Sleepless in Seattle Page #7

JONAH:

Jed is having a slumber party

New Year's Eve and he invited

me.

A beat.

SAM:

Fine. Fine.

JONAH:

So I can go.

SAM:

Sure.

(almost done with the

spices)

Looking good.

JONAH:

Shouldn't you have used a

toggle bolt?

SAM:

I think I know how to have a

spice rack.

He puts in the last spice.

They stand back to admire it. A beat. The rack falls

off the wall.

The rack itself doesn't break, but about six of the

glass jars of spices break.

There's paprika and thyme and currying powder, etc. all

over the floor along with shards of glass.

SAM:

God f***ing dammit! Sh*t!

F***. Piss.

Jonah bursts into tears.

SAM:

(still angry)

I'm sorry.

(softening)

I'm sorry.

He picks up Jonah and holds him.

SAM:

I'm sorry. I'm just --

JONAH:

Stressed.

SAM:

Right. I'm sorry, Jonah, I'm

sorry.

And he holds Jonah as Jonah calms down. Sam closes his

eyes tight.

INT. A TELEVISION SET OF NEW YEAR'S EVE ON TIMES SQUARE

And pull back to reveal:

INT. HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT

Sam, alone, watching the ball drop. He's got a bag of

Doritos and a beer.

A VOICE:

Can I have half your beer?

SAM:

Sure.

It's Maggie.

She takes his bottle of beer and pours half of it into a

glass.

MAGGIE:

What did I used to say? Here's

looking at you? Here's mud in

your eye?

SAM:

Here's to us. You used to say

here's to us.

(he looks at her and

his eyes well with

tears)

Oh babe. I miss you so much it

hurts.

He reaches out for her. She's gone.

And we hear the television set now counting down to

midnight in New York.

CUT TO:

INT. NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY IN BALTIMORE - NIGHT

The same television show counting down to midnight.

Champagne corks popping, etc.

And we see Walter and Annie.

WALTER:

Happy New Year, darling.

ANNIE:

Happy New Year.

They start to dance.

WALTER:

I was thinking, I have to go up

to Boston for the AAP

convention and then visit

Winston-Hughes about switching

over our computers. Why don't

we meet in New York for

Valentine's Day weekend?

ANNIE:

Walter, I'd love to --

WALTER:

We'll stay at the Plaza --

ANNIE:

Go for a walk in Central Park --

WALTER:

Go to the Symphony --

A beat.

ANNIE:

We will?

(beat)

The Symphony?

(beat)

Okay.

(beat)

I'll take you to the Russian

Tea Room for pelmeni.

WALTER:

What is it?

ANNIE:

It's delicious, trust me.

WALTER:

Does it have wheat in it?

ANNIE:

I don't think so.

They go on dancing. It's one of those parties where

everyone looks so happy and so in love. Annie, however,

looks thoughtful.

ET. MARINA PARKING AREA - DAY

Sam gets out of his car and starts down the dock toward

his houseboat. He's carrying a bag of groceries.

In the parking lot is a U.S. MAIL TRUCK.

EXT. HOUSEBOAT - DAY

Sam approaches his boat and a puzzled look comes over

his face.

A MAILMAN with a sack of mail is standing outside the

front door of the houseboat. Jonah is signing a receipt

for the mail.

JONAH:

Look at this, Dad. They're

all for you --

Sam picks up an envelop and looks at it. It's

addressed to Sleepless in Seattle c/o Dr. Marcia

Fieldstone, Radio Station KWRS in Chicago. He's

stunned. As he signs the receipt:

MAILMAN:

If you're having trouble

sleeping, you might want to try

drinking a glass of water from

the other side.

JONAH:

I thought that was for hiccups.

MAILMAN:

Does it work for hiccups?

JONAH:

For hiccups, a spoonful of

sugar, you hold it in your

mouth for a minute.

MAILMAN:

Really?

The mailman starts back toward the mail truck.

Sam and Jonah start toward the door.

INT. HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT

Sam is in the kitchen making dinner. Jonah is sitting

at the table, reading the letters from the stack they

found by the door.

SAM:

Just out of curiosity, how did

they get our address?

JONAH:

They called and asked for it.

(reading)

"Dear Sleepless in Seattle.

You are the most attractive man

I've ever laid ears on."

Jonah rolls his eyes, tosses the letter into a pile of

rejects, opens another.

SAM:

How did they get our phone

number?

JONAH:

You have to give them your

phone number or they won't let

you go on the air.

Sam nods as if this makes perfect sense.

JONAH:

(continues, reading)

"Dear Sleepless in Seattle: I

am an SWF"--

(to Sam)

What is that?

SAM:

Thank God. Something you don't

know. It's a single white

female.

JONAH:

This is no good. She's looking

for someone French. Or Greek.

(puzzled, he throws the

letter into the reject

pile, opens another)

"Dear Sleepless in Seattle: I

live in Tulsa." Where is that?

--

SAM:

Oklahoma. Do you know where

that is?

JONAH:

Somewhere in the middle.

SAM:

I'm not going to think about

what they're not teaching you

in school. I am not going to

think about it.

(beat)

Generally speaking I think we

should rule out people who

don't live somewhere near here

--

JONAH:

She's willing to fly anywhere.

As Jonah hands Sam the picture.

SAM:

She looks like my third grade

teacher. I hated my third

grade teacher. Hold it! Wait

a minute! She is my third

grade teacher!

JONAH:

Dad, you're not taking this

seriously.

SAM:

This is not how you do it.

(referring to the

hamburger)

You want this on an English

muffin or a bun?

JONAH:

English muffin. How do you do

it?

SAM:

You see someone you like, you

get a feeling about them, you

ask them if they want to have a

drink or --

JONAH:

-- a slice of pizza --

SAM:

But not dinner necessarily on

the first date because by the

time you're halfway through

dinner you might be sorry you

asked them to dinner whereas if

it's just a drink, if you like

them you can always ask them

for dinner but if you don't you

can go home if you see what I

mean.

(beat)

I wonder if it still works this

way.

JONAH:

It doesn't. They ask you.

SAM:

I'm starting to notice that.

INT. ANNIE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Annie and Walter are making love.

JONAH (V.O.)

If you get a new wife, I guess

you'll have sex with her, huh?

SAM (V.O.)

What do you think?

JONAH (V.O.)

Will she scratch up your back?

SAM (V.O.)

What?

JONAH'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

As Sam puts Jonah to sleep. Jonah is holding his teddy

bear while this conversation concludes.

JONAH:

In the movies women are always

scratching up guy's back and

screaming and stuff. When

they're having sex.

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