When Harry Met Sally (4 page)

SECOND WOMAN
    He was just the same. He looked exactly the same.

FADE OUT
.

FADE IN:

INT. LA GUARDIA AIRPORT—DAY

IT'S FIVE YEARS LATER
.
A couple in a clinch
.

The woman is Sally at twenty-six. She looks great, she's a stylish young woman
.

She's
kissing a very attractive man, although it's not that easy to see him at the moment. His name is JOE
.

Harry is coming down the hallway of the airline terminal. He's wearing a suit and tie and trench coat; he has a kind of attractive-but-rumpled demeanor. He notices the couple kissing. Goes past them. Then stops. Backs up. He recognizes them
.

They're still kissing
.

Harry cornes closer, peers at the two of them from slightly too close. It's not easy to see either of their faces
.

Finally, Sally and Joe become aware that someone is standing nearby, and they stop kissing to look at Harry
.

HARRY
    Joe—I thought it was you. I thought it was you!
(shaking hands)
Harry Burns.

JOE
    Harry, Harry, how ya doing?

HARRY
    Good. How you doing?

JOE
    I'm just fine. I'm doing fine.

HARRY
    I was just walking by, and I thought it was you, and here it is, it's you.

JOE
    Yeah, yeah, it was.

HARRY
    You still with the D.A.'s Office?

JOE
    No, I switched to the other side.

HARRY
    Oh.

JOE
    What about you?

HARRY
    I'm working with this small company, doing political consulting.

JOE
    Oh yeah?

HARRY
    Yeah, it's been great. Yeah.

Joe nods. Harry nods. An awkward pause. Sally just standing there, wondering if Harry remembers her
.

JOE
    Oh Harry, this is Sally Albright. Harry Burns.

Harry nods and smiles
.

JOE
    (
CONT'D
)    Harry and I used to live in the same building.

Sally nods. Harry knows he's seen her someplace but he can't remember where
.

HARRY
    Well, listen, I got a plane to catch. It was really good to see you, Joe.

JOE
    You too, Harry.

HARRY
    
(to Sally)
    Bye.

Harry starts down the long corridor for his plane. Joe and Sally look at each other
.

SALLY
    Thank God he couldn't place me. I drove from college to New York with him five years ago and it was the longest night of my life.

JOE
    What happened?

SALLY
    He made a pass at me, and when I said no—he was going with a girlfriend of mine—oh God, I can't remember her name. Don't get involved with me, Joe, I'm twenty-six years old and I can't even remember the name of the girl I was such good friends with that I wouldn't get involved with her boyfriend.

JOE
    So what happened?

SALLY
    When?

JOE
    When he made a pass at you and you said no.

SALLY
    Uh … I said we could just be friends, and—this part I remember—he said men and women could never really be friends.

Joe smiles, shakes his head
.

SALLY
    (
CONT'D
)    Do you think that's true?

JOE
    No.

SALLY
    Do you have any women friends? Just friends?

JOE
    No, but I'll get one if it's important to you.

Sally smiles, then she and Joe move close to kiss. Suddenly Sally pulls back
.

SALLY
    Amanda Reese. Thank God.

JOE
    I'm going to miss you.
(beat)
I love you.

SALLY
    
(it's the first time he's said it)
    You do?

JOE
    Yes.

SALLY
    I love you.

They kiss
.

CUT TO
:

INT. AIRPLANE—DAY
The plane is in flight, en route from New York to Washington
.

Sally is in a middle seat in a crowded all-coach plane. She has
The New York Times
on her lap, but she's staring into the middle distance, a little smile on her face
.

There's a MAN ON THE AISLE next to her
.

In the row in back of her, in the aisle seat, is Harry. His head pops up
.

Sally starts to read the newspaper. The Man on the Aisle looks up at Harry, who's still looming over him, trying to place Sally. Harry pops down
.

The STEWARDESS comes down the aisle with the drink cart
.

STEWARDESS
    And what would you like to drink?

SALLY
    Do you have any Bloody Mary mix?

STEWARDESS
    Yes.

She starts to pour
.

SALLY
    No, wait. Here's what I want. Regular tomato juice, filled about three quarters, and add a splash of Bloody Mary mix, just a splash, and …

Harry's head starts to rise again
.

SALLY
    (
CONT'D
)    … a little piece of lime, but on the side.

HARRY
    The University of Chicago, right?

Sally turns, sees Harry, then turns back around
.

SALLY
    Yes.

HARRY
    Did you look this good at the University of Chicago?

SALLY
    No.

HARRY
    
(he's being mischievous here)
    Did we ever—?

SALLY
    
(laughing; she can't believe him)
    No. No!
(to Man on the Aisle)
We drove from Chicago to New York together after graduation.

The Man on the Aisle has been listening and watching all this
.

MAN ON THE AISLE
    
(to Harry)
    Would you two like to sit together?

SALLY
    NO.

HARRY
    Great! Thank you.

