[EXT. BANGOR TOWN HOUSE - NIGHT – ESTABLISHING]
(An upscale duplex on a quiet residential street. Trees cast long shadows under the glare of security lights.)
[INT. TOWN HOUSE - UPSTAIRS BEDROOM – NIGHT]
(ECU of lipstick being applied as light jazz from a radio station plays in the b.g., coming from a stereo downstairs. Next, eyelashes are lightly mascaraed. The eye, a luminous green, blinks… A brush is pulled through a tangle of red hair, which crackles with static electricity. The owner of the hair whips it aside, as we reveal: Dana Bright, standing barefoot in a silk robe as she critically appraises her face in a mirror. Inside a walk-in closet, Dana takes a sleek woman's suit off a rack, then a much racier cocktail dress, the price tag still attached, and compares the two. She smiles mischievously, then puts the suit back and moves out of frame with the dress.)
[INT. TOWN HOUSE - FIRST LEVEL]
(A neat, well-appointed living room, dimly lit by a small table lamp. Stereo components glow in a glass cabinet. Under the music, we hear the kachunk of a lock turning. Close on the front door, as three more locks and dead bolts are opened one after the other from outside. As the door eases open…)
[INT. BEDROOM]
(Dana models the dress in the mirror. She looks sexy and stunning. She doesn't notice when the jazz music stops. But then a new song -- the old Lenny Welch hit, "Since I Fell For You" -- starts up and she reacts with surprise. And then trepidation.)
[TOP OF THE STAIRS]
(Still barefoot, Dana looks down into the shadowed living room. Other than the changed music, nothing seems amiss. Tentatively, she starts down the stairs, reaches the bottom and moves to the stereo. A disk is spinning in the CD player. As Dana eyes it, her trepidation becoming genuine fear…)
MAN'S VOICE (O.S.): Say cheese!
(Dana nearly jumps out of her skin as she turns into the FLASH from… as Dana's frightened face is frozen. Then the camera is lowered, and we pivot to reveal Max Cassidy, a good looking freelance news photographer a few years older than Dana, who's standing in the kitchen doorway. He laughs as he hits a light switch, brightening the room. Dana tries to collect herself, but we sense that she's still scared.)
DANA: Max…
MAX: Surprise. And from the look on your face, I'd say that's an understatement.
DANA: What are you doing here?
MAX: I realized I still had your keys. And since I was back in town…
(Dana glances at a phone on a counter that divides the living room from the kitchen. Max doesn't seem to notice, fiddling with the camera as he ambles over.)
DANA: You should've called.
MAX: And miss a shot like this?
(He comes close to show it to her, but Dana shifts away, turning back to the stereo.)
MAX: Five mega pixels, amazing color… I may just toss my film cameras. (Sees what she's doing, grabs her wrist) Hey, let it play.
(Setting his camera down, he pulls her gently but firmly away from the stereo and toward him.)
MAX: It's one of your favorites, right?
DANA: Look, Max, I've got to…
(But Max has taken her by the waist with his other hand as he tries to lead her into a slow dance.)
MAX: C'mon, once around the coffee table, for old times sake.
(And his manner is charming, and for just a moment Dana thinks that if she goes along for now, it'll be easier to get rid of him later. Max pulls her closer, sighs.)
MAX: Four months in Afghanistan, three in the Territories. Bad scenes but great visuals. Catch my Newsweek cover?
MAX (CONT'D): (she nods) I put in a word for you with the New York bureau chief.
DANA: I'm happy where I am.
MAX: It's a big world, Dana, and you'd look good in it. Especially in that dress. Hot date?
DANA: It's an assignment.
MAX: What're you covering? Governor's ball or a hookers' convention? (she pulls away) I'm kidding…
(Dana's moving to the phone. Max follows, turning jealous.)
MAX: Who're you calling? This guy you're "not" going out with?
DANA: The police.
MAX: Whoa!
(He "playfully" grabs her wrist again as he takes the phone away and sets it back down.)
MAX: You want me to leave, just say so.
DANA: I want you to leave.
MAX: Hmm, now I'm confused…
(And in one quick motion, he twists her arm behind her and shoves her up against the kitchen counter.)
MAX: No means yes, right? Yes means no. You get hazy on the protocols when you're away too long.
(His free hand gropes her thigh, pushing up the short dress.)
DANA: Max! Stop it!
MAX: What we need is a little honest communication. No mixed signals.
(Dana struggles against him, her free hand meanwhile groping across the counter… reaching past the phone…)
DANA: Please…
MAX: You mean right here? On the counter?
(And as Dana reaches toward a set of knives in a hardwood block, Max yanks at the bodice of her dress, ripping it. (And throughout this assault, the SONG continues playing.))
MAX: Oops.
(Dana's fingers finally curl around a knife handle. She yanks the big blade from the block and wheels. Max jumps back, narrowly avoiding being slashed. And laughs.)
MAX: Yikes! Excuse me, "Mrs. Bates."
DANA: (barely under control) Get out.
MAX: I was just fooling around.
DANA: Now.
(Max backs away, turning contrite.)
MAX: Sure. Okay. Just relax. (Nodding toward kitchen) Your keys are on the counter.
(Dana watches him as he picks up his camera and moves to the door. He pauses as he opens it, gives her a last look, his voice somber and full of regret now.)
MAX: I'm sorry, Dana. About everything. I really am.
(And he closes the door behind him, the lock clicking. Dana exhales, then moves to the stereo and turns it off. For a beat, she just stands there, shaking slightly in her torn dress.)
[OMITTED]
[OMITTED]
[INT. JOHNNY'S KITCHEN – NIGHT]
(Johnny’s got a cookbook open to a recipe for "Duck a l'Orange", various condiments and foodstuffs arrayed about, and a few pots and saucepans simmering on the stove. Reggae music plays as he dips a wooden spoon into a saucepan for a taste. But as he raises it to his lips…)
[A JOHNNY FLASH - DANA'S HANDS]
(Dana’s hands come into frame, steadying Johnny's as she raises the spoon to her lips and tastes.)
DANA: More bitters?
[RESUME]
(As Johnny reacts to this subtly suggestive flash; then he tastes the sauce himself, nods.)
JOHNNY: More bitters. Right.
(He moves to a cabinet and, as he opens it, we briefly freeze on his touch, then continue as he takes out a spice jar. But behind him now as he returns to the stove, Bruce enters frame and opens the same cabinet. He pulls out a bag of chips, then leans against the fridge, munching as he eyes Johnny skeptically.)
BRUCE: Don't tell me it's not a date…
(Johnny glances over his shoulder to see Bruce, then wearily returns to his cooking.)
BRUCE: …because frankly it's an insult to the intelligence of a Corleone.
JOHNNY: (mutters to himself) It's not a date.
BRUCE: Let's see. You're cooking. She's coming over to your crib. (Smirks) Sure sounds like a…
JOHNNY: (turning, annoyed) It's not a…
(Only Bruce isn't there and Johnny's words trail off.)
JOHNNY: …date.
(And now we realize this Bruce was a vision, a replay of a recent visit, cued when Johnny touched the cabinet. The
Door bell rings.)
[INT. /EXT. FRONT DOOR – NIGHT]
(As Johnny opens it to reveal Dana, now wearing the business suit she put aside before and looking away pensively. But she quickly dons a game face as she turns to Johnny.)
JOHNNY: Hey. Come on in…
DANA: I'm sorry I'm late…
JOHNNY: Not at all…
(As he escorts her in…)
DANA: You're very nice to do this for me…
JOHNNY: Hey, I owed you one, remember…?
DANA: I think this could be a cover piece for the Sunday Magazine.
JOHNNY: 'My Dinner With Johnny'.
DANA: You have to admit a date with a psychic is a pretty good pitch for a story. (Beat) Not that this is a real date.
JOHNNY: (understands) Just a pretend date. For your story.
DANA: Oh… (Takes out a wine bottle) For dinner. The "sommelier" at my local liquor store says Merlot's a good choice with duck.
(But as Johnny takes the bottle…)
[A JOHNNY FLASH - INT. JOHNNY'S BEDROOM – NIGHT]
(As he and Dana have passionate sex.)
[RESUME ON JOHNNY]
(Johnny is staring at the bottle, as Dana eyes him suspiciously… She's seen him have flashes before…)
DANA: Okay, here we go. Look, let's establish some ground rules for our "date". It's not fair for you to see into my life if I can't see into yours. Which means when you have a vision -- like right now -- you've got to fill me in.
JOHNNY: Fill you in. Right.
DANA: So? What'd you see?
(And Johnny may be a psychic, but he's also a gentleman in a quandary. He eyes the wine bottle in his hands, then rotates it a quarter turn.)
JOHNNY: Bunch of old guys in berets turning bottles. A quarter turn, a quarter turn, a quarter turn… (Shakes out his wrist) Hell on your wrists.
(Dana eyes him as if she doesn't quite buy this.)
JOHNNY: Better check on dinner.
END OF TEASER
ACT ONE
[INT. KITCHEN - CLOSE ON A BIG KNIFE]
(As Johnny uses it to deftly slice some carrots. Pull back to show Dana eyeing the knife as he works, unable to escape its recent associations.)
DANA: So, when did you become a cook?
JOHNNY: Around the time I ordered take out and flashed on someone in a kitchen sneezing in my Kung Pao.
DANA: (picks up a tomato) No "bad vibes" from raw veggies?
JOHNNY: Only that primal scream when they're torn from the vine.
(He's about to taste his Orange sauce again.)
DANA: May I?
(As in his earlier flash, she steadies his hands as she sips from the spoon. And as they both react subtly to the unexpected intimacy of this moment…)
DANA: You got the bitters just right.
JOHNNY: Thanks.
(But he's a little uncomfortable, and quickly moves away to put the bitters back in the spice cabinet. (Note: we begin here a convention of psychic projections intruding on Johnny's side of the date… all of these are bits and pieces of past conversations that seem to be commenting on the action… Johnny does not interact with these visitors but he is constantly aware of them. In essence, we are trying to show the audience what it's like to be in Johnny's skin on this date. It serves as a metaphor for the baggage any of us bring to a date. We'll discuss specific execution but in general, I think the visitors are in Johnny's coverage and angles favoring his pov and are not seen in other angles.))
JOHNNY: So… job keeping you busy?
DANA: Oh yeah. All news. All the time. That's me.
[ANGLE - FINDING BRUCE MUNCHING CHIPS]
BRUCE: Whatever you do… don't get her talking about work.
(Bruce crushes a large chip into his mouth. And even though Dana can't see Bruce, she notices Johnny's brief distraction…)
DANA: You've got that look again.
JOHNNY: Bruce was just telling me -- I mean he was telling me yesterday -- not to ask about your job…
DANA: Because?
BRUCE: It's a turn-off. A one way ticket to good-nightsville: handshake instead of tongue.
(Johnny moves next to Dana, who's leaning against a counter, as he rinses off a few dishes that have been soaking.)
JOHNNY: He just wanted this to feel like a real date… as much as possible… for the article.
(And Dana nods, accepting this and even a little chagrined.)
DANA: He's right. The last thing I want to talk about on a date is work. But the truth is I hear it all the time from guys I go out with…
[ANGLE TO FIND SARAH DRYING DISHES]
(Beside Johnny from a recent occasion…)
SARAH: She's a slut. Walt says she's slept with half the county.
(Johnny covers his reaction. Dana picks up a cloth…)
DANA: Can I help? This is my specialty in the kitchen, sad to say…
JOHNNY: Sure.
(She begins to dry dishes too. And now both of Johnny's women are doing the same action on both sides of him.)
SARAH: I mean, I suppose she's attractive… but really you should hear Walt talk about her…
(Finding…)
WALT: (to Sarah) A carnivore. Certain animals are meat eaters…
JOHNNY: You getting hungry?
DANA: A little.
JOHNNY: Why don't we start with the soup while we're waiting for the duck to finish…
(She lifts the lid and looks into the pot…)
DANA: Hmmm. Tomato?
JOHNNY: With basmati rice grown in the foothills of the Himalayas and nurtured by the famous five rivers of Punjab.
(Johnny starts to ladle the soup into bowls…)
DANA: Do I detect a hint of curry?
(Johnny nods…)
SARAH: She's just not worthy of you. Trust me. I know you.
BRUCE: Hey, who cares what Sarah says.
(Finding Bruce is back… and in a sense it's like the devil and angel on his shoulder…)
BRUCE (CONT'D): Whatever else you want to say about Dana, she's one hot-looking white girl. I say go for it.
JOHNNY: I'm going for it.
DANA: Going for…
JOHNNY: … the wine. Let's open the wine.
(Searching drawers…)
JOHNNY: Gosh, I hope I have…
(He looks up to see Dana holding up a corkscrew from her bag…)
DANA: Brought one just in case.
(But as he takes it from her, ramp to Johnny and we do a 180 degree turn into…)
[INT. DANA'S APARTMENT – NIGHT]
(…to find Reverend Purdy opening another bottle of wine with the same corkscrew… we lose Dana for an instant during the effect and when we find her, in roughly the same proximity to Johnny as before, she's in a different dress… she moves into the scene with Purdy…)
PURDY: Well, if he's serving duck, then I suggest a good Merlot. Of course, depending on the sauce, a Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah might also be appropriate.
