well .  for the last four years i've been on call to triple a escort service.
hey, it's legit. strictly dinner and dance.
i sing now?
i get along without you.' slowly, okay?
i get along without you very well of course i do except when soft rains fall and drip from leaves, then i recall the thrill of being sheltered in your arms of course i do but i get along without you very well.'
so?
when?
don't leave a girl hanging. second rule of show business.
yeah, well, okay. 'bye, bakers.
intuition.
what are we, an orchestra all of a sudden?
sorry.
fellas, fellas .
the problem is i can't hear myself sing with all this.  .  music. you know what i'm saying?
i mean, back there it may be hard to notice, but up here i'm having a little trouble getting a word in.
i mean, you're supposed to be backing me up, right?
what i mean is --
so work with me, not against me. okay?
okay.
hey, he's not sore, is he?
not for money. with my mother.
she used to waitress downtown, nights, when i was a kid. on the way home, we'd sing. you know how people whistle when they're nervous? my mother sang. she always said you're never alone with a song 'cause thousands of people know the same song and even though you can't hear 'em, they're singing with you. i don't know. if they were, they were all singing safe inside their apartments. but it worked. we always got home. ever since, i always wanted to sing. i never took lessons or anything, though. i guess you guys took a lot of lessons.
where's my name?
and how come you guys are the only ones with your pictures on the poster?
changed?
what's he talking about?
do i look like i'm naked?
what's wrong with it?
am i missing something?
hey!
time for what?
if you ask me, this is pretty stupid.
a seven.
i wear a seven.
save it for your wife.
hey, pal. i don't know about you, but where i come from there's a little girl's room and a little boy's room and the little boys don't go where the little girls go.
nine.
nine!
what do you think?
zip me up?
shoes?
they're tight.
well, they're aspiring to be sevens.
oh, thanks.
you're a prince.
good evening, ladies and gentlemen. i can't tell you how thrilled i am to be here. it's like a dream come true. and speaking of dreams .
piece of cake.
just a sip. to kill the butterflies, okay?
there. no one's the wiser.
appreciate it, ace.
switch? what fucking switch?
pardon me.
i can't tell you how thrilled i am to be here.
i'm all smiles, darling through and through'
i said i was sorry.
look, they were all on their third mai tais by the time i got out there anyway.
for christ sake, i said it, i didn't do it. besides, i don't think they were too offended, do you?
hey!
i was gonna split it with you guys.
then i want my name on the poster. and my picture! and these shoes are too goddamn tight!
night, bakers.
the carlton's a dump. no cover. no minimum. and they water their drinks. it's strictly for the fuller brush crowd.
we take the avedon, right? simple.
the park? it's only two nights. why throw away a night?
oh. well, for blackie then.
hey.
maybe it's legit.
how'd you guys used to decide what gig to take?
so find a dime. let's get out of here.
where's egghead?
i don't know. it's hard figuring you two as brothers. seems like the hospital might've scrambled the babies somewhere.
yeah,well, a11 i know is mother nature must be one crazy dame. shit.
uh-uh. i never touch american cigarettes. what's tomorrow again?
nice place. fulla velvet. even the bedspreads. damn! two-fifty a pack and i go through 'em like toothpicks. twelve-and-a-half cents a piece, you believe that?
paris opals. twelve-and-a-half cents. i sat down with a pencil and added it one day. but i figure, if you're gonna be sticking something in your mouth, you might as well make it the best. ah, here's a lost soul.
mmm. like kissing a rose. well, au revoir.
you kidding? we must've killed three pots in there. anyway, i gotta get home. rest the pipes.
no. thanks. she starts to move away, then stops and looks back.
hey, listen. you're not going soft on me, are you? i mean, you're not gonna start dreaming about me and waking up all sweaty and looking at me like i'm some kinda princess when i burp.
i mean, that'd be too creepy. with us working together and all.
nothing personal --
well, well. ho, ho, ho. you moonlighting at macy's, frank?
he do that every year?
aren't the kids asleep?
so why's he do it?
call me a cab, will ya?
maybe we should just listen to the radio.
how long did you say it takes to get to this place?
uh-uh. hey, what's this?
you play all these places?
jesus, you fellas've made a lot of noise. what's with the stars?
virgins?
he's right.
okay.the fantasy inn.
i don't believe it.
smells like fish.
smells like tuna number two to me.
hey, we're connected.
great?
you're kidding me.
peggy lee?
what'd she sing?
wow. you ever see her again?
they must've bought the same map we did.
i don't believe it. you're a romantic, frank.
oh yeah?
hey, fellas. what's the word?
what's with you two?
