CHARACTERS
He
She
The Man
Scene II
She walks across the yard. Then she sees a man come into view around the right corner of the house. The man is in his late twenties, quite an ordinary man. She looks at him and then looks down. She looks up again, nods at him. The man nods at her. And then The man comes walking along the side of the house while looking at her. She looks at him. The man approaches and stops in front of her
THE MAN
arrogantly, with a bit of a swagger
Is it you that bought the house
She looks at the man
I heard someone
bought the house
I just strolled over
The house has been empty for so long
it’s totally run-down now
And suddenly there was someone
who wanted to buy the house
It’s me that sold the house
I just wanted to see
who bought it
She looks down in front of her
I inherited the house
my relatives used to live here
But my grandma died
a while ago
She was the last person to live in the house
Since then the house has been empty
It’s out of the way
and it’s so old
It was pretty hard to sell the house
But then it sold
I didn’t think
I’d ever sell it
SHE
So it’s you who sold the house
The man nods. Pause. Asks
Did you live here yourself
THE MAN
No just my father
My father’s parents lived here
in this
he opens his arms to indicate
house here
SHE
It’s pretty old
THE MAN
Yeah
I don’t know how old
the house is exactly
But it’s old
for sure
SHE
A beautiful old house
THE MAN
But I wouldn’t want
to live here myself
SHE
You wouldn’t
THE MAN
No the house is too old
SHE
asks
And it was hard to sell
THE MAN
Yeah it was hard
She goes and sits down on the bench. The man stands and follows her with his eyes, then goes and sits down beside her. She looks at the man
SHE
Do you live here in the area
THE MAN
Yeah not that far from here
Pause. He looks at her, asks
And now you’re going to live here
She nods
It can be lonely living here
She nods again
There aren’t a lot of people around
almost none
SHE
There aren’t a lot of people here yeah
THE MAN
Almost no-one living here
Pause. She and the man sit looking in front of them. He comes to the left corner of the house, looks around the corner at the moment she looks up at the man. Then he withdraws and stands, leaning against the wall, just around the corner. He stands looking down, doesn’t listen but hears what is said
But I live here anyway
not that far from here
In a way it’s kind of
laughs
SHE
Yeah
THE MAN
I live here in the area you know
The man looks at her. A little mischievous
Maybe we can get together some time
She looks at the man, shakes her head
Oh don’t say that
There aren’t a lot of others around
and I’d say
I’m not all that bad
She stares straight ahead. Pause. Behind the corner of the house, he stands unhappily, is about to step forward, but pulls back
No I just wanted to see if anyone
had come to the house
SHE
Yeah
The man looks at her. She looks up at the man
THE MAN
I really just wanted to know
who bought the house
SHE
I see
THE MAN
It’s not every day
I sell a house
Brags
And now I’ve got money
SHE
You certainly do
THE MAN
Yeah now I’ve got lots of money
SHE
a bit afraid
You don’t live that far from here
She looks into the man’s eyes
THE MAN
No
not that far away
Flirts
So voulez-vous
SHE
interrupts him
No
no
Behind the corner of the house he stands, getting more and more unhappy, and then he seems to push himself forward, comes around the corner, enters the yard, and looks at the two of them sitting on the bench. He stops and looks down. She looks at him
SHE
nervous
This is the man who owned the house
The man we bought the house from
The man gets up, approaches him. Quickly
He says it was his grandfather who used to live here
Hesitates, turns to the man
Or was it
THE MAN
Yeah my grandfather did too
But he died
ages ago
I can’t remember my grandfather
But my grandma lived here
till she died
a while ago
The man stops in front of he
I just wanted to welcome you
He stands and stares at the ground
HE
We just got here
THE MAN
Then for sure you want
some time to settle in
The man looks at him
But I can come back
in a while
Then I can fill you in on the house
SHE
quickly
Are there other people living
here in the area
I meant to ask
The man crosses to her, shakes his head, and stops in front of the bench
THE MAN
No not right in the area
Oh wait
hesitates
there’s me
The only one is me
