Max:  (amused)  Go ahead, beat it, kick it ... get it out of your system

Gabrielle:   (doing just that)  Max, unlock this door.

Max:  Sorry, no can do.

Gabrielle:   (gritting her teeth, still pulling and kicking)  Max if you don’t unlock this door  (gives huge yank!) I’m going to try and pull it off it’s hinges.

Max: (smiling) Now that I’d like to see.

Gabrielle:  (still pulling!)  Max, unlock this door, I’m going to scream my lungs out!

Max:  If it’ll make you feel any better, go ahead and scream (Gabrielle takes a deep breath about to do just that)  But it’s not going to do any good because there’s nobody else on this floor

Gabrielle:  (swallowing that deep breath... completely exasperated)  What do you want from me?

Max:  (quietly)  A little bit of your time....

Gabrielle:   Then why didn’t you just ask me?

Max:  Would you have agreed?

Gabrielle:   NO!

Max:  That’s why I didn’t ask, and that is why I lied to Father Vallone to get you up here, and that its why I locked the door, to make you stay

Gabrielle:   Against my will...

Max:  (nods head) Come on Gabrielle.... one evening... I think you owe me at least that much...

Gabrielle:  (shaking her head wearily)  Max, please....

Max:  OK, we’ll make a deal.  You spend the evening with me... alone.... together... and if you still want to walk out of my life then I’ll let you go, and I’ll never bother you again (walks toward table)... come on... (pulls out chair)... what do you say?

Gabrielle:  (warily walks toward him) all right. (he helps her take her coat off)  It’s a deal (he seats her and walks to his own chair, sits down and smiles warily)
 

Scene II:  Max and Gabrielle sitting at a beautifully decorated table.  Max  staring at her intently....
 

Gabrielle:  (self conscious, fiddling with her locket)  What?

Max:  Are you really going to spend the entire evening alone with me?

Gabrielle:   A deal is a deal.

Max:  Well, to show you that I believe you... (getting up)... that I have faith in you (walks toward door and unlocks it)... I’m unlocking the door  (sits back down)  Thank you... 

Gabrielle:  (smiling, looks around the table)  Well, this is quite an impressive spread.   Candles, champagne, flowers.... (picks them up breathing them in)

Max:  Yes, and all of your favorite foods.

Gabrielle:  (laughing ruefully)  Ohhhhh, why do I get the feeling this wasn’t an impulsive move?

Max:  (laughing)  Oh... because it wasn’t.  A lot of thought and planning went into all this. 

Gabrielle:  (slightly admonishing)  As well as tricking Tony into going along with your scheme.  (more flippantly)  So... what else do you have in store for me this evening?

Max:  Tell you what, why don’t we just relax and see where it goes?

Gabrielle:  (nervous sigh)   I guess there’s no reason for me to be nervous at all.

Max:  Nope, none at all...

Gabrielle:  (now laughing) In fact, the more I think about it the funnier it is.  Tony got me up here to test my obedience and here I am sitting across from you in a romantically lit room with music...

Max:  (confused)  Hmmm, uhhhh... why is that so funny?

Gabrielle:  (still laughing)  Oh, I was expecting a challenge 

Max:  (stares at her intently)  You don’t find me challenging?

Gabrielle:  Unpredictable is more like it...

Max: (smiling) I love to be unpredictable.  So now, if you’ll allow me, I will kick off this little soup to nuts extravaganza with your all time favorite.... (lifts lid) gezpacho (Gabrielle now snorting laughter.  Max laughing)  So why is this so funny?

Gabrielle:  (smiling)  Oh, the food, the drink... it’s like a prisoner’s last supper. 

Max:  (ruefully)  Yeah... the only question is... is who’s going to the gallows.

Gabrielle:  (seriously)  I don’t want to hurt you....

Max:  (trying to get off the subject) Gabrielle....

Gabrielle:  (pleading)  Please.... you’ve got to know that.  You must believe that in your heart.

Max:  (softly)  I believe you...

Gabrielle:  (leaning into him, face to face.... softly)   Then you must believe when I tell you that no matter what I do, I do it for you, for your happiness and your future

Max: (pulls away)  And that sounds like a perfect cue for a toast! (pops cork and pours the champagne)  To a happy future, for both of us... whatever it may be.... (they toast and stare over their glasses....)
 

