The
Diner of Love
3503 Angel Square Court
Llanview, PA
"Nothin' Could Be Finer Than Some
Lovin' In the Diner"
"There ain't no lovin' like some diner lovin', hey ho"
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"Nothin' Could Be Finer Than Some
Lovin' In the Diner" |
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What can I get you?
Coffee's a dollar
I hope you like whip cream.
I just love the Voice of the Night. We have this special connection. |
MARCAL SCENES PAGE 17
Scene 22 All I Am Saying Is... July 28, 2003 Setup: Nora and Gabs are working on a sting behind Bo’s back to trip up Troy, in order to keep Bo from finding out about Troy and Gabs’ encounter. But things have not gone as planned and Nora is worried. At the police station, Marcie rushes in with takeout orders of coffee. She is smiling. Marcie: OK, guys. She sets the coffee down. An officer approaches. She points at him. Marcie: They're all marked, so make sure you take the right one. Officer1: Where's my change? Marcie: Well, you said it was for a tip. Officer2: Ignore him, Marcie. He's just razzing you. Marcie: (laughs) You! Officer2: Oh, Jerry had to take a call, so we have an extra coffee. Marcie: OK. Nora walks into the office. Marcie grabs the extra cup and rushes after her. Marcie: Oh, Ms. Buchanan? Ms. Buchanan, I have an extra coffee. You might want it. Nora: No, thank you. Where's the Commissioner? Marcie: He's in the field. He left about an hour ago. Nora goes into Bo’s office and calls Gabs. The phone rings. Nora: Come on, Gabrielle, answer. Please answer. Unfortunately Gabs has been grabbed by Troy and dragged to an unknown destination. Nora paces back and forth in Bo’s office. She looks at a smiling picture of Gabs & Bo and feels guilty. Marcie can tell something is wrong. She sees Nora pacing. Marcie sticks her head into Bo’s office. Marcie: Ms. Buchanan -- Nora: Yeah. Marcie: Is there anything you need? Nora: No, no. I just -- I just -- I just need to talk to the Commissioner. Marcie: Well, the sergeant said that he was away from his car, so you might want to try his cell phone. Nora: Thanks. Thanks, Marcie. Marcie: You're welcome. Marcie closes the door.
July 31 There is a blackout in Llanview. At Ultra Violet it looks like that might be a disaster until Rex saves the day by getting candles and offering free drinks to anyone who can provide a portable CD player. Marcie walks into Ultra Violet and is immediately greeted by the members of Midnight Logic sans Flash who is sick. They all tell Marcie how much they support her efforts and that they are behind her. She is very pleased and appreciative but then looks around to see if she can find Al. Riley tells her he’s not there. Rex approaches and tells Marcie not to cause any trouble—no peace talk, protests etcetera because politics is bad for business. Later, Al comes in and sees Marcie sitting at a table. She sees him and rushes over to him. Al: Hey. (He kisses her on the cheek and takes her hand) Marcie: Hi. Al: I'm sorry I'm late. Marcie: Oh, it's ok. Al: So, how are things going? Marcie: (somewhat upset) Ok, I guess. You know, I don't know. I mean, maybe I should just keep quiet. Al: Don't say that, ok? Don't ever say that. Marcie: Well, it just seems like everybody's all over me. You know, some guy I don't even know came up to me before and started giving me grief. Al: Some guy? (looks around) What guy? Is he still here? Marcie: Does it matter? Come on, I'm fine. (wraps her arms around his waist and looks up at him) Hey, besides, the Voice of the Night is on my side, right? Al: A lot of good that's going to do. Marcie: Hmm? Al: Dean Baker pulled the plug on my show today. Marcie: (shocked) What? Al: I'm done. Marcie looks at Al with a combination of shock, sadness and confusion.
Later, Marcie & Al are sitting at a table. The power is still out. Riley and Sheyne are playing classical guitar. Marcie: Listen, I don't care if he is the dean. He cannot shut down the voice of the night. You know, I'm going to start a petition right now, and in 20 minutes it's going to be allover the Internet. Marcie jumps up and heads toward the door but Al pulls her back. Al: Marcie -- Marcie, wait. Listen. That's great. Marcie sits. Al: (weary) And if it all works out, right on. But right now, I'd kind of like to forget about all that, just sort of spend some time with you. Marcie: I guess it can wait a couple minutes. They lean toward each other and then kiss. Al and Marcie dance. When the song ends they pull apart and head for their table. Marcie notices a folded piece of paper under her glass. It’s a note. She pulls it out, opens it and reads. Marcie: What's this? Oh, my god.
