Flirts
One act play
By Majid
March 21, 2002
The Iranian
Cast of Characters
MAN
A man in his late thirties dressed in a casual style that makes him appear younger
for his age. He has an intense air about him that makes him look unapproachable,
arrogant and self absorbed. His misguided self confidence is one thing he feels he
has going for him. This he believes to be the source of his sex appeal rather than
his apparent attractive physical features. He fancies himself to be smart, witty
and worldly; in short an intellectual. But there is little substance behind the image
that he likes to project to others. He likes to shock and provoke people and catch
them off guard. This gives him the illusion that he is in control of the moment.
WOMAN
A woman in her thirties. She has coiffed her long hair smartly in the latest
fashion. She is dressed elegantly in an evening dress that wraps tightly around her
voluptuous hard body. Her round bosoms are pushed upward by some MIT engineered Wonder
Bra to a degree that one expects them to burst out of her dress at any point. Furthermore,
she has the tendency to arch her back when she meets people to give them a full view
of her proud assets. Her smiles are playful and welcoming. Her poses and gestures
are sensual and she is in the habit of snuggling close to people she speaks with;
at times touching them in an affectionate manner. She tries very hard to project
an image of sophistication and style to the point that makes her look silly and pretentious.
Scene
A large Soho studio crowded with elegant New Yorkers who have gathered in Anna Petranouska's
apartment to celebrate her return from a trip around the world. A sensual music is
heard in the background as people mingle and partake in the life of the party.
AT Rise
Anna stands in the center of the room surrounded by a crowd of friends.Our young
woman casually approaches the bar where a young man stands eyeing her with great
interest. She looks over the selection of wine bottles; she can't decide what to
drink. The young man seizes the opportunity to approach her ...
MAN
May I suggest this one. It's a full body red wine. Very flavorful ...
(He pours her a glass)
WOMAN
All right ... I'll try anything once or twice ...
(He hands her the glass and she takes a sip)
Umm ... It's nice... I like it ...
MAN
It's a quite a gathering isn't it?
WOMAN
Yes, Anna is so wonderful ... She has quite a following ....
MAN
Yes indeed..
(She looks into his eyes intensely and smiles sensually at him and arches her back
to give him a full view of her breasts. A blank expression forms on his face as his
stare shifts away slowly from her body to her eyes.)
Do you think I am a jealous man?
WOMAN
Excuse me?
MAN
It's a simple question.
WOMAN
And quite inappropriate one to ask from a complete stranger; don't you think?
MAN
You don't have to know someone to figure out if they are jealous or not.
WOMAN
(After a moment of reflection.. she burst out into a laughter)
Is this a joke?... I know .. Anna put you up to this, didn't she? She is trying
to get back at me for
setting her up with that Lesbian ... Oh it was a riot ..
(... giggling)
You should have seen the look on her face when she fingered Anna ---
(... playfully)
Hum.. well you can imagine ... it was simply divine .. But I can't believe she would
be still sore at me .. it was ages ago.
MAN
I have the slightest idea what you are talking about. Believe me a jealous man is
in no mood for jokes nor does my present condition permits me to partake in such
childish revengeful
acts. I assure you my condition is terribly severe ---
WOMAN (Chuckling)
Listen I am not sure where this little act of yours would lead us into, but I am
willing to play the part if it makes Anna happy, after all I feel I owe her a good
laugh ---
MAN (adamantly)
What? A good laugh? Is this all that you can think of? Aren't you a bit interested
to know why I am jealous, why I am in such a dismal state?
WOMAN
Don't be silly? I'll be simply thrilled to hear of your to dire circumstances.
MAN
Are you making fun of me?
WOMAN
I wouldn't dare, especially with a man with your severe condition
MAN
Oh forget it.
WOMAN
Oh please don't be annoyed with me. I would love to hear what you have to say.
(She waves agreeably at Anna who
acknowledges her favorably from afar)
MAN (passionately)
Very well then... I tell you frankly that I have not passed one peaceful moment
since you walked into this room. I have been following you, watching you ever so
discreetly; but nevertheless with a keen and shameless self-interest. And the most
peculiar thing about this whole affair is that my entire being has succumbed to
these arid sensations of jealousy... and animosity toward everymen in this room;
above all the man you came in with. Needless to say I feel drawn to you, I am not
sure how or why, but my attempts to answer these simple questions have brought about
nothing but a series of self- destructive emotional calamities upon my person. In
short, I am beside myself.
WOMAN
(looking at him in awe. After a slight pause she burst into a laughter. Clapping
her hands)
Bravo... Bravo ... you are good ...
(Touching him playfully)
And your little speech; a very nice touch. I have to say you had me going there
for a while. You must be an actor... Poor Anna she has gone a great length to avenge
herself... She is a spiteful little bitch isn't she? ...
(She waves again at Anna who turns away indifferently)
MAN (intensely)
I assure you that I am not an actor nor have I been drafted by our Hostess to play
a part in a foolish practical joke ---
WOMAN
Oh come on. Give it up... you two have been out duped
MAN
(An smile of resignation comes to his face)
I am not a trickster ... I am being sincere.
WOWAN (pleasantly)
Your are a funny individual...
MAN (Adamantly)
You are dead wrong. I am terribly serious.
WOMAN
Oh fine ... I play along ... I'll do my little part to amuse Anna. Beside, the party
was getting a bit too dull for my taste ... this shroud of hers is quite a turn on...
MAN
You have misunderstood me. I am not the kind to play games.
WOMAN
Ok so let's pretend that you are serious for a while ---
MAN
You must do more than pretend ...
WOMAN
All right then. But if you are sincere, I tell you frankly, you must be out of your
mind ....
MAN
Yes. Jealousy is quiet maddening
WOMAN (playfully)
Don't get me wrong, I applaud your courage for being so forthright with your feelings,
but you must admit it's a fantastic tale ... Yet even if your sentiments were true
... I would not have fallen for your obvious attempt to woo me ... Oh really now
... You don't expect me to melt in your arms like some silly schoolgirl; bewitched
by your frankness? ... Beside, I am with someone ...
MAN
So am I, she is right there ... but I am bored out of my mind
WOMAN
I am sorry to hear that ... But I am not in the mood to entertain a self proclaimed
bored jealous stranger.
MAN
Who said I was looking to be entertained?
WOMAN
Listen I've got to go back before his thoughts start to wander off ...
MAN
Back to him?
WOMAN
Yes ... It would be rude of me to leave him alone like this...?
MAN
It would be rude?! Huh?!
(he Laughs)
WOMAN
Yes. I just said that, didn't I?
MAN
You mean you would stay here and talk to me if he wasn't in the picture?
WOMAN
I am not going to pretend ... perhaps under different circumstances ---
MAN
Oh stop it. You've been pretending all night ... I have been watching you ...
WOMAN
Yes so you've told me. It's an unnerving piece of information that you have acquainted
me with... It's upsetting to find out that I have been spied upon all night.
MAN
Frankly I thought you'd be flattered by it.
WOMAN
Flattered?! Now see ---
MAN
Don't deny it.
WOMAN
You know, you've got quite a nerve to assume that about me.
MAN
Oh come off it now. Stop pretending for a moment and listen to me.
WOMAN
I have been listening to you and frankly I have heard an earful already.
MAN
Yes , you have been listening but you still pretending ---
WOMAN
Oh really now,,, this is becoming absolutely ridiculous.
MAN
Yes .. your denials are becoming annoying
WOMAN
Excuse me? Denials? I had no idea I was in denials too ... I thought I was just
pretending?
MAN
Oh come now. I saw you peering at me from the corner of your eyes
WOMAN
Huh ,,, You are hilarious, nothing can be further from the truth
MAN
And your smiles ... admit it you are attracted to me.
WOMAN
I think you have been drinking too much ---
MAN
And it's a good thing. A man needs a stiff drink every now and then to bring out
his real senses about...
WOMAN
Well in your case too much feelings has come out and I am afraid they are misguided
MAN
No. I know what I saw. You can deny it. But I see right through you.
WOMAN
But I always smile ... and I enjoy looking at people. They enjoy looking at me.
Beside, you just can't walk into a party and ignore everything and everyone in sight
and have a smug look on your face... can you now?
MAN
You were not just looking at people; your eyes and smiles were on the hunt.
