Why?-Transcript

JEAN: He’s not fighting someone in there, is he?

SALESCLERK: I’ll inquire. Is sir all right in there?

LIONEL: No, sir is not all right in here. Sir is hot and sick and tired of getting in and out of suits, and taking his shoes off and putting them back on again. In fact, sir is becoming claustrophobic and completely brassed off.

SALESCLERK: Well, that was an outburst.

JEAN: Railing.

SALESCLERK: I beg your pardon?

JEAN: Railing. He does that sometimes.

SALESCLERK: About trying on suits?

JEAN: Oh, about anything. You name it, he can rail against it.

SALESCLERK: Well, I would’t like his blood pressure.

JEAN: Oh, no. Once he’s had a good rail, he’s quite himself again.

LIONEL: I don’t like being discussed when I’m behind a curtain.

JEAN: You make that sound as though it were a regular occurrence.

SALESCLERK: Would sir like a glass of water?

LIONEL: No. Sir would prefer a pint of best bitter.

SALESCLERK: Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t think I could…I might be able to find a sherry.

LIONEL: I was joking.

JEAN: You see? He’s had a good rail and now he’s himself again joking.

LIONEL: Well, what do you think?

SALESCLERK: Very smart.

JEAN: Yes.

LIONEL: Is that an opinion?

JEAN: Yes.

LIONEL: Well, what does it mean?

JEAN: Yes.

LIONEL: Well, ‘Yes, but?’

JEAN: No.

LIONEL: Er, yes, it’s just the job?

JEAN: No, no.

LIONEL: Look, I appreciate your giving up a Saturday morning to come with me, but I did assume you’d bring an opinion with you.

JEAN: Yes, well it’s hard to put into words.

LIONEL: Well, there isn’t time for you to write me a letter.

JEAN: Oh, very well. Very nice.

SALESCLERK: Very smart

JEAN: In its own way. It’s just a bit, um…a bit…

LIONEL: Go on.

JEAN: Bankerish.

SALESCLERK: Well, I’d take that as high praise.

LIONEL: Well, I wouldn’t. Do you mean boring?

JEAN: No.

LIONEL: Well what do you mean?

JEAN: Bankerish.

SALESCLERK: I’m sure I could find you a glass of sherry.

LIONEL: No, no, no. Let’s not lose the thrust of this argument.

JEAN: No, it isn’t an argument. If the suit was for you, I’d know.

SALESCLERK: Do you mean the suit isn’t for sir?

LIONEL: Of course it is.

SALESCLERK: I’m sorry.

LIONEL: No, I’m sorry. What do you mean, ‘If it was for me?’ It is for me.

JEAN: No, but as you as an author. You at a book launch. You signing copies, you making personal appearances.

SALESCLERK: Oh, a celebrity. What’s the book called, sir?

LIONEL: My Life in Kenya.

SALESCLERK: Oh, what’s it about?

LIONEL: Curiously enough, my life in Kenya.

SALESCLERK: Oh, nonfiction.

LIONEL: I’m afraid so. Well, come on, help me look like a writer. Albeit of nonfiction.

JEAN: Well, what does Alistair say?

LIONEL: Oh, well, I brought his folder with me, but I was hoping it would only be a last resort. Right. Clothes, clothes, uh, interviews, sex.

JEAN: Sex?

LIONEL: He believes in covering everything. Uh, clothes…

SALESCLERK: Is this going to be helpful to us?

LIONEL: It’s gibberish.

SALESCLERK: I’m afraid I don’t understand.

JEAN: Give it to me. It’s perfectly plain.

LIONEL: Well perhaps you could translate?

JEAN: Well, yes, what Alistairing is saying is, um, is er…

LIONEL: Yes?

JEAN: Just a minute! Is smart…but not too smart. Oh, stylish…but not too stylish. Informal, but not too informal?

SALESCLERK: I’m lost.

JEAN: So am I.

LIONEL: Perhaps we could find that glass of sherry.

4:26

LIONEL: I don’t like being patronized.

JEAN: Not you, the assistant, I mean all the trouble he went to.

LIONEL: At least he gets paid for it. I had to put up with it for nothing.

JEAN: He didn’t sell a suit.

LIONEL: I bought a tie.

JEAN: It’s not the same.

LIONEL: Obviously, its not the same.

JEAN: What are you going to do about the suit?

LIONEL: Save money. Not buy one.

