Todd: You want me to be happy? You actually believe that could happen?

Tea: Yes, Todd. You are capable of happiness.

Todd: You're still seeing things that aren't there.

Tea: I'm seeing what's right in front of me. You're calmer now than you were when you lived here with me. Whatever you're doing now, with whomever, agrees with you.

Todd: Nothing agrees with me, Delgado. Everything, and everybody, disagrees with me.

Tea: Well, that's not what I'm seeing. I remember what it was like. I remember what you were like.

Todd: I made your life miserable, huh?

Tea: No, of course not. But, you were clearly miserable. Some days you wouldn't speak to me. You'd get drunk and pass out just to avoid me.

Todd: I wasn't getting drunk because of you.

Tea: Then why?

Todd: Because it was something to do.

Tea: Did if feel better when you were drunk?

Todd: Yeah.

Tea: Was it easier?

Todd: Yeah.

Tea: Are you still drinking heavily?

Todd: Sometimes.

Tea: Why?

Todd: Why not?

Tea: If you're happier now, why drink?

Todd: When did I say that I was happier? When have I ever said that I was happy at all? I keep telling you that I don't do happy. You're the one who keeps pretending that I do.

Tea: So, you've never been happy?

Todd: No.

Tea: So, that includes all the time we were together, right?

Todd: You're still sneaky. I always hated that about you.

Tea: What else did you hate about me?

Todd: If you really wanted me to be stupid enough to answer a question like that then you should have gotten me drunk.

Tea: There must have been things you didn't like about me or you wouldn't have left when you did, the way that you did.

Todd: Why does everything have to connect to everything else with you?

Tea: Because it does, Todd. You don't leave someone that you're enjoying being with. You don't abandon someone you love. Tell me what it was, Todd.

[There is silence for several moments, as Todd wishes they were either talking about something else or that he had beer, and lots of it, available to him right now.]

Tea: I've wondered about it. When someone leaves you like that, how can you not wonder? We had lived together before. We had been married before. What was different about that day? What changed? Two days before you were so set on marrying me again. Why? What happened that changed everything? The words you said to me were so beautiful. Even after you left, as angry as I was, I couldn't convince myself that you hadn't meant those words in that moment. So, what changed? The only new thing was that we...

Todd: I know what we did.

Tea: We made love. It was our third marriage and our first time making love. That must be a record.

Todd: Third time's the charm.

Tea: Three strikes and you're out.

Todd: Do you want me to leave?

Tea: I want you to answer me. Why did you leave? If I had done something...or not done something...while we were...

[Todd quickly stands up. He desperately wants to get away from this conversation. He stays in the living room, though. He doesn't know why. He doesn't know why he came here tonight. He doesn't know why he didn't leave all of the other times that his mind screamed at him to get away, to protect himself...to protect her.

Tea watches as Todd pretends to take care of the fire. She knows that he's just trying to avoid her questions. She is surprised and, for some reason, relieved that he hasn't left yet. She knows that she may not enjoy his answers but she feels that she needs to hear them before she can try to more fully move on with her life.]

Tea: If it wasn't okay for you...

Todd: Let's not talk about this anymore, okay? Let's drink some more of that putrid stuff and do that silence thing we used to do.

Tea: If you had stayed, we could have tried other things. You could have told me what you like. We could have gone back to not having sex.

Todd: Really? Is that what you wanted? Is that what you were hoping for? Because, you got what you wanted, we stopped doing that.

Tea: I didn't want you to leave. I didn't want to lose you from my life. I didn't want to suddenly be all alone again. I didn't want to stop making love to you. I thought I made that clear that night.

Todd: You were relieved when we finally stopped.

Tea: I was exhausted. We had barely slept in days. We had been making love for hours. I was wiped out. I had every intention of waking up that morning, making breakfast for both of us and then making love again as many times as we both could manage.

[They both are silent again for several moments.]

Tea: You won't tell me, will you?

Todd: Tell you what?

Tea: Why you left. What I did that made you leave.

Todd: You didn't do anything, Delgado. It wasn't your fault. I can't give you an answer because I don't know why. All this time later, I still don't have a clue. You were right, I did mean the words I said. I did want to marry you again. I wanted to make love to you. You didn't do anything to deserve what I did to you. I needed to get out so I did.

[Tea stares at his back while he stares at the fire in front of him.]

Tea: What about now?

to be continued...