HOW TO LOSE A MAN IN TEN MINUTES

Written by

Alejandra Torres-Galindo
INT. COFFEE SHOP. DAY - PRESENT DAY

MAR (32), a lawyer with beautiful, long, wavy hair, a

perfectly tailored lilac dress, and matching lilac
headphones, sits in front of her computer in a crowded coffee
shop.

She drinks from her large double expresso as she types

aggressively on her laptop, without noticing the ANNOYING
STRANGER NUMBER 5 (29), who checks her out from across the
room as he pretends to work.

Mar takes another sip from her expresso, takes a red pen, and
fidgets it in her finder as she stares into her computer’s
screen.

Annoying Stranger Number 5 stands up from his seat and starts

walking towards her, his movements similar to those of a
vulture. He sits in front of her.

Mar stops typing, gives him a suspicious look, and then

continues working. Loud music can be heard coming out of her
headphones.

ANNOYING STRANGER NUMBER 5

Hey there.

Mar keeps typing. Annoying Stranger Number 5 waves his hand

in front of her.

ANNOYING STRANGER NUMBER 5 (CONT’D)

Heeeeeey!

Mar removes one of her headphones.

MAR
Oh! sorry, did you say something?

ANNOYING STRANGER NUMBER 5

Yes, I was trying to say hi.

He smiles again.

MAR
Hi.

ANNOYING STRANGER NUMBER 5

You seemed very concentrated. I
don’t mean to interrupt...But have
we met before?

MAR
Um, I don’t know. I don’t think so
 2.

ANNOYING STRANGER NUMBER 5

Are you sure? What’s your name?

MAR
Mar.

ANNOYING STRANGER NUMBER 5

Maybe not, then. But nice to meet
you, Mar; I’m Joey.

Joey extends his hand towards her. Mar looks at it, doubting,
but shakes his hand anyway.

JOEY
So what are you up to, Mar?

MAR
Trying to fulfill my nine-to-five.
Do you mind if

JOEY
OH! Are you an Aries?

An over-exited Joey points out at the Aries sticker that’s on

Mar’s laptop.

JOEY (CONT’D)
I’m also an Aries!

Mar smiles, raises one eyebrow, and leans back into her seat.

MAR
Really?

JOEY
Yes! Can’t you tell?

MAR
No, not really

JOEY
C’mon! Look

Joey points out at his head.

JOEY (CONT’D)
Hot-headed, smart

Joey blinks at her.

JOEY (CONT’D)
Gorgeous

Mar looks at him incredulously

 3.

MAR
Is that an Aries thing?

JOEY
Of course, it is. But if you don’t
believe me, how would you describe
an Aries?

MAR
I don’t know. Angry and a crybaby

Joey lets out a laugh.

JOEY
A crybaby? Are you calling yourself
a crybaby?

MAR
Yes, I AM a crybaby. It doesn’t
take much to make me cry.

JOEY
Um, dramatic, then?

The right corner of Mar’s mouth rises as she gives him a

mocking smile.

MAR
I don’t know. I mean.

EXT. PLAYGROUND. DAY - FLASHBACK TO - 27 YEARS AGO

MAR (5) sits on a sandbox with a pink plastic bucket and a

child-sized shovel on her tiny hands.

She takes the shovel, sticks it on the sand, and puts it

inside the bucket. The next time she tries to stick the
shovel, it hits a solid portion of sand.

Mar frowns and tries to dig again. The shovel doesn’t get any
sand. Determination flashes in her eyes, and Mar starts to
bang the shovel aggressively onto the sand.

Mar’s mom, ELISA (38), is sitting on a bench next to the

sandbox. She looks at her daughter with an entertained
expression.

ELISA
Everything all right, love?

Mar is holding the shovel with her two hands now as she keeps
pressing it into the sand.
 4.

MAR
No

She pushes harder.

MAR (CONT’D)

This silly sand is challenging me!

Elisa lets out a laugh and goes to sit in the sand to help
her daughter with her challenging task.

MAR (V.O.)
When I was a little...

Mar and Elisa are interrupted by the sound of a trashcan

falling down. They turn around and spot a small, dirty, and
skinny puppy who jumps scared at the sound.

The puppy then goes to the trashcan and starts eating some
leftovers that come out.

MAR (V.O.)
I could not see a skinny, starving
animal on the street.

Mar stares at the puppy with shock on her face as her eyes
fill with tears.

MAR (V.O.)
It felt like physical torture.

INT. DANCE STUDIO. DAY - FLASHBACK TO - 18 YEARS AGO

In a room full of mirrors, ten girls wearing black leotards

raise their right legs in perfect synchronicity as they hold
onto a bar.

BALLET INSTRUCTOR (M, 42)

Five, six, seven and

MAR (14) stands in the middle of the line, looking extremely

focused as she follows the instructor’s orders.

MAR (V.O.)
However...

The Ballet Instructor starts walking parallel to the girls

and stops in front of Mar.

BALLET INSTRUCTOR
Puberty didn’t only bring your
period and a bad mood, uh?
 5.

The instructor pinches Mar’s belly.

BALLET INSTRUCTOR (CONT’D)

Watch that out.

MAR (V.O.)
I never cried while starving myself
for years in order to keep my spot
as the main dancer on my ballet
team.

Mar lets out a sigh and turns around to look at herself in

the mirror.

EXT. STREET. DAY - FLASHBACK TO - FOUR DAYS AGO

MAR (32) walks down a street. On the other side of the road,
a group of construction workers give her lascivious looks.
She ignores them and keeps walking.

Two construction workers, BENJAMÍN (25) and CARLOS (48),

carry a ladder.

