scene from Food For Fish--draft

(ALICE and JAMES in the restaurant. ALICE is about to take blood.) ALICE This is going to pinch just a little. JAMES Is that really necessary? I’m not good with needles. ALICE Do you want there to be a second date? JAMES Will there be a second date? ALICE Not if you keep whining. JAMES I’m not whining. ALICE Be a man. JAMES I just don’t want to faint and hit my head again. ALICE Will you stay still so I can find a good vein? JAMES Can we not talk about veins please? ALICE This is going to pinch just a little. JAMES No, no wait. ALICE What? JAMES OK. Go ahead. (ALICE takes blood. JAMES faints.) ALICE Oh, shit. (ALICE picks up a glass of water and throws it in JAMES’s face. JAMES wakes up.) JAMES What? What is it? ALICE You fainted. JAMES Where am I? ALICE You know, James, I’m thinking I may stop dating altogether. JAMES I love you. ALICE It’s not you. Although the needle thing is kind of annoying. JAMES Needle? (JAMES begins to faint again. ALICE slaps him awake.) ALICE Stop that now. OK? You there? What was I saying? Oh yes. So I’m sorry but I don’t think there will be a second date. JAMES Is your name Alice? ALICE Will you focus please? JAMES Everything’s so far away. ALICE I know. That’s always the way it is, isn’t it? The thing we really want is always so far from our grasp. You just really want one thing, right? It’s all you want and no matter what you can never have it. No matter what you do or how cute you dress. It will never happen for you. And you move through every day hoping for a compliment or a smile—some little thing from him—one little crumb or two and you know it’s all you’ll ever get but still you live for it. And then he goes away and won’t answer the phone and you may never see him again and so what’s the point, I ask you? What’s the point of getting through the day if he’s not there at the end of it? Why go on? JAMES Are you talking about suicide? ALICE No. Yes. I don’t know. I mean life is suffering, isn’t it? JAMES That’s what Catholics believe. ALICE Maybe I’m not supposed to be happy. I do have my work, which is I suppose in some ways just a veiled attempt to get what I want or at least deal with it. Maybe it’s not completely hopeless. My sister could die or he could suddenly see he loves me. Maybe you’re right though, maybe if you can’t get what you want in this life you should just kill yourself. JAMES Did I say that? ALICE I don’t know. Maybe I’m not even depressed enough for that. Maybe next week. I just want to go to sleep. JAMES Me too. Hey, why do I feel woozy? ALICE (Holding up vial of blood.) I took some blood. (JAMES faints again.)