1

Sara: I have my secrets, of course. Everyone has their secret, it’s normal and mine aren’t bigger than others’. Of course, I don’t mean that mine are huge ones, but no one really knows anything about them.

Aside (Sara finished her meeting and is on the plane. One of her secrets is that she is afraid of air travel.)

Sara (shouted): We’re gonna die! We’re gonna die!

Jack (in surprise): What?

Sara: Did I speak so loud? (Look at Jack) We are going to die (slow and clear)

Jack: Actually I don’t think so. We’re ok, there’s just have a little turbulence problem.

Sara: (in shock) A little problem? You say that’s just a little problem? Of course you gotta say that. No one will say “ok I am telling you that we are going to die.” (Nervous) I know that, I know that we are not going to escape this time.”

Jack: Calm down. Ok?

Sara: (extremely nervous and begin talking) God, please, I am only 25 years old and I have not done anything yet, don’t even have a child. I haven’t even climbed any mountain. Don’t have a tattoo.

Jack: What? (In big surprise)

Sara: I’m sorry; I shouldn’t say this to you.

Jack: It’s ok, don’t worry.

Sara: One, two, three…..god, I haven’t done anything to make my parents proud. But since my niece moved in, my parents no longer notice me at all. They think she’s the best but the truth is she’s a jerk…I am actually 125pounds but I plan to lose weight. I have been looking for any kind of job but I was so disappointed that I even try to…that Kerry is a disgusting girl, she always cares about her table and her poor plant, and sometimes I’d like to pour juice in it. But Candy is lovely and every time we wanna have a short rest, she always come and ask “ can we talk about the number stuff of the new issue?” but that means we will go to the starbucks for a while. Last week, I broke my boss’ favorite cup…I’m in a reading club but as matter of fact, I’ve never finished even one small novel, only read the beginning and the end. What’s worse, I have some misunderstandings with my boyfriend, he is so boring and he is terribly keen on jazz, which is horrible….

Aside (Suddenly everything is quiet.)

Jack: Sorry miss.

Sara: What?

Jack: We are on land now.

Sara: I am so sorry, you should have stopped me.

Jack: (smile) Well, that’s difficult. But it’s alright. Don’t worry, we are both so nervous. Are you sure you’re ok?

Sara: Yeah, of course. Have a nice trip.

2

Aside (Sara goes back to her flat and decides to tell her flat mates that she will live with charley.)

Sara: Hey, I’m planning to move and live with charley. What do you two think?

Lisa: (in surprise) What? You never talked about that with us before? When? Why?

Sara: I was trying to tell you but I haven’t decided yet. So…

Janet: That’s definitely a wrong choice. Trust me. You are not going to do that. Terrible strategy.

Lisa: (to Janet) It’s not a strategy, we’re talking about love not playing chess.

Janet: Talking love is like playing chess. Every single step you have to be careful.

Lisa: Bullshit. Falling in love is kind of like finding a soul mate.

Janet: soul mate? Listen, Sara, if you wanna wear a diamond ring, then you are not going to live with him now.

Sara: okay, okay, anyway, I want to live with him. Or we are not going to marry. See, now we already have a little misunderstanding with him. I have to do something.

Lisa: no, you don’t have one. You two are so nice.

Sara: by the way, this weekend I’ll go to my mom and spend the whole weekend with them. God I can not bear my niece. Such a conceited woman.

3

Aside (Sara goes to work as usual and she thinks everything is going well)

Candy: hey, look over there! (Sara looks through her figure and through the window, everyone is in a mess and it looks like very abnormal.)

Paul: can you go back to your offices? I don’t want to see everyone walking around outside the office; you all should sit at your desks. Hurry up, guys! (He says to everyone in the office and looks like quite upset.)

Sara: what happened? Why dose everyone look so very nervous?

Paul: Jack Hall is coming to watch our work here.

Sara: what? Say it again? Today? You gotta be kidding me!

Aside (Jack walks into the office and talks with Paul about the new program. Then he recognizes Sara and Sara feels embarrassed and tries to hide in her office.)

Paul: I want you to prepare some coffee and tea for the meeting and interview this afternoon. (said to Sara) oh, by the way, Jack is coming too.

Sara: what interview? Well I just wanna know whether I have to go or not?

Paul: absolutely, it is very important. Hurry up Sara.

Aside (Sara walks to the lift and find Jack standing inside it himself)

Jack: you want in or not?

Sara: yeah of course. (Feels nervous and upset, in the lift) Mr. Hall, well I just want to say sorry for the event on the plane and I promise that it won’t happen again.

