“ELEVATOR SCENE”

(from heretofore unfinished script I’ve written)

(download PDF in script form here!)

INT. THERAPIST’S OFFICE HALLWAY – DAY

WELCOME BACK TO THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF OUR HERO, ZELDA. TWENTY-SOMETHING WITH A HEART OF GOLD AND A BOD FOR, IF NOT QUITE SIN, THEN SHE WOULDN’T MIND A HUG.

SHE IS WAITING FOR THE ELEVATOR. IT OPENS.

INT. ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS – DAY

A HANDSOME MAN, WEARING A LAB COAT, IS INSIDE. ZELDA GETS IN, LOOKS AT THE BUTTON PANEL, THE LOBBY ISN’T ILLUMINATED SO SHE PRESSES IT AND TAKES HER PLACE AGAINST THE ELEVATOR WALL, AT A NINETY DEGREE ANGLE, FACING THE MAN. SHE STARES AT HIM FOR A SECOND.

ZELDA
You are ridiculously handsome.

THE MAN LOOKS UP FROM FIDDLING WITH HIS PHONE.

MAN

Well, thank you very much.

ZELDA
Are you a doctor?

MAN
Yes.

ZELDA
What kind?

MAN
Surgeon.

ZELDA
Necessary surgeries or elective?

MAN
Necessary.

ZELDA
So no noses.

MAN
Sometimes noses.

ZELDA
You probably hate when people solicit advice outside the office, but… I have this nagging feeling… that you are going to ask me out.

MAN
(BEAT) I don’t think my wife would like that.

ZELDA
Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you said you were a doctor, not a monk.

THE MAN LAUGHS, LEGITIMATELY, WITH ONLY A TINGE OF AWKWARDNESS.

ZELDA (CONT’D)
Don’t mind me. I get uncomfortable in closed, crowded spaces.

HE LOOKS AROUND.

MAN
But it’s just you and me.

ZELDA
Sometimes it just has to be closed. Something about feeling trapped. I usually feel better when I talk. Then I’m paying less attention to the thoughts in my head. Also, your handsomeness made me forget myself. So, thank you.

MAN
I can recommend a therapist if you want to work on fixing that.

ZELDA
Oh, no thank you. I just came from mine.

MAN
Well, keep going. I went to therapy. I used to be afraid of having atypical, somewhat confrontational, conversations with women I didn’t know, but now look at me.

HE SMILES THEN LOOKS UP TO SEE WHAT FLOOR THEY’RE ON. BOY THIS ELEVATOR IS SLOW.

SILENCE FOR A LONG MOMENT, AS THEY CONTINUE THEIR RIDE.

ZELDA
She told me I should be more open to intimacy.

HE BEGRUDGINGLY LOOKS BACK OVER AT HER AND SMILES WEAKLY.

ZELDA (CONT’D)
I ran with it.

THE ELEVATOR PAUSES FOR THE DOORS TO OPEN AND LETS IN AN ELDERLY WOMAN WITH HER FILIPINO CARETAKER. THE CARETAKER LOOKS TO SEE IF THE LOBBY BUTTON IS ILLUMINATED.

SILENCE FOR THE REST OF THE SCENE EXCEPT FOR:

ELDERLY WOMAN
(LOUDLY) I can’t find my tissue.

CUT TO: