Obsession Page #3

---

Will you come with me?

Well, okay, if it'd

make you feel better.

Oh, my God.

- You sure you're gonna be all right?

- Yeah, I'll be fine.

- I just need a few days.

- All right.

You take real good care

of yourself now.

Thanks, Bob.

Oh, that's all right.

I speak English.

You are American?

You like the Madonna?

It was painted in 1328...

by Bernardo Daddi.

That's early Renaissance.

- You a student?

- No.

I used to be...

what do you call it?

Bilingual secretary.

Then one day I read

about the restoration project...

and I said, "Sandra,

the Madonna needs you."

So I quit my dull job,

and here I am...

an art historian.

I can't think of anything

more important.

Well, at least they don't

holler and scream at you...

when you talk to strange men.

What do you do?

I'm in land development,

real estate.

Ah. Well, that sounds important.

It's not.

My name is Courtland.

Michael Courtland.

Happy to meet you.

I'm Sandra.

Sandra Portinari.

You've been doing this work

a long time?

Oh, I'm not doing the restoration.

I'm just a workman.

But I prepare everything

for the specialist.

You see, several years ago...

long after the floods...

moisture seeped into a portion

of the altarpiece...

and it began to peel...

revealing an older painting

underneath.

Then the art scholars

had to decide what to do.

Should they remove and destroy

a great painting by Daddi...

to uncover what appears to be

a crude first draft underneath it?

Or should they restore

the original...

but never know for sure

what lies beneath it?

What would you do?

Hold on to it.

Beauty should be protected.

Good. That is what

the scholars decided to do.

Now you have a free lecture,

and you don't have to read the brochure.

I wondered if I might...

repay you for your lecture...

and ask you to dinner somewhere.

You don't understand.

Dinner can be

a pretty serious affair here.

Lunch. I know a place nearby.

Signor, I thought it was the Italian men

who picked up the American women.

All right. Lunch.

But I have to work another

hour and a half before I go.

I'll wait.

So you were in Florence before?

A long time ago.

I was stationed near here

after the war.

I wasn't even born,

but my mother often told me...

how hard times were then.

You live with your mother?

Not anymore. I have an apartment

near Ponte Vecchio.

But I was raised by my mother.

My father deserted us

a long time ago.

That's sad.

What was Florence like

during the Occupation?

Confused.

I'm really not an expert

on the Occupation.

My mind is elsewhere.

I met my wife there.

Oh, the plot thickens.

Let us sit and tell sad tales...

about deserted daughters

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes