Surprise Visitor
by Emily Reed
ACT ONE, SCENE ONE
(Curtain opens to display a mundane living room, stage left. A door marks the entrance. KATE enters stage right and walks to the door.)
KATE: (knocks three times)
ALICE: (opens the door) Well hello, stranger! Long time no see!
KATE: (chuckles) And by long time, you mean only yesterday when we saw each other at the supermarket.
ALICE: That's true but before that, I hadn't seen you since high school. So come in, we need time to catch up.
KATE: (walks into the entryway of the living room)
ALICE: Do you want anything to drink? Water? Coffee? Tea?
KATE: No, I'm fine thanks.
ALICE: Well, alright. Go ahead and sit on the couch, kick off your shoes, and stay awhile. I'll be back in a second, I have to grab my cup of coffee. You know how I can't live without it!
(ALICE exits left)
KATE: (grumbles) Oh, I remember.
(moments of silence pass as KATE plays with her hair and twiddles her thumbs in an effort to pass the time. ALICE enters and sits down on the chair across from KATE.)
ALICE: I'm back! Now where were we?
KATE: Nowhere.
ALICE: Ah, there's the Kate I remember. You always have a smartalec reply that you insist on sharing even when no one wants to hear it.
KATE: I didn't come here to be attacked.
ALICE: Then try being a little more polite. (pause) Have you been to the new Mexican restaurant downtown yet? I hear they make the BEST empanadas. Have you taken your son there yet? That reminds me, how's he doing? How old is he now... is he in middle school?
KATE: Alice, cut the crap. Don't pretend to care about me or what's going on in my life.
ALICE: Well sorry, I was just trying to be nice!
KATE: That's exactly the problem! You think that being nice is about checking items off a list. You ask guests the right questions, show an appropriate amount of interest in the answers, and throw in a little community service, helping the homeless, and BAM! You're nice.
ALICE: It's not like that...
KATE: Oh, really now? During senior year, you seemed perfectly fine with that definition.
ALICE: Well, that was high school.
KATE: But have you really changed? Let's face it. The real reason why you asked me into your house has nothing to do with wanting to catch up with me. Instead, you view me as a missed opportunity. A charity case you didn't capitalize on. You're fixing your mistake by talking to me now so that you can post about it on Facebook with hashtag help the less fortunate.
ALICE: Where did all of this bitterness come from? I thought you'd have moved on by now.
KATE: I can't just forget the fact that you left me when I needed you the most. I was knocked up, pregnant, and alone. Kicked out of my parents' house because they believed being raped equalled being promiscuous. I came to you for help and you thought it would smudge your perfectly manicured nails to get it involved.
ALICE: (tearing up) Kate, I...
KATE: Yeah, that's right, you don't have a suitable excuse.
ALICE: We were best friends since kindergarten and I'm sorry for ruining that friendship.
KATE: Yet you're not specifically sorry for abandoning me. All these years I've wondered, why'd you do it? Was it because of peer pressure from friends? Did you think you'd be kicked out of their little group if you helped the weird pregnant girl?
ALICE: I really don't remember exactly why I did it, like I said, I didn't realize this would be a big deal. I probably did it because I wanted to be liked and helping the school's newest reject wouldn't do me any favors. It was a silly reason.
KATE: I realize we were going our separate ways when high school started but in the name of old times, you could have cared at least a little! You see, care and compassion are the key components of being nice. You have neither.
ALICE: I've changed since then. I see that what I did was wrong. Popularity doesn't really matter because I don't talk to my friends from high school outside of Facebook. And you hear the noise in this huge house? (pause) Crickets. When my husband was alive, this house used to be filled with jazz music! Now I can't bear to hear it. I go through the stages of asking polite questions because that's what I used to do at my husband's business dinners. My therapist says it's my way to cope. Really, we aren't too different anymore. A widow and a single mom.
KATE: My condolences on your husband's passing.
ALICE: Thank you... make sure to love your boy. Before you know it, he'll be 18 and out of the house so treasure these moments while you can.
KATE: Wait, how do you know my child is a boy? Do you remember it from the newspaper clipping or a bit of gossip?
ALICE: I'd like to say the newspaper clipping but I'm not sure.
KATE: Well at least you're honest. Listen, I apologize for immediately judging you and being rash. You might have changed but right now I don't have the energy and the capacity for forgiveness to find out. I came here because I had a bone to pick and now that bone is chewed. Maybe we should go to the new Mexican restaurant and get empanadas for our next meeting?
ALICE: Yeah, that sounds good to me. How about next Thursday at noon?
KATE: Works for me. Well... thank you for having me over, it's been truly eye-opening. (stands up and tries to walk to the door)
ALICE: (walks to KATE and grabs KATE'S shirt sleeve) I truly am sorry.
KATE: (shrugs off your hand) Give me a week and I'll be the judge of the truth in that statement. You really hurt me, Alice. Repairing that amount of damage is difficult.
(KATE shuts the door behind herself. ALICE walks back into the living room and plops onto the couch. She rubs her temples and then drinks a sip of coffee as the curtain falls.)
