CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
Surrogate
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
For the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting,
By
Angela Greco
May 2020 Copyright by Angela Greco 2020.
ii The project of Angela M. Greco is approved:
______Professor Morgan Land Date
______Professor Scott Sturgeon Date
______Professor Alexis Krasilovsky, Chair Date
California State University, Northridge
iii Table of Contents Copyright Page ii
Signature Page iii
Abstract v
Surrogate Screenplay 1
iv Abstract
Surrogate
By Angela Greco
Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting
This story is a "what-if". One quart cautionary tale, two quarts comedy, and one quart heart equal a gallon of hopefully enjoyable story. I'd rather you be surprised than know any more about it, but for marketing purposes, we'll call this "The Reverse Juno".
v SURROGATE
FADE IN:
THE VOID
At first, impervious darkness.
Flecks of white bloom, then... wiggle.
ELECTRONIC MUSIC crescendos. The wiggles synchronize with its pulse.
Something humanesque takes shape in the dance of static, white lines, coalescing into a sonogram.
OLDER EVE
(V.O.)
This is a story about mistakes. But you were not
one of them.
PRE-LAP: SUITE
FOR CELLO II,
ALEXANDER
TCHEREPNIN
1 INT. EVE’S ROOM - DAY
A cramped space, filled to the brim with colorful DIY decor - calendar pages taped to the wall, sheet music, an upright piano missing a leg.
EVE RUSCOE (23) bows her honey cello with fierce concentration.
A train SCREECHES past the snow-caked window. She winces.
Eve stacks the classical pages and sets them aside.
She lets herself space out. Plays a phrase, musing.
She repeats it, humming along, reworking note by note.
Roommate SEX SOUNDS crescendo through the wall. Eve plays louder, irritated. The
Roommates seem to compete, on purpose? Eve opens her bow hand to stretch it.
On her palm, a scrawled schedule for the day.
INT. MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP - CLASSROOM - DAY
Eve rushes into a modern dance class. HEADSCARF TEACHER claps to keep rhythm.
Eve slides onto the piano bench and begins to improvise with the Teacher’s claps. She uses the phrase from her bedroom.
2 INT. PARK SLOPE BROWNSTONE - DAY
Eve watches an INFANT (3 months) squirm on a blanket. Gentle baby music plays.
They both look utterly bored.
Infant starts to fuss.
Eve plunks out her song-in-progress on a toy piano. Infant breaks a smile.
EVE
There we go. You do have some opinions, even at
worm stage.
FAINT VOICE
(O.S.)
Eve.
EVE
(to Baby)
Did you -- speak? No. Do you have a larynx?
FAINT VOICE
(O.S.)
Open the window.
3 Eve pries open the window to find KAT NOVAK (24), responsible and far more maternal bandmate.
EVE
Kat!
Eve leans out the large window with Infant.
KAT
I've been trying to call you - EVE, BE CAREFUL!
EVE
Yikes!
(pulls Baby back inside)
You saved my life.
KAT
I think more her life.
EVE
Come up!
4 INT. PARK SLOPE BROWNSTONE - MOMENTS LATER
Kat holds Infant while Eve makes tea.
EVE
I think they’re going to give me a permanent
position at Mark Morris if one or two of the moms
don’t come back.
KAT
That’d be great, although don’t poison anyone.
EVE
Yep.
KAT
I was trying to call you, because Andrew Bird might
be at the show.
EVE
...WHAT?!?!
KAT
YES!
The bandmates share a moment of dancey celebration.
5 KAT (CONT'D)
I’ll ask Will to burn some EPs on his work computer.
EVE
No.
KAT
No?
EVE
We need to make a big impression. We need The
Vinyl.
KAT
But Dorian's still pressing it.
EVE
I’ll get the test copy.
KAT
(maternal)
Do you really have time to do that and take a shower--
6 EVE
Competing with five roommates, that’s always questionable--
KAT
And eat?
EVE
Sure. I’ll go get it now.
KAT
You're taking care of a baby.
EVE
No, you are.
KAT
Will it scar her?
EVE
Nah. My mom left me with odd people all the times.
KAT
Your mom wouldn’t do that.
7 EVE
Church people are odd people. Anyways, you like
babies.
KAT
Will you at least get permission?
EVE
I don’t wanna bother her. The evening nanny’ll be
here in two hours. Okay?
KAT
I don’t wholly approve.
(sighs)
But she is cute. And only you can work your magic
on Dorian.
EVE
We need to talk anyway.
EXT. LONG ISLAND CITY - DORIAN'S WAREHOUSE - DAY
Eve hammers on the door. DORIAN (25), an old soul, answers.
8 DORIAN
So you are alive.
EVE
Happy new year.
DORIAN
It’s February.
Eve kisses him.
INT. DORIAN’S WAREOUSE - BACK OFFICE - DAY
Eve and Dorian do a Superman yoga position, playing around, mostly undressed. Their noses quiver, inches from each other.
DORIAN
(suddenly serious)
Do you wanna have kids?
EVE
Oh my god!
Eve loses focus and splats.
9 EVE (CONT'D)
What a weird thing to say right now.
Dorian takes her sweater and runs.
INT. DORIAN'S WAREHOUSE - FRONT OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
Eve chases him.
EVE
I’m freezing to death!!!
Dorian cradles the sweater and scratches a note at his desk. He hums a melody.
DORIAN
Sorry, just got an idea.
Eve lets herself have a sincere moment of admiration while he’s distracted. He almost catches her.
EVE
(dissembling coolness)
Yes?
10 DORIAN
Stay for a drink?
EVE
I have a show.
DORIAN
Take the tiniest breather.
Eve nods with a shiver. Dorian tosses the sweater.
Eve waits till he’s gone to augment the note on his desk.
INSERT: “Really had to run. Sorry. Let’s talk about our feelings later.”
Eve pulls on her parka and roams Dorian’s shelves of works.
A few colorful rows later, she finds it.
INSERT: EVE RUSCOE/KAT NOVAK TEST EP: “Uphill Sled”.
Eve slips the vinyl off the shelf. It's pressed on a sunny, yellow plastic.
Dorian's footsteps echo from the distant kitchen.
Eve races to the end of the aisle. She watches him set two ginger beers on the desk.
11 She loops around and peeks out an industrial window. A slippery fire escape ladder snakes down to the ground.
Eve nudges the window open a crack, exhales the vinyl against her torso, and zips the parka.
INT. PARK SLOPE BROWNSTONE - DAY
Kat places Infant gently on a blanket.
KAT
Tummy time!
The door creaks open.
KAT (CONT'D)
(assuming it’s evening nanny)
You’re early! I’m subbing for Eve--
A HARRIED WORKING MOM (late 30s), lugging full tote bags, stares at this stranger in her home.
HARRIED WORKING MOM
Who are you???
Harried Working Mom drops her tote bags. A full bag of flour explodes all over her.
12 INT. EVE’S ROOM - NIGHT
Eve sits on the radiator in a towel, bedroom door open for a prime view of the bathroom.
The train screeches by.
The Sex Roommates gab audibly in the shower.
MALE ROOMMATE
(O.S.)
Pass me the Bronner's, love.
FEMALE ROOMMATE
(O.S.)
I can lather you up if you want. One affirmation per
toesie.
Eve bangs on the radiator. Gets up, writes a note, and tapes it to the bathroom door.
INSERT: “Please fix my radiator. Polar vortex. :( - Eve”.
KUMAIL (40s), Eve’s landlord with social anxiety, ascends the stairs in a bathrobe. He stops in his tracks.
EVE
Hey, Kumail.
13 KUMAIL
Good evening, um...
EVE
Eve.
KUMAIL
Didn’t expect to see you here.
EVE
Well, I live here.
KUMAIL
(he does live here)
Something to which I cannot relate.
EVE
Uh huh.
He brushes the wall. A rivulet of plaster crumbles.
KUMAIL
Just checking on the property.
14 EVE
Oh perfect.
(rips note from door)
Just a little maintenance request I was going to give
to Norah.
KUMAIL
Got it. Well, I have to return home. To Manhattan.
Lower East Side.
EVE
I’m going that way if you want to split a cab.
(Kumail freezes)
Just kidding. ...Oh! Some more of your mail got
delivered here.
Kumail hesitates, then takes it. His robe opens too much.
Beat. Kumail backs away. Scuttles down the stairs.
INT. ARLENE’S GROCERY - BACKSTAGE - NIGHT
Eve and Kat cackle backstage.
15 EVE
I could blackmail him for free rent for the rest of my
life.
KAT
What happened to that churchmouse I remember
sophomore year?
EVE
Oh, please. That was your black-out phase. You
don’t remember anything.
Light strikes them as WILL (28), Kat’s energetic programmer boyfriend, sticks his head through the curtain.
WILL
Hey, I brought EPs just in case.
KAT
She got it.
WILL
Dynamite.
16 EVE
Just took a little fin -ESSE!
LEO ESPOSITO (34), shlubby, artistic, “what does he do for a job?”, pops through the curtain, too close.
WILL
Eve, you remember my friend Leo?
EVE
Oh yeah. You got drunk and hid in the forest for an
hour when we went to that cabin.
LEO
Honored.
EVE
Hiding’s your thing.
In response, Leo silkily retracts until he disappears.
RIGHTEOUS SHOW HOST
(O.S.)
Ahhh! Please don’t hide in the curtain. It’s weird.
(MORE) 17 RIGHTEOUS SHOW HOST (CONT'D)
(leans in, to Eve and Kat)
You’re up in five. And keep it down.
Kat shoos Will with a quick kiss.
The bandmates become serious and tune their strings.
INT. ARLENE’S GROCERY - STAGE - NIGHT
Eve and Kat play a weaving song with cello and viola. Kat sings lead. They finish the song. Smattering of applause.
KAT
Thank you.
They shuffled around so Eve can sing lead.
EVE
I hate when people step up and say “This song is
about...”
18 KAT
(cuts in)
No offense to any other songwriters who said that
tonight.
EVE
Thank you for saving me, Kat.
(then)
You might be a piece of shit in all other areas of
your life--
A swirl of snow from the door, and in walks...
ANDREW BIRD (40s) dapper, lovely folk musician.
KAT
Meep!
Eve drops the mic. The two take a moment to regain their composure. Eve plays fill on her cello as Andrew Bird settles in at a table in the back.
KAT (CONT'D)
(sotto but caught by mic)
Oh my god.
19 EVE
What was I saying. If you write one good song,
that’s probably all you need to say, anyway.
KAT
For the record, we don’t think badly of anyone
here.
EVE
Thanks, Kat.
(beat, plays intro)
This song is called “Second Light”.
Eve sings “Second Light” and tries not to stare at her idol.
Andrew Bird listens, pleasantly neutral. Leo comes up, shakes hands, and sits with
Andrew.
Eve arches an eyebrow at that.
Andrew Bird looks down to check something. He gets up. Leo gets up with him.
EVE (CONT'D)
(stops singing)
Fuck! He's leaving!
20 Kat plays a few more measures, unsure of what to do. Eve jets backstage and bursts out with the test vinyl.
EXT. LOWER EAST SIDE BAR - NIGHT
Eve slips on the icy sidewalks. Andrew Bird disappears into a cab that pulls away. Eve waves the test vinyl.
EVE
Noooo... But what about... No...
LEO
Let’s go get him.
Eve jumps and screams. She and the vinyl plunk into the snow. Leo drops his cigarette.
EVE
What is your problem -- you Golem --
LEO
I’m sorry I keep scaring you.
Leo offers his hand. Eve gets up without it.
21 EVE
You can't sneak up on women like some kind of
sandworm--
LEO
I’m digging these literary references.
Eve inspects the vinyl, anxious.
LEO (CONT'D)
I know a guy who fixes those, too.
EVE
(accusatory)
That’s good, since you cause so many accidents.
Leo shrinks, genuinely hurt.
EVE (CONT'D)
Sorry. Kat says sometimes I want things too much,
and I become a monster.
Leo hails a cab.
LEO
I know where he’s going.
22 EVE
Are you, like, friends?
LEO
We are like friends.
Leo gets in the cab.
LEO (CONT'D)
You coming?
EVE
Kat’s in there.
LEO
I’ll tell Will to tell her.
Eve still hesitates.
LEO (CONT'D)
They can meet us later.
Beat. Eve jumps inside.
INT./EXT. CAB - NIGHT
Eve and Leo ride in awkward silence.
23 LEO
Who wrote that last song?
EVE
We did.
LEO
But.. you or Kat?
EVE
I’m not going to tell you that.
LEO
I liked it. That was good stuff.
EVE
Hurrah. Do you mind me asking how exactly you
know Andrew Bird?
LEO
We came from the same nest.
The cab stops. Leo presses a wad of cash into the driver’s hand.
LEO (CONT'D)
Keep the change.
24 Eve arches an eyebrow at that, too.
EVE
(to Driver)
Thank you.
She follows Leo blindly.
EXT. EATALY - MADISON SQUARE GARDEN - NIGHT
Leo halts in front of the glass-walled Italian mega-grocer. Eve skids on the ice. Leo grabs her arm to steady her.
Inside: Andrew Bird, his WIFE, and SON eat scoops of gelato.
EVE
Aw.
LEO
Yep. He’s a family man.
Leo motions for the vinyl. Eve clutches it.
EVE
Maybe we should wait.
25 LEO
Now’s your chance.
EVE
Maybe it’s not good enough.
LEO
Believe me, Eve, cold feet are instant regret. Just
add ice.
He pries the vinyl from her hands and jauntily enters Eataly.
Eve watches through the window with trepidation.
Leo chats with Andrew Bird and family for a moment. He hands off the sunshine-bright record.
Eve sinks against the cornerstone of Eataly.
Leo’s foggy breath precedes him outside. He looks around.
LEO (CONT'D)
Eve?
26 EXT. ARLENE’S GROCERY - NIGHT
Eve and Kat lug their instruments outside. WILL (28), Kat's programmer boyfriend, leans out of a waiting car.
KAT
Will! I thought you were still in DUMBO.
WILL
I did leave Brooklyn. It was terrible. I followed
your little Google Map dot to this desolate place.
What is it called? Man-hah-tan?
KAT
(beaming)
We share our locations with each other all the time.
EVE
Charming.
KAT
We’ll drop you off.
EVE
It’s out of the way.
27 WILL
(friendly jest)
Just let me help you. I make far more money than you do.
KAT
(to Will)
I tried, babe. She's too proud.
EVE
I’ve got that sweet nanny cash.
KAT
Oh.
EVE
What? That’s the “oh” you said when you got first chair and I didn’t even place.
KAT
Shayda came home before the evening nanny.
EVE
How?! Her hair always takes forever.
28 KAT
She didn’t get extensions this time, or something...
EVE
Kat, what did she say?
KAT
You might want to apologize. And... Maybe... Look for another job.
EVE
Shit.
KAT
I’m so sorry, Eve. I’ll help you get something new.
EVE
It’s not your fault. Shit.
KAT
At least Andrew Bird heard us, and he almost got the vinyl. Yay...
EVE
Yay...
29 INT. SUBWAY PLATFORM - NIGHT
Eve and cello get caught at the junction of OBLIVIOUS LOVERS in the SUBWAY
CROWD.
EVE
Could you kindly unglue your faces before I miss
the last M--dammit.
The platform empties into the departing M train.
INT. SUBWAY PLATFORM - NIGHT
Eve slumps against her cello, grumpy, clutching the vinyl.
The Lovers keep at it.
The J train finally pulls up. Eve lumbers inside.
INT./EXT. SUBWAY CAR - CONTINUOUS
The car hums with late-night conversation. Eve hangs onto a pole. Her eyes wander over the crowd...
Leo reads a paperback novel in a two-seater next to a HEAVILY MADE-UP WOMAN.
30 SUBWAY PA
This is - Essex Street.
Eve tries to duck behind a PASSENGER OF QUESTIONABLE SANITY. The cello hits him. He growls like a dog. Eve backs off.
Much of the crowd drains from the car.
SUBWAY PA (CONT'D)
The next stop is - Marcy Ave.
Leo pockets his novel and waves. Eve looks around like he’s waving at someone else, even though the car is empty save for a SCARF-WRAPPED SLEEPER on the opposite side of the car.
LEO
Eve. That was your name, right? Come share a seat.
Eve hesitates, then weaves to him. She ejects an involuntary, exhausted sigh as she sits.
LEO (CONT'D)
I knew that cello was heavier than it looked.
EVE
Ha. I forgot your name, Andrew Bird’s friend.
31 LEO
Leo. Full disclosure, friend and some-time producer.
EVE
Producer?? Yet you take the subway with the rest
of us plebes.
LEO
I like the subway. It's one of my favorite parts of
New York.
EVE
Hmm. Quaint.
Beat. The J train chugs over the Williamsburg bridge. Leo gazes at the passing city lights.
Eve relaxes enough to enjoy the view, too.
LEO
You and Kat played together long?
EVE
Since Eastman.
32 LEO
Eastman, no shit. That’s a good school.
Leo cracks the window and lights a cigarette.
EVE
You can’t smoke in here.
LEO
(re: Scarf-wrapped Sleeper)
I don’t think they’re gonna wake up anytime soon.
Eve snatches it out of his mouth. She shuts the window.
EVE
It’s freezing out. And smoking’s bad.
LEO
I admire your confidence.
EVE
Thanks?
33 LEO
I only smoke when I drink. Keep your vices
bundled.
LEO (CONT'D)
Mm. Mind if I take a look at it?
EVE
Um, sure. Be careful.
Eve offers it to him. Leo holds up a finger. He pulls on pristine leather gloves from his pocket. He takes the record and looks it over, jacket and disc.
LEO
(deadpan, re: yellow)
A bit of jaundice, but I think it will heal just fine.
EVE
(outburst)
Do you really think you could give it to him? You
must really know him if you’re from Chicago.
34 LEO
Of course I know Andrew. And, yes, I’d be happy
to.
Beat. Eve finally cracks a smile.
EVE
Thank you. ...You know what's funny? I haven't
actually listened to it on vinyl.
LEO
Oh, no, no, no.
EVE
I don't own a record player! Kat and Will have one,
it's just, I've been so busy. Most days I forget to
eat.
Leo regards her with sympathy.
EXT. WILLIAMSBURG SIDEWALK - NIGHT
Eve chomps a falafel sandwich. Leo holds the vinyl and cello, balancing them to light another cigarette.
35 An ORTHODOX JEWISH MAN
EVE
I’ve never gotten off at the Marcy Ave stop.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - NIGHT
Leo nudges open the door - it sticks a little.
EVE
Wow!
His loft is spacious, a mixture of warm/personal and modern/industrial. Abstract optical illusions and weird creature illustrations deck the walls. Odd knick-knacks dot bookshelves, like a wooden orange missing a slice.
LEO
Welcome to my abode.
Eve looks right: there’s a proper bedroom, separate from the kitchen and living room.
Eve looks left: through a glass wall, a home recording studio gleams in stacks of analog and digital interfaces.
36 EVE
Okay, are you like Sting’s synth guy or something?
LEO
Haha, Sting. Excuse me.
Leo disappears into his room with their coats.
Eve wanders to a bookshelf and taps each spine until she pauses on a title: “The Art of
Joy”.
EVE
(calls to Leo)
The Art of Joy. You read this yet?
She meanders toward the bedroom.
EVE (CONT'D)
My friend who works at Half-Price recommended -
it!
Eve startles to find Leo emptying a smidge of cocaine onto his nightstand from a tiny bag.
He puts the bag back in his coat pocket.
37 LEO
(straightening up)
You didn’t react well to my smoking, so I thought--
EVE
I should go.
LEO
I was going to use a tiny bit to stay awake.
EVE
That’s why coffee exists.
LEO
Do drugs make you feel uncomfortable?
EVE
Kind of. So you went to see your dealer after the
bar. Yeah, that’s kind of skeevy.
LEO
Drugs don’t make a person seedy. Some seedy
people use drugs.
Eve repulses at the prospect of arguing. Leo offers her coat.
38 LEO (CONT'D)
Look, go if you want, but I can abstain when you’re
around. It’s fun sometimes, that’s all.
Eve takes her coat but hesitates. Leo nudges the snow pile back into its bag.
He squeezes around her to get to the--
KITCHEN + LIVING ROOM
Eve follows him, clutching her coat. Leo busies himself with the coffee maker.
LEO
You’ve never tried anything?
EVE
No. I like to stay “clean”, I guess.
LEO
You ate fried food at the bar. That’s not very clean.
EVE
Yeah. And I ate taquitos for dinner... ugh...Neither of
those hold up well.
(MORE)
39 EVE (CONT'D)
(conceding)
I’m not as clean as like, the Pope.
LEO
I bet the Pope has cheesy fries every now and then,
too.
(motions with coffee pot)
You want some?
EVE
..Sure.
She scans photos on the fridge.