DANA: Still teaching me?
PURDY: (pops the cork) You still have a lot to learn. For example, you're entirely wrong for Johnny.
(Intercutting Johnny still in his kitchen, turning the corkscrew into the wine bottle as he observes…)
DANA: (surprised) I explained to you it's just…
PURDY: …an "interview," not an actual date, yes, of course. (Pouring) I know him, Dana, and more importantly, I know you.
(And this line has a clearly intimate implication, which Dana's expression reluctantly acknowledges, and which Johnny, watching from the sidelines, remarks as well.)
PURDY: You make a habit of picking the wrong men because it isolates you and, truth be known, you prefer isolation to intimacy. Whereas Johnny needs to end his seclusion and make a genuine connection.
DANA: Let me guess: You've added a psychology degree to your list of "honorary" accomplishments.
PURDY: (unfazed) Tell me, Dana. Do you still hear the key turning in the lock at night, then wake up in the dark, stifling a scream?
(And this cryptic reference effectively silences her. Smiling pleasantly, Purdy raises his glass.)
PURDY: Cheers.
(Reverse the 180 turn back into…)
[INT. JOHNNY'S KITCHEN – CONTINUOUS]
(Johnny's kitchen as he pops the cork and the vision ends… she's staring at him, as she taps on her wine glass with a knife.)
DANA: Remember "It's a Wonderful Life"?
JOHNNY: (pouring wine) Sure.
DANA: "Every time a bell rings, another angel gets his wings." (Off his bemused look) I think we're going to have to institute a bell system for you -- only it'll mean that a psychic's had a vision, and he has to share.
JOHNNY: (beat, avoiding an answer) Why don't we get out of the kitchen; it's getting stuffy in here.
(And as they take their soup and wine glasses into the other room…)
[INT. DINING ROOM - MINUTES LATER]
(Johnny and Dana sit at a gracefully set table, tall candles flickering as they sip their soup…)
DANA: Ummmm… like a magic carpet ride to Punjab itself…
JOHNNY: Old science teachers don't fade away, they become chefs. Similar skills… mixing a little of this, a little of that… hoping nothing explodes…
DANA: I'm not going to let you, you know.
JOHNNY: Let me?
DANA: Get by on your charm and dry wit. I promised my editor a date with a psychic. And you're not playing by the rules. What did you see in the kitchen?
JOHNNY: I'm not sure you'll like it.
DANA: This is part and parcel of the Johnny Smith Dating Experience. I knew it when I signed on.
(Johnny sighs and lets fly, embarrassed…)
JOHNNY: I didn't realize you knew Reverend Purdy… so well.
DANA: Oh.
(Dana reacts, her cheeks might flush a tad but she smiles, intrigued.)
DANA: You know, this is actually kind of… liberating. It's not as if I can be dishonest with someone who can literally see through me.
JOHNNY: You really don't have to tell me…
DANA: Gene Purdy and I had a relationship, and it's been over for a while. But we're still… well, "friends" may not be the best word, but we've always found it… enlightening to spend time together…
(And now that she's all but challenged Johnny to disapprove… we move to reveal Johnny's mother Vera Smith at another place at the table… having dinner from an earlier time…)
VERA: Gene and I enjoy spending time together… I wish you could see him the way I do, Johnny…
DANA: (to Johnny) I admit I've always had an attraction to a certain type of older man… and he obviously enjoys the company of younger women…
VERA: …a true gentleman and a man of deep moral character…
DANA: I've made you uncomfortable now, haven't I, I'm sorry…
JOHNNY: (uncomfortable) Not at all…
(Vera is gone.)
DANA: Alright. Now it's your turn.
JOHNNY: My turn?
DANA: You have the psychic advantage here. You got to see one of mine. It's only fair I get to see one of yours. Don't you think?
JOHNNY: This is beginning to feel more like "Truth or Dare" than a date.
DANA: A date with Johnny is not going to be like any other date.
(A beat as they consider each other.)
DANA: Tell me about Sarah.
[ANGLE - COMING OUT OF THE KITCHEN – SARAH]
SARAH: Don't you dare tell her anything about us.
[OVER DANA'S SHOULDER – WALT]
WALT: (to Dana) Just leave my family out of your story, okay?
[OVER JOHNNY'S SHOULDER – BRUCE]
BRUCE: You're outta chips and you're outta love, so my last tip…? (Swiveling to walk backwards as he exits) …Don't talk about Sarah. Get your mind in the now, buddy.
(He drops a crumpled chip bag in Johnny's lap but it disappears before it lands. Now a DING DING DING brings him back to Dana, who's tapping on her wine glass again. All the visionary characters are gone.)
DANA: I'm competing for your attention again, aren't I? (Pointed) Sarah.
JOHNNY: A lot of people told me not to talk about her tonight.
DANA: I got the same advice. Which is why I’m asking it? (Off his uneasy silence) My story is a profile on Johnny Smith. Johnny Smith lost the woman he loved when he was in a coma for six years. And yet he finds a way to keep her a part of his life. Can't leave that out, Johnny. Can I?
(A long beat as Johnny considers this, still uneasy and not sure how to even begin.)
DANA: Why don't we start with this…?
(She takes a high school year book out of her bag – Cleaves Mills High, 1995 -- opens it to a bookmarked page, and slides it in front of Johnny. As he studies it…)
DANA: 1995, the year of the accident
(A centerfold spread of "casual" shots of high school kids and teachers, dominated by a photo of Johnny and Sarah, Sarah's and Johnny's signatures are beneath the photo.)
[RESUME - ON JOHNNY]
(As he looks up from the photo.)
JOHNNY: Ever been in love, Dana?
DANA: (beat) No. Maybe not.
(Johnny touches Sarah's signature. And we turn 180 degrees and reveal…)
[EXT. CARNIVAL - NIGHT - THE CADILLAC CONVERTIBLE]
(Parked with the ferries wheel in the background… Santo and Johnny play on the radio…)
[FINDING JOHNNY (INT. JOHNNY'S HOUSE)]
(Moving to the side of the car, watching himself and Sarah in the back seat… but in his coverage we can see his home and Dana at the dinner table…)
SARAH: Two, three, come on, give me a number. Don't you have any feeling at all when we're like this?
PAST JOHNNY: Yeah, I have all sorts of very nice feelings…
(As he nuzzles her, she laughs…)
SARAH: Johnny, I want to know… how many kids are we going to have?