JEAN: Oh!

LIONEL: This vast, book buying public, Alistair keep chattering on about, will just have to take me as I am.

JEAN: You make it sound like a threat. You will be cheerful, won’t you?

LIONEL: Unbearably. I shall grin all the time, like this.

JEAN: Stop it, Lionel. Lionel, stop it. Oh, Lionel, stop. Stop, Lionel, Lionel! Will you stop it? Just stop it.

5:14

LIONEL: I’m not sure I like this now.

JEAN: Well, if you’re thinking of taking it back, you’ll go alone.

LIONEL: No, I probably shan’t. I think the chap in the shop probably deserves the rest of the day to be a peaceful one, don’t you?

JEAN: I think he deserves a medal. You never make any comment about my coffee.

LIONEL: Should I?

JEAN: Well, you owned a coffee planation in Kenya for the best part of your life.

LIONEL: Oh, I see. Well, it’s jolly nice.

JEAN: Jolly nice? That’s the sort of thing the vicar would say.

LIONEL: Does he often pop round here for coffee, then?

JEAN: I was speaking figuratively.

LIONEL: You wouldn’t want a great dissertation on the bean and the blend every time I have a cup of coffee would you?

JEAN: No, not a dissertation, no. Just an informed opinion.

LIONEL: Oh, all right.

JEAN: Excuse me. Well?

LIONEL: It’s jolly nice. And it wasn’t the best part of my life, in Kenya, you know. A major, but not the best. A tiny time with you 38 years ago, that was the best part of my life.

JEAN: Are you chatting me up?

LIONEL: Yes, I suppose I am.

JEAN: Now, about this sex thing.

LIONEL: What sex thing?

JEAN: Well, Alistair’s folder.

LIONEL: Oh.

JEAN: How to be an author in ten easy lessons. You said there was a bit about sex.

LIONEL: It isn’t instructions.

JEAN: Oh, dash. What does he say?

LIONEL: See for yourself. Do you mind if I pour myself another cup of your…

LIONEL AND JEAN: jolly nice coffee?

JEAN: Oh, yes.

LIONEL: I’d knew you’d laugh.

JEAN: Well, it isn’t you, is it? Is it?

LIONEL: Of course, it isn’t.

JEAN: He wants you to come over as a bit of an old ram.

LIONEL: Well, I could buy a t-shirt with ‘sex machine’ printed across it.

JEAN: Well, that’s not very subtle is it?

LIONEL: Well, subtlety isn’t a  word I associate with Alistair.

JEAN: He only wants you to hint at it.

LIONEL: What, leer a lot?

JEAN:  No. Just suggest that your personal life is steamy without actually saying it.

LIONEL: Leer reflectively?

JEAN: No. Smile mischievously.

LIONEL: What?

JEAN: Yes. If pressed on a ticklish subject, smile a little mischievously and say, ‘Hey-hey’ and your potential readers will think ‘Ho-ho’

LIONEL: It isn’t me, all this, is it?

JEAN: Well, it could be, it’s easy enough.

LIONEL: Go on then, show me.

JEAN: Well, I didn’t say I could do it.

LIONEL: You said it was easy.

JEAN: Well, it…Oh, all right. It’s sort of…

LIONEL: That was rather good.

JEAN: Thank you.

LIONEL: What were you thinking about to make you smile like that?

JEAN: Gooseberry fool.

LIONEL: I didn’t have to carry on like this to sell coffee beans.

JEAN: Well, it’s not quite the same thing, is it?

LIONEL: I know, I know.

JUDY: Hmm, that’s nice.

LIONEL: Well, it won’t work you know.

JEAN: Oh, what kind of an attitude is that?

LIONEL: Realistic. ‘My Life in Kenya.’ It’s a dull book. I should imagine it might sell marginally more copies than something called ‘The Anatomy of a Wireworm.’ I mean, you’ve read it, both of you. What’s your honest opinion?

JEAN: Well…

LIONEL: Well, that’s a hesitant start.

JEAN: Now, look, just let me finish. Well, it’s, um…Well, it’s interesting, isn’t it Judy?

JUDY: Yes.

JEAN: Yes.

JUDY: And, um…

JEAN: And authentic.

JUDY: Yes.

JEAN: Yes.

JUDY: Informative.

JEAN: Yes.

LIONEL: Dull?

JEAN: Yes.

