Chapter Text
BEFORE NOON – CHAPTER 1 (OF 7) – MOVING DAY
BLACKNESS
The screech of train wheels as they brake and slow into a station. Or maybe it is the chatter of school children running pell-mell along the banks of the Seine in Paris. Until it turns out to be....
EXT. COLLEGE DORM, CITY
The happy hubbub of college freshmen of all sexes and types hurrying to check in for the new academic year. The dormitory is identified over the entrance as Weinstein Hall, New York University. It is a beautiful late August day in the Big Apple.
Cars line the sidewalk. Every spot down the block is taken. Other vehicles cruise slowly along looking for an available parking spot. Some have run out of patience and are double parking to unload. New York cops try to keep order and send the errant drivers on their way. Arguments ensue.
Parents unload boxes and suitcases into carriers with the NYU logo on the side. Then students grab the carriers and roll them inside while their parents try to keep up. Controlled chaos.
Waiting on the curb is CELINE and her eighteen year old daughter NINA standing guard over a collection of boxes and suitcases. Celine looks in her early 50’s but maintaining her physique and figure. Her crossed bared arms indicate someone who works out. A shoulder bag covered with images of the most famous French impressionist paintings hangs from her shoulder. Celine looks unhappy.
Emerging out of the dorm like a salmon swimming against the current is JESSE with Nina’s twin sister ELLA right behind him. They both push carriers brandishing the NYU symbol. Jesse is in his early 50’s with flecks of gray in his still impressive mane of hair yet he dresses like a man thirty years younger. Like a man trying to hide his age.
The twins appear to be a youthful blend of mother and father. They have Celine’s hair and looks but the open and world embracing demeanor of Jesse.
He and Ella stroll over to where Celine and Nina wait.
CELINE
So what did you learn?
Still unloading stuff from a fancy SUV is TED, a distinguished looking man in his mid-40’s. He looks as if he would be more at home in a suit and an office than where he is right now. But he is game and trying to do the right thing. He sets the last piece of luggage next to the others. Then sighs and straightens up with the smile of someone who knows his part of the day’s activity is done.
TED
That’s the last of it.
Celine nods. Ted nods at Jesse who nods back.
Then Ted stares at Celine who looks a tad stressed.
TED
Is there anything else you need?
Celine shakes her head.
TED (brightens)
Okay then. I’ll be off.
The twins rush forward and give him an awkward hug.
ELLA AND NINA
Thanks, Uncle Ted.
He feels just as awkward. They break away and turn their backs on him. Their rote show of affection done. They start loading items into the carriers.
JESSE
Thanks, Ted.
Ted nods and climbs behind the wheel of the SUV.
TED (to Celine)
I’ll call you later.
Celine nods his way.
He fires up the SUV and pulls out and down the street. One of the waiting vehicles immediately pulls into the open space, blocking another car going for the same spot. Horns blare.
Celine turns to Jesse.
CELINE
Well?
JESSE (grimaces)
They are only allowing one parent per child in.
ELLA (links her arm around his)
And I picked Dad.
NINA
You would.
They stick their tongues out at each other but then descend into laughter. Giddy about the day.
Celine doesn’t like this news.
CELINE
So what am I supposed to do? Just stand here on the sidewalk all alone guarding our stuff?
JESSE
Sounds like something you are uniquely qualified for while the big strong patriarch helps the children move in.
CELINE
Very funny.
Celine does not find that funny.
JESSE
I don’t know what to tell you. COVID regulations. Or so they say.
CELINE
Maybe we should just give up and go back home and do distance learning.
ELLA & NINA (together)
NO!!!!!!!
Celine sighs and shakes her head.
Ella and Nina exhibit all the frustrated eagerness of children wanting to get in line for an amusement park ride but their parents are holding them back.
ELLA
Come on!
She grabs the handle of her carrier in one hand and her rolling suitcase in the other. And starts for the entrance.
Jesse grabs another suitcase and, to his surprise, an old acoustic guitar case. It pops open. He and we recognize the guitar within.
INT. CELINE’S APARTMENT, PARIS - FLASHBACK
Before Sunset: Celine sits on her bed and picks up the guitar. Then she serenades Jesse.
