Sweet November Page #9

SARA:

Go on, stay for dinner, then

you're free to go. No strings

attached.

65 EXT. SARA'S LOFT - DECK - NIGHT 65

Nelson and Sara have dinner on a plant-covered deck, litby strings of cheap lights. Ernie is begging at Nelson'sfeet.

SARA:

Mitch was my October. He was the

shyest man I ever met. We focused

on confidence building.

NELSON:

Was the patient cured?

SARA:

My treatment was a little too

effective. We had to terminate

the month early.

NELSON:

What about September?

SARA:

There was no September.

Nelson feigns disbelief.

SARA:

I'm not a weirdo about it.

NELSON:

August?

SARA:

Paul was so sad.

NELSON:

Now he's happy?

(CONTINUED)

SWEET NOVEMBER - Rev. 5/4/00 54.

65 CONTINUED:
65

SARA:

Now he's gay.

NELSON:

Happy gay or gay gay?

SARA:

Gay gay but very happy about it.

Nelson has to ask:

NELSON:

And you and all these guys...

Nelson gestures suggestively.

SARA:

Does it really matter?

She flashes the most beguiling smile.

NELSON:

I suppose attraction has nothingto do with it.

The smile just becomes more beguiling, meaning: of

course.

NELSON:

Why a month?

SARA:

Long enough to be meaningful.

Short enough to stay out oftrouble.

NELSON:

You defy every law of natureI know.

SARA:

Good.

The sound of a MAN LAUGHING drifts over from another

porch.

SARA:

Listen... do you hear that? What

a wonderful laugh.

(CONTINUED)

SWEET NOVEMBER - Rev. 5/4/00 55.

65 CONTINUED:
(2) 65

She c*cks her ear, listening to the MAN LAUGHING. Then

they hear a BABY CRYING... a BASKETBALL GAME down thestreet, a DRUNK WOMAN SINGING like an alley cat. A

symphony of SOUNDS: lives being lived around them.

SARA:

Doesn't life just... take yourbreath away?

Once again, he finds himself so moved by her, he iswordless. There is a long silence between them.

SARA:

What's your secret dream, Nelson?

NELSON:

I'm not much on that kind of

thing.

SARA:

Come on, everyone's got one.

He listens to the SOUNDS, and takes a leap -- letshimself open up for a moment.

NELSON:

My father sold door-to-door.

Vacuum cleaners, life insurance,

for a while he sold plastic food.

We were kind of the joke of theneighborhood. And believe me, the

neighborhood was a pretty grim jokeitself.

SARA:

Where did you live?

NELSON:

Daly City, just up the freeway...

(pause)

Anyway, after dinner every night,

my dad would shut himself in theTV room and listen to 45s. Frank

Sinatra, Tony Bennett. For a

year or so, I desperately wantedto be a singer.

SARA:

You thought it would make himhappy?

(CONTINUED)

SWEET NOVEMBER - Rev. 5/4/00 55A.

65 CONTINUED:
(2A) 65

NELSON:

No. I thought those guys were

everything he wasn't. Successful,

proud, in control...

He stops himself -- feels too exposed, shocked that sucha sincerely-felt statement actually came from his lips.

She feels his discomfort, reaches over and takes his

hand.

(CONTINUED)

4/5/00 56.

65 CONTINUED:
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SARA:

I'd like to hear you singsometime.

NELSON:

That will never happen.

(wants to go; pullsback chair)

Well, time to...

SARA:

I'd like you to do something elsefor me, before you leave tonight.

NELSON:

What?

SARA:

Do the dishes. I hate doingdishes.

66 INT. SARA'S LOFT - NIGHT 66

Nelson is washing the dishes. Sara sits on the floor,

letting Ernie teethe by nipping her hand the way puppieslove to do.

SARA:

So, what will you do when you gohome?

NELSON:

I don't know, I don't really mapout my evenings...

SARA:

I know. You'll turn on the TV.

Get bored. Turn on your computer.

Check out your work. Get bored.

Surf the net. Get bored.

(softly)

And think of me.

She stands up and leaves the kitchen. He seems torn,

debates with himself as he finishes the dishes. Turns to

see Sara removing the last bit of her clothes beforeslipping into bed.

SARA:

I'm making this as difficult as Ipossibly can.

Nelson stares, his determination quickly waning.

67

4/5/00

INT. SARA'S LOFT - NIGHT (LATER)

Raining. Nelson lies awake, studying Sara as rainyreflections of streetlights roll over her. Rising,

he quietly dresses.

57.

67

68 INT. NELSON'S APARTMENT - LIVING AREA - NIGHT 68

Raining. Nelson in his empty, sterile apartment, watching

TV. Bored, he flips from channel to channel. Turns

it OFF. Goes to his computer, looks at some work inprogress on it. Gets bored.

SAME SCENE - LATER

Nelson surfing the net. Bored, he starts to disconnect

when he thinks of something. He types in: "DIVINE

PET. NET." His face slowly registers shock as the sitecomes up and he reads.

CLOSE ON MONITOR

Web site:
Next to a picture of Sara and a blonde woman,

who bears a striking resemblance to her -- the words:

"SARA AND CLAIRE DEEVER, CO-FOUNDERS." The company isbased out of Indianapolis, Indiana.

SAME SCENE - LATER

Nelson is typing something on his computer.

CLOSE ON TYPING:

He has already written: "WATCH TV. WORK. SURF THE NET.

GET BORED." And now he's typing -- "THINK OF ME."

69 INT. SARA'S LOFT - DAWN 69

Bathed in sunlight, Sara sleeps under a pile of blankets.

Nelson tiptoes into the loft, carrying a travel bag. As

he approaches the bed, ERNIE GROWLS dementedly, ready to

pounce.

Nelson points a finger, is amazed when ERNIE STOPSGROWLING, THUMPS HIS TAIL ON FLOOR, awakening Sara.

Overjoyed to see Nelson, Sara beckons him. Nelson slides

into bed, kisses her.

NELSON:

Try to be wrong once in a while.

It would be good for my ego.

4/5/00 58.

70 INT. SARA'S BATHROOM - DAY 70

Nelson, wearing floral boxers, examines Sara's bathroom,

frowning at the cast-iron tub. She is washing her face.

NELSON:

Don't you have a shower?

sitting in dirty water.

I hate

She lifts her head from the sink, water dripping, andlaughs.

71 INT. SARA'S BATHROOM - LATER 71

The two of them are sitting in a steaming tub, she iswashing his back.

SARA:

See? That's not so bad, is it?

(points)

Can you grab some more soap?

Reaching up to get the soap, he tries a cupboard door,

surprised to find it locked.

NELSON:

What do you keep in there?

Secret, nasty toys?

She raises an eyebrow; mock mysterious face.

the soap on a counter, hands it to her.

He finds

NELSON:

I looked up your web site lastnight. Your sister's pretty,

looks a lot like you.

SARA:

It is not my web site.

anything, anymore.

Not my

NELSON:

Why'd you quit?

SARA:

It started out small.

big.

And it got

NELSON:

That's generally considered a goodthing in business.

(CONTINUED)

4/5/00 59.

71 CONTINUED:
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SARA:

Everything got big. Desires.

Pressures. Lives. Egos. I

didn't like the big me. Not a

good person. Not happy. And the

amazing part is, I got out beforeit got really big, can youimagine.

NELSON:

No, I can't imagine you withmillions and millions of

dollars!-

She sighs with relief, then beams happily as Chassaunters into the bathroom with his morning cup ofcoffee.

CHAS:

Did you switch beans or something?

It tastes different.

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