SOMETIMES NO MEANS YES: EXCERPT

EXCERPT FROM THE SHORT PLAY

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TOM (to Luke, getting upset)

And you, and you, you, you were into this thing? You liked it when she, when she, like -

LUKE

I liked her liking it.

Beat.

LUKE (cont'd)

And yeah, I guess... but, you know, I knew it was all acting. I knew it. So after a while it

just, it sorta became the new norm. I need to get that water.

CHRIS

I’ll get it.

Chris leaves and a tap goes off in the next room.

TOM

That’s sick. You’re both sick.

Tom, still on the floor, leans against the sofa with his head in his hands. Chris returns with the water.

LUKE

Thank you.

He drinks.

LUKE (cont'd)

And so it... There's this thing called hedonic adaptation, right.

CHRIS

Yeah but that's about –

LUKE It's about how humans get used to everything. EVERYTHING. You dream all your life about buying a yacht, you work your arse off, buy the yacht, you're over the fucking moon, three months pass, what do you want? A bigger fucking yacht. It's in our DNA. To keep, to keep pushing.

TOM

So Karen was your... yacht?

Beat.

CHRIS

The rape fantasy was his yacht.

They look at Tom. Tom doesn’t get it.

CHRIS (cont'd)

He kept going.

LUKE

She always wanted me to keep going.

CHRIS

When you were in a relationship.

LUKE

People have... people have relapses all the time.

CHRIS

You wanted a bigger yacht.

LUKE

FUCK.

Beat.

LUKE (cont'd)

But it's... it's like, it's like, that wasn't even me. That person. You know?

CHRIS Not an acceptable excuse, sorry, you're not a schizophrenic.

LUKE

Well, I'm a.... fuckophrenic!

Beat.

LUKE (cont'd)

You have all these things you say you'll never do. Right? But then, you're there, she's all superior and... fuck, she was half out the door. Holding her goddamn rose box. The one she got in Marrakech. She dragged it home on the... and there was this part of me. I mean it was me. It was me. And I thought, I felt. It was like an itch. A bite. You know you say you’re not gonna scratch, and...? And then you think. Fuck it. I deserve this. And I’m going to take it.

Beat.

LUKE (cont'd)

The book said it’s easier to apologise than ask for permission.

CHRIS

Forget the book.