0-kay.
huh?
oh. yeah. i gotta bunch of them.
what's with you guys?
oh, sorry. with the light always on, it's hard to tell.
can't sleep?
it's the waves. god's music, my mother used to say. she was crazy for the ocean.
how's egghead?
in and out.
if you want, i got a pack in the room.
forget your tie, handsome .  frank!
huh?
uh .
decency? hey listen, pal .
some discussion.
forget it.
boy, he comes on like a hurricane in the morning, doesn't he?
yeah, well, thanks for sticking your head in.
it wasn't business. it was pleasure.
paradise.
huh?
feelings .  wo wo wo .  feelings .  wo wo wo .  feelings .
i can't sing it anymore.
that song. i can't sing it anymore. i'm gonna get sick.
i'm gonna throw up, frank. i mean it. let's drop it for the ten o'clock, okay?
and two more times tomorrow night, and two more times the next night, and the next night and the next night and the next night. frank, i can't sing that fucking song anymore!
i need some air.
guess i got a little scattered.
how do you do it? every night?
listen.  nothing.
you were good.
better than that.
what's the matter?
what'd i say?
you're upset.
all i said was you were good.
what's that supposed to mean?
you were good.
you were good.
because i saw the other people! and they knew you were good! you were good, goddamnit!
so you wanna get a drink?
who's nina?
friend? what's she look like? maybe i can help you find her.
ed? how many people live here?
sure.
like diamonds, huh? i never get over it. when i was a little girl, my mama'd stand me before the window and tell me to close my eyes and make a wish.like i could reach out and grab all the lights of the city and string them into-a necklace for myself. she'd take my hand and when she closed her eyes, i don't know, it was like she really believed it.
i don't know. i guess i didn't trust the night like she did.
let me have a cigarette, will you? all of mine are down there on the sidewalk.
long story.
you know, i saw you guys once. you and frank. at the roosevelt.
soap convention.
yeah, they got a convention for everything. at least he was clean. boy, the guys i met when i was with the service, you wouldn't believe. the older ones, they were okay. nice. polite. pulled the chair out for you. but the younger ones .  mama used to say, dance with a man once, but if you can feel calluses on his fingers, don't dance with him again. she thought she had it all figured out. but she wasn't so smart. there are killers with palms like a baby.
it wasn't so bad, though. i'd get a nice piece of steak, flowers, sometimes even a gift. usually whatever the guy was into. got a socket set once. believe it? the guy looked like held just given me four dozen roses. but i stayed at the hartford once. you should see the rooms. all satin and velvet. and the bed. royal blue, trimmed in lace clean as snow. hard to believe sleeping in a room like that don't change your life. but it don't. the bed may be magic, but the mirror isn't. you wake up the same old susie. i didn't always, you know. if i liked the guy .
sometimes i wish the sun would never come up.
so what's this?
huh?
no kidding?
the both of them? in there?
oh. so what's it doing here?
you sending me home?
nervous?
you're kidding.
so, what happened?
wow. but i still don't see how .
oh.
frank said you saw him die.
frank said ---
oh. hi. sorry.
yeah.  no.
yeah, maybe .  no. god, i hate these cigarettes!
shit. i think i started a fire.
i followed you last night. i mean, i was here. outside. i was about to come up when you came out.
the reason i came by .  i couldn't tell frank.  i'm leaving. the act.
it's a .  i met this guy at the resort. he liked my voice. and, it's .  he thinks i can sell cat food just by singing about it. can you believe it?
you can always get another girl.
i thought the bakers didn't take tips.
saw the sign outside. got your own sign, huh?
so .  ?
yeah, well, like i said, it didn't figure. you two.
yeah.
terrific. i'm doing vegetables next week.
huh?
oh. carrots. and peas. none of the important ones.
listen.  you want to get a drink? i got a new place. or we could go to a bar .  well, maybe not a bar. but i know a place uptown, if you want --
no kidding? well .  i guess you can't do a reunion over tomato juice, can you? anyway, if you're ever in the neighborhood .  i wrote it down.
tell egghead i said hi. if you see him.
jack.
well, this is some surprise. hey .  you don't look so good, pal.
jack?
you want to come in?
let me get the light.
i used to do that.
sneak out in the morning. before the guy could wake up and ruin it. never figured i'd be on the other end of it, though.
yeah.
funny how life repeats itself, huh? over and over. like a song.
hey.
am i gonna see you again?
okay.