Not even with your looks.
SERENA
I’m not planning to work here, silly. I have bigger things in mind.
Ben disappears into his dusty darkroom, and returns with an old-fashioned Leica. he’s found some film that is still good, too. He sets up.
BEN
I’m ready.
Serena sheds her dress, leaving her in a one-piece black swimsuit — and an exquisite pearl necklace. Stunning.
Serena goes to a mirror, fixes her hair, and sits on a stool. Ben gets down to it. The session has the crackling feel of a high-fashion shoot.
BEN (CONT’D)
I suppose it’s none of my business what you’ve been doing for the last 17 years.
SERENA
I haven’t married or anything, if that’s what you’re driving at. I don’t have any kids. I’m free as a bird, Ben.
BEN
(a long beat)
You didn’t give me a phone number. No address. A goodbye letter and that was it. Sayonara.
(a beat)
What was that about?
SERENA
I’m sorry, Ben. I didn’t handle things the way I should have.
BEN
You make it sound like... like you got rid of your hairdresser or something. We were in love, Serena. At least I thought we were.
(a beat)
OK. Let’s try a few without the necklace.
Serena takes it off.
SERENA
I was young.
BEN
Not even a call. I waited and waited... and nothing. How could you?
SERENA
I was afraid of being hurt. I was afraid of where things were going, what with your father and all — his scorn for me was so apparent. I wanted to call you, I swear I did. I must have picked up the phone a million times. A month went by, then two. Eventually, I figured you must have found someone else.
BEN
After that summer? Are you crazy?
SERENA
I’m sorry, Ben. More sorry than I’ve ever been about anything. I made the biggest fucking mistake of my life.
(a beat)
I never forgot you. Not for a day.
BEN
OK. We need the fan.
A fan blows Serena’s hair.
BEN (CONT’D)
Good. Great. Turn this way. Now that.
SERENA
What about you, Ben? Did you ever forget me?
Ben makes a show of checking his camera.
BEN
We’re done.
SERENA
You didn’t answer.
BEN
I’ve thought of you, yes.
SERENA
A lot?
BEN
(a beat)
I don’t see the point of this, Serena.
Serena lets it go. She puts her dress back on.
SERENA
When will they be ready?
BEN
Tomorrow morning, assuming the developer and paper’s still good.
SERENA
Goodbye, Ben. I hope I haven’t offended you. I meant every word of what I said. I never forgot you.
Ben accompanies Serena to the door.
EXT. HARBORMASTER’S BUILDING - AFTERNOON
Serena gets into her car: a red Mustang convertible. Waving to Ben, she drives off in a cloud of dust.
INT. BEN’S STUDIO - LATER THAT AFTERNOON
Ben is at work in his darkroom, working with old bottles of chemicals. Having developed the film from today’s shoot, he is making 11-by-14 prints. Serena comes up in the tray — ghostlike at first, then fully defined.
The SOUNDTRACK is Bananarama’s Cruel Summer.
Ben sends the prints through the dryer. As they’re drying, he rummages around in the box of letters and stuff he took from the attic trunk two nights ago. He finds the negatives he wants and makes 11-by-14 prints. In the darkroom light, they seem remarkably similar to today’s shots.
CUT TO:
Ben at a lightboard with a magnifying glass. He is comparing new shots with the old, which show Serena by the shore. She is wearing a black bikini.
A SERIES OF SHOTS
Old photos versus new, with details seen through a magnifying glass. Except for the different style swimsuits, everything looks uncannily the same — down to the length and part of Serena’s hair and her pearl necklace.
INT. BEN’S FATHER’S RESIDENCE - EVENING
Ben’s father is in his bed, all but hidden under sheets. A tube is threaded into his nose, an IV is connected to his arm, a heart monitor beeps, etc.
This is not the distinguished looking gentleman seen in the summer place photos, but an old man ravaged by cancer. He is subdued today, but not out of it. He is decidely unhappy as DR. HENDREN checks pulse and blood pressure, and administers morphine as a NURSE hovers.