Scene III:  Still at the table, Max is feeding Gabrielle
 
 

Max:  Strawberries and cream... (playfully bringing it to Gabrielle’s lips..)

Gabrielle:  Mmmmmm

Max:  Does it get any better than that?

Gabrielle:  (licking her lips)  I’m in heaven....

Max:  (traces his finger over her lips, wiping away the cream)  Uh, huh... and you’re just like Al used to be... getting food all over your chin (now looking at her intently).

Gabrielle:  (she licks her lips and his finger, looks into his eyes...softly)  This is nice.... 

Max: (hand still on her chin, softly) Very nice....

Gabrielle:  You and me alone, no one to interrupt

Max:  (still caressing her chin)  No hysterics...

Gabrielle:  I wish it could last for ever...

Max:  It can if you want....

Gabrielle:  (pulls away, looks down sadly)  No, it can’t.

Max: (seriously)  Please.  Will you talk to me and tell me what’s goin on...

Gabrielle:  You already know, don’t you?

Max:  (intensely) I want you to tell me.  I want to hear you say it.

Gabrielle:  (soberly and quietly)  I’m going to join a convent.  I want to become a nun. (Max, turns away wordlessly, takes a drink)  What... no laughter, no hysterics?

Max:   Is there anything I can do or say to change your mind?

Gabrielle:  No...

Max:  Then, I’m not going to yell or scream... but I am going to ask if you have thought about everything you’re going to be giving up?  Your home, your family, friends...  your son...

Gabrielle:  (softly)  I haven’t thought about anything else.  Being seprated from Al was the hardest part.  Even though I won’t see him,  I will see him as much as I can... and I’ll explain my chosie to him in time.

Max:  (bitterly)  I wish you would explain it to me.  I wish you could make me understand why you’re throwing your whole life away.

Gabrielle:  I’m not throwing anything away.  I’m just moving on.  Max, I’m striving to find a higher truer peace inside me that I need...

Max:  Gabrielle, I know you.  You do not need to be shut way in a convent.  You need a vibrant exciting life, with lots of adventure.

Gabrielle: (smiling ruefully)  I’ve lead that sort of life, and look where it got me.

Max:  (Invitingly)  Think of where it can lead you.  Learn from your mistakes.  (earnestly) All the changes I’ve seen in you, the caring, the compassion, the selflessness, uses that to lead a full and wonderful life (holds her chin).

Gabrielle:  (takes his hand in hers)  Don’t you understand?  There is the life waiting for me and that’s the one I want to lead.

Max: (pulls his hand away)  You’re running away, that’s what you’re doing.

Gabrielle:   Max... don’t do this.  You’re trying to talk me out of becoming a nun, please don’t.  There’s nothing you can do or say to make me change my mind.

Max: (looking down... devastated)  I guess I was wrong all along.  If you loved me as much as I thought you did, or... as much as you said you did... you would never be able to do this to me.

Gabrielle:   (trying to get him to understand)  I’m not doing anything to you.  Don’t you remember the promise I made?  Everything I do, I do for you.  All the changes I’m making are because I love you more than life itself.

Max: (softly, looking abandoned)  Then, why are you leaving me....

Gabrielle:  (hurting)  I’m not leaving you... I’m.... (takes a breath trying to regroup)  This is what I must do. (stands as Max looks on almost frightened)  This has been beautiful but I think it’s time I leave.

Max: (jumps up)  The evening’s still young.  One dance... please...

Gabrielle:   I don’t think that would be such a good idea, considering what happened the last time we danced... at the Centennial Ball.

Max:  It’ll be different this time, I promise... If you walk away from me, we may never have another chance like this again. (gives her a small smile)  Come on,  what’s it gonna hurt?  What do you have to lose? (reaches out his hand out gently, Gabrielle looking tempted and hesitant takes it... he takes her in his arms, they look into each other’s eyes as a slow soft instrumental plays in the background)

Scene IV:  Still dancing... almost gliding across the floor... swaying to the music using intricate dance steps.
 
 

Gabrielle:  (nuzzling Max’s neck... sighs)  You’re right... this is much better (his spins her) than last time.  Where did you learn to dance like this?

Max: (they spin around as Max smiles)  Oh, Fred Astaire movies, maybe a Gene Kelley or two thrown in for good measure.

Gabrielle:   As long as you don’t want to do this in the rain.

Max:  Why not?  It sounds like it would be fun. 

Gabrielle:  (almost breathless) We’d get wet.

Max:  Yeah, but then it would be a great setup for my next move... (dips her almost to the floor as she gasps and then he effortlessly pulls her up and back to him)

Gabrielle:   (her locket now looped around her ear!)   What do you call that?

Max:  My drip dip (she laughs)  Smooth and warm like a summer shower....

Gabrielle:   (whispering as their faces draw closer, noses nuzzling)  Very smooth Max (her hand moving up his chest)... very smooth... why have we stopped dancing....

Max: (kisses her gently, as she holds on to his lapel, he says breathlessly)  That’s why.... (her arm moves up his neck, they resume kissing, it becomes more intense, he lifts her up gently, cradling her in his arms.. still kissing he carries her to the chaise lounge.. he lies her down... still kissing and entwined... music builds to sweeping crescendo... fade to black)
 

Scene V:  Music still playing... soft, lush and romantic. They’re still entwined, kissing... gently and longingly...
 

Gabrielle:  (suddenly her eyes spring open and she jumps out of his embrace)  No!  I can’t do this... 

Max:  Yes you can, it’s how we both feel...

Gabrielle:  (scanning the room, unlooping the locket from her ear)  The music... the candles (gets up) the champagne... this was just all to get me in the right places wasn’t it?

Max:  (standing up, holding her arm, urgently)  You make it sound like I calculated
the whole thing.

Gabrielle:   Well it was, this was just all to get me into bed.

Max:  (angrily, pulling her down with him to the floor)  This was not about getting you into bed!  (both kneeling... now his voice soft but still insistent)  This was about us, about the desire we feel for each other, your passion for me and mine for you.  You, touching her cheek...(Gabrielle looking unbelievably vulnerable) ... Gabrielle, the most important woman in my life.... the mother of my son... and you’re acting as if I did all this just to compromise you.

Gabrielle:  (softly... face to face)  Well you did, didn’t you?

Max:  You want to know why I brought you here?  I brought you here because it was neutral territory and because I wanted some privacy... and yes I admit... I was hoping for some romance... because (almost whispering) ... I love you...  and I was hoping we might connect... the same way we did that night we were stuck in the Costume Shop (still caressing her cheek)... You remember that?

Gabrielle:  (swallowing, looking down) Yes. (he kisses her forehead)  Of course I remember that.  We talked the night away...  (he’s touching her cheek, gently fingering her hair)... we learned things about each other we never knew.... I felt closer to you then than I ever have.

Max:  (pleadingly) We can feel that way again... right here... right now....

Gabrielle:  (regretfully)  No Max... cause if I stay... if we make love, I’ll never want to leave you, I’ll want to be with you forever....

Max: (laughing)  You make it sound like the worst thing in the world....

Gabrielle:  It would be the worst thing in the world, but for you... I’d end up destroying you.

Max: (exasperated)  Why do you keep saying that?

Gabrielle:  (sighing wearily)  Because it’s true.  It’s a truth that I have lived with... every hour of every day, every night... (pain in her voice) very dream.  Pain...  It’s the only thing we’ll ever give each other... great pain. 

Max: Gabrielle, you can’t know the future.

Gabrielle:   Maybe not, but I’ve seen the past.  I know how much we’ve hurt each other, how much misery we’ve given to each other.  You nearly died because of me. 

Max: (insistent)  You!  You brought me back to life!  It was you in the hospital, I know it. (reaches out for her face again, holds it)  Doesn’t that tell you something?  Doesn’t that tell you that we belong together?

Gabrielle:  (gently, wearying of the struggle within)  Please... I have finally found the peace that I’ve been looking for.  You have a chance for true happiness.  Let me do what I must do. (she traces her finger down his chin and neck as she stares into his face)

Max:  (softly)  I know what you must do. (pulls her face to his and kisses her  gently but passionately, she responds...)  Doesn’t that mean anything to you?

Gabrielle:  (whispering, breathless)  Yes... it means so much (he’s still gently holding her neck)  I want nothing more than to give myself to you completely, but I know deep down in my heart that it will never work.  Please allow me to do what I must do. Just let me go....

Max:  (pleading and soft)  No......

Gabrielle: (she leans in, kisses him on the neck, says softly) Good-bye...my darling...

Max: (reaches out to keep her from going....helplessly)  Don’t... don’t... (she rushes out and slams the door)  Gabrielle!!!  (fade to black)