The Unattainable Story Page #3

a few days?

I can't.

I have to get back.

[solemn music]

[Skene] How did you end up

writing about Mahler and Freud?

I mean, I know how,

but why did you want to?

Vienna. I mean...

I had a passion

for that place.

The mindset of that

period of time,

of its geniuses.

And then?

The usual.

What's the usual?

Playing it modern,

finding the right words,

setting, visuals,

mood...

Everybody loves

that part.

The illusion of power,

your choices.

-Right?

-Have you been?

Yes, twice.

Have you?

No. But I've read so much

about it, I feel like I have.

-Yeah?

-Oh, right here.

I was once here with a writer

who had such an ego. God!

Do you get uncomfortable

around that type?

No, I've got an ego.

I think...

Are you jealous?

I imagine those people know

how to open the vein

better than I do.

Like their...

self-confidence is

an added weapon to

their artistic arsenal.

Like love is, really.

Well, this is it.

What do you think?

[Jacqueline] Yeah.

I mean...

It's more important

what you think, right?

Well, I think it's...

wide enough for

all the characters.

Why are there

so many characters?

Why? Well, I don't know.

I just wrote it. I...

[laughs] I didn't think

of stage width, or...

cost...

I'm sorry.

That's okay.

-We're going. Avante.

-Okay.

I'm gonna talk to

the house manager.

Good.

[traffic bustling]

[Skene] It became clear to me

that Jacqueline is only

giving me what she wants.

Keeping me at a distance.

But she's clever.

She makes it look like

I'm the one keeping her

at distance.

This is a chess game.

[melancholy music playing]

Hey.

David!

[Jacqueline laughs]

-Hey.

-Oh!

Where have you been?

I haven't seen you in months.

We've been commuting.

Peter and I,

to New York.

Where have you been?

I've been busy, baby,

real busy.

A lot of time in Vermont.

Oh, I don't wanna know.

No, you don't.

So, how's married life?

Uh...

-Peter!

-What?

Come on over.

This is David.

The David.

The David.

Oh, the David.

Oh, yes.

You're renowned

in our household

for what you did

in Vietnam alone.

Yeah, well...

be glad you missed it.

They say it makes

a man out of you.

Do they?

Well, I think women do that

much more pleasantly.

Yeah, well, I'll agree.

Anyway, it was

good to meet you.

I have a very important game

back here.

Later.

You look great.

[Steve] Yeah, but you can't

make any money now

as a writer.

[Annette]

Oh, that's not true.

I mean, come on.

Some do.

No, the majority don't.

Yeah, but that's

always been true.

Writers...

obsessed with money.

That's true.

Think about it.

Dostoyevsky, Balzac,

many of the 19th century

writers...

all they did was

write about money.

Because nothing reveals...

[burps]

-Excuse me.

-[laughs]

The baldness of character...

Nothing reveals

the baldness of character

like the grasping for money.

Now 21st century novelists

we're slyer.

We act like we've

mastered it.

Yeah, by secretly

wanting to be bought.

It's the times we're in.

Mm.

[Steve] What do you think

books are really about?

[Jacqueline]

Uh... longing.

And then

the brutal discovery

of what it is

that we really long for.

[David] Love.

Tenderness.

Sexuality.

That's what you give.

[Jacqueline chuckles]

What?

"Love, tenderness

and sexuality."

That sounds like

a bad Rod McKuen poem.

It's the sentiments that

are important, not the words.

But if the words are flat,

then that must mean

something, too.

Come on.

There's nothing I can't

do with you.

[Jacqueline] Really?

Like windsurfing

in a hurricane.

[David] I'll move in slowly.

A jacket here,

a sweater there.

You won't even notice.

Hey, it'll be all right.

What if we fight

all the time?

We won't.

Oh. Okay.

We'll be the first couple

that never ever fights.

Oh.

Don't be so scared.

Hmm?

It is amazing.

[Jacqueline] What is?

[David] So often we don't

wait for the person

who gets us.

What we really need.

[Jacqueline]

What do you mean?

[David]

I mean exactly that.

We should wait for

somebody who's

right for us.

We should be true

to that image.

Hold out for it.

They're gonna come

along eventually.

They always do.

That's how it happens.

Anyway, enough about that,

enough about work.

Let's just enjoy the day.

Have you ever noticed

how nobody ever

in literature

falls desperately,

hopelessly in love

with a woman in

her 50s.

I find a lot of older women

sexually attractive.

-Really?

-Yeah.

What about younger women?

Of course.

But it's the woman, my dear,

not the age

that's intriguing.

[Skene] I thought that

Jacqueline wanted

a happy ending.

I had to keep

blocking that instinct.

"The main character doesn't

just get to walk away,"

I told her.

At that point we only had

two weeks to go.

[Annette] Sancho, sit.

Sit.

Sit.

Good.

Isn't he great?

Better than my ex-husband.

-[cell phone ringing]

-God!

These things

drive me nuts.

Hello.

Hey, hi. It's Skene.

Listen, I just wanted to

run something by you.

[Jacqueline] Sure.

How is it coming?

Good. Great.

Be at the theater next week

to look at potential

Mahlers with me.

I'm getting some leads

on putting the workshop

together.

I think this might happen

sooner rather than later.

Do you wanna help

make it happen?

Yeah, I would...

Absolutely.

I would love to.

Come to a casting session

here at Allman Studio

next Monday.

At Allman's?

Yeah, it's on the west side.

Do you know it?

Yes.

Okay. Listen, I've been

thinking about what

you told me.

Especially about David.

Uh... okay.

What are you asking?

Well, hear me out.

What if...

David finds the notebooks?

What do you mean?

That he knows

everything.

Everything you've told me,

he knows.

I don't know.

Did I not give you

enough material?

I just think it would help us

understand why you

drifted apart

once he saw how much

you missed Peter.

I think it could be good.

Good?

Good for who?

[mouthing]

For the audience, Jacqueline,

for the audience.

[sighs] Okay, uh...

I will think about it.

Okay. We will see you

next week.

-Bye.

-Bye.

What do you think

of this one?

He's really interesting.

Uh-oh.

What?

Come... Come on.

It's fantastic.

All right.

Hey, uh...

Have you seen that other

drawing that I was doing?

The one that...

You know what?

Could I actually, for once,

have a happy ending?

I'm supposed to be your

happy ending, baby.

Come here.

I'm going to bed.

Here, let me help you.

Do you ever think that

you're so giving in bed

as control?

[laughs] Come on.

I don't mind.

Don't you ever

think about yourself?

Well, I have what I want.

I want you to

be happy with me.

You're under too much stress.

F***ing New York.

Just work and make money.

Spend time with all

those insane people

like you do.

They're not all insane.

A good many of them are.

I'm actually much better

than I used to be.

It took me years to learn

to actually spend time

with people I like.

[Steve]

I will never understand

this David character.

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