Love of Her Life Read Online Free Page B

it. 
     
    BARTENDER
    About anything?  You have beautiful
    hands. 
     
    HARMONIA
    You almost sound like him.  He looks
    at hands every day.  He's a poker
    dealer.  People are hands. 
     
    BARTENDER
    Are you still mad at him?
     
    HARMONIA
    I can never stay mad at him.  I try. 
    Real hard. 
     
    The Bartender takes a silver ring off his little finger.  He slips it onto Harmonia's ring finger.  It's far too big. 
     
    HARMONIA
    What are you doing? 
     
    He tries the middle finger.  Too big. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Are you falling in love with me? 
    You shouldn't.  I'm in love with
    him. 
     
    He tries the thumb.  It fits. 
     
    BARTENDER
    He's a fantasy, the man you think
    you love. 
     
    Harmonia admires the ring.  It's an artistic braided design. 
     
    HARMONIA
    I've always like silver better than
    gold. 
     
    BARTENDER
    You prefer fantasy to reality. 
     
    She sits up and gives him a queer expression. 
     
    HARMONIA
    We all live in our heads. 
     
    She stands and stares out the window. 
     
    BARTENDER
    Stuck in my reality. 
     
    He reaches for her and pulls her back into his arms.  She lays next to him and admires the ring on her thumb. 
     
    HARMONIA
    You don't mind?
     
    He laughs. 
     
    BARTENDER
    Competing with my own fantasy?  It's
    the story of my life. 
     
    HARMONIA
    And every other man's really. 
    Sometimes a fantasy of himself is a
    man's worst competition. 
     
    BARTENDER
    Or best. 
     
    She kisses his cheek. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Friends. 
     
    She takes the ring off and puts it on his little finger. 
     
    BARTENDER
    Why did you say yes?
     
    There is a knock at the door.  The Bartender opens it.  A server delivers lunch on a tray.  The Bartender gives the server a generous tip on the way out. 
     
    He feeds Harmonia. 
     
    HARMONIA
    You aren't the manipulative type. 
     
    He takes a bite of salad and contemplates. 
     
    BARTENDER
    Did you see the Seinfeld episode
    where Costanza decides to do the
    opposite of everything he normally
    would do?
     
    HARMONIA
    Yes. 
     
    She opens her mouth like a baby bird.  He teases her.  She snatches the salad off the fork.  She talks with food in her
    mouth. 
     
    HARMONIA
    That's the very thing I did.  That's
    why I'm here now. 
     
    BARTENDER
    Here with me?  Normally you wouldn't
    do what?
     
    He tears a bread roll apart and butters it.  He feeds her. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Here on this boat.  Meeting a man
    I'm in love with and haven't met. 
    Choosing to love him unconditionally. 
     
    BARTENDER
    The choice of him was against your
    grain in the first place?
     
    HARMONIA
    It was. 
     
    He reacts, stunned and curious. 
     
    HARMONIA
    I had my sights set much higher. 
    And what I was after was within reach,
    too.  I merely had to go for it. 
     
    BARTENDER
    I was wondering.  I thought you had
    low self esteem. 
     
    HARMONIA
    There is no such thing. 
     
    He pours coffee. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Lots of milk and a sprinkle of the
    blue stuff. 
     
    He prepares her coffee.  She sits up. 
     
    BARTENDER
    No such thing as low self esteem?
     
    HARMONIA
    It's a way we delude ourselves.  We
    buy into the idea because it allows
    us to focus attention on ourselves. 
     
    BARTENDER
    Aha.  Guilt free. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Slave morality. 
     
    BARTENDER
    Nietzche. 
     
    She smiles. 
     
    HARMONIA
    That's why I said yes. 
     
    EXT.  DELTA QUEEN SUN DECK - NIGHT
     
    The boat moves southbound on the Mississippi.  Chieko and Harmonia sit on the deck with coffee cups. 
     
    CHIEKO
    Did he try?
     
    HARMONIA
    Only to entice me. 
     
    CHIEKO
    You've got to respect that. 
     
    Harmonia nods in agreement. 
     
    HARMONIA
    He put a ring on my finger. 
     
    Chieko checks her hands, questioning. 
     
    HARMONIA
    His ring.  It fit my thumb.  His
    fingers are thick. 
     
    Harmonia gets a dreamy look.  Chieko slaps her knee. 
     
    They both laugh.  They catch themselves, look at each other,
    and bust out again.  They simultaneously say