JUDY: A bit.

JEAN: Well, you did ask.

LIONEL: Which brings us to one inevitable point. Why the hell did Alistair ever choose to publish it in the first place?

8:52

SANDY: Alistair’s still not in his office.

JEAN: Oh, do you have his home number?

SANDY: Certainly not. Don’t you?

JEAN: Certainly not.

SANDY: Judith might.

JEAN: I can’t ask her. She stayed the night with friends.

SANDY: Why this rush to get hold of Alistair anyway?

JEAN: Oh, well, it’s Lionel. Look, you’ve read his book. What do you honestly think?

SANDY: My job doesn’t depend on my answer does it?

JEAN: Well, I said be honest.

SANDY: Well, if it was between reading the book and counting sheep…

JEAN: Yes, quite. Lionel’s no fool, he knows that, and now he wants to know why Alistair ever chose to publish it.

SANDY: Well, we all know that. A bit of nonfiction is good for a publisher’s respectability.

JEAN: I know, but will Lionel find that flattering? I mean I know him and for all his feigned indifference, he really cares about the book.

SANDY: If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you were falling in love again.

JEAN: Oh, well, you don’t know me better. Will you try Alistair’s office again please?

SANDY: Yes. I know one thing. You’re much livelier since Lionel turned up again.

JEAN: Livelier?

SANDY: Hmm. Ah. Hello, again. It’s Ms. Pargetter’s secretary. Is Mr. Deacon back, yet? He is? May I…? Thank you. The whiz kid’s whizzed in.

JEAN: Thank goodness. Hello Alistair. Yes, I’m fine. Now look, Alistair, it’s about Lionel.

ALISTAIR: Judy’s already told me.

JEAN: Oh, has she?

ALISTAIR: She said it to me this morning. I thought you knew.

JEAN: No, I didn’t know.

ALISTAIR: You don’t mind?

JEAN: Mind? No. Why should I mind?

ALISTAIR: It’s all done.

JEAN: Yes, right. Bye, Alistair.

ALISTAIR: Ciao.

JEAN: Yes, ciao to you, too. Bye. Judy’s spoken to him already.

SANDY: She must have been up early.

JEAN: She didn’t need to. He was ‘the friends’ she stayed with last night.

SANDY: Ho-ho?

JEAN: Hmm. Ho-ho indeed.

SANDY: Well, you didn’t say that very joyfully.

JEAN: Well, what did you want me to do, dance on the desk?

SANDY: He’s only a bloke.

JEAN: That’s like saying a wolf is only a sort of poodle.

SANDY: Well, if you ask me…

JEAN: Now, what was it I used to do here? Oh yes, I know, I used to run a secretarial agency.

SANDY: Your hints drop like boulders on butterflies.

JEAN: Well, just spread your little wings will you, and get on with some work.

11:12

ALISTAIR: Sorry to keep you waiting, mate. I’ve been on the phone sorting out Italy.

LIONEL: The Italians have been trying to do that for years. Have you formed a government yet?

ALISTAIR: Something much bigger than that, I’ve got a hot author in Rome. So, what do you think of the new office?

LIONEL: Very impressive. It’s not as I’d imagined. It’s not bookish.

ALISTAIR: That was yesterday.

LIONEL: I thought it might be. There no paper anywhere.

ALISTAIR: I commit very little to paper, Li.

LIONEL: That’s an odd thing for a publisher to say.

ALISTAIR: I’m a laptop man.

LIONEL: Are you?

ALISTAIR: Laptop computer. You should get one.

LIONEL: No, thanks. I’m still very happy with my quill pen.

ALISTAIR: Iced tea?

LIONEL: Certainly not. Oh. No, thank you.

ALISTAIR: Lemon tea?

LIONEL: No, thank you.

ALISTAIR: F.T.?

LIONEL: No comment.

ALISTAIR: Nice one, Li.

LIONEL: Look, I’m sure you’ve got the rest of Europe to sort out, so can I just say what I’ve came to say?

ALISTAIR: Of course, of course. Sit down and fire both barrels.

LIONEL: Why are you publishing my book?

ALISTAIR: It’s what I do.

LIONEL: You haven’t got rich by publishing books like mine.

ALISTAIR: I didn’t say I had. I publish books like yours Li, and I’m being mega frank here, because it makes me feel better.

LIONEL: Are you claiming that my book has some kind of curative powers?