JOHNNY: (to Dana) Sarah was my first… the only woman I've ever really loved.
PAST JOHNNY: I see ten, no, no, fifteen… our own family hockey team…
SARAH: Don't put your money on that one, pal.
(She giggles and kisses him playfully.)
JOHNNY: (to Dana) We had our lives mapped out. It wasn't hard. All we wanted was each other.
PAST JOHNNY: Sarah, I don't want to wait… why don't we just elope…
(She smiles, liking the sound of it…)
PAST JOHNNY: Think of it - in thirty years, I'll be the funny old biology teacher; you'll be headlining the show at the Grand Ole Opry… what a pair we'll make…
(Sarah looks into Past Johnny's eyes with love… Johnny turns back to Dana… and the vision's over… he's back in his chair at the dinner table…)
[INT. SMITH HOUSE – CONTINUOUS]
(Beat.)
JOHNNY: We still share each others' lives, but she has a husband now, a family, while I've got memories… and "visions." And if they sometimes seem more real to me than my actual life, it's because I wish they were.
(Dana studies him, jealous of this woman who haunts him, sorry that she had to ask.)
JOHNNY: Think that'll satisfy your readers?
DANA: Johnny…
JOHNNY: I should check on the duck.
(And as he reaches for her soup bowl, she touches his wrist. Suddenly every door in the room slams shut, one after the other. Then the locks turn and Johnny reacts to the sound of a battery of small fists pounding on the other side of the doors, wrenching the doorknobs, as from behind each he also hears a little girl crying "Let me out! Please! Let me out!" and just as suddenly, the vision ends. The room is back to normal, the doors are open, Dana still looking up at Johnny. And as he takes her bowl and steps back, still reacting to the strange vision…)
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
[INT. COUNTRY & WESTERN BAR – NIGHT]
(Dwight Yoakum is on the jukebox and Max Cassidy is at the bar with a new friend, a gangly but pretty young woman named Saundra. They've already had a few, and Saundra giggles as the bartender finishes pouring two fresh shots.)
MAX: Know what happens when you play a country song backwards? (She shakes her head) You get back your farm, your pickup and your girl. In that order.
(Saundra laughs into her shot glass, almost spitting out her booze.)
SAUNDRA: You're funny. You know that?
MAX: Yeah, about as funny as this music.
SAUNDRA: You don't like country?
MAX: Hate it worse than disco. And disco almost killed me.
SAUNDRA: Then for God's sake, what are you doing here?
MAX: Rubbing salt in my wounds.
SAUNDRA: Aww, c'mon, cowboy, what did you lose? Your farm? Your pickup? (Beat) Your girl.
(Max clutches his heart, makes a gagging sound. She's pegged him.)
SAUNDRA: Poor baby. Well, you know there's only one way to forget a woman. (Leans boozily toward him) Find another.
(They look at each other solemnly for a beat, then burst out laughing.)
MAX: My God, she's found the cure for the honky tonk blues! Barkeep, two more shots and a coupula beer to wash 'em down.
(And as the bartender sets up two more shots…)
[INT. JOHNNY'S KITCHEN - NIGHT - TWO WINE GLASSES]
(Pull back to find Johnny by the open stove, prodding the duck with a fork. Dana sips from her glass of wine. (Note: they are not tipsy.))
JOHNNY: This Long Island's taking longer than expected.
DANA: Fortunately, your guest has the patience of a saint.
(He closes the oven…)
JOHNNY: So what's the next phase of this, um, "interview?"
DANA: (correcting) The next phase of this 'date'. What would you do on a normal date?
JOHNNY: There are no normal dates around here… which is why there aren't many dates.
DANA: Must get lonely.
(And that's right at the heart of Johnny Smith but he tries to deflect it with a joke.)
JOHNNY: You'd be surprised how far satellite television has come in seven years. I like the old game show network. Charles Nelson Reilly in his prime.
(But she's not laughing, she knows he's covering… a smile grows on her lips as an idea hatches…)
DANA: I know how we can pass the time…
[INT. JOHNNY'S LIVING ROOM - CLOSE ON A TURNTABLE – NIGHT]
(Dana, her suit jacket off now, is putting a vinyl platter on the turntable… one of Vera's old records…)
JOHNNY: I don't think this is a good idea.
DANA: It's a great idea. But you might want to take off your shoes. I'd like to spare my toes.
JOHNNY: How about sparing me?
(But as the music starts, Dana just slips out of her own shoes, then crooks a finger at Johnny.)
JOHNNY: Really, I don't dance. I've never danced, and now I've got this cane and… well, maybe you've noticed, but I've also got this little thing about being touched… for obvious reasons.
(Dana eyes him, and perhaps she remembers Purdy's admonition about Johnny needing someone who's not afraid to make a "genuine connection," because she stands firm.)
DANA: I want you to dance with me. Consider it part of the story. (Beat) Resistance is futile.
(Johnny sighs, then pulls off his shoes and walks over to her. But he's unsure what to do with his hands, or for that matter his cane. But Dana just takes the cane and throws it aside, looks in his eyes.)
DANA: I won't let you fall, Johnny. (Beat) Just give me your left hand…
(And as she takes his left hand with her right, we freeze briefly on their touch, then Johnny sees over her shoulder Purdy taking the hand of another Dana.)
DANA: …Put your other hand on my waist, like this…
(Again, a little freeze on the moment of contact, as Johnny sees a third Dana taking the waist of another man; he's well dressed, slightly older than she is.)
DANA: …and just feel the music, and follow me.
(And as all three couples start dancing, Johnny turns to look Dana in the eyes as she smiles at him.)
DANA: See, you're a natural.
(And now Johnny sees a fourth Dana dancing with Max. (And as they continue to talk and dance, more couples will join them, most of the men older than Dana and radiating success and self-confidence, until all the couples turn the living room into a small crowded ballroom.))
JOHNNY: And you've done this before.
DANA: Once or twice. (Sees him looking away) Hey. It's important to make eye contact with your "date."
JOHNNY: Like I said, I'm out of practice. (Beat) Anything else I should know?
DANA: If you want to hold me closer, I won't consider it a proposal.
(And so he does. And it seems quite natural, to both of them, as they move more easily together.)
JOHNNY: So this sort of thing really sells papers?
DANA: Absolutely. People like to get the personal perspective.
JOHNNY: And are you getting one? A personal perspective, I mean.
DANA: I'm definitely seeing a different side of you. I mean, up until now it's been… (Gruff Johnny voice) …"No questions right now, Dana." "Sorry, Dana, but I can't do an interview."
JOHNNY: I'm sorry. I guess I was a little brusque at times. Then again… (But now he smiles and imitates her) …"A good reporter and her subject can be a team, Johnny… like Cosell and Ali."
