Bad Habit

Synopsis

An infant girl born in a Convent, lives a fairytale life raised by quirky Nuns in the French countryside. Torn between becoming a Nun or Artist she leaves for college. When the convent succumbs to a fire and funds must be raised to rebuild the only home she ever knew and keep the nuns together, she will do the unthinkable to get the convent rebuilt even risking a new found love. Main Character - Lavande The early part of our story features a French girl 4-6 years-old as we get a glimpse of her childhood. We fast forward to an 18 through 22-year-old Lavande who leaves for New Orleans University to study art. Lavande is an Audrey Hepburn type, articulate, feisty, bi-lingual, art prodigy but a once curious and fun-loving child, traumatized due to her mother’s sudden death when she is five years old. The nuns believe that trauma precipitated kleptomania. Support Characters (30’s-50’s) Sister Kate is a geeky, petite, Caucasian woman, with glasses. She rattles off meanings of names, quotes during conversations. She became extremely wealthy as an IT genius became an alcoholic, workaholic, burnt out, renewed her faith, joined the sisterhood. Sister Alisha is Asian, and a Nun from Nepal. She helped start the Kung Fu Nuns movement in 2010 and a young heroine to Nepal women. She trained Nuns and young girls to protect themselves. It was not well received, and she had to escape for her safety as she chose Christianity over Buddhism. The convent took her in. She’s a serious but loving young woman. Sister Marge is African American. was a soldier and an army nurse. She seems harsh at times. but means well. She suffers from PTSD and joins the Sisterhood because of her deep faith, and the loss of her husband, who was also a soldier. She is the one to talk to Lavande about dating, relationships should she not become a sister. She Ethan (20’s) – an Art Gallery Owner/jazz saxophone player. Overcompensates trying to please a domineering father (actually his stepfather, that news is a crucial turning point in the story). Shy around women, best expresses himself with his music. Professor Vic (30’s) Native of France and Lavande's College Art Professor. Suave, overly confident, romantic, and an art enthusiast. It remains to be seen if Lavande is special to him or another conquest. Both Ethan and Vic, who are friends, are seeing Lavande and discussing this new young woman in their lives, not knowing, she is one in the same. Vic pursues Lavande with a passion. The Story - In the Chapel Convent, the Nuns singing of the psalms echoes in a French countryside as a young woman is running toward the music in an effort to escape her lover who (unknown to her) is a married man and demanding she abort their child. She evades him and births an infant girl in the Lavender fields adjacent to the convent-thus names her LAVANDE - French for lavender. Lavande’s mother, ADELAIDE stays on as manager for the lavender business and a cook. We then get glimpses of LAVANDE’S YOUNG LIFE -Pyrenees puppies, baby goats, farming, cooking, the lavender business, picnics, sweet mother-child and Nun relationships in the French countryside. When Lavande turns six years old her mother dies, suddenly. Then the fun-loving, overly curious child buries her love for life deep inside. Shortly after her mother’s death, Lavande develops a compulsion, she begins to steal. The nuns believe this behavior is a result of the trauma caused by her mother’s sudden death. The nuns do not want to label her a kleptomaniac, but Lavande’s behavior has all the indicators. Adelaide’s wish was to visit Paris with her young daughter. So, the three Nuns take her there for her 6th birthday. The various landmarks of Paris are visited along with experiencing, nuns on vespas, playing croquet, hopping in puddles, riding the carousel, and enjoying fireworks over the Eiffel Tower. Several events prove to be comedic and fun-loving. We experience the close relationship between Lavande and three nuns. During the Paris trip, Sister Kate notices items missing, her glasses and journal and when she searches, she finds them under Lavande’s pillow along with items from shops they visited. She decides not to talk to anyone about it until they get back to the convent. Then Lavande’s drawing takes a dramatic turn. At an early age she painted unbelievable realistic still life and portraits, they are now severely abstract. Lavande compares it to Picasso’s cubism and says, “His heart must have sad like hers.” The nuns realize they are not allowed to adopt Lavande as the convent is not set up as an orphanage. They bend the rules and Adelaide’s Uncle, who lives near-by adopts Lavande but the nuns raise her at the convent. We fast forward to Lavande turning eighteen years old. Sister Kate gives Lavande a small Hope Chest that Adelaide left for her when she turned eighteen. The contents lead Lavande to believe she should stay one more year and if she does not choose to become a nun by then, try the University. Sister Kate shares that she believes Adelaide wished for her to go to college and it appears a University in New