses as if stunned. She steps lively toward her husband and nods toward the dance floor. Mr. Barski beams.
Mr. B:
Now this is a pleasant surprise. I had no idea they knew each other already, did you?
Mrs. B:
No. What do you mean already?
A wicked smile comes to his face. He slings an arm around his wife and whispers in her ear. Mary nods, smiling. Mr. Barski is then pulled aside by someone.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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