GrooveLily

CHARLES
Hello it's me I know you won't pick up the phone but it's okay I understand
But I've been studying the history of marriage ever since you left me and
Yeah people married most for politics or economics
Yeah it was nothing like the stories in the romance comics
A guy would see a girl he liked in some adjacent village
And with his buddies he would run amok and rape and pillage
Or people merely married for a dowry of some oxen or a piece of land
Sometimes for convenience
Often for the money
Political gain or for something arcane
For a name, for a sure shot
At being secure
Not for something as fragile as love
Hello? Hello? I think your machine...(he re-dials)
Hey there it's me again I like your new recording that was funny yes it was
And don't get mad I got your new unlisted number from Deanne, okay, because
So spouses didn't use to have to have a thing in common
They tied the knot when they were told to by their local shaman
It's only now that love and marriage are at all connected
So I have no idea why we find it unexpected
When people get divorced, 'cause nowadays it's something nearly everybody does
Sometimes for convenience
Often for the money
And rarely if ever
Till recently never
Would two people tether
Their futures together
For something as fragile as love
Hello, hello? Hope? I think my phone must've...(he re-dials)
Hello, it's been so long, I'm calling once again to hear your voice on the machine.
HOPE enters with a suitcase.
CHARLES hangs up.
CHARLES
I'm lost without you.
HOPE
Then you need a map not a relationship.
(Pause.)
CHARLES
That was my one line. If that didn't work...
(Pause.)
HOPE
You only thought of one line?
CHARLES
That was the one I settled on.
(Pause.)
HOPE
What were the rejects?
CHARLES
You make me feel like a movie star.
HOPE laughs.
CHARLES
Yeah, see. Should I keep going?
HOPE
You're very young.
CHARLES
I can't help that.
(She puts the suitcase on the dresser.)
HOPE
I came to get the rest of my things.
CHARLES
Okay.
HOPE
I have your key too.
CHARLES
Keep it.
HOPE
Charles.
CHARLES
No, I'm moving so...I don't need it.
HOPE
...You're moving?
CHARLES
Just down the street. To a one-bedroom. I'm a manager now. At the coffee--
HOPE
(over) Congratulations.
CHARLES
If you don't quit after three hours that pretty much guarantees manager status will you move in in with me my new place is much bigger?
(HOPE opens her suitcase.)
HOPE
I just came for my things.
(CHARLES tries to get her to stay. During the following, HOPE takes various items out of her suitcase and puts them around the room: a fish bowl, clothes, plants, a box of tampons, a blanket, several books, some bras, some photos.)
CHARLES
What about marrying somebody else just to figure it out, just to get into practice?
Make my mistakes, and then come back to you with my ducks in a row -- I'd be much better at this
Get the divorce, get it out of the way, make a mess, break it off, make it bitter and spiteful
Then clean the slate, try again, you and me, make it good, make a life, get it down, get it right
Who the hell knows what love actually is? Okay, I only know what I see in the movies
Sexy and quirky and dancing all dirty -- I know that behavior would never behoove me
Montages of picnics in parks in the rain, and you can't hear a word they say over the music
And we have to bumble along in real time -- no montages, no music, just plain me and you
And I don't know how people promise forever, till death do us part, yes I do, do or die
'Cause there's nothing in life that is ever for certain, so all I can say is I promise to try
But right now in the moment
This white hot shining moment
I feel it so deeply
That nothing could keep me
From picnics and dances
And taking my chances
On something as fragile as love
It might not be convenient
And I might not have much money
But will you?
Will you?
Will you?
The room has been transformed.
They look at each other. HOPE looks conflicted.
Here, let me show you the ring.