Catwoman Page #2

Season #1 Episode #2

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EDNA sucks her breath in at this insulting name.

PATIENCE:

He was very round --not from overfeeding oranything, just --really, he didn't mind. Anyway,

he was with me a long time, till early this year.

He didn't come at the sound of the can-opener,

which kind of freaked me out... I found him just,

curled up there in his little bed...

(CONTINUED)

6.

CONTINUED:

PATIENCE is getting a bit emotional. EDNA reaches across and

squeezes her hand, with genuine sympathy. MIDNIGHT snugglesinto Patience's lap, PURRING as she strokes the cat.

EDNA:

It's very hard, dear, I know... you must be in somuch pain.

Midnight digs her long NAILS into Patience's thigh, kneading.

PATIENCE winces, tries to dislodge cat's claws from her leg

--Midnight "playfully" attacks her hand. Stifling a gasp:

PATIENCE:

Mm-hmm.

EDNA:

Funny how cats get under our skin. They do exactlyas they please, they don't care what anyone thinks

about them... they're the ultimate predators. So

self-contained, so independent, so wild...

sometimes I wonder, why do they even put up withus?

PATIENCE:

The free food?

EDNA:

(putting the papers

aside)

Well, congratulations. It seems you've been

chosen.

PATIENCE:

So you think you might have a kitten for me...?

EDNA:

Kitten? No, that wouldn't be appropriate.

Midnight has chosen you.

PATIENCE looks a little unnerved at this. MIDNIGHT, rollingon her back, seems to be baring her fangs at Patience.

EDNA:

It's a great honor. Maus are a very rare breed,

descended from the sacred cats of ancient Egypt.

They were believed to have magical gifts.

(CONTINUED)

7.

CONTINUED:

MIDNIGHT has wrapped herself around Patience's arm, kickingand biting "playfully."

PATIENCE:

I'm not sure she likes me -

EDNA:

Nonsense, she perceives something very special in

you.

PATIENCE:

There's nothing special about me.

EDNA:

Cats see things we don't. Our secret selves --our

souls.

PATIENCE:

Mm. Do you have any Band-Aids?

CUT TO:

INT. PATIENCE'S APARTMENT -NIGHT

CAMERA MOVES THROUGH this modest, neat studio apartment, PAST

a BULLETIN BOARD with numerous PHOTOS. One or two show a

YOUNG PATIENCE, there's a picture of a LITTLE GIRL betweenTWO SMILING PARENTS on a ROLLER COASTER. Mostly, though,

they're snapshots of a chubby TABBY CAT, from kitten hood toold age. Suddenly, MIDNIGHT LUNGES INTO FRAME, attacking apicture of FATSO, ripping it from the bulletin board.

KEEP MOVING PAST WINDOWS facing on the street and an adjacentBUILDING across an alley --it's a corner apartment on thesecond floor. CAMERA HOLDS ON A TV, where a classic OLD

MOVIE like Now, Voyager plays. At a key, romantic moment,

CUT TO COMMERCIAL -

LAUREL AVENAL strides TOWARD CAMERA --statuesque, perfect, asupermodel. We hear the VOICE of GEORGES AVENAL:

GEORGES (V.O.)

You know who you are. You know what you're after.

A MALE MODEL steps INTO FRAME, reaches for her -

GEORGES (V.O.)

You know you're too good for any man...

(CONTINUED)

8.

CONTINUED:

Laurel raises an eyebrow haughtily and SLAPS his face. She

moves past the male model to -

--GEORGES AVENAL. He's Laurel's husband and the companyC.E.O., handsome and charismatic. LAUREL falls into his

arms. He caresses her, deeply in love. Georges WINKS.

GEORGES:

... almost.

CUT TO a PRODUCT SHOT of a JAR OF CREAM, the name "BEAUNIQUE"

and the AVENAL LOGO.

GEORGES (V.O.)

Beaunique by Avenal. You know you want it.

