Perspectives: Michelle

(Perspectives: Michelle is a short film from The Chronicles of Oscar and Amber. The screenplay, which varies slightly from the video version, is below.)

Scene 1 – “The Drive Home”

[Midday. Zoey’s car on the highway from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Michelle sits in the passenger seat, exhausted but chatty. Zoey drives, occasionally glancing at her friend with concern.]

MICHELLE: Midland is… a lot. The whole area is basically one giant man-camp. Roughnecks everywhere, gold-diggers circling like sharks. Oil is literally everything. The traffic is insane — long lines at every drive-thru, every grocery store. We fought like gladiators just to get the overpriced two-bedroom we’re in. Chad’s working 100-hour weeks, so I barely see him. And my marketing business back here is dying because I’m not around to service the clients. The locals out there aren’t exactly welcoming to carpetbaggers, either.

ZOEY [grimacing]: Jesus, Chelle. That sounds miserable.

MICHELLE: It’s not all bad. The money’s good for the people making it. But yeah… it’s a lot.

ZOEY: So what’s the plan for this trip? You’ve got a lot on your plate.

MICHELLE: I need to - A - get the rest of my stuff out of the apartment so you can sublease it, - B - drop some things at Chad’s house in Baton Rouge and load the rest into the U-Haul I rented, and - C - try to see three of my old clients before I head back so I don’t lose them completely. Then it’s Baton Rouge to Houston tonight, spend the night, and Houston to Midland tomorrow.

ZOEY [incredulous]: You’re going to do all that in one compressed trip?

MICHELLE: I have to be back by Sunday if I want Chad’s help unloading the U-Haul. That’s his only day off.

ZOEY [shaking her head, but smiling]: You’re crazy. But fine. You just picked up a helper.

MICHELLE: No, Zoey, this isn’t your problem. You have work.

ZOEY: I’ll make up the shift. You need me, Chelle, and you’ve got me whether you like it or not.

Scene 2 – “Home Sweet… Mess”

[Night. Michelle opens the door to the corporate-y apartment she shares with Chad in Midland. The place is dark and neglected — not trashed, but clearly lived in by someone who’s never home: dishes in the sink, clothes draped over chairs, empty takeout containers.]

[Michelle flips on the lights and sighs, starting to pick things up.]

[Chad enters a moment later, looking tired but happy to see her.]

CHAD: Hey! [kisses her] I’m sorry I’m late. I wanted to get home before you, but I had this thing…

MICHELLE: You have booze on your breath.

CHAD: Yeah, I know. I was at the Royal Cafe with the Carter Services guys. Gotta keep the vendors happy. If you’d gotten back earlier I would’ve brought you.

MICHELLE: After a 12-hour drive?

CHAD: It’s a seven-hour drive from Houston, babe.

MICHELLE: Not today it wasn’t. Not with an overturned semi on Highway 71 that stopped traffic for four hours.

CHAD: Ugh.

MICHELLEL It’s fine. It’s over. And I managed to bring a whole U-Haul full of nice stuff from the house in Baton Rouge, so we can really start to spruce this place up.

CHAD: A whole U-Haul? I thought you were just getting your stuff.

MICHELLE: Chad. What did you think I was doing?

CHAD: Yeah, okay. You did tell me you were renting a U-Haul. Sorry.

MICHELLE: Please tell me you can help me unload this thing tomorrow.

CHAD [hesitant]: Ummm…

MICHELLE: No. Come on, Chad. Sunday is your day off.

CHAD: Yeah, except Mack Tyler broke his arm yesterday and he’s still laid up, and we’re putting in Big Turtle up near Sundown tomorrow. I’ve got to be there. I’m really sorry.

[Michelle exhales, disappointed, and returns to picking up the mess.]

Scene 3 – “Helper”

[Daytime. Michelle struggles to carry a coffee table up the outside stairs to the apartment. A young woman (Sierra) is coming down the other way.]

SIERRA: Whoa. You really shouldn’t be doing that alone.

MICHELLE: Tell me about it. But my boyfriend…

SIERRA: Works the patch and has zero time to play house with you.

[Michelle nods, exhausted.]

SIERRA: I’m Sierra. I live in 206.

MICHELLE: Michelle.

SIERRA: Well, you’re in luck. I was gonna do a spa day, but I’d rather do something nice for a stranger instead. What do you need?

[Cut to: The apartment now looking noticeably better — cleaner, with some of Michelle’s nicer things from Baton Rouge arranged. Michelle and Sierra sit at the breakfast table sharing a bottle of wine.]

SIERRA: So you’re trying to keep a marketing business going from here?

MICHELLE: Trying and failing, mostly. I can’t service my clients back home from Midland, and the locals here aren’t exactly rolling out the red carpet for carpetbaggers.

SIERRA: Go put in an application at the Mercedes dealership and sell cars. You know marketing, so you can sell, right? You’ll make a fortune, and you’ll get contacts you can use for your agency. And you won’t be sitting home worrying yourself to death all day.

MICHELLE: Hmm. Maybe.

[Sierra stands up.]

SIERRA: I’ve got a set at the Cafe in an hour, so I guess I’m off. You’re welcome for, y’know.

MICHELLE: Oh my God, thank you!

[Sierra leaves. Michelle is alone again, but the apartment finally looks like adults live there.]

Scene 4 – “Sexy Mullet”

[Late night. Michelle is in bed. Chad drags into the bedroom, exhausted. Michelle wakes and turns on the light.]

MICHELLE: Chad… I need to talk to you about something.

CHAD: Okay, can I shower first?

[Chad starts to strip, heading for the bathroom. Michelle gets out of bed, picking up his clothes as he throws them down.]

MICHELLE: Here. Give me those.

CHAD: They’re dirty. I’m…

MICHELLE: I’ll put them in the washing machine. Look, I’m going to get a job.

CHAD: [stepping into the shower]: I thought you had a business.

[Michelle goes through the pockets of Chad’s pants, dumps the contents on the bathroom counter]

MICHELLE: And like I’ve been telling you, it’s collapsing. I can’t service my clients back home from here, and I can’t afford the plane trips back and forth that I would need to…

CHAD: Shelly, get clients here!

MICHELLE [sarcastic]: Wow, good idea! I wish I’d thought of that!

[Chad pokes his wet head out of the shower curtain and gives her a scowl]

CHAD: Really, Michelle?

MICHELLE: This is a smaller market than it is back home and I know NOBODY. Zero contacts and I’ve been here for the better part of a month. I’m kinda drowning, Chad. I need to do something.

CHAD: Yeah, but the point of this is I’m making more than enough money for both of us.

MICHELLE: That money is your money, Chad.

CHAD: Oh, come on.

MICHELLE: So like, what? I’m gonna be a kept woman? There’s a way to do that, you know. It’s not really the way we’re doing it.

[Chad steps out of the shower; Michelle hands him a towel]

CHAD: This is about you needing a ring. Okay, now I get where this is going.

MICHELLE: No, Chad. I’m not pressuring you to do that. It’s the opposite. You’re a big fish in this pond and I’m like a little mullet.

CHAD: Yeah, but you’re a very sexy mullet.

[Michelle rolls her eyes as he picks her up and carries her into the bedroom]

MICHELLE [audible but distant; the shot is of the hallway from the bedroom but Chad and Michelle are off-camera]: What time do you have to leave in the morning?

CHAD: Oh, like 5:30.

MICHELLE: Oh my God, Chad.

CHAD: Hey, it’s the job. What do you want me to do?