constellations lines (re-meeting-end)

"little cancer romance dramedy" - my situationship

Hello Marianne.

Roland. Wow, hi, hello. How are you?

Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks. 

Oh, good. Good. That’s really good. 

How about y’self?

I bought some of your honey. 

You didn’t?

From the farmer’s market on church street.

Yeah, right. They’re really great. 

I said to the girl on the stall, I said I used to know the man who made this honey. 

What did she say? 

…

I read one of your papers.

You did not?

I did. I downloaded it.

Which one did you read?

Something to do with the XMM Cluster Survey?

That’s really amazing, Roland.

What did you think of the honey?

Delicious. It was completely delicious. Are you, are you here for the ballroom class? 

Yeah, no, yeah, I am, yeah.

Really.

Heather’s getting married in a couple of months, so. 

The PE teacher? 

What’s that? 

He was a, he was a PE teacher, wasn’t he? 

Right, no, I see. They called it a day. New guy’s a something or other for the Office for National Statistics. 

Wow.

I’ve been ordered to sort out my two left feet or else. How about you? 

Similar, really. Wedding. 

Your own or—

No, mine, yep.

Congratulations.

Yep.

Is your fiance, is he—-

Held up. He’s. Been held up. |

Hello Marianne. It’s Roland.

Roland.

How are you? Hope I didn’t scare you?

No. A bit. Maybe. I mean, a bit.

Sorry.

Are you, are you here for the ballroom class?

Yeah, no, yeah, I am, yeah. 

Ballroom, really? 

Heather’s getting married.

Heather?

My sister.

Heather, of course.

I’ve been ordered to sort out my two left feet or else.

Did you, did you know that I was going to be here?

What? Did I—

Know that I was going to be here?

No. No, of course not.

I’m learning ballroom because I’m getting married, Roland.

No, sure.

In September.

Congratulations. 

Thank you. What about you, are you—

I was, but, for the moment, no. 

Married?

Seeing someone. I was seeing someone. But we broke up. So.

I’m sorry.

No, please. Don’t be. |

Hello, Roland.

Marianne. Wow, shit. How’s it, how’s it going?

Well, I’m really well. Thanks.

Great. Thasss really great.

Yourself?

Yeah, no, I mean, good, yeah. 

I bought some of your honey. 

You didn’t? 

From the Farmer’s Market on Church Street. 

Yeah, right. They’re really great.

I said to the girl on the stall, I said I used to know the man who made this honey. 

What did she say?

She just stared at me. How is everything? Business-wise.

Good, yeah. ‘Bout to start doing pollen.

Pollen?

Yeah you have to—Y’scrape it off the legs of the bees and then you ground it down. Really good for you apparently. 

Scraping the legs of bees, or pollen? 

I read one of your papers.

You did not?

I did. I downloaded it.

Which one did you read?

Something about hot subdwarf stars?

Were you really looking for space porn on Google?

What’s that?

Stars—hot—stars—

Gotcha.

That’s really amazing, Roland. Thank you.

What did you think of the honey?

Delicious. It was completely delicious.

It’s heather.

Yes.

We cart the bees up from the heather moors every August. One by one. 

One by one? 

Hives, not bees.

Are you, are you here for the ballroom class?

Yeah, no, yeah, I am, yeah. I’m. I’m actually. Engaged.

Oh wow.

So. Yeah.

Who’s the, who’s the lucky lady?

Alison. Alison O—

I remember. 

How about y’self, are you—

Just trying to lose a bit of weight. Too many late-night Nutella binges. I blame the subdwarfs. The stars- the paper you read— |

Heather’s getting married in a couple of months, so.

The PE teacher?

What’s that?

He was a, he was a PE teacher, wasn’t he?

Right, no, I see. They called it a day. New bloke’s a something or other for the DVLA. 

Wow. 

I’ve been ordered to sort out my two left feet or else. How about you?

Similar, really. Wedding.

Your own, or—

No God, can you imagine. I’m being a very diligent bridesmaid. We’re having some kind of mass Viennese waltz. I’m not sure I fully understand it as yet. 

So is this your first? Lesson. 

No, second. You.

First, yeah.

Well done on the comfortable trouser front. I came straight from work. Last week. Crotch was like a fucking furnace by the time I got home. 

Mary, I’m sorry. |

Well done on the comfortable trouser front. I came straight from work. Last week. Crotch was like a fucking inferno by the time I got home. Roland, I’m sorry. 

What for? |

Well done on the comfortable trouser front. I came straight from work. Last week. Crotch was like a fucking sauna by the time I got home. I have to say it because if I don’t I’ll feel like a fraud. 

Mary—

Let’s go for a drink. I don’t know what I’m doing here anyway. One drink. And if you never want to see me again you never have to see me again. |

Mary—

Why don’t we go for a drink? I don’t know what I’m doing here anyway. One drink. And if you never want to see me again you never have to see me again. |

Mary—

One drink. And if you never want to see me again you never have to see me again. |

Mary—

And if you never want to see me again you never have to see me again. |

I don’t really know what to say.

You don’t have to say anything.

No I know but I want to; I want to know what to say to you.

A lot of people apparently never go through with it.

How do you mean?

A lot of people, once they’ve been given the green night

night

Once they’ve     a lot of people

It’s okay.

They’re, they’re happy enough knowing it’s there.

How do you know that?

It’s on the website.

When you say a lot how many are we talking?

I think it was something like two-thirds. Safety net. For a lot of people. 

And is that how you’re feeling about it?

I don’t know.

Would I be able to come with you?

Would you want to? Come with me.

Would you want me to come with you?

I keep thinking of Mom.

Bee monologue

(from Penis gets ripped off) Roland—

Roland any moment a—

any moment—

Marianne Aubele, will you marry me?

Roland, I’ve got a tutorial. You can’t just turn up like this. I mean. It’s the middle of the day, there’s a lot going on. I need to think about it. I’m sorry. I just. I just really need some space. |

R enters

This is a suprise.

Is it.

It’s the middle of the afternoon.

Are you busy?

Are you— is everything okay?

There’s something I’d like to say. To you. (Bee monologue). But there is now one thing I am defiantly certain of. 

Roland please. Roland get up, come on. 

Marianne Aubele, will you marry me?

Roland, we talked about this. Come on. |

R enters.

This is a surprise.

Is it.

It’s the middle of the afternoon.

There’s something I’d like to say to you. Shit.

What is it?

I’ve left it at home.

Left what at home? Roland. Roland, is everything all right?

Okay I’m gonna just— I’m gonna just own up: I came down here because I wanted to— I had this whole thing written out. Took me a fucking age. And it’s— It’s just thrown me a bit. 

Roland you’re sweating. |

There’s something I’d like to say. To you. Um, so, as you know, maybe you know, there are three different kinds of bees. There’s the drones, there’s the workers, and there’s the queen. And the, the dromnes are all women. Sorry, the, the workers, the workers are all women. The drones have sex with the queen. But once they’ve, once they’ve ejaculated, they er, they die. Shoulda written this down. 

Roland—

What I’m trying to say is that bees have a really short life. They have an incredibly short life and then that’s it. Possibly the the bit about the lifespan shoulda come as the start and then I coulda moved on to the—

Is there something—-

Do you remember when we first met?

Yes.

You do?

Yes.

At that wedding.

What?

John and Ruth’s wedding.

We met at a barbecue. |

(Bee monologue) Marianne Aubele, will you marry me?

Okay.

Really?

Yeah, really. Where was that speech from? Was it from a book? It was, wasn’t it? Was it the Ted Hooper? It was, wasn’t it?

Bits. 

I’ve got to do a fucking tutorial. 

I’ll see you at home.

Is that okay?

Of course.

Thank you. | If you’re serious you write to them.

Meaning what?

Outline why they ought to be taking you seriously.

And if they do?

You meet someone.