ALISTAIR: I’m claiming books like yours are real books. Hmm? They’re the not trash that make the bucks. Book like yours will last for years, the sort of book that my old man used to publish.

LIONEL: Oh.

ALISTAIR: All fears laid to rest.

LIONEL: Yes, I suppose so. Thanks for being honest.

ALISTAIR: The corners of your mouth have gone down, Li.

LIONEL: Conceit. I don’t suppose anybody is proud to be a tax loss.

ALISTAIR: You do pull some funny cherries from out of the bag sometimes. Who ever said anything about you being a tax loss?

LIONEL: Well, let’s face it, it may be a proper book, but it’s not going to sell, is it?

ALISTAIR: Not mega, no.

LIONEL: Not even mini.

ALISTAIR: Look, we won’t know that till we’ve hit the bookshelves. Incidentally, have you bought that suit yet?

LIONEL: No.

ALISTAIR: You’re not going to fight me on this one are you?

LIONEL: No, it’s just that neither I, nor the salesman, could make any sense of your description.

ALISTAIR: Strange. No problem. I’ll send you to my guy.

LIONEL: We may be talking about a different price range.

ALISTAIR: Still no problem. He owes me a favor. I set him up in the first place.

LIONEL: I see.

ALISTAIR: How’s the sex?

LIONEL: I beg your pardon?

ALISTAIR: The, uh, ‘Hey, hey.’ The ‘Boy, did I steam, but I’m not tell you’ bit?

LIONEL: Oh, that bit. Yeah, I’m working on it.

ALISTAIR: Great. Well I’m sorry to be a party pooper…

LIONEL: Oh, yes, of course.

ALISTAIR: Love to Jean.

LIONEL: Ah, thanks.

ALISTAIR: Any movement on that front by the way?

LIONEL: Oh, yes.

ALISTAIR: Oh?

LIONEL: Yes, we’ve started calling each other by our first names.

14:11

LIONEL: I didn’t drag you out, did I?

JEAN: No, it’s rather nice to have someone to have lunch with.

LIONEL: What about all those business lunches?

JEAN: They’re not really lunches. They’re just sit down sparring matches.

LIONEL: There’s a seat. So, are you good at sparring?

JEAN: I am now. I wasn’t when I started.

LIONEL: Oh, damn and blast.

JEAN: When we were young, we used to have a trick for clearing park benches.

LIONEL: So we did, so we did.

JEAN: Look, I didn’t mean do it.

LIONEL: Think of it as striking a blow for the aged.

JEAN: That was quite the silliest thing I’ve done in years.

LIONEL: We did it rather well, didn’t we?

JEAN: Yes, we did. I’m glad you haven’t quite forgotten how to be so silly.

LIONEL: Yes. So am I, so long as you don’t expect it to become a way of life.

JEAN: No, no. Cheese or ham?

LIONEL: Ham.

JEAN: Oh.

LIONEL: I want to see Alistair this morning.

JEAN: Oh?

LIONEL: I asked him what he would call the mega question. Why would he choose to publish what is basically a very ordinary book?

JEAN: Did you get the right answer?

LIONEL: Quite a convincing one. Of course, he’d had time to rehearse it.

JEAN: I’m not with you.

LIONEL: He’d been nobbled. Got at.

JEAN: Did Alistair say that?

LIONEL: He was too ready with the answer. You got to him first.

JEAN: No, I didn’t.

LIONEL: Yes, you did.

JEAN: No, I didn’t. Judy did.

LIONEL: Ah.

JEAN: I just tried to, and if you’re going to get precious about that you can go and eat your lunch on another park bench.

LIONEL: I have my pride.

JEAN: Off you go.

LIONEL: Oh, don’t be absurd.

JEAN: Very well, I’ll go.

LIONEL: You’ve got my sandwich.

JEAN: I’ve got all the sandwiches.

LIONEL: Oh, come back here.

JEAN: No. I’m very happy here, thank you.

LIONEL: Look, I only said, ‘I’ve got my pride.’

JEAN: You make it sound like the V.C.

LIONEL: If you must know, I’m rather touched that you tried to help.

JEAN: Oh, are you?

LIONEL: Yes, I am. Why don’t you just come back over there and finish your lunch?

JEAN: Oh, all right.

LIONEL: Thanks.

HOMELESS MAN: Go on. You’re very interesting.

