ADAM (V.O.)
Do ghosts make their own rules? It should have occurred to me that Monika’s ghost wouldn’t be paralyzed; she didn’t need a wheelchair. Dead or alive, she had a thing about the bedsheets at the Jerome.
CLOSE-UP: on Matthew, hugging his bear to his chest; Monika lies facing him, her head on the same pillow. She tries to take his bear away from him; Monika is amused that, even when the boy is sleeping, he holds the bear tighter. Monika holds Matthew the way the boy is holding his bear, hugging him to her chest.
ADAM (V.O.)
How Monika had looked at Matthew gave me the shivers.
ANOTHER ANGLE: Monika, hugging Matthew, looks at Adam—wishing he would wake up and see her now. Adam goes on sleeping; he’s stuck in 1956, hearing Sam Cooke sing “You Send Me.”
ADAM (V.O.)
I was dreaming about that woman with the baby carriage. I knew I didn’t want to see her—not anymore.
“You Send Me” CONTINUES OVER.
ONSCREEN, CLOSE-UP: in black and white, a doorknob turns—first one way, then the other—but the door doesn’t open.
ADAM (V.O.)
I was more afraid of the woman with the baby carriage now that I knew she was not a ghost.
PULL BACK: beside the door is a hat rack with four or five duckbill caps, all the same, hanging from the hooks.
A WIDER ANGLE: the gun moll and the getaway driver are undressing on a bed, dropping their clothes on the bed or flinging them onto the floor of a small studio apartment. There’s a radio on the bedside table. In her bra and panties, kneeling on the bed, the moll manages to take off her bra and turn off the radio—no more Sam Cooke. The getaway driver is wearing only his boxer shorts, which the moll swiftly yanks down; for half a second, we see his little bare ass.
ADAM (V.O.)
And how would I recognize her now? The woman with the baby carriage would be in her late sixties.
CLOSER ON: the door to the apartment, as the driver’s boxers are flung onto the floor. The door opens, and the woman with the baby carriage pushes the carriage ahead of her as she comes inside, the door key clenched in her teeth.
ADAM (V.O.)
If the woman with the baby carriage was stalking Paul Goode, would my father recognize her now?
On the bed, the moll tries to cover herself, as does the little driver. The woman wheels the baby carriage up to the bed, staring down at them.
GETAWAY DRIVER
You coulda knocked, ya know.
WOMAN WITH THE CARRIAGE
You coulda put a note on the door—sayin’ you was busy, or somethin’. You gave me a key, ya know.
GUN MOLL
(to the driver)
You’re married? You have a baby?
WOMAN WITH THE CARRIAGE
(to the driver)
It’s your turn with the baby, little fella.
FADE TO BLACK. “You Send Me” suddenly starts playing again.
INT. BEDROOM, HOTEL JEROME. THAT SAME NIGHT.
As the Sam Cooke song abruptly stops, Adam’s eyes pop open. He’s staring at Monika, who’s holding Matthew in her arms.
CLOSER ON: Adam sits bolt upright in bed.
A WIDER ANGLE: Adam sees that Monika has disappeared, leaving Matthew uncovered in bed—still sleeping, still hugging his bear. Adam gets into the rollaway, pulling the sheet and blanket over himself and his son. Adam lies staring at Matthew.
ADAM (V.O.)
I was trying to convince myself that I’d only imagined the woman with the baby carriage in my attic bedroom, and at the back of the line at my book signings—just as I hoped I’d only imagined Monika in bed with Matthew.
SUPER: BREAKFAST AT THE JEROME, 1996
INT. BREAKFAST ROOM, HOTEL JEROME. NEXT MORNING.
CLOSE-UP: at a table for two, Otto and Billy are talking; they’re keeping their voices down.
OTTO
Has he given her the plane ticket?
BILLY
He’s goin’ to give her the ticket—that’s why we packed her suitcase.
OTTO
I know—it’s under the table.
(he looks under the table)
Why do it at breakfast?
BILLY
It leaves the rest of the day free—for skiin’, or somethin’. And there’s lots of flights, if she misses the first one.
CLOSE-UP: at a different table for two, Paul Goode and the tall young woman who was the basketball player in Rim Shot are in a standoff; they’re not talking to each other when Paul hands her a plane ticket.
OTTO (O.C.)
This is a big girl—she won’t be easy to carry.
BILLY (O.C.)
You won’t be carryin’ her far, just through the lobby and outside—the van to the airport will be there.
TALL YOUNG WOMAN
A plane ticket?
PAUL GOODE
First class—back to L.A.
TALL YOUNG WOMAN
You can’t tell me where to go!
PAUL GOODE
Your suitcase is packed. Just go.
A WIDER ANGLE: Billy has her coat over his arm; her suitcase is in his other hand. Otto is hovering nearby.
TALL YOUNG WOMAN
Your bodyguards touched my clothes!
She throws the plane ticket on the table as she stands. Paul picks up the ticket. When he stands, Paul barely comes up to her boobs. Otto picks her up—a low bear hug, at her waist, slinging her over his shoulder. A big girl.
Paul Goode gives Otto the plane ticket; opening his mouth, Otto takes the ticket between his teeth. The choreography of the exchange is too smooth for it to be the first time.
TALL YOUNG WOMAN
(to Paul)
You bastard!
INT. ELEVATOR, HOTEL JEROME. CONTINUOUS.
Clara Swift won’t look at Adam, who doesn’t look at her; Clara can’t stop looking at Matthew. The cowboy carrying his saddle eyes Grace.
ADAM
(explaining, to Matthew)
You and your mom will go skiing in the afternoon. You and I will go to my book signing this morning.
MATTHEW
Not a book signing.
ADAM
It won’t take long—not many readers!
GRACE
(to Adam)
I’m going to that dead skier’s gym—I’m just curious.
MATTHEW
She’s dead? She has a gym?
GRACE
It’s not her gym anymore, Matthew.
ADAM
(to Grace)
It was a shrine to Monika Behr when she was alive—I can’t imagine what it’s like now. You won’t like it, Grace—there’s no aerobic equipment. It’s strictly a gym for weight training.
INT. BREAKFAST ROOM, HOTEL JEROME. CONTINUOUS.
As Otto is carrying the tall young woman away, with Billy following, Adam and his family arrive for breakfast.
TALL YOUNG WOMAN
(screaming)
Bastards! You’re all bastards!
Billy and Otto recognize Adam; they nod to him as they pass. The bodyguards recognize Grace, too; she waves to them, breezily introducing herself to Paul.
GRACE
I met your bodyguards.
(offers her hand)
Grace—Grace Barrett. I use my maiden name as a publisher.
INT. LOBBY, HOTEL JEROME. CONTINUOUS.
As Otto carries the tall young woman through the lobby, with Billy following, some LA-DI-DA GUESTS are having coffee there. Jerome B. Wheeler, pouring coffee for the still-bleeding Aspen volunteer, gives Otto and Billy a reproving look.
TALL YOUNG WOMAN
Pricks! You’re all pricks!
INT. BREAKFAST ROOM, HOTEL JEROME. CONTINUOUS.
Adam and his family have joined Paul at a larger table. Grace has what she wants, an introduction to Paul Goode.
GRACE
(to Paul)
Was she your co-star in Rim Shot?
TALL YOUNG WOMAN (O.C.)
(distant screaming)
Pricks and bastards—all of you!
PAUL GOODE
She wasn’t having a good time here—L.A. is more her kind of town.
(he keeps looking at Adam)
You were on the Loge Peak chair.
ADAM
(offers his hand)
Adam—Adam Brewster. I didn’t want to remind you…