Day 6 Assignments

[Eric Humble]

Eric Humble’s Structure

What I learned: So, I’ve been procrastinating a bit on this assignment (added to which several vacations with my kids have taken me away from class for a few weeks), but I decided to post what I’ve got and move forward rather than sink into the abyss of trying to be perfect. I think I’ve been reluctant to make changes to my current thriller outline simply because thrillers have inherently complex structures and even though mine is in desperate need of this profound model to give it meaning and a strong transformational journey, I’ve been hesitant to alter the complexity of the plot. That said, I’ve actually had a few huge breakthroughs even in the midst of doing what little I’ve done on it — to the point where I’m going to alter it further than even in this post. I’ve been asking myself “what’s underneath that?” for the character’s journey and I think I’ve got a handle on the profound meaning I want for the story that has eluded me so far. I’m hoping the future lessons give me even greater insight into my story, the journey, and the characters.

MM1:

INT. AUXILIARY KITCHEN – NIGHT

CHEF VICTOR hauls a heavy crate into a darkened kitchen. Hears a noise and pauses, now continues on toward the freezer. He makes a call to the FBI. Has vital information but won’t make a report until he gets some assurances… then he hears a louder noise. Hangs up. Continues into the freezers, leaving the crate. Enters into the dark. And is gone.

INT. UPSCALE RESTAURANT – NIGHT

Another chef, RAF, looks out from the kitchen – eyes two well-dressed businessmen-types waiting for their food. A tense conversation between them – whatever they’re discussing isn’t going well.

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

Raf sizes them up – then goes to work. Cooks like an artist, a dancer, a scientist all rolled into one.

INT. UPSCALE RESTAURANT – MOMENTS LATER

Finally, the food is brought out to the businessmen… who ease up. The conversation relaxes. Ends in a handshake. The tenser of the two gets up and leaves… and half the restaurant’s patrons follow! They were all this man’s agents.

Raf coaches his protege, Bakery Chef Joseph, on never getting involved in the clients’ business, never taking sides – you’re on your own in this business, it’s cutthroat. Whoever can advance your career, that’s who you cook for.

The other diner, LEIBER, remains… and Raf comes out to greet him – it’s as if they had some sort of deal in place all along. Leiber dismisses the remainder of the patrons – Leiber’s agents.

Leiber is the Secretary of State, and an old friend and former culinary school classmate, before he switched majors to political science. He sings Raf’s praises – he’s got an uncanny knack for sizing up people and catering to their psychological needs with food. Wonders aloud how many major deals have been put in place over his food? Because that was a doozy – he just helped him convince NATO’s Head of Security to hand over the reigns of security to Leiber during an upcoming Peace Summit at Camp David.

Which brings him to why he’s really here: at the summit, the President is expected to represent NATO and broker peace between Russia and Romania, who are at war. This is a big meeting – if the President can broker peace, he’ll re-establish the US’s dominance within NATO, something the world desperately needs against this Russian aggression.

And Leiber has lost his chef for the occasion – Chef Victor, Raf’s career rival, seems to have run off. He wants Raf to take over and do what he does best and use food to put the Russian president at ease so he’ll accept POTUS’s peace deal.

Raf refuses – it’s under-the-radar, no headlines and no money. It would be a chance to help save the world, but what good is that to a celebrity chef?

INT. RAF’S APARTMENT – NIGHT

Raf’s pregnant girlfriend wants him to take the job. It’s the chance to do something important. But he won’t. Challenge: She’s worried that he won’t commit to her or to the baby, because he refuses to propose to her in the same way that he’s refusing this job. She’s challenging him to prove he’ll commit. Weakness: He’s never satisfied with what he has – always assumes the next thing will be better.

INT. BEDROOM – MORNING

Leiber calls and sweetens the deal: he has it from several NATO heads of state that success in this deal would grant him access to Ministers of the Interior of a number of NATO countries and investors across Europe – he could have a global empire. He agrees.

MM2:

INT. CAMP DAVID – DAY

Raf marches into the kitchen to take charge – but there’s a heavily-guarded security checkpoint… and his chef’s knives are confiscated. He bristles at the restrictions. Challenge: He’s not king of the kitchen, he’s a potential threat under lockdown. Weakness: Arrogance, used to giving the orders, not taking them.

Suddenly, he gets a call from his business partner. The FBI is there. An IRS audit turned up an undisclosed bank account and they’re seizing their hard drives. The restaurant is in jeopardy. But before Raf can get to the bottom of it, a Secret Service agent snatches away his phone!

Because the checkpoint was only round one of Leiber’s security. Additional protocols: surrender your cell phone, no one leaves, sections of the kitchen – including a second, auxiliary kitchen – are off-limits, and no contact with anyone outside the kitchen. Violate any of these and he’ll be arrested instantly.

INT. PANTRY – DAY

While inspecting the pantry, Raf learns from the other line cooks that the previous chef, Chef Victor, got the ingredients himself – went to the dockyards to get them fresh off the boat – brought them in in huge containers to freeze them. Everything here, including the food stock, has been in place for months to ensure security. No one has been in or out until today.

INT. STOCKROOM – DAY

Raf is startled to discover his head cook is NATALIA – who takes a swing at him with a rolling pin. She’s an ex-flame whom he betrayed to take control of a restaurant… which sent her packing from NYC back to her native Moldova. Raf tells her the animosity between them has to wait – he has rank and he’s not going to let her mess this up for him. Natalia tells him she’s not afraid to walk – she’s gotten successful overseas, and has money enough to do whatever she wants in life. She doesn’t need this or any job. She comments that the first chef, Victor, seemed like an asshole, but at least he wasn’t Raf.

INT. UPPER FLOOR – DAY

Raf storms past the guards to make his objections to Leiber – but witnesses one high-ranking member of NATO, a firebrand, in a violent, drunken argument – railing that NATO always follows the US’s lead, even now when US credibility on the global stage is low. If they’re as united as they say, NATO can be its own superpower without US involvement. Rav sizes the situation up, arrives with coffee and sorbet to settle his stomach and mind… Meanwhile, Leiber calms the situation further by having water brought in for all the delegates.

INT. LOWER FLOOR – DAY

Raf is ordered back downstairs, but gets turned around. Ventures into the off-limits meat freezer…

…where he discovers Chef Victor’s body hanging among the meat. Victor’s chef’s knife is embedded in the base of his skull. Who killed him and why? He touches the handle and it breaks off.

He sees that it has a warning carved into it: Something in Moldovan. Then, in English: “Poison – President” – then, faded: “russian B.”

MM3:

INT. KITCHEN – DAY

He ignores it, just here to cook. But Natalia recognizes the knife handle – and wants answers.

Raf doesn’t tell her Victor is dead… just that he found the knife, it’s a breach of security, so Leiber’s guys or NATO’s security guys must have kicked him out. Either way. they should get rid of it.

But Natalia thinks something happened to him… and translates the warning: : To the next chef: They’ll come after you, too. She’s curious why “russian” isn’t captialized, but Raf assumes it’s just because English is Victor’s second language, as evidenced by the Moldovan writing.

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

Raf ignores it, thunders around the kitchen getting the courses on schedule – but Natalia gums up the works by pulling aside a line cook Victor brought with him onto the job, someone he knows from the old country, Moldova. As the food burns, she questions him about Raf’s assertion – is Victor the type of man to get bossed around by security?

The line cook rebuffs: Victor’s a tough SOB. He has a politically subversive history. Back in Moldova, he helped smuggle Russian political prisoners to freedom in his food shipment containers. Went toe-to-toe with some Russian thugs sent to stop him, but which is why he fled back to the U.S… but he had to be dragged here. He would have gotten himself killed standing up for what he believes in.

Throughout the questioning, the line cook keeps glancing quizzically at Natalia, as if perplexed that she’s asking these questions… as if she should know already. She gives him a hard look, as if warning him to keep quiet. Raf doesn’t notice this exchange… because he’s distracted when he notices that she has something concealed in her apron, which she’s fiddling with.

Raf is now behind. He reassigns the line cook and starts up the hors d’oeuvres again himself.

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

Next course is up and Raf has to get back to his duty. Joseph is prepping the cake icing and doesn’t want to use all the blue pigment in the dye – when one of his staff warns him: there was a dust-up when Victor thought there was too much blue on the dessert cake and wanted to change the dessert to something low sugar and vegan for everyone. Several of the NATO leaders’s staff objected and Leiber threatened to replace him unless he stuck to the pre-cleared menu… but Victor seemed rattled after that. Joseph prattles on about the pigment used to create the distinct blue color, but

Rav brushes past this, ordering him to use it all. Remember, it’s about making the customer feel at ease, not ourselves.

Natalia scorns Raf for using food as manipulation and as an instrument of his own celebrity. Food is an art that can stand for so much more – it can raise awareness, it can shine a light on certain cultures. You don’t need a disruptive protest to solve everything. Food can bring people together.

He questions her reasons for being here, for bidding for this job – because it appears she lied about her credentials to get on this cooking staff. She responds with defiance: of course she wanted to be here – they’re a room away from the most powerful people on the planet, who are poised on making a deal that will save millions, but also hurt millions… because her native country, Moldova, is going to be offered as a sacrificial lamb to Russia in exchange for peace across the rest of Europe. If there’s a chance they can change POTUS’s mind, they have to take it. Raf gives her a reality check – they’re cooks, not politicians. There’s nothing they can do for world peace, they just cook food.

But Joseph is stirred a bit by her words. He sides with Raf and mixes the rest of the pigment, can’t help her… but he’s clearly thinking about it.

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

Raf gets the next course ready – a rush of activity.

INT. PANTRY – NIGHT

In the calm moment of triumph afterward – he hears something in the pantry – could be someone rooting around, or someone struggling with someone else. He catches a hooded person sneaking a crate of food out. But he is attacked! Raf manages to cut the assailant’s hand. The hooded person abandons the food and runs away… but he also hears some other footsteps headed the other way. He finds a list of ingredients on the floor.

He looks for the ingredients in the list, in case it’s some kind of code – and finds a container of thallium, a toxic element used in rat poison. It’s empty… the poison has been removed.

MM4:

Raf, angry that he’s being set up to take the fall, decides to set up the line cook Victor knew from the old country.

at the situation, sets up a trail of false clues to lead Leiber to discover Victor’s body himself and deflect blame from Raf – even if it implicates one of the other cooks who is innocent.

Emotion: Anger. Challenge: Raf has been attacked by someone in his midst and is no longer safe. Weakness: Backstabs, betrays, whatever it takes to get ahead.

But Natalia seems to know something about Victor that Raf doesn’t… enough to see through Raf’s plan. She calls him out on it – makes him see the damage it’s about to do to that poor innocent dishwasher he’s set up. So Raf heads it off, stops Leiber from finding the false clue.

He cuts a deal with Natalia – he’ll find the poisoner himself… so he’ll be considered a bigger hero when he pulls it all off. They’ll all owe him. But she’s got to drop the Victor thing in exchange. She agrees. He enlists Joseph’s help for the plan.

Challenge: The poisoner is someone among them.

Weakness: Only out for himself and his own glory.

Emotion: Bargaining

When he discovers a clue that points to Natalia’s intrigue… she seduces him. He allows himself to be seduced instead of looking for the assassin. He brings up his girlfriend, but when Natalia taunts to say he loves her and Natalia will call this off, he can’t bring himself to.

Challenge: Natalia is stirring all the old feelings from when they were together.

Weakness: Won’t propose or commit to his pregnant girlfriend.

INT. DINING ROOM – NIGHT

Raf goes to report it to Leiber. But Leiber is suspicious when he suggests he went into the off-limits area. Leiber won’t let Raf disrupt the proceedings – there’s too much at stake. He comments that everyone wants peace, even Russia, who regrets ever starting the war. It’s a question of saving face. Insists on keeping the meal on a strictly-timed schedule. Raf backs off without telling him about the body… or the poison.

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

Raf orders everyone to stop what they’re doing immediately and switch aprons, then check the pockets. Everyone complies, confused… and Natalia seems panicked about what her neighboring cook will find… only to discover the pocket is empty.

During the switching, she manages to burn her hand—the same hand that Raf injured on the assailant. An accident or is she covering up the original wound?

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

Natalia gets everyone back to work… then comes over to question him – what the hell was that? He tells her about the poison – it’s somewhere in this kitchen, since the place has been hermetically sealed for weeks. She urges him to shut it down – but Raf decides to ferret out the poisoner himself… so he’ll be considered a bigger hero when he pulls it all off. Think of the connections he’ll have all over the world!

He shows her the list of ingredients. She’s struck by it, restrains tears. He recognizes that it’s Victor’s handwriting from the other notes around here – thinks the poison must be in one of these ingredients. He’s going to substitute others for them in all the recipes.

Reviews are coming back – favorable. POTUS loved the last course. Natalia comments that she hates POTUS for his policies on Moldova, where her family hails from. He’s a bully kicking small young countries around.

INT. BREAKROOM – NIGHT

Natalia lures him into the breakroom under the pretext of seduction… and he gives in to it despite being conflicted because he has a pregnant girlfriend… but in the midst of undressing, Natalia picks his pocket of the list of ingredients. He notices. Strongarms her – what does she know??

She deflects – by kicking a floorboard loose and revealing a cell phone and a gun nested inside. She acts as surprised by the discovery as he is… but to us it seems that she isn’t really surprised. There’s commotion in the kitchen – a fire that has gotten out of control. She rushes out to deal with it.

Raf, meanwhile, checks the voicemail on the phone… last one was from Natalia, threatening Victor if he didn’t go through with her “plan.”

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

Midpoint: Raf returns to question her – to find Leiber’s security on him, guns drawn, ordering him to drop the phone… and seeing the gun in the floor. They tackle him to the ground. He glares at Natalia behind him, as Leiber assigns her the job of chef. Leiber has Raf brought away.

Natalia starts asking around about Victor to the other cooks. Raf, angry at the situation, sets up a trail of false clues to lead Leiber to discover Victor’s body himself and deflect blame from Raf – even if it implicates one of the other cooks who is innocent.

Emotion: Anger. Challenge: Raf has been attacked by someone in his midst and is no longer safe. Weakness: Backstabs, betrays, whatever it takes to get ahead.

But Natalia seems to know something about Victor that Raf doesn’t… enough to see through Raf’s plan. She calls him out on it – makes him see the damage it’s about to do to that poor innocent dishwasher he’s set up. So Raf heads it off, stops Leiber from finding the false clue.

He cuts a deal with Natalia – he’ll find the poisoner himself… so he’ll be considered a bigger hero when he pulls it all off. They’ll all owe him. But she’s got to drop the Victor thing in exchange. She agrees. He enlists Joseph’s help for the plan.

Challenge: The poisoner is someone among them.

Weakness: Only out for himself and his own glory.

Emotion: Bargaining

When he discovers a clue that points to Natalia’s intrigue… she seduces him. He allows himself to be seduced instead of looking for the assassin. He brings up his girlfriend, but when Natalia taunts to say he loves her and Natalia will call this off, he can’t bring himself to.

Challenge: Natalia is stirring all the old feelings from when they were together.

Weakness: Won’t propose or commit to his pregnant girlfriend.

MM5:

INT. HOLDING AREA – NIGHT

The NATO head of security – from Raf’s restaurant at the beginning – has his security forces lock Raf down. But Leiber enters, takes charge, clears the room, as a friend… only to interrogate him himself. Shows him surveillance video looking like Raf is plotting to kill Chef Victor to get the job. Questions him on the sudden deposits of cash in his accounts – from shell companies owned by Russian oligarchs. Raf is dumbstruck, insists the video is a deepfake…

Leiber is called out urgently before he can drop the hammer on him.

As he leaves, surveillance video of Raf and Natalia making out blips onto Chef Victor’s phone with a message: What would she think? Followed by a live video feed of Raf’s girlfriend … taken by someone watching her, whom she is clearly unaware of. A message: Cook the dinner on time and stop playing detective.

INT. DINING ROOM/ANTEROOM – NIGHT

The negotiations are going well. POTUS is prepared to make some concessions and wrap this up early… until Leiber vehemently goads him into fighting for everything on their agenda. POTUS is suspicious of how vehement he is, suggests he have some water. Leiber refuses, goes to get some air first.

INT. RESTRICTED AREA – NIGHT

Raf has overheard the whole heated exchange, comments on it. Leiber, calming himself, states the NATO countries sense an opportunity here to emerge from the US’s shadow. Leiber pours himself a whiskey, eschewing the table water… and Raf suggests he take the sprig of rosemary someone didn’t eat, light it on fire and drop it into the drink with some ice. Leiber does so – and the drink is perfect.

Raf shows him the markings on the confiscated chef’s knife, and tells him about the poison – about everything except the body downstairs. Natalia is the poisoner, and Leiber just handed her the keys to the kitchen.

Leiber conspires with Raf – there’s only one way Raf can get back down to that kitchen at this point… and worse, only one way he can get Leiber down there as well. Raf’s career, life, and future will take a hit if he does this and doesn’t deliver. Raf is all ears to the plan.

INT. CORRIDOR – NIGHT

The NATO security chief comes to transfer him out of Camp David to a US Secret Service holding facility… but Raf uses the chef’s knife (which he suddenly is armed with) to take Leiber hostage… but as they back away from the armed security, Leiber guides him to a secret door that leads down to the kitchens.

MM6:

INT. AUXILIARY KITCHEN – NIGHT

Raf continues the hostage charade and orders everyone to drop everything and go to the auxiliary kitchen. Orders everything recooked immediately with fresh ingredients he commandeers a Secret Service agent to bring in from the outside.

INT. AUXILIARY KITCHEN – NIGHT

The kitchen is surrounded by armed guards. There’s no getting out of this alive unless Raf comes up with something proving the existence of the poison plot. But with Leiber with him now, Leiber focuses Raf’s attention on the special “no-sugar” dessert that will only be served to the US President, a diabetic… a seemingly obvious choice for the poison, if his story is true. But Raf isn’t too sure – the knife specifically says “Russian.” There’s only one person who can confirm.

INT. AUXILIARY PANTRY – NIGHT

Natalia discovers the crate of food that Victor was seen dragging in the opening scene. She goes white at the sight… filled with a sudden dread. Opens it… to see nothing but food, exactly what one would expect to see – except she is in a panic at it.

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

Raf takes the ingredients out of the pantry, cooks a dish using just them. Pulls Natalia aside and serves it to her. She’s appalled, because he’s so certain these ingredients were poisoned… but then Leiber enters: they’re not. He’s brought along a kit to test for thallium – no poison on them. Raf takes a bite. So does Natalia, who then comments that Raf was always the better chef of the two. Raf presses her: so what’s with the list? She takes a sip of water and deflects, “What list?”

Raf calls her out – the list was in her pocket. She’s the one who attacked him in the pantry. She confesses Chef Victor was her lover.

This was the way they’d met, shopping for these ingredients and he promised to cook her something she’d never experienced before. And he told her that if the day ever came when they’d part ways, he’d end it by cooking it to her again. She got this in the mail two weeks ago, and that’s the last she’s heard from him. That’s when she petitioned to get this job.

Raf notes that she seems genuinely surprised – and doesn’t seem to know he’s dead. But Leiber presses her – what about the voicemail? What was she pressuring Victor to do?

INT. MEAT FREEZER – NIGHT

Natalia suddenly breaks from them, runs, but comes to a shocked halt at the dead body of Chef Victor. Raf lets Leiber go to take her into custody and question her… when she suddenly collapses. She’s been poisoned.

But she pleads with him to trust her – and says “they’re running out of food.” As Leiber hauls her out, Raf notices there’s a hatch in the floor.

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

The final course is just rolling out. Nothing left now but dessert – and Raf is off the hook now that they have Natalia in custody. Job well done.

INT. MEAT FREEZER – NIGHT

Rav returns – and opens the hatch. In a basement area, twenty Moldovan refugees, sick with hunger are huddled together. He gets them one of the containers of food. They tell him that Natalia and Victor snuck them down here in a container Victor got off the dockyards – the plan was to keep them hidden here since before the security sweep… they were to wait it out a month until the peace summit when Victor would let them out to go in and protest the US’s concessions that affect the smaller NATO countries.

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

Then, Joseph comments on the unique coloring used for the cake again – Prussian blue is overused. He regales Raf with the history of the pigment and how it’s a natural antidote to thallium poisoning. Raf realizes that there isn’t a plot to poison one of the world leaders – they’ve all already been poisoned – and everyone is set to ingest the antidote with dessert – except POTUS, who will abstain because he’s diabetic. He finally understands Victor’s clue – not “Russian,” but “Prussian Blue.”

MM7:

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

Raf has to get Prussian Blue to the President when the others have dessert.

INT. CORRIDOR – NIGHT

He intercepts Leiber and tells him the poison is in the drinking water. The world leaders have all already been poisoned… at the cocktail party that was going on while he sobered up the drunken world leader.

Leiber acts like he’s calling it in. Then holds a gun on Raf. You chefs, always need to know everything that’s going on in your kitchen. Leiber is the one behind the whole thing – and he’s still got the set-up in place to frame Raf for it all, even the poisoning of Natalia!

But the gun Leiber has is the one Natalia unearthed from beneath the floor – and it’s unloaded. Raf escapes through the secret door.

INT. PANTRY – NIGHT

The food coloring is upstairs with the desserts.

Rav, thinking quickly, pockets a chocolate bar… why, we don’t know.

INT. AUXILIARY KITCHEN – NIGHT

He gets Prussian blue pigment from Joseph, who brought along his art kit along with pigments.

INT. SECURITY ROOM – NIGHT

Leiber orders the Secret Service to shoot him on sight as an assassin.

INT. SECURITY ROOM – NIGHT

The NATO head of security is overhearing all this… thinking… orders his men to come with him.

INT. TUNNEL/HOLDING AREA – NIGHT

Raf uses the secret door to sneak Prussian Blue dye into the holding area, forces it into Natalia’s mouth… tells her she’ll feel better once it has metabolized in a few minutes.

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

President is a diabetic – which is why Leiber knew he’d refuse dessert. Raf has to get him to inadvertently intake too much sugar and need insulin… into which he’ll inject the Prussian blue. If the President is on the verge of a diabetic coma, he’ll have no choice but to take the “tainted” insulin.

He has to:

a.) get hold of insulin… which one of the refugees has… and place the Prussian blue pigment in it.

b.) Bake something that looks savory or like vegetables, but is actually a super-sweet cake.

INT. MEAT FREEZER – NIGHT

The NATO head of security comes upon the hatch beneath Chef Victor’s body. Hears voices. Opens it to see the refugees eating hungrily. He’s baffled.

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

Raf has to quickly bake the deceptive cake that looks like root vegetables, which he does with Joseph’s assistance… but Leiber is there, armed with a kitchen knife.

INT. HOLDING AREA – NIGHT

Natalia groans, takes a turn for the worse. A secret service agent goes to help her – when she springs up and gets his gun. Locks him in the room.

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

Raf turns up the flames, purposefully sprays Leiber with vodka, running in a line to the gas stove. He holds a flaming food item on the end of a grill skewer over it – and continues cooking with one hand, freezing Leiber on the spot.

But Leiber reveals he has poisoned Raf already – and the poison is kicking in. His heart is stopping… when Natalia, recovered, shows up to help.

INT. PRIVATE MEETING ROOM – NIGHT

Everyone finishes dessert, feeling bolstered… but in the midst of final talks, POTUS feels ill. The drunken world leader from earlier gloats, introducing POTUS and the Russian President to the cabal surrounding them – they want to elevate the status of certain NATO countries by allowing Russia to wage war and sabotaging the US’s might in forging the peace treaty. So now the real negotiations, more favorable to Russia, may commence.

But Raf shows up with a treat to go along with the coffee, which should rejuvenate his spirit – root vegetables, no sugar. But as he’s eating it, Leiber also arrives, and the cabal know him to be their man. They allow them both to stay to serve coffee.

It’s getting harder and harder for Rav to stagger about.

The President realizes he’s eaten too much sugar. Raf apologizes, offers him insulin – but it’s blue, and he doesn’t trust it. But he, too, is now gasping for hair, fading under the double hit of too much sugar and thallium in the blood. Raf implores him – trust me, it’s insulin.

The Secret Service barge in – and Leiber accuses Raf of trying to poison POTUS with tainted insulin.

And Leiber has a spare insulin vial for POTUS, just in case. POTUS takes it… but is still bleary. Raf reveals it was a fake-out – they really were root vegetables with a natural sweetness but low sugar. Now the President has taken too much insulin… and needs sugar to counter it. One of the aides rushes into the dinner room and gives him a piece of the blue cake.

Raf takes the blue insulin and injects it into himself. They’re all tense, guns on him. “What was in that?” Raf: “Antidote… and insulin.” Then he takes out the chocolate bar and chomps down on it.

POTUS, recovering, demands to know what the hell is going on? Raf tells him his Secretary of State is a murderer and a traitor. Leiber counters that no one said anything about a cabal – the President isn’t well and has to be looked after. The others gaslight him, back him up. The Russian president remains mute. Raf tells him his Secretary of State is a murderer. Leiber once again counters – that’s an outrageous accusation from a chef who just tried to poison the President. I don’t suppose you have a witness to this crime?

Suddenly, the NATO security chief storms the room with his men, guns drawn on Leiber and the other leaders. In fact, he has twenty witnesses… and behind him, the Moldovan refugees file in. They saw him kill Chef Victor. Natalia leads them – and wants to talk to the President.

MM8:

INT. WHITE HOUSE RECEPTION – DAY

Afterwards, Raf and Natalia are invitees at a gala, along with Raf’s girlfriend. Raf asks Natalia what she’s doing for dinner… but not for a date. He wants her to have dinner at his place – his fiancee will be dying to meet her.

POTUS introduces Raf to a foreign dignitary interested in opening business to Americans… the President has put in a good word with him. Raf declines the offer – he’s got family here. But recommends Natalia – his better in every way.

INT. RAF’S RESTAURANT – BACKROOM – DAY

Raf’s cooks are preparing meals for a shelter for Moldovan refugees – he’s stern. They’re not just giving food to these hungry people, they’re giving a taste of home during peacetime. Raf takes off, passes the reigns to his protege so he can go on a baby-moon with his girlfriend… where he plans to propose.