My Best Friend's Wedding Page #11

... a small ALCOVE. Opens the gym bag, pulling out a bath towel.

Begins to yank her top up OVER her head...

ANGLE... the young MAID now pushing her cart down the hall, wheels

SQUEAKING, and from nowhere...

... Julianne DARTS into her path, barely covered by the towel held

tight across her, she is grinning, blushing.

JULIANNE:

Help me!

The maid can only blink.

JULIANNE:

I locked myself out, 1526, please

hurry!!

And looks frantically up the hall, mortified that any moment a

stranger could happen upon her predicament. Her eyes dart back to

the maid. PLEASE. The maid just stares. Stares.

JULIANNE:

Uno-cinco-does-ses.

Oh.

INT. MICHAEL'S ROOM - TWILIGHT

Julianne alone in his room, looking around frantically. No worries

about this guy making his bed every day, stuff, clothes, strewn

everywhere, the bathroom looks like a cherry bomb just detonated.

She's tramping through a bachelor's debris, wearing only her towel,

looking, looking...

There it is. The corner of his LAPTOP sticking out from beneath a

discarded bedspread. She SNATCHES it up, OPENS it, sets it on the

cluttered desk, and...

... stops. There are wallet-sized SNAPSHOTS of Kimmy. Some alone.

Some as a little girl. Some with Michael. And next to them...

... the plastic fold-out wallet inset. That he has not yet quite

rearranged. So she picks it up. Leafs through, until she finds

what she was praying would be there...

... Julianne grinning. Michael's arm around her. On the deck of a

boat. They have drinks in their hands. Happiness in their eyes.

And she stares at it. Jesus, God, how long has he carried this

around? She flips through further, all the rest have her in them.

Maybe half a dozen. Her heart is throbbing. Her eyes are damp.

Back to the one on the boat. She slips it from the plastic window.

Holds it. Then, gently...

... puts it back where it belongs. PUNCHES up the goddamn laptop.

This is it, girl! Do or die.

JULIANNE:

(murmurs)

You wouldn't change your

password, would you? You

never change anything.

Those words make her bite her lip. Damn, I'm becoming a senti-

mental slob. TYPES in...

JULIANNE:

(murmurs)

Shoeless... Joe.

Yes! We're in! Punching keys. Letters flying across the screen.

Okay, we're ready. Types...

JULIANNE:

(reads as she types)

Mike. I hate this downsizing

sh*t as much as you do. But I

know this can't become as a

complete surprise...

INT. BEACH CLUB CARD ROOM - EVENING

Through the window, the wedding party barbecue has extended into

night. Lanterns, music, lots more food, lots more drinks. In the

distance, on the sand, Michael is slowdancing with Kimmy. Some-

where nearby, the soft CLICKING of keys. We PULL BACK to see...

... a small clubby room. Books, leather, polished woods. Only

two people here. Walter, looking on stony-faced, as a determined

Julianne grimly "struggles" to "find" what she's looking for in

Michael's laptop. And then...

... she stops typing. Looks at the text on the screen. Her eyes

sharpen as she "reads" what Walter can't see. It's an Oscar

performance for our desperate girl. She turns the screen around...

WALTER:

(reads)

Mike. I hate this downsizing...

He reads. Reads. Reads. All the air comes out of him.

WALTER:

(softly)

And Kimmy doesn't know.

She shakes her head. Nope. No way.

WALTER:

(signs)

I'll tell her I've reconsidered.

She nods, gravely. Right. He looks in her eyes.

WALTER:

You're a smart girl, Jules.

She forces up a fleeting smile of gratitude. But Walter isn't

smiling at all.

WALTER:

Wish my daughter. Bad your

guts.

INT. CHARLES TROTTER'S BAR - NIGHT

The hot saloon in Chinatown. Upscale, downscale, jammed, Michael

and Kimmy at a small table in a far corner. CLOSE on them...

MICHAEL:

Sure you're okay?

She looks really scared. Turns her drink in her hand. Looking

down at it.

MICHAEL:

It's not just a gag, huh?

KIMMY:

No, it's, uh... a real big favor.

He takes her hand, tenderly.

MICHAEL:

I wish you'd just... come out

with it. I mean why are we

waiting for Jules?

She smiles up at him. The best she can.

KIMMY:

Moral support.

She loves him so much, and she is sick with worry.

KIMMY:

What's good of having a big

sister, if she...

Stops. Gestures with her eyes. Because her big sister has just

entered...

... looking fabulous. Julianne wears a long sleek sarong, slightly

see-through. Her hair is bound up with silver pins. As she moves

through the room toward us, we can see that, for once, her make-up

is flawless, understated. When she arrives at the table...

... Michael is beaming, admiringly. He stands up.

MICHAEL:

(softly)

Wow and wow. You have a date,

after this?

JULIANNE:

Never can tell.

He holds her chair. She exchanges an intimate smile with the

anxious Kim.

MICHAEL:

You make me think of that song,

we used to...

And he starts humming. The song is, "The Way You Look Tonight."

MICHAEL:

(singing)

Someday. When I'm awfully low...

They sit. He looks from Julianne to his bride.

MICHAEL:

Okay, kid. You're on.

Kim's eyes flick to Julianne, who nods, supportively. The kid

takes a breath.

KIMMY:

It's really my father. Who

needs the favor.

His face sort of comes to a stop. Nothing she can read, yet. He

nods, yeah...?

KIMMY:

He's... he's reorganizing some of

the divisions of the company...

His eyes flick to Julianne. She looks down.

MICHAEL:

(quiet)

He never mentioned that. Neither

did y...

KIMMY:

(blurting)

... and public relations is a big

problem area for him.

She can see it now. In his eyes. She just can't tell how bad.

KIMMY:

He needs someone incredible,

someone really close, who he

can trust...

MICHAEL:

Like family, huh?

So quiet. So cold. She is terrified.

KIMMY:

It would only be, maybe, six

months? Or three or four? It

would mean so much to him...

MICHAEL:

To him.

She swallows. Straightens her spine.

KIMMY:

And to m...

MICHAEL:

(sharp, to Julianne)

... and you knew about this.

Real quiet. Against the noise of this place.

JULIANNE:

I think you ought to listen to

her, Michael. This is her life,

too.

Just the thing. To bring that anger near the surface. He turns

to Kim...

MICHAEL:

Well, which is it?

A demand. Sharp. Accusing. She doesn't like that...

MICHAEL:

You gonna tell me Daddy thought

this one up? All of a sudden, I'm

the only jerk alive who can help

him deal with the press?

She's trapped. Angry, scared. A deer in headlights.

MICHAEL:

Why don't you start being honest

for one f***ing sec...

JULIANNE:

Michael!!

KIMMY:

(near tears)

I am honest!

Silence.

KIMMY:

All of a sudden, I'm supposed to

drop out of school, forget my

family, forget my career, forget

all the plans I had for my life...

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