INSERT: Photo of Leo and Andrew Bird in their 20s.
EVE (CONT'D)
You really do know Andrew Bird.
LEO
We both came up in Chicago. Of course, we went
totally different routes, stylistically.
40 EVE
I get that. Kat always wants to pick up the pace,
and I always want to make it sad.
Leo raids his fridge and lays take-out boxes on the counter.
LEO
Here. You said you were hungry.
EVE
Now you’re bribing me to stay.
LEO
Well?
EVE
What?
LEO
Is it working?
EVE
If I stay, you’re not expecting that we’ll...
Beat.
41 LEO
(confessional)
I just got out a relationship that sort of isolated me.
I need friends again.
KITCHEN + LIVING ROOM - LATER
A mounted projector casts a film on the wall.
INSERT: a SERIOUS GUY marches up to a GUY ON A BICYCLE.
Dense electronic music fills the scene.
LEO
This was my NYU bud. He had other friends who
made films. I got paid more as they got paid more...
You see how it goes.
Eve scrapes a take-out box, leaning against a couch pillow printed with tree rings. Leo stakes out the other couch end.
Three optimistic drinks cluster on the coffee table: water, coffee, and Scotch. Eve ignores them, totally absorbed.
INSERT: Serious Guy shoots Guy On a Bicycle.
42 EVE
Oh no!
LEO
That’s cute. “Oh no!”
EVE
Shhh, shhh.
(focuses)
I like the score. It’s sort of unassuming at first, but
then it surprises you.
LEO
Why, thank you.
Eve takes a sip of Scotch and shudders.
EVE
(re: Scotch)
Scotch tastes like pennies in gasoline. You’d think
that’d be good, but it’s not.
She tries to air-hockey it down the coffee table to Leo. It spills. She jumps up.
43 EVE (CONT'D)
Sorry!
INT. LEO’S LOFT - HOME STUDIO - NIGHT
Leo turns knobs as Eve plays Chopin on a synthesizer - set to different laser sounds.
EXT. LEO’S BUILDING - NIGHT
Eve and Leo race around the block without jackets.
LEO
Cold is opposite of drunk.
EVE
No you are!!
Leo stops at the building entrance.
EVE (CONT'D)
What are you doing?! I’m freezing.
LEO
(pulls out cigarette)
Just real quick.
44 INT. LEO'S LOFT - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Music fills the room: strings intermixed with Eve’s voice, Kat’s voice, and those pleasant analog scratches.
Eve and Leo sprawl on the floor, akin to a yin/yang symbol. Eve keeps a distance between them.
EVE
(re: album)
It’s okay, isn’t it?
LEO
Yeah.
EVE
You can be honest.
Leo rolls to his side to look at Eve.
LEO
Truth: I like parts of the album.
EVE
Parts.
45 LEO
Your parts.
Eve sits up.
EVE
No, Kat is really good. She was always the section
leader. Violas are known for being chill, but she’s
like the least chill of the violas, which puts her on
this perfect even keel of ambition.
LEO
Kat is fine. She’ll be fine. She has Will, and I see
how that whole thing is going to pan out.
Eve consents with a nod, quiet, dubious. Beat.
EVE
You got a bathroom in this place, or could you not
afford it?
46 LEO
(motions to it)
It was never finished.
EVE
We’ll continue the review in a moment.
BATHROOM
Eve washes her hands. She flicks them dry and opens the medicine cabinet to snoop.
INSERT:
-benzoyl peroxide
-various prescriptions
-a colorful sheet of printed squares (acid tabs)
-a bent photo strip of Leo and a RAD REDHEAD WOMAN (30s), elated in uncompromising, weird expressions.
She tries to tug the photo without disturbing anything, but that proves impossible.
Eve crosses to leave, then pauses to peek into what seems to be a closet.
47 It’s another room.
EXTRA ROOM
Eve steps into the dark room. A jumble of white fragments in the corner. Something spidery suspended from the ceiling. Something hard to decipher painted on the wall.
Steps approach from behind...
LEO
Eve--
EVE
You’re going to kill me, aren’t you!
Leo switches on the light.
The white jumble is an unconstructed crib. The hanging spider is a mobile. On the wall, a friendly stencil: “Helloo World!”
Eve doubles over - at first, for air, then laughter.
EVE (CONT'D)
You seriously have a nursery.
Leo switches out the light and leaves.
48 EVE (CONT'D)
Hey.
LIVING ROOM + KITCHEN - NIGHT
Eve stumbles back to the light. Leo nurses another drink.
EVE
I’m sorry.
Leo sulks.
EVE (CONT'D)
I mean it.
She gives him a light punch.
EVE (CONT'D)
You don’t have to tell me why you have a baby
cave.
She drops down next to him.
EVE (CONT'D)
But I am dying to know.
49 Leo sighs.
LEO
In November, my girlfriend got pregnant. So we
thought, hey, maybe it’s time to commit.
EVE
Yeah. That makes sense.
LEO
It does. It did. But the harder we tried, the worse
things got. It all fell apart by Christmas.
He takes another drink.
EVE
That sucks. Did she...?
LEO
That was still early enough for her to - take care of
things.
EVE
I’m sorry.
50 LEO
It’s okay. She’s okay. I’m okay.
EVE
Sounds okay then.
(beat, to cheer him up)
Well, you should turn the room into something awesome, like...
LEO
(depressed)
Like what? Another recording studio?
EVE
Yeah, and gift it to me, your newest protegee.
LEO
I just didn’t think I’d be alone by now.
EVE
Well, uh...
51 LEO
I know you’re young, and you can’t fathom being alone in ten years.
EVE
You don’t know that. I’ve been alone for most of my life.
LEO
Me too. I mean, people have always been around, but...
(beat)
I wish I would’ve convinced her to have the kid.
EVE
But what about her life.
LEO
I would take care of her.
EVE
(oddly visceral)
But she wasn't ready to be a mom!
52 LEO
I would take care of her, but I would keep the kid. I could pay for everything while she's carrying it.
EVE
But you might need to, like, rent her “bosoms” for a couple extra months. I don’t know exactly how lactation works.
LEO
She can have a year!
EVE
Hmm. So if I was like “Let’s do this”, you would pay me to carry your offspring.
LEO
Eve. You would do that for me?
EVE
You’d have to calm down the partying, but...
There’s way shittier dad material out there.
53 LEO
It's such an honor that you would say that.
EVE
And think about all the free time I’d have for nine months. Y’know? Somebody had’to’ve written something in nine months.
LEO
Yes. And I wonder.. Maybe in another nine months,
Leah and I could’ve worked it out.
EVE
Your ex’s name was Leah?
LEO
Yeah.
EVE
Leah and Leo?
LEO
Uh huh.
54 EVE
Doomed from the start.
Beat. Leo waits for Eve to look at him, as if he might kiss her. Eve raises her head and yawns in his face.
She hops up.
EVE (CONT'D)
(more yawning)
Well, that was a fun hypothetical.
LIVING ROOM + KITCHEN - LATER
Leo gathers take-out containers from around Eve, asleep on the couch. He drops a blanket on her and sidles to his bedroom, alone.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - LIVING ROOM + KITCHEN - DAY
Pale sunlight strikes the living room posters.
Eve's head pops off the pillow. Her bangs are purple now.
She weaves to the kitchen and downs a bottle of "fresh squeezed" orange juice.
On the fridge door, an envelope held in place by a Devo magnet. She smiles and takes it.
55 She grabs a hipster-dowdy wool cardigan, tucks the letter inside, and scrambles out the door. It shuts on the second try.
INT. LEO'S BEDROOM - DAY
The door slams rouse Leo from his sleep.
EXT. LEO'S BUILDING - DAY - CONTINUOUS
Eve reads a paper that Leo presses against his window:
INSERT: "OJ IN FRIDGE. DID YOU TAKE A. BIRD’S LETTER?”
Eve shoots him a thumbs-up. She makes her other hand a rabbit that hops up and chomps it.
INT. LEO’S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Leo watches her go and smiles to himself.
EVE
(pre-lap)
Shit!
56 EXT. BROOKLYN SIDEWALKS - DAY
Eve’s boot drops through seemingly solid sludge to a deeper puddle. She shakes it off and continues her trek through the springtime slush.
CHIRON: “A Pretty Good Bad Idea”.
MUSIC: “A PRETTY
GOOD BAD IDEA”
SONG
INT. LITTLE SKIP’S COFFEE - DAY
Eve takes orders at the cash register. Her sock dries on the radiator by the window.
A CUSTOMER IN A TUTU steps away to reveal Kat.
EVE
Kat! Look.
Eve disappears below the register and resurfaces with the envelope.
EVE (CONT'D)
Andrew Bird responds in analog ways.
57 Kat almost tears it in half to read it. Eve fetches a coffee.
KAT
He liked it!
EVE
Yes.
KAT
He wants to hear the full album.
EVE
Yeah we gotta get our shit together.
(glances at watch)
Oh! My shift’s up. I’ll come with you.
Eve digs her tips out of the jar and pulls on her sock and boot. She abandons the line of customers.
KAT
Is somebody else coming...?
EVE
Soon.
58 EXT. BUSHWICK SIDEWALK / LITTLE SKIP'S COFFEE - DAY
Eve and Kat walk, sharing the free coffee.
A BELEAGUERED POET MANAGER (30s) leans out and calls.
BELEAGUEREED POET MANAGER
Eve, you can’t leave the second your shift is over if
nobody’s here to man the register! And stop taking
advantage of your free coffees.
EVE
Sorry! I have my other job. Tell Aurora to work on
her timeliness.
BARISTA AURORA (20s) walks past. Eve passes her apron.
EVE (CONT'D)
(to Manager)
There she is. Already improving.
Kat shakes her head but laughs.
They pass Eve’s building. Her window, marked by colorful decoration, drips.
59 EVE (CONT'D)
Look, the first sign of spring.
(catches drop on tongue)
Eughh. Tastes like pigeon grease.
KAT
Of course. This city is disgusting.
EVE
(combs tongue w/fingers)
Give me five years, then you can move back to
Rochester.
KAT
Will’s family actually owns land in Texas.
EVE
Better start lasso lessons.
KAT
(hugs note)
I can’t believe Andrew Bird mailed this to you.
60 EVE
Well, he mailed it to Leo.
KAT
Leo went on a long stroll this morning.
EVE
Well, I slept there.
KAT
Oh. We can stop at your house. You must want to
change, or..
EVE
Nah. I’m all set.
They walk in silence. Beat.
KAT
Are you, like, with him?
61 EVE
Whooaa, no. I’m the couch queen. We just stay up
really late listening to stuff sometimes, and he
thinks it’s safer for me to sleep there.
KAT
I guess that’s nice.
EVE
Yeah. He’s weird, but he’s nice. And he knows the
Bird.
INT./EXT. SUBWAY - DAY
Eve rides with her blue earbuds in. Her body taps rhythm to an unheard melody. Follow the blue wire down to her pocket...
INSERT: Pocket: The wire is plugged into nothing. Eve’s fingers brush the Andrew Bird note.
INT. MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP - DAY
Eve walks by the front desk.
REPTILIAN OFFICE MANAGER stops her.
62 REPTILIAN OFFICE MANAGER
Eve, I'm glad I caught you. Shayda told us she
wants to come back from maternity leave.
EVE
(uneasy)
Good, good for her. So I’ll switch to a different
shift.
REPTILIAN OFFICE MANAGER
We’ll have you go back to subbing.
EVE
But they said this could turn into a permanent
position.
REPTILIAN OFFICE MANAGER
Who said that... We've appreciated your work, but
there has to be an opportunity. Shayda has
seniority. You understand?
Eve nods but her lips trembles.
63 REPTILIAN OFFICE MANAGER (CONT'D)
(ushers Eve into bathroom)
Let's go in here.
INT. MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP - BATHROOM - DAY
Eve bawls. Reptilian Office Manager waits.
EVE
I'm sorry. This is just - one of the few things - that
made me feel legitimate.
REPTILIAN OFFICE MANAGER
Can I hug you?
Reptilian Office Manager gives Eve a measured hug. Eve's crying only seems to double down.
REPTILIAN OFFICE MANAGER (CONT'D)
I was actually heading to a meeting..
EVE
Yes, that's okay. Please go. Thanks.
64 Reptilian Office Manager steps out. Eve leans against the wall and cries. She reaches into her pocket and almost blows her nose on the Andrew Bird note. She studies it.
INSERT: “Really liked the EP. Send me the full album when you have it down.”
A BATHROOM LADY steps outs of a stall and washers her hands.
INT. MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP CLASSROOM - DAY
Eve plays a morose piano piece for the modern dancers.
HEADSCARF TEACHER
Evie, let’s pick up the pace a little.
EVE
My name - is Eve!
Eve stops playing and leaves, wiping tears. Headscarf Teacher pauses in shock, then starts a syncopated hand clap.
HEADSCARF TEACHER
And - we - keep - wor - king...
65 EXT. EVE’S APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHT
Eve sets off the bodega scooter alarms on the way to her front door. A drop of water falls on her head. Then another. She glances up and notices a steady drip from her window.
INT. EVE'S APARTMENT - HALLWAY - DAY
Eve rushes up the stairs.
EVE
What--?
Norah bends over mushy towels at the seal of Eve's door. Kumail hovers nearby in a t- shirt and sweatpants.
NORAH
Water started flooding an hour ago.
We’re waiting on a locksmith.
EVE
Why didn't you tell me??
Chet leans out of their neighboring doorway.
CHET
We tried to call you.
66 EVE
Oh, I.. shit, I left my phone at Leo’s.
Eve unlocks her door. A couple-inch flood of water unleashes as she goes to her beloved cello, recumbent next to...
EVE (CONT'D)
(quiet fury)
The radiator.
(louder fury)
I've been telling you the radiator's broken. For four!
Months!
NORAH
Kumail's maintenance guy hurt his back...
EVE
My four thousand dollar cello is ruined.
KUMAIL
Luckily, I was in the neighborhood, so we’ll get
everything fixed now.
67 EVE
Kumail, I know that you fucking live here!
Everyone does!
Eve slams her belongings into a backpack as fast as she can. Norah, Chet, and Kumail wait awkwardly.
KUMAIL
(to Norah)
Who told her? Was it you?
(to Chet)
Was it you? You need to start paying rent, by the
way.
INT. SUBWAY - DAY
Eve balances her backpack and cello on the rocking subway between seated FRENCH
FRY GUY (20s/30s), who eats from a clandestine carton of fries in his messenger bag, and
HEADPHONES GUY (30s/40s). She regards their seats with envy.
The subway screeches to a halt. PASSENGERS shuffle.
A WOMAN WITH A BELLY (30s) mounts the crowded car.
68 WOMAN WITH A BELLY
(to French Fry Guy)
I'm pregnant.
French Fry Guy jumps up. His fries spill as the ride resumes.
Eve turns to Headphones Guy and motions to her stomach.
EVE
I'm pregnant.
HEADPHONES GUY
Pffh. Yeah right.
The M train screeches to a halt at Marcy Ave.
Eve suddenly elbows her way through the crowd.
INT. LEO'S LOFT -HOME STUDIO - DAY
Leo and a MIDDLE SCHOOL BOY (11, being tutored by Leo) work on a MIDI music piece with big headphones on. Middle School Boy types a line of code. Digital arpeggio lines stream across the screen.
69 LEO
Clever. Now let’s listen to some variations.
(glances out the window)
Uh. Excuse me.
EXT. LEO’S LOFT - DAY
Leo finds Eve pacing in front of his building steps with cello and backpack, disheveled and distraught.
LEO
What’s wrong?
EVE
Everything sucks. Can I stay here for a little while?
INT. LEO'S LOFT - KITCHEN + LIVING ROOM - DAY
Eve leaves her things in a pile and beelines for the kitchen. Leo heads to the home studio.
LEO
One sec, I just need to wrap up--
70 EVE
(preoccupied with cheese)
Leo, I have an idea, and I just need to say it before,
before I lose my gumption, so here goes--
Maybe I should have your baby.
Eve looks up to see Leo and Middle School Boy. Beat.
MIDDLE SCHOOL BOY
Does that mean you’re getting married?
LEO
(to Eve)
I’m going to walk Malcolm to the bus stop.
EXT. WILLIAMSBURG SIDEWALK - DAY
Leo and Malcolm walk in silence. They pass a hotdog cart.
LEO
Your mom’s at work tonight. You want a hot dog
before you head home? Here, I’ll get you a hotdog.
MALCOLM
Extra relish, please.
71 LEO
Extra relish, you got it.
They walk on and reach the bus stop. Malcom licks his fingers and hugs a surprised Leo.
MALCOLM
Congrats, Mr. Esposito.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - LIVING ROOM + KITCHEN - DAY
Leo sets two wine glasses on the coffee table in front of a meekly waiting Eve. He starts to pour, then--
LEO
Wait, should you not drink -
EVE
I don’t know. Are we--
LEO
(suddenly decisive)
No. You’re too young.
EVE
To drink? I’m twenty-four.
72 LEO
(winces)
No, to be my, um--
EVE
Vessel.
(immediate regret)
Bleughh. Let’s never say that again.
LEO
I agree. I agree.
Leo decides on a tall pour for each glass. He takes a gulp and leans back, nervous.
EVE
How old was your mom when she had you?
LEO
That was a different time.
EVE
My mom had a seven year old by my age.
LEO
Hm.
73 Beat. Leoe nudges Eve’s wine away from her.
EVE
We’re not doing it tonight.
LEO
Right. It just makes me nervous... I’m not saying
yes, but if we were to do it, we need to consider
some ground rules.
EVE
Yeah. Okay. That’s wise.
LEO
Oh wait. And...
Leo sighs.
NURSERY
Leo digs through closet bric-a-brac. Eve balances on a tiny chair.
EVE
Let’s write the contract in the nursery.
74 LEO
No.
Leo unearths a large, pastel pink binder.
EVE
(re: binder cover)
Your ex’s name was Leah?
LEO
Yeah.
EVE
Leah and Leo. Doomed from the start.
LEO
When we broke up, Leah sound parenthood didn’t
feel right--
EVE
It wasn’t right. With her. Cuz she’s a bitch.
(quickly)
(MORE)
75 EVE (CONT'D)
I’m sorry. I don’t know her. She sounds lovely, I
guess, but she clearly wasn’t ready to be a mom.
LEO
Neither are you.
EVE
I won’t be a mom. Right?
(off Leo’s impish smile)
What?
LEO
Just imagining that.
LIVING ROOM + KITCHEN - NIGHT
The projector fires up. A Google search cursor blinks. Leo taps the keys, nervous.
Eve flips through the binder.
LEO
I guess we need to figure out how.
(lightly suggestive)
Are traditional methods off the table...?
76 EVE
Yes.
Leo brightens in surprise.
EVE (CONT'D)
Yes as in “yes they are off the table”!
LEO
(mutters)
I would’ve been your type ten years ago...
EVE
Oh, ya think so?
Leo types “Bowery Ballroom Leo Esposito”.
Grainy photos of a fresh-faced Leo, just out of college, in a black band t-shirt, holding his
Gretsch.
LEO
That was a few years after Bowery opened.
EVE
My genes plus that guy’s genes equal a musical
prodigy. Think about that.
77 Leo does.
LEO
Would you have liked him even a little bit?
EVE
(after a moment of consideration)
He’s got some cool hair going on.
Leo runs his hand over his thinning hair.
EVE (CONT'D)
(changes subject)
Okay. Talking conception. Hear me out. We take the
B train to Kohl’s in Coney Island. Snatch a holiday
turkey baster on clearance.
Leo pulls up searches on artificial insemination.
LEO
(re: costs)
We’re looking at five thousand a pop. I could
manage that for a few months.
78 EVE
Rich people...
LEO
Whom you willingly pillage.
EVE
Fine. I’m disgusted that creating a human life and
fixing my cello are the same price.
LEO
Equal importance.
Leo takes a gulp of wine.
EVE
So overall how much are you willing to fork out?
Leo spits his wine into the glass.
LEO
There’s a lot to consider. Let’s start with your
living expenses per month. Like baseline twenty
four hundred?
79 Eve’s turn to spit wine.
LEO (CONT'D)
I was trying to account for inflation.
EVE
If I had even two thousand dollars a month, I
wouldn’t be selling my eggs.
LEO
(worried)
Maybe you should do that instead.
EVE
I looked it up last year. Scary surgery. And you can
only donate here, preferably if you’ve already had
kids. Pshhh.
LEO
Maybe sell them in Jersey.
80 EVE
And recover at my mom’s house? I can’t discuss that with her. She never even schooled me on reproduction.
LEO
I could help you find a different job.
EVE
Oh good, so I can pay my dues more.
LEO
Everyone does it.
EVE
I want to work on my album. In order to do that, I need passive income. And as Jen Sincero would say, this baby is a fucking passive income goldmine. Of course by “baby” she meant her career coaching business...which only generates other career coaches...