WOMAN
Obviously, you know nothing about us women, do you?
MAN
I know enough to tell when a woman is attracted to me.
WOMAN
Oh attraction is too strong of a word ... Beside.. people get attracted to one another
all the
time and for different reasons... By the way, I get attracted to men and women equally
on the different mental and spiritual levels, and it's not always sexual, as you
might have wrongly presumed.
MAN
Come on now, you like to seduce men.
WOMAN
What are you insinuating here?
MAN
That you are a flirt...
WOMAN
I am not a flirt. I am just playful and in that playful with men and women alike.
It's not my fault if they take it the wrong way. Beside, a little playfulness every
now and then adds a little spice to one's love life ... There is nothing wrong with
making someone feel desired, or be desired by someone ...
MAN
There is no need to get defensive. It was just a simple observation on my part.
WOMAN
Yes ... simple. simplistic. ... Your observations are fanciful and self-serving
MAN
So you do admit that you were flirting with me with your sensual looks and smiles.
WOAMAN
I never admitted such a thing, now did I?
MAN
Not in so many words.
WOMAN
What do you want from me? A confession that I am attracted to you? That I was spell
bound the moment I set my eyes on you, that you are the object of my womanly desires,
and when I look at you, I quiver with want of lust? Would that satisfy your manhood
...Your ego ,,, would it?
MAN
No but the truth would.
WOMAN
All right then... For the record, I did notice you when I came in but when I realized
that you were with another woman ... I directed my attention elsewhere. I didn't
wish to make her feel uncomfortable or to intimidate her. Women can get so silly
and insecure about such matters of inconsequence.
MAN
That's the biggest lie you have told me so far.
WOMAN
A lie?! We are not even on the first name basis yet and you have the audacity to
call me a liar.
MAN
Yes a big fat juicy liar you are ... it was when you saw me with her that you begun
to show interest in me. It was only then that you started eyeing me from the corner
of your eyes and smiling seductively at me ...
WOMAN
That's ridiculous. You are hallucinating.
MAN
No I am not. I see right through you. It's all about control; it's all about power.
You just don't flaunt your goods about to get attention ... you do it to conquer
men. And it's twice a challenge when the man is with another woman. You won't stop
until you inflict your will and presence. This is how you substantiate yourself
as a woman. This is what you think being a woman is all bout.
WOWAN
(laughs Hysterically)
Oh .. you are hysterical ... you and your exaggerated, immature analysis. Furthermore
you are a hypocrite as big and fat and juicy as they come using your own adjectives.
(Her mood changes , Mimicking him)
I am jealous....
(a pitiful short laugh)
You couldn't have possibly been more blunt and unimaginative as you were. And you
dare reproach me? .... Huh.... flirt he says ...You men are sickening... You walk
around with your little dicks in your hands thinking that you are god's gift to
all women and that all women crave you. Contrary to popular believe, I favor the
idea that such ignorance in men is inborn and not learned through social interaction
or upbringing. I suppose its god curse that we women must wean and nurture our own
torturers and give countless births to little selfish ignorant bastards like you.
MAN
Obviously I have upset you... You are annoyed.
WOMAN
(A sarcastic smile)
Huh ... how good of you to notice ... Look it's better that we part. This conversation
is becoming abusive and I have had all that I can handle for the time being
MAN
Would you please stop pretending for a moment and be real?
WOMAN
Were my insults not real enough for you or should I have slapped you in the face
and made a scene?.. I bet you would have loved that wouldn't you?
MAN
Forget that now. Just tell me one thing, why did you walk over here to me?
WOMAN
I came to get myself a glass of wine. If you stop fantasizing for a moment you'll
notice your are standing next to the bar where as you can see the wine bottles are
presently situated.
MAN
No, that was just a pretence; an excuse to come here. No. Your objective was not
the drink. You came here to seduce me; to strike up a conversation with me. It was
a strategic and calculated move on your part.
WOMAN
(She laughs uncontrollably)
This is getting to be rather irksome and tiresome; but at the same time I can't
help being amused by the absurdity of it all...
MAN
You waited until he was preoccupied and then made your move.
WOMAN
What? First of all I didn't wait. It just happen that he started talking with his
friend ,, and so ---
MAN
And so.. It was perfect timing, because you also noticed at the same time that my
date had gone off to talk with her friends.
