s in the empty times square without even one person.)

alarm clock: open your eyes. david, open your eye...

curtis: well, i suppose the empty street meant loneliness.

david: you're a 2)shrink, you gotta do better than that.

curtis: i'm a doctor, let's not 3)stereotype each other, not all rich kids are soulless and not all psychologists care about dreams. the question is how you got here and why you've been charged.

david: what do you want to know? i was about to turn 33. i ran three magazines in a world wide publishing house. and most days i actually fooled myself into believing that it would last forever. isn't that what being young is about? believing secretly that you would be the one person in the history of man who would live forever.

scene 2

(david was an unconventional young man before imprisonment. he was half-hearted to his work. one morning, he went to play tennis with his friend brian, and paid no attention to the board meeting. )

david: did you reserve the court?

brian: easy, i can't handle heavy conversation at this ungodly hour.

david: sorry to do this early, but i gotta be done by ten.

(the telephone rings.)

secretary: you're not going to make the 8:45, are you?

david: how did you find me?

secretary: david aames, you have to check the colors of the letters for the new issue of rise.

david: what are the colors?

secretary: yellow and red or the traditional white.

david: gotta think about it!

secretary: david, please don't be late for the ten o'clock with the board.

david: ok, but don't tell anybody where i am. i don't care if god calls. i'm very, very busy.

secretary: we have...

(david hangs up the call.)

brian: yeah.

scene 3

(the scene changes back to the prison. david tells the doctor his life story and the reason that changes his fate.)

david: david aames senior! my father wasn't built for the 21st century, he never went to mcdonald's, not once. he never watched television, and yet his biggest magazine is still the tv digest. he and my mother threw the grandest parties of the literary world, ballooned, jumped out of airplanes. he sought adventure. his autobiography is the 4)manual for every 5)cutthroat publisher in new york city. it's called defending the kingdom.

curtis: i've read it. page 127, "david jr. was a delight as a child." did i miss something here? is that all he wrote about you?

david: i don't think he ever got over the fact that i'm absolutely terrified of heights. the irony continues. when he and my mother were run over by a drunken teenager on new year's eve ten years ago, he left the keys to the kingdom to me. 51% control, 49% going to a group of seven board members who all thought they were first in line.

curtis: there are five basic emotions in life, david. tell me what emotion griped him before he entered that cell. was it guilt? hate? shame? revenge? love? i'm completely on the wrong track, aren't i?

scene 4

(love -- david calls back his birthday party on which night he felt in love with beautiful sofia and hurt the girl who loved him, julie.)

david: how about if you help me? unless i'm 6)horning in here?

sofia: you are, but the food's good.

david: i've got this little problem. i've got a 7)stalker.

sofia: it doesn't sound life threatening.

david: but i need a cover. i need for you to pretend we are having a stimulating conversation and you are wildly entertained. i know it's tough.

sofia: i'll 8)improvise.

david: she's right across the room and she's burning a hole in my back right now, isn't she?

sofia: red dress? 9)strappy shoes?

david: yes.

sofia: wow, she's really staring at you.

david: shit!

sofia: and she seems to be crying, less happy. i think she's the saddest girl to ever hold a martini.

(after the birthday party, david drives sofia home.)

sofia: ever been married?

david: no. did you ever accept any of your 12 thousand proposals?

sofia: 12 thousand and 8. no!

david: and you moved to new york to do dance, paint and acting. deal arms?

sofia: right. do you want to hear 10)jeff buckley or vicky carr?

david: jeff buckley or vicky carr? both 11)simultaneously.

sofia: everyone said don't go to new york, but i just think good things will happen if you're a good person with a good attitude. don't you think? you think i'm naive.

david: ah, no! i really don't. (interior monologue) i dug her completely! somehow i'd found the last semi-guyless girl in new york city.

scene 5

(next morning, julie comes to meet david in her car just as he leaves sofia's home.)

julie: david aames!

david: julie gianni!

julie: hey handsome!

david: you're following me.

julie: just a little bit, i wanted to finish what we were talking about.

david: and?

julie: how did it go with our moth girl? did she turn into a butterfly for you?

david: yes, she did.

julie: yeah?

david: it's ok.

julie: you ju