81 LEO
Please be serious for a sec.
EVE
I am. What.
(sobers)
You’re not forcing me to do this, Leo.
Leo shuts his laptop.
LEO
Let’s sleep on it.
LIVING ROOM + KITCHEN - NIGHT - LATER
Eve looks through the binder. In her earbuds: “Olympians” - Andrew Bird.
INSERT: Leah’s pregnancy binder: images of the female body in different trimesters. It resembles those illustrations of butterflies transforming from chrysalis to full bug.
She glances at her pile of meager belongings by the door. Her cello dwarfs them all.
BEDROOM - NIGHT
Leo
82 LIVING ROOM + KITCHEN - NIGHT
Eve goes to her cello and unzips the case. She runs her fingers along the wood, warped and discolored.
BEDROOM - NIGHT
Leo sleeps amid hills of pillows.
Suddenly, Eve jumps on him.
LEO
Ahhh!
EVE
We should just do it. What do either of us have to
lose.
Beat. Leo tries to kiss her.
EVE (CONT'D)
Eww. Rule number one.
LEO
But you want to have sex with me.
83 EVE
I want to save five thousand dollars.
LEO
Are you sure? This is a very different side of me,
and I don’t know if I’m ready for you to...
EXT. BROOKLYN GARDEN - DAY
A dogwood grows from pale green buds to expanding blossoms.
Drab Brooklynites transform: fewer layers and more colors.
KAT
(to Eve, shocked)
Are you, like, with him?
STAGE MANAGER
--quite far.
Stage Manager, caught by the moment, looks at Eve.
STAGE MANAGER (CONT'D)
Well?
84 Eve throws up on Stage Manager, who stumbles into the crowd.
Eve catches the curtain as she falls to her knees, weak. She's visible to the audience now.
Kat jumps out to hold back her hair.
A solid round of retching on the cafe floor.
Eve looks up at Kat and wipes her chin.
EVE
I'm having his baby.
EXT. BLU NOTE CAFE - NIGHT
Kat storms down the sidewalk. Eve chases after her.
EVE
It's not like it's for love!
Kat turns on her heel.
KAT
Is that supposed to make me feel better?
EVE
I'm just so tired of doing everything on my own.
85 KAT
You were never doing everything on your own. We
were in this together.
EVE
Oh, please. "Will and I went to look at vintage
engagement rings." "Will wants to move to San
Antonio" or wherever the fuck in Texas his parents
own land.
KAT
IT'S - Marfa!!
KAT (CONT'D)
And you could come with us!!!
EVE
Where the hell is Marfa!?!
EVE (CONT'D)
Your plan has always been to give up on New York - so, no, I wouldn't say we're in this together.
86 KAT
I need nature. I feel like I'm in a sensory deprivation
tank every day. And it's very hard to raise kids here!
EVE
So you can have a kid, but I can't?
KAT
You are a kid.
EVE
And you're a bitch.
Beat. Kat marches back to the cafe.
EVE (CONT'D)
Wait, wait, I'm sorry - where are you going?
KAT
I'm going to get our instruments and tell them this
show is cancelled, because I'm responsible.
EVE
Kat. I didn't mean--
87 KAT
No, you can have it.
EVE
What?
KAT
The last word.
(jets into cafe)
See you at home.
Eve pushes the cafe door as if to follow, then pivots and sprints down the sidewalk.
EXT. MANHATTAN SIDEWALK - NIGHT
Eve bends over, panting. A stitch. She tries to stretch it out and doubles over in pain again.
EVE
Why does my back like it's fucking roasting on hot
coals...
88 INT. KAT AND WILL'S PLACE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Eve bursts into the apartment. Dorian and Will huddle over the board with cushy headphones on.
Eve gathers up her belongings, then lurches over to Dorian to lift a headphone.
EVE
(shouts into his ear)
Fuck you and your girlfriend! Those pigtails are
infantile.
EXT. LEO'S LOFT - NIGHT
Leo opens the door to a flushed, heaving Eve, surrounded by bags. Eve wraps him in a hard embrace, clings to him.
EVE
It happened.
Leo pulls her away to look at her in shock.
LEO
A-are you sure? Are you sure?
89 EVE
(realizes)
No.
She barrels past him into the apartment.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - NIGHT
Eve and Leo gaze, rapt, over five positive pregnancy tests elegantly strewn across the coffee table. They flick glances at each other, trying to read:
"Are you still in? Are you still in?"
Leo finally turns to Eve, rests his hands on her arms in an open embrace, parts his lips as if to speak. But he can't. Instead, he rubs her arms in stunned silence.
EVE
Stop it. I'm not a pet.
LEO
...Thank you, Eve.
She tries to smile, but it morphs into a cry.
90 EVE
Kat and I got into a fight.
LEO
Awww. I'm so sorry.
EVE
Can I stay here for awhile?
LEO
Of course.
He gets up and motions for Eve to follow him with resolve.
INT. BATHROOM - NIGHT
Fine, white cocaine powder swirls down the toilet. A fizzy, amber ale splashes on top of it.
EVE
I think the beer is too far. Just dump it down the
sink.
LEO
One for symbolism. And...
91 Leo smudges cocaine from another baggie on Eve's face like warpaint.
EVE
Stop it! The baby!
LEO
It can't get in without ingesting it... Or can it...
hmm...
He wipes her face gently with a washcloth.
EVE
(sinking in)
The baby...
LEO
The baby...
EVE
Are you sure about this?
LEO
Mm.
92 EVE
You don't have to give up everything all at once.
LEO
No, I do. I've been a piece of shit for far too long.
(re: Eve's stomach)
Is it too early to talk to it?
EVE
I don't know. I doubt it has ears.
LEO
(to The Baby)
By the time you come out, I'll be a dad who wakes up and runs.
EVE
To the bar.
LEO
I'll be a dad who cooks quinoa.
EVE
To throw in the Post Mate's face.
93 She tries to get off the bathroom floor but buckles a little in dizziness. Leo catches her.
Beat.
EVE (CONT'D)
Keep going.
Leo helps her out of the bathroom.
LEO
I'll be a dad who measures tap water solids.
EVE
And high-fives them for doing him a solid...
SONG TITLE: THE NEXT CHAPTER
EXT. BROOKLYN BRIDGE - DAY
Leo jogs slowly across the bridge in ill-fitting athleisure wear. He pauses, panting, and fishes in his pocket.
INSERT: faded receipt: "WTC 1 - coffee - $1.25."
A CHINESE TOURIST startles Leo over his shoulder.
94 CHINESE TOURIST
Wow, that's old.
(picks at his jogger suit)
You haven't worn this in a long time, eh?
PRE-LAP: LOVELY CELLO MUSIC.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - HOME STUDIO - DAY
Eve plays her (repaired!) cello in the sunny light of June. Blue sky pierces the window.
The title "Song #1: Name TBD" is scrawled in an otherwise blank staff book on a music stand.
She halts mid-piece and hums a motif. Pauses. Hums it again.
She grabs the pencil on the music stand, then - runs off.
Sounds of vomiting.
BATHROOM
Eve splashes her face with cold water. She pulls
away from the mirror, adjusting her bra in
discomfort.
95 In frustration, she reaches under her shirt and undoes the clasp to take a big, deep breath.
She turns profile to evaluate her bust size while humming the motif.
HOME STUDIO
Eve runs back to the music stand and hums each
note to mark it in the staff book. She collapses on
the chair and grips her stomach.
KITCHEN
Eve puts together the elements of a water filter
pitcher on the counter. She watches the first batch
slowly filter.
HOME STUDIO
Eve pours the water into a few elephant ear and fern
plants. She stops to mark a few more notes on the
staff.
KITCHEN
Eve gulps a big glass of water. She opens the fridge -
barren.
96 INT. BROOKLYN NATURAL - DAY
Eve pushes a little cart down the aisle, scooping up organic grains and expensive nut butters. Her hair and loose, braless dress flow like a goddess. The grocery store radio plays tinny, classical music.
She stops to pin a flyer on a community board.
INSERT: "SEEKING MUSICIANS FOR ALBUM RECORDING. INFLUENCES:
[what are Eve's favorite bands?]."
At the check-out, she nabs a package of vegan dark chocolate peanut butter cups.
EVE
These too, please.
She inserts a shiny credit card.
CASHIER
That'll be-- oh.
Eve gloats and hums along with the music. Each note familiar... Her face falls.
The next customer in line, a PUNK ROCK PRINCESS (30s), taps Eve on the shoulder.
97 PUNK ROCK PRINCESS
Did you post that paper for musicians? I teach bass at Idyllwild every summer. And I dig the free-nip look.
EVE
Oh, uh, no, must've been a different chick without a
bra.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - HOME STUDIO - DAY
Eve scratches out the motif notes from her staff book.
EVE
(grumble)
Here's an idea: next time use permanent marker,
Eve...
Leo comes in from his jog.
EVE (CONT'D)
Hey.
98 LEO
Hey.
(O.S., from the kitchen)
The water filter! Thanks for putting that together.
Been busy.
EVE
Sure.
LEO
(O.S.)
Shit!
EVE
What??
LEO
Appointment!
EVE
Can you give me more than one word at a time?
LEO
(rushes into studio)
Our OB/GYN appointment's today.
99 He throws a light coat at Eve and jogs away.
EXT. MANHATTAN ROADS - DAY
Towering skyscrapers, city parks, and the Hudson River flash by in the speckled sunlight.
EVE
(O.S.)
Jersey City??
I./E. CAB - DAY
Eve pulls the coat around her loose dress, compressed as far away as possible from Leo, whose muffin top pooches over his jogging pants.
LEO
He had the highest rating in my insurance network.
EVE
He? Oh jeez... Why didn't you ask me first?
LEO
You were sleeping. You sleep a lot.
100 EVE
My body is literally fabricating a new human.
LEO
Which is why we need a permanent OB/GYN
ASAP.
EVE
You only speak in acronyms now?
She lapses into stony silence.
LEO
Look, let's just go today. We can always switch.
EVE
That's true. Fine.
(looks at him)
But two more strikes, and I'm keeping it.
(off Leo's sudden terror)
Ahaha, I'm kidding.
No way in hell am I keeping this kid.
(to Baby)
101 No offense.
INT. DR. PRAJNEET'S OFFICE - DAY
CANDY (50s), a name-tagged NURSE RA, talks to Eve on the examination table. Leo sits nervously nearby.
CANDY
Any questions before I wheel in the monster?
EVE
Candy. Is that your Christian name, or--
CANDY
How old are you?
EVE
Twenty four.
CANDY
Hmm. It's short for Candace. But, yes, I was a
stripper to pay down my nursing school debt. Any
other comments veiled as questions?
Eve lays back, muted by this candor. Candy moves to leave.
102 CANDY (CONT'D)
Speaking of stripping, make sure to do that from the waist down--
EVE
This is a sonogram.
CANDY
I know that.
(turns back)
Hon, when it's this small, we can't detect it through your abdomen.
EVE
So...?
CANDY
(gestures to illustrate)
How do I put this in Manhattan terms... We gotta commute, sugar.
EVE
My chatch isn't the Lincoln Tunnel!
103 Candy looks to Leo, who shrugs like "I wouldn't know".
LATER
Eve squirms in discomfort as Candy moves a wand
around inside her. The dark screen blips with
minimal static.
Leo looks on, anxious.
EVE
Is it done?
LEO
I can't see it.
CANDY
It takes a minute, sometimes.
EVE
Where's the doctor? Is this legal?
CANDY
Dr. Prajneet's on his way.
104 LEO
I thought this was Dr. Holland's office? Four and a
half stars?
CANDY
Dr. Holland is the owner, but he's on a sabbatical.
Puppy Prajneet's getting his residency hours here.
EVE
He's not a real doctor yet?
LEO
Oh, god. I'm sorry, Eve, we can--
CANDY
We have a heartbeat!
The room falls silent. Eve props herself up on her elbows to get a glimpse.
Beat.
LEO
Wow.
EVE
Yeah.
105 CANDY
Yep. You two made this.
(off their over-awed faces)
Supposedly.
LATER
Eve sits up on the table. Leo is back in his chair. A
clock in the room ticks loudly in the silence.
DR. PRAJNEET (40s) bustles into the room.
DR. PRAJNEET
Hello! So sorry for the wait. It's been a busy day of
firsts.
(checks Eve's forms)
All right.
Leo shoots Eve an alarmed glance.
DR. PRAJNEET (CONT'D)
(to Leo)
Can I speak to Eve alone for a moment?
106 LEO
I, uh...
DR. PRAJNEET
There's coffee in the lobby. It's important to me to
establish an individual rapport with each of my
patients.
LEO
It's not really her...
Dr. Prajneet opens the door.
DR. PRAJNEET
Just one minute, please. You can time it.
Eve shakes her head but Leo throws his hands up and leaves.
The door closes, sealing Eve and Dr. Prajneet in the room, alone. He turns to her in close confidence.
107 DR. PRAJNEET (CONT'D)
(speaks quickly)
Eve, I notice you're about twelve years younger
than Mr. Esposito. I am not here to judge anyone's
decisions of who wants to be with who, but I feel
the need to ask this before our relationship as
doctor and patient progresses any further: are you
doing this of your own volition? In other words, are
you being married and forced to have children
against your will?
EVE
Oh-- oh my god, no.
DR. PRAJNEET
(breaks into an easy smile)
Okay, great! This forced-arranged marriage is
happening all the time in Pakistan, where I'm from. I
had to save a cousin last year. So I always check
when the age gap is a little wide.
Beat. Eve laughs awkwardly.
108 EVE
I mean, I'm sorry about your cousin.
DR. PRAJNEET
She's doing okay now. Staying with me in Jackson
Heights.
(consults forms)
Okay, so, let's get down to business and evaluate
that sonogram, Miss Ruscoe. Do you want me to
bring Leo in yet?
EVE
(smiles)
Let's keep him out a little longer. He's embarrassed
to be in that jogging suit in public.
DR. PRAJNEET
I see who really has the reigns in this situation...
INT. LEO'S LOFT - HOME STUDIO - NIGHT
Leo zigzags around the apartment, preparing for a show. He eats a healthy-looking wrap.
109 Eve sits with her cello, quiet. She jumps up and throws her bow. Leo stops short of a bow-blow.
LEO
Whooaaa.
EVE
What is that smell?
LEO
What smell?
EVE
I'm trying to write here, and there's, like, a
disgusting smell.
(re: wrap)
Is it that?
Leo sniffs it.
LEO
I don't think so?
Eve charges toward it. He yanks it away.
110 LEO (CONT'D)
I'll put it in the fridge. I'm done.
He retreats to the kitchen. Eve stalks around the loft.
EVE
I still smell it!
Leo emerges from the kitchen with a tied garbage bag.
EVE (CONT'D)
You're adding garbage to this mess?!
LEO
I'm taking out potential smell sources!
Leo runs out the door. He returns a few moments later.
LEO (CONT'D)
Better?
EVE
(getting stressed)
No!!!
Eve storms into his room and slams the door.
111 Leo knocks softly.
LEO
I need to get ready for my show.
EVE
Is your show in two fucking seconds?
LEO
...No.
EVE
Then you can wait.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - BEDROOM - NIGHT
Eve lies quietly on the bed. Tears slip down her cheek.
Leo opens the door, guarded, and tiptoes around, changing his clothes. He finally sits on the bed and places a light hand on her back.
LEO
Are you okay?
EVE
I can smell atoms. And I have no original ideas.
112 LEO
I would tell you that's not true, but it's never helped
me when anyone says that.
Eve sniffles.
LEO (CONT'D)
Why don't you come out with me tonight? It's Fort
Tilden. Isn't that what they said when women had
weak constitutions in the 1800s? "Get some fresh
sea air".
EVE
(muffled in pillow)
I'm not weak.
LEO
I know.
(enticing her)
...There'll be tacoooos.
Eve lifts her head and nods. He starts to rub her back, then turns it into an awkward pat before he gets up.
113 EXT. ESTAB. FORT TILDEN BEACH - NIGHT
All along the beach, PARTY GOERS (teens-40s) cluster around BBQ pits with glowing coals (and glowing glow sticks). PARTY WOMEN sparkle in mermaidesque get-up.
PARTY DUDES sport bold Hawaiian prints and silly fins. Everyone drinks.
A large, black, temporary stage looms on the beach. LACKEYS lug speakers and synthesizers onstage. Leo hovers nearby.
LEO
(to Lackey)
That was made in 1984.
LACKEY
Whooaa, that's like ten years before I was born.
LEO
Please be caref-
THUD. The Lackey goes for the next piece of equipment.
LEO (CONT'D)
Let me just help you with--
Leo zooms toward the waiting cab with all his equipment.
114 Eve cradles a paper boat full of saucy tacos, untouched. She wears an oversized glittery sweater over leggings in contrast to the skin-tight apparel around her.
A ring of LEO'S FRIENDS hang around Eve, cracking beers and talking music tech.
EVE
(to one of Leo's Friends)
What was your name again? Leo said them all so
fast.
TED
Oh yeah, I always immediately forget people's
names. Ted.
EVE
Eve. Me too. You play with Leo?
TED
Nah, I decided to be a dumbass and have kids when
we were in our twenties. I just come to shows
during my summers.
115 EVE
Summers?
TED
I teach.
EVE
Oh.
TED
I'll give you the breakdown.
(beckons the guys)
Otis!
(sotto)
..is missing part of his left eyebrow. Try saying that five times fast...
(as Otis nears)
Sold a house-throb piece to Grey's Anatomy.
EVE
Wow. Hi.
OTIS
Hey. Schlitz?
116 EVE
No, thanks.
TED
Anders tours.
ANDERS
Electric guitar, bass, a little Moog.
EVE
Sure, sure.
TED
And he wrote a few jingles.
EVE
Like what?
ANDERS
Uh.. One for Jif peanut butter, when they came out with a natural crunchy.
117 EVE
I remember that! It was like,
(sings)
Dah - dahdah - dah - dahh - "crunch - with - us"?
ANDERS
(flinches)
Yeah. Shoot me in the face.
YASIN (30s) clutches a paper cocktail cup with a tiny toothpick umbrella.
TED
Yasin is an OB/GYN by day, DJ by night.
YASIN
I'll break music to my parents after I make a down
payment on a house. According to my financial
planner, we can do it in twenty-eight months.
ANDERS
One, Yas, it sounds like you're in a relationship with
your financial planner. Two, you said were gonna
tell them after you started your practice.
118 YASIN
That was before my Dad's bypass.
TED
(alert)
Where's Cedric?
OTIS
Dude gave him some mushrooms.
TED
He better not have taken them right now...
Ted darts off to search.
YASIN
(to Anders)
Have you listened to the new Aris Kindt yet?
EVE
Who's that?
ANDERS
When you actually devote all your time to making
music, Yas, you don't always keep up.
119 EVE
So it's a new album?
ANDERS
They're basically an electronic polymath chamber
duo.
Eve tries to take a bite of a taco and spits it back.
YASIN
Not anymore. Totally different game now, man.
Which you would know if you fucking stayed
current.
ANDERS
I just got done touring with Pink Floyd in
Scandinavia. I'm fucking current.
EVE
I'm pregnant.
(re: tacos)
Someone please take these.
Eve scampers off.
120 INT. FORT TILDEN BEACH - BATHROOMS - NIGHT
Eve bounces, holding it, in a long line that snakes out of the sweltering bathroom.
Under the two stall doors: motionless pairs of feet.
Eve pushes her way to the stall. WOMEN IN LINE protest or look up in surprise from their phones.
EVE
(to stall dwellers)
Excuse me, could you kindly snort your line
outside!?
Some of us have fetal pressure and need to pee like every fives minutes!
STALL DWELLER #1
(O.S.)
You're pregnant?!
STALL DWELLER #2
(O.S.)
Ew.
121 YOUNG WOMAN IN LINE
(looks up from phone)
What are you even doing here?
EVE
Newsflash: you can go out when you're pregnant.
A MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN who's first in line looks back.
MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN
I went to see Ke$ha when my second-born was the
size of a mango.
STALL DWELLER #2
(O.S.)
Ewwwwww. Mango.
YOUNG WOMAN IN LINE
You could, like, hurt your baby.
EVE
By, like, being around alcohol?
122 STALL DWELLER #1
(O.S.)
And drugs.
MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN
(to Eve)
You can go ahead of me, hon. I'm guessing first
trimester?
EVE
Thanks. Yeah.
MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN
And first kid?
EVE
Sssure.
YOUNG WOMAN IN LINE
Maybe I should get pregnant so I can cut the line.
123 EVE
Your mermaid tail's pretty much up your ass. Just
go in the ocean.
YOUNG WOMAN IN LINE
Don't slut-shame me.
EVE
Don't preg-shame me.
Stall Dweller #1 and #2, totally tweaking, burst out of the stall with glow sticks. Eve jumps out of the way.
EXT. FORT TILDEN BEACH - NIGHT
Eve struggles through the sand to a stand with a MESH SHIRT BARTENDER.
EVE
What are your mocktails?
MESH SHIRT BARTENDER
Oooo, are we turning twenty-one, sweetie? I love when I get to sing my cocktail ABCs!
124 EVE
No, sorry, mock. Non-alcoholic.
MESH SHIRT BARTENDER
Oh, uh... well, since we're no-fructose...
He sprays some carboNathanield water in a clear glass, thinks hard for a moment, then plops a slice of pineapple in it.
MESH SHIRT BARTENDER
Twelve dollars.
EVE
Are you serious--
Eve feels a tug. It's Leo.
LEO
Come with me.
Eve trips across the sand dunes to keep up with Leo.
125 THE STAGE
Leo helps Eve up.
Eve marvels at all the equipment.
EVE
Bleeps and bloops...
LEO
Do you know how to use any of this?
EVE
I don't understand anything without a taut string.
LEO
Wanna learn? Now?
EVE
Um.
LEO
Friggin' Cedric OD'd on mushrooms and thinks he's
a hamster on a Buddhist wheel or some shit.
EVE
Your other friends are here.
126 LEO
They're - pretty drunk. You're like the
DesigNathanield Musician.
EVE
Even Ted?
LEO
Ted's been out of music since he knocked up
Chelsea at NYU.
EVE
Hm. Isn't the point of electronic music that you can do it alone?
LEO
I didn't prepare a solo show. At least with you up here, it'll look like creative improvising.
EVE
I don't know if it'll be good.
LEO
Eve. C'mon.
127 Beat.
EVE
Okay. Show me.
Leo presses a button and turns some knobs. A low beat throbs.
LEO
This sets our pulse.
EVE
Uh huh.
LEO
And then we get some pitches going.
EVE
Cool, coool, not confusing.
Arpeggios spill out of the speakers. Leo hits a button here, turns a dial there, building a soundscape.
The CROWD stirs in anticipation. The din of their chatter and the waves mix together.
Eve twists a knob with abandon. The music drops into blockier, less refined patterns. She checks the crowd: people continue to bop, unbothered.
128 Leo grins and course-corrects.
EXT. FORT TILDEN BEACH - STAGE - LATER
Leo and Eve criss cross through the dazzling rainbow lights, happily tending to their music machine.
The audience dances through a spectrum of moves from "cool" to "wild".
Leo catches eyes with GLITTER EYESHADOW (female, 30s) in the crowd. She dances toward him.
Eve pauses, panting and sweating. She looks over the crowd and catches eyes with...
Kat. Will jumps next to her, oblivious.
EVE
(to Leo)
Do you have any water!
LEO
What!
EVE
Water! I need a break!
129 Too late. Eve leans over the edge of the stage and throws up on Glitter Eyeshadow's head.
Glitter Eyeshadow screams.
Eve jumps off the stage and fights her way across the beach.
Leo hesitates, torn between the love interest and the mother of his child... then he runs toward the bar.
Kat sees it all happen and chases after Eve. She gets entangled in the chaos of the crowd.
EXT. FORT TILDEN SIDEWALK - NIGHT
Eve dry heaves on the curb. Leo catches up and offers her a cup of water.
LEO
Are you...? Does everything feel...?
EVE
I'm not having a miscarriage.
LEO
God, Eve, that's so caustic. I'm just trying to see if
you're okay.
Kat catches up. She hangs back at the sight of Leo.
130 EVE
I feel terrible.
LEO
Okay... Let's go home.
EVE
You have a show. And it's so far. And the equipment
is so heavy.
Eve cries in sudden despair.
LEO
These people can't tell if it's me or a rewound
cassette tape at this point. I'll get the guys to take
care of it. Wait here.
Eve sobs over the curb.
Kat steps toward Eve.
Eve cranes her neck and sees Kat.
Beat.
131 Leo breaks their eye line to bolster Eve to her feet. He doesn't recognize Kat.
LEO (CONT'D)
Let's go.
INT./EXT. KIA FORTE LYFT - NIGHT
Eve tries to lean into the crevices of the car in some comfortable fashion.
LEO
Here.
Leo scoots to the middle seat and offers his shoulder.
Eve collapses against him, drained, eyes closed. Beat. A strange, dry chuckle emerges from her.
EVE
You're in the bitch seat.
LEO
There are many names for this seat.
EVE
You got in the bitch seat for me.
132 LYFT DRIVER
Hey. Is she drunk? This is a no-vom zone.
LEO
No, she's--
EVE
I'm drunk with baby.
(sings)
I'm drunk with baaaaabyyyyy.
LYFT DRIVER
(hits the brakes)
This isn't a game - you throw up in my car, you
throw down three hundred dollars. It's a policy.
He points to a bumper sticker plastered to the back of the passenger seat:
"YOU THROW UP, YOU THROWN DOWN...$300".
LYFT DRIVER
I made a sticker for it.
133 LEO
Jeez, man, you can't discrimiNathaniel against
pregnant women.
EVE
(curls up, sarcastic)
Beautiful. Really.
LYFT DRIVER
She looks like she's gonna blow.
LEO
Pull over, and I'll give you $300 cash right now.
LYFT DRIVER
No, you know what, I'm sorry, I have PTSD from
my last upchucker.
The Driver pulls over at the mouth of a bridge.
LYFT DRIVER (CONT'D)
The seats were never the same. Please, call another
ride.
(MORE)
134 LYFT DRIVER (CONT'D)
(braces)
I will take the one-star hit.
LEO
This is my-- this woman is pregnant, man. You can't
abandon us here.
LYFT DRIVER
There are at least ten cars on my radar.
Eve gets out and takes a big whiff.
EVE
I wanna walk! This air smells good.
Leo tumbles out after her.
EXT. MARINA PARKWAY BRIDGE - NIGHT
Eve and Leo walk on the pedestrian path alongside the bridge roadway. A cyclone fence separates them from the cars, which zoom by, rattling the bridge.
Eve folds her arms for warmth. Leo sticks close by.
LEO
I'm calling another car to meet us at the end.
135 EVE
Fine.
Eve stops, suddenly.
LEO
Are you--
EVE
Shh. Listen.
Eve closes her eyes. Leo checks their surroundings.
From Eve's POV:
Darkness. Sounds of buzzing in a repetitive, pulsing way - like -
EVE (CONT'D)
Giant bees.
LEO
What?
EVE
Listen.
136 Leo finally tunes in. The sonic din of the passing cars on the bridge modulates through the wire fence. The pitch shifts like when a winged insect buzzes near your ear.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - DAY
Eve plays a line on her cello that mimics the "giant bee" sound. She uses some of Leo's equipment to loop it.
Eve sings improvised verses [WRITE THESE] and plays the loop over:
BRIEF MONTAGE - EVE & LEO GET BUSY - NOT WITH EACH OTHER
Leo runs, miserable, in the summer heat. He stops to catch his breath outside a bike shop.
Eve sips a coffee with a big ol' "decaf" label slapped on it as she watches MUSICIANS at an open mic. She takes notes in a small notebook with a colorful pen.
Leo surveys road bikes in the bike shop. His hair is windblown by a handheld electric fan demo. He tosses five bucks on the counter and swipes the fan for his own use.
Eve checks her "seeking bandmate" sign at a music store. Most tabs are ripped off. NICE
BEARDED FELLA behind the counter smiles and waves. Eve waves back. She replaces the sign and notices another announcement.
137 INSERT: "NOUVEAU CHAMBER ENSEMBLE SEEKS STRING PLAYERS."
Eve leans back to take a picture of the flyer. Her baby bump becomes visible. Nice
Bearded Fella's smile dims.
Eve and Leo work next to each other on the couch. Leo wears absurdly poofy headphones to program music. Eve scribbles on wrappers of cinnamon gum sticks. She stops to play her cello when inspiration strikes. Markers, staff books, instruments, and packs of gum surround her on the coffee table and couch. Leo scrunches into a corner.
INT. COFFEE SHOP - EAST VILLAGE - NIGHT
A FUNKY OPEN MIC HOST (30s) speaks into a mic onstage.
FUNKY OPEN MIC HOST
...Every Thursday from 8 pm to 10 pm. Sign-ups start at 6:30. Tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Tell your mom since she might not be either of those. Let's get one more round for all our brave souls from tonight.
Eve claps at a table in the back. She spots a FLOCK OF SEAGULLS HAIRCUT DUO slinging bass (female, 20s) and guitar (male, 20s) over their shoulders, ready to leave.
She jumps up to catch them.
138 EVE
Hi! Really liked your set.
CLARA
Thanks.
EVE
You seem really comfortable with each other.
DUKE
(light mocking)
Really?
CLARA
(to Duke)
Stop.
EVE
So, anyway - you're married?!
Rings glint on the FOSH Duo's left hands.
DUKE
Yep.
139 CLARA
Two years.
EVE
Cool, like the White Stripes - is it warm in here?
Eve takes off her jean jacket as she talks. Baby bump comes into view.
Clara and Guitarist exchange looks.
CLARA
(opening up)
We're pregnant, too.
EVE
No way!
CLARA
Twenty-four weeks.
DUKE
It's pretty rad.
EVE
I can't even tell, and I'm twenty weeks, gosh.
140 CLARA
You can definitely tell when I'm in a bathing suit.
Just more of an all-around sausage than a three-
dimensional bump.
EVE
The different shapes at the OB/GYN have surprised
me.
Eve fishes for the business card gum in her discarded jacket.
EVE (CONT'D)
Anyway, I'm working on a project--
CLARA
Do you have a birthing class scheduled?
EVE
No... Not yet.
CLARA
I get it. It's a little early for you.
141 EVE
It sure is. Early.
CLARA
We're taking one from this totally rad woman in
Bushwick.
EVE
I'm in Bushwick. When's the next one? I'll go.
CLARA
We start our Groupon series this Saturday. I can
give you the info...
EVE
Here.
Eve hands her notebook to Clara, taking care to skip pages so her open mic notes are concealed.
Clara writes in the book.
CLARA
Love meeting other rocker moms.
142 EVE
Yeah. See ya.
They leave. Eve takes out a gum stick and turns it in her hand.
INSERT: "CHEW ON THIS: BE IN MY BAND! (FLIP FOR CONTACT INFO.)"
INT. LEO'S LOFT - NIGHT
Eve lays awake on the futon bed in the living room. She shifts positions. Then shifts again. And again.
She gasps and brings hand to belly.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - BEDROOM - NIGHT
Leo snoozes in bed with five pillows.
Eve tiptoes into the room. She tries to wrest a superfluous-looking pillow from the pile.
Leo wakes with a start.
LEO
Hello?
143 EVE
I felt the baby move.
LEO
That's exciting. ...What are you doing?
EVE
(rapid talk)
Taking a pillow. It was exciting, but now it won't stop moving. I think the barista forgot to give me decaf.
LEO
Oh, no.
EVE
It's like a jam sesh in there.
LEO
I'll buy you more pillows tomorrow. But I need these for my sleep apnea. Can we share tonight?
144 EVE
(recoils)
Rule Number One.
LEO
Yes, of course. That is still a hundred percent in
place.
EVE
Fine. If you laugh, I'll smother you.
LEO
...You heard my sleep-laughing?
EVE
Yeah, and it's creepy as fuck.
Eve lowers herself onto the mountain of pillows next to Leo.
LEO
I'm sorry, it's just- sleeping is weird for me. It's
neurological, I promise.
EVE
Your mom is neurological.
145 She punches and rearranges the pillows till she finds a side position that's all right. Leo scrunches into the corner of the bed, clinging to the other side of pillow mountain.
They both close their eyes. Beat.
Eve squirms and grimaces.
LEO
Can I feel it?
EVE
The dance party?
LEO
Yeah.
EVE
Sure. Maybe it'll get the message.
(to Baby)
Time. To. Sleep.
Leo reaches over and places his hand on The Bump.
146 INT. LEO'S LOFT - BEDROOM - DAY
Morning sunlight filters over Leo and Eve, asleep in a looser variation of the same position.
Eve turns away, still asleep. Leo's hand drops off her belly.
EXT. PROSPECT PARK - DAY
Leo bikes the broad, pleasant streets around the leafy park.
EXT. UPPER WEST SIDE - DAY
Eve emerges step-by step from the A train stop, carrying her cello.
EXT. PROSPECT PARK - DAY
Leo pulls up to a stop light on his bike.
A SCRUFFY VINTAGE WEED DEALER (30s) loiters and whispers to
PEDESTRIANS. He waves at Leo.
SCRUFFY VINTAGE WEED DEALER
Espositooo. I got something for ya from the North Country.
147 Leo takes off before the light changes to green. Cars honk and veer.
INT. UPPER WEST SIDE - MARBLE ROOM - DAY
Eve plays Shostakovich on her cello for a line of HIP AUDITION JUDGES (30s/40s).
[they may need different names, like their specific roles in the music ensemble]
EXT. FLATBUSH/DITMAS PARK - STREETS - DAY
Leo wipes the sweat from his brow, in biking gloves. The pleather gloves irritate his skin.
He brakes in front of an old brownstone.
As he wheels the bike past the rotting picket fence, a waifish older woman, nervous, descends the big front steps.
LEO
Mom.
Leo's Mom, DIANA (70s), twists a woven bracelet around her wrist.
DIANA
You biked all the way here? I didn't know you were
in that good of shape.
148 LEO
(smiles, hugs her)
I'm not.
(then)
How's he doing?
INT. LEO'S PARENT'S BROWNSTONE - DAY
Leo's dad, AROLDO ESPOSITIO (70s), a bitter, pallid man with a neurologically- decaying disease, struggles to lift a fork. A pile of cooked corn trembles and falls.
Leo organizes his bike effects at a distance and watches Diana lean over her husband.
DIANA
Let me do it.
Aroldo dashes the fork down in anger, nearly crashing into Diana's hand on the table.
LEO
(warning)
Dad. Do not treat her that way.
DIANA
He doesn't mean it.
149 LEO
I can tell when he means it.
INT. UPPER WEST SIDE - MARBLE ROOM - DAY
Eve plays the coda of the Shostakovich piece.
HIP JUDGE 1 (female) taps her pen without taking notes.
HIP JUDGE 2 (male) sneaks a peek at his phone.
HIP JUDGE 3 (female) has dead eyes.
Eve stops mid-phrase..
EVE
(moody, sharp)
Sorry, am I boring you?
INT. LEO'S PARENT'S BROWNSTONE - DAY
Leo eats at the table with his parents: a minestrone with bright yellow corn and tomatoes.
Diana ignores her own soup to adjust the napkin-bib tucked into Aroldo's collar. He growls at her.
150 Leo stares him down.
DIANA
Marius Fletcher came to visit the other day. You
remember, he taught Humanities?
LEO
I think so.
DIANA
He talked Arol's ear off about the department.
(to Aroldo)
It was good to hear the news, wasn't it?
(to Leo)
He's still a darling man.
LEO
That's good. Mom, I--
DIANA
Kept a lot of his hair--
151 Aroldo lunges and knocks Diana's minestrone onto her chair. The bowl shatters. The shards dance on the wooden floor.
LEO
(jumps up)
Dad!
Aroldo glares at Leo across the table.
DIANA
(stoops to clean)
Ooo, jealous, jealous.
Beat.
LEO
Mom. Dad. Listen. I'm having a kid.
DIANA
Oh my god. Oh my god.
Diana drops the ceramic bowl shards again and hugs Leo with soupy hands.
Aroldo stares at Leo, then grips his spoon and concentrates once more on eating.
152 INT. UPPER WEST SIDE - MARBLE ROOM - DAY
Eve fidgets with her bow as Hip Judge 1 leans over her clipboard.
FEMALE HIP JUDGE 1
Look, we think the baby bump is awesome, and we support women in the arts--
MALE HIP JUDGE 2
We really do. My wife played till thirty-four weeks.
FEMALE HIP JUDGE 1
Can I talk, Jason? Thank you. We're just wondering... When are you due?
EVE
December twenty-eighth.
FEMALE HIP JUDGE 1
So, this is a three-part concert series. Summer, fall, and--
FEMALE HIP JUDGE 2
The holidays. It's our biggest turn-out.
153 HIP JUDGE 1
(to Hip Judge 2)
Right, Talicia.
EVE
It's not a big deal.
FEMALE HIP JUDGE 1
(to Eve)
You think you'll really want to play three days
before you give birth?
Eve leaves the audition chair to pack up her cello.
MALE HIP JUDGE 2
Take some time to think about it.
FEMALE HIP JUDGE 1
I was literally just going to say that.
EVE
(fuming)
Thank you for your time.
154 EXT. LEO'S PARENT'S BROWNSTONE - DAY
Diana follows Leo down the steps. A tote bag full of baby accoutrement loops around each of Leo's arms.
DIANA
Also--
LEO
Mom, I'm riding a bike. I can't take any more stuff.
DIANA
These.
Diana rolls up some New York Post papers and tucks them in his left arm bag.
DIANA (CONT'D)
Your dad can't keep up with them, but he won't let
me cancel the subscription.
INT. MUSIC STORE - DAY
Eve, sweaty and red-faced, towing her cello, checks her flyer. Only one tab missing. She drops onto a stool in the midst of a drum kit.
155 Nice Bearded Fella approaches her with an iced agua fresca - bright pink.
NICE BEARDED FELLA
Here. It's leftover from lunch. Nobody drank it. You look.. warm.
EVE
I'm okay. More hungry, really.
NICE BEARDED FELLA
When my mom was pregnant with my little sister, she said it was really important to not overheat.
Eve takes the drink and sips.
EVE
Thanks.
(re: flyer)
Did you see the people who took my number
before? Why haven't they called?
156 NICE BEARDED FELLA
It's hard to say, but most folks are too busy here to help anyone but themselves.
EVE
Did you see who took this one tab?
NICE BEARDED FELLA
Uh.... Me.
EVE
Even you didn't call!
NICE BEARDED FELLA
I'm sorry! After I took it, I was like 'is it weirder to call or weirder to catch her in person?'
EVE
Neither is weird, but calling is faster. Look, I'm
starving, so, real quick, what do you play?
NICE BEARDED FELLA
Drums. And Nathaniel.
157 EVE
What?
NATHANIEL
That's my name.
Eve jumps up.
EVE
All right, Nate--
NATHANIEL
Nnno.
EVE
Nathaniel, can you demo in less than thirty
seconds?
Nathaniel settles in at the drum set.
NATHANIEL
We have tortas in the back fridge if you wanna
picnic instead.
158 EVE
Sure. Thanks.
EXT. PROSPECT PARK SOUTH - DAY
Leo teeters on his bike with the clumsy bags at a stop light.
SCRUFFY DEALER
Hey, man.
Leo startles and almost loses his balance. Scruffy Dealer stands next to a parked car in the road.
SCRUFFY DEALER (CONT'D)
Are you seeing someone else?
LEO
No, I just -- I'm laying off right now.
SCRUFFY DEALER
Right when I quit my day-job... Ah, well, my
mentor warned me about the ups and downs.
C'mere.
Scruffy Dealer opens his arms wide for a hug. Leo leans away.
159 LEO
I really can't go home smelling like--
Leo falls over. Bottles and bibs spill everywhere.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - DAY
Still sweating in his slightly looser athleisure suit, Leo tends to a cut on his nose in the mirror. He pulls a gilded book off the book shelf.
Inside, a small stash of weed. He takes it.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - DAY - LATER
Eve opens the door to a room of red.
A disco ball spins in the middle of the living room. Leo lounges on the couch, high, reading the New York Post.
The bags of baby stuff are piled on the coffee table. Eve's music preparations are pushed aside.
LEO
Where you been?
Eve struggles to get her cello inside while holding the agua fresca cup.
160 EVE
...Are you high?
LEO
Hey, you're like - cool. You're independent.
EVE
Why are you high?
LEO
Where were you?
EVE
At an audition.
Eve tornadoes into--
THE KITCHEN
Leo trails after her. She tears savagely at some
spinach.
EVE
(sotto)
I'm hungry again...
(MORE)
161 EVE (CONT'D)
(to Leo)
You said you wouldn't do this.
LEO
This was the last little nest egg I forgot about.
Audition for what?
EVE
Is this what you're going to be like when you're a dad?
LEO
No. I'll be better.
EVE
How?
LEO
Audition for what?
EVE
Shut up.
(off Leo's hurt look)
A chamber ensemble.
162 Leo dumps chips on a plate, then grabs a bag of shredded cheese.
LEO
So you don't want to make an album.
Leo shoves his plate into the microwave.
EVE
Uh. No.
Her spinach sizzles and shrinks in the pan.
LEO
I don't see how a chamber ensemble is going to help
you make your own stuff.
The microwave dings. Leo removes his melty plate of nachos.
LEO (CONT'D)
Homemade nacho? It's healthier.
EVE
Ugh. No. And don't preach at me when you couldn't
even keep your own resolution.
163 LEO
Hey!
Eve stops sauteeing, startled.
LEO (CONT'D)
You gotta let me bend the rules sometimes.
Eve kills the flame. She grabs a plate and whisks the food away.
LEO (CONT'D)
Wait is that spinach?
LIVING ROOM
Leo finds Eve shoveling spinach into her mouth on
the couch.
LEO
Eve. Stop.
Leo grabs a New York Post and flattens it to display:
INSERT: "SPINACH RECALL: LISTERIA FOUND".
Eve stops eating but grips the fork, skeptical.
164 EVE
What date is that?
LEO
Mm... Three weeks ago.
EVE
(keeps eating)
Old news.
Leo takes the plate out from under her.
LEO
It could still be a carrier.
EVE
Spinach is the only thing that sounds good right
now.
Eve chases him back to--
THE KITCHEN
--where Leo scrapes the spinach into the trash can.
EVE
You can't get rid of my food.
165 LEO
Your food affects the baby.
EVE
That's really touching, but you just gave it second-
hand smoke.
Leo peers into the trash can.
LEO
(pulls out agua fresca cup)
What is this?
EVE
Some pink drink?
LEO
From where?
EVE
A drummer.
166 LEO
Eve, you know hibiscus was on the list of things
you can't consume.
EVE
Oops, I stopped before the flower section.
LEO
It's on the list. Hibiscus is bad for some reason...
Where is the list?
EVE
Leo, I feel fine.
She grabs a box of crackers and leaves.
THE LIVING ROOM
Leo follows her trail of crumbs.
LEO
I'm just - I feel very nervous about the way you
carry on, like nothing's changed.
167 EVE
Everything has changed for me in the past three
months. What are you talking about?
LEO
You don't tell me what's going on.
EVE
What do you want me to tell you?
LEO
How you feel, how the baby feels, what you're up
to, what you're thinking about the future...
EVE
What future, Leo?
LEO
I don't even want to share with you. You'll mock
me.
Eve scoops salad into her mouth as she retreats to her space. She whips around when she reaches the curtain.
168 EVE
What future?
She disappears behind the curtain.
Beat. Eve pokes her head out.
EVE (CONT'D)
Did you buy more pillows?
INT. LEO'S LOFT - MUSIC STUDIO - NIGHT
Eve lays awake on her daybed [make sure to go back and change that in the rest of the scenes]. She shifts around, uncomfortable.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - BEDROOM - NIGHT
Eve slips into Leo's room. She arranges her side of pillow mountain and drifts into sleep.
Leo, half-asleep, reaches for the bump. His tension eases.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - LIVING ROOM - DAY
Leo staggers out of his room, bleary-eyed.
He retrieves orange juice from the kitchen and drinks from the container.
169 Eve gets up from the couch, shoving the remainder of an English muffin into her mouth.
She heads to the door.
EVE
I'm going to a childbirth class.
LEO
Oh. Uh... Do you want me to go with you?
EVE
No.
LEO
Eve--
She turns in the doorway. He tosses her phone. She palms it to the floor.
EVE
Are you serious - you thought I could catch that?
She bends down slowly. Leo rushes to help her, but she snatches it and leaves.
170 EXT. BUSHWICK BIRTH BITCH - DAY
Bushwick Birth Bitch sports a purple marquee sign, sandwiched between a succulent store and an artisanal tater tot shop.
Eve slurps the drips off a vanilla cone as PREGNANT COUPLES trundle past her inside. She checks each couple to see if they're the FOSH Couple. None of them are.
INT. BUSHWICK BIRTH BITCH - DAY
Eve moves down the hallway, listening at each door for voices. She crunches through the last of her cone.
Finally - a commanding WOMAN'S VOICE!
INT. CHILDBIRTH CLASSROOM - CONTINUOUS
Eve opens the door to a room full of PAIRS. HUSBANDS and WIVES, WIVES and
WIVES...all S.O.'s of some kind (20s-40s).
Clara and Guitarist sit on a black blanket in the second row. Clara waves.
MIDWIFE JESSICA
Don't get obsessed with tearing--
171 MIDWIFE JESSICA (40s, Birkenstocks with socks) stops mid-sentence as Eve tiptoes to the depleted stack of yoga blankets and selects one.
EVE
Sorry I'm late. Caught in...
She trails off as she sees the familiar faces of people who passed her eating at the entrance. JITTERY MOM (28), cradling an infant in one arm, speaks up.
JITTERY MOM
Ice cream? I get it.
MIDWIFE JESSICA
(to Jittery Wife)
Supporting. Good. That's why we're here.
Eve squeezes herself next to Clara and Guitarist.
MIDWIFE JESSICA (CONT'D)
(to class)
Just like Baby, you can't always predict when
students will show up.
(to Eve)
Is your name on the roster?
172 EVE
Eve Ruscoe.
MIDWIFE JESSICA
I see you. Good.
She fishes in her tote bag for a model of a human pelvis and splays it wide for everyone to see.
INT. CHILDBIRTH CLASSROOM - DAY - LATER
Eve doodles a lizard with a mustache as Midwife Jessica lectures.
MIDWIFE JESSICA
The pushing stage of labor typically lasts about 30
minutes to an hour--
CRUNCHY MOM
Ha! Try three hours!
CRUNCHY MOM (34, tall, hearty) unzips an ice pack lunch box and unwraps a crinkly granola bar that's seeds pasted together with dates.
173 MIDWIFE JESSICA
Just a warning, we're about to do a lot of partner
work, so I wouldn't start chewing or eating anything
right now. We'll have a snack break in an hour.
CRUNCHY MOM
I can eat through anything. Anything.
Eve draws the lizard suspended from a cliff by its tail.
MIDWIFE JESSICA
Eve.
EVE
(surprised)
Can you repeat the question?
MIDWIFE JESSICA
Humor. Good. I was wondering if you wanted to
come up here and be my demo girl today. And I'll be
sort of like your partner. Since...
All the other couples shoot solo Eve a sympathetic glance.
Eve trudges up to the front of the room.
174 MIDWIFE JESSICA (CONT'D)
Since we missed you in the intros, would you like to tell us your due date?
EVE
Some time in December or January. Shooting for
Capricorn.
(Midwife Jessica frowns)
Kidding.
MIDWIFE JESSICA
Lots of humor.
(moving on)
So, to start, if you can bend over the table...
EVE
I don't -- really need to practice these--
MIDWIFE JESSICA
Are you not really going to have a baby?
EVE
Yeah, but, I mean, they'll get it out.
175 JITTERY MOM
That was my attitude on the first one.
Jittery Mom half-shudders at her first baby, now asleep nearby in a carrier.
BELEAGUERED HUSBAND rocks the carrier.
MIDWIFE JESSICA
(to Eve)
You are a large part of how Baby gets out of you,
Eve.
CRUNCHY MOM
(eating almonds)
But you forget all the pain once that baby is in your
arms. Then you're a mama.
MIDWIFE JESSICA
Yes. Good. At the end of the process, you have
your baby.
EVE
(serious)
And you really know that you want it then?
176 Some laughter. Some perplexed or concerned looks.
Eve bends over the table with a sigh. Midwife Jessica compresses her lower back.
MIDWIFE JESSICA
Make sure your partner applies pressure!
INT. TATER TOT SHOP - DAY
Eve scoops tater tots in ketchup and talks into her little-used phone.
EVE
Are you busy?
INT. LEO'S LOFT - DAY
Leo watches a psychedelic movie, muted.
LEO
A little.
INTERCUT THE REST
EVE
Would you want to.. come down here?
177 LEO
You want me there?
INT. TATER TOT SHOP - DAY
Clara and Guitarist wave at Eve through the window, carrying take-out. They motion for her to join them.
EVE
Everyone else here has somebody. You don't have
to, though. Break's over in an hour. I gotta go.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - DAY
Leo hangs up and un-mutes the movies. He stares, preoccupied.
INT. BUSHWICK BIRTH BITCH - DAY
Eve sits cross-legged on the floor with the FOSH couple and other Moms. The Partners chat nearby with Midwife Jessica.
178 EVE
(to Clara)
When I heard "Palindromes", it was like the Second
Coming.
CLARA
I'll have to give Andrew Bird a listen.
A JUDGMENTAL MOM (31) pops cherry tomatoes in her mouth.
JUDGMENTAL MOM
What's that you're eating?
EVE
It's called a tot sandwich supreme.
JUDGMENTAL MOM
Looks greasy.
A VET(ERINARIAN) MOM (38, rational, scientific) chortles over cheese and crackers.
VET MOM
That's how you can tell she's under twenty-five.
They smacked "geriatric" on my record as soon as they heard my age.
179 JUDGMENTAL MOM
How old are you?
VET MOM
Thirty-eight.
JUDGMENTAL MOM
(dubious)
And you conceived naturally?
VET MOM
As far as my memory serves.
Crunchy Mom plops down with a big Nalgene.
CRUNCHY MOM
There's filtered water on the second floor.
Jittery Mom hurries out of the room, splashing her water bottle remnants into a potted plant.
ACTOR MOM (27, "everything is an experience") and WORK-OUT MOM (29, can barely sit still) huddle, deep in conversation.
180 ACTOR MOM
Your body is like the seasons. Let it have its
autumn.
WORK-OUT MOM
I can let go of my abs, but ass is where I draw the
line.
EVE
(to Clara)
Who are your biggest influences?
CRUNCHY MOM
(drowning out Eve)
So what's everybody's big childbirth preference?
Beat. The Moms exchange glances, sizing each other up.
VET MOM
I'll jump in. Going for full un-medicated birth with
doula - in a hospital since I'm high-risk.
181 JUDGMENTAL MOM
(sotto)
Hope your doula is certified.
EVE
I thought a doula was a type of towel?
CRUNCHY MOM
Doulas are there for emotional support during your
birth. They advocate for you once you go
incoherent.
Crunchy Mom laughs into her chia pudding.
CLARA
We're thinking of having a friend be ours, to save
money.
EVE
You knew what that was?
WORK-OUT MOM
(blurts)
I'm getting an epidural.
(MORE) 182 WORK-OUT MOM (CONT'D)
(laughs)
As soon as possible.
ACTOR MOM
Tad and I are doing a hypnobirth at home.
EVE
Like, swinging a watch and telling you to have a baby?
ACTOR MOM
(to Eve)
Silly.
CRUNCHY MOM
(to Eve)
You look like twenty weeks.
EVE
Filtered water makes you psychic.
183 CRUNCHY MOM
I'm on kid number three. You know.
(then)
You have time to figure these things out.
WORK-OUT MOM
But not that much time.
Midwife Jessica casts her shadow on Eve.
MIDWIFE JESSICA
Ladies, I hope you have enjoyed your lunches and
bonded a little. If you'll follow me, I have some
things to make the afternoon lecture a little more
fun.
Jittery Mom re-enters to find the lunch circle dispersed.
JITTERY MOM
(panicked)
I missed something.
INT. BUSHWICK BIRTH BITCH - DAY
Leo treads the hallway, listening.
184 BINGO! He opens a noisy door to--
INT. CHILDBIRTH CLASSROOM - CONTINUOUS
A room full of large fruits.
Midwife Jessica wears a banana hat at the center of the walking fruits, passing out costume pieces.
MIDWIFE JESSICA
I've got a leaf here!
Eve scurries up to Leo. She's dressed in a bright yellow lemon costume.
EVE
Leo!
LEO
You're a lemon.
EVE
Yes. She's having us dress as fruit to embrace the
roundness.
(sotto)
I can now say literally that this woman is bananas.
185 LEO
It suits you.
EVE
Thanks.
MIDWIFE JESSICA
Eve, if that's your partner, he'll have join in the fun!
EVE
You don't have to.
LEO
It's no problem. I like the whole...masquerade
aspect.
INT. CHILDBIRTH CLASSROOM - DAY - LATER
Leo and Eve sit on the floor next to each other, a pineapple and a lemon.
Midwife Jessica talks through a bright PowerPoint in the dim room.
186 MIDWIFE JESSICA
I know this section can be a bit of a bummer, but
just stick with me. The next complication you and
your doctor will watch for is pre-ecclampsia.
Leo and Eve talk in low whispers.
EVE
Do you think our moms ever forgave us for making
them go through childbirth?
LEO
My mom probably would've gone through it a
million times if she could, for the extra company.
Eve arches an eyebrow at this.
LEO (CONT'D)
What about yours?
EVE
I honestly don't know.
(gestures to FOSH Couple)
(MORE)
187 EVE (CONT'D)
See those two? I was going to ask them to be in my
band if today goes well.
LEO
Did today go well?
Eve shrugs.
EVE
People play it really cool in the city. That's what
was so great about Kat...
MIDWIFE JESSICA
Eve and Leo, I find your little whispers very
distracting. If you need to have a private discussion
in the hall, please do.
EVE
Sorry.
LEO
(stands)
We do need to.
(MORE)
188 LEO (CONT'D)
(to Eve)
Stop insisting on a parachute birth.
JITTERY MOM
What? What is that?
EVE
(catching on)
I want my baby to experience freefall from the first
moment it can breathe!
LEO
We need to get this settled once and for all before I
can pay attention. Excuse us.
MIDWIFE JESSICA
(as they exit)
I don't think it's legal to skydive while in labor. Not
good.
INT. BUSHWICK BIRTH BITCH - HALLWAY - DAY
Pineapple Leo and Lemon Eve huddle.
189 LEO
You wanna get out of here?
EVE
I paid for the rest of the class-- No, wait, you did.
And you want to leave... So I do, too!
They check out each other's costumes.
LEO
Do you wanna--
EVE
Yeah.
EXT. BUSHWICK SIDEWALK - DAY
Leo and Eve hurry down the sidewalk in their fruit costumes.
LEO
I'll send her a check for "yellow, acidic fruits".
190 EVE
Man, what a drag! We get it, everything is hard and
dangerous. Email us the PowerPoint.
Leo stops in front of a grocery store.
INT. GROCERY STORE - DAY
Leo paces in front of the pineapples.
LEO
Auntie! I haven't seen you in forever. Cuz! Whatcha
been up to!
Eve fills a plastic bag to the brim with lemons.
EVE
These are all my children. I'm freeing them.
A CRUSTY GROCERY STORE OWNER approaches with a fly swatter as some measure of security weapon.
191 INT. GROCERY STORE - CHECK-OUT - DAY
Eve and Leo wait in line, deadpan. The cashier counts out thirty-three lemons and eight pineapples.
EXT. BUSHWICK SIDEWALK - DAY
Eve and Leo swing their heavy fruit bags as they walk.
They drop their wares with a METH BUM.
EVE
Don't get scurvy!
METH BUM
Hell yeah!!!
INT. RECORD STORE - DAY
Above the shelves, the tops of a pineapple and lemon surf.
Eve thumbs through indie labels and divides records into piles of "yes" and "maybe". A
TOURIST snaps a picture of her.
LEO
Check this out.
192 Leo presents an old vinyl, [artist].
EVE
Never heard of him.
LEO
I'm buying this for you.
EVE
Hint: you're buying all of this for me.
EXT. BUSHWICK SIDEWALK - DAY
Eve and Leo trot along with their records.
EVE
I want chocolate.
LEO
Let's go to Atlantic Ave.
INT. SUBWAY - DAY
Lemon Eve and Pineapple Leo ride the subway among beleaguered NEW YORKERS.
193 EXT. PARK SLOPE - DAY
Leo and Eve walk past majestic brownstones, sharing a small box of chocolates.
They pass the stately St. Augustine Catholic Church. Leo walks backwards to stare at the entrance. Eve retraces her steps to find him.
EVE
No.
LEO
C'monnn.
EVE
No, the -- the records will go bad.
INT. ST. AUGUSTINE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH - DAY
The hall of worship rests in stillness. Fading June sunlight dapples honey-colored pews through stained glass.
Leo and Eve take a few steps down the altar. Eve gets nervous and darts into a pew. Leo sits next to her.
Eve looks around, vigilant. Leo looks at Eve.
194 Eve feels his gaze. She finally meets it. Beat.
ORGAN MUSIC blasts, startling them both.
A DOGGED ORGANIST plays the start of evening vespers. A skeleton crew of
PRIESTS proceed down the aisle.
STERN PRIEST (70s) side-eyes Pineapple Leo and Lemon Eve.
EVE
We need to go. Please.
LEO
(off her genuine panic)
All right, Lemon-cello.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - HOME STUDIO - NIGHT
Eve smooths moisturizer on her skin post-shower, pensive.
She smiles at the lemon costume draped over a chair.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - BEDROOM - NIGHT
Eve pokes her head into Leo's bedroom. He's scrutinizing a white noise machine manual.
195 LEO
Ach - dammit - I'm sorry. I keep forgetting to order
more pillows.
EVE
Can I sleep in here?
LEO
Of course.
EVE
In general.
LEO
I really don't mind buying the pillows--
EVE
I know. But, you haven't.
Eve brushes past him to take her spot in bed.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - BEDROOM - NIGHT - LATER
Eve lies just out of Leo's reach. She clings to the one pillow that separates them.
196 The white noise machine WHIRS.
Leo drowses, half-asleep. Eve's eyes are open.
EVE
I haven't been in a church since I graduated high
school. Well, besides Christmas with my mom.
Leo reaches for her, but she won't move any closer.
LEO
Parents...atheists.
EVE
That was the first place I ever took music lessons.
Piano. This ancient woman taught me major and
minor scales. Well, she seemed ancient.
LEO
School...Manhattan...good.
Eve closes her eyes. Beat. They pop open again.
197 EVE
Parents have to think about schools, because they're
sending their tiny kid into those big establishments
all alone...
LEO
Eve?
Leo reaches again. She stares from her side of Pillow Ridge.
EVE
That's why they don't live in the coolest
neighborhoods. It all makes sense now...
LEO
(gives up)
I have to sleep. I have meetings all morning.
EVE
I don't want to sleep.
LEO
Oh?
198 EVE
I'm excited.
LEO
Mm. About what.
Eve draws near to Leo's stubbly face. She studies it, uncertain.
She dips under the pillow and drops closer to him.
LEO (CONT'D)
(surprised)
Someone like you likes someone like me.
EVE
You're a medium deal. I'm nobody.
LEO
No, you've always been somebody. I could tell from
the first time I saw you.
EVE
Shhh. You have to wake up in the morning.
Leo wraps an arm around her.
199 Bum-bum. Bum-bum. Bum-bum...
Eve's POV: Her heartbeat grows louder and louder.
PRE-LAP: DRUMS MATCH EVE'S HEARTBEAT
INT. LEO'S LOFT - HOME STUDIO - NIGHT
Nathaniel drums a song intro. Clara joins with a low throb on the bass. Duke adds some fuzzy noise on top.
Eve jumps in on the cello.
EVE
(sings)
I've waited for you
To say
Something about the
The way
You have me under
Your sway
200 The music gets loopy and peters out.
EVE (CONT'D)
Aaaand I'll figure out the rest.
NATHANIEL
All right. I think it felt pretty good.
Clara nods. Duke twangs a string.
EVE
(consults notebook)
What do you think of a bridge where we stopped?
NATHANIEL
Sure.
CLARA
Write what you feel.
Duke twangs another string.
DUKE
(re: notebook)
You got any finished ones in there?
201 EVE
Almost. Almost.
NATHANIEL
Sweet.
CLARA
We gotta head out.
EVE
Oh yeah. Have a good show. Don't give birth on
stage.
CLARA
I've had so many bad dreams about that.
NATHANIEL
(to Eve)
You'll keep emailing us the changes?
EVE
Definitely.
Clara and Duke trundle out with their instruments.
202 CLARA
Night!
Nathaniel clicks his drumsticks.
Eve lugs her cello to its stand.
NATHANIEL
Easy pack-up for me, heh.
EVE
Yeah, drums are either room service or the biggest
pain in the ass.
NATHANIEL
How are you feeling?
EVE
Man, I keep thinking I reach some solid ground on a
song, then it turns into quicksand.
NATHANIEL
I meant, in your... body.
203 EVE
Oh, right. Besides feeling the slow expansion of the
universe through my own torso, I'm chill. The first
trimester was way harder.
Leo pads into the studio in a galactic t-shirt. He halts.
LEO
Sorry. I thought everyone was gone.
EVE
Almost.
Nathaniel waves a drumstick at Leo.
Leo gives Eve a quick kiss.
LEO
Sound check at eight.
Leo leaves Eve dumbstruck. Nathaniel, muted, shoves his drumsticks in his back pocket.
NATHANIEL
Hey, good practice. I'll look for the email.
Nathaniel shoots Eve an awkward salute with a drumstick.
204 Eve gives him a meager wave. She takes a moment.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Leo tinkers with a program on his laptop. His screen projects onto the wall.
Eve sweeps through the projection. Leo watches her, smug.
