easy. i can't handle heavy conversation at this ungodly hour.
can't you just get rid of that board?
those people drive you nuts.
you fucked julie gianni again, didn't you? david takes off driving.
i know someone was there when i called. you had that tone. oh, no man, i've got a cold. i'm hanging in tonight.
fine. you can do whatever you want with your life -
-- but one day you'll know what love truly is. it's the sour and the sweet. and i know sour which allows me to appreciate the sweet.
my dream girl.  julie gianni.  is your.  fuck buddy. brian emits another pained howl. david reaches over to change the music.
slow down, man.
look out! look out! david turns and sees he's hurtling into the back of a car stopped just in front of him. clenching he hits the brakes, narrowly avoiding a high-speech collision. and then.  to his right.  another car comes hurtling toward him.  and stops within an inch of deadly impact. there is an awful moment, as the second car blares on the horn. traffic continues, but the lingering feeling of dread and confusion is still in the air.
fuck!
i know. my own death was right there in front of me, and you know what happened? your life flashed before my eyes.
almost worth dying for. pedestrians continue walking around the honking tangled mass of the near-.accident.
hey man. happy birthday and all the usual shit people say to each other. how you doing?
meet david aames.
we met today at the library, if you can believe that --
- we were both pretending to be intellectuals.
i'll just continue like you're both actually listening to me.
i have ceased to exist.
we picked it out together. neither look at brian. brian takes a breath. he's been here before.
we picked it out together. we.
stop flirting and open it.
let's get a drink.
i caught you.
your friends are fun and i'm drunk.
nobody stalks me. so i drink.
here, finish my jack and coke. he messily tries to hand his drink to david, but spills it embarrassingly. all his cool is gone, and what's left are his friends covering for him, cleaning up.
no, it's the stupid guy holding it.
i better hit it. i drank too much and i didn't fucking eat.
for you it is.
fuck you, david. you're paying me to write my novel, so you own me.
but why'd you have to hit on sofia?
fine. whatever you say. i'm crazy, i'm blind.
that. i do. gimme a cigarette.
but wait. you're rich and women love you and i'm from ohio and i'm drunk. can i tell you the truth?
i dig her. and i've never said this to you before, about any girl. but she could be.  could be could be could be.  the girl of my fuckin dreams.
i know.
but if she fucks tip our friendship - she can go to hell. i won't allow it! we are bros.
sure you do. brianprepares to leave, as sofia returns with drinks.
i am frank. and frank must go.
i good you bid evening. sofialooks at her watch, and the situation.
stay, baby.
you're in great. hands. i'm just humoring myself that my opinion matters. brian looks at the two of them. life is telling him, and he knows it's time to go. portrait of a man who will not get what. he wants. david notes the poetry in his friend.
you will never know the exquisite pain of the guy who goes home alone. because without. the bitter, baby, the sweet ain't as sweet. have a good time. he exits like a champ, a glorious sad-sack, with a hand flourish.
hey.
i am in the mood for cheap sugary overpriced rum-and-cokes. you want one?
i'll go get us some -
behind.  over by the place next to the door by the chick.  i mean, girl who looks like bjork. she leaves. david turns to brian immediately.
take it off.
take off the mask! it's freaking me out.
oh no. trust me. it's a little different.
sofia asked me.
talk to a shrink! or you can call me sometime, instead of hiding in your apartment. don't take it out on a girl you only met once.
cut it out. i miss the old you. we all miss the old you. because the new guy is shit. david turns away. the perfectly wrong thing to say.
oh. man. wait. that came out wrong. i love you - period. how's your arm, man? david shakes his head, moves toward the bar.
wait. i'll walk you to your door.
i've got my bike here.
shut up, you're drunk.
okay then. so. we'll call you.
we'll call you. david and brian walk on. brian turns back to see sofia running to the corner.
well, it's been a real blast, david. i bid you good evening.
my bike. it's back over there. we'll hang soon. bring your mask if you want. i'm getting used to it.
what?
you drank a little too much. call me tomorrow if you want.
no you won't. you just need to sleep.
what!
what?
never.
have you been harboring this shit all along? i never talked to her.
what, did she say?
fine. david's face is huge in the brian's viewfinder.
don't flatter yourself. i'm fine. besides - sofia is great, but by no means one-of--a-kind. she was a proximity infatuation. brian, naturally suspicious and somewhat jealous, spots a writer at a nearby table making notes.
and don't use that, it's mine. the writer looks busted.
i'm into things.  you have no idea.
and anyway, we're friends, aren't we?
hey what's up with your face? fuck, there's a seam opening or something!
you're in fucking sad shape, man. don't fucking ever hit a girl, man. hit me, but don't fucking ever hit a girl. david looks up -- sees a small security camera trained on them - pulls brian out of the station.
oh.  it was julie gianni. so, sofia was abducted by julie, and now julie is posing as sofia.
you're in o.j. land, man. julie gianni is fucking dead!
i didn't talk to the cops. i talked to sofia!
i just dropped sofia off. and i saw everything you did to her.
yes! and you stole her from me! david backs away, as brian responds bitterly, from his heart.
the one girl i really wanted, and you took her from me. you're insane. you're losing it, man. david nods powerfully. he now understands. brian is one of them too.
oh yeah, i'm with them.
listen to me, 'cause it's the last time we're ever gonna speak. i was your only friend.