6: Another Wedding

Janet’s Living Room in her apartment. She sits working on the puzzle from Carol. She is deep in concentration –snapping pieces together. The phone rings. She’s startled and then answers.

Janet: Hello!? . . .Oh. Hi. Yeah. I’ll let you in. Open the door when you hear the beep.(She presses a number on the phone. She goes back to her chair and works meticulously. After ten or twenty seconds, a knock.) Coming! (She opens the door.)

Wendy: (jumps) Oh my God. Janet!

Janet: Didn’t you know I was coming?

Wendy: I didn’t know when you’d come to the door! Or that you'd have a black eye!

Janet: Sorry.

Wendy: How'd that happen?

Janet: It's nothing.

Wendy: Well, don’t look so happy to see me.

Janet: Sorry.

Wendy: Stop apologizing.

Janet: Sorry.

Wendy: I mean it. What’s wrong?

Janet: I am waiting for Michael to call.

Wendy: How’s that going?

Janet: I don’t know.

Wendy: What? Wait, what’s wrong with your eye?

Janet: A guy at work threw an apple at me.

Wendy: Why?

Janet: Carol says that it’s a bad neighborhood to have a fruit stand. I don’t know. Some guy snuck in, before the market opened. He was a jerk.

Wendy: I’m sorry.

Janet: You shouldn’t apologize either. You didn’t throw the apple.

Wendy: Mind if I have my dessert? I just came from lunch.

Janet: No, go ahead.

Wendy: Thanks. Wait. What’re you working on? (Wendy takes out a plastic container, fork and napkin from a brown sack.)

Janet: A puzzle. Carol gave it to me.

Wendy: Is it really 10,000 pieces? Wow.

Janet: Yeah.

Wendy: Looks like you’re pretty far. How long have you been working on it? A couple of hours?

Janet: Twenty minutes.

Wendy: Shut-up. So get this. This is carrot cake. It’s the best carrot cake you’ll ever eat. I saved this from the wedding fair I went to last night. This is going to be my wedding cake! They gave me a sample. Doesn’t it look divine?

Janet: What’s divine?

Wendy: Tasty. Both Paul and my mom came and stood on either side of me. We only stayed at the wedding fair for like twenty minutes. That’s all I could handle. You know the crowds. The pushing. The Dust. Hell on earth. We rushed around saw everything really quickly. I tried not to pay attention to all the people there. I didn’t look anybody in the eye. I booked the cake and we left. Simple, I didn’t even need my inhaler.

Janet: Oh. Good.

Wendy: Oh Janet, will you be in my wedding?

Janet: Aren’t you marrying Paul?

Wendy: Will you be a bridesmaid?

Janet: I don’t want to clean up anything. Doesn’t sound like fun.

Wendy: No. No. No. Be in my wedding. It’s where you support me. Be my friend. Wear a pretty dress, get some flowers, and you witness the glorious day.

Janet: Okay. I don’t see why not.

Wendy: Good. So I found this wonderful wedding singer –cantor really, I guess they are called cantor- anywho, she’s going to sing this song that I love, but I really can’t stand up at the altar for that long while she just sings.

Janet: Why?

Wendy: People’ll be there. You know what happens.

Janet: Oh. I don’t understand why you don’t like people.

Wendy: I do. I just get nervous, intimidated so Paul and I are going to say our vows in a private ceremony so we don’t have to stand up there for more than 15 minutes.

Janet: Your wedding is only going to be fifteen minutes long?

Wendy: Of course. I can’t be in public that long. I just can’t Janet.

Janet: Okay.

Wendy: Oh geez. This cake. I tell you!

Janet: I don’t think carrots would be good in cake.

Wendy: No, it’s delicious. I promise.

Janet: Can I have a bite?

Wendy: Sure.

Janet eats a bite.

Janet: Hmmm. I like this. Oh. Michael asked me to marry him. I told him what was going on.

Wendy: Excuse me?

