Confidence Page #4

20.

RUTH:

What about this one?

LETTY:

(with sisterly pride)

You look beautiful.

RUTH:

Really?

LETTY:

Truly.

Martha Mayer is led in by the clerk.

LETTY:

Hi, Mom.

RUTH:

Look, Mom, I think I've found the

dress.

MRS. MAYER

You look just wonderful, Ruthie.

But I really think you should try

on a few more, don't you?

Letty and Ruth shoot each other a look of doom.

INT. BRIDAL SHOP - LATER

A bedraggled Letty and her mother fight the crowds to look at

dresses. They are bumped and jostled from all sides.

MRS. MAYER

Has Paul heard about his promotion?

LETTY:

No, not yet. But you know Paul.

He's sure to get it.

Ruth comes out of the dressing room in another gown.

MRS. MAYER

I don't like the bias cut on that

one.

Mrs. Mayer holds up an ornate dress.

RUTH:

No more. I can't stand to try on

one more dress.

21.

MRS. MAYER

Letty, I think this would be

beautiful on you.

LETTY:

Oh no.

MRS. MAYER

Paul could pop the question at any

time.

LETTY:

Mom, please.

MRS. MAYER

Especially with a promotion in the

offing.

RUTH:

Go on, Letty. I want to see it on

you.

LETTY:

(to Ruth)

Do you think I should?

RUTH:

Yes, yes. It'll be fun.

Letty takes the gown and disappears into the dressing room.

INT. BRIDAL SHOP - LATER

Letty emerges from the dressing room.

LETTY:

Mom? Mom? Ruth?

Letty peers around the corner, becoming a tad frantic. But

neither her mother nor Ruth is to be found. It's just Letty,

resplendent in ecru satin.

CLERK:

I think they went over to the next

shop to take a peek at shoes.

Letty pushes back her veil, sits down on the floor and takes

a sip of her now-cold coffee.

22.

INT. LETTY'S LIVING/DINING ROOM - EVENING

A "House and Garden" picture of elegance. Letty, Paul, Ruth

and Jake stand at nervous attention, decked out in their

Sunday best.

A KNOCK marks the first arrival. Letty opens the door to her

mother, who does a quick reconnaissance of the room.

MRS. MAYER

I gather he's late as usual.

LETTY:

(to her mother)

Can I get you a glass of champagne?

The doorbell RINGS. Letty greets her father, a mid 50s

business type, and his wife MONICA, a younger version of

Letty's mother.

LETTY:

Hi, Dad, Monica. I'm so glad you

could come.

Suddenly, the parents are face-to-face, Letty standing

between them.

LETTY:

Mom, this is Monica. Monica, my

mother, Martha.

The two Mrs. Mayers make appropriate MURMURS. Letty's

parents stare each other down. Ruth shifts from foot to foot.

Silence falls in the room with a thump.

LETTY:

Dad, Mother, you've met before,

right?

Ruth takes a dramatic gulp of air. The evening hangs in the

balance. Finally,

MR. MAYER

How've you been, Martha?

INT. LIVING ROOM - LETTY'S APARTMENT - LATER

Mr. Mayer and Monica cozy up to each other on the love seat

while Mrs. Mayer, Ruth and Paul sit on the opposite couch.

Letty passes hors d'oeuvres, and Jake doles out napkins.

23.

LETTY:

It's mushroom-time, folks.

MR. MAYER

(biting into one)

I like the touch of cilantro. It is

cilantro, isn't it?

LETTY:

You can always call it, Dad.

.

MONICA:

You must get your cooking skills

from your father, Letty.

Uncomfortable silence falls on the party. Monica wipes the

edge of Mr. Mayer's mouth with her napkin.

LETTY:

Ruth's narrowed the dress hunt down

to two, Dad.

MR. MAYER

Tell me about them.

RUTH:

One's a silk...

MRS. MAYER

Not in front of Jake, Ruthie. It's

bad luck.

Ruth looks at Letty nervously.

MONICA:

I remember how hard it was looking

for my dress. I must have been to

100 stores.

Mrs. Mayer clears her throat. More silence.

LETTY:

You know what I think we need?

Martinis. How about martinis to

celebrate?

PAUL:

Yes.

MRS. MAYER

That might be nice.

24.

MR. MAYER

As long as you have...

LETTY:

Puglia olives. Would I forget?

(beat)

A round of martinis coming right

up.

Letty leaves with Paul hot on her heels.

INT. KITCHEN - SAME

Letty shakes the martinis while Paul gets out the glasses.

Ruth enters the kitchen and sidles up to Letty.

RUTH:

How can I help?

LETTY:

Paul, can you hand me the olives?

Ruth, I need you to, what was it?

RUTH:

What about the souffle?

gone in?

Has that

LETTY:

Yeah, I just put it in. But the

squab, I think that needs to be

basted.

Paul hands Letty the olive bottle.

PAUL:

(to Ruth)

Kind of icy in there.

RUTH:

(to Paul)

Thank God we have alcohol.

Letty skewers olives and puts them in the martinis. Bits of

fleck rise from the olives, then swim to the tops of the

glasses.

LETTY:

F*** me.

RUTH:

What's the matter?

Letty grabs the olive bottle.

25.

PAUL:

Letty?

Letty stands still, fixated on the olive bottle.

PAUL:

Let?

.

LETTY:

Olives Aux Herbes De Provence. I

got the wrong kind of olives.

Ruth holds up a glass.

RUTH:

What's all the dreck?

LETTY:

Sage, rosemary...

(in a sarcastic French

accent)

Les Herbes.

RUTH:

It'll be fine.

LETTY:

No, no. They've got to be Puglia

olives, packed in a light brine

with a flavor that doesn't

overpower the palate.

Jake enters. The three turn on him.

LETTY/PAUL/RUTH

You can't leave them alone./Get

back in there./Are you nuts?

Jake whirls around and exits.

Letty looks for olives, banging open the cupboards one after

the other. Quicker and quicker. More and more frantic.

INT. LIVING ROOM - SAME

Jake, Mr. Mayer, Monica and Mrs. Mayer stare at each other,

listening with alarm to the wild slamming of cupboards in the

kitchen.

JAKE:

What do you think of those Lakers?

26.

INT. KITCHEN - SAME

Letty paws through her purse.

PAUL:

What are you doing?

LETTY:

(wild-eyed)

Can you loan me a 20?

PAUL:

Sure. Why?

LETTY:

I'm going to the store.

PAUL:

I think you're overreacting.

Letty turns her best school marm look on Paul. He hands over

a crisp bill.

RUTH:

Letty, dinner's almost ready. The

souffle...

LETTY:

I'll be back before you can say

souffle.

Letty leaves from the kitchen's back door. Ruth heads to the

living room. Paul leans wearily against the counter,

savoring one of the herb-filled martinis.

INT. GROCERY STORE - NIGHT

Fluorescent lights beat down on Letty. She races through the

aisles. She clutches her keys in one hand, a $20 bill in the

other. Letty careens around a corner. At the last second,

she avoids smacking into another shopper. She stops.

.

LETTY'S POV:

Shelf after shelf of olives...black olives...all black.

BACK TO SCENE:

Letty darts up and down the aisle, searching, searching.

Nothing.

27.

Letty scurries to the front of the store. She taps a STORE

CLERK on the shoulder. Six people waiting in line mutter,

annoyed.

LETTY:

I can't find martini olives. All

you have are black.

STORE CLERK:

(without looking up)

Aisle 2A.

Letty whips down an aisle. She starts to sweat.

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