The cleaner
“THE CLEANER”
TEASER
INT. NATE’S LIVING ROOM - DAY
A quaint little place. Neat. Shelves full of books upon books. There is a fireplace and a deep-cushioned, flower-patterned wing chair. In it sits a man reading today’s paper --
-- Meet NATHANIEL (NATE) RUSTEN (34). Calm. Comfortable in his own skin. He reclines in his chair and flips through the day’s paper. Each move he makes is purposeful.
JILLIAN (O.S.)
Honey?
A WOMAN scurries out of her home office and bursts into the living room. JILLIAN RUSTEN (32), his wife. She has long messy hair, large circular glasses, and eyes that are comically magnified behind the lens.
Nate looks up, amused. His wife always looks harried; he thinks she looks beautiful.
NATE
Yeah?
JILLIAN
How many pins do you think you can stick in a person’s heart before it stops beating?
NATE
Pin cushion pins?
JILLIAN
Pin cushion pins.
NATE
Heart still in the chest?
JILLIAN
Heart still in the chest.
NATE
(smiling)
Let me go and find out.
Nate neatly folds his paper into squares and slides it in between the cushion and the arm rest. As he rises...
CUT TO:
INT. DARK WAREHOUSE - MOMENTS LATER
A SERIES OF FAST CUTS: Gloves on. Needle squirting. Knife checked. An injection into the arm of a Bulky Man. SCREAMING. Hundreds of pins spilled out onto a metal tray. PINS stick out of a BEATING HEART in an OPEN CHEST. A SILENT PAUSE.
DING. Nate taps a button on his phone. Counter reads 156.
BACK TO:
INT. NATE’S LIVING ROOM - LATER
We’re back where we left off. Nate settles back down into his flowery chair and pulls the paper out from the side. He starts reading from where he left off.
NATE
You can get about 160 pins in if you’re quick enough.
Jillian peaks out of her room.
JILLIAN
One-sixty?
NATE
One-sixty.
She comes and pecks his cheek.
JILLIAN
You’re a lifesaver.
She runs back into the room. Nate is content. There’s nothing more satisfying than keeping his lovely wife happy.
The CLACKING OF KEYBOARD KEYS echoes out of the home office.
CUT TO BLACK.
END OF TEASER