Fun & games. Natureful discoveries. A work dragon rears its head…
The “holiday” truly begins as the girls get in some beach time. A chance encounter with a cute boy triggers workmare for Julie, while a walk and some beach-combing leads to a discussion between Gayle and Fran about “The Force” and of keeping the channel clear…
EXT. GRANDMA’S BEACH HOUSE
Montage as “Holiday” goes into an extended version– as background music. We see the girls pull up outside the house. Grab whatever they can carry, and follow Gayle into the house. The shot pulls back and provides some context of where the house is relative to its neighbors and the beach community. Within minutes, the ladies re-emerge carrying a beach bag with a towel and blanket sticking out, some sporting equipment and a backpack (where the food is being kept). We see them break out into a jog — scooting along the sand covered path– being pulled by the smells of the sea and sounds of crashing waves. Gayle leads them to a special spot and they drop their things.
FRAN
Wow!
JULIE
This is beautiful!
FRAN
Who’da thunk we’d be in Oregon.
JULIE
Are we still in Oregon? Seems kinda Californian to me.
They both look at their host.
GAYLE
We’re definitely in Oregon, ladies.
JULIE & FRAN
WHOA!
JULIE
How’s the water?
GAYLE
A dead giveaway that you’re in Oregon…
FRAN
But at least the tide is out…
GAYLE
Yup… we’ve got quite a bit of beach to play with…
FRAN
…and on!
Fran reaches over to the pile of gear they brought with them and grabs the Nerf football.
FRAN
Cool! (to Julie) Hey, girl! Go long!
Julie is kind of stuck in one place– observing the waves. Gayle, on cue, takes off down the beach waving her arm to get Fran’s attention. She catches the pass from Fran cleanly– without breaking stride.
FRAN
Good one!
Gayle winds up to throw it– and at the last minute, changes her target– to maneuver the ball towards Julie– to get her involved. The ball comes skidding to a stop by her feet.
Definitely breaking her away from looking at the waves. She picks it up, brushes it off and looks over at the direction where it came from. Now Fran is playfully defending Gayle.
They are moving closer as if to compensate for the “desk jockey” that came along on the trip. Then, when Julie lets one loose– it ends up sailing over both their heads. Gayle sprints to pick it up and Fran falls back towards Julie.
Julie is smiling as she gets the clue that now she needs to defend Fran. And Fran is running around — trash talking like in the movie “White Men Can’t Jump.” We see the girls taking turns. This time, it is Julie’s turn to take a long pass from Fran… and this time Fran launches it– way off line. Julie, shaking her head in amazement, jogs over to pick up the ball, looking back at Fran to trash talk her. When she looks back forward, she runs right into a YOUNG MAN holding the ball. [the audience, if paying attention, should notice that this guy looks like the guy from Julie’s dream]
YOUNG MAN
I believe this is yours.
He hands her the ball. As Julie looks up at him to say thanks (she had kind of smacked into his chest), she did a double-take. He didn’t seem to notice her odd behavior.
Gayle can be seen in the background. She definitely noted the encounter.
JULIE
Er… Thanks!
Julie jogs toward Gayle and under hands her the ball. Then she makes a beeline for the beach blanket, where she had left her things. We see Gayle in the background, tossing the ball to Fran and then motioning her to follow. They jog towards the beach blanket, to catch up with Julie. Fran breaks the ice.
FRAN
Hey, that guy was kind of cute. Did you get his number? I’ve got a pen and a memo pad in my backpack if you need it.
Fran starts rummaging through her backpack. Julie looks in the direction the young man walked and rubbed her eyes– and looked again.
JULIE
You know. I just remembered. I need to check on something. (to Gayle) Can I get back into the house?
GAYLE
Spare key under the flower pot on the porch.
Julie waves and runs towards the house.
FRAN
What was that all about?
GAYLE
Hard to say. (pause) You hungry?
FRAN
Yeah… definitely.
Gayle pulls some granola bars out of her pack and hands one to Fran and some bottled water. They settle down on the beach blanket and enjoy their snacks while watching the waves rhythmically crash upon the shore.
FADE OUT.
FADE IN:
INT. BEACH HOUSE
The door opens to the beach house and Julie makes a beeline to her briefcase.
She carries it over to the farmer table in the room right off the kitchen and powers it up. She then pulls a couple of folders out of her bag and starts reviewing the numbers. She is also talking to herself.
JULIE
How DID I come up with those numbers in the presentation…
She flips through more paper.
JULIE
Oh crap! Not here! You mean you didn’t make a copy of your source? Silly, girl! Check your desktop.
She clicks through file on her notebook computer and nothing looks familiar.
JULIE
Come on, Girl! Think, think!
She opens up the PowerPoint presentation on her computer and clicks on the chart, which opens up an Excel sheet. She squints at the screen for a clue.
JULIE
Ah ha! That’s it. I remember now. It was an email from one of the guys in the field. I must have forgotten to save it to my desktop after opening it. Okay… cool…
So she opens up her email and scans through her folders.
