EXT. The Verona Apartments – NIGHT
The Eve of trash pick-up day has left the sidewalk riddled with litter and bombarded with massive bags, filled to the brim with waste, on the verge of spilling their contents all over the neighborhood as they rest inside the silver cans on front street. It’s quiet out, except for a car alarm here, a stray cat there, a crying baby somewhere. Streetlamps blanket the sidewalk with fluorescent lights. A lone person sits on the stairs, obscuring the light from its proper place and casting a shadow over other steps. This person is REESE GECKO. Poor guy looks dejected. Sitting with his feet on the next step, he rests one elbow on his knee, so that his hand can cradle his chin and wears a mask of uncertainty. Brown, sad eyes hide behind those big plastic rims of his. He’s sitting off to the side, so if anyone should need to exit, they won’t be as inconvenienced as he. He looks down at his watch.
CUT TO:
A close-up of his swatch watch. It reads 8:37 p.m.
Reese sighs as the front door of the complex opens. He’s suddenly immersed in the harsh light of cheap bulbs. He doesn’t acknowledge it. He’s too busy wallowing. It’s ANGEL, toting a heavy duty garbage bag with the handles tied. She jumps back at the sight of the man, and then sighs in relief.
He turns and looks at her, shielding the light with his hand. His expression hasn’t changed much.
Then, he turns back to the ground. Angel closes the door and darkness returns. She starts walking down the stairs.
Angel raises the lid of one can and disposes of her trash. She walks over and sits next to him.
Angel makes a “whoa” face.
They’re silent for awhile. A police siren wails in the distance.
He holds up two fingers.
He touches one finger and puts it down.
He touches the other and then folds it down.
He stops to think.
He stops mid-sentence and brightens a bit.
Reese smiles.
INT. TORETTO THEATER – NIGHT
The theater is smoky, dark and scarce with people. Angel and Reese sit close in the theater’s cramped seats. Reese is all into the screen, feeling the suspense. In his lap is a bucket of yellow, buttery popcorn; he occasionally tries to sneak handfuls without distracting his ears and eyes from the screen. Angel’s caught up in it too, cautiously sipping on her Coke. On the screen, a pale and thin (but strangely beautiful) woman shouts in a foreign language (with subtitles) as a shrill howling noise accompanies the swirling air around her.
She opens it anyway and screams at the screeching black hole behind it.
CUT TO:
Reese and Angel.
Angel shushes him, while nibbling on a red vine.
Angel shushes him again.
EXT. SMOKY CITY SIDEWALK – NIGHT
Reese and Angel walk down the street, engaged in conversation. Their conversation cannot be heard, but Reese is very animated and passionate in whatever he’s talking about.
INT. NADINE’S CAFÉ – NIGHT
CU:
Two slices of cheesecake on separate small plates, together on the same tray as a waitress carries them through a bustling restaurant.
Glimpses of hipsters, ravers and general cool cats and the like are seen sitting in booths and at tables picking at their selected meals and chatting away. Not much of the interior is seen, but its vibrant wall colors shine through. As the pie reaches its destination, a conversation is beginning to be picked up.
As the plates are set down, Reese and Angel are shown sitting in the booth, Reese on one side, Angel across from him, embroiled in conversation. Once again, we cannot hear the conversation, but Reese is awfully excited.
INT. THE FIFTH FLOOR OF THE VERONA APARTMENTS - NIGHT
Reese and Angel exit the stairwell and walk down the corridor to their respective dwellings. Reese makes a beeline for his room and shuts the door. Angel looks on in confusion. A ringing telephone behind her door breaks up her thoughts.
INT. TEAM SCREAM’S APARTMENT – NIGHT
Angel puts her keys on a table next to the door and takes off her coat. The phone rings furiously.
She decides to answer the wall phone in the kitchen, but the moment she reaches for it, it stops ringing. Through the power of answering machines, Reese’s voice fills the apartment.
…
BEEP
Soundtrack:
“Lonesome Town” – Ricky Nelson
“He Needs Me” – Shelly Duvall