She returns with an armful of pillows and plops them on Leo. She kneels on the couch to batter the pillow-Leo pile.
LEO
Ahhhh!
EVE
Why did you do that?!
LEO
Who was that kid--
EVE
You know who he is--
LEO
This is sort of pleasant.
205 EVE
(laughs)
I want to beat you up, but I don't want to hurt you!
LEO
Keep going.
Eve stops, panting.
EVE
That wasn't a good first kiss.
LEO
I'll say. You barely used your lips.
Eve clocks him with another pillow.
EVE
You surprised me.
LEO
You don't like surprises?
EVE
I thought I did...
206 Eve realizes that the contours of her face are projected on the wall in bright, rainbow colors.
EVE (CONT'D)
What are you doing?
She scoots closer to Leo. His face joins hers on the wall.
LEO
It's a program I'm perfecting. The camera colors sort
of correspond to emotion. Or more like intensity of
sound. Which often corresponds with...
On the wall:
Eve's colorful visage grins at Leo's colorful visage with curious brightness.
Colors pale as they grow quiet. Leo leans in for a longer kiss. They knock heads.
EVE
Ow! Leonard Berstein!
LEO
I'm sorry. I'm an idiot.
207 EVE
(rubs her forehead)
Tony Shalhoub...
LEO
(motions ot wall)
I was looking at the - is that how you curse now?
EVE
You said you're trying not to use swear words, cuz
the baby can hear.
Leo cups Eve's cheek, doting. They share a sweet second kiss.
EXT. SILENT BARN (MUSIC VENUE) - NIGHT
Eve and Leo trade electronic motifs from their synth/sound towers on the small outdoor stage. It's a fun "dialogue".
A diamond-shaped decorative wooden panel fills out the back of the stage. Colorful murals bedeck the fence and walls.
Leo's friends hang near the stage. Cedric, the 'shrooms flake, sulks as he watches Eve.
208 The CROWD - of punks, straight-edges, artists, and junior corporates - mill around picnic tables and overflowing garden boxes with kombucha or PBR.
EXT. SILENT BARN - NIGHT - LATER
Eve and Leo talk to ALIYA (28, pink-haired Silent Barn coordinator). Eve guzzles kombucha.
ALIYA
That's so bomb that you're making progress on a
record!!
EVE
Yeah.
ALIYA
Do you have a release date? Tentative?
EVE
(looks at Leo)
Ohhh...
209 LEO
I like when you look at me, but I don't know the answer.
EVE
Like, fall? Fall.
ALIYA
Cool, cool. Ya, creative process, I get it.
LEO
Are we still on for August?
EVE
What's in August?
ALIYA
It's the Silent Barn Kids Music Night!
LEO
The kids I tutor. We're putting on a showcase of their compositions.
210 ALIYA
(to Eve)
Oh my gosh - you should totally help with that! If
you want. Depending on how you feel...
EVE
Honestly, first trimester was the real nightmare.
Sometimes I forget I'm pregnant now except for
how not-drunk I am.
Aliya laughs.
ALIYA
Have you thought about names?
Beat.
EVE
(to Leo)
Well, you... You're going to pick the name, right?
LEO
You've weighed in.
211 EVE
I'm not, I mean... I'm a surrogate.
ALIYA
Oh my gosh - I'm sorry. That was so stupid of me
to assume that you're together.
LEO
No.
EVE
It's not stupid at all.
Eve flashes Leo a smile.
ALIYA
Do you mind me asking whose eggs you're carrying?
EVE
...Mine.
ALIYA
Wow! Good for you!
212 EXT. SILENT BARN - NIGHT - LATER
Eve gabs with Leo's friends. Cedric drains a beer.
EVE
These shows are definitely a nice break from my
real work.
Leo delivers a kombucha to Eve. He hovers boyfriend-distance.
CEDRIC
The shows are real work.
EVE
Well, yeah, I mean, they take some effort, but it's
not like writing music to record it.
CEDRIC
It is writing music. Only you don't get all the time
to powder your nose and drink your tea and look at
your own asshole.
EVE
What?
213 LEO
Ced. Man.
CEDRIC
(to Eve)
You went to Eastman, right? Like a degree can teach you any fuckin' thing about music...
TED
You went to college for music.
CEDRIC
Yeah. As a minor.
EVE
Yes, I studied classical music. The foundation of
Western music.
LEO
(to Eve)
Please don't get worked up. The baby...
214 EVE
(to Leo)
The baby's fine.
(to Cedric)
I'm used to counting out time signatures in my head
and hitting the right fret on a sixteenth note run and
competing for first chair.
CEDRIC
That's why you have no soul.
EVE
That's why these shows are a - freaking - picnic for
me. There are no - freaking - rules.
CEDRIC
I bet you can't write a single original thing.
LEO
Okay, the baby's moving a lot. We need to go.
Leo tries to usher Eve away.
215 EVE
(to Cedric)
Electronic music isn't real music.
Beat.
EVE (CONT'D)
(to Leo)
Sorry.
LEO
I think we're all worked up. Ced, you and I talked.
You have to sober up before we play shows.
ANDERS
You gotta cool it on the self-discovery drugs.
CEDRIC
(re: Leo)
I don't wanna be sober if it's this whole boring
bullshit...
216 YASIN
(to Leo)
I'll make sure he gets home.
CEDRIC
It's midnight. Where you going?
Leo and Eve leave.
CEDRIC (CONT'D)
You think you're in control, man, but she's in
control.
INT./EXT. CAB - NIGHT
Eve and Leo sit next to each other but in their own worlds.
From the rearview mirror, a dangling windchime chimes.
The POLISH LADY CAB DRIVER (50s) jingles it with her finger.
POLISH LADY CAB DRIVER
Cute, yea? My granddaughter made it. You have kids?
Neither answer.
217 [oh shit, I need a Leo sub-plot where he builds a nursery!]
INT. LEO'S LOFT - BATHROOM - NIGHT
Eve wipes off glittery eyeshadow. She puts salicylic acid on a few hormone zits and night cream on the rest of her face.
Leo comes in. He makes eye contact with her in the mirror.
He puts his arms around her. Eve holds Pond's cream, unsure of what to do.
He kisses her neck once. Then all the way up.
Leo takes the Pond's out of her hand and turns her face. They kiss. A chuckle escapes
Eve.
LEO
Why'd you laugh.
EVE
I don't know.
Leo, disconcerted, goes for his toothbrush. Eve drifts out of the bathroom.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - BEDROOM - NIGHT
Leo sleeps on his side of the bed. Eve watches him.
218 Without warning, she suctions to him.
LEO
Blugh!
EVE
Look. I know that tonight was confusing all around.
And we need to talk about what we're doing. But
hormones are driving me insane.
She pulls him toward her and kisses him rapidly, repeatedly.
LEO
Are you sure?
EVE
Yes.
They shift around.
LEO
Am I crushing the baby?
EVE
Try the side. I like laying on this side.
219 Leo climbs over her to reach the other side.
EVE (CONT'D)
Nice glow in the dark boxers.
LEO
Stop trying to kill the vibe. You gotta help me...
EVE
Okay... Just tell me...
LEO
Say what you said tonight.
EVE
When?
LEO
When you mic-dropped Cedric.
EVE
Really?
LEO
Yeah.
220 EVE
Electronic music isn't real music.
LEO
Yeah.
EVE
Um. You'll never be respected as an artist.
LEO
Oh yeah.
EVE
Okay, okay, okay.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - BEDROOM - NIGHT
Eve sits up in bed. Leo lays in a daze.
EVE
I've never said things like that to someone.
LEO
Fantasy is a big part of my sexuality.
221 EVE
So you want someone to put you down.
Leo reaches up to stroke her hair.
LEO
Isn't there something you want that you can't
admit? Or that you shouldn't have?
EVE
No. I want what I want, and I don't want what I
don't want.
LEO
You're a blunt weapon.
EVE
I guess.
LEO
So then, do you want to give this a go?
EVE
This like... us.
222 LEO
Yeah.
EVE
If we're together, that means I'll become a mom in
three months.
Leo sits up, sensing her panic.
LEO
Sure, sure, but it doesn't have to be all hard. You
don't have to do it alone. That's the point.
(brightens)
I'll be right there with you.
EVE
I don't know.
LEO
I think you know, deep down. You know you feel.
223 EVE
Three months.. oh my god! What have I been doing!
My album! None of my songs are even finished!
LEO
You've been practicing.
EVE
We've been practicing like eight song halves for four
weeks. I'm saying everything in weeks like a mom!
LEO
There's nothing wrong with being a mom, Eve.
EVE
Nobody wants to be a mom. It just happens.
LEO
You know that's not true. Your mom wanted you.
Beat. Eve practically breathes fire at that.
LEO (CONT'D)
I want this kid--
224 EVE
Nope, I gave up on my dreams, just like everyone
else.
LEO
You're getting upset.
EVE
I know, I know, the fucking baby.
LEO
No, I care about you, in this moment. I promise.
Bum-bum. Bum-bum. Bum-bum. Eve's heartbeat roars in her ears.
LEO (CONT'D)
I'm sorry. This is too much to ask of you right now.
We don't have to put a label on it.
EVE
...Thanks.
(gets up)
I'm gonna shower.
225 She walks to the door.
LEO
Eve.
(she turns)
Name one thing you like about me.
EVE
You're smart.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - BATHROOM - NIGHT
Eve showers. She rinses all the soap off, then lets the water wash over her for an extended, indulgent period. She steadies herself against the wall.
Water droplets splatter onto the tub. Red drops join them.
Eve looks down to see the drops of blood.
She shrieks.
Leo bursts into the bathroom in his glow-in-the-dark spiderweb boxer shorts. He sees the blood and passes out.
226 SOUNDLESS MONTAGE
Eve climbs over Leo's body to call 9-1-1.
In the ambulance, paramedics inject frenetic Eve.
Leo walks into the waiting room and drops into a chair.
Leo slumps, asleep in the waiting room. A NURSE wakes him.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
The ER DOCTOR (30s, pleasant) finds pallid Eve sitting up in bed with an attentive Leo nearby.
ER DOCTOR
I'm happy to see you ate some of your breakfast
this morning.
Eve claps two stale bagel halves in weak applause.
ER DOCTOR (CONT'D)
Hehe. What we found was fairly normal spotting,
usually the kind you see post-intercourse.
(MORE)
227 ER DOCTOR (CONT'D)
Sometimes the cervix is extra sensitive to any kind
of movement during this time, especially since it
looks like you're approaching your third trimester.
Congrats.
Anxious silence.
ER DOCTOR (CONT'D)
But - it looks like you had a blood pressure spike.
EVE
No, I have really low blood pressure. Always have.
ER DOCTOR
Yes, which is why it's good you came in. It was high
compared to your normally low levels, and that
combined with your urine test tell us that you're at
risk for preeclampsia.
EVE
But I'm healthy.
228 ER DOCTOR
Goodness yes. You're a great child-bearing age, all
genetic tests normal so far. But... ah, this is my least
favorite news to deliver. We need to put you on
bedrest.
EVE
I can get more hours of sleep.
ER DOCTOR
No unnecessary physical activity at all, I'm afraid.
Until you go into labor. Then you come to the
hospital immediately, all right?
Until then, no work, only walk to the bathroom, have your food delivered to you in bed if you can.
LEO
I'm willing to pay for whatever medications can
treat this.
229 ER DOCTOR
I'm afraid the cure for preeclampsia is having your
baby. We can try for a premature delivery today,
but at twenty-four weeks, the infant survival odds
are fifty percent.
LEO
This is...
ER DOCTOR
Look, Eve is only on the verge. If she can rest until
at least thirty weeks, we can induce and get that
baby out. And if she can carry to full-term, even
better.
He hands Eve a pamphlet.
ER DOCTOR (CONT'D)
I'm going to step out to grab your last blood test
results. Then we can talk more.
ER Doctor exits.
Beat.
230 LEO
Eve... I'm sorry.
EVE
You weren't there.
Leo quiets, defeated.
Blinded by tears, Eve reads the pamphlet.
INSERT: blurry: "Coping With Bed Rest".
INTERCUT VISUAL:
INT. LEO'S STUDIO - DAY
Eve's recording bandmates listen as Eve, chair-bound, delivers the bad news, inaudible.
One by one, they bid her farewell and drift away.
INT. CLINIC LOBBY - DAY
Eve fixates on a list in the glossy pamphlet:
Make sure you have what you need.
231 INT. LEO'S LOFT - DAY
NEEDED ITEMS [what are they?] surround Eve on the couch like a fairy ring.
Leo places a conch near her.
EVE
Hmm?
LEO
If you need anything while I'm at home, call me. I
looked for a hotel bell, but apparently you can only
get those through a union. [what?]
INT. CLINIC LOBBY - DAY
Eve's teary eyes cling to the next number:
Be prepared to be bored. Or be prepared so you're NOT bored!
INT. LEO'S LOFT - DAY
Eve wallows on the couch. She lays on her side to watch the air conditioner drip into a pan. Flips open a notebook:
232 BET WITH MYSELF: $12 THAT THE PAN FILLS BY AUGUST 8TH 11 AM.
She checks Leo's giant digital watch on the wall. Checks the pan. 11 AM nears.
EVE
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon...
The giant watch ticks from 10:59 to 11:00.
EVE (CONT'D)
DAMMIT!
Eve struggles to wrest her purse from a nearby chair. She counts out $12 and plunks it on the coffee table. Rolls over and goes back to sleep.
INT. CLINIC LOBBY - DAY
Eve takes a shaky breath:
Seek support. Ask loved ones for help with whatever daily tasks you can't complete.
INT. LEO'S LOFT - DAY
Eve musters a laugh at the conch.
233 EVE
(to Leo)
What if you're not here?
Leo sits next to Eve and puts an arm around her shoulders.
LEO
Keep your phone charged. Please.
INT. CLINIC LOBBY - DAY
Eve breaks her death gaze on the pamphlet at the buzzing of her 61% charged phone:
DEBBIE (MOM).
She cancels the call and sends a text:
"Sorry, phone about to die."
"You need to get better at that. Love you."
EXT. BROOKLYN/MANHATTAN STREETS - DAY
[Seasons change as Leo goes about his days and the summer wilts into fall. It feels like nothing's changing for Eve. Make this where Eve fixates on something in the apartment that isn't changing.]
234 INT. LEO'S LOFT - DAY
Eve sits up on the couch, blindfolded. Leo tiptoes toward her with an old CD Walkman on a platter.
EVE
Why do I have to be blindfolded?
LEO
Shhh...
Leo drops retro foam headphones over Eve's ears.
He presses play.
EVE
It's...
LEO
Our album! I finished mixing it.
EVE
It's...
235 LEO
Don't say anything yet. Just listen and then tell me
what you think.
EVE
Okay but-
(takes off blindfold)
Can I see now?
Leo tries to replace the blindfold. Eve bats him away.
She grasps the headphones, listening, serious.
EVE'S POV
Eve lays back to gaze at the ceiling. The music
pours over her surroundings. It's her voice, yes. Her
instruments, yes. But something...
INT. LEO'S LOFT - NIGHT
Eve chopsticks lo mein out of a take-away box. Leo inhales a carrot-ginger salad.
LEO
So?
236 EVE
Lo mein is still better from Panda Palace.
LEO
What do you think of the final mix? ...You can be
honest with me.
Eve slurps a long noodle before she answers.
EVE
I like it.
LEO
Really? You do?
EVE
It's interesting, the way you mixed it. It's not what I
would've done. But you really made it something
different than what I imagined.
INT. LEO'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Leo snuggles up to Eve and reaches down below her belly.
237 LEO
Care for a fingering? You must be achey.
EVE
I can't right now. I don't really feel like it. ..I'm sorry.
LEO
I understand. You're the one going through things.
EVE
Thanks. That's nice.
LEO
(teasing)
"That's nice".
(then)
Make sure to meet me at Solidaire tomorrow afternoon.
EVE
I'm not supposed to go anywhere.
238 LEO
I'll get you a taxi and a seat, post-haste. You'll want
to come, I promise.
He kisses her ear loudly. She flinches.
EXT. SOLIDAIRE - DAY
Eve lumbers into the courtyard of the chic, lively bistro.
A champagne bottle POPS in her ear.
EVE
Jesus!
LEO & FRIENDS
SURPRISE!
Leo rushes up to support Eve, who stumbles weakly from shock.
LEO
Sit, sit. Here, have some water.
239 LEO'S FRIEND 1
Congrats, Eve!
(to Leo)
Congrats, y'old sod.
FRIENDS OF LEO mingle at tables, munch bites, and drink cocktails from a laden buffet table.
EVE
(to Leo)
What is this?
LEO
I know you've been down because of the whole
bedrest thing, so I'm throwing you an album release
baby shower. Right. Now.
EVE
Ohhhhhh my god. Wow.
Leo scurries to the buffet table and returns with a plate full of cheeses.
240 LEO
It's your favorite... Different types of cheddar.
He watches Eve take a bit.
EVE
Thank you.
(listens intently)
Is this my album playing?
LEO
Our album, yeah. It's on a loop. They won't be able
to leave without memorizing it first.
EVE
Nice... Did you invite Kat? Or Dorian?
LEO
Who? Ohh, Kat, your friend. Um, no, sorry, I didn't
have her number, and I didn't want to ruin the
surprise.
EVE
Makes sense. That's okay.
241 LEO
Who's Dorian?
EVE
Eh, an old friend. Schoolmate. Doesn't matter.
EXT. SOLIDAIRE - LATER - DAY
Eve sits amid a group of LEO's CHATTERING WOMEN FRIENDS.
WOMAN FRIEND #1
Now, how do you know Leo?
EVE
Um, I'm having his child?
LEO
(to crowd)
We have one more surprise for our brilliant music
mother of the night!
Leo parts the crowd: Andrew Bird walks up to Eve.
242 ANDREW BIRD
Nice to officially meet you.
EVE
It's you. Oh my god. You're here.
ANDREW BIRD
And congratulations on becoming a mom.
EVE
..It's more like Leo becoming a dad, but yeah. Wow.
ANDREW BIRD
It looks like your mocktail is empty. Let me get you
another.
EVE
O-KAY!
Leo slips between Eve and LADY FRIEND #1.
LEO
I sent him the album a week ago.
EVE
But you showed it to me last night.
243 LEO
Yeah. I mean, I knew you would love it.
EVE
He thinks that represents me.
LEO
And me.
EVE
Right, us. We need to confer on our artistic choices.
LEO
Does it bother you that I sent it to him?
EVE
No, of course not. Pffh. No. I mean, but, what if I
hadn't liked it?
LEO
But you did. ...Right?
EVE
I mean, obviously.
Andrew Bird breaks the tension with a fresh mocktail.
244 ANDREW BIRD
Here ya go.
WOMAN FRIEND #1
(to Leo)
Hey, you wanna get some air for a sec?
(mouths words, swirls "loco" sign next
to head and points at Eve)
HORMONES.
ANDREW BIRD
(to Eve)
Do you mind?
EVE
Of course. I mean, not at all. Move, hussy.
EXT. SOLIDAIRE - NIGHT
Eve shivers next to Andrew Bird. Everyone else has retreated to a corner of the patio to smack a pregnant-woman pinata. [too much?]
245 EVE
He really didn't think that through, did he?
ANDREW BIRD
No, he did not. ... Are you cold?
EVE
I'm fine, it's just... I've been inside so much.
Doctor's orders.
ANDREW BIRD
That must be hard.
EVE
It is. I shouldn't even be here tonight, but Leo insisted.
ANDREW BIRD
I listened to the album.
EVE
EEeeeeeee, I can't take not knowing your opinion but I also never want to know.
246 ANDREW BIRD
I hear a lot of Leo in there. But not a lot of that gal I
saw onstage in the spring.
EVE
....Yeah. Yeah, I know.
(tears up)
I know.
Andrew Bird puts an arm around her shoulder, fraternal.
ANDREW BIRD
Hey, hey. It's constructive criticism. I know you're
still in there.
EVE
I'm sorry.
ANDREW BIRD
Don't be sorry. You know what my first album
review said?
EVE
I dunno, like that it had too much vibrato?
247 ANDREW BIRD
Thank you but no. It said that I didn't have my own
style yet.
EVE
No.
ANDREW BIRD
They said I was borrowing all over the place. Those
words still cut like a freshly popped string.
EVE
But how do I find my way? I mean. How did you
find your-- I'm sorry.
ANDREW BIRD
I'm going to give you a really useless answer. It's
different for everyone.
Eve lets out a ragged sigh.
ANDREW BIRD (CONT'D)
But maybe try starting a vegetable garden. Any time
I feel stressed, I like to go look at my vegetables.
248 EVE
Oh, that is precious.
In the umbrella of his arm, Eve tilts her face and kisses him... Or tries.
LEO'S FRIEND 1
What the fuck.