WOMAN
You sound like a two bit detective flung out of some under budget movie from
forties era. Ok Sherlock, what
are you trying to prove?
MAN
That you desired me, and that you felt the need to seduce and conquer me.
WOMAN
I never had such intentions and I never said or implied any of those things.
MAN
But you did not deny them either and you had plenty of opportunity to do so.
WOMAN
Then allow me to present my feelings to you highlighted, underlined, with big bold
letters ..
I AM NOT ATTARCTED TO YOU. AND I AM NOT TRYING TO SEDUCE YOU. Now, I suggest you
pause for a reality check
MAN
Don't you see it's too late in the game for you to deny anything.
WOMAN
So this is all a game.
MAN
Yes and you played along with it as longs as you were on the winning side
WOMAN
Winning side of what?
MAN
As long as the truth, your truth was not challenged and your feelings were spared
the scrutiny of objective judgment.
WOMAN
Objective judgment? Whose? Yours?
(she laughs)
You are mad and what you are suggesting is madness. I should have walked away from
you a while ago.
MAN
Yes, you should have. Why didn't you? Why don't you put a stop to this madness and
walk away?
WOMAN
Because I feel we have not concluded this. I don't like to leave things up in the
air.
MAN
No I think you enjoy the ambiguity that has come about of our encounter. I am the
one who feels the need for a closure. Why did you think I approached you in the
first place?
WOMAN
I though you approached me because you were attracted to me
MAN
Did I say that? Did I actually used the word "attraction"
WOMAN
Not the word itself; but what else I could conclude from your remarks. Come on now,
they were not ambiguous remarks that could be misinterpreted. Though at first, I
thought Anna had put you up to it... but I see now that I was wrong, I should have
known that she is not capable of pulling off something as fantastic as this little
drama.
MAN
Oh it was all a spare of a moment thing ... a little splash of madness that blurred
out unintentionally.
WOMAN
Oh come now, you meant everything you said.
MAN
I just told you what you wanted to hear ...
WOMAN
No. You hoped that I would confess the same feelings toward you, that I would open
up to you and throw myself at your feet. That is exactly what you wanted. To see
me humiliate myself
... That's why you came up with that fancy tale of jealousy. You wanted to know how
far you could drag me along before shriveling me to pieces. It's all one sick game
to you. You like to manipulate people. You like to poke at them, to charge them
up and let them loose and watch them fall to pieces... don't you?
MAN
Now that's a bit presumptuous of you isn't it.
WOMAN
I've been in love with the likes of you. I know your kind inside and out.
MAN
So tell me. How was it that you broke up with these twin siblings of mine, or did
they break up with you.
WOMAN
It's none of your business.
MAN
What happened did another woman stole them away from you or they just got tired
of your little cheap flirtatious episodes?
WOMAN
Shut up. Just shut up.
(An awkward pause)
Are you happy now that you provoked me? I played right into your trap, didn't I?
MAN
You didn't answer my question?
WOMAN
I don't have to?
MAN
Come on now, I though you wanted to bring a closure to all this?
WOMAN
I tried, but you are not satisfied with my answers.
MAN
Only truth would satisfy me.
WOMAN
Your truth you mean.
MAN
Come on, let's put all of our cards on the table, shall we? Be truthful and allow
yourself the little pleasures that come off from being honest with one self.
WOMAN
Ok. Cards on the table... Here it goes... I feel nothing but contempt and disgust
toward you and pity for the women in your life. Now how is that for the truth?
MAN
You are not disgusted by me. You are disgusted with yourself for craving someone
like me. And how about that man you are with? Look at that sick worried look on his
face. Look at how you
have shattered his confidence by standing here and talking to me? But you like to
break him down, belittle him, don't you? That way you can manipulate him, over power
him and then play the protective mother to him don't you?... You like to feel that
you are needed ... It's a great substitute for real love; the kind you have never
experienced.
WOMAN
I am not going to stand here and be abused by you. I leave you with your delusions
and that poor miserable woman you are with who is starving for your attention
MAN
You should have left a while ago.
