Man of Conscience
As always, BOLD is the character, ITALIC is the conscience.
The Answering Machine
Stop it.
Can't. Just one more time.
Stop it now. For the hundredth time, stop it.
Hush. I'm busy listening.
Please stop listening.
You never say please. Why are you saying please now?
Because you lie on the sofa all night long and listen to that damn tape. You aren't getting any sleep, and that's hurting you.
It should hurt me. I hurt her when I didn't want to. Now she's out.
You listen for 2 minutes, then you yell at yourself while it rewinds, then you do it all over again. Stop it. Please.
She called me her ex. All I said was I needed some time. I don't want to be her ex, I just wanted to figure this out. To figure this out, I need to listen to the tape.
The tape won't help anything. She was in pain when she called you. She missed you. She needed you.
I went to her. All she needed to do was say that maybe one day she'd forgive me. But she called me her ex. That means she's out.
Go talk to her.
She said that I'm out. I'm not out! When will she understand that I will never be out? I can't not love her.
The tape will never understand. You have to tell her. The person, not the tape.
I tried when I went to fix her lock. She wasn't there and she's been avoiding me. She's like a ghost in this town.
Don't give up.
I never said I was giving up. It's just that sometimes, while I'm waiting to find the next opportunity to talk to her, I listen to the tape. I need to hear her voice. I miss her so much it hurts.
Go back to work. The opportunity will come.
I'm going to listen just one more time.