INT. MEETING WITH THE SALESMAN – NIGHT

Man is seated next to the window, in his living room. Some
nice jazz music is playing. He is dressed in white shirt and
black suit pants. He is reading a book. He has a small table
in front of him. There is another chair on the opposite side.
The man is reading (he is reading The Bonfire of the
Vanities) and drinking some coffee. It’s very dark in the
room, apart from some light from the lamp on the left hand
side of the man.

Suddenly (after 2 minutes) another man appears in the other
chair. His face cannot be seen clearly first. The first man
looks up from his book, with a quite confused look but after
a while he changes his expression, it appears like he
recognizes the second man or something.

SALESMAN
Do you enjoy the coffee?

FIRST MAN
(a long silence)
Yes.

SALESMAN
It’s good for you.

FIRST MAN
(sits silent and just
watches)
..

SALESMAN
We have been here before, do you
remember?

FIRST MAN
(silent for about 5-10
seconds, looks a little
scared)
What is your point?

SALESMAN
That is not an answer. But, OK. We
have known each other for quite
some time. Just wanted to come by.
Hope I am not disturbing you too
much.

FIRST MAN
(looks suspiciously at the
second man)
..

SALESMAN
Actually, there is a reason that I
am here. Maybe you know it already?

FIRST MAN
No. Should I?

SALESMAN
There is something I want to show
you.
(the man pulls out some
photos from his suitcase,
motif cannot be seen)
What do you think? It doesn’t maybe
look that good maybe, but I will
tell you a story, to make it more
clear… A couple of years ago I
used to work with things like
cleaning toilets, collecting
garbage and selling useless
electronic stuff to old people who
didn’t know what they were buying.
My girl friend couldn’t really cope
with me, because I was always
coming home tired, angry and messed
up. We broke up and it was not a
very nice break-up. I was very
jealous and paranoid and accused
her of sleeping with my neighbour,
which was untrue. She was nasty too
and started smashing my things and
sent anonymous letters to my boss
saying I had stolen equipment at
work and sold to a competing
company. It ended when she put all
my belongings on fire outside our
house and then changed the locks so
I couldn’t get in. I got fired from
my job and my girl friend moved in
with a local drug dealer instead,
after selling our house. Myself I
ended up on a park bench for about
a week when I couldn’t find a place
to sleep. This is when I met a man
who showed me the photos you see
now. He told me that if I was
interested I could get it for a
good price and since I felt
everything was hopeless I decided
to give it a try.
(silence for ten seconds,
with a mystical amuzed
smile)



FIRST MAN
So… what happened? When you bought these, did things change?

SALESMAN
Someone spotted me on that bench
and gave me a job in a commercial.
It paid well and I went for a
career within this media company.
Now I am head of my own department
and it seems like I have everything
I could ever ask for – a nice car,
a good job, good friends. I could
continue forever about how good
everything is, but I would just
bore you.
(silence for ten seconds)
So what do you say? I am now offering the same thing to you.

FIRST MAN
Well… I don’t know. It sounds very strange. Are you sure
there is no catch?

SALESMAN
What would that be? Think about it.
This is the best place you will
ever see.

ROBERT
It definitely looks nice. And what do I do if it doesn’t work out well?

SALESMAN
Don’t worry about. Wouldn’t you like to see your children grow up and get a nice education and luck finding a good mate? There is really something special to this place.

ROBERT
Couldn’t it just be a coincidence?

SALESMAN
Everything changed from one day to the other.

ROBERT
Well.. it certainly sounds so.

SALESMAN
Mm, this could be your chance of a lifetime to get all you ever dreamed of.

ROBERT
Where can I talk with other people with similar experiences?

SALESMAN
The best part is that you don’t have to pay until later.

ROBERT
Aha..

SALESMAN
Yes, most people chose to pay in ten years and we can arrange something like that for you, if you wish. What do you say about five years?

ROBERT
That sounds like an awful long time but I guess it would be good. And since I know you. Then I quite certainly have a lot more money than now.

SALESMAN
Ok, if you are ready, then you can just sign here, it will be all good.