An Almost Perfect Thing (6 page)

GREG takes her.

CHLOE

Within three seconds I knew how to act. Sweet. Tough. Motherly. Like a child. Smart. Silent. It was my superpower.

GREG

How would you know?

MATHEW takes her.

MATHEW

Little things. If he was swinging his arms or if they were crossed in front of him. If his hands were in fists or if he kept moving his fingers.

GREG takes her.

CHLOE

If his voice was up in his head or down in his throat. The direction of his eyebrows if—

MATHEW takes her.

MATHEW

—his mouth was twitching. If he kept tugging on his shirt or touching his hair.

GREG takes her.

CHLOE

Everything says something. You have to have senses like an animal.

MATHEW takes her.

MATHEW

It would be nice to have you up here more.

CHLOE

Really? Mathew, are you for real? I'd do anything.

MATHEW

I'd be watching you all the time. And you'd have to earn it. Do chores—

GREG takes her.

CHLOE

I did lots of cleaning. Cooking. I'm a good cook. On special occasions I made—

GREG

Special occasions?

CHLOE

Birthdays, Christmas, Easter… special occasions.

GREG

Would he buy you gifts?

MATHEW takes her.

MATHEW

If you're bad, if you try anything when I have you up here, what should I do? Say it. If I try to run…

CHLOE

If I try to run… you should lock me up again. And never let me back up. For the rest of my life.

MATHEW

I have your permission?

CHLOE

Totally.

Beat.

Now how often can I come up?

GREG takes her.

It was once a week at first. Then it was more. Then more.

GREG

Did he tie you up? Have a gun?

CHLOE

No.

GREG

Did you try to escape?

CHLOE

You'd think. But I had to be careful. You get upstairs and it's like you'll do anything not to lose the privilege. 'Cause it's almost like you're a normal person, right? Being out was like, I don't know, being in heaven. Can we go out like this more often?

GREG

Sure. Maybe. Like to—

CHLOE

Wherever you want. Whenever. I'll do anything.

(to the audience)
My heart beats faster and faster.

MATHEW takes her. To audience.

MATHEW

As she clings to me.

GREG takes her.

CHLOE

He holds me.

GREG

They gather to watch us.

MATHEW starts to take her. She's between the two men. Music ends.

GREG/MAT

Thank you.

To audience.

CHLOE

On the way out—

MATHEW

The way down—

GREG

Someone takes our picture. One last shot.

MATHEW

She gives me a hug.

CHLOE

He kisses my hand.

MATHEW

I don't force her.

CHLOE

He just does it.

GREG

They just want to.

MATHEW

I think about all of it…

CHLOE

His hand on my back. Walking me around the room.

MATHEW

The sun on her face. She looked older somehow.

GREG

People fighting to talk to me. Me. I didn't know I'd feel so—

CHLOE

Needed.

GREG

Wanted.

MATHEW

Loved.

(to CHLOE)
Wait. Before you go to sleep—

Tell me you love me. Please. Now. Right now. Tell me.

CHLOE

Will you let me upstairs tomorrow morning? And then again at night?

MATHEW

Okay.

CHLOE

I love you. I love you so much.

GREG

Wait. Before you go—

I know I said tonight was off the record. But… you'd be okay with me using what you said. Right?

CHLOE

Will you take me to a movie some time? And we can go for supper first? Like friends?

GREG

Uh… sure.

CHLOE

You can use whatever you want. Night, Greg.

SCENE THREE

Shift. To the audience.

CHLOE

The night was—

MATHEW

—almost—

GREG

—perfect. I felt—

CHLOE

—almost—

MATHEW

—normal.

CHLOE

I don't want this to end.

MATHEW

How is this going to work? Her upstairs.

GREG

I can't mess this up. There's only four left. Go over everything she said.

MATHEW

Make a checklist of the entire house.

GREG

Starving herself to get upstairs.

MATHEW

Key locks on the windows.

CHLOE

Maybe we can start a new project when it's done.

MATHEW

Take out all heavy or sharp objects.

GREG

Cooking, cleaning, celebrating.

CHLOE

He doesn't have anyone else.

MATHEW

A schedule for when she's upstairs and when she's down. Practise drills for when someone comes to the door.

GREG

She says she wasn't tied up.

MATHEW

Get new clothes, a haircut.

GREG

No gun to her head.

MATHEW

I have to look good. Presentable. For her.

GREG

But that doesn't make sense.

CHLOE

I want us to be more than friends.

GREG

She has to be lying.

CHLOE

I want us to be—

MATHEW

I want her to look at me like—

GREG

And if that's the case—

CHLOE

Boyfriend and girlfriend.

GREG

How do I get to the real story?

CHLOE

How do I do that?

MATHEW

I fall asleep dreaming about—

CHLOE

What it's going to be like.

GREG

I wake up at 8 a.m. to the sound of my phone ringing. Our nation's biggest magazine. They want to set up an interview. They want to do a story on me. My life, my interests, my opinions. Me. The Man Behind the Girl.

CHLOE

(imitating radio host)
"Our phone lines are open. Tell us what you think."

I wake up to the sound of angry voices on the radio.

(imitating public)
"I was okay with it when she was still screwed up or whatever, but now that we know she's going out every night? The secrecy is totally not acceptable."

GREG

I'm at the Starbucks before work when I hear the woman say it. I look to see what she's talking about. On the front page… A huge picture. Me and her. At the gala. The entire front page.

CHLOE

Caller after caller.

GREG

(imitating public)
"What are the police doing? At least this writer is trying different ways to get her to talk."

