INT. DANNY’S ROOM AT THE SORORITY HOUSE – DAY
Danny lies in bed, stretched out like just passed out there. Despite her best efforts she is very much awake. Her cute-as-a-button roommate, GRETCHEN (22) ,OPENS drawers and cabinets, getting ready for class.
GRETCHEN
Are you getting up?
DANNY
No.
GRETCHEN
You’re just going to lie there all day.
DANNY
Yes.
Gretchen jumps on the bed and bounces up next to her. Danny burrows further into the covers.
DANNY
Go away.
GRETCHEN
You should come to dinner tonight with me and Bill.
DANNY
Na ua. I don’t want to be a third wheel.
GRETCHEN
You won’t be. Bill’s brother, Larry’s in town.
DANNY
No. No Gretchen. I told you no.
GRETCHEN
Come on. It’s just dinner.
DANNY
No blind dates.
GRETCHEN
Danny, you haven’t been on one date the entire three years we’re been in college together. Half our pledge class thinks you’re a lesbian.
DANNY
I don’t want to.
GRETCHEN
You’re going.
DANNY
No I’m not.
INT. CHEESEY CHAIN RESTAURANT – NIGHT
Danny’s having dinner with Gretchen, Bill and Larry at one of those tall tables near the bar. Bill is Gretchen’s boring, pail-faced fiancé. His little brother Larry is two years younger, but they could pass as twins. They’re wearing the same polo in different colors.
LARRY
So Danny, what are you majoring in?
DANNY
French.
LARRY
Cool. What are you gonna do with that?
Danny has no interest in getting to know you chat.
DANNY
Graduate.
GRETCHEN
Danny travels. A lot. She just got back from some study abroad excursion in Paris.
LARRY
That’s awesome. I’m going to England in a few weeks.
BILL
I don’t know if I could travel alone.
DANNY
I don’t usually go alone.
Gretchen shoots her a look as if to say, please don’t mention to male-friends on your first date.
LARRY
Who do you go with?
DANNY
Some friends from high school.
GRETCHEN
She went to this really tough prep school in DC.
Danny passes Gretchen a please-don’t-speak-for-me look.
BILL
Do you I know them? Your friends?
DANNY
I don’t think so. Tony goes to UCLA. J.’s at the University of Denver, and Kelly’s at Georgetown.
LARRY
Oh, so two guys and two girls. That must make things easy.
DANNY
Kelly’s a guy actually.
BILL
At least you’re all in cities with decent airports.
Danny almost chokes on her coke. That is exactly why they were placed in these cities.
DANNY
Any body seen our waiter?
INT. UPSCALE RESTAURANT IN DENVER – NIGHT
J. (21) is beautiful. Muscular. Tan. I-would-drink-his-bath-water kinda hot. He’s dressed to impress in his black waiter’s uniform. He leans on a table near the kitchen, chatting up two cute girls despite the fact that the restaurant is insanely busy. He rolls up a sleeve to show them his tattoo.
J.
(pointing to tattoo)
This one I got in Amsterdam.
BIMBO #1
That’s hot.
J.
My other ones are hotter, but I can’t show you them at work. It’s against health code violations.
Okay, ‘health code violations’ should not sound this sexy.
BIMBO #2
May we should see them after hours.
J.’s manager YELLS from the kitchen.
MANAGER (O.S.)
Runner. I need a runner.
J.
Maybe you should. Hold that thought sweetness.
J. smoothly, but quickly walks to the kitchen.
INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
The not-so-sexy MANAGER (30’s) is about to lose it.
MANAGER
I NEED A RUNNER.
J strolls in and sweeps up a huge tray from the counter. He handles it like a true pro.
J.
Where’m I going?
MANAGER
Table 24.
J grabs and stand, a wooden pepper grinder, and a bottle of AI with ease.
MANGER CONTD
And you can hit on my customers on your own time.
INT. TABLE 24 – MOMENTS LATER
J. has delivered the food.
J.
Everybody all set?
His phone BEEPS with a new text message.
J.
Great. Enjoy.
J leaves before the table has time to ask for anything else. He reads his new message on the way back to the kitchen: ‘ANY PLANS FOR SPRING BREAK? K. GRANT’
J.
Guess I do now.
EXT. A FEW BLOCKS AWAY – MOMENTS LATER
Lindsey takes a step into the street, looking to cross. A van RUSHES us out of nowhere. Two masked men get out and pull Lindsey into the back. The door SLAMS shut once she’s in. The van PEELS away.
