American Beauty Page #6

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He crosses off. Carolyn, Buddy and Christy watch him go.

INT. HOTEL BALLROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Lester stands at the bar. A bartender pours him a drink.

LESTER:

Whoa. Put a little more in there,

cowboy.

The bartender complies. Lester takes his drink and turns to

face the center of the room.

His POV:
Carolyn is talking to Buddy and Christy. She's on:

smiling, animated, LAUGHING too loud at their jokes.

Lester shakes his head. Ricky approaches him, wearing a

waiter's uniform, carrying a tray of empty glasses.

RICKY:

Excuse me. Don't you live on Robin

Hood Trail? The house with the red

door?

LESTER:

(suspicious)

Yeah.

RICKY:

I'm Ricky Fitts. I just moved into

the house next to you.

LESTER:

Oh. Hi, Ricky Fitts. I'm Lester

Burnham.

RICKY:

Hi, Lester Burnham.

A beat. Lester looks away, scans the crowd, then downs the

rest of his drink in one gulp. Ricky just stands there,

watching him. Finally Lester turns back to Ricky: what does

this kid want?

RICKY:

Do you party?

LESTER:

Excuse me?

RICKY:

Do you get high?

Lester's surprised, but instantly intrigued.

INT. HOTEL BALLROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Carolyn and Buddy are deep in conversation. Christy has

wandered off.

Carolyn is nervous; Buddy seems amused.

CAROLYN:

You know, I probably wouldn't even

tell you this if I weren't a little

tipsy, but... I am in complete awe

of you. I mean, your firm is, hands

down, the Rolls Royce of local Real

Estate firms, and your personal sales

record is, is, is very intimidating.

You know, I'd love to sit down with

you and just pick your brain, if

you'd ever be willing. I suppose,

technically, I'm the "competition,"

but... I mean, hey, I don't flatter

myself that I'm even in the same

league as you...

BUDDY:

I'd love to.

CAROLYN:

(shocked)

Really?

BUDDY:

Absolutely. Call my secretary and

have her schedule a lunch.

CAROLYN:

I'll do that. Thank you.

They look at each other for a beat, then look away. This

situation is loaded and they both know it.

EXT. HOTEL - LATER

Ricky and Lester stand next to a dumpster behind the service

entrance to the hotel, smoking a JOINT.

LESTER:

...Did you ever see that movie, where

the body's walking around holding

its own head? And then the head goes

down on that babe?

RICKY:

Re-Animator.

Suddenly, the service entrance opens, and a large CATERING

BOSS in a cheap suit peers out at them. Ricky hides the joint.

CATERING BOSS:

(to Ricky)

Look. I'm not paying you to...

(eyes Lester,

suspiciously)

...do whatever it is you're doing

out here.

RICKY:

Fine. So don't pay me.

CATERING BOSS:

Excuse me?

RICKY:

I quit. So you don't have to pay me.

Now, leave me alone.

CATERING BOSS:

A**hole.

He goes back inside. Lester looks at Ricky, who shrugs.

LESTER:

I think you just became my personal

hero.

(then)

Doesn't that make you nervous, just

quitting your job like that? Well, I

guess when you're all of, what?

Sixteen?

RICKY:

Eighteen.

(then)

I just do these gigs as a cover. I

have other sources of income. But my

dad interferes less in my life when

I pretend to be an upstanding young

citizen with a respectable job.

CAROLYN (O.S.)

Lester?

Carolyn is standing in the open service entrance. Lester

quickly hides the joint behind his back.

CAROLYN:

What are you doing?

LESTER:

Honey, this is...

(laughs)

Ricky Fitts. This is Ricky Fitts.

RICKY:

I'm Ricky Fitts, I just moved in the

house next to you. I go to school

with your daughter.

LESTER:

With Jane? Really?

RICKY:

Yeah. Jane.

CAROLYN:

Hi.

