Other People (A Screenplay)

Other People (A Screenplay by Muriel Palanca)

Summary: A girl gets ready for a date. She has an imaginary conversation with her future soul mate.

Words on screen: Just remember, your soulmate is out there

Words fade in after: …fucking other people.

Background Music: Slow Show by The National

Camera: Wide shot. We see silhouette of a girl behind frosted shower glass and an empty bathroom.

Camera: POV girl in the shower. Her hair is up in a bun. This is a quick shower, just a body rinse. She is looking at her razor and trying to decide…  

Him: You know you want to.

Camera: POV of glass from inside the shower. A silhouette of a man has appeared on the other side. The girl is not surprised at the sudden arrival of this character and continues to speak.

Me: What? What do I want to do?

Him: Shave.

Me: And that’s where you’re wrong. Because if I shave, it means my body is ready. And I want to make him wait. If I don’t shave, I’m probably not going to fuck him. Because I wouldn’t want him to go down on Jumanji. I’m a classy lady, after all. Or at least I try…

Him: You said “probably” not going to fuck him. Which means there’s a chance you will any way. So you might as well be prepared. Do you remember the time-

Me: Okay! Ok…fine, you’re right. I’ll shave.

*She grabs the razor and gets to work.*

Him: No, You are right. Because I’m in your head as usual whenever you’re about to go on a date.

Me: I wish you weren’t.

Him: You’re the one who keeps imagining me.

Me: I mean, I wish you weren’t in my head. I wish you were here, now. I wish I was going on a date with you instead of this guy.

Him: We’ll go on plenty of dates. But you need to get ready for this one. He’ll be here in fifteen minutes and you don’t even know what to wear.

Camera: She comes out of the shower into empty bathroom. Cutaway to sink. She starts brushing her teeth. Cut back to bathroom. His silhouette is on the other side of the frosted shower glass.

Me: I’m going to wear my tank top and shorts. We’re just going to a casual dinner and movie.

Him: You might as well not shave then. You’re gonna look like a hobo crawling out of the gym after an hour of no-gi training. Even I wouldn’t want to fuck you looking like that.

Me: Shut up, you still would-

Him: Yeah, I totally would-

Me: -And if he can’t take me at my worst, he doesn’t deserve me at my best

Him: -But it’s ok for you to try a little.

*She glances at the make-up bag and starts to walk out the bathroom.*

Him: You can have it done in five minutes. I want you to feel like those pretty girls that get to go to the ball. *She snickers, rolls her eyes and backtracks* A little perfume and lipstick won’t hurt either.

*She puts make-up on and smiles at herself in the mirror. She feels pretty. She glances at his silhouette behind the shower glass. The smile fades. She walks out of the bathroom*

Camera: She is at the closet deciding between her Bali MMA tank top and a bright yellow dress. She ultimately picks the dress.

Camera: Wide shot. She comes to the bed, takes towel off and starts dressing. We see her from behind taking up 2/3 of frame. We see only his back on the far right of the frame. He is sitting at the edge of the bed.

Him: I like that dress. You look like a little ray of sunshine.

Me: (hesitates) Sometimes I feel like I’m cheating on you. What if you don’t like me because of all the people I was with before you?

Him: Do you want to hear a joke that’s not really a joke?

Me: …Sure.

Him: (clears throat dramatically) Ahem…a Greek man, Serbian man, Brazilian man, French man and English man all come into a bar. But it’s not a bar. It’s you. Over the last few weeks. By the way, don’t forget condoms.

Me: (pauses then laughs hard) You’re such an ass. (grabs condoms from drawer)

Him: What do you think I’m doing right now?

Me: (laughs) I think you’re out there somewhere… thinking longingly of me… and fucking other people. (both laugh) What’s your type anyway?

Him: You. But I’m an equal opportunity lover until then.  

Me: Ok so right now, you’re getting it on with a gorgeous German headhunter, or a badass black girl, or a cute blonde at work. Or maybe it’s another Asian girl because you have a slight Asian fetish- but when you meet me and I call you out on it, you’re going to insist it’s not true even though your last two exes were Asian. But I see a trend.

