Free An Almost Perfect Thing by Nicole Moeller
Authors: Nicole Moeller
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 danceâ¦
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 spendâ¦
CHLOE
Kiss me.
MATHEW
I want you toâ¦
CHLOE
Please kiss me.
GREG
Chloeâ
MATHEW
I want you to marry me.
CHLOE
Please?
GREG
I can'tâ
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. Pleaseâ
MATHEW
âlet me have you.
CHLOE
Please.
MATHEW
I've waited so long. I need to touch you. I need to feelâ
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 needâ
MATHEW
âyou to touch me.
CHLOE
âkiss 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, pleaseâ¦
MATHEW
Pleaseâ¦
CHLOE
Please, pleaseâ¦
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. Howeverâ
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 storyâ¦
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 storyâ¦
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 Girlâ¦
CHLOE
I survived.
GREG
Telling the
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 danceâ¦
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 spendâ¦
CHLOE
Kiss me.
MATHEW
I want you toâ¦
CHLOE
Please kiss me.
GREG
Chloeâ
MATHEW
I want you to marry me.
CHLOE
Please?
GREG
I can'tâ
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. Pleaseâ
MATHEW
âlet me have you.
CHLOE
Please.
MATHEW
I've waited so long. I need to touch you. I need to feelâ
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 needâ
MATHEW
âyou to touch me.
CHLOE
âkiss 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, pleaseâ¦
MATHEW
Pleaseâ¦
CHLOE
Please, pleaseâ¦
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. Howeverâ
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 storyâ¦
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 storyâ¦
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 Girlâ¦
CHLOE
I survived.
GREG
Telling the
Similar Books
All or Nothing
Belladonna Bordeaux
Surgeon at Arms
Richard Gordon
A Change of Fortune
Sandra Heath
Melody (THE LOGAN FAMILY)
Stacy-Deanne
Witness to a Trial
John Grisham
The One Thing
Marci Lyn Curtis
Heartland Courtship
Lyn Cote
Y: A Novel
Marjorie Celona
Leap
Jodi Lundgren
Shark Girl
Kelly Bingham