(We are at an airport. Shuffling through her things, DESIREE drops her purse. It falls open, letting the wallet out. It opens and pictures can be seen. BYRON is walking by. Upon seeing the dropped stuff, he helps DESIREE gather it all up.)
DESIREE
Thanks.
BYRON
Sure.
(He begins walking away. A beat. He turns back to her)
I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be intrusive, but, when you dropped your wallet just now, I could’ve sworn I saw a picture in there of someone I know. Can I have a second look at it?
DESIREE
Sure. I have a lot of photos in here, so I’m not sure which one it might have been. It would be something of a …
BYRON
…That’s her. Emily Schaffer. Good friend of yours?
DESIREE
She’s my best friend actually. You know her.
BYRON
Back at the University of Wyoming. She was my roommate’s girlfriend.
DESIREE
Really? Who was your roommate?
BYRON
Jeremy Matheson.
DESIREE
Ducky?
BYRON
Yeah. Ducky. He still goes by that?
DESIREE
No. He’s become very mature these days. We only call him Ducky behind his back.
BYRON
Mature? Jeremy Matheson? The man once filled the school fountain with fetal pigs from the biology lab.
DESIREE
Fetal Pigs?
BYRON
Fetal Pigs.
DESIREE
Well, now that’s gross.
BYRON
Sorry.
DESIREE
Not your fault. It’s Ducky.
BYRON
He was a wild guy alright.
DESIREE
I only had a small idea.
BYRON
As a float for homecoming, he taped empty beer cans to his station wagon and drove down the street playing “La Cucaracha”. Mature? Please say it isn’t so.
DESIREE
Fetal pigs? Sorry to be stuck on that, but eeewww.
BYRON
We all thought so too, but you had to admit it was creative. Everyone else just used bubble bath.
DESIREE
Gotta love college.
BYRON
(Extending a hand)
Hey, I’m Byron, by the way, Byron Camp.
DESIREE
(Shaking hands)
I’m Desiree Reynolds. Nice to meet you Byron.
BYRON
Care to join me? I have a great table over there by the window. I’m just sitting there watching the planes take off. I could use some company.
DESIREE
Sure
(They sit together.)
BYRON
So, are Emily and Ducky still together?
DESIREE
Lord no! He wasn’t exactly the picture perfect husband.
BYRON
They got married?
DESIREE
In ’97. And divorced in ’99.
BYRON
Wow! That ended fast.
DESIREE
I think it had something to do with her coming home and finding him in bed with her sister.
BYRON
Holy shit! Sorry.
DESIREE
No don’t worry. “Holy shit” works.
BYRON
So how do you know Emily?
DESIREE
We work together in Minneapolis.
BYRON
I lived there for a while after I graduated. About six years. Hated the cold. Great place to have fun, but I hated the cold, and I needed to go elsewhere to find work.
DESIREE
I see.
BYRON
What do you do in Minneapolis?
DESIREE
I’m a structural engineer.
BYRON
Really? What firm?
DESIREE
Maxwell & Sanford.
BYRON
Oh Jesus. We contracted with Maxwell & Sanford all the time.
DESIREE
Are you a contactor?
BYRON
An architect. Used to be with S&M Architects.
DESIREE
S&M? Wow, so you know Macy Litchman.
BYRON
Know her? We almost got married back then.
DESIREE
Oh my God. You’re that Byron!
BYRON
I’m that Byron.
DESIREE
Oh, this is weird.
BYRON
She spoke of me?
DESIREE
After she got together with this total jerk of an entertainment lawyer.
BYRON
Really?
DESIREE
He treated her like absolute garbage for months, and she kept it up with him. God knows why.
BYRON
They’re not still together I hope.
DESIREE
No she dumped him.
BYRON
Good.
DESIREE
We had lunch after a business meeting after that and she told me about you.
BYRON
Nothing bad I hope.
DESIREE
To the contrary. She said you were probably the nicest guy she ever dated.
BYRON
Really?
DESIREE
She genuinely regretted not hanging onto you.
BYRON
Fear of commitment.
DESIREE
That’s what she said.
BYRON
Entirely understandable. I don’t know how well you know her history, but it was completely understandable.
DESIREE
Her father?
BYRON
Yeah. That would kill the idea of love for just about anyone anyway … and we were both young anyway. Just one of those things.
DESIREE
Wow! You’ve taken it well.