Andrew Bird pulls back, confused, flustered.
LEO
Eve, what?
ANDREW BIRD
I'm sorry, was I giving off those vibes? I try not to.
Sometimes it just happens...
(gets up)
I'm sorry, Leo. The finest baby shower/album
release party I've ever attended. I can truly say that.
Andrew Bird leaves in a jiffy. [or should Leo punch him?]
Everyone at the party stares knives at Eve.
249 INT. LEO'S LOFT - NIGHT
Leo and Eve trudge inside. Leo heads toward his bedroom.
EVE
If it makes you feel better--
He shuts the door.
Opens the door, throws a pillow onto the living room floor.
Eve draws to the door and speaks through it.
EVE (CONT'D)
I'm sorry. I feel crazy right now. Really crazy.
Hormones are real. It didn't mean anything.
Obviously.
LEO
Do you even love me?
EVE
Whoa, we never talked about love.
250 LEO
Great answer, Eve.
EVE
You can't just spring that on me. That's something,
that's something you prepare for, like, a real couple.
LEO
We are a real couple.
EVE
I'm sorry. Today was a lot for me. I'm really tired.
LEO
I'm sorry I tried to cheer you up.
Eve abandons the door, then turns back and smacks it.
EVE
BIG BABY!
INT. LEO'S LOFT - DAY
Eve lays on the couch as Leo leaves for work. He doesn't say goodbye. She covers her face with a pillow.
251 INT. LEO'S LOFT - NIGHT
Eve is still on the couch. She writhes in pain.
EVE
(gritting teeth)
God-damn-you-BRAX-TON-CRAMPS. [look up
full name]
She looks to Leo's oversized digital watch clock. 11:53 PM.
EVE (CONT'D)
Where the fuck is Leo?
She nabs her phone from the coffee table and begins to text:
"LEO WHERE THE F--"
It dies.
EVE
Oh yeah, I guess I didn't ever plug it in today--
(inhales sharply)
252 GDDDDMMMNNN.
[I think go with: Eve leaves the house, she runs into Kat, Dorian, and Dorian's gf out.
They help her back to Leo's bc she passes out?]
[omg, does she have to use a phone here? To text Dorian? DAMMIT. Is there any way around it? Ooo, or what if she orders something on Favrr, and Dorian is the delivery person? But then it's just him, alone. Hmm... Need a little time to figure this out. Kinda getting sleepy.]
CURRENT BLOCKS
OF DOWNFALL:
Leo shows Eve the final produced album. She says that she likes it, but she won't admit to herself that she doesn't.
Leo throws Eve a baby shower + album release party that's a surprise. Since she didn't really like the album, it's a stressful surprise. Even bigger surprise, Andrew Bird is there, and Leo sent him the album a week ago, before Eve even approved it. She lightly expresses how she's irked by that, but she bends to the mood of the party. Andrew Bird private convo + tries to kiss him --> everyone sees her. RIFT MADE.
Leo goes out without telling Eve. Eve is in pain and needs supplies. She can't get ahold of
Leo to use his Favrr account.
253 Eve texts Dorian, who brings her a heating pad -- but he shows up with his girlfriend and
Kat. Ugh. Eve briefly entertains them, then isolates again.
[INSERT LEO COMING HOME WITH BAR HUSSY + BIG FIGHT BETWEEN LEO
AND EVE FROM PREVIOUS DRAFTS. THAT WORKED WELL.]
EXT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Bedraggled Eve wades through the snow with her cello and a limp duffel bag.
She hesitates. Knocks.
DEBBIE
(muffled through door)
I'm not interested in signing your petition or
donating to a complete stranger, and I'm already
part of a church.
EVE
Mom! I'm not a marketer.
DEBBIE
Eve??
254 EVE
Do you have another daughter?
Debbie opens the door in an instant.
DEBBIE
You didn't tell me you were--
She's struck dumb by the sight of 7 months' pregnant Eve.
INT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT
Eve sips tired spoonfuls of a creamy, green soup while Debbie flits around the kitchen, cleaning something or other. She steals glances at her daughter.
Eve musters a weak smile. Debbie places a hand on her forehead.
DEBBIE
You look pale.
EVE
I'm on bedrest.
255 DEBBIE
Eve, you shouldn't have traveled alone. I could've
come gotten you from this Leon's--
EVE
Leo.
DEBBIE
--whoever's house.
EVE
I couldn't stand to be around him one more minute. I
hate him.
Debbie leans to embrace her daughter. Eve lets her. [too supportive?]
INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE - DAY
Eve lays back as the technician conducts a sonogram.
Debbie dabs her eyes.
EVE
Oh my god, are you going to cry EVERY time?
256 INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE - LATER - DAY
DR. FRAZZANO (40s, female) stands before Eve and Debbie with a chart and a pickled onion on her blouse.
DR. FRAZZANO
Her blood pressure levels have gone WAY down,
which we like. And looks like cortisol has evened
out too. Makes sense...
(looks up)
Why are you both staring at me like I'm an alien?
(checks blouse)
Oop, found a snack.
She pops the pickled onion in her mouth.
DEBBIE
So--
EVE
Mom, I got it. ...So...
257 DR. FRAZZANO
Anyway, I'm officially taking you off bedrest, my
dear, but you must promise me, promise me, you
won't do any heavy exertion between now and the
birth. Got it?
EVE
Thank you so much.
Debbie hugs Eve and dabs her eyes again. Eve borrows her tissue for a moment.
DEBBIE
Such good news. Now she can go to church again.
INT. CHURCH HALL - DAY
Eve files behind Debbie with reluctant steps.
ORGAN MUSIC floods the room.
She glazes through a boring service, inaudible over the music, the one part that makes Eve light up.
258 PASTOR
Let's end our service with a warm round of gratitude
claps for our pianist Miss Taymor. This is her last
service with us. She is relocating to be closer to her
daughter in New Haven.
DEBBIE
(sotto, to Eve)
Terrible crime there. I hope she can hold her own.
EVE
I bet she keeps nunchucks [sp?] in her purse.
DEBBIE
What? ..Oh, haha.
INT. CHURCH LOUNGE - DAY
The congregation, skewing toward families or retired folks, mingle with people they already know and drink coffee in tiny styrofoam cups.
Eve tries to get some decaf coffee, but only a bit of black sludge leaks out of the urn.
PASTOR
Eve! I'll get that for you.
259 EVE
Thanks. I would, but the doctor warned me not to,
uh, lift things.
PASTOR
It's no problem. The more we partake of service, the
closer we are to the Lamb.
EVE
Lamb? Oh, right! Jesus.
She follows him to the--
INT. CHURCH KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
She looks for the canister of decaf coffee, but the Pastor works in circles around her.
EVE
Pastor Clarence, speaking of service... Do you have
another piano player lined up yet? To replace Miss
Taymor?
260 PASTOR
Not yet. We might have to resort to the hand bell
choir for a few weeks. ... Oh gosh. Don't tell them I
put it that way. Please.
EVE
Your secret's safe with me.
Pastor hands Eve the brewing basket to hold while he places a filter and measures out decaf.
PASTOR
Aaand one more scoop. Can't be too good now, can
we.
EVE
I can play piano.
PASTOR
You can, that's right. You went to that school in
New York near Kodak.
EVE
Eastman. I can be your pianist while I'm here.
261 PASTOR
That would be wonderful. How long will you be
staying with us, Eve?
EVE
Oh, not long. A few months. You know. Two to...
six-ish months.
INT. CHURCH HALL - DAY
Eve radiates at the piano throughout the service. She overdoes it a few times, and the choir leader has to reign her in.
INT. CHURCH LOUNGE - DAY
Eve waits in line for coffee.
PASTOR
Your decaf is ready. We must cater to our resident
musician's tastes.
EVE
It is in my contract.
262 PASTOR
What now? ..Oh!
He laughs.
PASTOR (CONT'D)
(shakes her hand in that hearty
minister way)
It's good to have you around again, Eve.
(as he walks away)
Ahh, that is funny.
A MOTHER urges her CHILD [more descriptive name?] toward Eve.
MOTHER
Go on, ask her.
Child tip toes forward.
EVE
Go on, ask me.
CHILD
Would you teach me to play like you?
263 MOTHER
(from distance)
Do you teach lessons?
(mouths words and mimes writing a
check)
How much?
INT. CHURCH HALL - DAY
Eve sits with CHILD as she plays a slow but thorough Major C scale.
EVE
(to help Child remember proper finger
order)
Remember, the weasel goes into the hole here... and
pops out here.
Eve claps her hands in delight at the end.
EVE (CONT'D)
POP!
264 CHILD
Ahh!
EVE
I'm sorry. I forgot loud noises scare you. Excellent
job, though.
TIME-LAPSE: more children learn from Eve. She teaches the instruments that she knows: cello, viola, violin, guitar, and piano. WHAT IMAGES DO WE SEE HERE?
WHAT DO WE HEAR?
INT. EVE'S ROOM - DAY
Eve luxuriates/wallows in bed. Debbie springs the door open.
EVE
Gah, MOM! I could've been naked.
DEBBIE
I can tell when you're naked.
EVE
How? Better off, don't answer that.
265 DEBBIE
You need to do something.
EVE
I have a lesson at three.
DEBBIE
It's ten. You need to be doing something already.
You're not on bedrest anymore, and the doctor--
EVE
How do you know I wasn't doing something?
DEBBIE
I can tell when you're doing something.
EVE
I'm thinking. Leave me alone.
DEBBIE
I'm going up to the church, I'll be back in an hour.
(closes door; opens it)
Do you need anything? Heating pad? Mittens?
266 EVE
Determined to keep every square inch of me warm?
DEBBIE
I'm only ask--
EVE
Thank you. Thank you. I really need to chase a thread right now.
DEBBIE
You used to say that when when you were a kid.
EVE
Every parent thinks their child is a genius.
DEBBIE
You're not a genius.
EVE
Thanks, Mom.
DEBBIE
But you've always had music in you. More than I did. I have no idea where it came from.
(MORE) 267 DEBBIE (CONT'D)
(lost in thought)
Maybe your dad.
(looks at watch)
Oh, shoot!
Debbie snaps the door shut before Eve can utter another word.
INT. EVE'S ROOM - LATER - DAY
Eve struggles to find a comfortable compromise between her cello and her belly.
She gives up, sets the cello aside, then goes to the closet. She wrenches it open like a long- lost tomb.
EVE
Still here, old friend.
INT. EVE'S ROOM - DAY
Eve cranks out a melody on a viola. She pauses to tune.
EVE
Now let's see... If I go...
She plays an ascending scale.
268 EVE (CONT'D)
But then surprise you on the way back down.
She plays a not-identical descending scale.
EVE (CONT'D)
Hmm...
Silence. Tap, tap, tap, tap - Eve taps her bow.
EVE (CONT'D)
I need a THING. A THING to make this ABOUT.
Her baby KICKS.
EVE (CONT'D)
Oof!
Eve's hand encircles her belly instinctively. She studies it.
EVE (CONT'D)
Is that what you want?
Eve plays another scale. Cranes her neck toward her belly. She bows some long chords and hums a tune over them.
269 Jumps up.
EVE (CONT'D)
Okay, now you're starving.
INT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY
Eve bites into a block of cheddar as she surveys a bookshelf with a mild selection of
DVDs and (gasp) VHS tapes.
Her finger drifts over a worn VHS labeled "Eve - 3 y/o".
INT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY
Eve now munches on a wedge of cabbage and burrows into the couch.
On the TV, [insert young Eve being creative]
INT. CHURCH HALL - DAY
Eve finishes up a music lesson with a PUPIL (11).
EVE
Next week we'll work on minor chords and scales.
270 PUPIL
My favorite. SO melancholy but so dreamyyy.
EVE
I have a soft spot for them, too. Hop along, now, I
can see your mom having an aneurysm in the
parking lot.
PUPIL
What's an aneurysm?
EVE
You'll have to ask her.
INT. CHURCH HALL - NIGHT
Eve plays the demi-grand piano in the quiet, empty hall. She sings softly over it.
EVE
I forgot the words.
(to belly)
I'm sorry.
(to self)
(MORE) 271 EVE (CONT'D)
I need to start writing these down. I need a journal
again...
Eve checks that the hall is truly deserted, then she steals over to a pew and takes a hymn book and little pencil.
EVE (CONT'D)
(re: pencil)
They did steal these from Ikea.
She scribbles notes in the hymn book.
INT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Debbie watches TV with box wine. She sits up, ears pricking. Turns down the TV volume a few bars.
From upstairs, a thread of viola palpates.
Debbie turns off the TV, cozies against a pillow, and listens.
272 INT. CHURCH HALL - NIGHT
Quick jumps: Eve's students play their recital pieces. Eve sits on the side and tries to keep her attention sharp for each one. She is pleased with most, tolerant of a few, holding back laughter on one. [go into more detail?]
At the end, Eve curtsies to the congregation's applause. A few people whisper at the size of her belly.
PASTOR
Now that we've honored our music mistress, ladies
and gentleman, please help us arrange for the
potluck.
The whole congregation launches into action to transform the hall from striations of pews to formations of dinner tables.
Heavy potluck dish after heavy potluck dish plunks down.
CONGREGANT #1
This one's called a chicken pepper--
CONGREGANT #2
--from my grandma, a king crab--
273 CONGREGANT #3
Found it in an old Better Homes, I don't subscribe
anymore, but still a good taco--
CONGREGANTS #1, 2, 3
CASSEROLE.
INT. CHURCH HALL - NIGHT
Eve and Debbie eat across from MR. & MRS. GRAVEYER (60s).
MRS. GRAVEYER
Make sure you eat good, Eve.
EVE
I do, Mrs. Graveyer. My mom's obsessed with
feeding me.
MRS. GRAVEYER
I always ate like a farmer when I was in the thick of
it.
(chuckles at her husband)
Which was pretty often.
274 Eve takes a big gulp of a dark red drink.
MRS. GRAVEYER (CONT'D)
Is that wine?!
EVE
It's juice.
MR. GRAVEYER
(to Debbie)
So now Tom's going off to Princeton. To work the
grounds, mind you, not attend the institution.
DEBBIE
Eve could be your manager.
EVE
Excuse me?
DEBBIE
Mr. Graveyer was just saying that his manager is
leaving the hardware store. You could be a manager.
275 EVE
I'm a music teacher.
DEBBIE
Oh, you're not going to do that forever. No stability.
(to Mr. Graveyer)
She'll call you this week.
MR. GRAVEYER
Lumber's been the truest missus in my life.
(chuckles at his wife)
Except my real Missus.
INT. CHURCH KITCHEN - NIGHT
Eve scrubs dishes at the sink while Debbie buzzes around collecting more.
[basically copy the same scene from previous drafts, I already liked the way it went - except this time add church spectators. And perhaps start the scene with a parallel metaphor, like Debbie and Eve argue about how to do dishes. Make sure to hit the central theme here. This is the big showdown at the end of Act 2. It needs to lead to Eve calling
Leo and conceding the baby. Oh shoot, and then we need some Leo scenes mixed in.
Dang, this is long. But it's okay. This is the latter third of Act 2 + Act 3.]
276 INT. EVE'S ROOM - DAY
Eve plays her cello into a simple mic set-up. Instruments crowd her small room. She wears big headphones while recording.
From Eve's hearing POV: her cello weaves over a track that's coming together nicely.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
Eve startles, lifts a headphone.
DEBBIE
(O.S.)
I'm running to the store. Did you try on that pump?
I can take it back if--
EVE
MOM, please don't knock while I'm recording.
DEBBIE
(O.S.)
What?
Eve punches off her microphone and disentangles herself from the recording set-up.
277 She opens the door and points at a feather hanging from a string, suspended on a thumbtack.
EVE
The sign that I'm recording? It means "Be quiet as a
feather".
DEBBIE
How about a sign that says "I'm Recording"?
EVE
I can MAKE THAT, but we agreed on the feather--
Debbie brandishes the pump at Eve.
DEBBIE
Did you try this on?
EVE
I'll try it on tonight. I promise.
INT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY
Eve does some embarrassing prep task for childbirth/pregnancy. Maybe fitting a pump ahead of time so that she's wearing it when she answers the door?
278 NEED RESEARCH.
EXT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - DAY
Eve opens the door, just a hair.
EVE
I don't want anyone to see me, so please excuse--
Leo stands in the snow, like a pathetic weasel. [?]
LEO
Don't say anything yet. I know you don't want to
see me. Just. Let me.
Leo struggles to get down on one knee in the snow. Eve opens the door fully and looks on, aghast.
LEO (CONT'D)
I know that what I did was so selfish, and--
He leans a little too far one way and slips on the ice.
EVE
Just come inside.
279 INT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - DAY
Leo makes himself small on the couch. He dabs his muddy, snow-slushed knee with a kitchen towel.
Eve waddles in with two cups of tea. She settles into a far corner of the couch with her cuppa.
LEO
This is your mom's house?
EVE
Yes.
LEO
You grew up here?
EVE
Mostly, yeah.
Leo takes a moment to survey the simple surroundings, dotted with photos of Eve and her cello. Over the years, her size catches up with the instrument.
Leo fixates on one photo of Eve in a softball uniform.
280 LEO
Nooo, you were sporty.
EVE
Not really. I quit when I realized we couldn't hit the ball off the stick the next year.
LEO
(re: their kid)
I wonder if she'll be sporty. That'd be hard to live with, but I'd do it.
EVE
So you still want to..
LEO
Yes. Absolutely. 100%.
EVE
(relieved)
Good. I mean, you seem good. Now.
281 LEO
I'm one hundred percent good.
(off Eve's skepticism)
Okay like at least eighty percent better than I was
before. I drink one glass of red wine a night to help
with my blood pressure. Nothing else in this
system. And I put together the crib.
EVE
You did?
LEO
I did.
EVE
That makes me feel a little better.
Leo sets down his tea mug and fishes in his pocket.
LEO
The reason I came here...
EVE
Um...
282 Leo pops open a velvet jewelry box. An emerald ring glints inside.
LEO
I want you to be a part of our lives, Eve. I've
thought about it, and there must be a reason that I
chose you. I couldn't fully appreciate you before,
there was too much going on--
EVE
But parenthood will always be too much going on.
LEO
Just listen. I started this, and I'm willing to finish.
I'll support you, and you can do music all day long
and play with our kid.
EVE
...This is big. Really big.
LEO
Of course. Take a few days to think about it.
EVE
I will. And -- one sec. Gotta pee. RIGHT NOW.
283 INT. HALLWAY UPSTAIRS - DAY
Eve leaves the bathroom. She lingers at the doorway to her room, gets drawn inside.
INT. EVE'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Eve checks the wires of her recording set-up. She runs her hands over her keyboard and cello. She glances at her calendar pinned above the keyboard. Marked out are her lesson times at the church and doctor's appointments. Dwarfed by all these boxes are penned clouds a few times per week:
"WRITING TIME".
"RECORDING TIME".
DEBBIE
(O.S.)
What are YOU doing here?!
EVE
(out the door)
Mom! I let him in. It's okay. Mom!
284 INT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY
Debbie towers over Leo. He shrinks further into the couch.
Eve rushes downstairs.
DEBBIE
--to be so close to MY age and take out your bizarre
whims on a twenty-two year old girl--
LEO
To be fair, she propositioned--
DEBBIE
And you do not LISTEN to a twenty-two year old
girl when she says these things--
EVE
(panting from stairs)
Mom, please. I'm twenty-three now.
DEBBIE
That's still twenty-stupid.
285 EVE
We've been through this.
(a lie)
I needed to talk to Leo. To make arrangements.
That's why he came.
LEO
Yes, Mrs. Ruscoe--
DEBBIE
My last name's Pulaski. Ruscoe is Eve's dad.
LEO
Ah. Mrs. Pulaski. I'm here to support you and Eve until the birth. I rented a hotel nearby and everything.
EVE
You did?
DEBBIE
We don't need your help.
286 EVE
C'mon, Mom. Maybe I do.
LEO
I understand why you're angry with me, Mrs.
Pulaski, I really do. I was stupid and selfish, and
now I just want to make it up to Eve, and you. I'll
do literally anything to make it right. But we can't
undo this baby.
DEBBIE
Hmph. Enough with this "Mrs. Pulaski" business.
Debbie'll do.
LEO
Nice to finally meet you, Debbie.
DEBBIE
You said you'll do anything?
EXT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - DAY
Debbie points here and there to make Leo do different chores. [what are the chores?
Opportunity for fun and games.]
287 INT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY
Homemade baked goods [what are they?] shine in the late afternoon sun. They crowd the coffee table.
The doorbell rings. Debbie flies through the living room in an apron. Eve lumbers out of the kitchen. An apron barely covers her abdomen.
A ruckus from the mudroom precedes the arrival of THE AUNTS (50/60s), Debbie's two
[adj] sisters. Mr. and Mrs. Graveyer and several CONGREGATION MEMBERS add the bustle of the room.
