Another workmare… Groundhog day or new ending?
Julie dozes off in front of the fire and experiences another workmare…
INT. BEACH HOUSE
Close-up shot of the fire. Pulling back to see Julie has nodded off. The sound of the porch door shutting can be heard in the distance. Fran comes up from behind Julie’s chair and is just about to talk to her when she stops in her tracks. Then she slowly backs out of the living room and into the kitchen. She makes eye contact with Gayle, who has started putting soapy water into a basin in the sink, and holds up her index finger indicating “Shhhhh!”
GAYLE
She sleeping?
FRAN
Sure looks that way. What do you think? Should we just leave her?
GAYLE
Let’s finish these dishes and then see if she’s stirring. She might be just catnapping.
FRAN
Sounds good.
They both settle into cleaning up the kitchen. Washing and drying dishes. Wiping down the counters. Putting food away.
GAYLE
You know. I’m proud of you and the progress you’ve been making.
FRAN
I don’t know. I feel kind of stagnated.
GAYLE
That’s just part of your brain trying to psyche you out… so you’ll bail on this part of the adventure.
FRAN
Oh…
GAYLE
You see, the cool thing is… you are doing the right things to free your mind so when the time comes, you’ll know what the next steps are.
FRAN
Really? You really believe that?
GAYLE
Believe? Heck, I know it because that’s been my experience. I see no reason why it won’t happen to you someday– as long as you keep your mind freed up from corporate clutter. At least that’s the first step…
FRAN
Huh? You mean there’s more I should be doing?
GAYLE
Yeah. You see… sometimes the idea will come… and then you have to muster the courage to act on it. And it’ll probably be something you haven’t thought of before… so it’ll seem and feel a bit awkward.
FRAN
Like leaving the cave?
Gayle smiles.
GAYLE
Yeah, just like that.
They continue cleaning up the kitchen. Washing and putting away dishes while this conversation takes place. While walking past the doorway to the living room, Fran looks over at Julie again.
FRAN
She’s really zonked out.
GAYLE
Hopefully she has slipped off into the land of happy dreams…
[note: This is the segue to Julie’s 2nd workmare]
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM
[this is a repeat of her previous workmare with a twist]
The sound coincided with the shutting of a conference room door. Julie is seated (similar to the scene from the fishbowl on Friday). She has her notebook open and is jotting down notes. Then we see her look up and point to herself while looking to the left and right of her. The executive at the head of the table nods and steps aside- ushering her to the front of the room. Julie clicks the mouse, looks at the screen and is seen talking to the group with confidence (we don’t hear what she’s saying, we just pick it up through body language). All looks like it is going smoothly until we hear a voice from one side of the conference table.
Note: Very subtly in the background, Pat Benatar’s INVINCIBLE is playing.
E-STAFF MEMBER
Excuse me. Could you please go back one slide?
Julie clicks the mouse.
E-STAFF MEMBER
Where did those numbers come from?
Julie slides a stapled report over to the E-Staff Member and steps back to the front of the room.
JULIE
Sir, please open that up to page 5. Now look towards the bottom. (pause) See it?
The E-Staff Member flips through the report and then the person sitting next to him points out what Julie was talking about.
JULIE
Any further questions?
The E-Staff Member shakes his head no.
JULIE
Great because there are quite a few more slides we need to get through so, if you don’t mind, I’m going to push ahead.
A voice from the far end of the table pipes up.
VOICE
Excellent job, Julie! Please continue.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. BEACH HOUSE
Back to the kitchen where Gayle and Fran are drying dishes. They hear a happy shout from the other room.
JULIE
Sweet!
FRAN
Did you hear that?
Fran goes back over to the kitchen entry and looks over at Julie. Gayle shrugs her head. Fran moves towards Julie to check on her.
FRAN
Hey, girl! Everything okay? (she whispers)
JULIE
Oh… what? Okay… Yeah… better than okay… everything is great! Super!
GAYLE
Awesome! So what do you think about moving into the bedroom? Probably a good idea to stretch out a bit.
JULIE
Oh yeah… Sure– Thanks… Guess I must’ve dozed off there. Great cookies, by the way. Awesome dinner too. Thanks!
Gayle and Julie move down the hallway and the scene fades out.
FADE TO BLACK.
###
To be continued in Toll House Tales #122
[…] To be continued in Toll House Tales #121 […]