Runaway Bride

       IKE
  I was talking to the dog.
   (turning to Maggie)
  All right?

 Maggie thinks about this for a moment.  She takes a deep breath.

       MAGGIE
  Okay... I'll just grab my jacket.

       CUT TO:

 EXT. ROAD - LATE DUSK TO NIGHT

 Establishing of Ike's car driving.

 INT. IKE'S CAR - LATE DUSK TO NIGHT

 Maggie and Ike ride along.

       IKE
  My dad managed a business and two
  mistresses.  He wanted me to be a
  novelist.  More?

 Maggie nods,

       IKE (cont'd)
  My mother wanted me to become a
  musician.  0 for two.  But at least
  I'm a journalist and we all know
  journalism is literature in a hurry.

 EXT. IKE'S CAR - COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT

 Ike and Maggie stare forward.  Both seem in melancholy moods. 
 They're beginning to sense they're in trouble here.  Suddenly,
 the car falters and jerks.  It shows to a stop on the shoulder of
 the road.  The car backfires and smokes.

 EXT. IKE'S CAR - COUNTRY ROAD -  NIGHT

 Ike and Maggie sit in the steaming car for a moment.

       MAGGIE
  Your filter's clogged.  This takes
  unleaded.

       IKE
  Can you fix it?

       MAGGIE
  First I have to find some tools.  I
  need a half and a nine-six-tenth.

       IKE
   (removing his glasses)
  Of what?

       MAGGIE
   (in amazement)
  Wrenches.  My dad's gonna love that one.

 Maggie slams the food closed.

       IKE
  Kind of isolated.

       MAGGIE
  Yeah.  It's kind of nice.

 An uncomfortable silent pause.  Ike breaks the moment.

       IKE
  There's one thing we New Yorkers know
  how to do is hail a cab.  If there's no
  cab, we walk.

 Ike stares off down the road.  Maggie indicates a building in
 the distance, then turns off the car lights.

       MAGGIE
  I can get some tools over there.... and
  save the battery... There's one thing
  we country girls know how to do is cut
  across a field.  It's quicker.

 Maggie points diagonally across the field to where a gas station
 sign glows and the lights from the outer house twinkle.

 He smiles and follows her into the field.

       MAGGIE (cont'd)
  Be careful of snakes.

       IKE
  Snakes?  Are you serious?  I don't like
  snakes.  I've never even seen a snake.

 He steps carefully into the field, then hops gingerly toward Maggie.

 MOMENTS LATER

 Maggie leads Ike through a cornfield.

       MAGGIE
  Do you think there's only one right
  person for everybody?

 Ike chooses his words carefully.

       IKE
  No.  But I think attraction is too
  often mistaken for rightness. 
  Attraction is very misleading.  And if
  it's mutual, it's well, terribly
  distracting.

       MAGGIE
  Yes it is.  And it doesn't mean
  anything.

 Ike nods as they come to a wooden fence.  She puts her hand on
 his shoulder.  Ike puts his hands around her waits to give her a
 boost over the top.  We see the flicker of misunderstanding cross
 Maggie's face at the initial contact.  Neither of them moves --
 forward or back, but the electricity is obvious.

 ANGLE ON:  Ike.  His conflicted feelings are apparent.  With
 difficulty, Maggie straightens up and they both quickly remove
 their hands.

       MAGGIE (cont'd)
   (lightly)
  I suddenly forgot how to climb a fence.

 They look at each other for a moment, then:

       MAGGIE AND IKE
   (breaking the
    moment jokingly)
  "Tools".

 She climbs over the fence on her own and Ike follows.  They see
 an old guy, LIONEL, whittling on a porch.

       MAGGIE (cont'd)
  Lionel, can I borrow some tools?

       IKE
  Yeah, we need a half and nine-
  sixteenths.

       LIONEL
  Gonna bust out of another wedding?

       IKE
  You're sure well known around here.

 EXT. FISHER AND ELLIE'S BUILDING - THE NEXT DAY

 Establishing shot.

 INT. FISHER AND ELLIE'S KITCHEN (NYC) - DAY

 INT. IKE'S HOTEL ROOM - DAY

 INTERCUT BETWEEN TWO LOCATIONS:

 Ike sits on his bed, on the phone, working and eating his
 breakfast.  He's watching Maggie's wedding tape again.  Fisher
 is cooking an elaborate breakfast.  Ellie rushes around getting
 ready for work.  He is on the phone to Ike.

       FISHER
   (into phone)
  Yes, well, my theory was that she may
  be running because she gets attention...
  Negative attention is attention. 
  Like when women whack you on the street
  because of your column, that's negative
  attention.

       IKE (V.O.)
  This is about her negative attention,
  not mine.  Did you get the
  reimbursement for the dress yet?

