Page 272 - Sweet Embraceable You: Coffee-House Stories

260 Jack Fritscher

Anna: Come, Mr. Wilson. You understand use. American report-
ers use everyone, everything.
Wilson: Hold it, Duchess.
Anna: Why do you still call me “Duchess”?
Wilson: Maybe it’s habit.
Anna: Habits can be changed.

CLOSE WILSON

Wilson: Maybe if I closed my eyes and believed very hard, I
could take you for Anastasia. I’ve studied the royal pictures.
Your nose. Your ears. They resemble her nose. Her ears.

CLOSE ANNA
Anna: But my chin is different.

CLOSE WILSON

Wilson: (Almost tenderly with a touch of romance) Broken, you
say. Like hers. And your eyes....
CLOSE ANNA

Anna: Yes? My eyes?

MEDIUM ANNA AND WILSON

Wilson: Your eyes say more than your lips. They hide secrets.
Anna: You become too personal, Mr. Wilson. I have led a sad
life. Like many Europeans since the Great War. No better, no
worse than most. (She lights a cigarette nervously) I smoke
too much. Do you smoke too much, Mr. Wilson?
Wilson: Everyone in Europe smokes too much.
Anna: We are a very nervous continent...What is it you want,
Mr. Wilson? What is your deal for me? To be Anastasia or not
to be Anastasia? That is the question. Will you offer me more
than Ernst Ludwig to play the Duchess? Or will you offer me
more than his sister Olga to not play the Duchess? They play
against each other. Life is a stupid chess game.

©Jack Fritscher, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved
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