(And now it's Dana who has to laugh at herself, puts both arms around his neck, as she pulls back a bit to look him in the eye. And meanwhile both of Johnny's arms now encircle her waist, and they're dancing quite close.)
DANA: I guess I came on a little strong too. But now look at us… we are a team. A dance team, at least.
JOHNNY: Like Astaire and Rogers.
DANA: Fonteyn and Nureyev.
JOHNNY: Abbott and Costello.
(And they both laugh, but meanwhile the physical attraction between them is palpable and electric. Though there's still the distraction of all those other "couples," for Johnny at least. As he glances away…)
JOHNNY: Too bad we don't have more room here.
(Suddenly he sees one of the other men -- Max -- haul off and slap his Dana hard! As Johnny stops and reacts…)
DANA: What is it?
(As Johnny turns to her, then looks away again, but now all the other couples are gone. They continue dancing but Johnny's preoccupied now…)
DANA: Rules are rules. Tell me what you saw.
JOHNNY: Another man was dancing with you. And then he hit you.
(Her face falls on the revelation. Then she pulls it back in with a defensive smile…)
DANA: Ah, so, you've met Max.
JOHNNY: Max?
DANA: A mistake I made once… (Beat) Or twice…
JOHNNY: Twice? A guy like that?
DANA: It's hard to explain… maybe because I don't really know myself.
(The song has taken on a darker context. She pulls away, and at the moment their fingertips part company, the scene pivots 180 degrees and now the half of the living room where the turntable was has become…)
[OMITTED]
[INT. DANA'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT – VISION]
(Which Dana walks into, heading now for her own stereo. where the same song is playing.)
DANA: We lived together for about a year. He was the nicest guy you could imagine… talented and funny…
(She switches off the stereo and turns back to Johnny, but she stays in her "apartment," as though what we're seeing isn't just a setting, but a metaphor for a part of her mind, and her memory, that she's still trapped in. And at this moment, Max walks into Dana's living room, livid with rage.)
MAX: Where the hell have you been?
(And as Dana turns to him (and though she'll interact physically with "Max" in this scene, she speaks only to Johnny, who we understand is seeing a memory that she's reliving in her mind), Max slaps her, hard enough to send her to her knees! Dana holds her stinging face, as she turns back to Johnny.)
DANA: …And he liked to hit women…
(Max crouches in front of her, gripping her chin with one hand.)
MAX: Don't lie to me. I can smell him on you.
(And this time, Max throws her head backwards like a baseball, sending her hard to the floor. He exits. After a beat, Dana struggles to a sitting position and turns to Johnny, her face streaked with tears.)
DANA: After he hit me enough, I got a restraining order… not that it stopped him from coming by tonight and letting himself in with some keys I didn't think he had. (Beat) Max was the worst, but you could say I've got a talent for picking the wrong men.
(But by now, Johnny has walked into her side of the set, and stretched out his hand to her… into his vision to take her away from it. She looks up at him, then at his hand -- held out resolutely; at this moment not the hand of a man who's afraid of being touched, but a man who wants to touch this woman, and ease her pain. And Dana takes his hand and he helps her to her feet and walks her back to his side of the living room, at which point Dana's apartment fades away. It's a short journey but a momentous one; we sense that they've both crossed a personal boundary. Dana looks up at him.)
DANA: I was saying something. What was I saying?
JOHNNY: You have a talent for picking the wrong men.
DANA: Yes. Until maybe, just maybe, tonight.
(And the two of them move into a tentative, heartfelt kiss, a kiss that grows steadily more passionate as we…)
[INTERCUT: INT. JOHNNY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT – VISION]
(Johnny and Dana making love. Just brief flashes at first -- hands removing clothes; hands touching a naked shoulder, a breast, the curve of a waist; lips kissing a neck, a cheek, a shoulder, and lips. But soon their passion intensifies, building to the flash of Dana atop Johnny seen earlier. And meanwhile, in the living room, Johnny breaks off the kiss and takes Dana by the hand and leads her around the corner to the stairs, then slowly up…)
END OF ACT TWO
ACT THREE
[INT. JOHNNY'S BEDROOM – NIGHT]
(Dark… as we find Dana and Johnny, pulling back the covers, falling onto the bed in each other's arms… kissing with passion… starting to undress one another a la Holden/Dunaway in "Network"…)
JOHNNY: (deadpan) You haven't said the words.
DANA: The words?
JOHNNY: I can't do this without the words. (Off her very curious look) …'Off the record.'
DANA: And I thought you were getting kinky on me.
JOHNNY: It's still early.
DANA: (grins) You don't want me to write about having sex with a psychic? Enquiring minds want to know what it's like…
JOHNNY: I guess we're about to find out.
(That stops her, she breaks the clinch and leans up on one elbow…)
DANA: You mean, I'm the first since… you haven't… (Off his look) Off the record.
JOHNNY: Well, I do have a very active fantasy life. But as far as flesh and blood, you're the first in a long time.
DANA: I'm tempted to say it's like getting back on a bicycle, but that wouldn't put me in a very flattering light. (grins) Just ask if you forget anything.
JOHNNY: I think I can remember this.
(He moves in and kisses her and his head covers hers for a moment and when it breaks… it's not Dana he's kissing, it's… Sarah (Pre coma))
SARAH: Let's make a hockey team.
(Johnny reacts… when we cut back, it's Dana again…)
DANA: Uh oh. What was that…
JOHNNY: Housekeeper. Had a flash of the housekeeper making the bed tomorrow.
DANA: How distracting.
JOHNNY: Just a little…
SARAH: Johnny…
(Johnny looks to his other side… and sees Sarah (pre coma) lying on her back, dressed only in one of his shirts, one knee provocatively bent to show a lot of leg… meanwhile, Dana stands before him as she takes her dress and slip off in one motion…)
DANA: Let's see if I can get your attention back.
SARAH: Remember when I used to sleep over at your house when I was six?
(Dana is in bra, panties and garter belt attached to her stockings. She puts one leg up on the bed.)
DANA: (re: stockings) Wanna help me with these?
(Johnny eyes that leg… only now Sarah's arms wrap around him from behind. At first he tries to ignore her as she whispers in his ear…)
SARAH: What would your mom say if she could she see us now?
(Johnny rolls down one stocking… and then another… as one of Sarah's legs wraps around his mid-section from behind, then another… Dana moves in beside him, kissing him hungrily, and now Johnny is in the middle of the two women… and in a way he's kind of getting into this… as the kiss with Dana ends…)
JOHNNY: You know, this isn't half bad.
