董嘉馨 Jia Shin Dong

Goodbye My Lover

In bed, Josephine is determined to leave, for good. She is still in her pajama, but her suitcase is ready to go, her heart has already far gone. Lying beside Anderson, she looks at him. She looks disturbed, but deep down she is calm. Anderson is deep in sleep.

(Dim Light. Josephine’s perfume smells like autumn breeze. Soft Music playing: LOVE by John Lennon.—“Love is real, Real is love…Love is reaching, Reaching love…Love is free, Free is love…Love is you, You and me. Love is knowing, We can be.”)

Josephine is a polyglot who speaks Swahili, Mandarin, Russian, Greek, Swedish, French, and English. People might have an impression of her being only good-looking, but she has a PhD in Greek Literature. Josephine looks stunning but jaded.

Josephine: (Whispering to Anderson) M'aimez-vous vraiment? Do you really love me? Goodbye. I don’t think your life would change any if I go away, so maybe I will just leave for Paris tomorrow. Sorry I can’t wait for you any more. You made your choice. I love you.

(Josephine leaves the room, places a letter on her pillow and goes to her son Jimmy’s room and kisses him on his cheek. She walks out of his son’s room, changes her clothes, and closes the door before she starts to cry.)

(Next Day, Morning. 8:30 A.M. Anderson’s personal assistant Karen calls to wake him up.)

Karen: Good Morning, Mr. Leroy. It’s eight already, would you need me to pick Jimmy up to school, and get your decaf non-sugar whipped cream double espresso ready for you on your table?

Anderson: Oh! Yes, sure. Make the espresso 10 minutes before I arrive. And please, tell Chris that Jimmy will be downstairs in 20 minutes.

(He jumps off his bed, not noticing that his wife Josephine is gone, because usually she will go to her tennis class on Monday morning and she leaves home early.) (He sees the letter whilst getting dressed and folding his quilt.)

(Anderson reads the letter)

Dear Anderson,

There is no hope, no me in my life.

I have never felt so lonely in my life after we get married.

Being a very high second priority isn’t what I wanted.

Perhaps your bank will love you more than I do.

Oh and Thank you for not remembering my birthday so that I always stay 25,

Which was the LAST time you remembered it.

--Josephine

(Anderson doesn’t know how to react, he is somehow feeling irritated, ashamed, vexed, and hollowed all at the same time, to be exact. He calls Rosa, for some reasons he knew that Rosa will know Josephine’s whereabouts. )

Anderson: Rosa, did you see Josephine?

Rosa: No, and don’t you ever call here again, I’m Josephine’s weird cousin as you referred to, so why bother to call.

Anderson: Rosa, please, I am desperate now, I want to know where Josephine is.

Rosa: You are a selfish jerk.

Anderson: Whatever I am, I don’t care. Would you please tell me where Josephine is? I think she misunderstands me.

Rosa: You know how many times she has no one to help her? She is always taking Jimmy to school, to picnic, to hospital, ALONE!

Anderson: Should I be feeling guilty by now? I am so damn busy for the bank, I think she is well taken care of. She has everything she needs. Whatever she wants, she gets it, isn’t it? I never say no to her requests. Just tell me where she is, Jimmy is crying like crazy.

Rosa: She is in Paris now.

Anderson: What? You’re kidding me. How can I find her?

Rosa: Why would you want her back for? Keep introducing her to your clients that she is your beautiful wife who cooks extremely well?

Anderson: I don’t have time to argue. Please give me the address. You know she can’t just disappear like this. She is a mother and a wife.

Rosa: Josephine was blind enough to marry you. (She goes to find Josephine’s address in Paris.) She stays in No. 63, boulevard Victor Hugo.

(Anderson calls his assistant to book two tickets to Paris, he knows that it is time to stop ignoring the problem in their marriage. He always thought that Josephine won’t mind if he is now steering his entire energy in his banking business. But he is wrong. He decides to take Jimmy to find Josephine in Paris.)

(Jimmy and Anderson are on the airplane, Anderson finds no words to say to his son.)

Anderson: Hhmmmmmm……What would mommy do when you can’t sleep?

Jimmy: Mommy hugs me. She will tell me stories of lonely princesses, rescued by an ugly farmer because her prince is always trying to be king and has no time for the princess. Mommy’s stories are all like this.

Anderson: Ah…Well, okay that surly is an interesting story.

(Anderson holds his son. But Jimmy still can’t sleep at all. )

Anderson: Do you want something to eat? You like French fries? Peanuts?

Jimmy: Daddy, I am allergic to peanuts. I want to go home. I want Mommy.

Anderson: (calling the flight attendant) Please give me some toys for this kid.

Flight Attendant: Sure. A second please. (Comes again and gives Jimmy a drawing paper and some pencils.)

Anderson: Thank you.

(Jimmy started to draw a big house, very big, with nobody inside. Then he paints the house in purple. And he takes another paper, draws a door. Besides the door, he draws a woman, standing still, facing the door. Anderson is watching, all along. He knows what his son is drawing. The woman is Josephine.)

Anderson: Is that Mommy you’re drawing?

Jimmy: Yeah. Mommy loves the door; she is always looking at it in dinner time.

Anderson: (He knows that Josephine’s waiting for him to come back for dinner.)

Oh……Jimmy, Daddy loves you, you know that?

Jimmy: Hmm….. Daddy, do you love Mommy, too?

Anderson: Of course I love your Mom, she is so beautiful, and sweet.

Jimmy: But Mommy says that you love yourself only. Daddy……

(Suddenly, an Air Turbulence occurred because a fierce thunderstorm developed, accompanied by severe lightning and heavy wind. This is when Anderson thinks that he’ll probably die, so he holds Jimmy and talks to him, trying to clam Jimmy down.)

Anderson: (Scared to death) My God, Jimmy, I love you, and I love your mother, you are the two most important human beings in my life. How could I possibly be living without you?

Jimmy: Daddy, I am so scared! Daddy! I want Mommy.

Anderson: We’ll find Mommy soon. Don’t worry, I am here, Jimmy, I will always be here. Hold my hands now. Jimmy, Daddy is not going anywhere without you, you know that? Don’t cry, be brave, like Daddy, okay? Don’t cry!

Jimmy: (Crying) why can’t I cry? Mommy always let me cry. I don’t want you Daddy, I want Mommy. You are always telling me not to do this, not to do that!

Anderson: Jimmy, Daddy is hoping that you can be a good boy!

Jimmy: I don’t want to be a good boy. I don’t want to be like you! Mommy told me not to be like you…….I want Mommy.

Anderson: (Crying) I am so sorry, Jimmy. (Still holding his son) I am SO sorry. (Holding his son even tighter.) I will never let you cry again, and I will never let your mother cry. Never! When we get home, let’s visit grandpa’s house in the south together, okay?

Jimmy: You promise? (Stops Crying.)

Anderson: Yes, Jimmy, for sure. I would never disappoint you again.

(Unexpectedly, a huge crashing sound is heard. The air plane is going down…

Through Anderson’s earphone, the radio is still playing “Goodbye my lover”…Singing: “Did I disappoint you, or let you down? Should I be feeling guilty, or let the judges frown? ‘Cause I saw the end, before we’d begun…..”.)

(The plane crashed. Anderson died but his son is alive because he protected Jimmy in his arm when they were thrown out from the airplane.)

(Lights OUT)

Anderson is surly never going to disappoint anyone, not any more in his lifetime.