       FISHER
   (into phone)
  No, I'm paying for the dress.  Do you
  think she's still gonna run?

       IKE (V.O.)
  I don't know.

 Ellie enters the kitchen, hears the question and shakes her head
 to herself.  If only these boys would give it up.

 INT. IKE'S HOTEL ROOM - CONTINUOUS

 He is finding it very hard to gloat.  Fisher is annoying him.

       IKE
   (into phone)
  Look -- I'll be in there later today. 
  I'll come by and tell you all about it.

       FISHER (V.O.)
  You're coming here?

       IKE
   (into phone)
  Yeah.

       FISHER (V.O.)
  Then come for dinner.

       IKE
   (into phone)
  Okay, we'll order out.

       FISHER (V.O.)
  Order out like a Philistine, when you
  got the Galloping Gourmet here?...

 Ike hangs up and watches more of the George Swilling wedding
 video.

 INT. NEW YORK BAR - DAY

 The bar from the opening scene.  GEORGE SWILLING, the same man
 Ike talked to before, is sitting on a stool, nursing his drink. 
 He looks better.  Ike enters.  George looks up and recognizes
 Ike, who takes the bar stool next to him.

       IKE
  Get this man a Kamikaze.

       GEORGE
  Splendid dissection of Maggie Carpenter,
  very professional job.

 Ike sits and leans over to George.

       IKE
   (whispers)
  You could have told me you were fiance
  number three.

       GEORGE
  And end up in the papers?  I've been
  humiliated enough already to last a
  lifetime, thank you.  I'm sorry she got
  you canned.

       IKE
  Thanks.

       GEORGE
  She's a cacophony of contradictions.

       IKE
  Well, I'm writing another article on
  the cacophony.

       GEORGE
  Ah, can't stay away from her, can you? 
  Like a moth to a flame.

       IKE
  Guess you'd know about that.  You're an
  entomologist, right?  How's business?

       GEORGE
   (taking a sip
    of his drink)
  Not bad.  I was traveling around
  studying the reproductive and migratory
  patterns of locusts when Maggie met me.

       IKE
   (sarcastic)
  Neuter a locust, feed the world.

   GORGE
  Not the world.  Just Africa and China.

 Ike wipes the smirk off his face.  Like Maggie's other men, this
 guy has a worthy accomplishment under his belt.

       GEORGE (cont'd)
  You know Maggie was the only girl I
  ever met who would hold my tarantula. 
  On the first date.

       IKE (cont'd)
  So, tell me, George, why do you think
  she ran?

       GEORGE
  Same as you said.  What did you call
  her?  A "man-eater", "a devouring death
  goddess."

       IKE
  I don't think that's why she ran.

       GEORGE
  Why do YOU think she ran?

 Ike sips his drink before answering.

       IKE
  I don't know.  I'm working on it.  I
  was on the wrong track.

       GEORGE
  And you defending her?

       IKE
  No.  I call it like I see it.  I'm a
  journalist.  I'm a truth teller.

       GEORGE
  Unbelievable, she got to you.

       IKE
  Oh, please!

   GORGE
  Join the club.
   (passing him
    his drink)
  Here, you need this more than me.

 George heads out.

       IKE
   (protecting, taking
    his tape recorder
    out of his pocket)
  I'm writing an article, I'm getting
  paid to do this, it's going to be a
  cover story, it's going to be published
  ... The facts will be read someday.

 As George pauses in the doorway, Ike holds up his tape recorder.

       IKE (cont'd)
  What kind of eggs did she like?

       GEORGE
  Poached, just like me.

 George exits.

       CUT TO:

 EXT. NEW YORK STREET/FISHER AND ELLIE'S BUILDING - DAY

 Ike walks down a street toward Ellie and Fisher.

       CUT TO:

 INT. FISHER AND ELLIE'S APARTMENT (NYC) - NIGHT

 Ellie is on the phone as Fisher enters with beer.  Ike sits at
 the piano.

       FISHER
   (sarcastically)
  Overpriced nice apartment and Chinese
  takeout.  That's New York living.

       ELLIE
   (into phone)
  ... Just call me when you have it.
   (hangs up, then to Fisher)
  Ike, how is the story coming?  Is she a
  man-eater?

       FISHER
  Or a vegetarian?

       ELLIE
  Or does she pick "NGB'S" -- "Nice Guys,
  But..."  Nice guys, but I'm cheap. 
  Nice guys, but he lives with his mom...
  Nice guys, but he just out of prison.

       IKE
  No... They're interesting guys.  Each
  one of these guys has something going
  for him.  I mean, one's been up Everest. 
  Another's become a priest.  One's a
  pretty good guitar player.  And this
  guy today tried to end world hunger, if
  you can believe that...