17:54

JUDY: Nice lunch?

JEAN: Oh, yes, very nice. Nice night?

JUDY: Oh.

JEAN: You said you were staying with friends.

JUDY: Well, Alistair is a friend. Mum, it’s not anything serious.

JEAN: Judy, men like Alistair…

JUDY: Yes, go on.

JEAN: I can’t finish the sentence. I don’t know any men like Alistair.

JUDY: Well, there you are then.

JEAN: You haven’t proved anything.

JUDY: Neither have you.

JEAN: True.

JUDY: Look, come on, be fair. I mean, you’re going out with a bit of a one off yourself.

JEAN: Well, that probably means we’re both peculiar.

JUDY: He’s more sensitive than you think, you know.

JEAN: I know he is.

JUDY: I’m sure he let Lionel down very gently.

JEAN: Yes, he did. Well, good, that’s got all that sorted out.

SANDY: I’ve been thinking about Lionel.

JUDY: What is this strange power he has over women?

JEAN: I’m beginning to wonder. What have you been thinking?

SANDY: Well, we all know why Alistair is publishing the book, but why is he personally taking so much trouble with it?

JUDY: He’s a pro.

JEAN: Well, he’s a rich pro.

SANDY: Exactly. So, why has he made the time to act like Lionel’s personal manager? He’s always there for him. A rich pro, helping him, pushing him. A rich pro would delegate that to some junior nobody, like me. Why put so much effort into a book that he expects to make about tuppenny-ha’penny? Well, it’s just a though.

JEAN: Well, let’s hope that Lionel doesn’t have the same thought.

JUDY: Yes, lets’.

SANDY: Anyway, about this secretarial agency you run.

JEAN: The one with the risk taking secretary?

SANDY: That’s the one. I wonder if you could sign these?

JEAN: Hmm. SANDY: You put ‘Jean Pargetter’…

19:46

ALISTAIR: Nice to see you again, mate.

LIONEL: Good of you to man the time, Alistair.

ALISTAIR: I’ve always got time for you, you know that.

LIONEL: That’s what’s bothering me. You shouldn’t have.

ALISTAIR: Come again?

LIONEL: I am a minor author.

ALISTAIR: Let’s qualify that.

LIONEL: No, let’s not. I’m not a complete fool. May I sit down?

ALISTAIR: Sure, but to be like super honest, I, er…

LIONEL: Don’t worry. I shall come like super fast to the point.

ALISTAIR: Shoot.

LIONEL: You told me why you decided to publish the book, which I can just about make myself believe, but why the hell are you personally putting so much time and effort into it? Into me?

ALISTAIR: I like you.

LIONEL: Alistair, to do what you’re doing, it wouldn’t be enough to like me. You’d have to madly in love with me and you’re not are you?

ALISTAIR: I’m not bi, Li.

LIONEL: No, then tell me the truth, and I warn you, I’m going to sit here until you do.

ALISTAIR: The truth can sometimes be a bit painful.

LIONEL: So can cliches.

ALISTAIR: Iced tea?

LIONEL: No, thank you. Just the truth.

ALISTAIR: Right, the truth.

21:04

ALISTAIR: I thought you liked that.

JUDY: Oh, I do.

ALISTAIR: Not that I expect it to send you into absolute raptures.

JUDY: I’m sorry. I was just thinking.

ALISTAIR: About last night?

JUDY: Yes, of course.

ALISTAIR: Well, it’s a lovely evening, why don’t we drive up the river somewhere to eat?

JUDY: Ok.

ALISTAIR: Maybe go on somewhere afterwards.

JUDY: Ok.

ALISTAIR: Singapore’s nice.

JUDY: Ok. Did you just said Singapore?

ALISTAIR: Now, I hate to admit it, but I was trying to gain your attention.

JUDY: Alistair, can I ask you something?

ALISTAIR: Of course.

JUDY: It’s a bit personal.

ALISTAIR: Excellent.

JUDY: It’s about Lionel.

ALISTAIR: Oh, look1 How can I put this? Just for one day, I’m up to here with Lionel. Hmm?

22:07

JEAN: Shh. Shh. Be quiet. Get down. Who is it?

LIONEL: It’s me.

JEAN: Oh, just a minute.

LIONEL: Should I have brought a bone with me?

JEAN: A good deterrent, dogs.

LIONEL: Yes, Does it attack on command?