(then, to Lester)

I'm ready to go. I'll meet you out

front.

And she goes back inside.

LESTER:

Uh-oh. I'm in trouble. Nice meeting

you, Ricky Fitts. Thanks for the,

uh, thing.

RICKY:

Any time.

Lester goes inside.

RICKY:

(calls after him)

Lester. If you want any more, you

know where I live.

INT. BURNHAM HOUSE - FAMILY ROOM - LATER

Jane and Angela are watching MTV. We HEAR the back door open.

JANE:

Oh, sh*t. They're home. Quick, let's

go up to my room.

Jane switches off the TV.

ANGELA:

I should say hi to your dad.

(off Jane's look)

I don't want to be rude.

She starts toward the kitchen. Jane doesn't like this.

INT. BURNHAM HOUSE - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS

Lester enters and opens the refrigerator.

ANGELA (O.S.)

Nice suit.

He turns, and is instantly transfixed by:

His POV:
Angela leans against the counter, twirling her hair.

ANGELA:

You're looking good, Mr. Burnham.

She starts toward him.

ANGELA:

Last time I saw you, you looked kind

of wound up.

(spots something)

Ooh, is that root beer?

She reaches inside the refrigerator to grab a bottle. As she

does, she moves to place her other hand casually on Lester's

shoulder. He sees it coming. Everything SLOWS DOWN, and all

sound FADES...

EXTREME CLOSE UP on her hand as it briefly touches his

shoulder in SLOW MOTION. We HEAR only the amplified BRUSH of

her fingers against the fabric of his suit, and its unnatural,

hollow ECHO...

BACK IN REAL TIME: She grabs the root beer and smiles at

him.

CLOSE on Lester:
his eyes narrow slightly, then:

He cups her face in his hands and kisses her. She seems

shocked, but doesn't resist as he pulls her toward him with

surprising strength. He breaks the kiss, looking at her in

awe, then he reaches up and touches his lips. His eyes widen

as he pulls a ROSE PETAL from his mouth right before we

SMASH CUT TO:

INT. BURNHAM HOUSE - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS

Angela is back against the counter, drinking the root beer.

Lester stands by the refrigerator, gazing at her, still lost

in fantasy.

ANGELA:

I love root beer, don't you?

Jane watches from the doorway to the family room, feeling

incredibly awkward in her own home. Carolyn enters from the

dining room. Lester snaps out of it and grabs a root beer

from the refrigerator.

JANE:

Mom, you remember Angela.

CAROLYN:

(her sales smile)

Yes, of course!

JANE:

I forgot to tell you, she's spending

the night. Is that okay?

LESTER:

Sure!

He takes a sip of his root beer, but it goes down the wrong

way and he starts COUGHING violently.

INT. BURNHAM HOUSE - JANE'S BEDROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT

Angela lays on the bed, in bra and panties, reading a

magazine. Jane, in an oversized T shirt, plays a video game

on her computer.

JANE:

I'm sorry about my dad.

ANGELA:

Don't be. I think it's funny.

JANE:

Yeah, to you, he's just another guy

who wants to jump your bones. But to

me... he's just too embarrassing to

live.

ANGELA:

Your mom's the one who's embarrassing.

What a phony.

Jane glances at Angela, irritated.

ANGELA:

Shut up.

INT. BURNHAM HOUSE - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS

Lester, still in his suit, stands outside Jane's room, his

ear up against the door. He can't believe what he's hearing.

ANGELA (O.S.)

He is. If he just worked out a little,

he'd be hot.

INT. BURNHAM HOUSE - JANE'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

JANE:

Shut up.

ANGELA:

Oh, come on. Like you've never sneaked

a peek at him in his underwear? I

bet he's got a big dick.

JANE:

You are so grossing me out right

now.

ANGELA:

(really enjoying this)

If he built up his chest and arms, I

would totally f*** him.

Jane covers her ears and starts SINGING to drown her out.

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