Hank By Darien Gostas 2014
OFFICE - EXT. BUILDING A six story office building stands with a gray sky. Snow falls slowly. OFFICE - INT. WHOLE FLOOR AND INDIVIDUAL CUBICLES Many cubicles extend wall to wall with soft fluorescent light revealing the individual, in each one, typing diligently on a computer. A cough is heard from somewhere. A man on the edge of the frame is seen accidentally spilling a little water on himself from a paper funnel cup from a water cooler. The entrances to several cubicles are shown from the side. Francis back rocks in and out of the entrance of one of the cubicles. Francis, a large woman, stares at her computer. She is rocking back and forth quickly, singing "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars with a single headphone in her ear. She is slightly out of key and sounds like she s chewing something, but only wrappers of food are visible, scattered around her desk. She is mainly humming the song but her voice peaks when she articulates certain words of the song she can remember. A scrawny man, Henry, in the next cubicle down. His head shows signs of balding as he types at his computer. His shoulders wince when the sound of Francis in the cubicle next to him peaks. Francis has a large ICEE cup and she slurps it in between words in the song. Henry closes his eyes and clenches his jaw. He holds his expression for a beat while the slurping and singing can be heard. He scratches his head with both hands, irritated, and turns his face downward. The digital clock on his desk displays 11:15am. Henry pulls his head up to look forward. One of his eyes is twitching in annoyance. The camera zooms into one of Henry s angry-looking eyes. (CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 2. Henry stands up, moving out of frame. Side view of Francis cubicle, facing the wall between her cubicle and the annoyed Henry next to her. Francis. (His head appearing above the cubicle wall.) "...Just..(slurp)..way you are..." Hey, Francis. Can you keep it down? What? This sandwich? (She points to a sandwich on her desk. It was not there in the last shot of her.) Yeah, I can keep it down. Wanna watch me put it down? No, no thank you. I just, I m trying to work and your singing is, well, a little distracting. (smiling and leaning forward) Well thank you. Aren t you the charmer, Hank. It s Henry. My name is Henry. Do you happen to have an extra pair of headphones I could borrow? Excuse me? No. What do I look like, the mini mart down the street?! Henry looks around at Francis cubicle. The fast food wrappers, and the empty and full soda bottles on the ground. (CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 3. The several brands of gum lined up next to Francis computer. The Advil and other pain medication bottles near Francis pencil sharpener. Henry looks at Francis and swallows. (Sitting back down in his cubicle) Of course not. I m sorry I asked. (Heard from over the cubicle wall) It s fine! Let s get a drink after work, Hank, and talk about it. Henry grabs a tissue from a box on his desk and tears a couple small strips from it. He rolls them into balls and puts one in each ear. (To himself) It s Henry. The clock on the wall of the office next to the water cooler. The hands move quickly from 11:18am to 5pm. Full shot of the room of cubicles. People stand up and stretch, gathering their belongings. Francis and Henry s cubicles. You ready to go, Hank? It s Henry, Francis. (CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 4. A man with a nice suit and a bright tie with a smiley face on it walks by the cubicles. (continuing to walk) Nice job on that report today, Henry! (yelling) It s Hank!... All sound in the office stops and people stare. Henry closes his eyes and clenches his jaw again, waiting a beat. The office ambiance returns. The Boss stops at Henry s cubicle. Are you alright, Henry? I m fine. You don t look fine. Is this because I m leaving next month? I know people are taking it pretty hard but I m sure the company will find someone with an even peppier attitude than I have. (smiling at Henry) Henry glares at the floor, not looking the Boss in the eye. (Accusatory rather than concerned) You seem kinda moody, Henry. You re acting like my ex-girlfriend. I swear, I call her over cause I m bored one night and out of nowhere she demands we restart our relationship. I don t understand women....is it your time of the month too? Ha ha. Francis has her coat, her purse, and a grocery bag in her arm. Oh you look mad, Hank. Alright, first rounds on me. Let s go! Henry picks up his coat and briefcase aggressively, and rushes past Francis. (CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 5. Wait up, Henry! (Following after Henry) OFFICE - EXT. BUILDING ENTRANCE AND PARKING LOT People exit from the building in groups laughing, and talking quietly. Snow is falling faster than before. Henry pushes his way through people. He walks toward the corner of the parking lot to his car. His hands rumble through his pockets searching for his keys and finds them. He looks up and freezes. The Boss rushes up to Henry. His hands and eyes are on his phone. (Without looking up) Hey, sorry, Henry. I have like a million missed calls from my ex. I have to call her back. Raincheck though! (He looks up) Oh... is that your car? That sucks! Who d you knock up this time, am I right? The Boss elbows Henry, jokingly. Henry doesn t move. Keyed into the side of Henry s black car are the words, "I M PREGNANT." The car lights flash as he pushes the unlock button on his keys. The Boss continues to elbow Henry. (despairingly) I didn t. I m not with anyone. (Chuckling to himself and smiling) Alright. Catch you later, Henry! The Boss walks away from Henry and clicks the unlock button on his keys. The lights flash on a black car a few rows down. The car is black and the same exact model as Henry s car. Henry is looks over, frozen, unmoving. The wind howls and the snow starts falling more aggressively.
6. S CAR - INT. Henry slams the car door shut. He turns the heater on. It putters but turns on. Henry is driving on a main street, with popular commercial businesses sliding by the windows. A car honks at him as it passes him. Henry waves his hand at the car in acknowledgment of the graffiti on his car. He reaches for the radio and turns it on. There s just white noise and scratching sounds. The snow builds up faster on his windshield as his wipers struggle to keep up. Suddenly, "Just the Way You Are" comes on the radio blaring. Henry screams out of anger and swerves his car a little. He slams on his brakes but the car slides into oncoming traffic. A semi hits his car, flipping it over. The car rolls off the road. People scream and pull over their cars to help. The snow is thicker than ever now and the screen is almost whited out. Henry s car lights on fire and explodes with a cut-off BOO-(M)! OFFICE - INT. AND CUBICLES Camera zooming away from Henry s eye. Henry is clenching his jaw with his eyes wide open staring straight ahead in his cubicle. He s wearing the same outfit he was before and the clock on his desk reads 11:15am. His eye is still twitching with annoyance. Francis can be heard singing, "Just the way you are" in the cubicle next to him. Henry stands up and looks over the wall of the cubicle. Hey, Francis. Yeah, Hon? Shut the fuck up. Henry sits back down. Francis taken aback, turns her music down and puts both her headphones in. She isn t singing anymore.
7. OFFICE EXT. The six story office building stands with a gray sky. Snow falls ever so lightly from the clouds over the building.