An Almost Perfect Thing (9 page)

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

I want you to marry me.

CHLOE

Please?

GREG

I can't—

MATHEW

I want us to be normal.

CHLOE

Like boyfriend and girlfriend.

MATHEW

Man and wife.

CHLOE

We'll run away. Be free. You don't have anyone else. I'll take care of you.

MATHEW

For the rest of my life.

CHLOE

Hold me. Please—

MATHEW

—let me have you.

CHLOE

Please.

MATHEW

I've waited so long. I need to touch you. I need to feel—

CHLOE

What will it take? Details, right? The worst punishment I got was when he'd stop talking to me. I'd rather be beat up, tied up, swore at, spit at, forced to wash his feet than ignored.

MATHEW

I'd see you reading or dancing around the kitchen and I wanted so badly to feel you. To kiss you. But I didn't. I'd go in my room and bang my head on the wall until I beat the thoughts out of me. Or I'd go to the street and pick up some woman and pretend she was you.

CHLOE

I'd lay awake sometimes, wishing I was asleep while he touched himself in my room. He'd bump into me so he could grab me or touch me without feeling guilty. And, after a while, I wanted him to touch me. So that I could be touched by someone. How sick is that, hey, Greg? I'll give you those details. I'll make them up if I have to. I need—

MATHEW

—you to touch me.

CHLOE

—kiss me.

MATHEW

Be with me.

CHLOE

Stay with me.

MATHEW

Please.

CHLOE

I don't have anyone else.

MATHEW

I can't wait anymore. I need you.

CHLOE

Please, please, please…

MATHEW

Please…

CHLOE

Please, please…

Beat. Beat.

GREG

Give me his name.

Beat.

CHLOE

No.

SCENE TEN

Shift. GREG and CHLOE address the audience. MATHEW is in his house. MATHEW's scene is the same as from the beginning of the play.

GREG

Miracle Girl Lies. Question Mark.

I apologize. To you. My readers. When I began this, I had her and your best interests in mind. However—

CHLOE

I can no longer say without a doubt what the truth is.

GREG

Was Chloe Evans locked up? Did she suffer unimaginable physical and sexual abuse at the hands of a monster?

CHLOE

My story…

GREG

Or did she live upstairs willingly? Cook his meals, sleep in his bed, go on day trips, vacations even? Is she in on it? Does she still talk to him? Did she just want her fifteen minutes of fame?

CHLOE

You took my story…

GREG

Or… was she even there at all?

CHLOE

You undid everything.

GREG

Is any of it true? You deserve the truth and I'm no longer sure that I'm giving it to you. And for that, I'm deeply sorry. Like you, I wanted to believe her. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. I let my compassion cloud my judgment. To the Miracle Girl…

CHLOE

I survived.

GREG

Telling the truth requires bravery. When you're ready to be brave—

CHLOE

I saved myself.

GREG

—you know where to find me.

MATHEW

Chloe?

GREG

If she thinks they don't believe her she'll have to prove it.

MATHEW

My head is… groggy… Fell asleep… I fell asleep…

GREG

My plan works. But not how I think.

CHLOE

Two days later—

GREG

I get to work and find a package sitting on my desk.

CHLOE

There's a letter in my mailbox.

GREG/CHLOE

It's from him.

GREG

On the top, a handwritten note:

MATHEW

Chloe?

GREG

"You say you don't know what the truth is, Mr. Kalowitz. Well, here's the truth. My truth."

MATHEW

Chloe!

GREG

Pages and pages of writing.

CHLOE

One scrap of paper.

GREG

Read the first page.

MATHEW

Chloe!

CHLOE

My love.

GREG

"Once upon a time there was a girl. She falls from the sky it seems. Out of nowhere, really."

MATHEW

Breathe… five… four…

CHLOE

I waited for you.

MATHEW

Three… two…

CHLOE

Praying you'd come back.

MATHEW

One…

GREG

"She appears like an angel."

CHLOE

I read about you in the paper. My girl on the front page.

MATHEW

Turn on the light…

CHLOE

I wrote our story. My story. The truth.

MATHEW

Downstairs…

CHLOE

They'll believe us now, Chloe. They won't say such bad things about you. And it'll be me who's on the front page.

MATHEW

The door is… open.

CHLOE

But that means I have to go now. My mum was right. You can't make someone love you.

MATHEW

Chloe…

CHLOE

But in the end—

GREG

It's signed—

CHLOE

You'll always be my everything.