MAR (V.O.)
Last week, when I was heading to my
office, I saw this guy...

Benjamin trips and lets go of the ladder, which makes a loud

boom against the pavement.

All the other workers and Mar turn to look at Benjamin. He

turns to pick up the ladder again, and Mar spots a necklace
made of fake pearls around his neck, purple nails painted
with nail polish, and a light pink gloss on his lips.

CONSTRUCTION WORKER NUMBER 3 (IN

SPANISH)
Por marica.
(That’s what happens when you are a
faggot)

Carlos turns around to look at Construction Worker Number 3

and gives him a threatening look.

MAR (V.O.)
You would never think of someone
wearing a necklace, nail polish, or
lip gloss to work in construction.

Mar closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

 6.

MAR (V.O.)
But I guess we hold onto our
humanity however we can.

A tear falls down her cheek as she continues walking.

MAR (V.O.)
That one hit me hard.

EXT. PARK. NIGHT - FLASHBACK TO - 16 YEARS AGO

MAR (16) and her girlfriend LEAH (17) sit next to each other
in silence under a tree that hides them from the street
lights. Leah shakes her legs in a petty attempt to hold her
tears.

Mar’s dog, Simba, a ten-year-old golden retriever with white

hairs in his snout, sits in front of them.

Mar puts a hand in Leah’s tight, making her leg stop moving.

MAR (V.O.)
But it’s weird though. A couple of
months ago, my mom came to
me...Crying, because she is also a
cry-baby.

Mar kisses Leah’s cheek before whispering

MAR
I love you.

MAR (V.O.)
And she asked me to forgive her for
making me break up with my high
school girlfriend because I was
“going through a phase”.

Mar stands up and indicates Simba to come with her as she

heads towards her house. The dog follows her. Leah sits alone
in the dark as she watches them leave.

INT. COFFEE SHOP. DAY - PRESENT DAY

Joey moves in his seat. His discomfort is clear as Mar keeps

talking without looking at him.

MAR
I forgave her, of course; it was
intense, but not a single tear from
my end.
 7.

Mar keeps talking, looking unbothered.

INT. MAR’S ROOM. NIGHT - FLASHBACK TO - TWO YEARS AGO

MAR (30) lays on her bed. She holds a pink hot water bag
against her belly while, with one hand and with the other,
she holds the remote control of her TV.

Looking bored, he scrolls through YouTube. She stops at a Vox

Media Video called “How the rich avoid paying taxes.” She
frowns before pressing play. An ad starts.

MAR (V.O.)
Or, I remember one day, this random
commercial popped up

Mar is ready to press skip as a pad appears on the screen. A

red liquid falls onto the pad.

MAR (V.O.)
It was the silliest thing ever, but
seeing something that actually
looked like blood...

Mar’s eyes open widely, and she covers her mouth with her
hand. A tear falls from her shocked eyes, then another one,
and another one. She starts laughing, and the tears keep
falling. Her hand still on her mouth.

MAR (V.O.)
I don’t know. It just felt like the
world was changing, that people
were acknowledging that periods are
a thing, not a taboo and that they
are red, not like that stupid blue
thing they used in publicity.

EXT. IN FRONT OF THE UNIVERSITY’S LIBRARY. DAY - FLASHBACK TO

- 10 YEARS AGO

MAR (22) and her friend CLAIRE (21) sit on the stairs at the
entrance of their university’s library. Students pass by, all
in a rush.

MAR (V.O.)
But also, I had this friend as an
undergrad...

Claire talks, looking pale, and Mar stares at her. She slowly
inhales and exhales as she listens to her friend.
 8.

MAR (V.O.)
She almost died while getting an
abortion because, you know, another
taboo...

Mar swallows with difficulty

MAR (V.O.)
So she went to a clandestine
abortion place, something went
wrong... and yeah...

Mar hugs Claire, and their breathing syncs.

MAR (V.O.)
No tears that time. Just anger,
anger towards the world... She is
fine now, though.

INT. COFFEE SHOP. DAY - PRESENT DAY

Joey looks at Mar as he listens to her ranting. He opens and

closes his mouth subtly as if he is about to say something,
but nothing comes out of it.

MAR
So, I don’t know actually if I’m
dramatic, maybe? I guess.

Mar pauses and looks at him for the first time since she
started verbally vomiting.

MAR (CONT’D)
You tell me.

Mar smiles at him and slightly tilts her head to the side.
Joey looks at her, then at the table and the folder next to
her computer, noticing, until that point, the title on the
folder that says “CASE 45736”.

Mar takes her coffee and drinks while looking at him. She
puts it down on top of the book that’s next to her computer.

MAR (CONT’D)
Ugh, I was so thirsty.

Joey’s eyes go to the book, and he spots the title “Legal

Frameworks to Address Gender-Based Violence.”

JOEY
Oh um... Mar

Joey looks down at his phone.

 9.

JOEY (CONT’D)
Shit! Look at the time! I have a
meeting, and I almost forgot!

Mar puts on a concerned face.

JOEY (CONT’D)
I need to head out

Mar looks at Joey with a pout on her face and stares at him
without blinking.

MAR
Oh no! So soon?

Mar’s eyes become teary, and Joey starts leaning back.

JOEY
Yes! I’m sorry, but...

He stands up and starts going back to his table.

JOEY (CONT’D)
it was really nice to meet you

MAR
It was really nice to meet you,
Joey! Hope to see you around.

Mar smiles innocently, leans over her table, and follows Joey
with her eyes as he packs his stuff and storms out of the
coffee shop.

Once he is out, she lets out a low giggle, puts her

headphones back, and continues aggressively typing on her
laptop.

THE END
10.