8
The 'other' script
One month later…
Joe quietly walked up the staircase and headed toward his room first, sighing deeply. He had been up most of the night and was extremely tired from not getting one ounce of sleep. He also started regretting this decision to go out every night to work on that silly script with Betty this week, but he was so hungry to work again, be around someone his own age, to write something...The script was good, yes, but he really wasn't confident with it. He felt like he lost his special touch with writing. Also, who would really want to make this into a movie? All he really wanted was to write, to put all his lingering ideas in his mind down on paper and let someone help him with it. Betty was good, she had an eye for weird plots like this one, and she was learning more everyday.
Tonight, he almost had to spill the beans about Norma when she grabbed his cigarette case. He hadn't told her about her yet, he was too afraid at what she might think, if she would judge him or not.
Betty glanced around, looking for a box of cigarettes. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something shiny and gold hanging out the side his jacket.
"Who's Norma?…"
He turned away from the typewriter and looked at her, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth and blowing the smoke out into the open. His eyes fell to the case in her hand. He had forgotten about the secret message Norma had put in there.
Don't tell her yet, do it later Joe, when Artie comes back..
"Oh...she's a good friend of mine.."
She held up the case, "Sorry, I don't usually read people's private cigarette cases.."
He chuckled a little and grabbed it out of her hands, placing it down next to the typewriter. He continued to type along as she dictated her thoughts to him.
He pulled out some silk blue pajamas, the ones Norma had bought him a few days ago, and quickly changed into them. He brushed his teeth rapidly and quietly made his way into her room, shutting the wooden doors behind him. To his surprise, Norma was sitting up in bed, her bare shoulders glowing in the lamp light, reading something. He broke into a cold sweat, he of course thought she was sound asleep. She must of been waiting for him...poor thing. She glanced up at him, setting the book down is her lap.
"Where were you?"
He didn't respond, he just stared at her. He was scared of what she might think about this. Slowly, he made his way toward her bed and sat down on the edge right next to her.
"I went for a walk.."
She put the book on the nightstand and pulled the covers off her body. "No you didn't..you took the car.."
He hesitated, looking down at his hands. "Alright..I drove to the beach..needed some fresh air."
She stared at him, watching his eyes. She didn't know whether to believe him or not, but she choose to.
"Norma, surely you don't want me to feel locked up in this house..?"
She grabbed his hand, "Of course not Joe...it's just...I've been under a terrible strain and all..and I don't want to be left alone..especially now."
He sighed, squeezing her hand. "You know I haven't done anything.." he lifted her hand and gave her a gently kiss on her flesh.
"Of course not…" she leered and took his arm, pulling him close to her face. "I wouldn't let you.."
She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him into a kiss, pulling him onto the other side of the bed. She started unbuttoning his shirt, but Joe stopped her by grabbing her hand.
"Not tonight...I'm tired...and it's almost two a.m." he fussed.
She frowned a little but nodded, "Alright, my love."
Norma watched as Joe got out of bed and sleepily went into the bathroom. She rolled over on her side and yawned, pulling up the covers around her body. She was slept wonderfully last night. Looking at the door, she heard the shower kick on. She smiled to herself and sat up, wanting to go in and shower with him. As she stood up, she pulled the drapes away from the window and let in the morning, beaming fresh light. Making her way toward the bathroom door, she noticed something. A white typed page folded into Joe's jacket caught her attention. She hesitated and walked over, picking the jacket up. She pulled the binded pages out of his pocket and walked back toward the window, completely focused on whatever the hell this was. She grabbed her glasses off the nightstand and read what was on the page.
UNTITLED LOVE STORY: BY BETTY SCHAEFER AND JOSEPH GILLIS
She wanted to rip the page into pieces, get rid of this awful thing. Of course, she was thinking the worse, she always did. A script? So that's where he's been going….to write a script with someone… Breathing in deeply, she flipped through the pages, curious at what it was about. She started to calm down, realizing it was just a silly little script, nothing else. Not a love letter or anything. She knew Joe, she knew he was just writing the script with this girl, and nothing else was of it. At least she hoped. She didn't blame him for being hungry for more work to do though. Knowing that she would not mention that she found this to him, she slipped it back in the pocket and put the jacket where it had been on the chair.
Suddenly the door opened and Joe stepped out only with a towel wrapped around his waist.
"Well good morning…" he smiled and walked over to her.
Norma turned around, smiling a little at his presences. "Hello there…" she looked up at him. He held her hands in his and looked down, glancing at the now faded distressed marks on her small wrists. He held up her hand, kissing the scar gently, remembering the horrible deep marks that were there before. She closed her eyes, his lips soft against her pale flesh. She trembled a little.
"Max planned to go down to the market today and asked if I could join him, you wouldn't mind if I went..right?" he grabbed his clothes behind her and began dressing.
"Of course not darling.." she pulled off her glasses as she watched him.
He noticed something a little off about her this morning, she wasn't strangling him with kisses and rubbing her hands all over his body or anything. It's like she had seen something...found out something…. Maybe she's in a depressed mood...maybe she needs some alone time too. Poor Norma.
Once he was finished putting on his clothes, he walked back over to her. "Are you alright?" he put his palms on her shoulders.
"I'm perfectly alright...you go along.."
He shrugged, "Alright.." he kissed her forehead and walked out into the hallway and went downstairs.
Norma sighed and turned back around, looking directly down at that dreadful script again. She wondered who this woman was….Betty...Betty Schaefer...