Al: (takes the note from her and reads) What is that? This is disgusting. How could anybody threaten you like this? Al walks to the center of the club. Marcie tries to hold him back but he is not going to be stopped. Marcie hangs back. Al: (holds the note up) Hey! Who wrote this? (looks around) What, you can't stand up for yourself? (points to Marcie) Marcie can. You got to hide behind an anonymous note. (He tears up the note and drops the pieces on the floor) Coward. You're a coward.
August 4 (Monday) At Llanfair, Marcie is sitting in the study with Natalie and Jessica. Viki walks in. Viki: Hello, Marcie. Marcie: Hi. Viki: Lois said you wanted to see me? Marcie: Yes, Hi. They told me at the university that you were working at home until your office was ready. Viki: Mm-hmm. Marcie: And this is really important. Viki: Ok, what is it? Marcie: Dean Baker fired the Voice of the Night from the university radio station, and it was really unfair. Viki: Did he, now? And do you know why he did that? Marcie: Yes, because the Voice of the Night supported the peace rally, and he also said that the guys who trashed my room were morons, but – (gets a huge stack of papers from the coffee table) well, anyway, you know, we started a petition to get him back on the air, and I wanted to bring it to you.
Marcie hands the stack of pages to Viki. Viki: Wow. Boy, you've got a ton of signatures, don't you? Marcie: 1,862 so far -- students and faculty, and even some people in town. Everybody keeps on saying that freedom of speech, you know, it's right.
Viki: Well, I think you know that I’m in favor of free speech. (reads the heading of the petition) “The Voice of the Night Must Be Heard.” Tell you what, Marcie, why don't I just go have a little chat with Dean Baker right away. Marcie: (relieved and excited) Thanks.
Al is in Marcie’s dorm room reading something on a laptop computer screen. There is a knock on the door. He groans softly and gets up slowly as if he is tired. He pauses for a second then opens the door. There is a stranger, male, standing there. Al: Can I help you? Man: (looks around Al into the room and then looks Al up and down) Uh, where's Marcie Walsh? Al: (suspicious) Out. And you are? Man: Marcie's brother, Ron. (shifts head in an exaggerated gesture) And you are? Al: (looks chastened) Al Holden. Al stretches out his hand and they shake hands. Ron: Friend of hers? Al: Boyfriend. Ron: (gives Al the once over) Yeah? So you're the one who got my sister in all this trouble, huh? Al frowns slightly as if this is the last thing he feels like dealing with at the moment.
At Llanfair, Dean Baker and Viki are in the study. Dean Baker: Madam president, please do not make me a villain in this situation. The university radio station is a voice for all the students. Viki: Including those who dissent, no? Dean Baker: Well, yes. But this has always been a very traditional university. Viki: And freedom of speech has always been a very traditional American right. Dean, the university will never stifle dissent nor suppress the bill of rights, and, frankly, you should never have interfered in this. So I would like the disc jockey called the Voice of the Night brought back immediately. Dean Baker: I'm sorry, but I respectfully refuse. Viki: You do? Oh, dear. Well, in that case, I'm also very sorry. I'd like to see your letter of resignation by 9:00 tomorrow. Marcie rushes into her room. She is very excited. Marcie: I did it. I gave the petition to Mrs. Davidson. (she pauses when she spots her brother) Ronnie! Ron: Hey, good to see you! Marcie: Oh! They hug. Ron: Ok, don't squeeze me to death. Ok. Marcie: What are you doing here? Ron: Oh. Well, um, you and me, we got to talk. Alone? Al walks toward the door. Al: I'm going to give you guys some space. Marcie: No. No, Al, it's okay. It's okay. (she looks directly at Ron) Al's a big part of my life, real big. He's the most important person in it. Ron: Yeah, well, dad thinks maybe we should be more important -- your family. Marcie: (frowns) What is that supposed to mean? They sit next to each other on the bed. Marcie: Ron? What's wrong? Ron: Listen, your protest thing got into the newspapers back home. Marcie: (very excited) Yeah? "The Ridgeview Times" wrote a story about me? Ron: Maybe you shouldn't be so excited, Marcie. Marcie: Well -- Al: (who is standing across from them) Your brother tells me that people were pretty upset back in Ridgeview. Marcie: But why? Ron: Don't you remember how many veterans live in our neighborhood? Marcie: Yeah, of course. Ron: Well, they're the guys who defended this country, Marcie. Our own brother Eric’s in the army. Marcie: I know that, Ron. What is this all about? Ron: Dad wants to know why you're dumping on the guys who are fighting for our country. Marcie: I'm not. Ron: He said to remind you Eric’s over in the Middle East right now. You know that. Marcie: (strong, firm voice) Ronnie, Eric only joined the