An Almost Perfect Thing, Page 8

Have you ever been everything to someone? The only reason that they're living?

  GREG

  I don't know. I've never—

  CHLOE

  You'd know. Have you ever felt love?

  MATHEW

  No one will ever love you like I do. You know that, right?

  GREG

  Of course I have.

  CHLOE

  When?

  MATHEW

  Because your mom left you. Your dad gave up on you.

  CHLOE

  You don't have a wife or a girlfriend.

  MATHEW

  You have no one.

  CHLOE

  Nothing. So, when have you felt love? You haven't. That's why you don't get it. That's why you're so jealous.

  GREG

  Is that what you call it? What you had with him? Love?

  CHLOE

  I saved his life. Everyone forgot about him. No one cared. He sat in that house completely alone until me. I took care of him. I gave him something to live for.

  GREG

  That doesn't answer my question. Do you call it love?

  CHLOE

  Of course it's not love. My doctors tell me over and over and over. You people are so stupid.

  CHLOE's lines are now to MATHEW.

  I know you love me. Now put the gun down. You need to breathe, okay?

  MATHEW

  I want to hear it. Tell me.

  CHLOE

  I need you.

  MATHEW

  And?

  CHLOE

  I have nowhere to go.

  MATHEW

  Because everyone forgot about you.

  CHLOE

  Yeah. Everyone forgot about me.

  MATHEW

  Why else?

  CHLOE

  Because I love you.

  MATHEW

  And why do you love me?

  CHLOE

  Because you saved me.

  MATHEW

  And who else loves you?

  CHLOE

  No one. Just you.

  MATHEW

  And who else loves me?

  CHLOE

  No one. Just me.

  MATHEW

  So it's just us. Right?

  CHLOE

  It's just us.

  MATHEW

  If you ever do that again I'll have to make sure we're together forever. Okay? Because I can't lose you. You're my everything.

  CHLOE

  I'm not going anywhere. Breathe. You need to breathe.

  GREG

  Chloe?

  CHLOE's lines are now to GREG.

  CHLOE

  You shouldn't have taken me on that show. You shouldn't push me. I could walk out right now. Nothing's stopping me. You don't want me to do that, do you?

  GREG

  Of course not.

  CHLOE

  Because you need me, right?

  GREG

  Chloe—

  CHLOE

  Say it.

  Beat.

  GREG

  I need you.

  CHLOE

  Say it again.

  GREG

  I need you.

  CHLOE

  And again.

  GREG

  I need you.

  CHLOE

  We're both alone. All we have is each other. When the series is done, you're going to stay with me. Right?

  GREG

  Right.

  Beat.

  CHLOE

  This week tell them how I saved him. How I gave him a reason to keep going and that saved his life. And then… write that I miss him. That I think about him every day.

  GREG

  So that he'll read it.

  CHLOE

  You wanted the truth, didn't you?

  SCENE EIGHT

  Shift. To the audience.

  GREG

  I write it. I know the reaction it will get.

  CHLOE

  People write me letters.

  GREG

  Send them to my office.

  CHLOE

  I sneak them from the mailbox before my dad sees them. They say things like—

  GREG

  (imitating public) "If she liked it so much—"

  CHLOE

  (imitating public) "Then she should've stayed."

  GREG

  (imitating public) "Because obviously she liked it."

  CHLOE

  (imitating public) "Slut."

  I read every letter over and over till they're memorized. I press my ear to my dad's door. Listen for his breathing. In my mind, I say, "Dad, I'm sorry… Dad, I'm scared."

  MATHEW

  I'm terrified. That she'll leave me. She's been demanding so much lately. To go to the doctor, insists she needs to go to the dentist. Even talks about going to school.

  CHLOE

  Dad, will you help me?

  GREG

  She's pushed me into a corner.

  MATHEW

  I need to think of something else. If freedom is what she wants—

  GREG

  If a friend is what she needs—

  MATHEW

  Then that's what she should get.

  CHLOE

  I have to get out.

  GREG

  While I plan my next move… I search.

  CHLOE

  Walk.

  MATHEW

  Drive.

  GREG

  Hunt. For him.

  MATHEW

  For a house. In the country. Where we can live together. Far from everyone else. Where she can be free.

  GREG

  She said labour. Creative. I guess carpentry. I go to every shop I can find. Maybe—

  CHLOE

  I'll bump into him.

  GREG

  Be able to tell who it is.

  CHLOE

  I'll say I'm sorry.

  GREG

  Look into his eyes and know.

  CHLOE

  He'll say "I forgive you."