EXT. HOTEL – DUSK
J.
Where’s the bus?
GRANT
I couldn’t hold it any longer. Don’t worry. We’ll get a rental and meet them in Brussel.
They start walking.
GRANT
What took so long?
J.
She didn’t say.
GRANT
She?
J.
Major hotty.
DANNY
She wasn’t that hot.
J.
Don’t be jealous.
DANNY
But I am jealous. Oh yes, J. I secretly want you very badly. Oh my god. I don’t know if I can stand it any longer. I might just rip off your clothes right here and…
Grant finds this particularly entertaining.
TONY
Hey. Sees those guys across the street?
Two THUGS in sunglasses and black jackets are on the opposite site of the street, hanging back about 50 or so yards from them. J., Grant, and Danny take them in through their reflection in a store window.
TONY
They were at the church.
Our fearsome foursome begins to walk faster. So do the thugs.
GRANT
Run.
Maybe they can’t shoot like that kid in Wanted, or kick ass like Jackie Chan, but these fuckers can run. They take off in full sprit like it’s the g.d. Olympics. The bad guys chase after them.
They come to a roundabout at the end of the street.
DANNY
Split up?
GRANT
(nods)
Meet at the cathedral. Thirty minutes.
They break off in four different directions.
The bad guys reach the roundabout.
THUG #1
They split up.
THUG #2
Pink shorts. He’s got it.
THUG #1
I got him. I got him.
Thug #1 chases after J. Thug #2 assumes Danny’s the slowest. Sexist ass.
THUG #2
I got the girl.
Thug #2 chases after Danny.
EXT. CROSSWALK CONTINUOUS
J. sees that he’s being followed.
J.
Shit.
He speeds up.
EXT. SIDE STREET CONTINUOUS
Grant looks across traffic and sees Thug #2 gaining on Danny. He stops, changes directions and goes after him.
EXT. REIMS CONTINUOUS
Thug #1 chases J. past the Town Hall.
J. runs into a large crowd at the Fountain Sube. He slows down in an attempt to blend in.
Thug #1 turns the corner. He moves through the crowd, trying to get a visual on J.
J. pulls a black scarf off the neck of a woman in the crowd. She doesn’t even notice. He puts a pen behind his ear and walks into a café.
EXT. OTHER SIDE OF REIMS CONTINUOUS
Danny turns a corner, bumping into a couple of old men. They yell/flirt with her in French.
DANNY
Excusez.
She keeps running with Thug #2 not far behind her and Grant not too far behind him.
Danny enters the Grand Hotel Continental.
INT. GRAND HOTEL CONTINENTAL
Without slowing for a second, Danny runs past the front desk and up a grand staircase.
EXT. GRAND HOTEL CONTINENTAL
Thug #2 slows as he reaches the doors. He opens them and walks in as a pretend guest.
INT. GRAND HOTEL CONTINENTAL
Thug #2 looks around while acting nonchalant.
The jerk at the front desk points to the staircase. Thug #2 smiles and goes up.
INT. HALLWAY GRAND HOTEL – MOMEMNTS LATER
Danny comes out of the stairwell onto the top floor. She walks halfway down the hall and pushes the elevator call button. She uses the break to catch her breath.
DING. The elevator appears. At the same time, the stairwell door opens. Danny ducks into the elevator.
INT. ELEVATOR CONTINUOUS
Danny pushes the first floor button and then jabs the close-door button continuously until the doors close.
INT. HALLWAY GRAND HOTEL.
A man comes in through the stairwells. It’s NOT the thug who’s chasing Danny.
INT. HOTEL LOBBY – MOMENTS LATER
DING. Elevator doors open. Out walks Danny. Thug #2 is twenty feet away in front of the main entrance. He sees her. Crap. She high tails it back up the stairs. He follows after her as Grant makes finally makes his entrance into the lobby.
INT. HOTEL HALLWAY
Danny run/walks down the hall, trying to think of a way to escape.
Ahead of her a MAID is putting dirty towels in her cart. Danny sneaks behind her and into the open doorway of a room.
INT. HOTEL ROOM CONTINUOUS
It’s small. A dead end. Danny pushes out the window. There’s a small balcony, one that’s more for decoration that anything else. Danny climbs out.
INT. HALLWAY
The maid closes the door and begins to roll her cart on down the line. Thug #2 shows up. He pulls a 45mm from an inside pocket and points it at her face. He yells at her in French.
