Dave Taylor, CPA and cheating husband, goes to his car in a parking garage. Rats swarm the inside of the car, biting him, and Dave finally manages to get out and crawls away.
Later, Dave meets Searcher at a children’s birthday place. As Dave cowers in fear at a giant rat mascot, Searcher sits down next to him and introduces himself. Dave describes the one-night stand that he had with a woman, Clarise Payne, and asks Searcher to talk to her and get her to stop. Searcher agrees and Dave says where she works. As Searcher goes, he sees a grandmother receiving a birthday cake and puts out the candle with his leather jacket rather than violate the state’s firework laws.
Searcher soon spots Clarise coming out of the office building. Clarise runs him over and they meet for coffee. She claims that Dave came onto her and broke the whole thing off when she found he was married. When Dave kept calling her at odd hours of the night, she threatened to call the police. They sip their drinks and stare rapturously at each other, After Searcher confirms that Clarise sleeps in the nude, he assures her that she doesn’t have to worry about Dave because he’s moving to another state.
Later, Dave goes to his car and finds a chicken in the front seat. Clarise comes up behind him and injects him with a sedative. She drives off and Searcher follows them. Clarise goes to her gated apartment and Searcher slams into the gate when it closes. Inside, Clarise props Dave up at her dinner table and he stutters out that he’s sorry.
Searcher gets Clarise’s address from the mailing list and tries to pick the electronic lock. He ends up electrocuting himself.
Clarise demands that the sedated Dave compliment her, and then dismisses him as a butt-kisser.
Searcher grabs a grappling hook and rope, and heads up to the neighboring roof. He fires it across to Clarise’s building.
Clarise says that Dave led her on and draws a knife.
Searcher prepares to slide across the line, and a pigeon lands on his head. He goes across anyway and slams into the opposing wall, and the zip line breaks. Searcher falls onto Clarise’s balcony, breaks through the screen, and tells Clarise to drop the knife. He asks what she really wants, and she says that she wants a man to care about her and want her. He takes her wrist and she drops the knife... on his foot, point down.
Later, Searcher meets Dave in Dave’s office and has him make the check out to “Searcher.” Dave says that he’s learned his lesson, but Searcher doesn’t believe it and figures that Clarise will be just fine after years of therapy.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 2, 2016