DR. HENDREN (to nurse)
He should sleep through the night. Barring the unforeseen, I’ll be by at nine tomorrow.
The nurse sees the doctor to the door, leaving Ben’s father and BEN’S SISTER, a fortyish woman, alone.
BEN’S FATHER
Goddamn doctors. I hate them all.
BEN’S SISTER
They have only your best interests in mind.
BEN’S FATHER
Bullshit. All any doctor has in mind is bilking
his patients. I’ve never met one that I liked. Have you reached Benjamin?
BEN’S SISTER
There’s no answer at the house.
He’s probably at dinner.
BEN’S FATHER
Did you try that fool studio of his?
BEN’S SISTER
I got his answering machine.
BEN’S FATHER
I want you to call every restaurant on the island.
BEN’S SISTER
Please, Dad. He couldn’t get off now even if we reached him. We’ll talk to him in the morning.
BEN’S FATHER
This is just more of his passive- aggressive bullshit. He knows I need him to sign off on that conveyance of deed. Nearly forty years old, and he has the responsibility of a child. The only sensible thing he ever did was marry Stephanie.
BEN’S SISTER
Easy, Dad. You know what the doctors said. You need your rest.
BEN’S FATHER
Damn those doctors.
INT. BEN’S STUDIO - THE NEXT MORNING
Ben is showing Serena the results of yesterday’s shoot.
BEN
Well?
SERENA
You’ve come a long way since the last time I posed for you. Do you remember that, Ben?
BEN
We were at the summer place.
SERENA
You didn’t have any of this fancy equipment — only a Nikon camera.
BEN
You were wearing a black bikini. And those same pearls.
SERENA
Do you remember afterwards?
BEN
(a beat)
Refresh my memory.
SERENA
We made love.
BEN
On the float.
SERENA
I remember how incredibly warm the ocean was, how bright the stars were. It was like a dream you never want to wake up from. I was crazy for you, Ben.
A pause. Ben is uncomfortable with this.
BEN
It’s been a long time since I made prints. I’m not sure I like the quality. What do you think?
SERENA
Shall I be honest?
BEN
Of course.
SERENA
They’re great — the technical aspects, I mean. It’s me that I don’t quite like. I look wooden, as if I was trying too hard. It’s no reflection on you — it’s been a long time since I was before a camera. Tell you what. Why don’t we go to the shore? I’d feel more comfortable there. And what a perfect day.
BEN
I’m afraid—
&
nbsp; SERENA
Please? Pretty please? Just one more shoot. I promise I won’t ask for anything more.
BEN
I’m afraid I have work to do.
Serena leafs through Ben’s appointments book, which shows a clear calendar for today — indeed, the entire summer.
SERENA
What work? Come on, Ben. I can hear the shore calling.
EXT. HARBORMASTER’S BUILDING - MORNING
Serena’s car, a classic 1965 red Mustang convertible, is parked next to Ben’s old Cherokee. Carrying equipment, Ben starts toward his vehicle — but stops when he sees hers.
BEN
I can’t believe you still have it.
SERENA
Why would I want anything else?
Ben worshipfully inspects the car, which is in mint condition.
BEN
It’s as awesome as it was 17 years ago. No dents. No rust.
SERENA
Get in. You’re driving.
Ben gets behind the wheel while Serena loads his equipment into the back seat. She gets in beside him.
BEN
I always loved this car.
SERENA
I always said it had your name.
Ben runs his fingers lovingly over the wheel, the dashboard, the instrument panel.
INSERT - ODOMETER It reads 1,153.3
BEN
Is the odometer broken?
SERENA
No. Why?
BEN
The mileage hasn’t changed.
SERENA
Of course it has.
BEN
But it hasn’t. I was behind the wheel when it hit 100,000. We were cruising and drinking champagne. It was our one-month anniversary. You called it a sign.
