Free Love of Her Life by C.Y. Dillon Page B

Ares
    and Aphrodite, I won't even try. 
    I'll wear jammies. 
     
    She glares at him and bursts out laughing. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Jammies?  You can sleep on the floor. 
     
    MIKE
    I have a bad back. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Wonderful.  How can you be a god
    with a bad back?  Orion is a god in
    bed. 
     
    The Bartender laughs.  He sets the drink in front of Mike and lingers within earshot. 
     
    MIKE
    "What if I was in a wheelchair?" He
    said you said--
     
    HARMONIA
    He said I said.  Whatever.  I said
    it to him.  Not you. 
     
    MIKE
    I've read--
     
    HARMONIA
    What?  What have you read?  The Kama
    Sutra?
     
    MIKE
    What's that?
     
    Harmonia smirks. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Look for it at Amazon.  "Kama Sutra
    for Dummies.  " Being a god isn't about
    what you do to body parts. 
     
    MIKE
    Wow.  Orion didn't say you're cruel. 
     
    HARMONIA
    I'm being polite.  Please go.  See
    if there's a lonely woman here who's
    looking for company. 
     
    MIKE
    That'd be you. 
     
    He sips his drink. 
     
    HARMONIA
    It's not me. 
     
    She sucks the last of the whipped cream off the straw. 
     
    MIKE
    Like it or not, that's what you are. 
    Lonely.  Looking for your soul mate. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Does Orion find you charming? 
     
    The Bartender laughs.  She looks, inquiring, at the Bartender. 
     
    BARTENDER
    Sorry.  Occupational hazard. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Who cares anyway?  I'm sure I can't
    make myself.  Why did he send you? 
     
    MIKE
    He says I could be your soul mate. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Bull shit.  He's testing me. 
     
    The Bartender tends to business at the other end of the bar. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Do you know Eric?
     
    MIKE
    Sure I know Eric.  He works at the
    Flamingo. 
     
    HARMONIA
    You're all poker dealers?
     
    MIKE
    I'm a hotel manager.  Eric is a
    player. 
     
    HARMONIA
    What's he really like?
     
    MIKE
    Eric?
     
    HARMONIA
    Orion. 
     
    She gets a dreamy look on her face. 
     
    HARMONIA
    It's the least you could do as a
    gentleman.  Tell me about him. 
     
    MIKE
    Nothing special.  You wouldn't notice
    him if you met him in everyday life. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Is he really a Sasquatch?  Six-foot-
    four and hairy all over?
     
    MIKE
    Harmonia, wake up.  On the internet,
    all a man's got to do is type what a
    woman wants. 
     
    She grimaces. 
     
    HARMONIA
    We've spent hours on the phone.  I
    like Orion for who he is inside.  I
    don't care what he looks like, really. 
    Is today his 30th birthday?
     
    MIKE
    Yes. 
     
    She looks quite sad. 
     
    HARMONIA
    What is wrong with that man?  What
    is he doing?  How could he possibly--
    did his children plan something for
    him?
     
    MIKE
    No.  He hasn't heard from them in
    years. 
     
    She shakes her head. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Pitiful.  The autistic one makes sense. 
    Why are the other two so upset at him? 
     
    MIKE
    I wouldn't say if I knew. 
     
    HARMONIA
    He must have done something.  There's
    something he's scared to tell me. 
     
    The Bartender tidies up nearby. 
     
    BARTENDER
    If a man--excuse me, do you mind?
     
    HARMONIA
    Speak your mind.  You intrigue me. 
     
    BARTENDER
    Why, because I figured you for a
    Peppermint Patty and a list-keeper?
     
    HARMONIA
    You sound so much like him.  It's
    almost like listening to him, which
    I could for hours.  Go on, give me a
    dime's worth. 
     
    BARTENDER
    If a man feels he's committed the
    unforgivable sin, he'll carry that
    secret to his grave. 
     
    The three of them ponder in silence. 
     
    The Bartender adds cherries and limes to a tray that's low on condiments. 
     
    Mike squeezes a lime into his drink. 
     
    Harmonia stirs whipped cream and licks the straw. 
     
    HARMONIA
    I could forgive Ri anything. 
     
    BARTENDER
    I reckon he can't imagine that. 
     
    HARMONIA
    We've all committed the unforgivable. 
    The only way to live is to forgive
    yourself first. 
     
    BARTENDER
    Spill it, sister. 
     
    HARMONIA
    Use your imagination.  Whatever you
    think it was, tell yourself it could
    be