INT. LEILA'S LOFT -- NIGHT
Dr. Kirk admires the mobile in the living room, as
Leila returns.
DR KIRK: Asleep?
Leila nods. Kirk spins the sculpture.
DR. KIRK (cont.): This is nice. It's like a little
story.
LEILA: When Evy and I
were kids we used to think our father was an astronaut, 'cause there were always space
suits lying around. His real job was to make sure the visors on the helmets didn't steam
up.
DR. KIRK: Not everyone's a star.
A beat, as Leila moves to the couch.
LEILA: What's gonna happen to them? [note: about Red
and Jack, the kids]
DR KIRK: I don't know. I'll make some calls.
LEILA: I think they should stay here for a while.
It'll be good practice for me.
DR. KIRK: What about your... mission?
LEILA: I can postpone that. Still, I think Eddie's an
excellent choice. He can name almost every country.
DR. KIRK: And people are quick to criticize genetic
engineering.
LEILA: I'm serious.
DR. KIRK: All right, seriously then. I'd have to say
the... clown in question is not an excellent choice. Less than excellent, in fact.
Actually -- insane. Stupendously, mind-numbingly insane.
Rolling now...
DR. KIRK (cont.): You don't "practice" on
children, Leila. And you don't pick daddies off a Wheaties box. The only thing more
idiotic than letting that guy touch you is letting him father your child, and the only
thing dumber than that is you having a child in the first place.
Leila crosses to the corner.
LEILA: Is that a medical opinion?
DR. KIRK: No. Would you like one?
LEILA: Umm.
Kirk chases her as she moves over to the
"safety" of her mobile.
DR. KIRK: Life isn't a balance sheet, Leila. Babies
don't offset dead parents, and random... guys... don't make up for busted hearts. Look.
You didn't come to my office for positions or...pregnancy kits. You knew all that stuff
when you were fifteen.
LEILA: Really? Then why did I come.
DR. KIRK: For some sort of permission.
LEILA: I wasn't aware you needed a note from your
doctor to lose your virginity.
DR. KIRK: No. People manage to do that all the time.
But you want it nice and tidy. No fear.
LEILA: I do.
DR. KIRK: When I was about four, my mother was
pregnant with my little sister. She asked me if I wanted to touch her stomach and I burst
out crying. I thought she had swallowed a baby and that she was going to swallow me.
Leila turns her back on him and fiddles with the
mobile.
LEILA: So?
Close behind her... in her ear...
DR. KIRK: So she told me she loved me more than
anything and that I had nothing to be scared of.
Beat.
DR. KIRK (cont.): The reason I know -- I mean
absolutely know -- that you can love somebody again Leila... is that you're so completely
afraid to.
Leila starts to turn...
LEILA: Why are you doing this to me?
* * *
Well, there's your cliffhanger. There are some things it's
probably better not to know.
For Shalom Harlow and Jake Weber, on Thursday, the scene will be played out to the
end. Behind closed doors.
Thursday's shoot, wherein the two leads grapple with the
emotional crux of Cherry, is being shot on a closed set. Only
essential personnel are on hand. The object is to make the situation as safe as possible,
to allow the actors the greatest freedom to open themselves up, to indulge their
vulnerabilities.
So let's let them be. They have work to do.
Peter Kreutzer |