army because dad made him. You know that. You know that Eric wanted a college education. So he thought that joining up to get money for school was the best way to make everybody happy. And most of the troops on the front lines right now are just like Eric. They are kids that wanted money for school. And just because I don't agree with the leaders of our country about the decisions that they're making does not mean that i don't support our troops! That's why I support peace and work for it. Ron: Come on, Marcie, it's -- it's not that simple, ok? Marcie gets up and moves away from Ron. Marcie: Maybe not. But I didn't -- I didn't think that the people that i care about were going to be affected by my standing up for what i believe in. Ron, come on, this is not like you. I mean, is dad that upset that he made you come all this way just to tell me this? Ron gets up and moves closer to Marcie. Ron: Dad's customers found out about you, ok? They're so ticked off, they're boycotting his restaurant, Marcie. Marcie: What? Ron: Yeah. And the guys in Jerry's fire company, yeah, they're pretty ticked off, too. They won't even talk to him. Marcie: Well, that's unfair. Ron: Yeah, well -- Marcie: Well, what about you? Ron: What about me? Marcie: Yeah. Ron: My roofing business has fallen off, a lot. Marcie: (worried) God, Ronnie, I'm sorry. I didn't -- I didn't -- I never thought -- if there was some way that I could do something -- Ron: There is something that you can do, Marcie. You can just stop all this peace talk, right now. Marcie looks at him incredulously—how could he ask her to do something like that?
Ron hand Marcie a cell phone. Ron: Go ahead. Call dad right now. He'll be real happy to hear you're pulling out of this whole peace thing. Marcie does not take the phone. She puts her hands in front of her face for a second. Marcie: (tears in her eyes) Ronnie, listen, I – Al walks next to her. Al: Marcie, wait. (looks over at Ron) Just give me a minute. (Focuses on Marcie) Listen, there's something I need to tell you. I am really proud of you. You know, you've been brave as hell through this whole mess, you stood up for yourself, and you gave people on this campus something to stand up for, something to believe in that matters. You know, look, we've gotten in the last 15 minutes at least 20 emails from people who believe that what you did is right and good. But if you think that that's going to affect your dad's business or put a wedge between you and your family, then you do what you have to do, Marcie. I'll take over from here on, ok? Marcie smiles at Al. This man she loves. Ron: Yeah. Listen to your boyfriend. Let him do this, Marcie. Marcie: (seems to steel her back) I'm sorry. I didn't think you, dad, and Jerry were going to be hurt by what I did. Ron: So this is over? You'll make the call? Marcie: (shakes head) No, I can’t. Sometimes you have to look past your own family. Ron: See, I told dad this wasn't going to work. You're just as stubborn as you always were, Marcie. Ron storms out. Marcie rushes after him. Marcie: Oh, come on. Ron, don't be mad at me. I can't -- Ron! Ron does not stop. Marcie watches him from the doorway for a few seconds then closes the door. She looks devastated.
Al pulls her into his arms. Al: Come here. Come here. Oh. I know how hard that was for you. They hug. Marcie: I still got you. Al: Damn straight. Marcie: I can't believe how you've supported me through all this. You even lost your own radio show. Al: I still got you, don't I? Marcie: I feel closer to you than anybody in my family ever. I feel more loved than I ever dreamed I could. They kiss. When Marcie pulls back, she takes his hand and leads him to the bed. She sits and Al leans over and wraps his arms around her. They recline on the bed and kiss passionately. Suddenly Al jumps.
Al: Ah! Ow! He reaches behind him and pulls out an object. He shows it to Marcie. It’s a large needle. Marcie: I'm sorry. I was sewing. Al: Oh. Al tosses the needle away and they resume kissing. He moves his hand along her back, lifts her blouse and tries to unhook her bra from the back.
Marcie: Mmm. Uh-uh. No, no, no. Al: What, what? Marcie: It's a frontie. It opens here. Al: Oh. Ok. Al reaches to put something on the nightstand and overextends. He almost falls off the bed.
They both laugh. Al: Oh, man. Marcie: What a day. Could anything else possibly go wrong? Al: I don't know. (settles firmly on the bed and pulls her into his arms) Come here. Listen, when the time is right, we'll know. Marcie: I hope so. Al: The time isn't right. Marcie: No. They kiss. The computer beeps. They both sit up. Al: Just got another email. Marcie jumps up. Marcie: Oh, wow, I want to see. Marcie presses the key on the computer. Marcie: Al, look. Al comes behind Marcie and wraps her in his arms. They both read and quickly their facial expressions turn to one of shock.
SCENES
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