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By Savannah Haze Date: 2001 Jun 25 Comment on this Work [[2001.06.25.18.22.10242]] |
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Scene Six (continued) (Allie starts walking away.) MICHAEL "Allie, please don't. I had to say..." (He decides she is not going to stop to listen and begins to walk after her. Allie has started looking in her bag as she walks. She is searching for her cigarettes and cannot find them. Michael continues to chase her, trying to stop her. She begins to walk faster but continues searching.) MICHAEL "Allie, just stop and listen to me." (Suddenly Allie runs into another pedestrian. She knocks him down and falls on him. Michael runs up. He pulls Allie up and offers the man a hand. The man refuses.) MAN: "How 'bout watching where you're going, huh?" MICHAEL "Hey lay off, okay. It was an accident." MAN "Was I talking to you?" (Allie steps between the men.) ALLIE "Michael, go sit down on that bench behind you. (turns to the man) I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Can I do something for you?" (She flashes a brilliant smile. The man relaxes and mumbles something about it being no problem. Allie dusts some dirt off of his suit and smiles again.) ALLIE "I'll be more careful. I'm really sorry." (The man smiles, nods, adjusts his belongings and walks away, scowling at Michael as he walks by. Allie glares at Michael but sits down beside him. Still looking for her cigarettes.) MICHAEL "What are you looking for?" ALLIE "None of your business." (Allie continues to looks, growing more and more angry. She suddenly throws her bag.) ALLIE "Where are my fucking cigarettes?" (Michael reaches into his jacket pocket and hands them to her.) MICHAEL (quietly) "You left them on counter at the gas station when you went to the bathroom." (Allie looks at the cigarettes. She snatches the pack from his hand and removes one. Michael already has his lighter out. He lights her cigarette.) MICHAEL "Want to tell me what that was all about?" ALLIE "How about you tell me what THAT was all about! How can you say that to me, Michael? You can't be saying that." MICHAEL "I can't NOT be saying it. I haven't been able to tell you for three years. Maybe you fell out of love with me but I never stopped. It just felt right to tell you in that moment." ALLIE "It WASN'T right, it was..." MICHAEL "It was what? The truth? Do you not want me to be honest?" ALLIE "Yes..." MICHAEL "Well, I'm being honest. I love you, Allie. I can't change that and whether or not you want it or feel you deserve it or whatever you'll just have to accept the fact that I will be in love with you until the end of time." ALLIE "We can't be together, Michael." MICHAEL "But I CAN love you." ALLIE "No you can't." MICHAEL "Why not!" ALLIE "Because it makes it easier for me to love you!" (This final outburst takes Michael aback.) ALLIE "Do you really think I stopped loving you? That I got married because I was over you? Jesus, Michael, I've turned what we had into this movie in my mind that has reached mythical proportions. After awhile I ALMOST forgot anything bad that every happened between us. When all you can remember is the good, you find yourself more in love than you ever were." MICHAEL "So you don't love him." ALLIE "I didn't say that. I'm just saying that I never--(her voice lowers)--that I never stopped--my feelings never went away. MICHAEL "I know." ALLIE "What do you mean you know?" MICHAEL "I can just tell. It's in the way you look at me. You don't have to say it, Allie. I know you still love me. I'm not saying that to be cocky, I can just see it in your eyes. There was a time I needed to hear you say it, and I'd die for you tell me now but I'm sated happy just being able to see that look on your face." (Allie has finished her cigarette and pulls out another. She offers one to Michael who also takes one. He lights both and they lean back.) ALLIE "So you never found anyone?" MICHAEL "You're changing subjects." ALLIE "It needs to be changed." MICHAEL (looks slightly annoyed) "No one permanent, but I have been in relationships." ALLIE "What was her name?" MICHAEL "Can we please not talk about this?" ALLIE "Then decide on something else. I'm not ready to talk about... feelings." MICHAEL "We can't avoid it forever, Allie." ALLIE "You're leaving tomorrow. I'll have at least three years to work it out." (Michael looks hurt.) ALLIE "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. Michael, I'm just not ready to talk about it. I'm still adjusting to having you back. I have a husband. I have a career. I can't turn my life upside-down right now." MICHAEL "I'm not here to break up your marriage. I just want to see you." ALLIE "And I want more." (Michael is once again taken aback. He takes a long draw off of his cigarette and decides that perhaps they should change the subject for now.) MICHAEL (sighing) "Her name was Christiana." ALLIE "Who?" MICHAEL "The girl. Her name was Christiana." ALLIE "Did you love her?" MICHAEL "Yes." ALLIE "Why didn't you stay together?" MICHAEL "She wasn't right for me." ALLIE "In what way." MICHAEL "She wasn't you." ALLIE "Besides that, Michael." MICHAEL "I fell in love with her because she was grounded. Playing clubs all the time exposed me to less than decent women. I didn't want a girl who could drink more than me and dressed like a French whore. I wanted a woman who I could come home and cuddle with. Someone who I could go on walks with and cook dinner with. And be loyal to. ALLIE "And she was all of this?" (Michael nods his head.) ALLIE "Then what happened?" MICHAEL "She got curious. I don't know if she thought I was out doing something wrong or just wondered why my lifestyle has such a hold on me. Probably more than anything she wanted to be with me more. I was gone all the time playing gigs. So she started going out to the clubs with me. I honestly think she believed I liked those kinds of girls. She began to change. She'd come home with halter tops and she dyed her hair blonde. She became my groupie instead of my lover. I started pulling away, hoping she would realize that the changes didn't make me happy." ALLIE "Did she notice?' MICHAEL "Yeah, she noticed. She thought I didn't love her anymore. She kept going out except it wasn't just to my gigs. She met someone new, someone who really appreciated her "new" look. I came home one day--" ALLIE "Oh, God, you caught them?" MICHAEL "Well, no, but it wasn't much better. She brought him over to move her out. She actually told him she was afraid I'd hurt her." ALLIE "Jesus Christ, Michael, you never touched her did you? (Michael looks at Allie as if to say "you know me better.") ALLIE "When was all of this?" MICHAEL "Sometimes last year. I'm over her, really I am. It hurt but heartache is often a blessing in disguise. She had never experienced anything worldly. At least she didn't wait until we were... well, at least she did it sooner and not later." (Both are silent for a moment. Neither looks at the other.) ALLIE "Michael?" MICHAEL "Hmm?" ALLIE "We spend too much time on benches." MICHAEL (shakes his head) "You're very observant, little grasshopper." ALLIE "Michael?" MICHAEL (finally looking at her) "Yes, Allie?" ALLIE "I missed you." (Michael slightly smiles and stands up. He walks over to her bag and picks it up. She watches him. He walks over to ALlie, offering her his hand and her bag. She takes both and stands up. They walk down the street, hand in hand, silent.) ALLIE'S VOICE "Michael left a few days later. I went back to school and tried not to think about it. But I couldn't get him out of my mind. Seeing him again resurrected all the emotions I had hidden for years. Seth noticed a difference but accredited it to my work schedule. I started tutoring after-school and working on my dissertation. Once again, I was overwhelmed with this great feeling of loss. After so many crossroads I'd come to in my life, I felt I could handle anything. Seeing Michael again made me question my own strength and the life that I had built since he left." |