One Hour Girlfriend

Do that again.

Come up those stairs with no emotion or coldness.

You had too much warmth.

Okay.

Please.

Of course, Mr. Richard.

We can provide a companion capable

of dynamic emotional modulation.

She will adjust in real time.

The rate is $100,000 for the hour.

That should be more than enough time.

Send her over.

For the first 20 minutes,

you may end the session without commitment.

Thank you, Mr. Richard.

That's better.

This way.

The agency said you like strawberries.

What's your name?

Melina.

Um, my father, he liked Greek movies.

Especially with Melina Mercouri.

"Never on Sunday." 1960.

It's a pretty name.

She played a prostitute.

Um, I, I haven't watched that movie actually.

Do you like sci-fi movies, by the way?

I, my favorite is, is, oh my God, there's so many.

Do you like 'em, or...?

- Sci-fi movies, huh? - Yeah.

Well, yeah, there's a lot of 'em.

Great sci-fi TV shows too. "Doctor Who."

Yeah!

That's why I like "The Zone."

It had a lot of sci-fi in it.

I know, yeah.

So um, do you wanna order the pizza and watch TV later

and just...? - No. No pizza.

No TV. Nothing.

Just, I need less emotion from you.

Your energy is too high.

Okay, I'm sorry. Hm.

Tell me more about yourself.

Um.

Have you ever traveled anywhere?

Yeah, I did.

Um, France, UK.

Europe.

Yeah.

Many different cultures there.

What was your favorite?

What was your favorite country out of all of those?

Mm. I guess, UK.

I love London.

It has a very special place in my heart.

And why is it? Why is it special to you?

Um, a little bit personal, I guess.

Why was it personal?

What's your answer?

Come on, answer me,

there's gotta be something in there

if you've traveled to so many places.

Well, let's just say, um,

I met a special person there.

A special person. Were they in the London fog?

Big Ben. The big clock.

You know what the Big Ben is?

Yeah.

I bet you do.

Do you really know what the Big Ben is?

It's this!

You know, they don't train you very well anymore.

Or do they train you in at all?

Fish and chips. Too much vinegar.

Peas. Fries with ranch dressing.

Do you like bay shrimp?

Do you know what bay shrimp is?

How about bitter shandy?

Tikka masala?

It's called bitter shandy!

D Baby. That's where it is.

It's not funny.

Now that's enough about me and food.

Now tell me about yourself. What about yourself?

Stop laughing! That's not funny.

You're too happy. This isn't Charlie Chaplin.

This is not "King of New York." This is the "Limelight."

We're talking Buster Keaton. Not smile.

Okay. Well, you are a funny guy, you know?

I like your humor.

Well, sometimes we just need to talk about things,

talk things over, and then, you know,

it can just blow away like, like all those old movies.

I mean, you think anyone ever remembers those movies?

Those comedians, they did their own stunts.

They would drive off cliffs.

They would do all this really crazy stuff

that nobody does anymore.

Yeah, that's actually true.

Oh, you know, it's all in "A Day's Pleasure."

You know what that was?

It's a two-reeler, 20 minutes.

But you know about the minutes, don't you?

What's that, did you answer me?

Did you answer me, do you know about 20 minutes?

I bet you do, you're always on the meter, aren't you?

Yeah.

What was that?

Yes, um, can you ask the question again?

All right, well, how are we doing on the meter then?

Is time ticking away?

The lovely meter, with lovely Rita. (Chuckling)

I mean, what's happening here, you know?

I mean, time is just seconds and seconds,

and then it's the minutes, and minutes goes to hours,

and we're on limited time.

Wouldn't you say we're on borrowed time now?

You haven't told me your name.

I'm Richard.

Is it French?

It is French.

And you've traveled to France before, you should know that.

You're right?

You know, like Richard Bohringer?

Um, I have no idea.

Don't you watch French movies?

Yeah, I do. Not a lot though.

But sometimes. What about you?

No, I like more like spaghetti westerns.

Okay.

Jacques Cousteau. Jean-Claude Carriere.

You know, he found the octopus in the water,

it would always be on the boat.

And there's 10 tentacles.

See, because if there's nine, it was normal,

but the tenth meaning abnormal.

Um, I don't know.

Okay, where's this knowledge coming from?

Are you French?

Oh, no, my parents were Swiss.

- Okay. - Came from Switzerland.

That region. On the Spanish side.

You know, Spaniard, bullfighters?

Have you ever heard of the Running of the Bulls?

I mean, you haven't lived until you've done

the Running with the Bulls.

It happens every year

in these really, these cobblestone narrow streets.

And just the general public!

The general public just get there

and they release the bulls behind them

and people just start running for their lives.

You haven't lived until you've gotten struck by a bull.

A horn right in the back.

That's insane.

People are running for their lives.

You do know what I'm talking about, don't you?

No.

You haven't? You haven't lived until that.

Let me, let me show you. Let me show you.

No, no, no, no. Sit back down.

Sit back down. I'll show you.

I mean, if you just imagine splinters and with knives

and stuff like that,

and there's 1,000 people in the street.

There's 10,000 people, and they come in the street,

and then they have the bulls behind this wooden gate.

The gate opens and the bulls come running out.

Kill people. Maim people.

People are just running for their lives.

It's amazing!

She sat there while he spilled words.

Words that made no sense to her.

Words that sounded urgent, almost hysterical.

Yet meant nothing she could hold onto.

What held her attention was not what he said,

but how he moved.

His hands, his posture,

the nervous choreography of his body.

That was a language of its own.

One she understood. One that quietly amused her.

The more he kept talking, the more his tension rose,

the more frantic his movements became,

the more she felt she could see beyond a layer

that hadn't been there