Between the Sheets Read Online Free PDF Page B

age.
    TERESA
    Well, I’ve been thinking about it my whole life so…
    They look at one another.
    MARION
    (quietly)
I miscarried.
    Beat.
    (quietly)
Did he tell you that?
    TERESA shakes her head no.
    Twice. The first time I wasn’t very far along, but the second time… I had to deliver. It was awful, it…
    She stops herself.
    Curtis was heartbroken. That whole period of time…
    She stops herself.
    No one tells you that it might be difficult. That it might not happen the way you imagine. You expect that when you want to have a child… you’ll be able to. That it will…
    She looks at TERESA
    You have options. You can adopt.
    TERESA
    Would you have adopted?
    MARION
    We talked about it.
    TERESA
    And?
    MARION
    And… Curtis wanted to keep trying. Then we had Alex.
    Beat.
    It’s hard, you know… whether you have a child or not… it’s hard.
    TERESA
    (quietly)
Some things make it harder.
    MARION
    Having a child, it…
    Beat.
    It’s the most complicated, wonderful, horrific relationship I’ve ever had.
    TERESA
    Alex means well.
    MARION
    Of course he does. He’s my baby. He’s just…
    MARION stops herself.
    She rubs her eyes. She breathes heavily.
    TERESA
    Are you all right?
    MARION
    I think I’m just tired.
    MARION sits at one of the small desks.
    I’m exhausted, actually.
    Beat.
    TERESA
    Me too.
    They look at one another.
    Beat.
    MARION
    Sometimes I just want to be left alone somewhere… far away… where no one can find me.
    MARION looks off, lost in thought.
    TERESA watches her closely.
    TERESA
    He knows that.
    MARION
    What?
    TERESA
    Curtis. He knows that you want to be left alone.
    MARION
    I didn’t mean literally.
    TERESA
    Still… he can tell. He can feel that you—
    MARION
    Being left and being left alone are two very different things.
    Beat.
    TERESA
    He’s tried.
    MARION
    Tried?
    TERESA
    He’s suggested that you see someone together.
    MARION
    That doesn’t constitute trying. The man’s just given up.
    TERESA
    He hasn’t given up.
    MARION
    No?
    TERESA
    No. He…
    She stops herself.
    He wants his life to be different.
    MARION
    We all do. We all want our lives to be different. But that doesn’t give him permission to live his life however he wants… to just exit his marriage.
    I’ve had opportunities too, you know… to be with other men. But I would never act on it. I would never do that to him.
    The worst part is he hasn’t even given me a chance.
    TERESA
    He has given you a chance.
    MARION
    No, he hasn’t. He has never sat me down and talked to me about it.
    TERESA
    He has. You don’t…
    She stops herself.
    MARION
    What? I don’t what?
    TERESA
    Listen!
    MARION
    That is not true.
    TERESA
    He’s told me… he has tried to talk to you about it… but you change the subject or you leave the room. He’s told me… you’ve literally left the room midconversation because he brought something up that you didn’t want to hear.
    MARION
    Once. That happened once.
    TERESA
    Everything has to be your way… all the time.
    MARION
    I shouldn’t have to apologize for having high expectations.
    TERESA
    You’re right. You shouldn’t. But if he can’t talk to you… if you won’t listen to him—
    MARION
    I listen!
    TERESA
    How is it any kind of partnership if you don’t—
    MARION
    You’ve never been married. What the hell would you know about—
    TERESA
    I know that if you love someone, if you respect them—
    MARION
    It’s not as easy as just—
    TERESA
    Are you in love with him?
    Beat.
    MARION
    That is a very difficult question to answer.
    TERESA
    Well, it shouldn’t be.
    MARION
    Well… it is.
    Beat.
    When you’ve lived with someone… when you’ve known someone as long as we’ve known each other, it…
    She stops herself.
    We also used to talk all the time. When we first met…