Alex & Emma Page #6

the grandmother die.

This is great! Thank you!

I love you!

- You know what I mean.

- Yeah.

- This is great.

- Great.

All right. I'll see you tomorrow.

The grandmother lives!

Look who is alive!

The telegram said you were gone.

Well, of course I was gone.

If I was not gone from there,

how could I be here?

Weren't you worried taking such

an arduous trip considering your health?

My health is fine.

Those stupid doctors, all idiots.

They should have their licenses revoked.

Every last one of them!

First, they gave me a year to live...

then it became six months.

Then less than a month.

To listen to them...

I'd be dead 10 minutes after I got here!

What are you doing?

The dead grandmother

is what got you stuck.

Now she's dead again?

No money at all?

Your mother had the most extraordinary

collection of rare perfumes...

in the history of France. Worth a fortune.

As you know, your mother,

God rest her soul, made it to 90.

- Sadly, the perfumes did not.

- What?

They all evaporated.

The last of it,

during her brief struggle with scurvy.

Your mother's fortune has evaporated?

Every penny of it?

She had scurvy?

Upon hearing Grandmother's money

had gone the way of all Chanel...

Adam pondered his fate.

He was no fool.

He was a tutor, for God's sake.

He knew it was a matter of time...

before Polina would find herself

once again in the arms of his rival...

the odious John Shaw.

He pondered the engagement.

He pondered the wedding.

Then he pondered the wedding night.

It was at that point he realized

maybe he should stop pondering.

Senor Shipley, you must try to forget her.

Here, have some paella.

What?

Eldora, the Spanish au pair,

who was Elsa, the German au pair...

who was Ylva, the Swedish au pair?

No. Alex, absolutely not.

Even if Eldora was the greatest character

since Scarlet O'Hara...

which seems like a long shot,

we don't have time to change everything.

- I know, but...

- Three days! We have three days.

I know, but something's missing.

Maybe he needs another obstacle

to keep him from Polina.

He's broke. She's marrying another man...

and she doesn't even love him.

I think he has enough obstacles.

Wait. I got it.

It's not an obstacle,

it's the second triangle.

You were right about that.

This can work. The changes will be easy.

She's an American from Philadelphia,

and her name is Anna.

Hello, Adam.

What?

You seem different today, Anna.

Did you do something to your hair?

There was something in Anna 's eyes

that Adam, until now...

blinded by his love for Polina, hadn't seen.

A deep sadness,

combined with a quiet strength...

that made her seem incredibly beautiful.

Are you sure you want to do this?

Absolutely.

It's not very attractive.

He's just rebounding.

No, he's not.

Rebounding like a wild man.

What are you talking about?

This is the triangle heating up.

Anna has feelings for him.

He has feelings for her.

But he also has feelings for Polina.

This way, the reader doesn't know

who he'll wind up with.

You hook them in.

- Who does he end up with?

- See? Hooked.

What do you say we head into town?

- I have to...

- You don't have to do anything.

You're making stew. That's why

they call it stew. You let it stew.

Come on. Live a little.

I'll buy you lunch. Are you hungry?

Not really.

- Perfect. I don't have any money.

- Sounds good.

How did you come to work

for the Delacroixs?

I answered an ad for a job five years ago.

I've been with them ever since.

Summers in Saint Charles,

winters in Switzerland...

- and the rest of the year in Paris.

- It sounds exciting.

Yeah.

Now that didn't sound exciting.

I'm living their life, not mine.

- Maybe we can do something about that.

- What?

I'm just spitballing here,

but how about this?

I like living my life.

While those of a cynical nature might

think that Adam was on the rebound...

Cute.

... the truth is

that he found comfort in Anna.

And with each passing day,

his feelings for her grew stronger.

It's so interesting

watching this process unfold.

I didn't understand when you said

the characters would lead you.

But now it's so clear why Anna and Adam

would end up together all this time.

They've been so close to each other

without seeing what they had.

Who says they'll wind up together?

They're not?

I don't know.

How could they not end up together

after they were so romantic?

That's exactly the point.

If he's crazy about one, but lukewarm

about the other, where's your triangle?

But if he feels equally strong

about both women, that's a real dilemma.

- But then you have...

- no.

Now we've got to stir things up a little.

Shipley, how goes it, my good man?

You're certainly in a good mood today,

old bean.

Why not?

Tonight, I shall ask Polina

for her hand in marriage...

and by the week's end, we'll be off to Paris

to prepare for the wedding.

Tonight?

Congratulations.

You're sure she'll accept?

I have 500,000 reasons that say she will.

Five hundred thousand.

- That's a lot of reasons.

- The lovely Polina has expensive tastes.

Adam thought he had gotten over Polina.

But the imminence of her betrothal

made one thing abundantly clear.

It was time to start pondering again.

How does one choose

between two women one loves so dearly?

One pulls one's head out of one's ass

and realizes the obvious.

What we have is substantial.

When you lie in bed at night,

is that what you dream of...

something substantial?

Or do you dream of glamour, excitement...

a life of adventure?

- Dreams are often only that.

- Excuse me?

I am just saying

our love is based on something real.

It's based on caring, understanding,

and mutual respect.

You left out that you gave him

the wildest, most passionate sex...

he's ever experienced.

Wait. That was me.

He was wracked with confusion.

For the first time in his life...

he understood the true meaning

of the expressions, "horns of a dilemma"...

and "between a rock and a hard place."

Although the concept

of "paying through the nose"...

had always tormented him.

How does the money get in the nose

in the first place?

Once in, is it pulled out by hand

or is a sneeze involved?

Who would accept such a transaction?

Burning questions all,

but he had bigger fish to fry.

What do you have to think about?

I'm here.

I'm in love with you

and she's not even available.

I could be.

Yes, for $500,000...

which you don't have.

A small obstacle for a great man.

A small obstacle for a great life.

I need money.

Oh, no!

Good. That's exactly the reaction I want.

I want the reader to be surprised.

Do you want the reader to hit you

with the book?

Think like a writer.

There's more to play with.

Where does he get the money?

You got the ticking clock

with Shaw's proposal.

You still don't know

who he's going to wind up with.

If he makes a play for Polina and loses...

Anna would be an idiot to take him back.

I don't know.

The human heart is an ethereal web

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