DANA: You ain't seen nothing yet.
PURDY: Make room for Daddy…
(And Purdy slides into the increasingly crowded bed in a nightshirt… the mood is broken…)
JOHNNY: Okay, that's it…
DANA: What… is something wrong?
JOHNNY: No. Yes.
(Vera enters…)
VERA: Johnny, honey, time to get up for school.
JOHNNY: This is not working for me.
DANA: It's me, I was too aggressive, wasn't I… I do that all the…
JOHNNY: No, I…
(Walt enters in jockey shorts and a t-shirt…)
WALT: Honey, I can't find my toothbrush…
JOHNNY: What are you doing here?
DANA: You're right, this was a mistake; I'll be going now…
JOHNNY: Not you. Him. Walt.
DANA: Sheriff Walt?
JOHNNY: Asking Sarah for his toothbrush. He's never even been in my bedroom.
(Now finding Dr. Tran there, a clipboard of test results in hand!)
DR. TRAN: Sexual arousal could certainly pump more endorphins into your Dead Zone, Johnny. That's probably what caused those cascading visions…
JOHNNY: Enough!
(All the visitors freeze in place.)
DANA: What's… going on?
JOHNNY: (sighs) I seem to be lost in time and space.
JOHNNY (CONT'D): Dr. Tran was just trying to explain why. At my next appointment with him, I guess.
DANA: And his conclusion?
JOHNNY: You wanted The Johnny Smith Dating Experience? (Beat) Sometimes it means sharing a bed with everyone you've ever slept with and everyone they've ever slept with. It's like six degrees of separation minus five.
DANA: That many people, huh?
JOHNNY: We're lucky it's a king-size bed.
(She drapes her arms around his shoulders.)
DANA: I'm sorry.
(He looks over to see Bruce wearing Johnny's old softball glove as he packs a ball into it… sitting on the edge of the bed…)
BRUCE: You rule your visions, they don't rule you. Mind over matter, my brother.
JOHNNY: Bruce says it's simply mind over matter.
DANA: With all due respect to you, Bruce, I say we leave the mind out of this. The mind is what's getting you into trouble.
JOHNNY: You're right.
DANA: We need to get you out of your head and into your body.
JOHNNY: How do we do that?
DANA: Leave it to me.
(She kisses him, continues to undress him…)
JOHNNY: But they're all…
DANA: Let them watch.
(And as she pushes him back on the bed…)
JOHNNY: Okay.
(She pulls off his pants… Tran briefly unfreezes to say…)
DR. TRAN: In point of fact, Johnny, these psychic projections would have no visual sensory abilities in real time… they can't "watch" anything per se…
JOHNNY: Shut up, doc. You can tell me tomorrow.
[MONTAGE - JOHNNY AND DANA MAKING LOVE]
(And some of the angles recall the flashes seen previously, only this is for real. And as their passion builds, all the frozen visitors disappear by one by one…)
[EXT. ALLEY BEHIND BAR – NIGHT]
(Country music filters through a grill in a wall as camera pans to find Max and Saundra somewhat drunkenly and roughly making out. He has her up against the wall, while her hands are under his shirt, pinching his nipples. He groans, comes up for air.)
SAUNDRA: Like that, don't ya, cowboy?
MAX: You're a bad girl, and I'm gonna do bad things to you.
SAUNDRA: You mean right here, right now?
MAX: Well, I'd invite you back to my farm but…
(And they both laugh -- it's already an old joke -- as Saundra finishes for him…)
SAUNDRA: …the bank repossessed it.
(Back to the rough making out. And in breaths in between…)
SAUNDRA: At least you're not thinking of your girl anymore, hmm? 'Course, who knows what she's up to.
(And she's just teasing, but Max reacts -- a subtle shift in tone.)
MAX: What do you mean?
(Saundra heedlessly plows on.)
SAUNDRA: Maybe we're not the only ones being bad tonight. Could be she's getting her revenge on you, too, you know.
(And suddenly Max has one hand pinning her throat to the wall, though his tone is still almost mild, and scarier for it.)
MAX: No. All I know is you're a cheap little whore who'll turn a trick for a coupula shots of bourbon.
SAUNDRA: Hey! You bastard! Let me go! You're hurting me.
MAX: I thought you liked it rough, isn't that right?
(And he slaps her like we saw him slap Dana in his visions, only this time while holding Saundra against the wall with his other hand. And then slaps her again. And again. Harder and harder.)
SAUNDRA: Stop it! No! Please…
(But he's choking her at the same time and the words are strangled. And then his hand draws back farther… Angle of his hand as it comes back into frame… and closes into a fist! And as the fist flies forward out of frame -- A disorienting beat as camera pans from an area of deep shadow to a bed and we realize we're back in…)
[INT. JOHNNY'S BEDROOM – NIGHT]
(Dana is on her side asleep, facing away from Johnny, who's propped up on an elbow studying her: the curve of her shoulder, inward curve of her waist. He reaches out and lightly glides his hand over her shoulder and down her arm.)
[JOHNNY FLASH - TWO BRIGHT BLINDING LIGHTS]
(Two bright blinding lights are coming at us filling the screen… (In fact, though we can't tell for sure now, these are headlights on a car.))
[RESUME JOHNNY]
(As he reacts, we rack focus from his face to Dana's. Her eyes are open, her expression uneasy; she's already begun to disconnect.)
DANA: Rules are rules.
(It's become the signature line of the evening, but coming from "sleeping beauty," it startles Johnny.)
JOHNNY: I thought you were asleep.
(She rolls over to face Johnny, and the short distance between them seems like a gulf; we sense they both have qualms about where their "pretend date" has brought them.)
DANA: I'm a very light sleeper. What did you see? (Beat) Was it about us? The "future" perhaps?
JOHNNY: I'm not sure. I was blinded by the light.
DANA: Light?
JOHNNY: Two lights actually.
DANA: Well, don't let it bother you.
(She smiles but it is not the smile of an intimate lover…)
DANA: Cause I'll tell you the future. We're going to be the best of friends from now on. This was so much fun. Thank you.
(Wow, what a cold compliment. Shutting him out with good cheer. As she pecks him impersonally on the cheek…)
[ANGLE - A VISION]
(Suddenly, as before, every door in the room slams shut, one after the other. Then the locks turn and Johnny reacts again to the sound of a battery of small fists pounding on the other side of the doors, wrenching the doorknobs, as from behind each he also hears a little girl crying, "Let me out! Please! Let me out!" and just as suddenly, the vision ends. The room is back to normal, the doors are open. Dana has her skirt on and is briskly buttoning her blouse as she sits on the edge of the bed. Johnny's look shows concern, for both of them.)