Orleans is where Adelaide had wanted to go. One year later, the sisters, Uncle Noah and a scholarship guarantees Lavande’s attendance to the University of New Orleans when she is nineteen years old. While Lavande is in college her experiences lead her to reflect on what the nuns taught her as she was growing up. This is when we see the interesting lives of each nun prior to them becoming nuns and how their past experiences help Lavande to be smart and stay safe. At College in New Orleans, we are introduced to a natural beauty, with olive skin, and brown saucer eyes. Yet, she could be viewed as plain and simple by those who do not get to know her. A wide eyed and reluctant Lavande meets her roommate. She is a tall, pretty-blonde with a southern accent. Her name is Veronica, but she goes by Ronnie. She makes fun of Lavande’s clothes, her calm demeanor, no makeup, her long un-styled brown hair, frumpy appearance...then there is Lavande’s obsession with bubble gum. However, as time goes by Lavande’s sweet disposition rubs off on Ronnie and they become friends. Lavande believes Ronnie is an alcoholic and tries to help her. College life proves to be exciting but frustrating as Lavande was home schooled and has a great deal to learn about social life. She is transformed from a “wallflower” into a “radiant beauty” by her roommate who is a fashion photography major. Soon this mysterious French student-Lavande, catches the eye of her young art professor (VIC) and a Gallery owner (ETHAN) who also plays his saxophone at clubs. Both the men begin dating Lavande who has never gone on an official date or been kissed. Each of the two men happen to be friends and learn in an awkward way they are dating the same young woman. During her time at school, Lavande shares experiences with the three sisters on zoom calls. The sisters have been anxious about her experiencing separation anxiety, which would cause her to steal. Then there is her inability to judge character and how she will handle dating. They are also worried about the influence of the roommate because Lavande shares everything with them including that she does steal, seemingly unknowingly and is always shocked afterwards. The nuns decide it will be best to go to college and see things for themselves. Lavande tells them not to come. She has not told anyone she was raised in a convent, gave the Paris address of Sister Kate’s ex business apartment on all her documents, and does not want them to be made fun of. The nuns spy on Lavande – rent a boat to follow her as she goes on a cruise with the professor, with habits flying in the wind and near misses with other boats they evade being seen. They transform into street clothes to further hide their being in town and watch as Lavande and Ethan cook at his home while they hide in the bushes. They end up in a bar when Lavande is on a date and Kate is hit on by a drunk man, which the nuns are able to take care of without being seen by Lavande. They eventually make their presence known in their habits at Lavande’s art debut in which she becomes the winner of a major contest. Then tragedy strikes as the convent and lavender business succumb to a fire. Lavande learns later, after insurance it will take over 1 million dollars to rebuild so the nuns may continue their business which contributes to their missions – if not they will be sent to different convents. This leads Lavande to do something desperate and she decides to steal jewelry from the professor’s rich friends and steal original mini-Picasso’s Ethan has in storage by making fakes. She doesn’t think past being caught or how to pay them back. The best she can come up with is, “Wrong choices for the right reasons must be acceptable, if not, there’s always confession.” Plus, she has fallen for the gallery owner/saxophone player, Ethan– they are close to admitting their love for one another. Lavande’s life is further complicated when her father appears, believed to be Ethan’s father , the man she has fallen in love with, Ethan. Her father will do anything to ensure his wife does not know of his affair, especially Lavande’s existence. She finds out later Ethan was adopted by her father, but after she caused her to flee to the convent decide to become a sister. Then through a series of events which require honesty and understanding, Ethan convinces the authorities not to press charges as she returns the stolen items, Lavande discovers true love as Ethan surprises her by meeting at her favorite spot in Paris, the Montmartre Carousel and they declare their love for one another, including her first kiss. Ethan then sells his Picasso’s and buys land adjacent to the convent. His dream of becoming a farm to table Chef comes true as Lavande paints and spends time with the sisters. Four years later, three-year-old twin girls, FAITH, and HOPE along with Lavande, play in the lavender as their father plays the saxophone and the sisters run up the hill to join them, holding hands forming a circle, dancing to the music as the sun sets behind the angel statue monument above the lavender fields which marks Adelaide’s grave.