Scott enters his apartment flustered and exhausted, but with a smile on his face. He closes the door immediately and carefully, glances around the room, pulls a small black box from his coat and collapses in a chair. The box he opens to reveal an engagement ring. He gazes at it. Then the door opens and he shoves the ring in his coat again and stands up. Emily enters.
Scott: Emily!
Emily doesn’t answer. She heads directly for the kitchen sink. She stands in front of it, facing the sink, not Scott.
Scott: Did you get off early?
Emily shakes her head.
Emily: (Tired) Where’s the star ornament? The one we bought for Lilly. Did you wrap it?
Scott: I – I can’t remember. I think so.
Emily sighs and washes her face in the sink. Her exhaustion appears deeper than Scott’s. She dunks her head in the sink and shakes her hair out, then dunks again.
Scott: (Half jokingly, half worried) Hey, don’t drown yourself.
Emily: It’s been… I need a drink. Do you want a drink?
Scott walks up to Emily.
Scott: We cleaned out the fridge and the cabinet, I think. I was actually about to head to the store. Do you want –
Emily: No. (Emily kisses Scott on the cheek) Don’t bother.
Emily sits down in the kitchen and runs her fingers through her now-wet hair.
Scott: Em… Baby?
Emily starts to laugh uncontrollably into her hands and quickly her laughter turns to wild sobs.
Scott: Em?
Scott kneels down beside Emily who embraces him, her head away from the audience.
Scott: Emily. Oh, Em. It’s okay. Hey! Don’t worry. Hey, hey. It’s okay. Don’t cry.
Emily: I’m so sorry, Scott. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.
Scott pulls Emily out of the embrace, looking at her comfortingly. Emily doesn’t make eye contact with him – can’t.
Scott: Oh, no, Emily…
Emily: I can’t. I can’t.
Scott: Can’t what?
Emily: (as if searching for the right words) Do… this.
Scott: (Pulling back) Do what?
Emily: I … There was this man..
Scott: (More confused than anything else) What?
Emily: No! In – in the lobby, this morning, there was this, this man and – and – and he was… nothing, no one, nobody, just this guy, kind of cute and he just… smiled at me. And I smiled back and I… it didn’t, feel wrong. But it didn’t, and I didn’t want it to. And I felt sick. And I knew… his was nothing like yours, but… I couldn’t see why. And wanted to know, but… I didn’t want to think about you. Or your smile. I just. I wanted to smile back, and not feel guilty. I just… I can’t do this.
Scott pauses. He looks into her eyes. Scott’s hurt but mostly confused, surprised, startled. Then, again, she stops looking at him and runs her fingers through her hair, scratching the back of her neck. A beat.
Scott: What are you not telling me?
Long beat.
Emily: I’m pregnant, Scott.
Scott stands, mind spinning. He looses all hearing as his hands and thoughts wander into the deep of his pockets.
Emily: Did you hear me? Scott? I swear, it’s yours, and I know. It’s okay! Whatever you want to do is okay. I’ll understand. Just talk to me, Scott… Talk to me, please!
Scott turns slowly, still thinking, but a confident decisiveness in his eyes. He kneels beside Emily, taking her hands in his.
Scott: Hey. Do you still want to go out to dinner?
Emily: What??
Scott: (grinning) I wanted to take you to dinner tonight, remember? I asked you and you said yes. Do you still want to go?
Emily: How can you feel like going out?
Scott: (shrugs) Why not? This is the happiest day of my life.
© March 2019
The Favoring Wind 