WOMAN
Well I intend to correct my mistake now
MAN
(She motions to leave, he grabs her hand; warmly)
Stay...
WOMAN
(She smartly frees her hand not wanting to draw attention. )
What? , and subjugate myself to your outlandish accusations and lies. No thanks.
I am not a masochist?
MAN
(Staring at her body seductively)
Please stay...
WOMAN
Why should I?
MAN
Because you want to.
WOMAN
(She looks confused at the same time intrigued by the pleasant change in his demeanor
.She holds her empty wine glass out to him. He fills her cup. She takes a sip) I
think you want something more than I can offer.
MAN
Nothing more than what you want ...
WOMAN
And what is it that you think I want?
MAN
Love...
WOMAN
Huh ... Love... What do you know of love?
MAN
I know plenty.
WOMAN
Really? You don't strike me as the sort ---
MAN
Oh I know what love is and what it can do to you. And I have been hopelessly in
love now for a long time ...
WOMAN
Yes with yourself perhaps?
MAN
No with a woman ...
WOMAN
Really? How shocking! ...
MAN
Well .. I should say with an idea of a woman ---
WOMAN
I am afraid to inquire further into that mind of yours ...
MAN
Perhaps you should, you might be pleasantly surprised ---
WOMAN
No thanks. Beside, I have a good idea ... and it's common for a man of your character
to mistake your deranged feelings for love --
MAN
Oh really? And how is that?
WOMAN
It's not so hard to see what you consider to be love; judging from your lustful
eyes ...
MAN
My eyes are responding to the vibes I am picking up ---
WOMAN
I would not put too much faith in your sensatory receptors ... Men senses are not
ruled by their mind but by that little shriveled muscle in their body ...
MAN
Isn't it funny how you led, twisted and finally shrunk our conversation about love
to my penis?
WOMAN
Well in your case we couldn't have shrunk any further?
MAN
Obviously you are more preoccupied with my penis than anything else ---
WOMAN
And that surprises you?
MAN
It just substantiates that you are a flirt ...
WOMAN
Oh ... You have taken a leap into absurdity ---
MAN
Why don't you just deny it then?
WOMAN
Because I don't want take part in your mind games. You are playing a dangerous game...
MAN
Aren't you?
WOMAN
Listen I don't know what you want, but I am in certain point in my life that I can't
afford to get
mixed up in this fantastic and complicated world of yours,,,
MAN
Wait a second now, you sound like I offered an invitation ---
WOMAN
It's obvious what you are implying here...
MAN
Is it now? And you are offended by it?
WOMAN
I don't look at things in that way ... I just don't like to get mixed up in an impossible
situation that would proffer little but tension. What I need is peace in my life
... some measure of tenderness...
MAN
I think you like this little tension that we've got going between us ... It fills
a certain void in your life ,,,
WOMAN
Ah ...this is pointless. I can't believe I am still talking to you.
MAN
I can't believe I am still listening
WOMAN
You are full of yourself aren't you?
MAN
Only when is demanded of me.
WOMAN
No one asked you to act like an ass
MAN
There is no reason to get nasty now, is there?
WOMAN
I am not being nasty, I am just trying to figure out the whole point of our conversation?
MAN
Oh come on ...don't fool yourself ... you knew it from the very start ...
WOMAN
All right... tell me... I give up... enlighten me ...
MAN
No, I don't feel like giving a sermon to an ungrateful disciple.
WOWAN
Disciple !!! I wonder who follows whom ---
MAN
Oh forget it... Why can't you just admit it... you are just as bored as I am. I
mean come on now, look at them... look at these two sticks of flesh we are with.
Look at how they are staring at us from the corner of their eyes. And they try so
hard to be conspicuous and relax about the whole thing. It's a joke really... They
are filled with rage. They can't stand seeing us together. But do they say anything,
do they utter a word. No they just sit there, with all that anger anchored to their
heart and soul.. and the weight of it all pulls them down ... slowly .. torturously
... making them invisible in the dusk of our regards... No.... There is no passion
in them... There is just pain; the shining crest of their sacrifice and love ...
WOMAN
How could you talk so condescendingly of people you presumably love? They are probably
as confused as we are.
MAN
So you admit you are confused?
