Gatsby's castle cuts a grave silhouette against a stormy sky. It was quiet, still. There were no more parties... Gatsby's lights went out one by one. At the gates below flashbulbs flash! Hordes of press have gathered. Daisy now visited the castle discreetly. But... As the gates creak open, her limo slides up the drive...
"PARTY PALACE GOES DARK!" one newspaper headline shouted. The very same fame that had once been a source of satisfaction to Jay Gatsby, became... a threat, while newspaper reporters crowd the limo, shouting questions... Jesse looked down below, at the crazy frenziness that was happening. He didn't want to be a part of it; he knew his sister would pick up on stories like this since the Titanic diaster, that Jon brought home newspapers for his son to read at a very young age. He didn't even want to go back to Nick's bungalow, for that very same reason, so he was stuck in this mansion, sitting in the dark, on top of his bed. Jack and Rose were also stuck in the same similar situation as Jesse, though they were far less scathed in scandal than Jesse was. Luckily for Jesse, his name hadn't been mentioned in any papers, just a vague description of him had been given, and he hoped his sister hadn't picked up on it, but he knew she was just as smart as he was.
Meanwhile, locked away deep in the castle, Gatsby and Daisy make love.
"WHO IS THE MYSTERY WOMAN?" Another newspaper asked, in bold headlines.
...
At the end of the wharf, Gatsby and Daisy look out across the bay, watching as the sun slides into the horizon, and the green light pulses... Daisy leans to Gatsby and whispers... "I don't want to go home." Gatsby hold her tighter.
"Then don't." Gatsby returns her hug, then returned to the castle to the ballroom later that evening. Long shafts of light cut through the high, empty windows, where an old European woman crosses the ballroom, tea tray in hand. The room is lined with thuggish, dark-suited men, and behind them, in the darkness, stood Jesse, Rose and Jack, where they could hear a phone conversation between Nick and Gatsby...
"I've been meaning to call you up. I'm sorry, I've been... so busy." Gatsby says into the receiver.
"Is everything alright?" In the maproom, an unshaven Gatsby in trousers and a black silk robe sits in a large arm-chair, under a vast wall of magnificent paintings. He hunches over the phone...
"Yes... Daisy and I are very much in love."
"I hear you fired all your servants" Nick is heard saying from the phone.
"Daisy comes over sometimes in the afternoons and I wanted some people who wouldn't gossip... until we decided what we're going to do... You see these two towns are pretty close together. And it gets in the papers... You understand? They're some people Wolfsheim wanted to do something for." Gatsby continues, while Herzog stands in the shadows; and the old European woman pours coffee and then recedes... "What's the difference as long as they can cook and make beds...?"
...
At the Probity Trust, in Nick's office, Nick holds the phone close to his ear, trying to hear Gatsby above the din around him; while his work is piled high... Back in the maproom, Gatsby whispers into the phone...
"Nick... Daisy's ready. Shes ready. But there's just one thing. She's requested that you and Miss Baker be there, at lunch tomorrow, at her house... Will you come, old sport? Gatsby says, excitedly, followed by an admission, "Daisy needs you. I... We need you. Jesse as well. Will you come old sport? I also need to talk to my cousin and his beautiful wife about this as well." For Nick, a decision looms...
...
The imposing Buchanan mansion bakes in the sun...in the dining room Tom lighting a fat Cuban from a chrome lighter.
"You know, I read somewhere that the sun's getting hotter every year..." Tom says, taking in puffs of the smoke. Blue cigar smoke wafts over the clearing of plates... "Or wait a minute; it's the opposite..." Tom stands and strolls to the open French window...
"The sun is getting colder every year..." Tom continues. Daisy grips a wine glass in her trembling hand; her eyes are terrified, while perspiration forms on her upper lip. She glances to Gatsby, who stares resolutely from across the table. A perspiring Nick. And Jesse. He glances from Daisy, to Jesse, to Gatsby, and Jack. The tension is excruciating. Out the window Tom catches sight of a sailboat across the bay.
"How I'd like to be out on that bay today." Tom says, still looking out at the sailboat. Jesse, Jack, and Gatsby looks up. Beyond the sailboat, he can see the outline of his castle.
"I'm right across from you. Right there." Gatsby points.
