Patience New Script

Chris Caldow 05/09/10

PATIENCE

By

Chris Caldow

FADE IN:

INT. RENTED APARTMENT/ SITTING ROOM – NIGHT

A faint ticking of a clock can be heard.

*(A man’s eyes are illuminated by a slit of light, which penetrates the venetian blinds. He turns around and walks toward the circular wooden table.)

An analogue clock upon the wall reads 7:40pm.

Upon the wall we see a calendar with days crossed out in October. It is the 22^nd. The room is dimly lit and bare. There is the occasional light that enters the room through the venetian blinds from passing vehicles outside and the drone of their engines can be heard.

A man sits in his chair by a circular wooden table. His face is concealed by a harsh shadow. Only his nose and chin are illuminated by the suspended lamp above the table. He appears to be a burly man roughly in his late forties. He is wearing a white sleeveless vest. He is somewhat lazily slouched in the chair as he tosses playing cards in a hat that rests in front of him. He has a glass of whiskey *(and an ashtray to his right. He is smoking a cigar.)

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He then checks his wristwatch. It reads 7:49pm.

He then continues to toss the cards into his hat until he comes across a small photograph of a woman amongst the deck of cards. Distracted, the last card he throws misses its target and slides and pirouettes gracefully upon the surface of the tabletop and stops before falling off the edge.

He places the cards down, but keeps hold of the photograph. It is in colour. The woman is blonde and very beautiful.

He softly and lovingly strokes the woman’s cheek in the photograph with his middle and ring finger. He then turns it over. There is a message, which reads: ”Don’t be late.“ He then inspects his watch again, looking at a small engraving which reads: ”Love you always, Rachel x.“

He lets out a sigh.

The long hand on the clock on the wall strikes 8:00pm.

There is then a noise outside the front door. He turns and leans towards the direction of the door. Footsteps can be heard, gradually becoming louder. The footsteps stop. The man seems to tense up slightly. There is then a sudden clatter as something is passed through the letterbox.

The man remains seated and motionless. The footsteps begin again yet become fainter. Only once the footsteps disappear does he begin to get up.

He rises abruptly from his chair, too abruptly and hits his head on the lamp above the table. The lamp swings violently, but the man is quick to stop the lamp from swinging any further. Despite this the man’s face remains concealed by the darkness of the room.

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He leaves the room. His footsteps become fainter as he leaves the sitting room for the entryway, and become louder once more as he re-enters the sitting room. He drops a parcel upon the small circular wooden table and then abruptly slumps once more in his chair. He pauses for a moment with hesitation, and then he reaches out for the parcel. He opens the seal with one swift motion of the tip of his thumb. He reaches inside and withdraws a wodge of documents.

From the parcel, he pulls out numerous documents. It discloses extensive information, residence and occupation and other details. Amongst the pack of papers there are numerous black and white photos of the individual, a beautiful woman, roughly in her mid thirties.

Looking at the images the man becomes tense, he seems dismayed. He recognizes her. He can’t believe it. It is her. It is Rachel.

He brings both his own photograph and the photo from the parcel together. There can be no doubt.

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He puts his head in his hands.

A short while later he gets up from his chair and stares at his silenced Sig Sauer resting on the opposite side of the table. He picks up his hat and his gun and *(and turns off the light) before leaving the room. The front door in the entryway is opened then closed abruptly.

EXT. STREET - NIGHT

The man is standing outside his rented apartment wearing his hat and a long thick jacket. *(He takes one last puff of his cigar and flicks it to the floor and puts it out with his foot.) He hesitates,then walks off into the night.

FADE OUT:

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