Miss you

 Miss you

A dramatic scene for two women

By: Holland Stull

Characters

Paige: A young woman dealing with a great tragedy

Lacey: Paige's sister dealing with things differently

Lacey sits at a table looking through some papers. Paige walks into the room in workout gear having just come home from a run. 

Paige: You’re up.

Lacey: Yep.

She takes off her jacket and grabs some food and starts to fix it for herself at the table across from Lacey. They don’t acknowledge each other at all. Paige sits down and starts to eat. Eventually Lacey looks up. 

Lacey: Good run?

Paige: It was fine.

Lacey rolls her eyes and goes back to looking at her papers. 

Paige: What lace?

Lacey: What?

Paige: What was that look for?

Lacey: What look?

Paige: The look you just gave me. 

Lacey: I didn’t g-

Paige: Come on Lacey. 

(beat)

Lacey: You’re just so normal.

Paige: Okay…

Lacey: Considering everything, I don’t think you should be this normal. 

Paige: We’re different people Lace. I’m gonna deal with things differently than you. 

Lacey: You got up at 6 this morning to go on a run. You came home and made breakfast. You have a date tonight. You’re acting like everything is normal. Like nothings happened. 

Paige: This is how I’m dealing with things Lacey. It’s not your job to manage how I deal with things. It’s better than drinking every night and then obsessing over paperwork that doesn’t matter. 

Lacey: Is it better Paige? Is it? Better than pretending like nothing happened? 

Paige: That’s not what I’m doing. 

They sit in silence. Paige shifts her food around for a minute and Lacey continues to go through her papers. Eventually Paige stands up and leaves the room. She comes back in sweatpants and a sweatshirt a couple seconds later. While she’s gone, Lacey continues to go through the papers. 

Paige: I think we need to talk about how you’re dealing with it. 

Lacey: I don’t know what you’re talking about. 

Paige: Lacey, you keep taking dads alcohol. You haven’t left the house in days. Your phone has been dead for a week. You’re stuck. 

Lacey: Just because you refuse to acknowledge that anything happened doesn’t mean that I need to. How I’m dealing is totally fine. More normal than how you’re dealing. Out of the two of us, I’m not the one that people need to worry about. 

Paige: They’re worried about both of us Lacey!

Lacey: Well they shouldn’t be. (beat) I’m tired of people looking in. Looking into our lives. 

Paige: They’re not doing it on purpose. 

Lacey: I know. But it feels like we just can’t get away from people hovering over us. I feel like I can’t even breathe. Like I can’t turn around or close my eyes without someone being there. 

Paige: They’re just trying to help. 

Lacey: It would really help if they just left us alone. 

Paige: They just want to help. 

Lacey: There’s nothing they can do. 

Paige: I know. 

Lacey starts to sift through the papers again. 

Paige: Will you put down the damn papers for one second. Please?

Lacey: No. Someone has to deal with them. 

Paige: This isn’t our problem Lacey. 

Lacey: Who else is going to do it?

Paige: Dad?

Lacey: Dad’s been passed out drunk since the funeral Paige.

Paige: Can it at least wait until later? Until you take a shower or go for a walk. 

Lacey: I can’t Paige. If I stop having something to do, I think about it too much. 

Paige: Lacey. 

Lacey: What Paige?

Paige: Can you stop for one second?

Lacey puts the papers down and looks up at Paige. 

Paige: There’s nothing you can do about it. 

Lacey breaks down

Lacey: I know. 

She cries for a minute

Lacey: I keep thinking I’ll look up and she’ll come through the door. I can’t sleep in my bedroom because I have dreams of her coming in to wake me up for school. But when I really wake up, she’s not there. I walk into the living room and expect to see her on the couch waiting for me to tell her about everything that happened that day. All of her stuff is still in her and dad’s bathroom. Her clothes are in the laundry room. In her bedroom. I can’t go anywhere without seeing her. 

Paige: I know Lace. (beat) sometimes I swear I hear her laugh. And then I turn the corner and she’s not there. I just want her to help me braid my hair or ask me if I’m eating enough. Or give me that look she would give me when I set a completely unrealistic goal. The look she does, did, you know that means, I support you, but you’re crazy. 

Lacey: I miss her Paige. And without giving us a second to miss her, they stick us with all of her medical bills. For the things that didn’t even work. 

Paige: They might have worked. If she hadn't given up.

Lacey: Do you really think that Paige? That if she had held on, some miracle would have happened that hadn’t in the last 3 years?

Paige: I don’t know Lace! I wish she would have stuck around to see!

Lacey: Can you really blame her Paige?

Paige: Yes! Yes, I can! In the end it wasn’t cancer or fate that took her away. She chose it. She knew we would be here still without her and she still chose to leave us. 

Lacey: Can you think for just two seconds about what she was going through? 

Paige: Come on Lacey.

Lacey: I miss her too, Paige! She’s my mom too! She was my best friend too! But she was in so much pain. For so long. She wasn’t even living anymore. 

Paige: But what about us? What about us Lace? What about us now? I can’t go 10 seconds without thinking about her. Without breaking down. We have an empty chair at the table. We have a ‘world’s best mom’ mug, but no mom. It’s not fair, Lacey. It’s not fair, and she chose it. It’s so damn selfish! I wish she could take a walk with me. Or watch a movie or - 

Lacey: But she couldn’t even do that when she was alive Paige! It might have been selfish for her to kill herself, but asking her to stay alive would have been just as selfish. 

Paige: I miss her. 

Lacey: I know Paige, me too. 

Paige’s phone on the table buzzes. She gets up and grabs it. 

Paige: I have to get ready. I’m having lunch with Shelby.

Lacey: Sure. Have fun. 

Lacey gets up and goes back to the papers she was looking at. 

Paige: You should come with me. 

Lacey: Uh, thanks but I’ve got to deal with these. 

Paige: Lacey. Please.

(beat, beat)

Lacey stands up from the table. 

End scene.