OLSON10minfinal

“what a coincidence” by Mac Olson 1901 Redbud Lane Bloomington, IL 61704 (309) 212 7015  Antonio: Front Desk Clerk- Latino, gay, early 20’s Mark: man on business trip- late 20’s, having happy hour after a long day of meetings, works for Allstate Car Insurance Kathleen: woman on business trip- late 20’s, having happy hour after a long day of meetings, works for Progressive Car Insurance Diego: bartender/server- Italian, good looking man, late 20’s, Antonio at desk working, Kathleen comes to sit down in the chair by the coffee table, Diego walks in. FAde In: Lobby music playing // Antonio at desk working, Kathleen comes to sit down int he chair by the coffee table- she is exhausted from her long day, Diego walks in. // Diego Ma’am, would you like something to drink? Kathleen Oh yes. Give me a diet coke please. Diego I’ll get that right away for you. // Diego leaves to get her drink. Kathleen slips off her heels, grabs her phone out of her purse, sets purse on floor and slouches to get comfortable in her chair waiting for her drink. Diego comes back out to give her, her drink. // Diego Here you are ma’am. Is there anything else I can get you? Kathleen Oh, no. I’m fine. Thank you. // Diego leaves and Kathleen sips her diet coke and takes a deep breath, trying to relax a bit. Mark comes out. Antonio doesn’t think anything of it yet. // Mark Excuse me miss, but do you mind if I accompany you? Kathleen Ya, sure. I’m not very exciting though. Mark Tust me, excitement is the last thing I want right about now. // Kathleen chuckles a bit, thinking how that’s exactly the way she feels. // Kathleen Tell me about it... Long day? Mark More than you know. I just had a corporate meeting. Our lead competitor is trying to steal our ideas for marketing. Kathleen Corporate meeting eh? Well that makes two of us. Our arch rival has been putting out advertisements that have been bashing our company. My boss has given ME the job to fix it. I now have to come up with something in return to give to those bastards. // Kathleen huffs in frustration. // Mark Yeah, tell me about the unwanted work. I’ve now been pointed as the lead man for the project. I wanted to take a vacation but now, the way things are looking, I won’t be able to for another year, maybe even longer. I tell you, if I ever got the chance to be face to face, I think I’d throw more than harsh words at them. //Mark lets out an angry laugh. Antonio picks up the tension in the air and begins to eves drop//. Kathleen I know exactly what you mean. Like I have the time to work up a huge proposal to take them down in half a year. I mean it’s one thing to do your job, but I have to basically take one the whole company by myself. I have to do research to get dirt on them and all that... it’s just a huge mess that I do not want to deal with. I can’t even imagine what I’d do if I came into contact with one of them. GOD they are just a piece of work. // Antonio starts to realize what’s going on and he listens in more. Diego comes out for Mark. // Diego Can I get you something, sir?  Mark Yeah. Give me a Jack D’s on the rocks, please. Diego Right away, sir. // Diego leaves to get Marks drink. Kathleen makes a face at his choice of drink. // Mark What? I told you I was stressed. What are you drinking anyways? Tell me there’s alcohol in it. // Kathleen smiles. // Kathleen Ha, no. Diet Coke. I try to stay away from going the easy way out when I’m stressed. We women are tough. (she teased) Mark Bull. I’m buying you a drink. Kathleen So you think. // Diego comes out with Marks drink and sets it down on the table. // Diego Can I get you guys anything else? Mark Actually yes. She’ll have another one of these (and motioned towards his drink). Put it on my tab. Diego Alright. Another Jack on the rocks. // Diego leaves towards the bar to fix another drink. Antonio immediately picks up on Mark buying Kathleen a drink and is really listening in on the conversation now. // Kathleen My, my. Do you usually buy women, who you don’t even know, drinks? // Mark puts out a hand. // Mark I’m Mark. Now you know me. (he says as they shake hands) Kathleen I’m Kathleen. Nice to meet you. // They both smile. // Kathleen So Mark, you sound like you’re a pretty important man. What company do you work for? Diego walks in carrying Kathleen’s drink. He sets it down. And leaves. Mark Thank you (he says to Diego with a quick glance, then his attention is immediately brought back to Kathleen.) Well, miss lady. I thought you didn’t want to talk about work? We’re just two people having drinks after a long day. I don’t know about you but work is the last thing I want to talk about. Kathleen True, true. Mark smiles. Mark Why don’t you join me in taking the easy way out in enjoying this wonderful drink that I kindly bought for you? Kathleen tries not to smile, but she can’t help his charm. She picks up the glass as he picks up his and cheers. Mark To... a wonderful end to a busy day? Kathleen thinks and smiles. Kathleen Couldn’t have said it better. They click their glasses and Mark sips his drink, but Kathleen downs hers and slams the glass down on the table. Mark looks up surprised and grins. Mark Well, jeez, why didn’t you say bottoms up? Kathleen laughs. Kathleen Eh, I need to loosen up. It’s been a while. Mark laughs. Mark Yes, I can see. Kathleen So I just am curious, who //do// you work for? You seem to be doing very well. Buying drinks for everyone and all. Mark Well, if you must know, Allstate Insurance. Kathleen’s face drops and her mood has turned into a complete horror/anger phase. Kathleen YOU. (she says with clenched teeth) Mark chuckles because he doesn’t know why she said that and how she said it. Mark Me? Kathleen YOU! Mark is confused. Antonio’s eyes widen and senses the tension in the air, he stops working and is completely focused on the two. Mark What? Kathleen gets up from her seat and points her finger right at him. Kathleen YOU are the bastard who is making my life a living hell! Mark puts up his hands in a non aggressive way. Mark Woah, what are you talking about? Kathleen I work for Progressive you prick! Mark realizes who he is talking to now. Antonio is completely lost in the gossip and can’t look away. Digeo comes out to talk to Antonio, but Antonio ignores him and Diego looks to Mark and Kathleen. They are both watching the two in amazement. Mark stands up. Mark You’re K. Rodgers?! Kathleen Rodgers?! Kathleen And you’re M. Hemmingway! They both pause for a moment. Mark starts to chuckle. Kathleen tries to hold her angered expression, but when he starts to laugh, she is confused. Mark Wow. Well isn’t this something... Two arch nemesis’s meet in a hotel lobby... (he talks to himself now) and buys her a drink? Ha. This is the most ridiculous thing. Ha... (he trails off) Kathleen tries to keep it serious and she doesn’t know why he’s not as angry as her. Kathleen Ya... It’s just a wonderful coincidence isn’t it? Mark’s head is down. He starts to shake it and quietly laugh. Antonio and Diego is confused. Kathleen Is something funny? He lifts his head and starts laughing harder. He doesn’t answer her but simply laughs hysterically. Kathleen tries to hold her expression still. But quickly breaks. And chuckles a bit. Her chuckle leads to a decent laugh, and soon they are both cracking up. FAde Out: The End