WOMAN
I said we, Not I as in singular ... You are obsessed with the singularity of things
... You don't live in a void you know?... Why do you come off sounding so bitter
and angry anyway? What's been done to you to turn you so cold and cruel?
MAN
I am not bitter or angry.
WOMAN
All right then. Maybe you are just obsessed with sex, or lack of it, or is it your
manhood that you are not sure of?
MAN
(Abusively)
Obsessed? You are the one who is obsessed with sexuality and being a woman. Because
the only way you
feel like a woman is when you get a man to notice you; and notice you in a sexual
manner.
WOMAN
What do you want from me? Why are you being so abusive? Can't you see the vulnerable
emotional state that I am in?
( She starts to cry )
MAN
(looks nervously around)
Are you crying, Please for heaven sake ,, you are making a scene ...
WOMAN
You are a beast ... Has anyone told you that before? .... No one has ever insulted
me like this before
MAN
Obviously, that was not my intention. We both got carried away
(he hands her a napkin)
Here you are... For god sake .... Stop it ...
WOMAN
(She takes the napkin and blows her nose. Her date
looks on anxiously from afar)
Oh god.. no.. he is looking at me .. I hope he doesn't come over now... not now
....
MAN
Yes .. he is staring at you with his puppy needy eyes ... He doesn't even try to
come and rescue you. What a coward. He sickens me. What do you see in that skeleton
of a man?
WOMAN
It's none of your business.
MAN
Maybe not, but I can tell this much that you don't love him
WOMAN
Love? Huh ...
MAN
Yes. Something you are in desperate need of ---
WOMAN
It's too late to venture into love; especially in my tender age. What I need is
something more substantial...
less transitory than love. ... You don't understand what it is to be a woman of
my passionate nature and not
to find a partner to fulfill my desires ...A real man that could appreciate who
and what I am; ...
(She closes her eyes and smiles sadly. Emotionally)
What a sad and hopeless dream is love... Just a glimpse of it is enough to blind
us ... It's pathetic that for the need of it we must lose so much of ourselves --
MAN
Oh you are being too dramatic now ... You are looking at love with a jilted heart
... What you need to do is
to take a long at yourself and reevaluate your life and ---
WOMAN (Angry)
Where do you come off talking to me like that? Who do you think you are? You are
the one in need of
self-reflection ... long sessions of psychoanalysis ... followed by intense shock
therapy... Why don't you take a long look at yourself?
MAN
Regretfully, I have .. many times... and I don't like what I see, ... but I realize
self pity won't get me any where. It's the truth that makes the blind see the light
and I intend to find the truth?
WOMAN
Well you won't find the truth crawling up my skirt.
MAN
( A bit taken back by her remark, he pauses to reflect)
Look I just want to know why you waste yourself away on this .. this shadow of a
man? I mean for god sake why are you with him?
WOMAN
Why are you with that woman ...?
MAN
I asked first but to save you the indignity of confessing first, I tell you bluntly
it's guilt. just plain old guilt.
WOMAN (surprised)
God! You are a monster; the worst kind.
MAN
It's the truth that is monstrous.
WOMAN
I hope that you spare her your sordid and twisted truth.
MAN
Why should I spare her feelings? They are going to be hurt sooner or later.
WOMAN
Are you so arrogant and ignorant that you must expose the truth at any cost?
MAN
Yes. I cannot pretend as you can. I can't mask my feelings and lie to myself and
to others. That is not what I am about.
WOMAN
I tell you what you are about.. you are evil... as pure and demonic as evil can
be...
MAN
You are entitled to your opinion. Well now... I hope I bought you enough time for
you to fabricate a lie to
furnish my question with in regard to that thing; that thing there you call a man?
WOMAN
What makes you think that I would lie?
MAN
We all lie.
WOMAN
Were you just now? For her sake I hope that you were...
MAN
I don't know if I did or not. Truth is so frail and fades out so quickly in the vestige
of our hearts ... How can anyone tell what the truth is when ignorance and prejudice
infest and corrupts the very foundation that it is based upon?
WOMAN
Oh come now. We all know when we are lying.
MAN
Yes. But we don't lie to strangers as often as to those whom we love...