Jack: well to be honest, you don’t have to say that. Everyone has that kind of experience, myself included. And when I worked in a small company I used to be like that too. (With a kind smile face with Sara.) To tell you a secret, I used to run away for a coffee and use “the Olive file” as an excuse when our team wasn’t working as well as we told our boss.

Sara: well that is surprising to hear actually.

Jack: by the way, would you be willing to join the family meeting of your company this weekend?

Sara: it feels no different than seeing the dentist (Sara said this without thinking.)

Jack: (laugh) I think so too.

Aside (in the office, everyone is sitting and ready for the interview, waiting for Jack.)

Host of the TV: welcome Jack Hall as our guess today. He will tell us how he has run his own business so well in such short a year as well as his new program for the coming new season.

Jack: well, after I left the company I used to work for and lost my program, I indeed felt down and it was hard to start again. But everyone has to face the past and the future as well. So I decided to run my own business. And recently, I feel happy because I’ve found my inspiration.

Host of the TV: can you tell us some details?

Jack: we are planning to focus our new products on females about 25 years old.

Host of the TV: what kind of girls?

Jack: she is around 25 years old, she used to work in the office and she goes to work by subway everyday.

Host of the TV: Mr Hall, that kind of girl is too normal that we can find thousands of them. Do you think they can discover a new market?

Jack: yeah, I’ve thought about that problem before, and I’ve already done the market research. I found some ladies and asked them some simple questions about the new product. And I knew this girl, I knew her style, what kind of clothes she wears, her dreams about her future job, she actually wears size 12 clothes, but she said she just wears a size 10. ( pause a second ) and she used to eat bread only, and she used to drink cappuccino with cereal in it.

(Sara suddenly realizes she has cereal in her hand and is trying to put it in her cappuccino.)

Jack: of course, as far as we can tell, there are millions of people who are brilliant at work but she is different, she is so real, and she has sadness as well as happiness. She wrote down an exercise but never finished. She pretends to read the <economic week> but has < superstars> under it.

Abbey: wait a moment, you used to be like that. I saw you do that once. (suddenly he said to Sara)

Jack: she likes fashion but she only wear jeans.

Abbey: oh my god, that’s impossible. Is he talking about you? (abbey turns and looks at Sara’s jeans)

Sara: no, it isn’t me! Of course, not.

Jack: and she usually shops in second-hand shops. Luckily, all the clothes she buys are almost new. But she hates knits.

Candy: I can’t believe that, you hate knits! But you said you love them. How can you lie to me?

Sara: no, it isn’t what you heard, I like them. You’ve know it for a very long time.

Jack: she cries when she listens to Carpenters songs and her favorite singer is Lene Marlin. However, she thinks Jazz is quite boring. She can’t bear it at all.

Aside (Sara closes her eyes and feels embarrassed, she wants to run away at once.)

Jack: on her appearance, you may find that she is a mature woman, but she has cartoon sheets on her bed.

The host of the TV: is she sexy?

Jack: yeah, she is. But I think she will be better after she finds her inspiration and potential.

Aside (Sara covers her eyes with her hands and imagines that Lisa is watching this interview in their flat, feeling angry with her.)

Sara: let it just be a dream, ok? Come on (she shouted) no…it isn’t a imagination, it has nothing to do with a dream, it is so real.

Jack: she trusts true love and romance. Also, she is brave and self-confident in everything. (Pause) oh sorry, a little off point.

Host of TV: ok, thanks for attend this interview today, Mr. Hall.

Aside (Sara opens the door and runs away. They all went out the office and Charley calls Sara)

Charley: Sara, could I have a word with you in private?

Sara: I’m sorry, I know I lied to you. But I didn’t mean to.

Charley: why you never told me that you actually don’t enjoy jazz at all. Then, maybe we could listen to something else.

Sara: I’m so sorry, I don’t know how to say this to you. Things happened to fast and too many. I can’t tell you everything in a moment.

Charley: you don’t really have to say anything. I just want you to be faithful to me. or we should break up. That would be good for both of us.

Sara: I am so sorry.

Aside: when Sara is walking through her office, she met Nick.

Nick: I didn’t notice that you are such a woman. Are you dating with Jack?

Sara: would you please leave me alone. Thanks.

Nick: oh, by the way, we haven’t finished our new program. And I think that would be better if you can discuss this with Jack directly.

Sara: what? How can you say this to me now?

Nick: the advertisement! Rill a bell?

Sara: the advertisement! For heaven’s sake! I can’t believe that you stole my idea and now want me to….go away! (in totally mess)

4

Aside (Sara goes back to her flat but feels upset and nervous because she knows that Lisa must have watched the interview and must be angry with her.)

Sara: Hey, how are you?

Lisa: Oh, hi. (She is looking at the floor all the time) God, en…I am ok. Hi Sara.

