Lost in America Page #10

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DAVID:

(continuing)

Bellhop, please. Bellhop, in here,

please. There's an emergency!

He sits down, he's rubbing his head.

NANCY:

What's the matter?

DAVID:

Nothing. Just wait. Oh my God!

NANCY:

Sweetheart, there were these

Persians around me, staring at

all these chips that were on

the table and I've never had

that feeling before, the feeling

that I was completely in control.

I was the one. I didn't need

anything. I didn't care. I

didn't have any problems. Do

you know that feeling?

DAVID:

Not now. I don't know that feeling

now, no.

The BELLHOP approaches.

BELLHOP:

Yes, sir?

DAVID:

First of all, I was speaking to a

gentleman in the casino who seemed

to be in charge there. He's what?

BELLHOP:

The Pit Boss?

DAVID:

Yes. What's his name?

BELLHOP:

Mr. Shuster.

DAVID:

Fine. Does he have an office?

BELLHOP:

Yes, it's behind the front desk.

DAVID:

Fine. Alright. Now would you

please do me a favor? My wife

is tired and would you escort

her to 820.

(hands the Bellhop

his room key)

Would you please sit with her,

maybe she'll want to take a shower

or whatever, and just don't leave

the room. I'll be up in a little

while. But please don't leave.

I don't want her to be alone right

now.

NANCY:

Why are you treating me like an

animal?

DAVID:

I'll explain it to you later.

They all get up. They exit the coffee shop.

27INT. LOBBY OUTSIDE COFFEE SHOP

DAVID:

(speaking to Nancy as

if she has just had

a nervous breakdown)

Just relax. Lie down, if you want.

Have some water. I'll be up in a

few minutes.

NANCY:

Stop talking to me this way.

DAVID:

I'm not talking to you in any

particular way. I'm just trying

to keep everything calm and I'm

trying to remain calm. I'm also

trying to think what I can do to

help us out now.

(to the Bellhop)

The man's name again? The Pit Boss?

BELLHOP:

Shuster.

DAVID:

Thank you.

They are now at the elevators.

NANCY:

David, I'm sorry.

DAVID:

Save it. Just go upstairs.

He leaves her at the elevators.

28 INT. LOBBY

David walks very slowly towards Shuster's office. You

can tell he's thinking. He approaches the front desk

and clears his throat, trying to act dignified. The robe

diminishes this a bit.

DAVID:

(to the Clerk)

Mr. Shuster, the Pit Boss, may I

speak to him, please?

CLERK:

I don't know if he's in. Just a

moment.

The Clerk picks up the phone. He buzzes.

CLERK:

(continuing)

Yes. There's a gentleman here

to see you.

(to David)

What is your name?

DAVID:

I'm David Howard. He knows me,

we spoke on the telephone. My

wife was the one who was up for

hours.

CLERK:

(into phone)

David Howard. Yes. Yes.

(hangs up phone)

He'll be right out.

David stands there. He's thinking, staring straight

ahead. Out of an office emerges JACK SHUSTER, the Pit

Boss, the man we saw earlier. Shuster's a large man,

in his early fifties. He's as intimidating as his

job calls for. He looks like he might have killed

somebody once, and actually enjoyed it. He walks

over to David.

SHUSTER:

Mr. Howard? Come on in.

CUT TO:

29 INT. SHUSTER'S OFFICE

David tries to compose himself even more as he follows

Shuster into his office. David's story is now formed.

He knows what he wants to say. He feels confident.

David enters the office. He sits down in front of

Shuster's desk.

DAVID:

First of all, let me say, I've

heard a great deal about you.

SHUSTER:

(suspicious)

What do you mean? From who?

What did you hear?

DAVID:

Oh, I just meant I've heard

wonderful things from everybody

in general, from the whole hotel.

SHUSTER:

(relieved)

Well, that's very nice. Thank

you.

DAVID:

No, thank you.

SHUSTER:

Is your wife feeling better?

DAVID:

Yes, she is.

SHUSTER:

So, what can I do for you?

