Miss Sloane Page #4

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ELIZABETH:

Did you consider that my lack of

enthusiasm might demonstrate to them

that I’m protecting their int-

GEORGE:

Don’t feed me that crap and call it

ice cream. What’s going on with you?

ELIZABETH:

Remember when you interviewed me?

Eons ago. You asked if I could

represent a client whose position I

vehemently disagreed with.

GEORGE:

So what?

ELIZABETH:

Foolishly, I told the truth, I said

‘No.’ Not for money, respect, nor

professional integrity. I thought I’d

just blown the interview. The next

two and a half words out of your

mouth were ‘You’re hired’.

GEORGE:

What I didn’t tell you is that you’re

supposed to have grown out of that

infantile, save-the-world idealism by

your second year!

ELIZABETH:

I do whatever it takes to win because

I only fight for causes I actually

believe in-

GEORGE:

You’re suddenly a proponent of gun

control?

ELIZABETH:

The current system is so porous, it

floats. The Heaton-Harris Amendment

is necessarily extensive to redress

it.

GEORGE:

I thought you had to ‘look at the

wording’

ELIZABETH:

I know very well what it says.

16.

GEORGE:

When did this happen? I don’t

remember you ever caring one way or

the other about gun control?

ELIZABETH:

I guess my position solidified

somewhere between Columbine and

Aurora. Right now, background checks

only apply to sales from federally

licensed gun dealers. Leaving any two-

bit thug or head-case free to procure

a thirty-eight special from a gun

show, the internet, or his buddy from

the Bowl-o-rama. Heaton-Harris puts a

full-stop to this stupidity, and

about time too.

GEORGE:

Christ, Liz, this isn’t any old

client waltzing through the door,

this is the Gun Lobby. No, something

happened - someone you know was a

victim of a gun crime.

ELIZABETH:

Nonsense. I formed an opinion.

GEORGE:

You’re a champion of the free market.

You abhor taxation and frivolous

government spending, meddling,

patronizing-

ELIZABETH:

I would hardly categorize responsible

gun control as frivolous-

GEORGE:

Kenyans! For Christ’s sake, you rep

Kenyans!

ELIZABETH:

To stop our all-consuming government

from looting one of their few sources

of income. There’s a cause I can get

behind. And what’s wrong with Kenya?

We’re about to close Len Davies with

a field trip there.

GEORGE:

Is that a promise or a threat? I can

just picture the good Senator being

boiled in a cauldron with all these

natives dancing around him.

Elizabeth puts her head in her hands, despairing.

GEORGE (CONT’D)

Get some Fortune 500 clients. Your

colorful representations are the

cause of a lot of industry back-chat

this firm’s good name can do without.

17.

ELIZABETH:

Could it do without the thirty grand

a month retainer?

GEORGE:

You bully people, Liz. You’re a

bully, with your unorthodox tactics

and endless supply of inflammatory

quotes. Senior Partners are banging

on my door fearing for our rep, and

that’s something I can do without.

ELIZABETH:

You’re hardly a stranger to

“unorthodox tactics”. It’d be quicker

to list the Congressmen you haven’t

strong-armed, threatened or

blackmailed. I apply tactical,

creative, ethical methods, and that’s

how I sleep at night.

GEORGE:

Really, Sloane? Those little pills in

your purse are the kind that lull you

to sleep?

Elizabeth’s eyes narrow. He’s crossing a line.

ELIZABETH:

My point:
we’re different animals in

the same cage. And I still win, which

is why the Gun Lobby just walked

through our front door-

GEORGE:

And you sent them straight back out

of it! You’re right! The only reason

you and your team of sneaker-wearing

ragamuffins are still here is that

your arrogant pranks might generate

enough buzz to attract clients like

the Gun Lobby. Meaning, if you don’t

personally dedicate yourself to their

cause, the partnership won’t really

have any use for you. Your billings

for this firm’s reputation is a trade

they’d be happy to make. Now go away,

re-read that amendment, and start

telling the world how goddamn

extensive it is!

INT. DOCTOR’S OFFICE - DAY - PAST

Elizabeth consults with her DOCTOR. She can’t get out of the

room fast enough. She reads and responds to emails on her

Blackberry, fingertips blistering over the tiny keys like a

stenographer on coke.

DOCTOR:

Any dizziness?

ELIZABETH:

No.

18.

DOCTOR:

Nausea?

ELIZABETH:

None.

DOCTOR:

No disorientation at all?

ELIZABETH:

Doctor, I’m fine, really. Whatever it

was you gave me did the trick.

DOCTOR:

What time d’you go to sleep most

nights?

ELIZABETH:

Well, it varies-

DOCTOR:

What time did you go to sleep last

night?

(beat)

This morning?

ELIZABETH:

These are busy times.

DOCTOR:

So I see, by your eagerness to get

this over with. You don’t need a

doctor to tell you you’re working

yourself into an early grave.

ELIZABETH:

The pills did help me sleep.

DOCTOR:

Pills aren’t the answer. The long

hours and levels of stress you’re

exposed to would be dangerous for a

twenty year-old.

(beat)

I’m going to write you a

prescription, but it’ll only cover

you for the next two weeks.

The Doctor scribbles down a prescription and hands it over.

DOCTOR:

I want to see you back here in a

fortnight, with your phone off, and

eight hours under your belt.

EXT. DOCTOR’S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS - PAST

Elizabeth strides out at pace. Scrunches the prescription and

deposits it in the nearest trash can.

INT. D.C. FUNDRAISER - NIGHT - PAST

The ballroom of a five-star hotel is alive with Washington’s

most powerful. Phoney affectations, champagne and canapes.

19.

INT. TOILET STALL - CONTINUOUS - PAST

Elizabeth sits atop a closed commode with her head in her

hands, savoring invisibility and relative quiet. A lifetime of

‘being on’ has taken its toll; like she herself is building

towards critical mass.

She reaches into her handbag and flips open her trinket box.

She looks tired, burnt out. She considers the four pills

inside long and hard, but denies herself. She flips it shut,

flushes (she never went), and exits.

EXT. JEFFERSON HOTEL - NIGHT - PAST

Elizabeth strides from the hotel on a crisp winter’s night,

and is caught up by a PERSISTENT MAN in his 40s.

PERSISTENT MAN:

Early night?!

She doesn’t stop.

ELIZABETH:

If you’re here for a quote, you’re

wasting both of our time.

Neither does he.

PERSISTENT MAN:

I’ve just watched you extricate

yourself from three conversations to

use the ladies’ room in the space of

thirty minutes.

ELIZABETH:

You busted me. I’m incontinent. Go

ahead, write it up.

PERSISTENT MAN:

I hope I’m wrong, but one could be

forgiven for thinking you’re sick of

this town.

She looks at him for the first time.

ELIZABETH:

I haven’t seen you before. You work

for the Post? How’d you get in?

PERSISTENT MAN:

I’d like five minutes of your time.

ELIZABETH:

The walk to my car is three, get to

the point.

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