Sara: Well, I just thought I’d feel better staying in our flat rather than staying in the office. That place is terrible.

Lisa: Yeah… ok

Sara: So…I guess you’ve already watched the interview.

Lisa: Yeah, of course. (silent for a while) I just want to say ….just if you want me to move out then I will.

Sara: Ok. I’ll move out.

Lisa: No, I’ll move. It isn’t your fault but all about me, my misunderstanding.

Sara: What? You didn’t.

Lisa: Yes, I did. (she looks so sad ) I feel so upset and nervous, I never thought you’ve got such kind of idea of me.

(We are both in silent in a moment)

Sara: I’m sorry. I’ve just been totally betray. (Smile hardly) Today is the most awful day.

Lisa: Did everyone in the office watch it?

Sara: EVERYONE. They all watched and they all know that it is me. They’re all laughing at me. I would rather go and die.

Lisa: How could he do this to you? So you think he actually planned everything from the very beginning?

Sara: Obviously. I won’t trust any man, ever!

Janet: Right. You are right. Oh, by the way, you indeed borrowed my GUCCI bag without my permission.

Lisa: Oh, shut up, and stop talking about your stupid bags.

Janet: See, I was right, you should never tell your secrets any man. It only gets you in trouble.

(The phone is ringing right now.)

Janet: (pick up the phone) hi. This is Janet.

Phone (Jack): I’m looking for Sara.

Janet (to Sara): It’s Jack.

List: Tell him that Sara won’t want talk to him

Janet: She should talk to him.

Sara: Give me the phone. (on the phone) hi.

Jack: Sara, it’s me. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to hurt you.

Sara: Never mind. I don’t wanna talk to you. (she turns off the phone suddenly.)

(The phone is ringing again)

Sara: (on the phone) Please, just leave me alone. Ok?

Alex: It’s your dad. How are you, Sara?

Sara: Oh, hi dad, I’m ok. How are you? And how is mom?

Alex: She is fine. Well, we just watched TV and your friend Jack was on it.

Sara: He isn’t my friend.

Rachel: We both feel sorry about that. But it isn’t your fault. He’s using you to introduce the new product.

Sara: Don’t worry, mom. I’ll be fine.

Rachel: Actually, we are calling to give you a gift.

Sara: A gift?

Rachel: yeah. A car. You need a car, Sara. We know you can’t afford it right now. so…we decided to buy one for you.

Sara: Dad?

Alex: yeah. Oh, dear, don’t worry about the money I lent to you before. Just forget it. You are my daughter.

Rachel: Sara, we are a family, just the three of us.

Sara: Thanks. I love you.

5

Aside: When they were talking in the café, Jack came in and walked towards Sara

Jack: Hi, how are you?

Sara: Sorry, I am talking with my parents and I don’t really wanna talk to you.

Aside: Sara’s parents want to go and say goodbye to her.

Rachel: (say to Jack) You need to talk to her in private. Don’t worry, you and her both will be fine.

Alex: Good luck.

Sara: (say to her parents) You can’t just leave like this. I need you here.

Rachel: Come on, talk to him. He must have his reasons.

Jack: Please, Sara.

Sara: Leave me alone, ok? We have nothing to say anymore. You betrayed me and used me as the advertisement? I trusted you in such deep….I can’t believe how can you do this to me.

Jack: Listen to me, Sara, I know I made you feel down and in big trouble, but …. Is that so important?

Sara: Is that so important? (shout it out) You walked into my life, gave me to romance and made me believe that I fell in love with you….(pause) You said you are attracted to me and you were so caring that it made me think everything you said was so real. I trusted everything, but it was all actually lies.

Jack: No, it isn’t what you think. (he catch her arm) You made a big mistake. I’m not what you think, I didn’t betray you.

Sara: Of course, you did. (she is trying to leave there)

Jack: ok.ok.ok Listen to me, Sara, I admit that I always miss you and even put you into my program. But that doesn’t mean ( he looks at her) I always think about you, that is the truth, I indeed always think of you…(pause) I have to say this and you have to hear it, these weeks when I was working on this new program, I found that you are everywhere in it and I was totally falling into your life and sometimes asked myself ‘will Sara like this?’ You are in my life and work, my thoughts, everywhere. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t real to me. You are so real to me.

Sara: how can I trust you, you pushed me into such a terrible mess. You nearly spoilt my entire life. My boyfriend broke up with me and all my friends left me. What else I can have? You? Your belief? Or your new program. Come on, please, let me go.

Aside: Sara walked out of the café and back to her flat. She packed her suitcase and wanted to leave this city. Jack was coincidentally on the same plane and sat next to Sara, telling her all of his secrets.