The Private Lives of Pippa Lee Page #5

- (Gigi) Hi, everybody.

- (Pippa) Hi.

(Gigi)

This is Sam Shapiro, the novelist.

(Herb) That material

belongs with the childhood.

(man 2) I know, but I'm moving back

and forth in time. It's liquid.

Let the sequences accumulate.

They're too staccato.

I'm looking for that staccato feeling.

(Herb) Hello.

Hi, are you with our party?

Yeah, with Craig.

You bought a painting from him.

Oh, yeah. This is Max, I'm Herb.

- (Herb) And you are?

- Pippa Sarkissian.

- What kind of a name is that?

- English and Armenian.

- Ah. Well, welcome.

- (Gigi whoops)

You don't have a bathing suit?

Go naked! Nobody's here! Come on!

Come on!

(chatter)

(Gigi) I'm so happy to see you. I want

to organise a show in Paris for you.

Have you been in Paris before?

(Pippa) That's fantastic.

What's going on?

Pippa. Pippa Sarkissian.

Come here. Come.

Sit. Talk to us.

So, Pippa, what does a free spirit

like you have for breakfast usually?

- Does she look like she eats breakfast?

- Do you?

- No.

- That's your first mistake of the day.

So, first thing in the morning,

you go to the studio?

I don't have a studio.

You gotta be an artist

dressed like that.

- (Herb) Well, what do you do?

- I work in a clothing store.

You have no ambition?

No one has ever walked through that

door before without having an ambition.

The butler is writing a short story.

- He told me so himself yesterday.

- I'm gonna get a drink.

- You want a drink, Pippa?

- Uh-uh.

- Get me another one of these.

- I will. I'll be back.

This is the most amazing house

I've ever seen.

It's not a house, it's a mausoleum.

There isn't one comfortable

piece of furniture except this couch.

- It's like living in an aquarium.

- Then why do you live here?

My wife. I could never afford a place

like this, although I'm not poor.

So, Pippa, when are you going to start

doing something about your life?

What do you mean?

Doesn't it get dispiriting

being so aimless?

I mean, the times,

they are a-changing notwithstanding.

What?

You have such a sweetness about you.

No, I'm not sweet.

Well, you can be experienced

and have a sweetness about you.

It's an innate thing with you, it seems.

I haven't seen that quality in a person

in a long time.

(Gigi) We're all going swimming!

Oh, God.

(Pippa) I didn't realise it yet,

but I had set my sights on Herb,

and once that happened, watch out.

She's making me nostalgic

for his first wife,

and trust me, that's saying something.

You're interesting, Pippa.

I've been observing you.

- You have?

- You're like an ingnue femme fatale.

- OK, and what are you like?

- Writers are vampires.

I'm waiting for the right girl to come

along and make me a human being.

You realise that if I leaned in

right now and kissed you,

I'd be the third guy tonight.

Am I right?

Yeah, you would.

(laughter)

("Another Green World" by Brian Eno)

(laughs)

- Your turn.

- Alright.

Come on!

- There you go. Thanks.

- See you next week.

Next?

Fish tonight?

Oh! Well, he, erm, comes all the way

from Maine every Thursday.

- You feel guilty about the fish man?

- A little.

- I'm sorry about the other day.

- Oh, that's alright.

- How are you doing?

- Oh, fine.

I-I actually went to see someone

about the sleepwalking,

and he basically thinks I'm off my nut,

basically. (laughs)

Erm, see, it's a psychiatrist.

That's because he thinks I'm gonna need

medication, and a locksmith.

He suggested that we bolt

the bedroom door from the inside

and Herb hide the key, and erm...

Oh, I'm supposed to take up a hobby.

I'm thinking bowling. (sighs)

- Would you like to go for a drive?

- (giggles) Sure.

After you get your fish.

I'll make pasta.

Where do you want to go?

I don't know. (chuckles) Erm...

- I could show you where I grew up.

- OK.

How do I get there?

It's straight for a couple of miles.

Then we'll make a turn. I'll tell you.

It's close.

(Pippa) There it is.

- (Pippa) Seems so small.

- Is your family still here?

No.

That's my daughter, Grace. She hates me.

I wonder...

- What?

- If I got it all wrong with her.

I just didn't want to suffocate her

the way my...

I think it happens like that in families

sometimes, though.

You just keep swinging back and forth

from generation to generation,

getting it wrong, the opposite way.

It was so simple with Ben.

But you know, she, erm,

is a photographic journalist.

Travels all over the world, wherever

it's exploding, takes photographs.

- Wow.

- Yeah, I know.

We must have done something right.

Sounds like your daughter's like you.

- Why?

- You said you were always in a drama.

Well, I was reckless with my life,

that's true.

I never saw her again.

- Who?

- My mother.

After I ran away, she died.

She had a heart attack.

(Suky) Oh, I can't wait to see.

(Pippa) If I could have anything,

I would ask for one more afternoon

with my mother.

Look at her eyes.

(Pippa) I would be kind.

Beautiful.

I've been going to Dot's pottery class.

- Oh, good.

- Why do you think it's good?

The doctor said

he thought you could use a hobby.

- Tell me what you like about me.

- Right now?

Yeah.

- You put up with me, for one thing.

- That's it?

Of course not.

Herb, what happened to us? We used to

laugh so much. What happened?

- Can't laugh all the time.

- Well, we have to laugh.

- Or what?

- Or she died for nothing.

- Not that again, OK?

- Why am I not allowed to mention her?

I will not let this marriage turn into

a guilt fest. We have been through this.

She was crazy. You get involved

with somebody like that,

it's like putting your hand

in a blender. Your fingers get bloody.

I just can't take it, I can't take it.

I keep seeing her.

I keep seeing her. I keep...

(sighs) I keep seeing the past.

The past just keeps caving in.

I can't take it any more.

I can't take it. (sobs) I'm sorry.

Maybe you should be taking

antidepressants.

(slams table)

What?

You alright? You want to talk?

My mother used to do this.

She'd suddenly disappear,

and I'd find her on the bed in front of

the TV with toast on her belly.

- That's how she died.

- Yes, I know.

- I have to take your blood pressure.

- No, you don't.

(Pippa) I slept for a week

after the party at Herb's beach house.

Maybe I was trying to avoid

my next boyfriend.

When I woke up, I felt an overwhelming

need to hear Herb's voice.

I missed him so much. It was strange.

(hammer bangs)

- (ringing tone)

- (Herb) Hello?

- Er, Mr Lee? Hi, it's Pippa Sarkissian.

- Pippa!

Hey. I-I was wondering,

do you want to go out to breakfast?

- It's three o'clock in the afternoon.

- I meant tomorrow.

(Pippa) He treated me like a pal

at first. He was avuncular.

He teased me about being a waster.

I called him an old fart.

We would get together every couple of

days and take a walk or eat something.

He gave me reading lists.

He wanted to educate me.

- (Pippa) Hey. Sorry I'm late.

- (Herb) You're always late.

Well, maybe you're always early.

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