CHARACTERS:
WILL: A thirty-ish man, unshaved, wearing baggy dancing clothes.
SOPHIA: A young woman, very pretty.
DANCERS
[The curtain opens on a group performing hip-hop dancing on a whole song. WILL and SOPHIA dance in the centre.]
WILL: Right guys! That was awesome… We’re almost there.
[He gets a towel from a chair on the side and wipes the sweat off his face. As he does so, the dancers gather their stuff.]
See you on Tuesday. Do some stretching sometime!
[The dancers leave. SOPHIA sits herself on the floor and stretches herself. WILL joins her. They keep stretching for a few minutes in silence. SOPHIA glances at WILL from time to time. ]
SOPHIA: You’ve lost some weight recently.
[WILL levels his gaze on the woman and shrugs.]
WILL: Not really.
[He goes back to his stretching. She stares at him, in silence.]
SOPHIA: You’re not eating properly, are you?
[He looks up and laughs at her reproving glare.]
WILL: Come on, little Sophia, I’m all right. Don’t glare at me like that! I needed to get in shape a bit, so I stopped soda and chips.
[SOPHIA looks surprised, and frowns. She stands up to stretch more but keeps her eyes on WILL, though her expression grows sweeter.]
SOPHIA: You want to have… [She bends to touch her feet with her fingers.] …dinner… [She breathes out.]… with me sometime?
[He rolls on his back and lies staring at the ceiling.]
WILL: Will I be the one to cook?
[SOPHIA stops her stretching, walks toward him, puts her feet on his chest and glares down at him.]
SOPHIA: As if! Why do you always have to ridicule me when I’m serious?
[She wants to turn back but he grabs her ankle.]
WILL: You’re angry, little Sophia.
[He smiles innocently.]
Don’t be, you’ll get wrinkles on your lovely face.
[For a split second, she looks unsettled, then lets herself fall backwards landing on her hands, and does a backbend followed by a backward roll. She ends up lying on her belly, and puts her head in her hands to stare at WILL.]
SOPHIA: I’m not angry.
[WILL laughs and gets up.]
WILL: If you don’t want me to anger you, don’t ask the same question every time.
[She frowns.]
SOPHIA: I am not angry.
[WILL wipes his face in the towel.]
How’s work doing?
[He grunts and shrugs.]
What’s that supposed to mean?
WILL: Whatever.
[She stares at him, unblinking.]
The same as ever. I’m not good enough to get any interesting job, yet I’m not bad enough to just drop out. I’m a mess.
[SOPHIA stands up slowly, with cat-like moves.]
SOPHIA: I like your dancing.
[He smiles, an amused look on his face.]
WILL: Thank you, little Sophia.
[She frowns at him.]
SOPHIA: You don’t mean it. You’re making fun of me again.
[She slides to the floor to do the splits.]
WILL: I’m not, I swear. I’m grateful you like my dancing though you’re a thousand times more talented than I am…
[She looks up.]
SOPHIA: I’m not. Dance is just a hobby to me. I’m never serious.
[She breathes slowly out.]
I’ve never been.
[He stares at her for a few minutes, as she stretches. After a rather long pause, she lifts her head and their eyes meet. They keep looking at each other for another few minutes.]
Go out with me.
[He turns back and puts the music on again. He starts practicing moves, doing every one of them at least three times before starting on another one. SOPHIA stands up and starts dancing freely on the music, absent-minded. When she suddenly faces him, she stops abruptly.]
Go out with me.
[He ignores her. She stamps her feet and yells:]
Go out with me!
[For a short moment, he seems annoyed, stops his practice and turns off the music, but then his mouth splits in a laughing smile.]
WILL: I already told you, you’re too young for me. Dating younger women is too tiresome.
[He laughs good-naturedly and pinches her cheek. She looks disgusted and clenches her fists.]
SOPHIA: You’re a lazy bum, Will. I can’t understand how you’re able to go on like that. One day you’ll have to commit yourself.
[She steps away from him, and do a saut de chat and a pirouette to turn her back to him. He looks hurt.]
