Warmed and Bound: A Velvet Anthology (14 page)

Headshot

by
Gordon Highland

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

STEADICAM through posh, modern furnishings inhabiting a spacious 1970s floor plan. SOFT JAZZ suffuses the room, its vinyl crackling along with the fireplace casting amber hues on the suede furniture, wildlife paintings, and taxidermy. A GRAND PIANO with no sheet music props up many FRAMED PHOTOS of celebrities, each with their arm around the same man (40s), always in gold aviator shades and spiky salt-and-pepper hair. LAUGHTER and VOICES slowly fade in O.S.

FEMALE VOICE

Besides, everybody does June. Too hard to find a place.

MALE VOICE

How ’bout right here, then? Set it up out back. Erect that thingy, the hoopla, whatever it’s called.

FEMALE VOICE

(laughing)

Huppah!

INT. DINING ROOM - CONTINUOUS

The man of the voice and photos, SAM DAWES, sporting a grey blazer over an emerald-green shirt, charms his companion by summoning phlegm to imitate her Hebrew.

SAMMY

Hchchuppah.

The woman, CARI (30s), elegant and dressed for her sexual prime in a burgundy camisole, raises her wine glass in mock-toast to his effort. They sit adjacent at the far end of a long table, CANDLES burning and spent linen topping their dinner plates. It could be a jewelry commercial. Looks exchange, the arch of his brow and her bitten lip suggesting the carnality to come.

EXT. HOUSE - THAT MOMENT

HANDHELD POV outside the window. Darkness vignettes the warm, MUFFLED dining-room scene as the couple converses whimsically. Tree limbs rake the f.g., WIND rustling through them. Sam puts one hand over Cari’s, then pulls her close with his other for a kiss. WHIP to CAR HEADLIGHTS piercing the night and pulling into the driveway. The gate is already open. The car stops, then reverses back the way it came. WHIP to the window again and the couple is gone.

INT. KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER

Vised between the black stockings of Cari’s thighs, a high-tech CORKSCREW atop a wine bottle resists her efforts. Sam scrolls his CELL PHONE screen and swipes a finger through the hummus dish on the counter, licking it.

CARI

(re: corkscrew)

I can’t believe you -- er, we -- have one of these.

SAM

Careful. Eric Roberts gave me that.

He steps behind her and guides her hands. She purrs and tosses her auburn hair to expose her neck, which he nuzzles.

CARI

You
like
screwing from behind, dontcha?

SAM

How many more glasses you think that would take?

INT. LIVING ROOM - THAT MOMENT

HANDHELD POV. A rougher, frenetic imitation of the opening shot. Piano. Artwork. Fireplace now licking more fiercely as if challenged by a gust of air. A cork POPS O.S., with more tipsy LAUGHTER. WHIP to the couple waddling into the room, joined at the waist and balancing their replenished glasses as they devour one another. Cari breaks away, and her bedroom eyes instantly sober as we SNAP ZOOM into her. She shrieks. 

Cabernet douses the white carpet, the dropped glass rolling beside it.

CARI

Hello?

(then)

Sam, who’s this?

Picking up Cari’s glass, Sam turns and sizes up an intruder. Cowgirl boots, black cashmere sweater, purple ribbon choker-- 

GIRL’S VOICE (O.S.)

Yeah, “Sam,” who’s this?

--and stringy blond hair framing a pale, raccoon-eyed face (20s) with a diamond stud in her nose. Five years ago she might’ve been adorable or in rehab. 

The color drains from Sam’s own face.

GIRL (CONT’D)

Expecting someone else, were you?

He glares at her the way one might at a caged tiger before realizing the bars are too far apart. He swallows.

GIRL (CONT’D)

(to Cari)

That’s gonna stain if you don’t treat it right away.

Cari nods absently and steps out of frame. The girl approaches Sam, who backpedals until falling into an oversized chair.

SAM

(sotto)

Are you serious? The fuck?

GIRL

Oh, I think you know I am. You’re the one who never was. So who’s the flooz?

SAM

Please. You can cut the act. Just... go home before this gets out of hand. 

GIRL

Before I cause a scene, you mean?

Sam digests the bitter medicine of her words. 

SAM

I’ll call you tomorrow and explain everything. Promise.

Cari reappears with a dishtowel, a dog brush, and a shrug.

CARI

I didn’t know where--

GIRL

(locked on Sam)

Utility closet. On the left past the dead son’s room with the boy-band posters. 

(to Sam)

Not exactly a domestic one, is she?

Cari tosses the supplies at the Girl, who just watches them fall to the floor.

CARI

You clean it. I’m not the one breaking into people’s houses.

GIRL

Door was unlocked. I know it’s Encino and all, but still. Sammy. 

Cari also turns to Sam and crosses her arms, speed-blinking for an explanation.

SAM

What. I didn’t...

(sighs)