Janet: Michael asked-

Wendy: I heard you the first time! Give me the details, girl!

Janet: Hmmm. Michael gave me a ring. See?

Wendy: I don’t see a ring. What happened to your finger?

Janet: I cut it.

Wendy: Oh. Ouch.

Telephone rings.

Janet: (answering it) Hello?! Oh hello! I’ll buzz you up. Come right up!

Wendy: Someone else is coming up here?

Janet: Yeah. Michael.

Wendy: I gotta go to the bathroom. I do. Excuse me. I’m such a pig, I look so gross, I’m bloated. Everything is going wrong.

Janet: You look fine.

Wendy: And I. . . I just got my period this morning, thank you very much! (exits to the bathroom)

Janet: Sorry.

Michael: (entering) Hey. Hey. Hey. Hi, hon. (He goes and kisses her on the forehead.)

Janet: Hi. . .hon.

Michael: Oh my God. The puzzle-

Janet: What?

Michael: Are you sure you aren’t a genius? What the hell? How did you get so far?

Janet: I don’t know. I just find things that fit.

Michael: Well done. Wow. Wow. I wanted to come by and tell you that I do want to go to dinner with your parents tonight.

Janet: You didn’t want to before.

Michael: No, I do. I do. But I couldn’t before, I just rearranged my plans with my roommate. My roommate told me it would be more important to do this.

Janet: What time is it?

Michael: Almost four.

Janet: I’ll call my father and tell him right away. I’m so happy. (noticing Michael) What’s wrong with your eyes?

Michael: Nothing. Why?

Janet: Your eyes look funny. The black thing is really small.

Michael: Oh, I just came in from outside, the sun is still shining. The sun can do that to your pupils. Well, the black thing. . .

Janet: (dialing) It’ll just be a minute while I call my dad. (waits)

Meanwhile, in the Windhover Den, Camden answers his phone.

Camden: Janet, what is it?

Janet: We are coming to dinner.

Camden: Janet, you can’t do that to us. Cook has already prepared your mother and me a light meal and it is just about ready. Certainly not enough for four people.

Janet: Michael, changed his day for this, dad.

Michael: Janet, if it’s too much trouble-

Camden: You tell him it is. You tell him it is. He needs to be more responsible and when an invitation is extended, he should make up his mind immediately.

Janet: DAD!

Michael: Oh I almost forgot, I have a bottle of wine for your parents in my car, Janet. As a gift-

Camden: Oh, I just heard your mother telling me from the other room that cook hasn’t prepared anything yet. I am misunderstood. I’m sorry. Come around seven. See you then.

Janet: Thanks, Dad. Bye.

Camden: G’bye. (He hangs up.) Denise, this will be the test. The vintage and the vineyard, I tell you.

Janet: We are going to go around seven.

Michael: Okay, well I have to go run some errands first. So I’m gonna get going.

Janet: Errands? What do you have to do?

Michael: I have to go back home. Get cleaned up. Run to the liquor store-

Janet: Liquor store?

Michael: My roommate Toby needs something to drink tonight.

Janet: Oh.
Michael: I love you and I’ll be back.

Janet: Okay. See you soon. Please don’t be late, my father hates it when people are late.

Michael: I won’t. Did you hear that?

Janet: Hear what?

Michael: Is somebody else here?

Janet: Yeah, my friend Wendy.

Michael: Oh. She’s been in the bathroom this whole time?

Janet: Yeah.

Michael: Oh. Well I’ll see you this evening, miss pretty. Nice work on the puzzle.

Janet: Thank you.

Michael: Bye. (He exits the apartment.)

Wendy: (re-entering) Oh Janet. Oh Janet. I don’t know.

Janet: What? What don’t you know?

Wendy: About him. Your Michael.

Janet: What don’t you know?

Wendy: Oh nevermind, I’m a nut job anyway. (pause) Hey do you smell something?

Janet: Like what?

Wendy: Marijuana?

Janet: What’s that?

Wendy: Nevermind.