"So you are." Tom was unimpressed. Gatsby slowly stands and walks behind Daisy. Jack takes a deep, shaking breath. He was glad he left Rose at the mansion for the time being.
"Every night I can see that light at the end of your dock, blinking." Gatsby says, picking his words carefully.
"What light?" Tom asked. Gatsby gently moves his hand over Daisy's...
"You see, Mr. Buchanan, I wanted to be close- Daisy and I-" With sudden intensity Daisy stands!
"It's so hot..." Daisy says, on the verge of tears. Agitated, she sweeps toward the sideboard. "Everything's so confused." She plucks a cigarette from a carved box, and fumbles with the paperweight-sized lighter. She continued, "What'll we do with ourselves this afternoon...? And the day after that... and for the next thirty years? Let's all go to town! Who wants to go to town?" Her nervous hands drop the lighter, which crashes to the mahogany floor. All but Tom recoil in shock.
"Town!? Women... They get these notions..." Tom says. Gatsby walks to Daisy... As Tom puffs, Gatsby retrieves the lighter in one hand, and with his other gently guides Daisy's trembling hand... In that moment, their eyes tenderly meet...
"Daisy..." Gatsby whispered.
"You look so cool. You always look so cool, like the advertisement of the man... in Times Square..." Daisy says, as if they are alone. Tom saw this, his jaw tightening, while Daisy continued, "The man in the cool, beautiful, shirts..."
Tom violently snuffs his cigar, while Jesse recoiled in his seat. Not even his father was ever this violent. The only thing he ever did if Jesse got his father mad was watch him roll the newspaper, and just simply smack it at the table, until it was in complete shreds. Or he'd bang a fist, then walk out. Daisy had told Gatsby that she loved him - then told Jack and Jesse - and Tom had seen... Suddenly Tom explodes! "Let's go to town! I'm perfectly willing...! That's a marvelous idea! Henri! Have the car brought around immediately!"
"Just like that? Can't anyone at least have a cigarette?" Daisy asked.
"We've smoked all through lunch." Tom snapped.
"Oh, let's have fun. It's too hot to fuss."
"It was your great idea Daisy. Why don't we!? We'll all go to town!" Tom snapped again, his agitation growing, while Daisy doesn't budge.
"I've changed my mind...You brute." Daisy teases.
"You've got me all excited, and now you don't want to go? We'll get a great big room at the Plaza, a cold bucket of ice, and some whiskey... It will be fun." Tom says, with a dangerous intensity.
"Fine. Have it your own way, Tom... Come on, Jordan." As she and Jordan rush past Tom, down the hall, Tom turns calmly to Gatsby, and to his extended family.
"Will you join us, Mr. Gatsby?" Then turns and calls to Henri..."Henri! Get some whiskey! Two bottles, wrapped in a towel."
...
Shoes shifting on gravel, Gatsby and Nick stand uncomfortably on the drive, waiting for Tom and the women. BANG! Tom storms out wrapping a quart bottle in a towel. Daisy and Jordan follow, with Jack and Jesse bringing up the rear.
"Mr. Gatsby! Would you be good enough to take my coupé? And I'll drive everyone else in your circus wagon." Tom says.
"I don't think there's much gas, old sport." Gatsby looks to Daisy, with a burning stare. Tom peers into the car, then looks at the gauge. "Plenty of gas. And if we run out, then we'll stop at a drug store. I hear you can buy anything at a drug store nowadays..." he says, savagely eyes Gatsby, and at Jack. "Isn't that right, Mr. Gatsby?" A moment of sharp tension; Daisy wrenches from Tom's arm.
"You take Nick and Jordan, Tom! Jesse! Jack, you stay!" She slips quickly into the coupé...she then continued, "We'll meet you at the Plaza! I'll be the man on the corner smoking two cigarettes..." Gatsby's and Tom's eyes flash; a harsh, competitive glance, while Jack and Jesse gave confused glances at each other. Tom lunges into the Duesenberg, slams the gears and lurches away, leaving Gatsby, Daisy, Jack, Jesse and the coupé in the dust.
"That went downhill fast." Jesse says, pushing his hair away from his forehead. Everyone turned to Jesse. Now that the tension has finally been released.
"Come on Jesse! Get in the car!" Daisy yelled. Jesse shrugged his shoulders.
"She's got a point. Let's go."