WOMAN
Sadly enough, there is some truth to that... But you would think that they would
sense something ... I mean ---
MAN
Oh ..They know it .. They know everything, but they choose not to believe it. There
is some comfort in being
ignorant of the truth ...
WOMAN
Tell me just one thing ... Did you ever loved her?
MAN
Maybe I did ... Maybe I still do... I am not certain of anything anymore. Beside
it was different in the beginning.
WOMAN
Yes I figured you would say that. It's so typical.
MAN
Oh come now, it's always like that in the beginning. Everything is fresh and tasty,
and your hunger for passion and love seem insatiable. And then all the sudden the
hunger is gone... and all that remains are two big vulgar mouths foaming with disgust
... And you just sit there perplexed staring at the insanity of your base desires.
And the blinding evidence of the whole sick affair sits right in front of you, like
a dirty leftover plate, full of lies and deceptions ....
WOMAN
So that's what she is to you now? A plate full of leftovers? A sore sight, that
sickens you with guilt?
MAN
Is this an inquisition? You still haven't answer my question, Why are you with him.
WOMAN
I don't know.
MAN
But I do ... it's desperation; that vulgar desire to fill a void at any cost. He
is like a light switch that you flip on and off whenever you walk into a dark room.
You flip him on when you are lost, uncertain, and you want to feel safe; when you
don't want to trample over some unresolved baggage of feelings. And then you flip
him off when the doom and the gloom has passed you by ... You can't stand being lonely
can you?
WOMAN
Can anyone be blamed for not wanting to be alone?
MAN
Why don't you turn him lose. Set him free ...
WOMAN
What makes you think he would want to go?
MAN
I wouldn't know. Maybe he enjoys having that emotional leash around his neck. He
might even take pride in it.
WOMAN
This is not how I feel about him. I just don't think that I have given him the proper
chance. That's all he needs, that's all we need, just a chance.
MAN
Chance for what? To prove himself worthy of your desires? Oh come on now you Üwouldn't
let go off that emotionalÜleash for a moment. Admit it you like having him on that
leash? Don't you? It's all about "control" with you ---
WOMAN
You don't know me. How dare you judge me like that?
MAN
I bet you are still in touch with all of your ex lovers...?
WOMAN
What?
MAN
I am right, am I not.
WOMAN
If you must know, Yes. I have developed a beautiful friendship with them and their
partners. They are all important to me. It's your perverted and shallow mind that
finds something ugly and hideous about it all ...
MAN
Beautiful friendship? Huh!! They are just additional light switches to other dark
rooms.
(Smiles sardonically) And I thought you like to bring closure to things.
WOMAN
Listen I don't care to hear your thoughts anymore. They are vulgar, crude and worthless.
I have spend most of my life keeping myself away from the likes of you
MAN
So you have told me, but you keep coming back to men like me.
WOMAN
Oh please, don't flatter yourself ...
MAN
And don't you fool yourself.
(There is pause as they both search for something to say.)
WOMAN
We should move on.. It seems that we have run our course ...descended from the slopes
to where we see not our own shadows ....
MAN
There you go being dramatic again,,, Judging from the dirty looks we are getting
from our beloved partners...
we are in for a long .. long journey into the night. It seems we have not descended
far enough ....?
WOMAN
You don't think they suspect anything?
MAN (laughs)
Oh don't be stupid ... They know what we are about... they are just decent or rather
helpless enough to tolerate our selfish excesses.
WOMAN
We must look like monsters.
MAN
We are worst than that ... we are their lovers, their soul mates
WOMAN
We must go to them ...
MAN
It's a long walk up to their corner isn't it?
WOMAN
Well then we must take a short cut
MAN
Haven't we done that already?
(A pause)
WOMAN
For what it's worth---
MAN
Don't say it .. I can hear your thoughts ...
WOMAN
Good bye
(She hesitates to leave)
MAN WOMAN
Listen, maybe --- Perhaps
WOMAN
No.... No .... It' won't happen .. We shouldn't
MAN
Shouldn't?
WOMAN
Do you need to ask?
(there is a pause during which they stares intensely into each other eyes. They both
smile, a kind of understanding smile that suggests something very intimate has passed
between them. The walk off the stage in the opposite direction.
CURTAIN
THE END
@ Copyright Majid 2001
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