It makes me sick to see you so passive. You’ve got the chance to make it. Dance is your life, and yet you’re always hesitating. If I had the chance to only dance…
WILL: [harsh:]
Then what would you do?
[She shrugs yet looks hurt. He ignores her. She pouts a little like a child but he stays silent. She does a few classic dance steps without music, then starts turning wildly on herself till she’s too dizzy to go on. She falls on the floor, her eyes out of focus. ]
SOPHIA: I’d laugh every day. I would enjoy how things would dance around me in circles like now.
WILL: See, you’re just a child.
[He lies next to her, watching the ceiling. There’s a long pause during which only their breaths are heard.]
Why don’t you try getting serious?
SOPHIA: Why don’t you try getting serious?
WILL: I am serious with my dancing. I’m just not that good… But you…
[He pauses.]
It hurts to see you waste yourself…
[She sighs and puts one hand on her eyes and the other on his mouth.]
SOPHIA: I’ve got no time… I’ve got my job… It’s too late for me. If I wanted to be a pro, I should have started as a kid.
[He laughs and stands up. He pauses, glancing at her unmoving body.]
WILL: A kid…
[After a short pause:]
Want to have dinner with me?
[She rolls on her belly and jumps up on her feet.]
SOPHIA: Yes, I want to have you for dinner.
[He laughs but she strides toward him and stamps a fist on his chest.]
Don’t laugh.
[He laughs again.]
WILL: Poor little Sophia. I’m not gonna date you, so just drop the idea.
[She shrugs but has tears in her eyes.]
Don’t cry, you know we’re not suited. I’m too old and lazy for little you.
SOPHIA: I should be the one to judge.
[She crosses her arms and stays silent for a few minutes.]
Dance with me.
[WILL blinks, surprised.]
WILL: What? Again?
SOPHIA: No, not that kind of dance. I said “dance with me”, not next to me.
[Perplexed, WILL smiles absent-mindedly.]
WILL: As you like, Princess Sophie.
[He takes her hand and puts his arms behind her back. They start waltzing very slowly, then gradually faster and faster till she lets go of his hand and does a classic step on her own, before stopping, out of breath.]
See you’re already out of breath.
SOPHIA: Go out with me.
WILL: Drop your job, start a career in dance. That’s where you should be.
SOPHIA: Stop that.
WILL: [teasing her:]
Dance. Only dance.
SOPHIA: [yelling while he goes on chanting maliciously:]
Stop!
[She squats down and puts her hands on her ears.]
Stop it now! I hate you, Will!
[She starts to weep in silence, and Will seems suddenly guilt-stricken. He shuts up and approaches her cautiously.]
Leave me! You’re the worst!
[He sits next to her and lets his head rest on her arm.]
WILL: I’m sorry.
[She shakes her head.]
SOPHIA: It’s ok, it’s my fault anyway. I’m too stubborn.
[Her hands remain on her face and WILL hesitates to put his arm around her shoulders. She lifts her head before he’s reached a decision.]
I should go now, it’s late already. I got a lot of work to do tomorrow.
WILL: Accounting is harsh. Won’t you have dinner with me in the end?
[She flashes a deathly glare at him, and a rueful smile brushes his lips.]
Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you that much.
[She shrugs.]
Whatever…
[He stares at her as she collects her belongings.]
Sophia…
[She turns around to face him.]
Dance with me.
SOPHIA: Why should I?
WILL: Because you want to?
SOPHIA: No.
WILL: I’ll kiss you if you do.
[Her eyes grow narrow.]
SOPHIA: Right. What do you want to dance?
[WILL shrugs. She glides toward him but waits for him to put his arms around her. As soon as he’s done, she pushes him into dancing and they dance wildly for a few minutes. Then SOPHIA grows flustered. She suddenly lets go of his hands and does a few jumps followed by a flip under his strangely sad gaze. When she lands on her feet out of breath and disorientated, her gaze is out of focus. She breathes heavily. He walks very slowly toward her, and kisses her on the cheek, with a pained expression.]
WILL: Good night, little Sophia. I’ll see you tomorrow.
[WILL walks out of the stage. SOPHIA stays, still out of focus. A tear runs down her cheek.]
THE CURTAIN FALLS