BYRON
I’m fine with it now, but it made a real wreck of me back then. As it turns out, it was more than the cold that made me leave Minneapolis.
DESIREE
I see.
BYRON
Life & love. What’re you gonna do, right?
DESIREE
You do great work too, by the way.
BYRON
I do?
DESIREE
You did the designs for the Downtown Hilton.
BYRON
Yes, that was me.
DESIREE
It was right when I got my job at Maxwell & Sanford. I did some of the tech on that job. My name was on a few of the drawings we sent back and forth.
BYRON
That’s just wild.
DESIREE
Isn’t it though.
BYRON
Small world.
DESIREE
I respected what you did. Carl, the lead designer on the project on our end praised you immensely.
BYRON
Really? Carl?
DESIREE
Yeah. He always made comments about how you understood engineering principles better than most other architects. You were able to put the ego of a designer aside in order to accommodate efficiency.
BYRON
Well, peoples’ safety is more important than something being pretty.
DESIREE
I thought you did great work on that job.
BYRON
It was good teamwork. Carl was great to work with. Not an asshole in any way.
DESIREE
Yeah. I like Carl. So, where did you end up after leaving Minneapolis?
BYRON
Colorado Springs. There’s been a lot of development there, and in Boulder and Denver. Sometimes there’s work in New Mexico and Arizona that our firm takes on.
DESIREE
That’s where I’m moving.
BYRON
Springs?
DESIREE
Yeah.
BYRON
Are we like instant old friends, or what?
DESIREE
I don’t know. This is just bizarre.
BYRON
And you’re flying out there now?
DESIREE
Yes. Got a place. A new job. Making the final arrangements. That sort of thing.
BYRON
Flight 1263?
DESIREE
Yes.
BYRON
We’re on the same flight.
DESIREE
We’re on Candid Camera.
BYRON
Or the Twilight Zone.
DESIREE
No kidding.
BYRON
Where’s Rod Serling?
(He does the “Twilight Zone” theme)
So, you got a new job. Where?
DESIREE
Gerald Petrie and Company. More money. More work. Nicer town. Who could argue?
BYRON
Gerald Petrie is on the third floor of the building where I work.
DESIREE
Oh, you’ve got to be kidding.
BYRON
No. We’ll be working in the same building.
DESIREE
How many people are there in the world? Billions? And here we are meeting … In Dallas … like this. It’s almost spooky.
BYRON
You’re telling me.
DESIREE
So where are you coming from, Byron?
BYRON
Just spent two lovely weeks in Chicago with my family. We had a reunion. You never saw so many Germans in your life. Boisterous and loud. So much beer and sausage. My God! I’m going to have to get on my treadmill for an entire weekend just to undo half the damage that’s been done to me.
DESIREE
God, I know what you mean. My family’s German too. Wisconsin German. I think all I remember my aunts ever said to me when I was a girl was “Eat. Eat.”
BYRON
We’re Germans. We work hard. We play hard. We eat hard.
DESIREE
And how!
BYRON
I remember smiles when I was a kid in Chicago. Big joyful German smiles.
DESIREE
And laughter that could fill an auditorium.
BYRON
You’re German too. More coincidence.
DESIREE
Too much fun.
WAITRESS
How’re we doing over here? Okay? Can I get you some more coffee? Something to drink?
BYRON
I’ll have a Harvey Wallbanger.
DESIREE
My favorite. I’ll have one too.
WAITRESS
Two Harvey Wallbangers coming right up.
BYRON
Your favorite?
DESIREE
Ever since college.
BYRON
Amazing. Is your favorite color blue?
DESIREE
Yes.
BYRON
The blue that the sky turns in the five minutes after the sun has gone down?
DESIREE
I love it when the sky is that color. Yes.
BYRON
This is incredible.
DESIREE
Maxfield Parrish.
BYRON
What?
DESIREE
Maxfield Parrish.
BYRON
The painter?
DESIREE
Do you like his work?
BYRON
I have a print of his on my living room wall.
DESIREE
No kidding. Which one?
BYRON
“Ecstasy”.
DESIREE
My God. That is my favorite if his. I have it on my bedroom wall.
BYRON
He did amazing things with light and color.
DESIREE
I know. It’s almost supernatural.
BYRON
Oh, this is way too much. I can’t believe this. We have so much in common.
DESIREE
What’s your favorite band?