DAVID:

I have a very interesting idea.

I think you'll be taken by it.

Shuster stares at him.

DAVID:

(continuing)

I was a key executive with a major

advertising agency - one of the

biggest in the world.

SHUSTER:

Yes, right. So?

DAVID:

Well, I was the Idea Man there.

So, when I say I have an interesting

idea, I'm not speaking like any slob

that walks in off the street.

SHUSTER:

Okay.

DAVID:

(clearing his throat,

about to enter into

The Big Story)

My wife and I, we dropped out of

society. She had a very important

position in a department store and

again, I remind you that I was one

of the highest executives in the

world's largest advertising firm.

Shuster just stares at him.

DAVID:

(continuing)

Anyway, we were going to find

ourselves. Then, we thought, maybe

we're too old, it's too late. We

can't find ourselves, that's only

for kids. And then we thought about

it some more and it hit us. Wait a

minute. Who's to say at what age

you stop being a kid?

SHUSTER:

You gotta have some age. How else

could a court separate rape from

fun? In this state, it's eighteen,

by the way.

DAVID:

Yes. But my point is we wanted

to find ourselves and we did and

we dropped out, just like they

did in "Easy Rider."

SHUSTER:

Easy what?

DAVID:

The movie, "Easy Rider." Famous

movie. Important movie.

SHUSTER:

Didn't see that, I'm sorry.

DAVID:

It's a classic. If it comes on

cable here, see it. Anyway, we

did something that no one has done

for a long time. Maybe no one has

ever done it because in the movie

they were movie stars, so they

didn't really do it, even though

they portrayed people that did it.

SHUSTER:

I'm getting mixed up here. What

is your point?

DAVID:

Well, we did it for real. We

quit our jobs and we sold everything

that we had. The only thing we own

is our little motor home, which is

parked outside. That's all we've

got and we were going to spend

years roaming around this beautiful

country, but we knew we couldn't

do it unless we had our little

nest egg tucked away in the bank.

SHUSTER:

(interrupts)

I'm going off duty in a few minutes.

Now, your point is what?

DAVID:

I'm getting to it. Why did we

come to Las Vegas? Because it was

a new beginning and I wanted to

remarry my lovely wife. That's

nice, don't you think?

SHUSTER:

Very nice.

DAVID:

I wanted to get remarried but I

wanted to spend our honeymoon in

the Grand Canyon, places like we

intend to spend the rest of our

lives in, but my wife is very fond

of your hotel and all of the

employees and she said, "Oh, come

on, let's spend our honeymoon here."

And we did and the room was very

lovely and everybody was very nice

to us, but my wife lost the nest

egg.

SHUSTER:

Mr. Howard, stop right here. I

think I know what you're getting at.

I realize you've lost a great deal

here and I want you to know that

your room and your meals are comped.

DAVID:

That's very nice but that's not

exactly what I'm saying. I think

I have a multi-million dollar idea.

Now, you have to be very secretive

about what I'm going to tell you

because the other hotels, if they

heard about it, well, they'll grab

it in a minute.

David leans over Shuster's desk and whispers to make

the idea really sound secretive:

DAVID:

(continuing)

I think, as an experiment, you

give us back the money we lost.

SHUSTER:

I beg your pardon?

DAVID:

Well, imagine the publicity? I

mean, the Hilton, for example,

they have billboards all over L.A.

where they put the faces of the

winners of those slot machines.

Now, those people win a couple

hundred thousand dollars, but the

hotel is getting millions of

dollars of publicity with those

billboards because people drive

by and say, "Gee, the Hilton looks

like a nice place. Look at those

smiling people." So, what about a

billboard with my wife and I on it

and we would be smiling and there

would be a saying, something like,

"These people dropped out of society,

they couldn't take it any longer,

but they made a mistake. They

lost their nest egg at The Desert

Inn, but The Desert Inn gave it

back." And maybe there could be

some kind of a visual with you

handing us an egg or something.

Now I mean, I'm just formulating

this now, as I'm talking, but you

can imagine, when it's worked

out how effective it could be.

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