Evening Page #3

the star he picked out for you.

Oh, that.

It's a nice little star.

It is. It's very nice.

It's one of the Seven Sisters.

See? There she is, right there.

This isn't too personal, is it?

No. No, not really.

I met Buddy in college,

and within three weeks

he'd picked me out a star,

he'd declared my flower to be the peony,

my bird to be the swift,

my tree to be the sycamore,

the list goes on.

He was in love with you.

No. No, he was

my best friend's little brother.

But as we would walk around campus

and he'd go on

about how the swift was my bird,

the onyx was my stone,

I finally asked him why he kept doing that

and do you know what he said?

He said he did it

so that I would remember him

whenever I saw peonies and swifts

and sycamores and all that.

As if he just thought

he would disappear one day.

Isn't that sad?

See that star over there?

Where?

The medium-sized,

right there, the one near Orion.

Yes.

Hey.

That's our star.

It's the one we were looking at

when you were a beautiful young girl

kissed by some strange older guy

who had no right to kiss you.

And then after the weekend,

you never saw him again.

I'm supposed to slap you, you know.

Go ahead. You should.

You have such hopes.

But you wear the wrong clothes,

you say the wrong things.

Before you know it,

you can't tell what was your life

and what were your mistakes.

You start to feel

like you're made of wrongness.

What if there were no such thing

as a mistake?

You wouldn't say that

if you'd met my husbands.

I have met them.

Well, you wouldn't say that

if you'd seen me in a maxi skirt.

I have seen you in a maxi skirt.

Who are you?

I'm the night nurse.

You're dressed rather strangely for a nurse,

if you don't mind my saying so.

I don't mind in the slightest.

But you're a real nurse?

I mean, have you had training?

Oh, my, yes. I can do just about anything

you need me to.

Can you tell me where my life went?

I can tell you that your star is Alcyone.

Your stone is the amethyst.

Your bird is the thrush.

No, my bird is the swift.

I'm afraid that's not accurate.

Uh-huh.

Really?

Yes.

Really.

Come in.

You're up.

It's my wedding day.

It's perfect outside.

Isn't it?

Hey. Oh, honey.

There, there.

La, la, la.

Lila, do you really,

really want to marry Carl?

Mmm-hmm.

Honey.

Okay, I'm just gonna say it.

I don't think that you're in love with Carl.

I think you're in love with Harris.

That's ridiculous.

Is it?

I'm not in love with Harris

and Harris is not in love with me.

Are you sure?

Yes.

Do you want to know how I know?

Yeah.

Because I asked him.

You did?

Last night,

in the middle of my rehearsal dinner

I told him that since I was 15,

that I turned down every other guy

who came along who wasn't him.

Who had the bad taste not to be Harris.

I mean, I more or less offered

to sneak out with him and do anything

and everything that he might want me to do.

To be perfectly honest,

I find that impulse understandable.

I don't think I could do half of the things

that I said I could.

I mean, you know, anatomically.

Honey, what exactly did you say?

I humiliated myself.

Completely.

I mean, do you...

Do you understand that?

Do you know what I'm saying?

Yes.

I had to know

if there was a chance for me with Harris.

And I got my answer.

Now I'm going to get married.

Okay, maybe it isn't Harris for you.

But you don't have to marry Carl

if you're not sure.

Just send everybody home?

Tell them that the bride

has changed her mind?

Yes.

I'm 24 years old.

So?

It would kill Carl.

He'd recover.

No. No, he wouldn't. He's not...

He's not the kind of person that would

recover from something like that.

Lila?

Lila, dear, are you up?

Just a minute, Mother.

We've got a lot to do.

I know.

I need you to be a proper bridesmaid.

I need you to be very, very nice to Carl.

Can you do that for me?

Is that what you really and truly

want me to do?

He's a good man

and he'll be a wonderful husband.

Now it's time to hit the deck, dear...

Good morning, Ann.

Good morning.

Well, everything seemed

like a good idea at the time.

One thing led to another.

But now, when I look back on it all.

What do you see?

Waste. Failure.

Only that?

Oh, pretty much.

Why don't you think of a time

when you were happy?

Don't patronize me, please.

Why don't you just close your eyes,

and think of a time when you were happy?

It's best, really

if you choose something ordinary.

An ordinary moment during an ordinary day.

Mommy, I want to go home.

Oh, honey...

Everybody's a critic.

No, I'm a terrible mother.

Connie, sweetheart, I'm so sorry.

Your mommy just can't afford a sitter

today and tonight.

Hey, you know I think

I should take her home.

We got to rehearse, baby.

Give her to me.

I've had three, I know what I'm doing.

Now look here. This is a piano.

And you and me are gonna play it.

And your mama's gonna sing for us.

Here we go.

Time after time

I tell myself that I'm

So lucky to be loving you

Look at Mama.

So lucky

To be the one you run to see

In the evening

When the day is through

What happened to your dress?

What dress would that be?

Hey, Luc.

Hey, Annie.

How's the band?

You know,

working our way up from dumps to dives.

Connie, did you like my song?

I'm Nina, Mom.

Connie went home for a little while.

It wasn't right,

me dragging you around to clubs like that.

Are you okay, Mom?

Are you in much pain?

We should let her rest a little, I think.

I want to stay a minute, okay? Just me.

Don't overtire her.

Yeah, five minutes.

Hey, Mom.

How you doing?

Honey, let's not talk about me.

How are you?

I'm okay.

I'm Nina, right?

Of course you are.

You look a little peaked, frankly.

Let me feel your forehead.

I'm fine, really.

No, you're not fine.

I'm fine enough. I'm not the one who's sick.

You're not the one's who's well.

Can I tell you something?

Of course.

I'm pregnant.

Oh, darling!

That's wonderful.

With Luc. Luc's baby.

Our baby. I haven't told him.

I haven't told anybody.

And, Mom, I don't know what to do.

I can't imagine getting rid of it.

I don't think I could do that.

But I can't exactly imagine

being with Luc all my life, either.

I mean, we've been together three years

and I've never felt sure.

And now I'm two months along.

I'm afraid having the baby would be

something I'd regret for the rest of my life.

And I'm afraid not having the baby would be

something I'd regret for the rest of my life.

A baby is a wonderful thing.

You said Harris was your only love.

That's how I want to feel.

Harris showed me how much it can be.

Yeah, go on.

Will you promise me something?

Tomorrow, after Sis marries

Dwight D. Eisenhower...

Stop that.

...we can drive to New York together,

just you and I,

and we go on a bender, you know.

We hit a million clubs, hang around

with criminals and degenerates.

I sing for criminals and degenerates.

Thursdays through Sundays.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes