The Libertine Page #9

EDITH:

I want to believe you.

MAURICE:

I have cheated.

62.

EDITH:

It's not the what, it's the how.

I've cheated too, but you'd neverfind out in the papers.

MAURICE:

I have a problem.

Edith says nothing.

MAURICE (CONT'D)

Tell me what you're thinking.

EDITH:

Your book is crap. And it was nice

to see you mop the floor with thatyuppie couple.

MAURICE:

I'm going to kiss you.

EDITH:

No.

MAURICE:

I am.

EDITH:

No.

Maurice kisses Edith. She pushes him away.

MAURICE:

Now, I want you to pretend you didn'tsay no just now, and that way youcan follow your gut without losingface.

Maurice kisses Edith again. She hesitates, then kisses himback.

INT. MASTER BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Maurice bursts through the door with Edith.

EDITH:

Softer.

Maurice kisses her softer.

EDITH (CONT'D)

Softer.

Maurice, with great difficulty and a lot of physical guidancefrom Edith, manages to kiss her gently.

63.

He seems deeply uncomfortable with the lack of animalism.

EDITH (CONT'D)

This way.

Edith leads Maurice sensually toward the bed. Maurice is

constantly trying to steer their interaction more violentand aggressive, but Edith forces him to be slow and romantic.

EDITH (CONT'D)

Softer.

The begin to make love. Maurice is like a caged tiger, jumpy

and uncomfortable with Edith's languid energy, but unable tochange their choreography.

AFTER THEY'RE DONE

Edith and Maurice lie in bed. She looks content. He seems

anxious. Maurice gets out of bed.

EDITH (CONT'D)

You can sleep here tonight.

MAURICE:

It's too soon. I don't want to

violate your space.

Edith looks nervous as Maurice exits.

INT. SECOND BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Maurice plops onto his bed and opens his laptop. He logs

into a SEX CHAT WINDOW. A BUSTY BLONDE greets him.

BUSTY BLONDE (V.O.)

Hello, handsome.

MAURICE:

Turn around and bend over.

BUSTY BLONDE (V.O.)

Okay.

MAURICE:

Now bark.

BUSTY BLONDE (V.O.)

Woof.

Maurice starts to masturbate.

64.

INT. KITCHEN - MORNING

Maurice, in his robe and slippers, is chipper as he poachesAN EGG. He hums as he creates two BEAUTIFUL PLATES OF EGGS

AND SPINACH. He grabs one of the plates and saunters to the-

LIVING ROOM:

And knocks on Edith's door.

EDITH (O.S.)

One minute.

Maurice opens the door.

EDITH (O.S.) (CONT'D)

I said one minute.

Maurice closes the door, a little miffed. Edith comes out

in HER ROBE.

MAURICE:

I made eggs florentine.

EDITH:

Thank you.

Maurice tries to kiss her but Edith dodges the kiss and takesthe eggs.

KITCHEN:

Edith puts her plate on the ISLAND and gets ORANGE JUICE asMaurice watches.

MAURICE:

So, I'm not allowed in the room again?

EDITH:

You were right about it being too

soon.

MAURICE:

And when I tried to kiss you?

EDITH:

Maurice, last night happened.

MAURICE:

But shouldn't have.

EDITH:

I didn't say that. It let us know

there's still something we can worktowards.

65.

MAURICE:

You're an Indian giver.

EDITH:

We can't start out where we were

last night. We have to take it slow.

Edith takes a bite.

EDITH (CONT'D)

This is really good.

MAURICE:

Fresh Direct.

Maurice starts to eat.

EDITH:

You're going to need to do somethings.

MAURICE:

And what if I need you to win meback?

EDITH:

You really think I should be makingthe effort?

MAURICE:

What do you need me to do?

EDITH:

First, I need you to actually workon your book.

MAURICE:

I thought you said it was crap.

EDITH:

It is crap, but until you come upwith a better one, you need somethingto do.

MAURICE:

What's house arrest good for if nota chance to be lazy? Like the flu.

EDITH:

What do you think I liked about youlast night?

MAURICE:

Being an a**hole?

66.

EDITH:

Having energy. You need to put thatenergy into something, or it poofs

away. I also need you to get dressedevery day.

MAURICE:

Black tie or white?

EDITH:

If people think you're a loser, don'tlook like a loser. When you're backon top, you can dress like a slob.

Edith finishes breakfast.

EDITH (CONT'D)

I'm going to my room. See you atlunch.

MAURICE:

If I'm available.

EDITH:

Don't disturb me.

Edith exits.

INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY

Maurice, wearing SLACKS and a BUTTON DOWN, sits in front ofhis laptop and notes. The TV is on in the background. He

types unproductively, one key at a time.

He looks over at Edith's door. He goes to her door, almostknocks, then goes back to the couch. He tries to type.

He takes the TV remote and tries to balance it on the top ofhis laptop. The remote falls. He notices something on theTV and becomes excited. He turns up the volume.

ON THE TELEVISION

Jaqueline is being interviewed on NEW YORK ONE. A captionreads, "Live: daughter of MLC."

INTERVIEWER (V.O.)

Thanks, Mark. Glad I'm not takingthe Midtown Tunnel. We're here with

Jaqueline Lunel-Caspi, daughter ofMaurice Lunel-Caspi and Edith Rivet.

JAQUELINE (V.O.)

Thanks for having me.

67.

INTERVIEWER (V.O.)

Jaqueline, you've been talking upquite a storm since your father wasarrested.

JAQUELINE (V.O.)

My mother taught me to speak my mind.

INTERVIEWER (V.O.)

Much to our good fortune. So, tellus, what was it like having a sexualdeviant for a father?

Jaqueline fidgets nervously. She is choosing her wordscarefully.

JAQUELINE (V.O.)

My father could have been a betterparent, it's true, but the biggestproblem was that I didn't get to seehim very often.

INTERVIEWER (V.O.)

In the past, you've said that youstopped feeling comfortable bringingfriends home at around fifteen.

JAQUELINE (V.O.)

My dad can be overly flirtatious.

But, the French have a very differentoutlook on sexuality from Americans.

INTERVIEWER (V.O.)

I'm sorry, I'm puzzled by your changein tone. In the past, you've calledhim, "a sexual scum, who preys onevery woman around and uses power tobully women into sex."

JAQUELINE (V.O.)

I may have been lashing out a little.

INTERVIEWER (V.O.)

Why did you refuse when the judgeoffered to let him stay with youunder house arrest? Forcing yourmom to fly to New York and rent anapartment?

JAQUELINE (V.O.)

I don't want to distract from the

case.

INTERVIEWER (V.O.)

Then why did you come on this show?

68.

JAQUELINE (V.O.)

I thought we might talk about otherissues. I have a lot of very strongopinions.

INTERVIEWER (V.O.)

You want to talk about other issues?

JAQUELINE (V.O.)

I thought we might talk about Gaza.

Maurice excitedly runs to Edith's door. He almost knocks,

then runs back to his laptop and does some typing. He looks

back at her door expectantly. After a second, Edith burstsinto the living room.

EDITH:

What's she saying?

MAURICE:

Take a look.

The television has switched to a DIFFERENT ANCHOR. Maurice

hits mute.

MAURICE (CONT'D)

I guess they pulled her off.

EDITH:

Why didn't you knock?

MAURICE:

It's not lunch yet. I thought youwanted an email.

EDITH:

Not if Jackie's on TV.

MAURICE:

These rules are very confusing.

EDITH:

If she's on again, knock.

Edith starts to leave.

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