END
(Curtain opens to display a mundane living room, stage left. A door marks the entrance. KATE enters stage right and walks to the door.)
KATE: (knocks three times)
ALICE: (opens the door) Well hello, stranger! Long time no see!
KATE: (chuckles) And by long time, you mean only yesterday when we saw each other at the supermarket.
ALICE: That's true but before that, I hadn't seen you since high school. So come in, we need time to catch up.
KATE: (walks into the entryway of the living room)
ALICE: Do you want anything to drink? Water? Coffee? Tea?
KATE: No, I'm fine thanks.
ALICE: Well, alright. Go ahead and sit on the couch, kick off your shoes, and stay awhile. I'll be back in a second, I have to grab my cup of coffee. You know how I can't live without it!
(ALICE exits left)
KATE: (grumbles) Oh, I remember.
(moments of silence pass as KATE plays with her hair and twiddles her thumbs in an effort to pass the time. ALICE enters and sits down on the chair across from KATE.)
ALICE: I'm back! Now where were we?
KATE: Nowhere.
ALICE: Ah, there's the Kate I remember. You always have a smartalec reply that you insist on sharing even when no one wants to hear it.
KATE: I didn't come here to be attacked.
ALICE: Then try being a little more polite. (pause) Have you been to the new Mexican restaurant downtown yet? I hear they make the BEST empanadas. Have you taken your son there yet? That reminds me, how's he doing? How old is he now... is he in middle school?
KATE: Alice, cut the crap. Don't pretend to care about me or what's going on in my life.
ALICE: Well sorry, I was just trying to be nice!
KATE: That's exactly the problem! You think that being nice is about checking items off a list. You ask guests the right questions, show an appropriate amount of interest in the answers, and throw in a little community service, helping the homeless, and BAM! You're nice.
ALICE: It's not like that...
KATE: Oh, really now? During senior year, you seemed perfectly fine with that definition.
ALICE: Well, that was high school.
KATE: But have you really changed? Let's face it. The real reason why you asked me into your house has nothing to do with wanting to catch up with me. Instead, you view me as a missed opportunity. A charity case you didn't capitalize on. You're fixing your mistake by talking to me now so that you can post about it on Facebook with hashtag help the less fortunate.
ALICE: Where did all of this bitterness come from? I thought you'd have moved on by now.
KATE: I can't just forget the fact that you left me when I needed you the most. I was knocked up, pregnant, and alone. Kicked out of my parents' house because they believed being raped equalled being promiscuous. I came to you for help and you thought it would smudge your perfectly manicured nails to get it involved.
ALICE: (tearing up) Kate, I...
KATE: Yeah, that's right, you don't have a suitable excuse.
ALICE: We were best friends since kindergarten and I'm sorry for ruining that friendship.
KATE: Yet you're not specifically sorry for abandoning me. All these years I've wondered, why'd you do it? Was it because of peer pressure from friends? Did you think you'd be kicked out of their little group if you helped the weird pregnant girl?
ALICE: I really don't remember exactly why I did it, like I said, I didn't realize this would be a big deal. I probably did it because I wanted to be liked and helping the school's newest reject wouldn't do me any favors. It was a silly reason.
KATE: I realize we were going our separate ways when high school started but in the name of old times, you could have cared at least a little! You see, care and compassion are the key components of being nice. You have neither.
ALICE: I've changed since then. I see that what I did was wrong. Popularity doesn't really matter because I don't talk to my friends from high school outside of Facebook. And you hear the noise in this huge house? (pause) Crickets. When my husband was alive, this house used to be filled with jazz music! Now I can't bear to hear it. I go through the stages of asking polite questions because that's what I used to do at my husband's business dinners. My therapist says it's my way to cope. Really, we aren't too different anymore. A widow and a single mom.
KATE: My condolences on your husband's passing.
ALICE: Thank you... make sure to love your boy. Before you know it, he'll be 18 and out of the house so treasure these moments while you can.
KATE: Wait, how do you know my child is a boy? Do you remember it from the newspaper clipping or a bit of gossip?
ALICE: I'd like to say the newspaper clipping but I'm not sure.
KATE: Well at least you're honest. Listen, I apologize for immediately judging you and being rash. You might have changed but right now I don't have the energy and the capacity for forgiveness to find out. I came here because I had a bone to pick and now that bone is chewed. Maybe we should go to the new Mexican restaurant and get empanadas for our next meeting?
ALICE: Yeah, that sounds good to me. How about next Thursday at noon?
KATE: Works for me. Well... thank you for having me over, it's been truly eye-opening. (stands up and tries to walk to the door)
ALICE: (walks to KATE and grabs KATE'S shirt sleeve) I truly am sorry.
KATE: (shrugs off your hand) Give me a week and I'll be the judge of the truth in that statement. You really hurt me, Alice. Repairing that amount of damage is difficult.
(KATE shuts the door behind herself. ALICE walks back into the living room and plops onto the couch. She rubs her temples and then drinks a sip of coffee as the curtain falls.)
END