Harry and the Man on the Aisle change seats and Harry sits down next to Sally
.

HARRY
    (
CONT'D
)    You were a friend of … um …

He can't remember her name
.

SALLY
    Amanda's. I can't believe you can't remember her name.

HARRY
    What do you mean? I can remember. Amanda. Right? Amanda Rice.

SALLY
    Reese.

HARRY
    Reese, right. That's what I said. Whatever happened to her?

SALLY
    I have no idea.

HARRY
    You have no idea? You were really good friends with her. We didn't make it because you were such good friends.

SALLY
    You went with her.

HARRY
    And was it worth it? This sacrifice for a friend you haven't even kept in touch with?

SALLY
    Harry, you might not believe this, but I never considered not sleeping with you a sacrifice.

HARRY
    Fair enough, fair enough.

After a beat:

HARRY
    (
CONT'D
)    You were going to be a gymnast.

SALLY
    A journalist.

HARRY
    Right, that's what I said. And?

SALLY
    I'm a journalist. I work at the
News
.

HARRY
    Great. And you're with Joe.

Sally nods
.

HARRY
    (
CONT'D
)    Well, that's great. Great. You're together—what—three weeks?

SALLY
    A month. How did you know that?

HARRY
    You take someone to the airport, it's clearly the beginning of a relationship. That's why I've never taken anyone to the airport at the beginning of a relationship.

SALLY
    Why?

HARRY
    Because eventually things move on and you don't take someone to the airport, and I never wanted anyone to say to me, “How come you never take me to the airport anymore?”

SALLY
    It's amazing. You look like a normal person, but actually you're the Angel of Death.

HARRY
    Are you going to marry him?

SALLY
    We've only known each other a month, and
besides, neither one of us is looking to get married right now.

HARRY
    I'm getting married.

SALLY
    You are?

HARRY
    
(matter-of-factly)
    Um-hmm.

SALLY
    
You
are?

HARRY
    Yeah.

SALLY
    Who is she?

HARRY
    Helen Hillson. She's a lawyer. She's keeping her name.

SALLY
    
(shakes her head)
    You're getting married.

She laughs
.

HARRY
    Yeah. What's so funny about it?

SALLY
    It's just so optimistic of you, Harry.

HARRY
    Well, you'd be amazed what falling madly in love can do for you.

SALLY
    Well, it's wonderful. It's nice to see you embracing life in this manner.

HARRY
    Yeah, plus, you know, you just get to a certain point where you get tired of the whole thing.

SALLY
    What whole thing?

HARRY
    The whole life-of-a-single-guy thing. You meet someone, you have the safe lunch, you decide you like each other enough to move on to dinner, you go dancing, you do the white man's overbite, you go back to her place, you have sex, and the minute you're finished, you know what goes through your mind?
(Sally shakes her head no)
How long do I have to lie here and hold her before I can get up and go home? Is thirty seconds enough?

SALLY
    That's what you're thinking? Is that true?

HARRY
    Sure. All men think that. How long do you like to be held afterwards? All night, right? See, that's the problem. Somewhere between thirty seconds and all night is your problem.

SALLY
    I don't have a problem.

HARRY
    Yeah you do.

CUT TO:

EXT. NATIONAL AIRPORT—DAY
As the plane lands
.

INT. NATIONAL AIRPORT—DAY
Harry and Sally are on a moving sidewalk, Harry several steps behind Sally. He makes his way past the other passengers to stand by her
.

HARRY
    Staying over?

SALLY
    Yes.

HARRY
    Would you like to have dinner?

Sally looks at him suspiciously
.

HARRY
    (
CONT'D
)    Just friends.

SALLY
    I thought you didn't believe men and women could be friends.

HARRY
    When did I say that?

SALLY
    On the ride to New York.

HARRY
    No, no, no, no. I never said that.
(reconsiders)
Yes, that's right. They can't be friends …
(figuring this out)
… unless both of them are involved with other people. Then they can. This is an amendment to the earlier rule. If the two people are in relationships, the pressure of possible involvement is lifted.
(thinking this over)
That doesn't work either. Because what happens then, the person you're involved with
doesn't understand why you need to be friends with the person you're just friends with, like it means something is missing from the relationship and you have to go outside to get it. Then when you say, “No, no, no, it's not true, nothing is missing from the relationship,” the person you're involved with then accuses you of being secretly attracted to the person you're just friends with, which you probably are—I mean, come on, who the hell are we kidding, let's face it—which brings us back to the earlier rule before the amendment, that men and women can't be friends. So where does that leave us?

SALLY
    Harry—

HARRY
    What?

SALLY
    Goodbye.

HARRY
    Okay.

They look at each other. Though they have said goodbye, they are now in that awkward place of still going in the same direction next to each other on the moving sidewalk. After a beat:

HARRY
    (
CONT'D
)    I'll just stop walking, I'll let you go ahead.

FADE OUT
.

FADE IN:

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