GREG

Mathew Quinn. Name. Address.

MATHEW

Where is she?

GREG

I have to see him.

CHLOE

He has to still be there.

MATHEW

She… must… be…

GREG

Get in my car.

CHLOE

Run.

GREG

Drive.

MATHEW

Search. Outside. Inside. Under the bed.

CHLOE

Legs burning—

GREG

Sweat dripping. I have to see the house.

MATHEW

Chloe…

GREG

Go to the door.

MATHEW

She said she'd never…

GREG

Be the first to describe—

CHLOE

His eyes, his smile—

GREG

The way he speaks, holds his arms, everything.

MATHEW

Grab my gun.

CHLOE

I feel—

GREG

I'm on fire.

MATHEW

Chloe!

CHLOE

The thought—

GREG

Of me catching him—

MATHEW

Gun to my temple.

GREG

Our faces side by side—

MATHEW

Metal against skin. Chloe—

CHLOE

Mathew—

GREG

On the front page.

CHLOE

Three.

GREG

Two.

MATHEW

One.

ALL

I see it.

CHLOE

Like a piece of heaven—

MATHEW

—and hell—

GREG

—all mixed in one.

MATHEW

A note.

GREG

The house.

CHLOE

Home.

GREG

Walk to the door.

CHLOE

Run inside.

MATHEW

Finger off the trigger.

GREG

It's partially open.

CHLOE

Mathew?

GREG

Hello?

MATHEW

Lower my gun.

CHLOE

He's not here.

MATHEW

Pick up the note.

CHLOE

It's too late.

GREG

Have to go in.

CHLOE

Have to get out.

GREG

See that face. Look in those eyes. Know that I caught him.

GREG/CHLOE

Save myself.

GREG

Hello?

MATHEW

It's from Chloe.

GREG

A piece of paper on the table beside the door. It says my name.

MATHEW

"Dearest MATHEW—"

GREG

"Dear GREG—"

MATHEW and GREG both reading notes from CHLOE.

MATHEW

"I know you're holding the gun."

GREG

"I knew you'd come here."

MATHEW

"Put it down. Please."

GREG

"I had to go."

MATHEW

"You know that."

GREG

"I want to. It's my choice."

MATHEW

"I had to give myself a chance. At something else. It doesn't mean I don't love you."

GREG

"Tell my dad I'm sorry."

MATHEW

"Someday, years from now, when everyone has forgotten, maybe we can see each other. Drink black tea and play checkers. Like we always do."

GREG

"I left my writing. Now you have my story. And you have his. All you need is yours."

MATHEW

"I'll never give them your name. Cross my heart and hope to die. But if something happens, and they start to come after you, I want you to run. Go up to our bridge. Where you feel calm. Way up high. I want you stand on the ledge—"

GREG

"Good luck with your writing, Greg. I hope they love you as much as I did."

CHLOE

—look down on the beauty below, throw your arms up, and just let go. Free for the first time in your whole life. Finally free.

SCENE ELEVEN

Shift. Bar. To the audience.

GREG

So, I'm at this party. Opening of a new martini bar called Heaven. And it is. Music pounding. Drinks flowing. Everyone in the devil's version of their Sunday best.

He waves to someone.

People are angry. They say I pushed her away. I did it. I made her run.

But still… They buy the book. They make sure it's a bestseller. His story, hers, mine. All interwoven. I travel the world promoting it. Talking about the experience. And now… bigger city. Better job. My colleagues look at me differently, which is, you know… nice.

Beat.

They found his body two days later. I figured they would. But as for Chloe Evans, Miracle Girl… she has disappeared. Some people say they've seen her. But no one has concrete evidence. Most people assume she… you know… but so far, nothing. So hopefully… she's free.

Beat.

Free. Like me.

Beat.

I search the bar.

Beat.

For someone…

Beat.

Anyone…

The end.

Acknowledgements

Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Alberta Playwrights' Network, Michael Clark, Conni Massing,
WWT
Playwrights Unit, and Elyne Quan.

Nicole Moeller is an Edmonton-based playwright and a graduate of Grant MacEwan University's Journalism and Theatre Arts programs. She has received various awards for her work. Other plays include
Without You
,
My Gay Husband. What an Asshole
, and an adaptation of Sartre's
Erostratus
. Her short story "The Girl in the Snowshoes" is published in the anthology
40 Below
.