SERENA
I don’t remember.
BEN
I do, as clear as yesterday.
SERENA
It must have gone all the way around again.
BEN
Come on. No Mustang ever went 200,000 miles.
SERENA (dismissively)
Men! You’re all alike — so hung up on the details. Start it up.
A SERIES OF SHOTS
Of Ben and Serena heading toward the bluffs. Ben drives enthusiastically, while Serena tunes the radio. She flips through a succession of contemporary songs until settling on a station playing Orleans’ 1976 hit Still The One.
EXT. HOUGHTON DOCK - NOON
Against the backdrop of ocean, float, and Houghtie’s speedboat, Ben is shooting Serena, who has stripped to a black bikini — the one from the summer they met. She is wearing her pearls. Suddenly, she runs to the end of the dock.
BEN
What are you doing?
SERENA
If I’m going to model swimwear, shouldn’t it look like I swim? Think Sports Illustrated.
Serena dives in — and quickly surfaces. Dripping wet, she climbs back onto the dock, takes off her bikini top, and strikes a pose by Houghtie’s boat.
SERENA (CONT’D)
There. Now they can put me on a tool calendar.
Ben stands at his camera, not knowing how to react.
SERENA (CONT’D)
Go on, shoot! I hired you, remember?
Ben takes several shots.
SERENA (CONT’D)
Does that camera have a self-timer?
BEN
Forget it.
SERENA
Please, Ben. For old times sake.
BEN
No way.
SERENA
What are you afraid of?
Serena puts her top back on.
SERENA (CONT’D)
There you go, you old fart.
BEN
Are we done?
SERENA
Except for you. Come on, Ben. Every artist puts his signature on his work. I’m not leaving until you get in a picture.
BEN
Not happening.
SERENA
Don’t be shy.
Ben weakens.
BEN
All right. But just one.
He sets the timer and joins Serena. Just as the camera gives its warning beeps, Serena throws her arms around him and lightly kisses him.
BEN (CONT’D)
What the heck.
SERENA
You need to lighten up, Ben. Living with her all these years has sucked the life out of you.
Taking her clothes, Serena runs off the dock and up the stairs.
INT. SUMMER HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - EARLY AFTERNOON
We hear the sound of a SHOWER from somewhere in the house. Ben is at an open window, surveying the ocean through a telephoto lens.
The sound of the shower stops and Serena walks into the living room. She is draped in a beach towel. She combs her hair as she tours the room, inspecting Ben’s father’s photos, trophies, and assorted memorabilia.
SERENA
I’d forgotten just how oppressive he is.
BEN
He’s a little less so these days.
Cancer has a funny way of bringing people up.
SERENA
It’s malignant, isn’t it.
BEN
The doctors say he won’t last the summer.
SERENA
Does that make you sad?
BEN
I don’t know how it makes me feel. All I know is it’s not something I want to talk about.
Serena stops by a glass case containing a wooden model of a 19th-Century sailing ship. It’s amateurish, but some talent clearly was behind it.
SERENA
Did he make this?
BEN
I did. I was in eighth grade. It was the first thing I did that my father said made him proud. I never built another.
Serena picks up a photograph of Stephanie and Ben at their wedding reception, which was held here at the summer place.
SERENA
A lawyer — honest to God, Ben, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I found out. How did you ever meet a lawyer?
BEN
Her brother was one of my classmates.
SERENA
Houghtie must have jumped for joy.
BEN
She’s a good person. She believes in battling evil. It sounds old-fashioned, but it’s true.
SERENA
Are you in love?
BEN (a beat)
I love her.
SERENA
That’s not what I asked you.
BEN
I love her.
SERENA
She gives you room. She knows that’s the way to your father’s money.
BEN
That’s nonsense.
SERENA
You’re not in love with her.
BEN
(weakly)
Vapors: The Essential G. Wayne Miller Fiction Vol. 2 Page 18
