Before Midnight Page #3

JESSE:

What?

CELINE:

Pimples and how girls perceive him.

The apple doesn't fall far from the

tree, I guess.

JESSE:

What do you mean? I'm not like that.

CELINE:

Oh, please!

JESSE:

What?

CELINE:

That's all you think about!

JESSE:

What?

CELINE:

Women! I mean--I'm not complaining.

I'm getting a lot of attention. But

you never stop ogling girls.

JESSE:

I don't ogle girls.

CELINE:

Yeah you do.

JESSE:

I don't ogle girls!

(sexy Spanish accent)

I make love to them with my eyes.

CELINE:

Oh, wow.

JESSE:

Yeah.

CELINE:

I like the Spanish guy. Or is it

Greek?

16.

JESSE:

(Spanish accent)

I don't know where I'm from, but I'm

very hairy.

CELINE:

(laughs)

Well, I think... You know, Henry

might have, you know.

JESSE:

What?

CELINE:

That little Melina girl.

JESSE:

I don't know. He had a crush but...

CELINE:

Oh, are you kidding?

JESSE:

What?

CELINE:

Why do you think he said it was the

best summer of his life?

JESSE:

Because he and I had a good time

together?

CELINE:

Jesse...

JESSE:

No, huh? So what, you think they...

you think they what-

CELINE:

Of course.

JESSE:

You think they kissed?

CELINE:

Yeah, they kissed! Yeah, yeah.

Okay, I was sworn to secrecy but he

told me. They kissed. Okay.

JESSE:

What'd he say?

17.

CELINE:

I'm not supposed to tell you anything,

so I'm not gonna talk but-

JESSE:

Come on.

CELINE:

Okay. He told me he was worried you

know, concerned about the kissing.

You know, tongue, no tongue.

JESSE:

What, he asked you that?

CELINE:

Yeah. But he was so - he was so

cute. All nervous, all red, biting

his cheek like when he was little.

So cute.

JESSE:

Wow. So he and Melina were a real

thing.

CELINE:

Yeah.

JESSE:

What's gonna happen now?

CELINE:

I don't know. They must be friends

on Facebook, so they'll keep in touch,

at least for a while.

JESSE:

Hey - what if they end up spending

their whole life together? You know?

CELINE:

You're so corny! Sometimes I'm just

like

JESSE:

No, I just - I mean

CELINE:

What are you, a twelve-year-old girl?

JESSE:

I'm just, it's

18.

CELINE:

I mean, first love, do you even

remember who it was?

JESSE:

Uh, yeah, I do. It was you.

CELINE:

Oh, please. Like you were a virgin

at twenty-three. I don't

JESSE:

No, you said "first love", not first

sexual experience, okay?

CELINE:

Okay. Fine. Like I'm the first

woman you ever fell in love with?

JESSE:

Yeah. Pretty much. The first one I

felt truly connected to. Sure.

CELINE:

I don't think so.

JESSE:

What, I wasn't your first love?

CELINE:

(beat)

No, of course not.

JESSE:

Oh. No, I just - I thought I was.

CELINE:

No!

(laughs)

Jesse, stop this. It's dumb.

JESSE:

It's okay, it's okay. It's not a

big deal.

CELINE:

No? Okay. How old are you? Come

on!

JESSE:

I'm forty-one and I have loved only

you.

A beat of silence, then they both laugh.

19.

CELINE:

You are so, so working on our little

night, aren't you?

JESSE:

Hell yeah. I've got a Trojan in my

billfold and a rocket in my pocket.

CELINE:

I'm stuck with an American teenager.

Can't believe it. Do we have to do

all that stuff later?

JESSE:

What? Oh, yeah, come on. It means

a lot to Patrick. Ariadni and

Stefanos are probably already there

prepping, the kids wanna have one

more big time together - it's gonna

be fun.

CELINE:

No, no, no, but I meant the hotel,

later. I just, I'm not sure I want

to go -

Her phone rings. She picks it up.

CELINE (CONT'D)

(into phone)

Hi, sweetie. Yeah. Oh, okay, okay,

okay, okay. Well, well, it's fine.

It's fine! Call me from London.

Have a good flight. Bye.

Jesse gestures for the phone, but she's already hung up.

JESSE:

But - but

CELINE:

They were telling them to turn

everything off, they were about to

take off and I asked him to call me

from the plane; you know, I don't

like when he flies.

(a beat)

What?

JESSE:

I don't - I dunno. I dunno. *

(sighs)

I just don't think I can keep doing

this.

20.

CELINE:

Why?

JESSE:

Just every summer, every Christmas,

you know, it's like

CELINE:

I know. It makes me ill every time.

JESSE:

It just wouldn't be so bad you know

if I - like if we were sending him

to boarding school or something.

Just - I dunno. ...If his mom and I

got along a little bit better.

CELINE:

I know. It's like we're sending him

back across enemy lines.

JESSE:

I know. It really hit me this time,

you know? I mean, he's going to be

a freshman in high school! Four

more years and then he's gonna be on

his own.

CELINE:

Well, maybe that's the good news.

We only have four more years of this.

JESSE:

No, no, no. This is the crucial

time. I just feel like I should be

there for him. Like it's now or

never, you know?

CELINE:

No. What do you mean?

JESSE:

I guess I just thought somehow he'd

end up living with us. Somewhere

along the way, you know. Now time's

going by so fast and here we are!

It's high school, you know. There's

girls... next thing you know it's

college applications.

CELINE:

Yeah, you're right! Maybe it's time.

I mean... I really think it's time.

(MORE)

21.

CELINE (CONT'D)

Just tell his mum all this and ask

if he can come and live with us.

He'd love it, we can put him in that

bilingual -

JESSE:

That's never gonna happen, all right?

She's never gonna give me one thing

that she's not legally obligated to.

CELINE:

Do you want to call that lawyer again?

JESSE:

No. I don't like that guy. He's

terrible.

CELINE:

Should I call his mother?

JESSE:

Uh, no. Please. Never again.

CELINE:

No, I know.

JESSE:

Look, he doesn't even know how to

throw a baseball.

CELINE:

Who cares?

JESSE:

He just... he leads with his elbow.

He throws like a girl.

CELINE:

That's not your fault.

JESSE:

No, it is my fault. A father is

supposed to teach you that.

CELINE:

Okay, he just doesn't like baseball

does he? Who can blame him.

JESSE:

No, it's an example, okay? It's a

metaphor for everything. He's turning

fourteen and he needs his father.

22.

CELINE:

Jesse, I'm not moving to Chicago.

JESSE:

Well, did I ask you to?

Celine rolls her eyes.

JESSE (CONT'D)

Where'd that come from, huh? I'm

just thinking out loud. I mean,

this is the one thing I promised

myself I would never do and I look

up and I'm doing it.

CELINE:

Well... listen, you're a wonderful

father. He loves the relationship

you have, he loves the letters you

send him and he

JESSE:

He doesn't even read the letters

that I send.

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