Act Out: The Affair

BY: PROVOKR Editors

EXT. ROAD – NIGHT.

Noah and Alison walk down a little paved road that runs parallel to the beach. They are both smoking.

ALISON
Wow. You are a writer? You must be so smart.

NOAH
(pleased)
Not really.

ALISON
I could never write a book. I love reading though. Guess what my favorite book is.

NOAH
Anna Karenina?

ALISON
Peter Pan!

Noah smiles.

NOAH
All children grow up except one.

ALISON
(surprised)
You know it?

NOAH
“On these magic shores children at play are for ever beaching their coracles. We too have been there; we can still hear the sound of the surf, though we shall land no more.”

ALISON
You know it well!

NOAH
I must have read it to my kids a hundred times. We finish it and then begin again.

Alison is looking at him strangely. Her face turns suddenly serious and full of longing. She stops walking.

ALISON
Well. Here were are.

They are standing in front of a gravel driveway which leads to a small, airy beach cottage, up on stilts.

NOAH
Wow. What a great house.

ALISON
Thanks.

NOAH
Do you own it?

Alison nods.

ALISON
My parents moved out here years ago, when land was cheap. My father was a fisherman. There was no indoor plumbing, when they bought it. They used an outhouse and an outdoor shower. I got rid of the outhouse but I kept the shower.

NOAH
I love outdoor showers.

ALISON
Want to see it?

NOAH
Oh, uh. No, that’s okay… I should probably, you know—

ALISON
Past your bedtime?

NOAH
Ha. Right.

She smiles at him. He knows he should leave. But his feet seem suddenly rooted to the gravel.

ALISON
Come on. I think you want to see this.

Alison heads up the driveway. Noah looks down at his feet. To his great surprise, they seem to be following her.

EXT. OUTDOOR SHOWER – NIGHT.

Alison leads Noah around the side of the house to a quaint water closet made entirely of wooden planks.

NOAH
Wow. This is incredible.

Alison is taking off her jeans.

ALISON
Do you want to try it?

NOAH
Now? No thanks.

Alison steps out of her pants and starts to unzip her hoodie.

ALISON
Why not?

NOAH
I’m, uh… I’m not dirty.

She stops.

ALISON
I am.

She’s staring at him. Half-naked. Practically challenging him to touch her. He freezes. She steps into the shower, closing the door. Through the slits between the wooden beams, Noah can see her undress the rest of the way. The slats cover her most delicate parts, but the skin that is exposed leaves only the bare minimum to Noah’s imagination. Her head and neck are exposed above the door. Her bra and panties are at her feet. She hasn’t broken Noah’s gaze since she stepped behind the door. They look at each other.

NOAH
I— uh— I have to go. It’s late. I don’t know what I’m doing here. I have to go.

Alison turns on the water. It pours down, over her head. She looks up at him through the deluge.

ALISON
So go.

Noah exits.