JOHNNY: Dana, I…
DANA: Your poor duck. We should rescue it before it's burned to a crisp.
(He reaches for her arm, but she's already standing…)
DANA: See you downstairs.
(And off Johnny as she exits…)
END OF ACT THREE
ACT FOUR
[DARKNESS, TINGED BY PULSES OF RED AND BLUE LIGHT]
(A crackle of walkie-talkie static, followed by…)
WALT (O.S.): That's affirmative. Suspect is a white male, age thirty-five to forty…
(During which, camera tilts down to find two EMS workers tending to a woman on a stretcher -- Saundra. We're…)
[INT. ALLEY BEHIND BAR – NIGHT]
(Saundra's head and neck are in a stabilizing brace and her eyes are closed above heavy bandages, already seeping blood. Another unintelligible crackle of walkie-talkie static as we pull back to reveal Walt in foreground, talking into his hand-held as he watches the EMS workers carry the stretcher to an ambulance, which is parked in the alley, its lights flashing. Other police, crime scene and sheriff's department personnel and vehicles as needed.)
WALT: Witness got a partial license, Maine plates, 322…
(And as he continues…)
[EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET – NIGHT]
(A nondescript sedan rounds a corner, and heads down the street (and while at first we may not recognize this street from the Teaser, we'll eventually realize it's Dana's).)
WALT (V.O.): Car is a dark-colored, late-model sedan, possibly Ford Taurus or Chevrolet Caprice…
(And the description matches the car we're watching, as it parks by the curb (and we may also see the license plate, which also matches, as it pulls to a stop), across the street and about fifty yards from Dana's building. The static from Walt's walkie-talkie now becomes static on a car stereo inside…)
[INT. SEDAN – NIGHT]
(As a hand with bloody, scraped knuckles repeatedly punches a button on the stereo, zipping the radio from Top 40 to Rap to Metal and finally to country. The hand pauses for a beat, then turns up the volume. Reveal Max his cheek porting several fingernail gouges, as he stares through the windshield at Dana's townhouse. Max's hands tighten on the steering wheel as he waits, letting the country music "rub salt in his wounds" -- a time bomb waiting to explode again…)
[EXT. SMITH HOUSE - NIGHT – ESTABLISHING]
[INT. JOHNNY'S DINING ROOM – NIGHT]
(Johnny and Dana sit finishing dinner, the candles burnt low now. Dana's talking cheerfully as she eats, Johnny sitting back, sipping his wine as he watches her intently, thinking about the locked door visions, trying to figure out what's going on with her.)
DANA: So we'll send the photographer by Monday, get some shots of you cooking, or some candid around the house.
(And both of them know that something has gone out of the evening and that she's deliberately taken it out and she's hoping he'll just allow it to happen… and leave her alone so she can get the hell out of there unscathed and untouched… so she fills the space up with words…)
DANA (CONT'D): I have a feeling your life may open up a bit after this story runs.
JOHNNY: Why's that?
DANA: People fear what they don't understand… once I show them the real you…
JOHNNY: Power of the press, huh…
DANA: I'd like to help you if I can…
JOHNNY: (evenly) Like Cosell helped Ali…
(Dana knows she's being busted…)
DANA: That's not fair. (Looks at him, trying to reclaim control) Johnny… it was wonderful, if that's what you're asking.
(He just studies her evenly…)
DANA: Please. Please. Please. Please. Please let's not ruin this lovely evening with empty promises about a future even you can't see tonight… I think there's a reason those lights are blocking your vision… I put those lights there, Johnny… I like those lights… let me have my lights…
(She laughs… making a joke out of it… but it doesn't play. She sighs, puts down her silverware to indicate she's finished with dinner…)
DANA: This was a mistake… Gene Purdy was right, you need to make a connection with someone… and I…
JOHNNY: (without anger, dry) I'd be happy to just have a connection with you here and now in this room…
DANA: (defensive) Oh, now, listen to you… the man with a thousand faces he brings to the bedroom… Tell me you didn't have one hand holding Sarah's while you were making love to me?
(She immediately regrets saying that…)
DANA: Well, now I've done it, haven't I? I do this a lot, I'm sorry. You're way too nice. It takes a special kind of guy to tolerate what I…
JOHNNY: Max. Or Purdy.
DANA: Yes.
(And damn if she doesn't wear her own self-loathing as a badge of honor. Dana knows she's made a shambles of this… smiles and sighs.)
DANA: I've overstayed my welcome.
(She takes out her cell phone and dials.)
JOHNNY: What are you doing?
DANA: Calling a cab. (Into phone) Yes, I'd like a pickup: sixty two fifty one Cecil Green Park Road. Thank you.
(She closes the phone, turns to Johnny… smiles with affection…)
DANA: Can we forget the last few minutes and remember what came before?
(She rises… as does Johnny. She moves to him, part little girl, part hardened criminal -- a little remorseful, a little seductive and completely disconnected… she puts her arms around him…)
DANA: (beat) It was a great night. I hope we'll have more.
(But as she touches him… during the above lines, we do a 180 degree turn and Johnny finds himself looking into…)
[INT. AN EIGHT YEAR OLD GIRL'S BEDROOM – DAY]
(The door is being shut and locked from the outside…)
JOHNNY: Can I just ask you one more thing? (Off her look) Tell me about the locked door.
(Dana's taken aback.)
DANA: What?
JOHNNY: The bedroom. When you were a child.
(Dana understands what he's talking about - but unlike the child's voice we've been hearing, there is no fear, no horrid memories… instead she smiles…)
DANA: It was nothing… I don't know why you'd even care about…
JOHNNY: Rules are rules.
(She looks at him, she shakes her head, smiles again… moves into the child's bedroom… and moves to the door and tries the handle… it's locked… she looks back at Johnny who is still in the Smith House in his cutaways… she laughs…)
DANA: My dad used to lock me in my room if he had to leave the house, that's all. To keep me out of trouble. Like any kid, you know.
JOHNNY: Like any kid.
DANA: It was nothing, believe me.
(She tries the lock again…)
DANA: Oh wait, is this where I'm supposed to admit that I was abused or something. And that explains everything? Sorry to disappoint but he didn't. He didn't hit me. He didn't lay a hand on me.
DANA (CONT'D): He didn't even like me all that much. I think I reminded him too much of my mom who was about to dump him.
(She shakes the door handle now with growing intensity…)
DANA (CONT'D): I mean I hated it, sure. What little girl wouldn't. But in the big scheme of life's events, it's really pretty small potatoes; in fact, it's just plain stupid. Being locked in your room. While your father takes your little sister out for ice cream.