EXT. COLLEGE DORM - RETURN TO SCENE
Jesse holds it up and glances Celine’s way.
She avoids his gaze and starts putting items into Nina’s carrier.
ELLA (looking back)
Come on, Dad!
Jesse can only close the case and follow his daughter in.
Celine puts her hands on her hips and glares at them disappearing through the doors.
Nina continues loading items into her carrier.
NINA
Come on, Mom! They’re getting away.
She resumes helping her daughter.
INT. DORM LOBBY
Controlled chaos with laden parents and students everywhere. Ella is in first. Jesse catches up to her.
JESSE
Hey, hey, you got your key?
Ella shoots him a look and holds up her key card.
He nods as they make their way to the elevators where a large crowd waits to get on. There are three elevators.
JESSE
Too bad we can’t take the stairs.
ELLA
You’re too old to take the stairs.
Jesse acts with mock indignation.
JESSE
You’re saying your old man is not up to the task? That I am over the hill?
She just rolls her eyes and smiles.
An elevator door opens. A full car of parents get off. The next set of riders jam their way in. The doors close.
Jesse and Ella wait in silence. She stares at the rising floor numbers above the door; she’s almost pulsating with anticipation. Jesse stares at her as if he is seeing his daughter as a young adult for the first time.
JESSE
Excited?
She rolls her eyes and ignores the question.
JESSE (CONT’D)
I remember when I went away to college. I absolutely could not wait for my parents to get out of my hair. It was awkward as hell because they had just divorced and were barely speaking to each other.
Both wanting a last bit of my time and me just wanting both of them to get lost and leave me alone.
Ella continues to stare at the numbers while giving no indication that Jesse has said anything at all.
The numbers are coming back down.
Jesse frowns. He starts to say something else but the doors open. The few parents hurry off.
The gaggle of new passengers including Jesse and Ella struggle aboard with their carriers and luggage and other things.
INT. ELEVATOR
Jesse and Ella settle in. The car is full. The door starts to close. But right before it does a muscular arm bursts through the shrinking crack and stops the doors from closing.
The door opens back up to reveal Celine and Nina. They push their way into the already overcrowded car. Some of the others sigh and groan but they make room.
The door closes and the car starts to climb.
CELINE
As soon as you were inside, I realized that it may be only one parent per child but we are checking in two children. So your efforts to ditch me were futile.
JESSE
I wasn’t trying to ditch you.
Celine humphs and stares at the rising number above the door.
INT. 6TH FLOOR LOBBY
The elevator door opens. Celine and Nina get off followed by Jesse and Ella and a few other parents and students. They begin looking around.
CELINE
What number are we looking for?
She takes the key card from Nina’s hand before she can reply. Nina rolls her eyes.
NINA
616.
Jesse laughs. Everyone stares at him.
JESSE
That’s the day we met. June 16.
The girls don’t care. Nina takes the key card back from her mother and starts down the hall. The rest follow. Jesse snickers. Celine shoots him a look.
CELINE
You’re not helping.
He holds up the items he carries.
JESSE
That’s funny. I thought I was.
INT. ROOM 616
We hear the swiping of a card in the lock. The door opens. The girls hurry in followed by their slower parents.
They find themselves in a dorm suite: a centrally located open air kitchen and living room with doors to two bedrooms and a bathroom on each side. Out the windows is a lovely view of the Flatiron Building and Manhattan.
The girls’ other two roommates KAITLYN (redhead) and MADISON (brunette) are already there. Their parents continue to move them in. The girls turn to assess the new arrivals.
KAITLYN
Ella and Nina?
The twins nod. The four of them scream and rush into a group hug. Hang onto each other and jump up and down with excitement. Eventually they break up.
NINA
This is our mom and dad.
ELLA
They met in the most romantic way.
NINA
They met on a train in Europe.
ELLA
Then got off the train and walked around Vienna and fell in love.
NINA
Dad wrote a book about it.
This info means nothing to the girls but their parents look interested. One mother opens her mouth to speak.
MADISON
We took the bedrooms on this side so one of you could still have a bedroom with windows.
NINA
That’s cool.
She turns to her sister.
NINA (CONT’D)
You want the front?
ELLA
Does it matter? We will be in and out of each other’s rooms anyway.
She grabs the handle on her carrier and pulls it into the back bedroom on the left.
Jesse shrugs. He cannot fault her logic. He starts for the back bedroom. Nina and Celine carry stuff to the front bedroom.
As they pass by each other, Jesse holds up the guitar case to catch her attention. She looks back at him and shrugs her shoulders as if to say “What?”.
The other parents whisper amongst themselves then shrug and hug their daughters goodbye.
INT. FRONT BEDROOM
Celine follows Nina in. It is a furnished room with an unmade bed and mattress and storage drawers built in below. A desk in one corner. An empty bookcase and a closet unit in another.
CELINE
Well, let’s figure out where we can put this stuff.
NINA
Mom, you don’t have to worry about that. Ella and I will figure it out later.
Celine isn’t listening. She sets her shoulder bag on the floor and plops the large suitcase on the bed. She unzips it and starts putting the clothes away.
An impatient Nina shakes her head and checks out the view.
INT. BACK BEDROOM
Ella has started to put things away. Jesse sits on the bed still holding the guitar case. He looks it over like he hasn’t really looked at it in years.
JESSE
I can’t believe your mom let you bring her guitar.
Ella looks nonplussed at the question.
ELLA
I asked her. She said yes.
Jesse looks troubled. He opens the case and pulls out the guitar. A few pages of sheet music tumble out onto the floor.
INT. FRONT BEDROOM
Celine still unpacks clothes and puts them into the closet and drawers.
Nina starts unpacking boxes featuring supplies for the desk.
Celine pulls out a well-worn beige top. She unfolds it and holds it up.
EXT. VIENNA MONTAGE - FLASHBACK
Shots from Before Sunrise: --Celine (wearing the top under her dress) and Jesse walk away from the train station. --Celine and Jesse make out in the park at night. --Next morning, they walk hand in hand down a street. Celine no longer wears the top, bare shoulders under the dress.
INT. FRONT BEDROOM - RETURN TO SCENE
A moment of nostalgia on Celine’s face.
CELINE
I didn’t know you were bringing this.
NINA
Mom, I’ve been wearing it for years.
She takes it out of her mother’s hands and tosses it in an open dresser drawer.
CELINE
Well, you should have asked.
NINA
I didn’t think you’d mind.
Celine stomps out. Nina picks up the top, holding it lovingly in her hands. Her eyes glance at Celine’s bag.
INT. BACK BEDROOM
Ella is busy putting things away. Jesse still sits on the unmade bed holding the guitar.
ELLA
You know, you and Mom don’t have to stick around. Nina and I will be perfectly fine on our own.
JESSE
I know. Oh, I know. I just remember how it was when I moved Hank to college and how awkward it was having your stepmother there.
As soon as he says it, Celine walks in.
ELLA
She’s not my stepmother.
JESSE
I guess that’s true.
Celine frowns but walks right past him and starts helping Ella unpack.
ELLA
Mom, I’ve got this. You have to find something else to do with your life than be our mother.
She moves to block Celine from unpacking. Celine steps back, unhappy. Jesse stands.
JESSE
I am starting to think that we may not be wanted here.
Ella tosses her stuff in a drawer and slams it shut.
ELLA
God, stop being so dramatic, Dad. Why do you two have to be so dramatic all the time?
Jesse stares at Celine.
JESSE
I’m a writer and she’s a musician. Oh course, we’re dramatic.
CELINE
I am not a musician. I never was a musician. I am a wife and mother.
He holds up the guitar.
CELINE (CONT’D)
What? I haven’t played that in years. I don’t even remember how to play it now.
JESSE
It’s like riding a bicycle.
He strums it with his thumb.
Celine grabs it from him and puts it back in the case. Jesse isn’t happy and opens his mouth to say something. Celine storms out.
Ella makes a face at her father.
ELLA
What’s up with Mom?
Jesse takes a moment to answer. Does he say what he thinks? Or does he opt to maintain the peace? He scoops up the sheet music and puts them back in the case before closing it.
JESSE
Oh, you know, facing the prospect of an empty nest and not wanting to let you go.
ELLA
You don’t feel that way?
JESSE (he does)
No.
She smiles and shakes her head.
ELLA
Didn’t you and Mom raise us to be self-sufficient and independent?
JESSE
Yes.
ELLA
Do you not think we are ready to face the world alone?
JESSE
Yes, but we never thought this day would actually come.
They laugh and smile at each other.
ELLA
Me either.
A last moment of childhood nostalgia between father and daughter.
A knock at the main door catches their attention.
INT. LIVING ROOM
Two good-looking males saunter in with an assured walk. They are the epitome of contemporary male cool. Meet RYAN and ETHAN.
RYAN
Knock, knock.
All four girls pour out of their rooms. They like what they see. So do the boys.
ETHAN
Hello, hello. We are your new next door neighbors.
RYAN
And we just thought we would stop by and say hello.
Kaitlyn and Madison giggle and smile. Ella and Nina like them too but they play it cool.
Jesse emerges from one bedroom and Celine (bag on her shoulder) from the other. Their presence is an immediate buzzkill. Jesse takes an instant like to the guys. Celine less so.
Jesse steps forward and offers his hand.
JESSE
I’m Jesse, soon to be departing father.
RYAN (takes it)
Ryan.
Jesse moves on to shake Ethan’s.
ETHAN
Ethan.
JESSE
Cool name.
ETHAN
Thanks.
Difficult to tell if he is genuinely impressed or not.
NINA And this is our mother Celine.
She doesn’t wave or do anything but fold her arms and frown.
ELLA
They fell in love in Vienna but then got back together in Paris nine years later.
NINA
And had us.
ELLA
They’re not married.
NINA
And they’re not divorced.
JESSE
We just are.
Pause. The moment feels awkward.
RYAN
We could come back later.
The girls shake their heads. Kaitlyn and Madison protest.
JESSE (to Celine)
I suppose we could get going.
The twins nod.
Celine gives a curt shake of her head.
JESSE (CONT’D)
Come on. It’s not like it’s the last time we’ll be visiting them. You’ll be here more than me.
Conflicting emotions play across her face. She knows she wants to stay but also knows it is time to go. Even if she doesn’t want to.
The twins rush in and hug her goodbye. Even as they start moving her toward the door. Celine knows what is going on.
CELINE
Alright, alright!
Jesse follows behind. They all pause at the door. Celine gives each daughter a genuine hug. And they respond in kind.
CELINE (CONT’D)
Study. Be good. Stick together.
NINA & ELLA
Mom!
CELINE (letting them go)
Okay, okay!
Still, she hesitates on the threshold.
Jesse hugs each daughter in kind.
JESSE
You know how to reach me. Don’t forget to have fun.
Ella glances toward Celine than stares at Jesse.
JESSE (CONT’D)
I know, I know. I will, I will.
He joins Celine on the threshold. The two of them sigh knowing that a major stage of their life is about to end. The twins almost will them out the door - eager for their childhood to end.
They wave goodbye.
INT. 6TH FLOOR HALLWAY
Jesse and Celine step into the corridor. The door closes behind them. They are startled. Jesse smiles and shakes his head. He catches the number 616 on the door. A tear starts to fall but he brushes it away.
Celine is in tears. She rushes to the elevators.
JESSE (rushing to catch up)
Hey, Celine!
INT. DORM LOBBY
The elevator door opens. Celine rushes out. Jesse follows but she isn’t waiting for him.
JESSE
Celine! Hey, Celine! Slow down!
EXT. COLLEGE DORM
There are fewer parents and students carrying things in. Celine hurries out and strides for the sidewalk. Jesse emerges a few seconds later.
JESSE
Celine!
She doesn’t stop. If anything, she steps up her pace.
He starts to follow but the parents step in from the side. One mother shoves copies of his novels This Time and Our Time by Jesse Wallace into his hand. Drawings of a college age couple like Jesse and Celine on the one and a thirtysomething version on the other. They babble but he isn’t listening. He scrawls his autograph on each and hurries on.
JESSE (CONT’D)
Celine, wait up! I got to ask you something.
END OF CHAPTER 1
COMING FRIDAY CHAPTER 2 (OF 7) – CROSSING THE SQUARE