Emily by Jonathan Calindas 8/25/1996 Jonathan Calindas 419 Elmora Ave Elizabeth, NJ 07208 (908) 352-7956 jvcalin@hotmail.com Characters: Emily Will (A small apartment in Manhattan. Books, papers, clothes, and food containers lie on all usable surfaces. will is at his desk behind a pile of books, studying. There is a knock on the door. Will looks up curiously then gets up and opens it, revealing Emily. She is clearly distraught and somewhat delirious. Will regards her for a beat or two.) Will: Emily. (Pause) Emily: Hi. (Pause) Will: What are you doing here? Emily: I, ah... I was around and... I thought I'd stop by to say hi. (Pause) Will: Yeah. Right. Emily: I just... I... (struggling) I... Will: What? Emily: May I come in? Will: Emily... Emily: Please? (Will regards her pained face. Will backs up enough for her to get in and shut the door and as she does, he is close enough that her back is to the door.) Will: What's the matter, Emily? Emily: Nothing. Why would you think anything... Will: What is the matter, Emily? Emily: Nothing, nothing's the matter. Will: What is the matter?! (Pause) Emily: Look... I was with a bunch of girlfriends and, we got really drunk, and I didn't want to drive home with them, so, I... Yours was the only place around here I could get to. (Pause) Will: I don't have time for this, Em. I've got a big exam tomorrow. Emily: On what? Will: Who the hell cares?! What do you want Em?! Emily: I just need a place to crash for the night. Will: You can't stay here. Emily: I'll be really quiet. You can go on studying, I'll just sit somewhere and I won't bother you. Will: Can't you call anyone to pick you up? Emily: No. Will: With all the people that you hang out with, you don't know anyone that can pick you up. Emily: No. Will: I'll call you a cab. Emily: To Long Island? Will: Yes. Emily: I don't have enough cash on me. Will: Look Em... Emily: Please, Will... Will: Em... Emily: I can't go anywhere right now. I just need a place to sit down for a while... to get myself together... PLEASE!!! Will: Don't scream at me, Em. Emily: I'm sorry. I just... I just need to get myself together... you see... Will: No Em. I don't want to know. Emily: It's Gerald... Will: Look, I don't know who you're seeing right now, and I really don't care. Everytime you mess up with one of your boyfriends you come back to me. I don't know how it happens, but I fall for you again, only to have you leave me again. It's not gonna happen again Em! It's not! I want you out of my life! (Pause) Emily: Just for tonight. Tomorrow you'll wake up and I'll be gone from your life forever. Will: I don't believe you. Emily: Please Will, why are you so cruel to me? Will: I'M NOT CRUEL EM! Don't you see? You bring all this out of me. I'm not like this. Just looking at you, I remember the times that you've hurt me, and all this hate within me emerges once again. And what's more, I hate myself for what I have to do to keep you from hurting me again. Emily: I'm sorry. (Emily sits on the sofa.) Will: You bring out everything bad about me. Everytime I'm with you, I'm drinking, and going out, and failing all my classes... Well, it's been six months Em. Six months since I woke up that morning to find your note. And since that time without you, I've been rebuilding my life. It took me three months to quit drinking, and I've pulled every string I could to make the Dean let me stay in school, and you know what Em? I'm doing well. Do you believe it Em? I'm actually doing very well in school. I'm not letting you destroy again, Em! I'm not! (There is a long pause. Emily is staring into space.) Will: Hey, look... Em... Emily... Hey... Oh shit... I can't live the kind of life you live Em... Hey Em... Emily: When you wake up I'll be gone from you life forever. (Pause) Will: Ok. You can stay. (Pause. She looks at him as if saying "thank you". Will goes back to his books. Emily lies on the sofa. He tries to study, but he can't concentrate. He goes and sits by her.) Will: Hey, Em. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that. (No response) Shit, I'm gonna fail another exam... Look, Em... Em, what has happened to you? Why do you lead the kind of life that you do? It's gonna get you killed someday. Not all men are like me. There are sons of bitches out there that could really hurt you. (Long pause. Emily continues to stare into space. Will gets up and pours her a glass of water.) Here you go. (Emily does not move. He puts the glass to her lips. She takes a minute sip.) Emily? (She looks at him longingly.) Emily: Hold me. (He pulls her up and she clings to him tightly. They stay like that for a few beats.) Will: Emily. (Pause) Emily, what's wrong? Emily: Nothing. Will: Who were you with today? Emily: No-one. Will: Em... you're shivering. Emily: Please Will... I don't want to talk about it. Will: Are you all right? Emily: Yes. (They release the embrace and stare at each other in the eye. Will holds her chin and kisses her passionately.) Will: I've always loved you Em. (They kiss tenderly and fall to the sofa as the lights black out. When the lights come back up, Will is naked under the sheets on the sofa. Emily enters in a bathrobe and her hair wet after coming in from a long bath. She sits on a chair and watches Will for a long while. She goes to her purse and takes out a small gun. She stares at it for a while then walks up to Will and shoots him in the head. Black out.)