SHINJI:(To
Kathie Lee) You have no idea how magnificent, how exotic you are to me. This poise, this symmetry, this refinement. I'm mute with awe over your beauty. Look at me, a mere sidewalk sweeper, holding the delicate hand of this luminous creature at her stall.
It was evident to BARTON that SHINJI's oratory was inspired by Ivan Turgenev's Two Women. SHINJI must have seen the show over the weekend.
Kathie Lee:
Oh, Shinji, I've been so restless and irritable since you swept last week. I could't wait for monday to return, so I could see you again.
Oh, so Kathie Lee had recently seen the show also, Barton thought. It seems she and Shinji went on a secret date. There's no smoke without fire. Barton was serving a pedestrian but the lovebirds' recreation of the mesmerizing tale, have his full attention.
SHINJI:
I feel so centred when I see you each week. Seeing you is the only happiness I need on this sidewalk. You got to believe me.... I'd die inside if knew you were restless and irritable.
Kathie Lee:
I'm okay now. Hundreds of female vendors on the sidewalk are just jealous of me because you hand-picked me over them
SHINJI:
Hundreds? I'd say thousands, millions
They laugh lovingly
SHINJI:(gushes)
Just looking at you is an UNQUALIFIED pleasure.
Kathie Lee:
You are so sweet. I discussed you with my mum all the time
SHINJI:
My heart leapt, I thought you were gonna say you discussed me with your husband
Kathie Lee:
Good God no, I would'nt be so silly
SHINJI:
You are so beautiful..Let me guess, you and your mom talk about the CHASM between our ages
Kathie Lee:
What chasm(laughs)...I told her you're closer to me in years owing to our similar temperament and spiritual dispositions. Oh, she asked about your rheumatism
SHINJI:(laughs)
You told her about it?
Kathie Lee:
Of course not. I'm just teasing you.
SHINJI:
When I look at you, I see youth, freshness and vitality....
Kathie Lee:
I see those qualities in you plus pure handsomeness...I dont feel old
SHINJI:
Thanks. Neither do I. I do not feel old. I do not feel any age....As you know, I'm not a man of style and grace, so I'll get to the point...
Kathie Lee:
You are a man of style and grace
SHINJI:
Thank you. I'm glad you noticed...Anyway, As I was saying, I'm a man of few words,
but I've been watching you, and I'm proud to admit you have taken possession of my head.
Kathie Lee:(blushes)
There's no one on the sidewalk, I love the way I love you. When you laugh, I laugh. Stall-owners and pedestrians sometimes wonder about the secrets to my perpetual glow and why I alway look so extroardinarily beautiful....
SHINJI:
....I often wonder myself...
Kathie Lee:
Well, wonder no more...YOU are the reason. Being with you, thinking about you...
SHINJI:
Oh. I love you this much(arms stretched out as widely as possible)...without reservations. I know you love me, but do you love me this much?
Kathie Lee:
Without reservations(with arms stretched out as widely as possible). I'll be a vendor on this sidewalk as long as you continue sweeping here...
SHINJI:
I enjoy our weekly banter and goodbye hugs, but isn't it time we do.......'things.'
Kathie Lee:
You'll have to give up your vice
SHINJI:
No problem. I was gonna give it up anyway.
Kathie Lee:
Great. I started preparing a speech for you, the moment I spot you sweeping away in the distance
SHINJI:
I can't wait to hear it....
Kathie Lee:
......I've been a vendor on this sidewalk for a month now, and it's been the happiest month of my life because of you. Not even my husband makes me this happy.
SHINJI:
That's what love does; it makes the unreasonable seems perfectly reasonable. Loving you this way when I have my wife is disgraceful and I feel ashamed of myself, but I wont stop.
Kathie Lee:
I pray each week that our partners do not find out about us, because I don't want this to be the last time I'm seeing you, I don't want this to be the last tiem I talk to you
SHINJI:
I have been in love with you from the first day you started working on this stall.
Kathie Lee:
And the first time you talked to me, I wanted to declare my love for you, but I was afraid, you'd see it as a declaration of love from a woman you have NO interest in.
SHINJI:
Far from it! You have no idea how magnificent, how exotic you are to me. This poise, this symmetry, this refinement. I'm mute with awe over your beauty.Look at me, a mere sidewalk sweeper, holding the delicate hand of this luminous creature...
Kathie Lee:
....I love you this much(arms stretched out as wide as possible)..without reservation.
SHINJI:
If I lose you, I don't know how I would survive
Kathie Lee:
You'll survive, especially when you love.....without reservations....
SHINJI:
They say all love is a catastrophe, leading to desolation and shame..They say a man enslaved by love is owned by a woman, so he will know what real suffering feels like...
Kathie Lee:
....NONSENSE! You have the unqualified love of a good woman, I hope this is enough..
SHINJI:
It is. If it wasn't so I let you go, I would end up being dissatisfied in my life. But you, who loved....without reservation, even though your love was not appreciated or reciprocated, would be the lucky one.