JEAN: Now, how did you know that wasn’t a dog from outside the door?

LIONEL: Something to do with the click at the beginning and the click at the end, I suppose.

JEAN: Oh. I’ll have to give some thought.

LIONEL: Why are you here all alone anyway?

JEAN: I’ve got some work to catch up on.

LIONEL: There’s more to life than being successful you know.

JEAN: I’m not trying to be successful. I’m trying to catch up on some work because I’ve spent the whole day being preoccupied by you.

LIONEL: You saw me at lunchtime.

JEAN: I didn’t say missing you.

LIONEL: I know. But there’s really no need. I found Alistair’s description of my book being the dull but respectable one quite satisfactory.

JEAN: Did you?

LIONEL: Yes. Did you?

JEAN: Yes. So you’re quite happy about it?

LIONEL: Almost sublimely.

JEAN: You’re not, I can tell.

LIONEL: Well, perhaps sublimely is an overstatement. I asked Alistair another question this afternoon.

JEAN: Oh?

LIONEL: Yes. Not the half ‘Why?’, the ‘Whole why?’.

JEAN: Oh, and?

LIONEL: How shall I put this? I’m a favor.

JEAN: A favor?

LIONEL: Apparently Alistair’s father owed my father a favor, and I’m it.

JEAN: Oh, I see.

LIONEL: That’s why Alistair has been looking after me like a baby.

JEAN: Oh. Well, did your father save Alistair’s father’s life or something?

LIONEL: In a way. He lent him 500 pounds in 1947 to start up a publishing firm.

JEAN: Oh, what a lovely story. Your father must love you.

LIONEL: Yes, he must. I could strangle him.

JEAN: There’s gratitude.

LIONEL: Well, the patronizing old bugger. I’m not a child. I don’t need his help.

JEAN: It won’t do you any harm. I wish I had someone to help me.

LIONEL: Why, what’s the matter?

JEAN: Oh, nothing.

LIONEL: I’m not with you.

JEAN: No, well, you know, parents. Even when you’re, well, older, you never stop missing them. You never get used to the fact that you can’t go to someone and say, ‘What shall I do?’

LIONEL: All my father ever did when I said, ‘What shall I do?’ was say, ‘Rock on.’

JEAN: He couldn’t have said that before rock and roll.

LIONEL: Well, the equivalent.

JEAN: And now he wants to help you without even wanting you to know.

LIONEL: Yes, interfering old…

JEAN: Oh, stop it. You’re just saying that because your pride’s hurt.

LIONEL: No, it isn’t.

JEAN: Dented?

LIONEL: All right, dented. I’m here.

JEAN: Yes, I know that.

LIONEL: If ever you wanted to say, ‘What shall I do?’ I mean.

JEAN: Oh, Lionel, that’s very sweet. But I don’t see you as a substitute father.

LIONEL: What do you see me as?

JEAN: Well someone, em…someone, uh…

LIONEL: Yes?

JEAN: Look it isn’t as if you need the money, is it?

LIONEL: You’re changing the subject.

JEAN: Yes, I know.

LIONEL: What money?

JEAN: The money from the book.

LIONEL: Ah. Well, that’s the thing of it you see. I mean Kenya is a very beautiful country, but, um, I’d reached that stage in my life when I wanted to come home. And then I got on the third class lecture tour, you know, waffling on about…

JEAN: ‘My Life in Kenya’

LIONEL: Yes, and that was all right. And then I wrote the book and, uh, in my innocence I thought, ‘That’ll be all right.’ I wasn’t looking to make a fortune, you see, just, um, enough for me to get by really.

JEAN: But unless you’ve bene lying through your teeth, you own a coffee plantation in Kenya. Assuming you sell the old bean.

LIONEL: The only place I can spend the money from the coffee plantation in Kenya is Kenya. They moved the goalposts. Let’s go and find something to eat.

JEAN: Yes, let’s. Nowhere too expensive.

LIONEL: You see? Just getting by isn’t enough anymore.

JEAN: Are you suggesting that I’m expensive?

LIONEL: I’m suggesting that for me, ‘getting by’ isn’t enough anymore. And I don’t want to go back to Kenya.

JEAN: Why?

LIONEL: That’s a pretty coy question.

JEAN: I’d like to know.

LIONEL: Well, let’s face it, we can’t wait another 38 years before we see each other again, can we?