What's Love Got To Do With It?

Hey there, crime kids. Happy Monday. It's time once again to take a trip to the dark side, where your most violent fantasies become sins of the flesh, right here, where the hardboiled action is non-stop, at the coolest crime joint in cyberspace ... at That Killing Feeling.


It's the start of a new week, and a new story. We go now to the Starlight Hotel, a seedy dive on the Venice Beach boardwalk in sunny Calfornia ...

In Chapter one of BLUE HOTEL, we meet hooker Alona Tal, one of the Starlight's residents, who's making love to her boyfriend, Beggar Leck, a low-level drug dealer. We then meet good-looking, happily married schoolteacher Gil Sherry ... who's right now counting down the minutes until he can be with 'his true love' ... Alona.


EXT. VENICE BEACH - HOTEL - DUSK
The boardwalk. Quiet on a late summer weeknight.
A lone HOMELESS WOMAN sleeps in front
of a chained-up storefront.

CAMERA passes various businesses,
now closed for the night.

Joints selling T-shirts. Pizza.
Hats. Cheap tourist shit.

CAMERA stops on an old hotel.
Peeling blue paint.

Cracked steps lead up into a dingy foyer.
Sign reads THE STARLIGHT.

On the ground floor, a small bar.
THE STARLIGHT LOUNGE.

INT. STARLIGHT HOTEL - NIGHT
CAMERA creeps down a long, dark, hallway.
Faded, shitty prints of ships at sea
on the walls. We stop at room 23.

INT. SHITTY HOTEL ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Cool jazz on a boombox.
Maybe Coltrane or Miles, over --

Dark. Cluttered. Cozy.
Lit by a red bulb in a tiny lamp.
A few candles.

A WOMAN is making love with a MAN (20’s)
on the bed. Incense burning.

Meet ALONA TAL (30),
heartbreakingly beautiful.

Long, jet black hair to her waist.
Hot-blooded. Soft caramel skin.

Been ridden more a few miles.
But still turns heads.

She’s on top. In control.
Her hair fans down across her chest.

Riding him, rhythmically.
Eyes closed. In pure bliss.

ALONA
Ride me, you fucking COWBOY --

INT. ANOTHER SHITTY HOTEL ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Next door, we see a YOUNG WOMAN (21)
sitting at a table against the wall.

A painting has been taken down.
Behind it, an air duct,
her ear pressed against it. Listening.

ALONA (O.C.)
Giddyap, motherfucker -- FUCK ME.

Meet HOLLY LAND (22), waifish, comely.
Silky auburn tresses fall to her shoulders.

Looks tired, but still lovely.
She pours vodka into a plastic cup.
Takes a sip. Licks her lips.

Presses her ear against the vent again.
Listens.

ALONA (O.C.) (CONT'D)
Ohmyfucking GOD!

She reaches down, starts touching herself.

EXT. BAY STREET SCHOOL - DUSK
A tony, private ‘progressive’ school
for the kids of rich,
left-leaning Santa Monica hipsters.

The kind that shop at Whole Foods.
Do yoga. You get the idea.
Urth Cafe, anyone?

INT. BAY STREET SCHOOL - CLASSROOM - CONTINUOUS
The amber light of sunset streams through
the venetian blinds into the classroom.
Quiet. Empty. Except for --

A MAN (40’s) sits at a desk
at the head of the class.

Meet GILL SHERRY, good-looking,
in a frumpy kinda way.

But still buff. The cool teacher.
The kind the girls swoon over.

Right now he’s grading papers.
He checks his watch.

Goes back to his work.
His cell phone RINGS.
He picks it up. Listens.

GILL
Hi, honey --
(listens)
You better start without me.
I’ve got a couple of student conferences --
(listens)
I’ll grab something on the way home.
You need anything?
(listens)
Love you, too. Bye.

He hangs up. Checks his watch.
Sighs. Stares into space.

He pulls out a small picture.
We see it’s Alona.

GILL (CONT’D)
One more hour, my love,
and my torture will end.
(kisses the picture)
Without you I am incomplete.

INT. ALONA’S SHITTY HOTEL ROOM - AT THAT MOMENT
Alona sits up in bed smoking a cigarette.
A lazy, ‘just got laid’ smile on her face.
She sips from a bottle of Corona.

ALONA
You sure know how to
satisfy a gal, Beggar.

BEGGAR LECK (30’s),
buff, former bodybuilder,
with a mane of black hair,
pulls on his pants.

Still great-looking,
but now a little puffy.
Bright blue eyes now a bit bloodshot.

He lights up a joint.
Takes a big hit.

BEGGAR
Beggars can’t be choosers, baby --
(passes it to her)
Gotta jam. Gonna go pick up
some product down in Long Beach.

ALONA
(takes it, inhales)
Yeah, right.
You just want to make your escape
before the teacher gets here.

BEGGAR
No shit. He’s in love with you.
Guy creeps me out.
Gets all moony-eyed and shit.

ALONA
What’s love got to do with it?
He can only rent. YOU own me --

He’s finished dressing. Goes to her.
Gives her a sloppy kiss.

BEGGAR
And don’t you forget it.
(beat)
I should be back by midnight.
Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

ALONA
Like what, suck cock?