  GREG

  I'll have him.

  CHLOE

  People on the street stare at me. I walk faster.

  GREG

  I stop for lunch on my way home.

  CHLOE

  Turning down street after street.

  MATHEW

  Road after road… searching for our future house. Our new life.

  CHLOE

  I start running. Running from—

  GREG

  I check the magazine's website again.

  MATHEW

  It'll be an old house. Far away. I'll fix it up. Build new furniture. Paint the walls.

  GREG

  There it is. My face on the front page. The Man Behind the Girl.

  CHLOE

  I have to see Greg.

  MATHEW

  I'll make it perfect.

  CHLOE

  Get on the bus.

  GREG

  Click on it.

  MATHEW

  Absolutely perfect.

  GREG

  Read it as fast as I can.

  CHLOE

  Sit near the back. Hope no one will talk to me.

  MATHEW

  We'll live there for the rest of our lives. I'll go to work every day. She'll stay home. Clean the house. Cook. Take care of me. Have my kids. We'll be happy. I won't have to lock her up because she won't want to go anywhere. She'll choose to be with me. She'll finally be free.

  CHLOE

  Two girls sit acro
ss from me. I know what they're saying—

  "There's that girl. There's a bad man on the loose because of her."

  And then this woman beside me—

  "He could go after my babies. She wants to hurt my babies."

  A man in front of me—

  "What a waste. Such a waste."

  The way they're staring at me, I know that's what they're saying. Thinking. They're blocking the entrance. I can't get out. My teeth… my teeth start to ache so bad. Pounding in my head. I have to get out.

  GREG

  It's about my childhood, university, what I do on the weekend, my bad jokes, my opinions on the future of print media, and then… her. The interviews. Him.

  CHLOE

  Breathe… five… four…

  GREG

  I get to the end.

  CHLOE

  Three…

  GREG

  "After spending the day with Mr. Kalowitz, I can't help but wonder… did Chloe Evans choose him because she knew he was already attached to her? Did she look for someone who wouldn't question her too hard? Someone who'd accompany her to lavish parties and American talk shows. It's time for the police to—"

  I stop reading.

  CHLOE

  I can't get out.

  GREG

  They think I'm a joke.

  MATHEW

  I'm going to give her the perfect life.

  CHLOE

  I have to get out.

  MATHEW

  She won't complain, she won't demand anything.

  CHLOE

  I need Greg.

  GREG

  I need his name.

  MATHEW

  Because she'll have the perfect life.

  GREG

  I need his name.

  CHLOE

  I need Greg... I need Greg! I need Greg! I NEED GREG! I NEED GREG!

  SCENE NINE

  Shift. GREG's condo, MATHEW's house. GREG and MATHEW speak to CHLOE while CHLOE speaks to GREG.

  GREG

  That was fast.

  MATHEW

  Chloe?

  CHLOE

  I was on my way here when you called.

  GREG

  You okay?

  MATHEW

  Put your book down. I have a surprise for you.

  CHLOE

  Can we breathe together? Just for a minute? Sometimes he and I… when things were bad or he was feeling down, we'd drive all day to this park. We'd sit up on this bridge, way up high, looking over the water. He was calm there. So I was calm. We'd sit there all day, not talking, breathing together. Maybe we could do that? Or maybe we could go there. Or go somewhere.

  MATHEW

  I know things have been hard lately… I know you haven't been happy. So I was thinking that—

  CHLOE

  Maybe we could just leave.

  MATHEW

  We could move.

  CHLOE

  There's nothing keeping us here.

  MATHEW

  We can start over.

  CHLOE

  We would be happy.

  GREG/MAT

  Chloe—

  Beat.

  GREG

  I have some bad news.

  MATHEW

  I found a house… for us.

  GREG

  The police are going door to door.

  MATHEW

  It's pretty far… on the outskirts of the city.

  GREG

  They say they're zeroing in.

  MATHEW

  Completely secluded. Miles from anyone else.

  GREG

  But it's going to be okay.

  MATHEW

  It's going to be perfect.

  GREG

  Because I have an idea.

  MATHEW

  My idea is… You live upstairs.

  GREG

  You write the book.

  GREG/MAT

  With me.

  GREG

  It's your story, your opinions, your thoughts. Everything you haven't gotten to say yet. It'll be a bestseller. We'll travel all over the world.

  MATHEW

  You'll be free. Just like you wanted.

  GREG

  There's just one catch.

  MATHEW

  When you're upstairs—

  GREG

  We include him.

  MATHEW

  You and I… we'll be different.

  GREG

  His story. His perspectives. His voice.

