A Play in One Act
Characters-
Valerie-
Justine, her daughter
Description of characters:Valerie is 50 years old. She was happily married for nearly 30 years to Ron, her late husband, who died in the same car accident which left her paralysed from the waist down.
Justine is 25. She is Valerie's only child. She has recently divorced Barry, to whom she was married for just over four years. Justine has returned to the family home to care for her mother.
SCENE 1 Morning.
[Valerie is alone on the darkened stage, head and shoulders illuminated by a dim spotlight which gradually brightens.She addresses the audience.]
Last night I danced the tango. I wore that lovely, tight, black, silk dress with the feathers round the skirt. My hair slicked back, black, with a red rose pinned in the nape. I caught my reflection in the studio mirrors.
[The music for the tango plays very softly in the background.]
I was Carmen, in the opera. Lithe, proud and full of life. Ron and I had practiced for weeks for this competition. I didn't expect to win, but I wanted to dance my best. "Who knows?" I thought we might do well. My heart was beating so fast I could hardly get my breath as we walked hand in hand onto the dancefloor and the music began.
[The music comes up. Valerie closes her eyes and moves her head and arms in time with it. The light onstage is now bright enough for the audience to make out Valerie, sitting in a wheelchair. A knock on an interior door is heard. The music stops and Valerie slowly opens her eyes.]
Mum?
[Justine enters and the stage lights come up]
Mum! For goodness sake! I’ve told you to wait. It’s not even seven. What if you had a fall?
Stop fussing. I’m okay.
Today, you’re okay. What’s the point of me being here if you don’t call me? I can’t lift you, you know.
I don’t like to wake you.
It’s what I’m here for, remember?
I’m perfectly okay. I just can’t walk. You treat me like I’m an invalid.
I’m doing my best. I’m not trained for this.
I told you, there was no need for you to move back in here.
I’ll bring you a cup of tea.
[Justine exits. Valerie addresses the audience.]
This place is far too big for us. I want a small place, all on one level, where I can do things for myself. I don’t need a garden but I’d like a place to sit in the sun, if we get any. I don’t need a minder. She should be out enjoying herself. Working. Being young. Being silly. I was, at her age. Ron and I were like a couple of schoolkids when we were first married. That’s another thing. That Barry. I know you can’t choose for them, but he really wasn’t right for her. She wouldn’t listen. She never does. Stubborn, like her dad. He wouldn’t have stood for her taking over. Fussing. Making me feel like I can’t do anything.
[Justine returns.]
Here you are. I’ll sort out your clothes.
There’s no point in getting dressed.
Now Mum...
I’m not going anywhere.
You’ll feel better after you’re showered and dressed.
Don’t tell me how I’ll feel, Justine. You have no idea.
I’m only trying to help. Here, how about this lovely dress? It’s always suited you.
It doesn’t fit me anymore. Nothing fits me anymore.
There must be something. We’ll sort out your wardrobe when I get back from lunch.
I don’t want to.
You won’t have to do anything, just say what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of.
I said I don’t want to. I have to be in the mood for it.
If you ask me, you’re in a right mood. Come on. Let’s get you in the shower. I don’t have all day.
I do.
SCENE 2 Later that morning.
[Justine fusses over Valerie.]
I won’t be gone long.
Be as long as you like.
I have my mobile with me.
I’ll be fine.
I know you will, I’m just saying, I have it with me if you need me.
You’ll be late.
Claire won’t mind. She knows I can’t always get away on time.
You could, if you didn’t fuss so much.
Have you got everything? Flask of tea? Mobile phone?
Yes, yes. Go. Oh.. the T.V. remote. Where is it?
I don’t know. Where did you leave it?
[Justine starts searching the room for the remote control]
I didn’t leave it anywhere. You put the television on earlier, dropped the remote somewhere I couldn’t reach it and left me watching that stupid chat show for an hour while you were in the bath.
Why didn’t you call me?
[A taxi horn sounds outside]
The taxi’s here.
You always do it. Put the television on then leave me with no way to change the channel. It’s like a refined form of torture.
Don’t be silly, Mum. I don’t do it on purpose.
You just don’t think. It’s something you take for granted, being able to watch what you like. Because you can get up and change it if you want to, but I can’t. You should think. I pay the licence, after all.
I have to go.
I don’t know why you don’t just leave it with me instead of dropping it wherever you happen to be sitting at the time.
