(David and Sheila are lying in bed, talking to each other after they have made love.)

SHEILA ASHTON
You saw the kids, didn't you, David?

DAVID ASHTON
Yeah. Who told you?

SHEILA
Mrs. Thomas wrote and told me. Excited, were they?

DAVID
Janet was, yeah. I hardly saw Peter. He'd gone off exploring or something. I hardly had two words with him.

SHEILA
Mrs. Thomas says he's stopped wetting the bed now. Very happy there, aren't they?

DAVID
When did you last go?

SHEILA
Uh, the first week in April. Oh, it upsets me, though, Davey...when I have to come away, you know.

DAVID
Yeah. Can you lend me five quid?

SHEILA
(shocked)
Five quid?

DAVID
Yeah, well, I'm skint 'til I get paid. I, uh... I don't get paid, you know, 'til the day after tomorrow.

SHEILA
Well, yes, I know, love...but five quid? Can you wait and do with less?

DAVID
(insistent)
Look, I need five quid.

SHEILA
Do you owe it or something?

DAVID
(annoyed)
Look, if you can't lend it to me, just say so.

SHEILA
You do owe it, don't you?

DAVID
Yeah. Yeah, all right. I owe it.

SHEILA
David! I'm saving that money for us...for after it's over...to give us some kind of a start.

DAVID
Oh, just forget I asked!

(David rolls over in bed, turning away from her.)

SHEILA
(affectionately caressing his arm)
David...

DAVID
Just forget it!

(Sheila turns away from him and is now lying on her back.)

SHEILA
(sadly)
Got what you came for, then, have you?

DAVID
Are you trying to make me feel rotten again?

SHEILA
Or was it the five pounds you wanted?

DAVID
Oh, thanks...

SHEILA
Well, what do you expect me to think? I'm saving that money for us, David...for our future.

DAVID
Future!
(laughing sarcastically)
What future? Do you know what my future is, Sheila? Do you know where it ends, my future? The minute I step into that bloody plane, that's where my future ends.

SHEILA
Yes, I know, David...

DAVID
You know! How do you know, Sheila? You know nothing...nothing!

SHEILA
(very hurt, sighing with sadness)
You can have the money.

DAVID
Why didn't you say so in the first place?

SHEILA
Because I worry about you, David. I worry, you know...in case you try to be something that you're not. When I came down to see you at the base that time...I don't know...it wasn't like seeing you here. I worry in case you go away from me for good.

DAVID
Sheila...

SHEILA
Oh, David, don't leave me...please. Don't change.

 

(from "The Forty-Eight Hour Pass" by John Finch)