Leaving Las Vegas Page #13

BEN:

Last spring I happened to

walk past a house that I had

once patronized. There was a

cool breeze blowing off the

ocean and through the window

I could see a bare leg. The

girl must have been taking a

break between customers. It

was a strange moment for me

because it reminded me of my

mother and despite the fact

that I was late for something

already I just stayed there,

loving the atmosphere of it

and my memory and... the

reason I�m telling you this

epilogue is that I felt that

I�d come full circle.

SERA:

Where was that house? The one

in LA, I mean.

BEN:

Fifth and Mayflower. You know

it?

SERA:

Yes. One of my friends was

there. I wonder if you ever

clipped her.

They watch the TV in silence for a while. Sera holds his

hand.

BEN:

I like it here with you.

SERA:

Let�s stay for a while.

BEN:

OK.

CUT TO:

107 INT. MOTEL ROOM - DAY

Ben mixes a cocktail for himself, then one for Sera. The

camera follows him as he goes...

108 EXT. POOL-SIDE - DAY

...to the side of the pool, where Sera is sunbathing. He

lowers himself unsteadily into the chair but avoids spilling

a drop of the drinks, which he puts down on to a glass-topped

table. He is pretty loaded. Sera turns over and moves out of

his shadow.

SERA:

I�ve missed the best sun. Why

did you have to pawn your

watch?

BEN:

I didn�t know I�d ever need

it again.

Sera gets up, takes a drink and then walks to the diving

board. As she takes a position at the end, she pulls the

bathing suit out from her bottom, does a very natural dive

into the pool, swims a length under water and then comes out

near Ben, pulls herself out of the pool in one move and bends

down and kisses Ben for a long time. Ben responds and kisses

back. There is no one else around the pool.

The kiss becomes heated and urgent and Sera sits on Ben,

making him wet from her. He pushes the top of her suit down

and kisses her breasts. She picks up the glass and drinks,

letting the alcohol spill from her mouth, over her breasts.

Ben drinks from her.

BEN:

Take this off.

He tries to pull her swimsuit down.

SERA:

Maybe we should go inside.

Come on.

She stands up, covering herself. Ben stands up, laughing,

loses his balance and slips on the wet concrete. He falls

backwards, half on to the chair, which he breaks, and then on

to the glass table. The table goes over and it and the

glasses all shatter on the concrete. Ben falls on the broken

glass and cuts himself all over his back and his arms. Glass

goes into the pool. Blood mingles with the water on the

steaming cement.

BEN:

Whoops.

Sera picks up her towel and lays it down next to him. She

kneels and helps him up, trying to pullout the little bits of

glass sticking to him. Ben stands unsteadily.

BEN:

I�ll go and clean up. Perhaps

you could take care of this.

He indicates the mess, then walks to their room. Sera begins

carefully picking up the broken glass. The desk clerc appears

with a broom and a dustpan.

DESK-CLERK

(cheerfully)

Everybody OK?

SERA:

Yes, fine. Don�t worry. We�ll

pay for the chair, and I�ll

clean all this up, the pool

too.

DESK-CLERK

Don�t worry.

He begins sweeping the broken glass into the pan, cheerfully

ignoring Sera.

SERA:

You seem prepared for

accidents.

DESK-CLERK

(still smiling)

Yeah... we get a lot of screw-

ups here.

He looks directly at Sera.

DESK-CLERK

Now, you two keep you loud

talk and your liquor to your

room. Check out first thing

tomorrow and after that I

don�t want to see either of

you here again. I don�t need

you paying for the chair or

cutting your pretty hands on

the glass. Let�s leave it at

that.

Nodding firmly, he goes back to the mess, indicating that the

conversation is over.

DESK-CLERK

See ya in the morning.

CUT TO:

109 INT. MOTEL ROOM - DAY

Sera comes into the room.

SERA:

Ben?

She sees that he is already asleep on the bed, his half-naked

body covered with countless bits of bloodstained tissue. The

image has an almost religious feel to it. The TV is on and a

sitcom is playing.

Something funny catches Sera�s attention. She laughs and sits

on the bed next to Ben.

SERA (voice-over)

I think we realized that we

didn�t have long and accepted

it. My charm, for him, was

that I accepted him exactly

as he was and didn�t expect

him to change. I think we

both realized that about each

other. Ben needed me and I

liked his drama. I loved him.

CUT TO:

110 EXT. DESERT LANDSCAPE - DUSK

We see Las Vegas lighting up. The blue rental car passes

through frame and drives towards the town.

FADE OUT:

FADE UP ON:

111 INT. SERA�S BEDROOM, LAS VEGAS - NIGHT

Ben wakes from a dream. He is fully clothed and very

agitated.

BEN:

Sera?

112 INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

Sera is cooking.

SERA:

I�m in here. You probably

don�t want to hear about it

right now, but I bought some

plain rice. I thought it

might be something you could

eat. So if you get hungry

later on, just let me know.

Ben comes in from the kitchen and takes vodka bottles from

the fridge.

113 scene cut.

114 scene cut.

115 INT. BATHROOM - NIGHT

Ben�s hands are sweating and it�s difficult for him to keep

hold of the bottle as he drinks. He gets most of it down and

then he hunches over the sink and immediately vomits. He

takes the second bottle and tries again.

CUT TO:

116 INT. SHOWER - NIGHT

Still holding the bottle, Ben stands in the shower. He drinks

some more and closes his eyes.

CUT TO:

117 INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

Ben enters, smartly dressed and smiling.

BEN:

I think I�m ready for the

rice!

CUT TO:

118 INT. DINING ROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT

Ben and Sera sitting opposite each other. He has a bowl of

rice, which he is pretending to eat in between sips of vodka.

She has a bowl of vegetables and rice. She sits, silently for

a while, and then puts down her chopsticks.

SERA:

You�re pretty sick.

Ben looks away.

SERA:

What are you going to do?

She folds her arms.

SERA:

I want you to go see a

doctor.

He thinks for a while and then turns to meet her gaze. They

look right into each other�s eyes.

BEN:

Sera... I�m not going to see a

doctor.

Sera continues to look at him almost defiantly.

BEN:

Maybe it�s time I moved to a

hotel.

SERA:

And do what... rot away in a

room?

(becoming angry)

We�re not going to talk about

that. F*** you! I will not

talk about that. You�re

staying here. You are not

moving to a hotel.

BEN:

Will you lighten up, please?

SERA:

(close to tears)

One thing... one thing... this

is one thing you can do for

me. I�ve given you gallons of

free will here! You can do

this for me.

She leans right forward.

SERA:

Let�s face it. Sick as you

are, I�m probably the only

thing that�s keeping you

alive.

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