YESTERDAY
	
INT. APARTMENT—EVENING. 

JAMES and ELIZABETH are in the kitchen area at home after work, preparing for dinner. Elizabeth puts a few things back in their places in the cupboard, while James fusses with the miocrowave oven. Elizabeth then remembers something, and opens her briefcase. 

ELIZABETH
Oh, right. Anywayzzz …

She takes an envelope from her briefcase. James turns from the microwave and looks around curiously. 

ELIZABETH
Happy birthday!

James smiles briefly and then hesitates. Instead of immediately taking the card, he stands there mutely for a full ten seconds. Elizabeth holds the card out to him, becoming slightly agitated as the silence wears on. 

ELIZABETH
You made such a big fuss last year because I forgot your birthday. Here's your card. 

JAMES
(He takes the card)
Thanks. That's really thoughtful.

ELIZABETH
And I didn't forget, last year! I was just a bit late. I was thinking about it ahead of time.

JAMES
And now you're early. That's really sweet of you. 

ELIZABETH
No, I'm not early, today’s the day, right? The fifteenth. I went especially out of my way and marked it on my calendar. To preempt all the complaints and accusations of last year.

JAMES
I'm sorry, anyway, I wasn't -- I told you, I was just a bit swamped last year. What with everything that  happened.

ELIZABETH
(Quietly)
I know. 
(More cheerful)
Anyway, happy birthday!!

JAMES
Thanks. That's really nice. Really kind of you to go to the trouble.

He reads the inside of the card and chuckles. Then he closes it and admires the front of the card in some detail. Then he re-opens the card and looks at the inside again. 

JAMES
You know -- my birthday is actually tomorrow. Right?

ELIZABETH
No, it's not. Stop it!!

She laughs and throws a balled-up napkin at him. He laughs also and pretends to defend himself from balled-up napkin missiles.

CUT TO:

Alone in the kitchen, James takes out his wallet and checks his licence. We see, in close up, his date of birth: 15 SEP. He stops and thinks. He is about to put the wallet away, then looks at it again. Then he thinks a bit more, then he examines the licence carefully. 

CUT TO:
INT-LIVINGROOM.
Elizabeth is watching TV and looking through the newspaper. James is at the desk, looking through a drawer. Elizabeth looks over at him as he pulls things out.   

JAMES 
(To Elizabeth)
Just trying to find my tax stuff. 

He finds his passport. In closeup we see again it says 15 SEP. He randomly checks some other documents, receipts and so on. Then he closes the drawer. 

ELIZABETH
I didn’t touch any of your stuff. 

JAMES
No, I know.

James joins her on the couch in front of the TV.

JAMES
No, I’m aware of that. That much is clear. 

ELIZABETH
What are you looking for?

JAMES
Just some stuff. Just thinking. About taxes and things. What time do you have?

ELIZABETH
I don’t know – 

She picks up the remote and turns the channel to a cable newsboard which has the current time. 

ELIZABETH
7:23.

JAMES
Right.
(Reading the date on the screen)
And, yes, the fifteenth, that’s – right. 

ELIZABETH
I never know what the date is, just the day of the week. “Monday”. Everyone knows when that is. 

JAMES
Ha! Ha!

ELIZABETH
Otherwise, at work, it’s all the same. Did I tell you, the Beaverbank school, when I worked there – 

JAMES
Yes?

ELIZABETH
-- they had this thing where they didn’t have weekdays but numbered days. It was experimental, you now. Day One, Day Two, Day Three. Six of them, so they would change each week – that way Monday would be Day One the first week, then next week it would be Day Six, then the week after that it would be Day Five, et cetera. 

JAMES
That’s extraordinarly interesting.

ELIZABETH
The idea being, of course, to break up the week or something, make the workflow more fexible. So, allegedly, people aren’t locked into this Monday to Friday thing. But, it didn’t work, really.

JAMES
No?

ELIZABETH
No. Because you can’t mess with the weekend. 

JAMES
Heh heh, it’s an interesting idea, though. Listen -- 
  
Elizabeth looks attentively at James, who pauses for a bit, as if about to make an important announcement. 

JAMES
That’s very interesting. I wonder if that would help? It might cause less confusion, but there would be a problem over the long term, I believe. In the big picture. Some people could lose track, I think.  

ELIZABETH
Are you worried about – 

JAMES
Me? No.

ELIZABETH
Sure?

JAMES
Promise. 

ELIZABETH
Good.

JAMES
I’m fine. 

ELIZABETH
Well, you should be! It’s your birthday tomorrow!! 
(Pause)
I bet you thought I’d forgotten!

FADE OUT