(She moves away from the door, frustrated angry, stares at it like an enemy…)
DANA (CONT'D): (looking at the door) Barely worth a second thought let alone a Johnny Smith vision.
JOHNNY: (evenly) Sometimes the visions seem to have a life of their own.
DANA: I really have to be going…
(She tries the door again but it's still locked… and slams an angry fist on the door at the same time…)
DANA: I have an early interview tomorrow.
(…and now she bangs continuously on the door… and in the words of the little girl she was once…)
DANA: Let me out! Please! Let me out!
(And her face is panicked and red and tears are streaking down her face… as we reverse the 180 degree turn and we're back with Johnny in the Smith house, the bedroom is gone… and Dana is in the same proximity to Johnny as she was before the vision… Despite the interior chaos of the vision, her face is placid, controlled, remote. This is the Dana right she wants to present to the world. She may sense that Johnny sees the real her. But she doesn't want to go anywhere near it. They look at each other a beat… she takes a deep breath and smiles easily…)
DANA: I hereby declare "My Date With Johnny" over.
(Johnny gives her an unsettled half grin…)
[INT. /EXT. FRONT DOOR – NIGHT]
(As he opens the door for her…)
DANA: I'm sorry.
JOHNNY: For what.
DANA: Just a general, cover-all-bases apology. Apply to all affected areas. (Beat) Friends when we meet tomorrow?
(She touches his elbow with the only intimacy she has left to muster… and as she does…)
[A JOHNNY FLASH - THOSE TWO BRIGHT BLINDING LIGHTS]
[RESUME]
(Johnny reacts and she notices.)
DANA: Don't tell me.
(Dana leaves…)
JOHNNY: (grins) Good night, Dana.
(He watches her for a beat, then closes the door. He walks back through…)
[INT. FOYER – CONTINUOUS]
(Where a mantle clock ticks quietly, then into…)
[INT. DINING ROOM – CONTINUOUS]
(He eyes the dirty dishes, the candles sputtering. He blows them out, picks up his dish with one hand and hers with the other but when he does… Ramp to his face…)
[A JOHNNY FLASH - THE BRIGHT LIGHTS]
(Even closer, brighter than before…)
[CLOSE ANGLE - DANA'S DISH]
(Fall from his hand, shatters on the floor… Johnny reacts still confused by the vision but as he starts to pick up the broken shards of the bowl, he's hit by…)
[INTERCUTTING A SERIES OF QUICK FLASHES (LIKE VISIONARY "SHARDS")]
(Max in his car parked outside Dana's townhouse, as he turns on the engine…)
(Dana shuts the door to a cab that's pulled up across the street from her building. The cab drives off, Dana starts to cross… then turns and raises her hand as two bright headlights hit her…)
(Max, intent, eyes murderous as he shifts into drive…)
(Dana, trying to see past the glaring headlights…)
[RESUME - ANGLE ON JOHNNY'S HANDS]
(Clutching the shards so tightly they're cutting into his palms, blood flowing... as now camera swings around him 180 DEGREES and he finds himself in a full-on vision…)
[EXT. DANA'S STREET - NIGHT – VISION]
(Johnny finds himself standing in the middle of the street as Max guns his car right at him. Johnny's briefly paralyzed… and Max drives right through him, as if he were a ghost. Johnny whips around just as there's the sound of a car raking alongside parked cars, an ugly thump… turns to see the car speeding away and Dana lying on the street… as the vision ends…)
[RESUME - JOHNNY - INT. SMITH HOUSE]
(Push to a close-up as he reacts…)
[EXT. DANA'S STREET - NIGHT - DANA'S CAB]
(Rounds the same corner Max's did, and continues up the street, passing Max's car. As it does, we match shots from Johnny's 'shard' flashes plus…)
[INT. MAX'S CAR – NIGHT]
(Max sees Dana in the cab, then turns off the country music and watches as the cab pulls over.)
[INT. CAB – NIGHT]
(Dana just sits in the back for a long beat, still depressed at the way the night ended. (And we intercut with Max as needed for tension.) Then she takes some bills out of her purse…)
[INT. MAX'S CAR – NIGHT]
(Max sees Dana getting out, turns on his engine. The cab pulls away, and Max pulls out his headlight switch.)
[EXT. STREET – DANA]
(Turns and shields her eyes as the headlights hit her, just as Johnny saw in his vision.)
[INT. MAX'S CAR - MAX'S FOOT]
(Max’s foot stomps the gas.)
[EXT. STREET - MAX'S CAR]
(Surges forward. But before he's gone more than ten yards, Walt's Cruiser, lights flashing, skids to a stop in front of him. Max stomps on the brakes, skidding to a stop as well, and before he can do anything else, Walt is at his window, gun out and leveled at Max's head.)
WALT: Turn off the ignition, then get out real slow, hands where I can see them.
(As she watches all this from a distance… a beat later…)
[JOHNNY'S JEEP]
(Johnny’s jeep roars around the corner… comes to a stop by Walt… who has Max out of the car and is cuffing him, as he glances over at Johnny in his Jeep. (Note: Johnny's cut hand has been hastily wrapped in a cloth napkin.))
WALT: Everything's under control. Thanks for the call.
(Johnny acknowledges, looks over at Dana who is shaken. Her eyes connect with his. She realizes that Johnny probably just saved her life. Johnny drives over and parks behind her car. He's still behind the wheel. For once in her life, she doesn't quite know what to say. Off her silent look…)
JOHNNY: You left before desert.
DANA: (words, no real meaning, as she studies him) I'm watching my figure.
JOHNNY: Naw, what kind of dinner would it be without desert?
(Johnny gets out of the jeep. Dana looks over to where Walt is shoving Max in the back of his cruiser.)
DANA: The lights… (In the vision)
JOHNNY: (nods) His. Not yours. (Re: bandaged hand) Required a broken plate to see the whole picture.
DANA: You were throwing plates after I left?
JOHNNY: Dropping not throwing.
DANA: Better.
(Max gives Dana a last angry look before Walt shuts the door.)
DANA: He scares me. But in a way, you know, you scare me more.
(And we're going to choose not to explain that line to the audience aloud but what she means by it that he's someone that might break through her defenses, touch her - to use the Johnny metaphor - in an intimate way and that scares the hell out of her. But she's willing to take the risk…)
DANA: C'mon. I've got a pint of Ben & Jerry's in my freezer. Desert's on me.
(She holds out her hand. And as Johnny takes it, and they walk away… we pull back and up to see Walt's car taking Max away… maybe hear some radio traffic about getting a tow truck out there to tow Max's car away… and as Johnny and Dana go inside…)
END OF ACT FOUR
THE END