BYRON
Die hard Genesis fan.
DESIREE
No way!
BYRON
Way!
DESIREE
They’re my favorite band too. I have everything they ever made, including the solo stuff?
BYRON
Okay, which phase of Genesis do you like the most?
DESIREE
Well, even though I love Peter Gabriel, I have to say, my favorite period of Genesis music falls between 1975 and 1978, the three albums after he left the band. The musicality is just incredible. They mesh so cohesively.
BYRON
“Wind & Wuthering”. Is that not the greatest album?
DESIREE
So totally! My absolute favorite. I love “Blood on the Rooftops”.
BYRON
And “Afterglow”.
(A few beats as they real from the coincedences)
DESIREE
Wow.
BYRON
Wow is right.
WAITRESS
Two Harvey Wallbangers.
BYRON
Put them on my tab.
DESIREE
Oh, no I’ll pay for mine.
BYRON
Don’t worry about it.
DESIREE
Thanks, Byron.
BYRON
Can I tell you something, Desiree?
DESIREE
Sure.
BYRON
I’m not religious at all, but there are certain spiritual ideas I believe in.
DESIREE
Oh, me too. I think religion is for the birds, but there’s just too much going on in the world … in the universe … for there not to be something mystical going on.
BYRON
And nothing happens by accident either…
DESIREE
…Oh no. There’s a purpose for everything in your life, whether you’re aware of it or not.
BYRON
Man, I’m just bowled over by this. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Me meeting someone who I have so much in common with.
DESIREE
What sign are you?
BYRON
I’m an Aquarius.
DESIREE
Oh, that’s funny.
BYRON
Why, are you an Aquarius too?
DESIREE
No, I’m Sagittarius.
BYRON
Oh.
DESIREE
And I was just reading this thing the other day … one of those books on how people get along, according to the zodiac …
BYRON
… Oh yeah ...?
DESIREE
… And it said. Oh, God, you’ll get a kick out of this. It said that Aquariuses and Sagittariuses are so extremely compatible that they should sell tickets whenever they make love.
BYRON
Really?
DESIREE
Isn’t that hysterical?
BYRON
Wow. Tickets yet.
DESIREE
Yeah.
BYRON
What book was this?
DESIREE
Oh gosh! I don’t remember the name of it, but it belongs, curiously enough to Emily.
BYRON
Emily’s into astrology? She always seemed so … I don’t know … materially grounded. Head out of the clouds.
DESIREE
Maybe before she got married, but afterward, she just opened up. She does star charts and Tarot cards, the works.
BYRON
Cool.
DESIREE
And she was totally in agreement with her book when it said that about Aquariuses and Sagittariuses.
BYRON
That’s really funny.
DESIREE
Yeah.
BYRON
Desiree?
DESIREE
Yeah.
BYRON
Do you believe in the concept of a soul mate?
DESIREE
A soul mate?
BYRON
Yeah. You know, that there’s a person destined for another person, linked, even before their born, by their very souls?
DESIREE
Oh, I do Byron. I believe it wholeheartedly. There’s a great book by…
(Her cell phone rings)
Hold that thought.
(She answers)
Hello. Hi sweetie. How are you? Fine. I’m in Dallas, between flights. In about twenty minutes, yes. Yes, I’ll call you when I get there. You are such a worry wart! But cute though. Well, I’m sitting here having a drink with a guy who knew Emily back when she was at the University of Wyoming. Oh, no kidding! He was roommates with Ducky. Yeah. I know. Oh, no, he’s nothing like Ducky. I wouldn’t be having a drink with him if he was. No, he’s not flirting with me.
(To BYRON)
He’s pretending to be jealous.
(Back to husband)
Byron is being a perfect gentleman. Everything Em said about him is turning out to be true. Uh-huh. Do you want me to have them call you when I talk to them? Okay, Hon. I don’t think it’ll be a problem. Oh, you’re incorrigible. I think that’s why I love you so much. Yes, I’ll call you when I get there, and I’ll have them call you too. Mmm Hmmm. I love you too. Kiss. Kiss.
(To BYRON)
How funny that we should be talking about the soul mate thing and then my husband Walter calls. Wow, huh?
BYRON
(Dryly)
Yeah. That’s just wild.
DESIREE
So, anyway. Sorry about that. You were saying … ?
BYRON
Oh, nothing. It wasn’t important.
(Lights down.)
DATE OVER