Him: Ha! Fine, I’ll let you have it. But if I did fuck all those other girls, would you hold it against me?

Me: (matter of fact) No, I wouldn’t.

Him: And why is that?

Camera: She finishes dressing and comes to the edge of the bed. She sits next to him. We see only a sliver of his body in the shot. No face.

Me: Because…(pauses to think)

*This is important. She wants to say what she means.*

Me: Because I know how it feels to miss you so damn much. I know how it feels to look for you in every person I meet and how disappointed I am when it’s not. And I’m desperate to connect to someone so I give pieces of myself to good looking guys who can’t hold a conversation, or talk too much about themselves, or are afraid of commitment or are emotionally unavailable or who come in two minutes and leave right after. If you’re doing right now what I’ve been doing for the last few years, it must really suck. So no, I wouldn’t hold it against you.

Him: And I’m not going to hold it against you.

Camera: Wide shot. We see her sitting on the edge of the bed, face in her hands. The air is heavy yet the space feels as empty as ever.

Her: (sighs) I’m so tired of this bullshit. *She breaks*

Him: Baby, don’t cry. You’ll ruin your make-up and you’ll have to do it over again. You don’t want to keep him waiting, do you?

Camera: Close up of her face. A hand wipes her tear. Camera pulls back. She is alone in the room.

Me: (frustration) Why do you keep me waiting? Why aren’t you here right now?

Him: Because it would ruin the surprise.

Me: You know I don’t like surprises. I’ll look up the spoilers to movies before we go see them. And as much as I’ll want to talk to you about it, I’ll keep my mouth shut until the movie ends, but I’ll be dying to tell you.

Him: I know, and I’m going to love you for it. All of it.

Camera: POV from above. We see just his side on the far right of the frame. From seated position, she lets her back fall to the bed next to him. Her legs are dangling off the edge of the bed off screen and we see the top half of their bodies.

Me: (Barely above a whisper) I’m always homesick for you. And when I’m in bed with someone else, I still feel lonely even if I’m not alone.

Camera: Close up of their hands. Her cell phone is also in the lower half of the frame, a few inches away. She slowly moves her hand closer to his hand until her knuckles graze his, then stops.

Camera: POV from above. She looks over and speaks to him directly.

Me: Tell me not to sleep with this guy who isn’t you. Tell me to take the make-up off, crawl into my bed and read until I fall asleep. Tell me to stay where I am until you get here.

Him: I won’t do that.

Me: Why?

Him: You know why. Say it for me.

Camera: Wide shot of both on bed. Her face says it all. She is so incredibly tired of bullshit. Tired of the dead ends and lonely nights. Tired of missing someone she’s never met. Slowly zoom in on her face as she speaks.

Me: (slowly) We need to have these experiences and learn the hard way so we can be the people we’re supposed to be. We need to make mistakes so we can make the right decisions later. We need to meet the wrong partners so we can appreciate having each other even when it gets hard. We need to learn a thousand ways NOT to make a lightbulb. And…

Camera: Close-up of their hands. He gently curls his fingers around her hand and she holds onto him like a lifeline.

Me: And I need to be broken with other people so I can be my best when I finally belong to you.

Music: Slow Show is still playing in the background. In edit: Increase audio of bridge at this point. “You know I dreamed about you for twenty-nine years before I saw you. You know I dreamed about you. I missed you for twenty-nine years.”

Camera: A breath of a moment focusing on their hands. The phone lights up and vibrates. It’s her date. She let’s go of his hand and answers. We hear her brief conversation and his hand moves out of frame.

Me: Hey! Yeah, I’m ready. Be down in a minute.

Camera: POV from outside the open door. We see her in the foreground grabbing last minute items. His silhouette is in the background.

Him: Go get him babe! Try and have some fun. I mean that.

Me: Thanks! *frazzled but ready*

Him: You look beautiful.

Me: Hey babe… *pauses at the door*

Him: Yeah?

Me: Just… Hurry up, will you? I miss you.

Him: I will, I promise. I’m coming as fast as I can.

*His silhouette fades. With one last smile, she turns off the lights and walks out the door.*

END

 *This is not proper form for a screenplay. Artistic liberties were taken for the purpose of expression and entertainment