CHLOE

That's not why Greg took me. He wanted to take me.

GREG

(imitating public)
"Who cares about the details? We still don't know who it is."

Beat.

Doesn't matter how much you give them. All they want is him.

SCENE FOUR

Shift. GREG's condo, MATHEW's house.

CHLOE

(to audience)
He wants to see me more often.

MATHEW

(to audience)
Each month I let her up a little more.

CHLOE

(to audience)
Two or three times a week.

GREG

(to audience)
I ask her more about being upstairs. Trying to get something. Some truth into what he did to keep her there.

MATHEW speaks to audience and CHLOE speaks to GREG, unless otherwise indicated.

MATHEW

Each time she's upstairs I give her a little more responsibility. So she can take ownership. Like it's her house.

CHLOE

I gave him shopping lists every week.

(to MATHEW)
You can't forget vitamins this time. You don't want us to get sick, do you?

MATHEW

She takes care of me. It gives her purpose. Purpose keeps people happy.

CHLOE

I kept him happy by making us like a family. That was all he wanted.

MATHEW

I give her whatever she wants.

CHLOE

The more he thought I considered him like a dad, the more comfortable he thought I was.

MATHEW

Give her what she wants, the more comfortable she'll be.

CHLOE

The more comfortable he thought I was, the less he watched me upstairs.

MATHEW

The more comfortable she is, the scarier it is "out there."

CHLOE

The less he watched me, the better my chances of getting out.

MATHEW

The scarier it is "out there," the more she wants to be with me.

CHLOE

Get it? I was—

MATHEW

I am—

MAT
/CHLOE

—
in control.

CHLOE

Get it?

Beat.

GREG

(to CHLOE)
The better your chances of getting out? But it was six years—

CHLOE

I had to wait for the perfect moment.

To the audience.

GREG

And that's the only explanation she'll give. So I write it in a way that people will read between the lines, understand that obviously things were worse than she's letting on. The violence, the sex, the abuse, it's all coming. A girl who controls her kidnapper, who walks free, who tries to make him happy, like a family? Surely they'll see through that, right?

Wrong.

CHLOE

He writes about my tricks to get upstairs. To stay upstairs. How I was in control of Mathew. How I made Mathew give me whatever I wanted. He shows how strong I was. It's inspiring. Perfect.

Almost.

GREG

All they read is—

(imitating public)
"Upstairs?"

CHLOE

(imitating public)
"She was upstairs?"

GREG

(imitating public)
"Would just tell him what she wanted."

CHLOE

(imitating public)
"Controlled him."

GREG

(imitating public)
"Doesn't sound all that bad."

CHLOE

(imitating public)
"No wonder she didn't want to come home."

GREG

People are turning on her.

CHLOE

People are stupid.

GREG

Soon they're going to turn on me.

CHLOE

They're not even trying to understand.

GREG

The police are questioning me again, turning up the pressure, so I have to turn up the pressure on her. If she's not going to give me the real story then maybe I need to change my focus. If I can get enough information from her, enough details, then realistically… I could just find him myself. Imagine that… if I found him myself…

(to CHLOE)
What kind of job did he have?

GREG and MATHEW are both speaking to CHLOE. CHLOE is speaking to GREG.

MATHEW

How are we going to celebrate my day off?

CHLOE

Labour. But it was creative.

MATHEW

I don't want to waste it. We have to have fun.

GREG

What about fun?

CHLOE

Checkers. Hearts.

MATHEW

There's that new card game you like so much. Or we could read—

GREG

What kind of books did he like?

MATHEW

—your new mystery book.

CHLOE

He loved the way his heart beat when he didn't know how it was gonna end.

GREG

The adrenalin rush. My favourite. So would he go to the library or bookstores?

CHLOE

Both. He liked used bookstores.

GREG

So games, reading—

CHLOE

I worked hard to keep him entertained. So his mind didn't…

GREG

Didn't?

MATHEW

Did I tell you that the neighbour's stupid kid was in the yard again this morning? Said he was getting his ball. He's spying. Probably putting up cameras. He's never seen you, has he? You're not working with him, are you? Because if you're working with him—

GREG

So his mind didn't what?

CHLOE

I just mean… entertain him. Keep him happy. Get what I want.

GREG

Right.

To audience.

CHLOE

Each time I see Greg he's more obsessed with Mathew.

GREG

Each time I see her, I ask more about him.

CHLOE

His likes, his dislikes.

GREG

His hobbies. Everything. The more she thinks I'm interested in him, the more she thinks I sympathize with him. The more she thinks I sympathize with him, the more she trusts me.

CHLOE

The more information I give him, the more he understands.

GREG

The more she trusts me, the more she tells me. The more she tells me, the more clues I get.

CHLOE

The more he understands, the more he gets the readers to understand.

GREG

The more clues I get, the closer I get to finding him. Even though I know it's crazy… I start hunting.

CHLOE

(to GREG)
What's going to happen after this?

GREG

(to CHLOE)
What do you mean?

(to audience)
I spend hours driving around to used bookstores. Every single one in the city.

CHLOE

Like, when the articles are done?

GREG

I don't know. Maybe you'll go to university. Is that what you want?

(to audience)
I question the cashiers about their regular customers. I look into the eyes of every man in every bookstore, wondering if it's him.

CHLOE

I mean, like, are we gonna keep working together?

GREG

What would we do?

(to audience)
I even followed one guy home.

CHLOE

Maybe we could write a book together. Like you talked about before. In the beginning.

GREG

Sure. Whatever.