♡゙ ROMAN HOLIDAY 𓂅 ੭﹕LOG 01
Ben and Diane go to Italy. Two friends. Just friends. Who are married. But you don't know that yet. Because we haven't told you. So just enjoy the trip.
❤︎ 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ A SCHWARTZ & MONROE Honeymoon
RIGHT AFTER THE SECRET WEDDING... CURRENTLY AT? JFK
inside an airplane cabin. First class. Wide leather seat. A window shows a tarmac at JFK. The camera pans to Diane, wearing an oversized sweater, headphones around her neck, holding an iPad. She is watching something. The camera zooms in on her iPad screen: Sex And The City & Carrie Bradshaw is talking about something. Diane is mouthing the words.
"Are you seriously watching Sex and the City right now?" Ben asked off-camera,
"Yes." Diane answered him and did not look up at him.
"We've been on the plane for eleven minutes." Ben responded, not looking up at his screen watching The Simpsons.
"And I've already watched two episodes." Diane added, "You've already watched TWO—" Ben exclaimed.
"This is my third flight this month, Benjamin. I have a system. Sex and the City for takeoff. Columbo for cruising. Sex and the City for landing. It's a science." Diane explained her system, shrugged her shoulders.
"Watching a forty-year-old detective show where you already know who did it because you've seen every episode seven times—that's a disorder." Ben responded, still not looking from his screen.
"I don't watch it for the mystery. I watch it for the comfort." "You watch it because Peter Falk has a calming voice." Diane explained herself.
"Peter Falk has a beautiful voice." Ben agreed with her.
The camera turns around to face Ben. He's in the seat next to Diane, wearing a hoodie, also holding an iPad. His screen shows THE SIMPONS. Homer Simpson is screaming about something.
"And what are you watching?" Diane asked him, leaning onto him.
"The Simpsons" Ben answered, still not looking up.
"For the four hundredth time" Diane remarked.
The camera is pointed at the seatback screen, which shows the flight path: a little plane icon moving from New York toward Europe.
"So, for context—for the people watching this who don't know us, which is... probably most people, because why would you—Diane and I are... we're..." Ben voiced over, pointing at the plane icon.
"We're friends. Who are going to Italy. Together. Because we both had time off and we both wanted to go to Italy and it made sense to—" Ben continued.
"Share a first class ticket" Diane added. "To share a—yes. Because we had the money for it. Because we both work. And friends do this. Friends travel together." Ben continued.
"All the time" Diane added.
"All the time. This is a normal friend trip. Two friends. Going to Italy. For no reason." Ben continued.
Ben looked at Diane as he was holding the camera, "Should we tell them?" Diane asked him, "No" Ben answered her
"Okay" Diane agreed. The flight path animation continues. The little plane moves over the Atlantic.
Shaky handheld footage of a street in Rome. Narrow cobblestones. Vespas. A building with peeling paint and too many air conditioning units. The camera pans to Diane, walking with a backpack, looking up at everything. Ben is behind her, rolling a suitcase. The suitcase catches on a cobblestone. Ben stumbles.
"Rome is trying to kill me" Ben said as they walked.
"That's a cobblestone" Diane remarked.
"It's a weapon. The Romans built these streets to trip people." Ben remarked back as they continued walking.
"The Romans built these streets two thousand years ago. They weren't thinking about your suitcase." She argued back.
"They were thinking about war. Tripping your enemy. It's a tactical streetscape." Ben argued.
Diane stops walking. She turns around. She looks at Ben. She looks at the suitcase. She looks at Ben again.
"You brought a suitcase the size of a small car to Rome. A city with cobblestones. And stairs. And narrow alleyways." Diane explained, weirded out.
"I needed options." Ben defended himself, shrugging his shoulders.
"Options for what?" Diane asked him in confusion.
"For... looking good." Ben defended himself again.
Diane turns back around and keeps walking. The camera follows her. Ben is now struggling with the suitcase, which has somehow gotten stuck between two cobblestones.
"Diane. Diane, wait. The suitcase is—Diane. DIANE. IT'S STUCK AGAIN." Ben shouted, off-camera.
INT. HOTEL ROOM. EVENING. Small but nice. A bed. A window overlooking a Roman street.
Diane is sitting on the bed, unpacking a backpack with military efficiency. Ben is standing in the doorway, panting, holding the suitcase like a conquered enemy.
"I hate this city." Ben said in disdain.
"You love this city." Diane responded while unpacking.
"I love the IDEA of this city. The reality is stairs and cobblestones and my suitcase is broken." Ben defended himself again.
"The wheel is gone, Diane. One of the wheels is GONE." Ben exclaimed.
"So it's a three-wheeled suitcase now. It's adapting." Diane said.
Ben drops the suitcase in the corner. It falls over. He stares at it.
"I'm going to take a shower." Ben said, kneeling down as he unzipped his suitcase. He was getting his clothes.
"Good idea." Diane agreed.
"And then I'm going to watch Back to the Future." Ben added.
"We're in ROME, Ben." Diane exclaimed. "We could go explore. We could get dinner. We could—"
"Back to the Future." Ben interrupted her.
"You've seen it—" Diane said.
"If you say "four hundred times" I will scream." Ben dared her.
"—four hundred and twelve times." Diane said.
Ben screams. He walks into the bathroom and closes the door. Diane looks at the camera.
"He'll come around. He always does." Diane said to the camera, shrugging her shoulders then did a thumbs up.