  MATHEW

  You'll live like my…

  GREG

  I'll meet him, I'll talk to him.

  MATHEW

  Like my…

  GREG

  I'll paint a picture of a man so broken—

  MATHEW

  It's just that…

  GREG

  The police are going to find him soon.

  MATHEW

  You've become such a beautiful young woman.

  GREG

  I want to make you the hero.

  MATHEW

  So grown up.

  GREG

  I want to be there with you.

  MATHEW

  I want to be with you.

  Beat.

  GREG

  Chloe, do you trust me?

  MATHEW

  Do you love me?

  CHLOE

  Yes. But—

  GREG

  Then trust me. I'm doing this for you.

  MATHEW

  For us.

  GREG

  Give me his name. You know—

  CHLOE

  If I give you his name that's all they'll care about. I should be enough. I saved my life and I saved his. No one helped me. And now you want me to just give him up. All that work for nothing?

  MATHEW

  Chloe—

  GREG

  What made you leave that night? Something must have changed in you.

  Tell me.

  MATHEW

  Sit with me.

  GREG

  The truth.

  MATHEW

  Please.

  GREG

  Whatever it was, it's the same reason you need to give him up. The same reason you need to give me his name.

  She sits by MATHEW. He breathes her in.

  MATHEW

  You smell nice… and, and your skin… it's so soft… Things are going to be different now, Chloe. You need to look at me differently. Think about me differently.

  GREG

  Chloe?

  CHLOE

  It's not what you think.

  GREG

  Doesn't matter. Tell me anyway. Every detail.

  MATHEW

  Don't be nervous.

  GREG

  Don't be scared.

  MATHEW

  We're going to be so happy.

  MATHEW touches CHLOE's face intimately.

  Look at me.

  CHLOE

  My teeth hurt.

  GREG/MAT

  What?

  CHLOE

  All of a sudden. They just started hurting.

  MATHEW

  I'm trying to talk to you about our new life.

  CHLOE

  They hurt—

  MATHEW

  I need you to be a grown-up!

  CHLOE

  Pounding and pounding and pounding—

  MATHEW

  It's in your head.

  CHLOE

  All I can think is, "I have to get out now. I have to get to th
e dentist. My teeth hurt so bad. I have to get out now. If I don't get out now, I'll never get out. And they'll just keep hurting and hurting and hurting. They hurt so bad! I have to get out now! I have to get out now!"

  GREG/MAT

  Dammit, Chloe!

  GREG

  You're saying that's why you left?

  CHLOE

  They hurt so bad—

  MATHEW

  That's enough!

  GREG

  You can't even tell the truth this one time?

  CHLOE

  That is the truth.

  MATHEW

  It's when you get scared. I told you not to be scared!

  GREG

  I can't do this anymore. I can't publish lies.

  CHLOE

  They're not lies.

  GREG

  They're not the truth either.

  MATHEW

  Now this is all screwed up.

  GREG

  I'm done. No book. No articles. My reputation is on the line. My job is all I have.

  MATHEW

  After everything I've done for you.

  GREG

  I'll write that I don't know what's true anymore so, as a journalist, ethically, I can't continue.

  CHLOE

  You can't do that.

  GREG

  I have to.

  CHLOE

  Well… will you still be my friend?

  GREG

  I'm supposed to tell your story, not be your friend.

  CHLOE

  What if I tell you that he raped me every day? Will you be my friend then?

  GREG

  Is it the truth?

  MATHEW

  This is so stupid. I'm sorry.

  CHLOE

  You can decide if it's true. Whatever you want. Whatever makes the best story.

  MATHEW

  Please don't be mad at me. Just let me start over.

  CHLOE

  You can't leave me.

  MATHEW

  When we dance…

  CHLOE

  Remember when we danced? The way you held me?

  MATHEW

  The way you hold me. It's like I'm someone else.

  CHLOE

  It's my favourite moment of my whole life. Didn't you like it?

  MATHEW

  Do you ever feel that way?

  CHLOE

  I saw how you looked at me that night. In the 7-Eleven.

  MATHEW

  What do you think of my plan? Our new house. Our new life.

  CHLOE

  You think I'm pretty, don't you? Do you want to touch me?

  MATHEW

  Far from everyone.

  CHLOE

  I'll let you.

  MATHEW

  Just you and me.

  CHLOE

  You can kiss me.

  MATHEW

  I want to spend…

  CHLOE

  Kiss me.

  MATHEW

  I want you to…

  CHLOE

  Please kiss me.

  GREG

  Chloe—

  MATHEW