I will do, when I find it.
Now you’ll blame me because you’ll be late and it’s not my fault.
Here it is.
[Justine hands the tv remote control to Valerie]
Thank you.
Are you sure you’ll be okay? Call me if you need anything.
Okay, I’ll call.
[Justine exits. Valerie addresses the audience.]
I know she doesn’t do things deliberately to annoy me. She doesn’t understand. She does things without thinking. Things she takes for granted, like that stupid television remote control. I don’t watch it much. But I like to listen to the news. She puts the remote all sorts of places. Sometimes by the phone, if she’s got up to answer it and turns the volume down from there. I can’t get to it there. Then she’ll forget about it and disappear into the kitchen to make a meal or something and leave me with the television on but no way to put the volume up again or change the channel. It’s not that she doesn’t care whether I can hear or not. She doesn’t think about it.I’m glad she’s finally gone out. I’m used to my own space. Ron worked, of course. Retiring was still a few years off for both of us. We had so many plans. I was going to do less writing and we would travel more. We talked about visiting the Far East together, doing a tour. Maybe I’ll do it for both of us, one day. If Justine doesn’t have me in a straight-jacket first. If I could get into the kitchen I could make my own tea. If I could get into the shower on my own i’d have my privacy back. That’s the thing, you see. No privacy. Take any normal person and put them somewhere where they can’t do things they are used to and where they have no privacy and you’ll soon have them climbing the walls. Only I can’t. Climb them I mean. And if I sell this place and move somewhere suitable, where is she going to go? Back to that tiny bedsit she was in when she first left him?
SCENE 3 Late afternoon.
[Justine and Valerie sit watching television. Valerie changes the channel.]
Claire suggested I get a job.
Oh? Doing what?
Secretary. They have a vacancy in her office.
Will you go for it?
I have the qualifications, Mum.
I know that. I just wondered. You’ve been out of the workplace for nearly five years now.
Not by choice!
I know that, too. Barry was always saying no wife of his would ever have to work. Seems to me it would have been nice if he’d have given you the choice, though.
I don’t want to talk about Barry.
Neither do I. Never liked him, anyway.
Mum!
Well I didn’t. Okay, I’m sorry. So. This job. Tell me about it.
Claire says one of the managers needs a new secretary.
What did he do with the old one?
I have no idea. He needs a new one and that’s all that matters.
That depends on why the old one left. Did she jump or was she pushed?
Do you want to hear about this or not?
Sorry.
They are offering a good salary and conditions, and are looking for someone to start at the beginning of next month. Claire says it’s mine if I want it. Of course it’s completely out of the question.
Why? You could probably do it standing on your head.
I’m sure I could. But I don’t see how I can go back to work and look after you as well.
I’ve said it before, Justine. I don’t want you looking after me here. It isn’t necessary. I want to move somewhere I can be independent.
It would be great to get back to work.
It would be wonderful to have a home to myself again.
Not that I’m exactly idle here, but I would like to have my own money again.
I could pay someone to do the cleaning, and not have them ‘organise’ me all day.
Barry hated the idea of me spending all day in an office where there were other men. He made it impossible to stay.
So that’s why you gave up your job in the first place, just because he didn’t like his wife to work. You have a mind of her own, don’t you?
He wanted his wife at home, he always said, where I could look after him. Where he could keep me locked up is more like it. He never wanted to go out anywhere together.
Your father would not want me to sit around moping. He would have hated me to give up.
[Valerie turns off the television.]
I was watching that...
For goodness sake, Justine! Can I not decide whether or not to have the television on in my own home?
Fine. Watch what you like.
I will. Since you have actually bothered to leave the remote where I can reach it for once.
Mum! We went through all this this morning. I don’t do it on purpose. How many more times?
[The phone rings. Justine gets up and answers.]
Oh, hi Claire. No, I’m fine thanks. Thanks for lunch, by the way. Oh? Really? That’s wonderful. Of course. How soon do you need to know? Okay, thanks again. No, in the morning. I’ll call you. ‘Bye.
[Justine rejoins Valerie.]
That was Claire. They’ve offered me the job. I have to let them know in the morning.
Will you take it?
How can I?
I’ll manage. I’ll make other arrangements.
It’s impossible. Everything’s impossible. And it’s your fault.
Mine?
Yes! If you hadn’t been driving, Dad would still be alive. All this is your fault. And I’m having to pay for it.
That’s not true! It was a stupid accident... an accident.
You’d been drinking. You weren’t as experienced at driving as he was. Why did he let you drive home? It should never have happened.
Your father had far more to drink than I had. He couldn’t have driven home.
He was always careful, safe.
It wasn’t my fault. The road was wet. The oncoming driver lost control and ploughed into us. There was nothing I could do.
It’s still your fault he’s dead.
If you believe that, why are you here?
For him. He loved you. He would have wanted me to take care of you.
I don’t need you to take care of me! I don’t need anyone!
Yes you do.
Just because I took pity on you in that poky little bedsit and asked you to come back here doesn’t mean I need you to run my life!
Pity? It’s me who acted out of pity coming back here! You need me. You always will. I’m stuck here with a cripple of a mother who is never grateful for anything I do and finds fault with everything. I wish Dad was here and you weren’t!
[Justine exits swiftly.]
So do I, Justine. So do I.
SCENE 4 Later that evening.
[Valerie is alone. She addresses the audience.]
Ron insisted on having a bottle of champagne, to celebrate winning the competition. I had a glass. One glass. Ron had the rest. I was high on the evening without needing anything. Nearly thirty years married, and every time he held me it was like the first time. How could she ever understand what he meant to me? Now i’m a burden to her. Looking after Mum for Dad’s sake. What about looking after Mum for Mum’s sake?I don’t need looking after. There are homes specially built for people who can’t get about. Wider doors so the wheelchair doesn’t take all the paint off the frame. Bathrooms you can use on your own. Even the shower. Gardens they look after for you. If I sell this house I’ll be able to afford to move into one, no problem.If I sell this house, it will be goodbye to the last place Ron and I shared.
[Justine enters.]
Mum? Are you okay?
Yes.
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean all those things I said.
It’s okay.
No, it’s not. I was frustrated and angry and took it out on you.
I get frustrated and angry too. It’s okay.
Yeah, but I can go for a walk to cool down.
I can play my music loud and annoy the neighbours.
Is that what you’ve been doing?
No, actually I’ve been thinking things over.
Me, too.
What have you decided?
No, you first.
Okay. I’ve decided to sell the house and move into somewhere where I can manage independantly. I’ll have a cleaner come in once a week to keep things straight, and I’ll be able to go out shopping with you if I feel like it. Or do it online.
Online?? You?
I’m not senile, you know.
I know, Mum.
It’s time I began organising my life a little better, instead of having you do it for me.
I didn’t mean to take over.
Let’s not get into that now. I think you should take the job and make a fresh start.
Mum...
You said, me first.
I know, but..
I haven’t finished.
Okay.
It will take several weeks to sell this house even if I find a buyer straight away. You can start work at the beginning of the month, and by the time I sell the house you will have your salary coming in and we can get you fixed up with a rented flat. How does that sound?
It sounds.... like I have my old mum back.
I’m sorry.
So am I. I do love you, you know.
I know. So, what about that job? Will you take it?
I’ll call them in the morning.
Justine? I loved your Dad more than anyone in the world, apart from you. I have blamed myself and second guessed everything that happened that night. I’m sorry he’s gone. But nothing will change that.
I know. At least I still have you.
Characters-
Valerie-
Justine, her daughter
Description of characters:Valerie is 50 years old. She was happily married for nearly 30 years to Ron, her late husband, who died in the same car accident which left her paralysed from the waist down.
Justine is 25. She is Valerie's only child. She has recently divorced Barry, to whom she was married for just over four years. Justine has returned to the family home to care for her mother.
SCENE 1 Morning.
[Valerie is alone on the darkened stage, head and shoulders illuminated by a dim spotlight which gradually brightens.She addresses the audience.]
VALERIE
Last night I danced the tango. I wore that lovely, tight, black, silk dress with the feathers round the skirt. My hair slicked back, black, with a red rose pinned in the nape. I caught my reflection in the studio mirrors.
[The music for the tango plays very softly in the background.]
VALERIE (continued)
I was Carmen, in the opera. Lithe, proud and full of life. Ron and I had practiced for weeks for this competition. I didn't expect to win, but I wanted to dance my best. "Who knows?" I thought we might do well. My heart was beating so fast I could hardly get my breath as we walked hand in hand onto the dancefloor and the music began.
[The music comes up. Valerie closes her eyes and moves her head and arms in time with it. The light onstage is now bright enough for the audience to make out Valerie, sitting in a wheelchair. A knock on an interior door is heard. The music stops and Valerie slowly opens her eyes.]
JUSTINE (heard from offstage)
Mum?
[Justine enters and the stage lights come up]
JUSTINE (continued)
Mum! For goodness sake! I’ve told you to wait. It’s not even seven. What if you had a fall?
VALERIE
Stop fussing. I’m okay.
JUSTINE
Today, you’re okay. What’s the point of me being here if you don’t call me? I can’t lift you, you know.
VALERIE
I don’t like to wake you.
JUSTINE
It’s what I’m here for, remember?
VALERIE
I’m perfectly okay. I just can’t walk. You treat me like I’m an invalid.
JUSTINE
I’m doing my best. I’m not trained for this.
VALERIE
I told you, there was no need for you to move back in here.
JUSTINE
I’ll bring you a cup of tea.
[Justine exits. Valerie addresses the audience.]
VALERIE
This place is far too big for us. I want a small place, all on one level, where I can do things for myself. I don’t need a garden but I’d like a place to sit in the sun, if we get any. I don’t need a minder. She should be out enjoying herself. Working. Being young. Being silly. I was, at her age. Ron and I were like a couple of schoolkids when we were first married. That’s another thing. That Barry. I know you can’t choose for them, but he really wasn’t right for her. She wouldn’t listen. She never does. Stubborn, like her dad. He wouldn’t have stood for her taking over. Fussing. Making me feel like I can’t do anything.
[Justine returns.]
JUSTINE
Here you are. I’ll sort out your clothes.
VALERIE
There’s no point in getting dressed.
JUSTINE
Now Mum...
VALERIE
I’m not going anywhere.
JUSTINE
You’ll feel better after you’re showered and dressed.
VALERIE
Don’t tell me how I’ll feel, Justine. You have no idea.
JUSTINE
I’m only trying to help. Here, how about this lovely dress? It’s always suited you.
VALERIE
It doesn’t fit me anymore. Nothing fits me anymore.
JUSTINE
There must be something. We’ll sort out your wardrobe when I get back from lunch.
VALERIE
I don’t want to.
JUSTINE
You won’t have to do anything, just say what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of.
VALERIE
I said I don’t want to. I have to be in the mood for it.
JUSTINE
If you ask me, you’re in a right mood. Come on. Let’s get you in the shower. I don’t have all day.
VALERIE
I do.
SCENE 2 Later that morning.
[Justine fusses over Valerie.]
JUSTINE
I won’t be gone long.
VALERIE
Be as long as you like.
JUSTINE
I have my mobile with me.
VALERIE
I’ll be fine.
JUSTINE
I know you will, I’m just saying, I have it with me if you need me.
VALERIE
You’ll be late.
JUSTINE
Claire won’t mind. She knows I can’t always get away on time.
VALERIE
You could, if you didn’t fuss so much.
JUSTINE
Have you got everything? Flask of tea? Mobile phone?
VALERIE
Yes, yes. Go. Oh.. the T.V. remote. Where is it?
JUSTINE
I don’t know. Where did you leave it?
[Justine starts searching the room for the remote control]
VALERIE
I didn’t leave it anywhere. You put the television on earlier, dropped the remote somewhere I couldn’t reach it and left me watching that stupid chat show for an hour while you were in the bath.
JUSTINE
Why didn’t you call me?
[A taxi horn sounds outside]
JUSTINE (continued)
The taxi’s here.
VALERIE
You always do it. Put the television on then leave me with no way to change the channel. It’s like a refined form of torture.
JUSTINE
Don’t be silly, Mum. I don’t do it on purpose.
VALERIE
You just don’t think. It’s something you take for granted, being able to watch what you like. Because you can get up and change it if you want to, but I can’t. You should think. I pay the licence, after all.
JUSTINE
I have to go.
VALERIE
I don’t know why you don’t just leave it with me instead of dropping it wherever you happen to be sitting at the time.
JUSTINE
I will do, when I find it.
VALERIE
Now you’ll blame me because you’ll be late and it’s not my fault.
JUSTINE
Here it is.
[Justine hands the tv remote control to Valerie]
VALERIE
Thank you.
JUSTINE
Are you sure you’ll be okay? Call me if you need anything.
VALERIE
Okay, I’ll call.
[Justine exits. Valerie addresses the audience.]
VALERIE (continued)
I know she doesn’t do things deliberately to annoy me. She doesn’t understand. She does things without thinking. Things she takes for granted, like that stupid television remote control. I don’t watch it much. But I like to listen to the news. She puts the remote all sorts of places. Sometimes by the phone, if she’s got up to answer it and turns the volume down from there. I can’t get to it there. Then she’ll forget about it and disappear into the kitchen to make a meal or something and leave me with the television on but no way to put the volume up again or change the channel. It’s not that she doesn’t care whether I can hear or not. She doesn’t think about it.I’m glad she’s finally gone out. I’m used to my own space. Ron worked, of course. Retiring was still a few years off for both of us. We had so many plans. I was going to do less writing and we would travel more. We talked about visiting the Far East together, doing a tour. Maybe I’ll do it for both of us, one day. If Justine doesn’t have me in a straight-jacket first. If I could get into the kitchen I could make my own tea. If I could get into the shower on my own i’d have my privacy back. That’s the thing, you see. No privacy. Take any normal person and put them somewhere where they can’t do things they are used to and where they have no privacy and you’ll soon have them climbing the walls. Only I can’t. Climb them I mean. And if I sell this place and move somewhere suitable, where is she going to go? Back to that tiny bedsit she was in when she first left him?
SCENE 3 Late afternoon.
[Justine and Valerie sit watching television. Valerie changes the channel.]
JUSTINE
Claire suggested I get a job.
VALERIE
Oh? Doing what?
JUSTINE
Secretary. They have a vacancy in her office.
VALERIE
Will you go for it?
JUSTINE
I have the qualifications, Mum.
VALERIE
I know that. I just wondered. You’ve been out of the workplace for nearly five years now.
JUSTINE
Not by choice!
VALERIE
I know that, too. Barry was always saying no wife of his would ever have to work. Seems to me it would have been nice if he’d have given you the choice, though.
JUSTINE
I don’t want to talk about Barry.
VALERIE
Neither do I. Never liked him, anyway.
JUSTINE
Mum!
VALERIE
Well I didn’t. Okay, I’m sorry. So. This job. Tell me about it.
JUSTINE
Claire says one of the managers needs a new secretary.
VALERIE
What did he do with the old one?
JUSTINE
I have no idea. He needs a new one and that’s all that matters.
VALERIE
That depends on why the old one left. Did she jump or was she pushed?
JUSTINE
Do you want to hear about this or not?
VALERIE
Sorry.
JUSTINE
They are offering a good salary and conditions, and are looking for someone to start at the beginning of next month. Claire says it’s mine if I want it. Of course it’s completely out of the question.
VALERIE
Why? You could probably do it standing on your head.
JUSTINE
I’m sure I could. But I don’t see how I can go back to work and look after you as well.
VALERIE
I’ve said it before, Justine. I don’t want you looking after me here. It isn’t necessary. I want to move somewhere I can be independent.
JUSTINE (continued)
It would be great to get back to work.
VALERIE
It would be wonderful to have a home to myself again.
JUSTINE
Not that I’m exactly idle here, but I would like to have my own money again.
VALERIE
I could pay someone to do the cleaning, and not have them ‘organise’ me all day.
JUSTINE
Barry hated the idea of me spending all day in an office where there were other men. He made it impossible to stay.
VALERIE
So that’s why you gave up your job in the first place, just because he didn’t like his wife to work. You have a mind of her own, don’t you?
JUSTINE
He wanted his wife at home, he always said, where I could look after him. Where he could keep me locked up is more like it. He never wanted to go out anywhere together.
VALERIE
Your father would not want me to sit around moping. He would have hated me to give up.
[Valerie turns off the television.]
JUSTINE
I was watching that...
VALERIE
For goodness sake, Justine! Can I not decide whether or not to have the television on in my own home?
JUSTINE
Fine. Watch what you like.
VALERIE
I will. Since you have actually bothered to leave the remote where I can reach it for once.
JUSTINE
Mum! We went through all this this morning. I don’t do it on purpose. How many more times?
[The phone rings. Justine gets up and answers.]
JUSTINE (continued)
Oh, hi Claire. No, I’m fine thanks. Thanks for lunch, by the way. Oh? Really? That’s wonderful. Of course. How soon do you need to know? Okay, thanks again. No, in the morning. I’ll call you. ‘Bye.
[Justine rejoins Valerie.]
JUSTINE (continued)
That was Claire. They’ve offered me the job. I have to let them know in the morning.
VALERIE
Will you take it?
JUSTINE
How can I?
VALERIE
I’ll manage. I’ll make other arrangements.
JUSTINE
It’s impossible. Everything’s impossible. And it’s your fault.
VALERIE
Mine?
JUSTINE
Yes! If you hadn’t been driving, Dad would still be alive. All this is your fault. And I’m having to pay for it.
VALERIE
That’s not true! It was a stupid accident... an accident.
JUSTINE
You’d been drinking. You weren’t as experienced at driving as he was. Why did he let you drive home? It should never have happened.
VALERIE
Your father had far more to drink than I had. He couldn’t have driven home.
JUSTINE
He was always careful, safe.
VALERIE
It wasn’t my fault. The road was wet. The oncoming driver lost control and ploughed into us. There was nothing I could do.
JUSTINE
It’s still your fault he’s dead.
VALERIE
If you believe that, why are you here?
JUSTINE
For him. He loved you. He would have wanted me to take care of you.
VALERIE
I don’t need you to take care of me! I don’t need anyone!
JUSTINE
Yes you do.
VALERIE
Just because I took pity on you in that poky little bedsit and asked you to come back here doesn’t mean I need you to run my life!
JUSTINE
Pity? It’s me who acted out of pity coming back here! You need me. You always will. I’m stuck here with a cripple of a mother who is never grateful for anything I do and finds fault with everything. I wish Dad was here and you weren’t!
[Justine exits swiftly.]
VALERIE
So do I, Justine. So do I.
SCENE 4 Later that evening.
[Valerie is alone. She addresses the audience.]
VALERIE
Ron insisted on having a bottle of champagne, to celebrate winning the competition. I had a glass. One glass. Ron had the rest. I was high on the evening without needing anything. Nearly thirty years married, and every time he held me it was like the first time. How could she ever understand what he meant to me? Now i’m a burden to her. Looking after Mum for Dad’s sake. What about looking after Mum for Mum’s sake?I don’t need looking after. There are homes specially built for people who can’t get about. Wider doors so the wheelchair doesn’t take all the paint off the frame. Bathrooms you can use on your own. Even the shower. Gardens they look after for you. If I sell this house I’ll be able to afford to move into one, no problem.If I sell this house, it will be goodbye to the last place Ron and I shared.
[Justine enters.]
JUSTINE
Mum? Are you okay?
VALERIE
Yes.
JUSTINE
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean all those things I said.
VALERIE
It’s okay.
JUSTINE
No, it’s not. I was frustrated and angry and took it out on you.
VALERIE
I get frustrated and angry too. It’s okay.
JUSTINE
Yeah, but I can go for a walk to cool down.
VALERIE
I can play my music loud and annoy the neighbours.
JUSTINE
Is that what you’ve been doing?
VALERIE
No, actually I’ve been thinking things over.
JUSTINE
Me, too.
VALERIE
What have you decided?
JUSTINE
No, you first.
VALERIE
Okay. I’ve decided to sell the house and move into somewhere where I can manage independantly. I’ll have a cleaner come in once a week to keep things straight, and I’ll be able to go out shopping with you if I feel like it. Or do it online.
JUSTINE
Online?? You?
VALERIE
I’m not senile, you know.
JUSTINE
I know, Mum.
VALERIE
It’s time I began organising my life a little better, instead of having you do it for me.
JUSTINE
I didn’t mean to take over.
VALERIE
Let’s not get into that now. I think you should take the job and make a fresh start.
JUSTINE
Mum...
VALERIE
You said, me first.
JUSTINE
I know, but..
VALERIE
I haven’t finished.
JUSTINE
Okay.
VALERIE
It will take several weeks to sell this house even if I find a buyer straight away. You can start work at the beginning of the month, and by the time I sell the house you will have your salary coming in and we can get you fixed up with a rented flat. How does that sound?
JUSTINE
It sounds.... like I have my old mum back.
VALERIE
I’m sorry.
JUSTINE
So am I. I do love you, you know.
VALERIE
I know. So, what about that job? Will you take it?
JUSTINE
I’ll call them in the morning.
VALERIE
Justine? I loved your Dad more than anyone in the world, apart from you. I have blamed myself and second guessed everything that happened that night. I’m sorry he’s gone. But nothing will change that.
JUSTINE
I know. At least I still have you.
THE END
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