AUNT ANNETTE
Eve, you are honest-to-god SWOLL. That's what
they say on Myra's favorite show. Not all people
from Jersey talk that way.
EVE
Hey Annette.
AUNT COLETTE
Let me look at your face. Mm mmm, the skin of a
baby.
288 [what are the aunt's actual personalities? Lol]
Leo arrives, covered in leaves from the eaves.
LEO
I finished the gutters.
DEBBIE
(to Leo)
Good, put these coats in the mudroom.
LEO
Oookay.
DEBBIE
And Mrs. Graveyer almost slipped on the way in,
so you better shovel the driveway.
INT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - NARROW MUDROOM - NIGHT
Leo tromps in from shoveling snow.
He takes off his jacket and hangs it on the rack--
289 LEO
Ahhh!
Eve leans against the wall, hidden amid the coats.
EVE
I needed some Me Time real quick. They're
swarming in there.
LEO
Aunts are like bees. They might sting, but the earth
dies without them.
EVE
Do you really believe that?
LEO
I dunno. I read it on a quirky cross-stitch.
Beat.
EVE
She's working you pretty hard, huh.
290 LEO
It's fine. I deserve it.
(leans over her)
You look cute among the coats.
Eve slips past him.
EVE
I should get back.
LEO
Yes, yes. Eve?
(she turns back)
Any answer is fine. Whatever you want, I just want
you to know that I think you're amazing and--
The door bursts open. Kat tumbles inside, clutching gifts.
KAT
Is somebody here having a babYY??
EVE
Kat! You came!
Dorian follows, closing the door against the snow.
291 EVE (CONT'D)
Dorian!
DORIAN
Hey. Sorry. Will couldn't come and Kat hates taking
the train to Jersey alone, so...
Eve wraps him in a hug. Kat wraps them both in a hug.
Leo retreats as the trio break apart and chatter in incoherent excitement.
INT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY
In the early morning light, Eve, Kat, and Dorian clink bowls of cereal.
KAT
I tried to take off work. I'll come back soon.
EVE
I need that.
(re: half-full bowl)
I can barely eat anymore. Or it's like I eat twenty
snacks a day.
292 KAT
(to Dorian)
You're staring again.
DORIAN
(to Eve)
Sorry, you're just so l--
Kat kicks him under the table.
EVE
I'll assume you were going to say "lovely". And
large.
Eve grins, then gives up on breakfast. She collects the bowls from the table.
EVE (CONT'D)
(to Dorian)
You don't want your cereal milk?
DORIAN
It's too sweet for me.
293 Eve carries the bowls toward the sink, but halfway through she dashes them to the floor with a shriek.
KAT
Eve, what is it!?
The pink cereal milk climbs across the tile.
EXT. NJ ROAD - DAY
The old station wagon tears down the road but makes a prudent stop at a sign.
INT. STATION WAGON - DAY
Debbie taps the steering wheel five times and looks both ways.
Eve contorts, laid out on the back seat.
EVE
Mooooom! Your stops are too long!
LEO
Are you sure you don't want me to drive, Deb--
DEBBIE
I'm sure.
294 EVE
I want Kat and Dorian to come.
DEBBIE
They only allow two people in the delivery room.
I'm your mother, and he's, well..
LEO
I'm the dad.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
Eve huffs and puffs in bed. Debbie holds her hand.
Leo hangs back, unsure of what to do.
NURSE P.A.
Keep breathing, Eve. We need you to dilate more.
Eve cries and struggles to get out of the hospital bed. A few nurses push her back down.
EVE
I'm trying!
295 DEBBIE
Listen to them, Eve.
Eve tries to get up again. They hold her. Leo rushes over.
LEO
I'll talk to her.
DEBBIE
She needs to stay in bed
PRE-LAP: FLASHES OF DIFFERENT MUSIC STYLES
EVE
No, no, no, no, no -- yes!
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
Leo helps Eve march around the hospital room. She takes huge inhales and exhales. Music blasts from Leo's phone in the corner.
Debbie hovers on the side.
DEBBIE
Are you sure you wouldn't rather lay down and--
296 EVE
EITHER GET ON THIS TRAIN OR GET OFF.
Debbie steps out in a huff.
INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY - DAY
Debbie leans against the coffee machine, which fills a cup at an interminable rate. Seems like it'll never finish.
She knocks over the 3/4 full cup.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
Eve, Leo, and Debbie march in a train around the room. Music blasts.
Inhale/exhale. Inhale/exhale.
LEO
I'm getting light-headed.
He stumbles to sit on the edge of the bed.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT
Leo remains on the edge of the bed, now at Eve's feet as she wails in pain.
297 LEO
What do you need? What do you need now?
EVE
LEAVE!
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
Leo slumps in an uncomfortable waiting room chair. He fishes in his pants pocket, idle, and straightens up in revelation.
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT - A BIT LATER
Leo smokes next to a window, open just a hair. Bursts of snow swirl in through the gap.
Debbie clogs down the hallway. Leo tamps the cigarette and shoves his hand in pocket.
LEO
How's she doing?
DEBBIE
I got the boot. Supposedly, I stress her out.
LEO
Ahh, well, she sent me first. You have that.
298 Awkward beat.
LEO (CONT'D)
I know you don't really like me.
DEBBIE
This isn't the time.
LEO
And you don't like what I've done to your daughter.
DEBBIE
What're you gonna do now, say you're sorry? That
won't reverse that she gave up her dreams in New
York--
LEO
Hey, hey. I tried to help her.
DEBBIE
She could die in labor, you understand that, right?
LEO
Childbirth mortality rates are much lower than --
299 DEBBIE
And you know that if she does make it through,
you two will always be tied together by a child
she's not ready for.
LEO
I promised I would take care of everything, and I
will. She's--
DEBBIE
Is that what happened when she showed up on my
doorstep alone in the freezing cold?
LEO
We had some conflicts.
DEBBIE
Frankly, I don't think you're ready to be a parent.
But you break it, you buy it, that's all she is to you!
Debbie weeps. Leo takes a timid step toward her and places a hand gingerly on her shoulder.
300 LEO
There's nothing I can--
DEBBIE
You're burning.
LEO
Excuse me?
DEBBIE
(steps away)
Your pocket. Is burning.
LEO
Jesus--!
Leo whips his pocket inside-out and beats it. He tosses the cigarette out the window.
DEBBIE
I thought I felt a draft! You [some old-fashioned
churchy insult]
She swats him down the hallway with her scarf.
A NURSE P.A. (40s) rushes toward them.
301 NURSE P.A.
Mr. and Mrs. Ruscoe, your daughter needs to go into emergency C-section surgery.
DEBBIE
I didn't need a C-section when I had her. Why..?
NURSE P.A.
She's not dilating enough for successful delivery.
DEBBIE
So, what then?
NURSE P.A.
We'll need to put her under anesthesia [research this]. She is currently unable to respond, so you are her advocates.
LEO
I'm actually not--
DEBBIE
Tell me the risks.
302 NURSE P.A.
It's good that she's young, but.. Her blood pressure is very low right now. We still need to take the risk of surgery, or else she could bleed out. Or the baby could die. [research] We'll have a transfusion ready.
LEO
If it will save Eve, don't have the surgery.
NURSE P.A.
Let's not get hysterical, Mr. Ruscoe. If a mother carries to term, it's better for everybody to get that baby out of there.
(off their speechlessness)
We'll do everything we can, I promise.
DEBBIE
We consent to the anesthesia and the surgery.
NURSE P.A.
I'll be right back with the forms.
303 The Nurse P.A. hurries away.
Leo bats at the top of the window, his hands shaking.
LEO
(off Debbie, perplexed)
I'm trying to get my cigarette back.
Debbie gives him a surprising maternal thump.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
EVE'S POV:
Debbie and Leo are back. A doctor and nurse swirl around.
DEBBIE
Hold my hand, Evee.
NURSE P.A.
You'll feel a small prick and then--
EVE
Mutherof--small?!
304 The figures in the hospital room multiply as Eve's pain multiplies. The whoosh of her own breathing amplifies in a tempest that fills the room.
A MILLION DEBBIES
(echoing)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant
heeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
tooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...
A MILLION DOCTORS
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan't aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnyyyyyyyyyyyyymmooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrreee...
A MILLION LEOS
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeve...
BLACKOUT.
305 INT. PURE WHITE SPACE - TIMELESS
Eve is naked in the middle of a seamless, white space. Human forms emerge around her like paperdolls being cut out.
Eve looks down to find a honeybaked ham cradled in her arms. It bursts into droplets of water. She kneels to brush all the water into a central puddle, but it keeps wiggling away.
Her body loses its color until she fades into the background.
FADE TO WHITE.
FADE IN: LIKE
WATERCOLORS:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
Eve wakes in a slow haze. She glances around the room.
White plaster walls. Empty chairs.
Beat of silence. Eve tries to move her mouth. She can't make a sound.
Down the hallway, a tinny string of music grows louder.
306 LEO
(O.S.)
Please excuse the... I forgot my earbuds in the rush.
It helps calm me down.
The door cracks open. Footsteps.
Leo leans down to check Eve.
LEO (CONT'D)
Hey... You awake?
Debbie and Mrs. Gaveyer [WHO? HARDWARE STORE OWNER? DOES THIS
PERSON NEED TO BE HERE?] pop open the opposite door.
DEBBIE
I told them I'll eat the JELL-O if I have to, bring
dinner just in case-- Eve!
Debbie rushes to Eve and pushes Leo aside.
DEBBIE (CONT'D)
You didn't tell me she woke up.
LEO
I don't know if she did.
307 Eve reaches out and grabs Debbie's arm, Leo's arm, hard.
DEBBIE
Oh thank God. The doctors knew what they were
doing. Thank God. Honey.
Eve pulls the two toward her and flails her hand to the hardware store owner, too.
LEO
I'm so glad you woke up, Eve.
She smiles and sighs in their warm embrace.
INT. HOSPITAL NATAL CORRIDOR - DAY
Leo leads Eve in a slow shuffle to the window of the nursery where wrapped-up infants slumber.
LEO
The baby harbor.
EVE
Which one is she?
308 LEO
Right... there.
EVE
...Easily the best one.
(chuckles weakly)
Don't tell me, her name's something strong and dramatic like Isabella.
LEO
You tell me.
EVE
What? No. She's yours now. That was the deal.
LEO
You did the work. I want you to name her.
(to push Eve)
Or I guess I could let her name herself when she's a little older--
EVE
Noo, she'll call herself Spoon, or Stop It, or Duckie.
Actually, Duckie is cute.
309 LEO
Phewee. If Duckie is what you really want...
EVE
(shakes head)
How about our top two?
INT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY
Leo steams bottles on the stove and follows Eve's orders while she feeds BABY at the table. A hospital head-wrap sports the name "MARY OLIVE" in Sharpie.
LEO
M-A-R-Y. Mary.
EVE
She's starving and I'm starving.
Leo presents a jar of olives to Eve, who pops them in her mouth, ravenous.
LEO
Here you are, my dear. O-L-I-V-E. S. The S isn't
part of our daughter's name.
310 EVE
She's gonna blow - towel, towel!
LEO
One towel, coming right up.
EVE
That's a nappy, not a towel!
LEO
They're the same size.
EVE
Different material. It's like a terry cloth.
LEO
(searches)
Terry.
(sing song)
T-E-R-R-Y, TERRY. Mary Terry.
EVE
Stop spelling--
311 LEO
It calms me down--
EVE
What do you have to be stressed about? She's
spewing -- she spewed.
Leo approaches Eve with the right cloth. He dabs baby spit-up off her face.
LEO
This is a good look for you--
EVE
Ahh! Why is that the temperature of lava!
LEO
I got it from the washing machine.
EVE
Why?!
LEO
Debbie put the towels on.
312 EVE
MO-OOOM! Stop being proactive!
INT. EVE'S ROOM - NIGHT
Eve gets up to attend to Baby Mary crying in her crib.
She nurses her in the darkness.
EVE
Damn, this hurts. And you eventually do this with
teeth?
She lays Baby Mary down again. She wiggles and watches Eve.
EVE (CONT'D)
Go to sleep. Go to sleeeeeep.
Eve traces her finger in the air and hums a bit of Mozart. She lights up with an idea.
INT. EVE'S ROOM - MOMENTS LATER - NIGHT
Eve plays low, soft, sonorous notes on her cello.
Baby Mary wiggles in delight.
313 INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
Leo listens to Eve's cello through the door. He places his hand on the door as if to push it open, then withdraws.
INT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - DAY
Eve wakes with a start on the couch. Leo snores next to her. She pushes him.
EVE
Where's Mary??
LEO
(wakes up)
She's too young to move.
DEBBIE
I've got her.
Eve reels back to take in Debbie, bouncing Baby Mary with seasoned serenity.
EVE
I'm sorry. I'll take her.
LEO
No, you rest, I'll get her.
314 [there's probably a more interesting way for Debbie to reach this conclusion, like Eve and
Leo get into some weird cabin fever bickering]
DEBBIE
Why don't you both go for a walk? Get some fresh
air. You've been in this house for 3 weeks.
EVE
Mom, I can do it--
Debbie veers away with Baby Mary.
DEBBIE
I wish someone would've helped me in the first few
months. I got it. She'll be fine for an hour.
EXT. NJ WOODS - DAY
Eve leads Leo through a snow-draped forest.
EVE
This is where I used to hike. [some more specific
childhood memory]
315 EXT. POND OR BROOK, FOR SOME REASON - DAY
Eve and Leo dangle their feet off a bridge made of wood darkened by age and winter.
EVE
We used to swim here. There's more water in the
summer.
LEO
Mary and I could come visit during the summer.
When there's water.
EVE
...When do you leave?
LEO
I thought when the doctor said she could switch to
formula.
EVE
Mm.
LEO
Is that okay?
316 EVE
Yeah.
LEO
I want to get her settled into a sleep schedule before
we visit again.
Beat.
EVE
Leo, I need to be alone for awhile.
LEO
Oh. Then maybe this summer. We always had good
summers.
EVE
We only had one summer.
(then)
I don't think I can be in your life anymore, Leo.
LEO
Okay. But then--
317 EVE
So I can't be in her life.
Leo sighs.
[the rest of this is first draft, can probably cut]
EVE (CONT'D)
I just don't know if I can do it. You were so - we
were so - connected - and now - I don't know if I
can even go back to New York - I don't want to see
you all the time. My dad was in and out for the first
eight years, and it was terrible. I don't want to be in
and out of her life. I'm sorry.
LEO
Don't be sorry, but understand that you're making
this an ultimatum.
EVE
I can't be in your life anymore.
318 LEO
Maybe not mine, but I bet Mary would love it if
you showed her your woods one day.
EVE
I don't think I can.
LEO
I'm leaving the door open.
EVE
I have to let her go. But she's in good hands now.
EXT. DEBBIE'S HOUSE - DAY
Eve and Debbie see Leo and Baby Mary off. A waiting taxi puffs into the cold, gray air.
Leo hugs Eve and kisses her on the cheek. Debbie brandishes a bag at Leo. She shows him a hand-me-down onesie with "Eve" embroidered on the butt. They hug briefly.
The taxi rumbles away with Leo and Baby Mary inside.
Eve's gaze follows the taxi. Beat. Tears come. Eve leans into her mother and cries, inconsolable.
FADE TO BLACK.
319 EXT. NYC SIDEWALK - NIGHT
Leo bops along the sidewalk through the neon signs of passing businesses. He picks up a pretzel from a street vendor.
ESTAB. MARFA, TX - DAY
Jazz music floats over a desert with bold mesas whose forms cut into a big, neon, Texas sunset.
EXT. MARFA LIGHTS - NIGHT
Car lights flash by an orange adobe roadside stop. A few TOURISTS point where hazy starbursts of light appear and disappear at random along the horizon.
A sign near the roadside stop reads: MARFA LIGHTS.
INT. HOTEL BAR - NIGHT
Eve plays something sweet, slow, and jazzy on a grand piano. She sings as bottles and forks clink around her.
Patrons drop dollars in a cow skull atop the piano. A small, lamiNathanield sign leans against it:
320 "I am paid by Hotel NAME, but feel free to show a little extra love, and I'll play a request!"
PATRON
If you get a chance, I'd love to hear some "Autumn
Leaves".
A HOTEL CO-WORKER in a silky vest stops by.
HOTEL CO-WORKER
(sotto)
Can you cover the last hour of my shift when
you're off?
Eve nods and keeps singing.
INT. HOTEL - DESK - NIGHT
Eve, in the silky vest, checks in a BLITHE HUSBAND and SEASONED WIFE
(40s/50s). Their TEENAGE DAUGHTER mopes nearby.
321 BLITHE HUSBAND
(to Teenage Daughter)
Honey, you wanna go throw a quarter in the
fountain? Here.
TEENAGE DAUGHTER
Thanks.
Teenage Daughter skirts away toward a vending machine.
SEASONED WIFE
Don't give her money, Bert. She doesn't want
wishes, only iPhones.
BLITHE HUSBAND
Ahhh... They grow faster now, y'know.
(to Eve)
You got a kid?
SEASONED WIFE
Of course not, look at her. She's a pretty young
thing, like I used to be.
322 EVE
Two rooms with adjoining bath?
SEASONED WIFE
Yes, please.
BLITHE HUSBAND
(to wife)
You still are.
(winks at Eve)
There's a reason we do adjoining rooms.
SEASONED WIFE
(to Eve)
Please excuse my husband. He means well. You're a
doll.
Eve gives them a quiet, courteous smile.
INT. EVE'S HOTEL/APARTMENT ROOM - NIGHT
Eve unravels her scarf and tosses her things on the bed.
She goes to a desk by the window and moves aside a notebook full of lyrics. Pulls out a crisp piece of paper, monogrammed by the hotel.
323 She finds a nice, scritchy pen and writes.
EVE
(V.O.)
To my daughter, Mary: I hope you're well, my dear.
More than well. SUPER DUPER. Say hello to New
York for me. Today I saw a tumble weed. It's sort of
like a hairball from a cat, but much larger.
Eve sketches a cat throwing up a tumbleweed next to a cactus. She continues to write.
LEO
(V.O.)
Enough about me. Here are three ways that you're
amazing. 1. You have nice, dark hair like dad - but
hopefully you'll keep yours -
(to self)
Not fair, Eve.
(keeps reading)
You are brave like me.
MARY OLIVE
I want to read it.
324 LEO
Okay, you get the next word.
MARY OLIVE
Three.
LEO
Good. "You are--"
MARY OLIVE
You.
LEO
Yesss. "Like nobody--"
YOUNG GIRL
Elsa??
LEO
Close. "--like nobody else."
INT. LEO'S LOFT - NIGHT
Leo reads the letter out loud with the help of MARY OLIVE (5), who sits on his lap in colorful PJ's.
325 Mary Olive gnaws on the remains of the pretzel.
LEO
"I love you more than the Texas sky has stars,
Mary Olive. Be good but not too good. Love,
Mommy Eve."
MARY OLIVE
I want to be like Eve.
LEO
What about me??
MARY OLIVE
You're a boy, daddy.
LEO
Can't I be a boy and be like you?
(kisses her head)
If we see Mommy Eve in two months, what month
will that be?
MARY OLIVE
...Birthday!!!
326 LEO
Touché. You wanna do a jammy jam sesh before
bedtime?
MARY OLIVE
Yeah!
Leo fires up a little casio while Mary Olive beats a mini drum set.
THEIR MUSIC
EXTENDS OVER:
INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT
In near darkness, hands shove around milk crates and wooden planks.
Cords are plugged into power strips: 1, 2, 3, 4... Someone else comes along and relocates a few: 4, 3, 2...
Eve's eye gets a dab of mascara and a thumb-brush of glitter.
Kat trims a stray hair from her bangs with tiny scissors.
A fellow bandmate zips up a windbreaker.
Leo and Mary Olive's jam fades out. An anticipatory electric buzz replaces it.
327 INT. LEO'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Mary Olive throws her drumstick and sprints away.
MARY OLIVE
I never want to go to bed!
Leo ambles after.
LEO
You're just like her.
INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT
Darkness. Random points of light blink in a horizontal line.
BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZ.
Lights explode ON, illuminating Eve, Kat, and Dorian onstage. A fun, mixed CROWD hollers. The band play their first song without introduction.
Amid the dazzling stage lights and noise, Eve catches happy eyes with Kat.
328 WILL
(in the crowd)
That's my wife! That's my wife!
The bandmates pause for a purposeful lull in the song.
All that remains is the tap of Dorian's drumstick:
1, 2, 3, 4 - 1, 2, 3, 4 - 1, 2, 3, 4- 1,
Eve catches bedroom eyes with Dorian.
4, 3, 2, 1... 4,
They fire up again, playing happily into the night.
329