"Sorry I’m late."
    "What?  Oh, that’s okay."
    "Yeah, see I had some trouble getting out of the house, and no one is listening to me, so I’m gonna shut up now."
    "What?  What did you say?"
    "Nothing.  Nothing!"
    "Okay."
    "You know what?  That’s it, I’m done."
    "What?"
    "I’m through, finished.  I’m outta here."
    "What are you talking about?"
    "What do you care?  If hadn’t said anything about leaving, I could have walked right out of here and not one of you would have noticed."
    "What?  Of course we’d have noticed!  What’s the matter with you?"
    "I can’t do this anymore, so I’m just gonna go."
    "What do you mean ‘go’?"
    "I mean I don’t think I can associate with you guys in this capacity anymore."
    "So you’re just gonna walk off and leave us?  You don’t want to help us?"
    "Oh come on!  Everyone here knows that I stopped ‘helping’ a long time ago!"
    "That’s not true."
    "Yeah, it really is.  Look, it’s not that I don’t want to help you guys out, it’s just that I can’t keep on being everybody’s doormat or something."
    "Doormat?"
    "For lack of a better word, yeah."
    "You’re not serious about this!"
    "Oh, I haven’t been as serious about anything in a long time."
    "Come back!  Don’t go."
    "Look, I’ll see some of you around.  The rest of you, please, just stay away from me.  It’s nothing personal, I’m just tired of fearing for my life for no good reason."
    "Fine!  Go on and leave then!  We never really needed you in the first place!  Your involvement was an accident."
    "That’s exactly the way I see it.  I’m glad we agree.  Goodbye."
    "Whoa.  How did I not see that coming?  I didn’t even notice that one of my best friends was unhappy."
    "Me either."
    "Who cares?  I say we’re better off.  One less person to watch out for."
    "Don’t say things like that.  You know as well as everyone that we need all the friends we can get around here."
    "We were never friends!  Why should I care?  Why should any of us care?  Who needs him?"
    "I do."
    "What?"
    "I care, even if you don’t."
    "Oh, great.  Here we go."
    "I don’t care what you think of me.  I’m going to get our friend back."
    "Stop!"
    "No, I won’t.  And don’t think you can try and make me.  I am not in the mood right now.  I’ll be back in a few minutes."
 
    "Look, I already said what I had to say, and that was ‘goodbye’.  Oh, it’s you."
    "It’s me."
    "Ah, I get it.  They send you out here to con me into coming back, right?  It always seemed to work before, so why not try now?  Don’t you guys ever try to stop manipulating people?"
    "Yes."
    "Very sincere."
    "Nobody sent me to trick you into coming back.  I came on my own because I don’t want you to go.  No one wants you to go."
    "You don’t want me to go?  Boy, you’ve got a funny way of showing that you need me."
    "I know I haven’t been the most wonderful person to you lately, but it doesn’t change the fact that I care about you."
    "That’s a very nice thing to say.  It even sounds like it might be true, but that doesn’t change the fact that my life with you guys, and especially with you, has been one painful episode after another."
    "I’m so sorry."
    "Better late than never, I suppose.  However, I’m still leaving.  I’m pretty sure my fragile heart can’t take another hit."
    "Isn’t there anything I can say to make you stay with us?  With me?"
    "I’m afraid not."
    "Please.  Please don’t turn your back on me."
    "Don’t cry.  I could never turn my back on you.  I’m just walking away for a while."
    "How can you dry my tears, look me in the eye, and say that you’re leaving me?"
    "You really don’t get it!  I have to!  If I stay, I know the pain will eventually kill me!  Leaving is the only way I can salvage what’s left of my heart!"
    "So, this is really it?  You’re really walking out of my life?"
    "Yeah."
    "Alright.  If you have to leave, you have to leave."
    "Right."
    "What do you want me to tell everyone else?"
    "Tell them that I wish them the best.  Also, I want you to know that I…never mind."
    "What?"
    "Nothing that would interest you."
    "Try me."
    "Okay.  I want you to know that…I love you."
    "Oh."
    "I love you so much that even being near you makes me feel like my heart is tearing itself into a million pieces.  Right now, it’s like I’m about to die, so I really don’t feel like being here much longer."
    "Wait."
    "What?"
    "Do I even get a goodbye kiss?"
    "Sure.  There."
    "Was that our last kiss?"
    "I don’t know.  Maybe."
    "Okay.  Whatever you decide, I’ll be here.  Waiting."
 
    "You’re back."
    "I’m back."
    "Something tells me that it didn’t go very well."
    "No, not really."
    "So Alex isn’t coming back?  Isabel?"
    "What?  Oh, sorry, Tess.  No, he’s not."
     "Maria and I will try to get him back."
     "No, Liz.  If he wants to come back, he will."
     "Isabel, I’m so sorry."
     "It’s okay, Max.  I’ll be alright."
     "Look, Isabel, I’m sorry about what I said earlier."
    "No, don’t worry about it, Michael.  In fact, you were right.  I don’t care about him.  I don’t need him."
    "What?  You don’t?"
    "No.  I just love him, that’s all."