"You're the type of guy I would want to have a child with," she said, "but not right now, because I don't want children," matter-of-factly, as if this were something we were actually both considering.
"Kids aren't on the menu for me either, Natasha."
"We're at a bar. There's nothing even remotely child-related on the menu period."
"You know in Japan the birth-rate is so low that the population is declining."
"I find that hard to believe. They're so cute! the Japanese. They should be proliferating all over the place."
"35 years of consistent annual decline in population of young people."
"Why is that?"
"No one can really figure it out. Some believe they're on the path to extinction."
"Wow, an extinctifying modern ethnicity. Isn't their economy huge though?" says Natasha.
"Third largest," I say.
Jay (in thought, alone on fire escape): I believe Natasha preys on females under her premise that all women are bi- and the difference between a woman and a girl is that women have accepted, come to terms with and enjoy this aspect of themselves which she believes defines females no longer as girls but as women. What's interesting is we're always interested in the same ones; we have the same taste. Her passion are the first-time experiences of others. She's actually a much better pick-up artist than I am. We are an unlikely pair.
"You're right, I am better at it," she says this to me, with confidence under her breath as she sips her martini.
(Cut to scene where Natasha is ordering drinks), which turns into flirting with a single girl standing next to her (Rudy's), which turns into standing outside, which turns into kissing in an alleyway between two buildings in a dim light... return to shot a few scenes earlier where Jay is directly across and standing by himself, watching...
Jay: People think we're out on dates. I'd like to think we're just members of our own society. It was discovered at one point that she was a member of Scroll and Key. I'm a member of Skull and Bones. We met at a party one night when I was walking alone, after an afternoon of working on formulas turned into an all-night session of research and testing. Late into the evening, I wandered about, still in deep thought but in a peculiar dream-like state, actually looking for people to hang out with perhaps, or to have a conversation. That's when I heard the noises of an indescribable house party going on in the backyard somewhere on High Street.
