Authors: C.Y. Dillon
HARMONIA
Honesty. No secrets.
CHIEKO
That's what I like about you. Your
willingness to be vulnerable. It
shows fearlessness.
HARMONIA
Why did I fantasize about the
bartender?
CHIEKO
It doesn't matter why. It's what's
so. You did. Period. And it bothers
you that you did.
HARMONIA
I said I wouldn't.
CHIEKO
You said you wouldn't and you did.
I got it. Anything else?
HARMONIA
I like him. Why?
They look at each other - 'it doesn't matter why' - and laugh.
HARMONIA
That is a beautiful dress!
She takes a dress off the rack and admires it. It's a little black rayon dress with dragonflies all over it.
CHIEKO
It's you.
Harmonia buys the dress.
INT. DELTA QUEEN LOUNGE - NIGHT
Harmonia wears the new dress and dances with Eric. The Bartender watches them while he works. Harmonia checks to see if the Bartender is watching her.
The song changes to a slow one. Eric smiles and opens his arms, an invitation. Harmonia glances at the Bartender. He is looking at her. The moment she looks his way, he looks down, busies himself.
She declines Eric's invitation to slow-dance.
INT. BARTENDER'S CABIN - NIGHT
The Bartender (Orion) lies in bed, hugging a pillow. He stares at the ceiling, half conscious, drifting.
ORION'S FANTASY:
Harmonia lies in his arms, both fully clothed.
HARMONIA
I don't know when I lost my will to
live. No, I do. I know exactly
when.
He kisses her temple.
HARMONIA
It was 2001. After that I was an
automaton and I didn't care.
BARTENDER
Were you aware?
HARMONIA
That I was an automaton and I didn't
care? Yes. And I couldn't make
myself care.
He lifts her hand in his and studies it.
BARTENDER
About anything? You have beautiful
hands.
HARMONIA
You almost sound like him. He looks
at hands every day. He's a poker
dealer. People are hands.
BARTENDER
Are you still mad at him?
HARMONIA
I can never stay mad at him. I try.
Real hard.
The Bartender takes a silver ring off his little finger. He slips it onto Harmonia's ring finger. It's far too big.
HARMONIA
What are you doing?
He tries the middle finger. Too big.
HARMONIA
Are you falling in love with me?
You shouldn't. I'm in love with
him.
He tries the thumb. It fits.
BARTENDER
He's a fantasy, the man you think
you love.
Harmonia admires the ring. It's an artistic braided design.
HARMONIA
I've always like silver better than
gold.
BARTENDER
You prefer fantasy to reality.
She sits up and gives him a queer expression.
HARMONIA
We all live in our heads.
She stands and stares out the window.
BARTENDER
Stuck in my reality.
He reaches for her and pulls her back into his arms. She lays next to him and admires the ring on her thumb.
HARMONIA
You don't mind?
He laughs.
BARTENDER
Competing with my own fantasy? It's
the story of my life.
HARMONIA
And every other man's really.
Sometimes a fantasy of himself is a
man's worst competition.
BARTENDER
Or best.
She kisses his cheek.
HARMONIA
Friends.
She takes the ring off and puts it on his little finger.
BARTENDER
Why did you say yes?
There is a knock at the door. The Bartender opens it. A server delivers lunch on a tray. The Bartender gives the server a generous tip on the way out.
He feeds Harmonia.
HARMONIA
You aren't the manipulative type.
He takes a bite of salad and contemplates.
BARTENDER
Did you see the Seinfeld episode
where Costanza decides to do the
opposite of everything he normally
would do?
HARMONIA
Yes.
She opens her mouth like a baby bird. He teases her. She snatches the salad off the fork. She talks with food in her
mouth.
HARMONIA
That's the very thing I did. That's
why I'm here now.
BARTENDER
Here with me? Normally you wouldn't
do what?
He tears a bread roll apart and butters it. He feeds her.
HARMONIA
Here on this boat. Meeting a man
I'm in love with and haven't met.
Choosing to love him unconditionally.
BARTENDER
The choice of him was against your
grain in the first place?
HARMONIA
It was.
He reacts, stunned and curious.
HARMONIA
I had my sights set much higher.
And what I was after was within reach,
too. I merely had to go for it.
BARTENDER
I was wondering. I thought you had
low self esteem.
HARMONIA
There is no such thing.
He pours coffee.
HARMONIA
Lots of milk and a sprinkle of the
blue stuff.
He prepares her coffee. She sits up.
BARTENDER
No such thing as low self esteem?
HARMONIA
It's a way we delude ourselves. We
buy into the idea because it allows
us to focus attention on ourselves.
BARTENDER
Aha. Guilt free.
HARMONIA
Slave morality.
BARTENDER
Nietzche.
She smiles.
HARMONIA
That's why I said yes.
EXT. DELTA QUEEN SUN DECK - NIGHT
The boat moves southbound on the Mississippi. Chieko and Harmonia sit on the deck with coffee cups.
CHIEKO
Did he try?
HARMONIA
Only to entice me.
CHIEKO
You've got to respect that.
Harmonia nods in agreement.
HARMONIA
He put a ring on my finger.
Chieko checks her hands, questioning.
HARMONIA
His ring. It fit my thumb. His
fingers are thick.
Harmonia gets a dreamy look. Chieko slaps her knee.
They both laugh. They catch themselves, look at each other,
and bust out again. They simultaneously say "myth!"
CHIEKO
What's your next move?
END ORION'S FANTASY
INT. DELTA QUEEN LOUNGE - DAY
The Captain sits at the bar with an almost empty bottle of water. The Bartender finishes with a customer and wipes the
counter in front of the Captain.
CAPTAIN
You should tell her.
The Bartender shakes is head.
CAPTAIN
I think it's a mistake.
BARTENDER
It's the only way to know.
CAPTAIN
Not knowing is more fun. You're
both backwards. You already have
something special. What you're doing
now is making it ordinary.
Mike sits next to the Captain. The Captain leaves.
CAPTAIN
Talk some sense into this fool.
The Bartender sets a beer in front of Mike.
MIKE
What's that about?
The Bartender shrugs.
MIKE
What's the score?
BARTENDER
Reality zero. Fantasy two.
TITLE ON BLACK: "ACE OF HEARTS"
EXT. RURAL ROAD - NIGHT
Orion, much younger, stands alone. A classic V8 Chevy leaves him in a cloud of dust. A WOMAN is at the helm.
Orion mops his eyes with his forearm. He removes a cap revealing his full head of hair.
ORION (V. O. )
Let me go with you.
He stares into the tail lights as she accelerates away from him.
INT. CLASSIC V8 CHEVY - NIGHT
The woman driving has an 80's hairstyle and clothing. She turns on the radio. STATIC and a country western station, she passes, keeps turning the dial.
Her expression is as placid as a Canadian lake in winter.
She glances at Orion in the rearview mirror.
WOMAN (V. O. )