She looks down. Pause. The man walks across the yard
I’ll come back in a while
then I
I can maybe offer you a drink tonight
’Cause now I’m in the money
The man gives a short laugh. He and she nod at the man, who raises a hand, waves to them, and goes around the right-hand corner of the house. He goes and sits down on the bench, but at the very end of it, as far as possible from her. He looks straight ahead and down. She glances at him cautiously. Long pause
HE
voice shaking a little
Did you invite him to sit
down beside you
on the bench
SHE
No no
HE
So he just came
and sat down
somewhat ironic
Just like that he simply came
and sat down
beside you on this bench
She looks down stiffly in front of her
So it was some secret desire
that you gave off
Come on over
sit beside me
You said it
without even saying it
the way you do
SHE
No now stop it
You’re scaring me
HE
No you didn’t do anything
You didn’t even look in his eyes
Angry
Did you look in his eyes the whole time
Or was it just
when I came back
that you happened to be doing it
He shakes his head in despair
SHE
Please no
You’re scaring me
HE
more worked up
And was it just when I came back
that you happened to
lean up against him
SHE
I didn’t lean up against him
HE
I saw it
with my own eyes
I saw you lean up against him
a little conciliatory
I saw it
SHE
a bit resigned
I didn’t do it
HE
Did you like him
SHE
I didn’t like or dislike
him
HE
You liked him
SHE
Yeah I liked him in a way
He gets up and goes forward into the yard
HE
I saw you sitting there
all wide-eyed
And he must have waited till I’d gone around the back
so that he
could come into
the yard
to talk to you
all alone
He shakes his head in despair
And to think
he’s coming back
He breathes heavily and desperately
He’ll just keep coming
He moves again and sits down on the bench a little closer to her
He lives here alone
and he’s never going to
let you and me
be together
He looks at her
So he’s the guy we bought the house from
He gets up
Fucking hell
That guy’s relatives
lived in the house
where we’re going to live
He looks at her in despair
The house where we have to live now
More controlled
And you just sit there and look
into his eyes
staring into his eyes
Angrier
Clinging to him on the bench
He looks straight ahead. Pause
And he’s coming back
He’s coming back
He’s going to come
He begins to pace back and forth in the yard
You knew that someone would come
I guess I knew it too
But I just didn’t want to know about it
And you knew about it all along
He stops, looks at her. Angry
You really wanted him to come
You just say you don’t
want anyone to come
but really there’s
nothing you want more
He shakes his head in resignation
SHE
calm and controlled
Calm down now
He continues to pace back and forth in the yard
Enough of that
just calm down
Pause. Pretending to be optimistic
We should go in and look at the house
He continues to pace the yard. She gets up. Appealing to him
Aren’t we going to
go in the house
HE
Someone’ll just come
She crosses to him, takes him by the arm
SHE
Come on let’s go
into the house
He looks at her
HE
I don’t want to live here
In despair
I don’t want to be here
SHE
consoling him, a little afraid
Come let’s go in
HE
Did you have to look in his eyes
He frees his arm, crosses and sits on the bench, elbows on his knees, face in his hands. In utter despair
No no no
She comes and sits beside him on the bench
SHE
pretending to be optimistic
It’s going to be alright
He looks at her. Pause
HE
with complete sincerity
I’m so happy with you
He puts his arms around her, presses himself against her, gazes into her eyes. She puts her arms around him and carefully begins to rock him
SHE
Me and you
She kisses him on the forehead
HE
Me and you
SHE
Me and you
He looks at her, resigned
HE
Someone’s always got to come
SHE
consoling him
Calm down now
Me and you
you know that
HE
Yeah just be calm
SHE
And now we can go into our house
He sits up
HE
We’ll go inside
He gets up from the bench. She gets up. They take each other by the hand and walk towards the outer door
SHE
looks at him
You’ve got the key
He stops, feels in his pocket, nods. He takes the key out of his pocket. They approach the door. He unlocks and opens the door for her. She goes in. He goes in after her, closes the door behind him, and we hear him locking and then shaking the door to check that it’s locked