CLOSE ON LAUREL as she tosses her hair back, Gilda-style,

with a seductive pout. She purses her lips in a kiss.

REVERSE ANGLE --PATIENCE watches with a curled lip, on thecouch in a T-shirt and shorts, EATING CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

directly from a pint carton, a dark smear around her mouth.

Suddenly, MIDNIGHT POUNCES at the SPOON OF ICE CREAM.

Patience jerks back, startled, raises the spoon out of reach.

PATIENCE:

No --this is mine!

MIDNIGHT doesn't back off, jumping repeatedly at the spoon,

climbing over Patience, getting a rear PAW in the open pint.

PATIENCE:

Oh, gross, you --just take it.

Patience offers the cat the half-empty pint. As MIDNIGHT

digs in happily, burying his head in the container -

LIGHTS COME ON in the apartment across the way.

PATIENCE hesitates only an instant, sticks the spoon in hermouth, CLICKS OFF the TV and flips off a LAMP by the sofa.

THROUGH THE WINDOW, A HANDSOME MAN --his name is TOM LONE -crosses

past.

PATIENCE sighs in the dark, moving for a better view. This

voyeurism is a guilty habit.

(CONTINUED)

9.

CONTINUED:

LONE checks his mail, loosens his tie, unbuttons his shirt.

PATIENCE:

Welcome home, sweetie. How was work today...?

(male voice)

Same old same old. All I wanna do is get out of

this shirt and give you a big old hug...

LONE is distracted, reading his mail, shirt still on.

MIDNIGHT, meanwhile, pulls her head out of the ice cream andleaps onto the windowsill --she looks first at Lone, then at

Patience, who looks around her.

PATIENCE:

Down in front... Come on, you, off with the shirt.

Instead, LONE is moving out of view. PATIENCE moves in the

same direction, into her BATHROOM.

INT. PATIENCE'S APARTMENT -BATHROOM -NIGHT

THE BATHROOM WINDOW faces into Lone's bedroom. He starts to

unbutton his shirt, glances casually out the window -

PATIENCE immediately ducks out of sight. A moment later, she

rises slowly to peek out again -

THE WINDOW is DARK, LONE has turned off THE LIGHT.

PATIENCE flips ON THE LIGHT, studies her face in the mirror.

PATIENCE:

Lame, lame, lame.

She wipes a bit of chocolate from the corner of her mouth.

She tries a seductive pout, a la Laurel, gives her hair aseductive toss --it winds up in her eyes and mouth.

ON PATIENCE'S WINDOW --from across the alley, we seePATIENCE before her mirror, brushing her hair. PULL BACK to

reveal we're watching with TOM LONE, who spies on Patiencethrough his own window, lights off. He SIGHS.

CUT TO:

10.

INT. AVENAL HQ -SHOWROOM -DAY

MOVING CAMERA delivers an assault on the senses: MIRRORS,

oversized versions of the BEAUTY PRODUCTS, charts of COLOR

CHOICES, shelves upon shelves of slickly-packaged COSMETICS.

Prominent is a DISPLAY for BEAUNIQUE. HIP MUSIC in BG.

AVENAL GIRLS, perfectly coiffed and made-up Barbie dolls,

busily paint the faces of CLIENTS, women of all ages andbackgrounds, in high-tech MAKE-UP CHAIRS that resemble

torture devices.

PATIENCE crosses through, pausing to take off her sneakers

and pull on a pair of high heels. SALLY --an Avenal girlin a prim outfit, working on a matronly CUSTOMER --looks

up to greet PATIENCE. We now see Patience has a small

SCRATCH on her cheek, poorly covered with makeup.

SALLY:

Look what the cat dragged in.

PATIENCE:

(touching her cheek)

I know, I know, I'm late --Midnight thought there

was a mouse in my pillow.

SALLY:

This is why I only sleep with my own species.

Lunch at Joey's?

PATIENCE nods and waves as she hurries through a set of doorsto an ELEVATOR BANK.

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