YOU'VE GOT MAIL

 A beat.  Joe gets up.

        JOE
  That is my cue.  Good night.

 Joe leaves.

 EXT. KATHLEEN'S APARTMENT BUILDING -- LATER THAT NIGHT

 Kathleen comes down the street.  She drops the rose in the
 trash can.

 INT. KATHLEEN'S APARTMENT - A MINUTE LATER

 Kathleen comes in, drops the book on the table, takes off her
 coat and goes immediately to the computer.  She clicks on
 American Online.  Waits impatiently to connect.  Looks with
 anticipation at the mail box.

 THE COMPUTER SCREEN - NO MAIL

 Hold on Kathleen as a tear starts down her face.

 She takes her handkerchief out of her sleeve and wipes her
 face and blows her nose.  Then looks at her handkerchief and
 tosses it over her shoulder.

 She goes over to the bed and turns it down and slips out of
 her shoes.

 Then she lies down on the bed, fully clothed.  She reaches
 up to turn out the light.

 INT. JOE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

 As Joe turns on his closet light and hangs up his jacket.
 The computer is on the desk, and the light on it illuminates
 the room.

 Patricia is in the next room, eating matzos.

        PATRICIA (O.C.)
  So I said to her, "If you think I will
  even talk to you about paying that kind
  of advance for an author whose last book
  is being used as trivets all over the
  world, you are completely crazy."

 On Joe's face, barely bearing.

 INT. FOXBOOKS SUPERSTORE - DAY

 As Kevin and Joe walk through the store.

        KEVIN
  But underneath that disagreeable exterior
  she could turn out to be --

        JOE
  A real bitch.  Let's not talk about it.
  I'm going back to the office.  You must
  have work to do.

        KEVIN
  Not really.  This place is humming like a
  top.

 EXT. SHOP AROUND THE CORNER - DAY

 As Kathleen comes around the corner.  Christina is waiting.

        CHRISTINA
  What happened?

        KATHLEEN
  He never came.

        CHRISTINA
  He stood you up?

 INT. SHOP AROUND THE CORNER

 As Kathleen puts her purse into the drawer.

        KATHLEEN
  I think something happened, something
  terrible and unexpected that made it
  impossible for him --

 George walks in.

        GEORGE
  What happened?

        KATHLEEN
  He wasn't able to make it.

        GEORGE
  He stood you up.

        KATHLEEN
  What could have happened?
   (continued)

 George looks suddenly stricken.

        KATHLEEN (cont'd)
  Why didn't he come?  Maybe he showed up,
  took one look at me and left.

        CHRISTINA
  Not possible.

        KATHLEEN
  Maybe there was a subway accident.

        CHRISTINA
  Absolutely.

        KATHLEEN
  A train was trapped underground with him
  inside.

        CHRISTINA
  And no phone.

 George continues to look stricken.  He's starting to shake
 his head.

        KATHLEEN
  Or an automobile accident.  Those cab
  drivers are maniacs.

        CHRISTINA
  They hit something and you slam right
  into that plastic partition.

        KATHLEEN
  His elbows could be in splints -- so he
  can't really dial --

        CHRISTINA
  Or he could be in the hospital in one of
  those semi-private room with like --
       
        CHRISTINA & KATHLEEN
   (together)
  -- no phone.

 They look at George.  Still shaking his head.

        KATHLEEN
   (to George)
  What?

 George hands them a New York Post.  They look at the cover:
 COPS NAB ROOFTOP KILLER

        KATHLEEN
  What are you saying?

        GEORGE
  It could be.

 Dead silence.

        GEORGE (cont'd)
  He was arrested two blocks from the
  cheesecake place.

        CHRISTINA
  Is there a picture?

 There it is.  It's of a man with his jacket pulled over his
 head.

 They all look at it.

        CHRISTINA
  So that explains it.

        GEORGE
  He was in jail.

        CHRISTINA
  And there was a phone --

        GEORGE
  -- but he got only one call and he had to
  use it to call his lawyer.

        CHRISTINA
  You are so lucky.

        GEORGE
  You could be dead.

        KATHLEEN
  Are you crazy?  This man couldn't
  possibly be the rooftop killer.

        CHRISTINA
  Remember when you thought Frank might be
  the Unabomber?

        KATHLEEN
  That was different.

        CHRISTINA
  How long did you sit there all alone?

        KATHLEEN
  Not that long.  Joe Fox came in --

        CHRISTINA
  Joe Fox!

        KATHLEEN
  I don't want to talk about it.
   (closes her eyes)
  Let's get to work.

 They look around.  There's no one in the store and nothing to
 do.

 A pause.

        KATHLEEN
  There must be something to do.  There's
  always something to do.

 They hear the jingle of the front door.  They look hopefully
 toward it.  It's only Birdie.

        CHRISTINA
  He stood her up.

 Hold on Kathleen as the computer sound begins.

        KATHLEEN (V.O.)
  I have been thinking about you.  Last
  night I went to meet you and you weren't
  there.  I wish I knew why.  I felt so
  foolish.
   (continued)

 INT. KATHLEEN'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

 As she types.  And we cut from her face to the screen as we
 hear a voice-over:

        KATHLEEN (V.O.)
  And as I waited, someone else showed up,
  a man who has made my professional life a
  misery, and an amazing thing happened --
  I was able, for the first time in my
  life, to say the exact thing I wanted to say
  it.  And of course, afterwards, I felt
  terrible.  Just as you said I would.

 INT. JOE'S APARTMENT - LATER

 The E-mail from Kathleen continues as Joe reads.

        KATHLEEN (V.O.)
  I was cruel, and I'm never cruel.  And
  even though I can hardly believe what I
  said mattered to this man -- to him, I'm
  just a bug to be crushed -- but what if
  it did?  No matter what he's done to me,
  there's no excuse for my behavior.
  Anyway, you are my dear friend, and I so
  wanted to talk to you.  I hope you have a
  good reason for not being there last
  night, but if you don't, and if we never
  really connect again, I just want to tell
  you how much it has meant to me to know
  you were there.

 Joe sits there a second.  A moment of intense ambivalence.
 Then he hits the Menu key and signs off.

        COMPUTER
  Goodbye.

 Joe stands and leaves the room.

 The computer sits there.

 Hold on the computer.  We hear him open the refrigerator
 door. We hear him close the refrigerator door.  He passes
 the den without even looking into it.  A moment later he
 comes back into the room, stares at the computer.  He starts
 for the bedroom, changes his mind.  Circles the computer.
 He's going to go cold turkey if it kills him.

 Fuck it.  He sits down.  Sign on.  Starts to type.

        JOE (V.O.)
  I am in Vancouver.

 He stops... Hits the delete button and erases the message.
 He starts typing again:

        JOE (V.O.)
  I was stuck in a meeting, which I
  couldn't get out of it, and there was
  no phone.

 He backspaces to erase "there was no phone."

 Screen now reads: I was stuck in a meeting, which I couldn't
 get out of it.  Joe sits there thinking for a moment.  Then he
 starts typing.

        JOE (V.O., cont'd)
  The electricity went out in the building
  and we were trapped on the 18th floor and
  the telephone system blew too.

 He stops and looks at it.  Then he types:

        JOE (V.O., cont'd)
  Amazingly enough.

 He sits looking at it.

 Then he deletes the whole thing.

 Sits looking at the blank screen.

        JOE
  Fuck you.

 He clicks the Yes box.

 Then he starts to type again.