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Four separate stories about four separate couples, each with a hurdle or obstacle to overcome. As all circles do, this story starts with "One Dot" a song about human patterns and how falling in or out of love can be either the best thing to happen or the most detrimental. Our four couples, all in a different time in their life, with different ambitions and different outlooks, find that love as rewarding as it can be, comes with a price. Whether that price be added strain on the longevity of a slowly deteriorating marriage, an unexpected teen pregnancy, or the unexpected feeling of happiness for the first time in 70 years, love is what brings us to realization, and the inevitability that no matter where things start, they always make their way full circle.
Tom and Lucy are 17 years old and starting their senior year of high school. These two have been best friends since they were in 4th grade. In a year where the future, and the "real world" are supposed to be just at a teenagers finger-tips... a year where college and jobs are usually on the top of the "to do" list, these two manage to stumble into a situation that ignites the flame behind feelings they've both had for one another since they were much younger. After having sex in place of a study session, Tom sees his dreams come true, and though afraid of hurting an already amazing friendship, Lucy too begins to see that her feelings for Tom can't be held back. Caught up in the moment so much so that they both insist that they are floating high above the ground where "the view from there can't get better..." they lose track of the future, and their young love takes over all other thoughts. That is, until, Lucy realizes that they have gotten ahead of themselves when she makes the discovery that she is pregnant. After Tom, who never knew his father finds out, he figures that there is "No Turning Back Now," and that he will be there for Lucy no matter what she decides, but he is ready for anything. 17 years old, pregnant, and potentially putting their future and the "real world" on hold. Their story is told through a series of love letters and inner monologues.
Mandy and James are both 40 years old. They are married. They got married about 16 years ago, which just so happens to be around the time that James got Mandy pregnant with their daughter, Charlotte. The only child they had, and its because they live a life where communication and physical attention are things of the past. Because of their lack of communication, Mandy, who holds on to what she had with her husband, assumes that James won't touch her or treat her the way he once did because she had the baby when he wasn't ready. The truth is, James fell out of love with Mandy years ago because she wasn't growing. She was trying to be who she was in college in order for him to notice her. Of course, Mandy had no way of knowing this because he neglects talking to her, and merely stays in the marriage because of his daughter. Charlotte, now 15 years old is the only child, in a house where the air is so thick with tension and resentment that she tries anything to be noticed and show her parents that she is in fact, "Someone." Her early teen years will be memories of her mom faking a smile to make it seem like they are normal, or her dad walking around like a zombie because the whole "family" thing has jaded them both, and Charlotte, just wants out. After spending her life not getting heard, or given the time of day from her parents, Charlotte finally reaches her breaking point and calls her parents out on the awful way they dysfunctional lead their lives. This is a wake up call for Mandy and James, and it leads to their next step. James leaves the house he and Mandy shared for 16 years, to get an apartment for him for an indefinite amount of time. The two agree that ultimately the space is needed in order to gain respect back from their daughter, and it will give James the time he needs to think about his life, and maybe even get back to loving Mandy again. Their story is told to each other.
Michael and Jeff are a homosexual partnership in their mid 30's. They have been together for fifteen years, since they were both 20 years old. They both question whether or not they are in love at all, or just addicted to what they have together. The sex, the lifestyle, the 6 figure jobs, a life in the suburbs. Non of that is what Michael or Jeff expected. What they lack is communication. Michael begins to stray, and Jeff starts showing signs of alcoholism. Trying to salvage anything they can of their relationship, they begin to seek couples therapy and other means to help them discover what the matter is and rediscover why they fell in love In the first place.
Jasper and Ella are both in their early 80's. Two very different people with a very hard to come by story. Ella's childhood was very memorable. Unfortunately, the abrupt demise to her parents marriage affected her so deeply, that she was stunted in her social growth. Trying her best to keep to herself, she never travelled. She stayed quiet, and watched as her parents grew old, already apart, and took her family inheritance. She never married, she never worked, she just goes to her favorite bench in her favorite park and feeds the birds, feeling very much at peace with her new outlook on life, which is: "If loss is what comes with love, how can love exist?" On the other hand, Jasper, a sharp witted, working class man just got out of the hospital. He has overcome a rare lung disease and has a new appreciation for life now that he has been given this second chance to live it. He happens upon a quaint park and spots lovely, Ella sitting alone. With Jasper's new hold on life, he seizes the opportunity and sits next to her attempting to make conversation. No matter how reluctant she is, he persists and eventually strikes a chord with her. Once Ella sees the wonderful thing that love and admiration starts to bring out in a person, she starts to love Jasper and more profoundly, she starts to really love herself. After months of getting to know one another, Ella goes to the park bench where her and Jasper have spent everyday together, she waits to find that he isn't coming. His lung disease rebounded and in a much worse way. A fatal way. The devastation of the loss is exactly what Ella was trying to avoid her whole life, but this time she actually feels something. Jasper took his second chance on life, and made it a mission to show her that it's never too late to fall in love, and even though loss sometimes comes with it, love is a feeling that can never be replaced, and Ella came full circle, remembering the girl she once was.
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