Play: Romance in D
Author: James Sherman
Role: Charles Norton
Age: 40
Style: Dramatic
Why did I want to kiss you? I don’t know. It has something to do with the fact that I think you’re beautiful. I think you’re very smart. I wanted to kiss you from the moment I first saw you through the peephole.
And then you came to my place. If you hadn’t done that… You could have lived in this apartment for twenty years before I came over here. But you wanted to talk. To “make a connection”. You’re not chronically depressed. You’re chronically alive.
I kept telling myself over and over, “Don’t fall in love. Don’t fall in love.” And I’m in love goddamnit!
By the time my father was my age, he had a wife, two children, a thriving business, and a hobby. Look at me, his son. I have a survival job and a single bed.
Listen. You’re embarrassed. I’m embarrassed. Let’s just forget the whole thing, okay?
I shouldn’t have kissed you. I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t want a relationship.
You know why not. If we have a relationship, we’re going to have to sit around and talk about “Can we compromise” and “Can we meet halfway” and “Can we work together”. And all it means is that one of us going to get hurt and it’s probably going to be me.
I’ve been dumped really hard before. I just don’t want it to happen to me again. I have my work. And I have my music. And I have a life. I don’t want to mess it up.