THUG #2
(Re: the door)
Open it!
She SCREAMS in French.
THUG #2
(still in French)
Do it.
She opens the door and runs away.
INT. HOTEL ROOM CONTINUOUS
Thug #2 enters. He checks the bathroom. No Danny. He checks the closet. No Danny. He checks under the bed. She’s not there either, idiot. He sees the window. Gulp. He puts a bullet in the chamber of his gun and savors the moment as he closes in on the open window.
GRANT
Ahhhhhhhhh!
Grant CHARGES in the room. He BARRELS into the Thug, and sends him crashing out the window.
Thug falls. Arms and legs flailing. Just before he hits the pavement. We break away, but we still hear the nice SPLAT, like someone tossed a juicy watermelon off the roof.
Danny’s been standing on the edge of an iron railing, using the building to steady herself. The force of the Thug passing buy knocks her from her balance. She begins to fall, but Grant reaches out and GRABS her before her feet leave the ledge.
GRANT
I got you.
DANNY
(afraid of heights)
Don’t let go.
He pulls her back inside. They share a brief moment of intense eye contact that lets all the slow people in the audience finally realize how bad these two want each other.
DANNY
We should get … find the others.
GRANT
Yes.
INT./EXT. BREEZEWAY WITH CREEP ARCHES. ABBEY OF SAINT-REMI
Tony’s the first to arrive. He’s the fastest and no one bothered to chase him. He catches his breath and begins waiting in the shadows.
INT./EXT. BREEZEWAY WITH CREEP ARCHES. ABBEY OF SAINT-REMI - ML
Danny and Grant have arrived and are now catching their breath.
GRANT
(to Tony)
Did you see which way he went?
TONY
No.
EXT. ABBEY OF SAINT-REMI – CONTINUOUS
J. steps out of the cab. The driver waits.
INT./EXT. BREEZEWAY WITH CREEP ARCHES. ABBEY OF SAINT-REMI – C
J. enters, bruised and bleeding from his earlier tussle.
TONY
You k?
J. nodds.
GRANT
Still got the disk?
J.
Yeah. But.
They’re all ears.
J.
But he got my passport.
This is not fucking good. That’s his real passport, with his real name, and his real home address.
DANNY
Fuck. (then) How?
J.
He pulled it out of my back pocket.
Grant is pissed, but he stays in control.
GRANT
Are your parents home?
J.
No they’re at my sisters.
GRANT
That’s good.
DANNY
What do we do?
GRANT
I”ll call it in.
Grant takes out is cell and dials a contact named ‘V.’ He gets Dr. Velek’s voicemail.
GRANT
Dr. Velek. It’s Kelly Grant, class of 2005. I was jus wondering if you hate the dates for homecoming yet. I’ll check back with you in the morning.
‘Homecoming’ is a code word. Like ‘pineapple’ on Chuck. It means “the shit has hit the fan.”
DANNY
We can’t just hang out here til morning.
TONY
We booked our seats together. It’s only a matter of time before they ID all of us.
GRANT
You’re right. Okay, give me your phones.
J. and Danny hand theirs over. Tony takes the SIM card out of his first.
TONY
Do you know how many numbers I have in this thing?
J.
Yeah. I want mine back too.
Grant gives J. and Danny their phones back so they can get their SIM cards as well. They give them back to Grant. Danny looks at him as if to say, “Don’t you want yours?” Grant signs and caves in. He fumbles with his phone until the card comes out. Then he turns all four of them off and tosses them in a bush outside so they can’t be used to track their location.
GRANT
Now we need to get out of Reims.
J.
I’ve got a taxi waiting out front.
EXT. ABBEY OF SAINT-REMI – CONTINUOUS
The Taxi Driver is taking another smoke break.
TAXI DRIVER
Hey. Thought you forgot me.
Grant flips open his wallet, checks his funds.
GRANT
I’ll give you five hundred Euros for the keys to your car and a promise that you won’t report it stolen until eight AM tomorrow morning.
The Taxi Driver is taken back. Is this guy serious?
TAXI DRIVER
Five hundred is not so much.
A pause. Grant’s only got five hundred. He calculates a next move.
DANNY
Make it a thousand.
TAXI DRIVER
Deal.
Danny and Grant hand over the money.
EXT. ABBEY OF SAINT-REMI – SEONDS LATER
Taxi Driver counts his money.
Grant’s behind the wheel of the taxi. He pulls up next to the former driver and speaks to him through the rolled-down window.