JULIE
Here it is–
She reads it out loud.
JULIE
Here are preliminary numbers for the presentation. The final ones will be available over the weekend. (pause) Over the weekend! Yikes! How did I miss seeing that?!
She gets up and walks nervously around the table while talking.
JULIE
That means that the slide… and major assumptions in this presentation… could be entirely wrong… I got to get a message to Keith… (pause) Wait– maybe I should check to see if he sent over the new numbers. Yeah. That’s it.
She pulls a cable out of her briefcase and starts walking around the house looking for a phone jack.
FADE OUT.
FADE IN:
EXT. BEACH
We see Gayle and Fran walking along the beach.
FRAN
Look! There’s another one! This place is a gold mine!
Gayle smiles as she looks at the SAND DOLLAR Fran is holding up.
The fantastic discovery…
GAYLE
Yeah… for some reason — Sand Dollars accumulate at this particular beach. It’s been that way– since I was a kid.
FRAN
That’s so cool… Hope Julie gets back soon — she’d dig this.
They both stop and look towards the blanket.
FRAN
Humm… Do you think she’s lost.
GAYLE
Perhaps figuratively speaking. But around here, it’s pretty easy to find your way, so…
FRAN
She’s probably just …
GAYLE
…Pre-occupied… you know, got stuff on her mind she can’t shake.
FRAN
I’d be pre-occupied too if I ran into a cute boy like that!
Gayle laughs.
FRAN
What?
GAYLE
Here you go again with “the cute thing.”
Fran stops and gives her a look.
GAYLE
Come on. You know what I’m talking about. Cute is YOUR Achilles. I’m glad that fella moved on before YOU moved in on him.
FRAN
What’s wrong with having a cute guy to pal around with?
GAYLE
Oh nothing– as long as you keep it on the pal around level. But with you (pause). Come on… like how many times have you fallen for cute only to find out that there’s no there THERE (points to the head) when you decide to get serious.
FRAN
Yeah. You’re right as always.
GAYLE
Hey… We all have weak spots.
FRAN
Oh yeah– what about you and older guys?
GAYLE
I’m cured! And not a moment too soon.
FRAN
Yeah?
GAYLE
Yeah. I was well on my way to becoming a trophy wife.
She shakes her whole body at the thought.
FRAN
Hey… (stops in her tracks). Wait a minute… Is that the reason you left the Valley and moved up here?
GAYLE
I’m here to be closer to my grandma. Besides, I was ready for a lifestyle change anyway…
FRAN
Uh..huh… (sarcastically)
GAYLE
Seriously… and I’m glad I made the move because this customer service position gives me plenty of time to pursue other, more fulfilling interests.
FRAN
Like hanging with the gang at the cafe?
GAYLE
Yeah… like that and more.
FRAN
Yeah but… Circling back… You just walked away from everything.
You guys were engaged too, right? What happened?
GAYLE
Thankfully, I came to my senses. Something didn’t feel right– no
matter how right it was on paper.
Fran nods.
GAYLE
I guess it just dawned on me that I had been changing so much, to be
who he wanted me to be, that I no longer knew who I was.
FRAN
Just dawned on you?
GAYLE
The Force works in mysterious ways. And in my case, the way took place
during one of my morning runs.
FRAN
Really?
GAYLE
Yeah– if you can manage on keeping the channel clear you can get all kinds of messages.
FRAN
I’m not very good at that… my channel is kind of static-y.
GAYLE
Yeah. I know.
The wind is now picking significantly.
GAYLE
Here comes the big chill. When we have nice days– the number of hours are limited. Let’s head back– we can get a jump on cooking dinner and get a nice fire going.
FRAN
Sounds good.
They gather their things and head in the direction of the house.
FADE OUT.
FADE IN:
INT. BEACH HOUSE
From inside the hallway to the Beach House, we hear the girls return through the door (muffled sounds –conversation and stamping of feet). The door opens and Gayle enters followed by Fran.
GAYLE
Hello! (pause) We’re back!
FRAN
Yo, Girl! (pause) Where you at?
Gayle softly punches her in the arm.
FRAN
I know. Bad grammar…
Gayle walks down the hallway while Fran looks around for any sign of Julie. She yells to Gayle.
FRAN
Do you think she had trouble finding her way back?
GAYLE
I seriously doubt it.
Gayle responds while walking back down the hallway.
FRAN
What makes you so sure?
GAYLE
Her briefcase is gone– you know, the one with the computer in it.
Fran follows Gayle into the kitchen.
FRAN
Yeah but… Someone could have broken into…
(trailing off)
Gayle holds up a note by the coffee machine.
GAYLE
Not likely. Not here. Besides– check this out.
Fran reads the note.
FRAN
Okay– so she’s off hunting for an Internet hookup…
GAYLE
Humm… good luck with that… Oh well. Let’s get started. She’ll be back soon.
They head into the kitchen.
FADE OUT
###
To be continued in Toll House Tales #114
Nerf reference.
Trash talking (NSFW).
[…] To be continued in Toll House Tales #113 […]