Leaving Las Vegas Page #4

CUT TO:

11 INT. SMART BUSINESS SPACE - MORNING

Ben sitting at a desk with a phone wedged on his ear, a cup

of black coffee on the desk. The walls are covered with

framed film posters and one complete wall has shelves jammed

with scripts. He nods from time to time and sometimes says

�yes� or �OK�, but it becomes clear that there is no one on

the other end. He drinks from the coffee cup. A woman comes

up to his desk, a business colleague. She puts a wad of

messages down on the desk.

BEN:

Yeah, but what�s the back end

like? By the time we�re

through with P and A, the

above-the line is going to

take it to about fifteen and

with something like this... I

don�t know if Disney will go

for it... can I call you back

on this? OK... chow for now.

(to the woman)

Good morning.

WOMAN:

(cautious)

Ben... Mr. Simpson was looking

for you. I said that you had

a doctor�s appointment. He

said for you to go in as soon

as... are you OK?

BEN:

(pulling himself together)

I�m fantastic, but I gotta go

out now... very important

meeting, could make a coupla

million for the company.

Ben gets up and as he passes her he grabs her and dances a

few steps. It is clear that she likes Ben, but when his face

gets close to hers she smells the alcohol on his breath and

she turns away. Ben stops dancing and smiles sadly.

WOMAN:

(tender)

Ben?

BEN:

What?

WOMAN:

You should go now.

She leaves the room and Ben goes through some routine at the

desk. He opens a drawer of a filing cabinet and puts in his

whole arm, looking for something at the very back. He pulls

out a small vodka bottle and opens it and then pours the

contents into his coffee cup. With cup in hand he leaves the

room.

CUT TO:

12 INT. SMART OFFICE - DAY

Ben is sitting opposite his boss, Mr. Simpson, who is very

upset. He hands Ben an envelope. Ben opens it and pulls out a

check. He looks at the amount.

BEN:

(genuinely moved)

This is to generous Peter.

SIMPSON:

(close to tears)

Well... we liked having you

around, Ben, but you know how

it is.

BEN:

(ashamed)

Sure thing... and I�m sorry.

Ben takes a swig from his coffee cup.

SIMPSON:

(trying to cheer things along)

Well... what are you going to

do now?

BEN:

I thought I might move out to

Las Vegas.

Simpson looks puzzled.

BEN:

The bars never close.

CUT TO:

13 INT. BEN�S BMW � DAY

Ben drives though Beverly Hills. He pours the content of a

small bottle of vodka into an empty Coke can, puts the empty

bottle under the seat and then drinks from the can.

He slips a tape into the player and we hear �Lonely

Teardrops�, by Michael McDonald, one of Ben�s favorite songs.

At a traffic light a cop on a bike pulls up next to him and

Ben takes a pull from the Coke can and smiles, mouths the

word �hot�. The cop nods back at him, the light changes and

they both pull away.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes