This scene appeared on Friday, August 15, 1997. Ben had arranged for a glorious dinner for Meg. She listened over and over to the message from him on her answering machine and finally went over to his house to see him.
Ben: [Standing by the table pouring drinks] "I thought we'd have a little toast to our future."
Meg: "Our future?"
Ben: "Yeah, come on, sit down."
Ben leads Meg to the sofa and they sit down.
Meg: "So, cheers."
Ben: "Hey, hey, we can do better than that, can't we?"
Meg: "Look, I don't know what to say."
Ben: "Then let me. Maybe it'll make up for all those words I held back. All those words I held back. All those times I didn't tell you how I felt about you. From my school days..."
Ben then read the following poem, tentively titled,
Where does this tenderness come from?
It is not the first curls I have stroked slowly?
And lips I have known are darker than yours.
The stars rise off yours then go out again.
Where did this tenderness come from?
So many eyes have risen and died out
in front of these eyes of mine
and yet, no such song
have I heard in the darkness of night before.
Where did this tenderness come from?
Here.
In the ribs of the singer?
Where did this tenderness come from?
And what shall I do with it?
Young, sly singer, just passing by
your lashes longer than anyone's.
Ben: "When I first heard that poem, I didn't know what it meant. I do now."