"Claire, you're drooping." " Higher." " Really?" "I wanna make them feel like the crow's gonna peck their eyes out." "Good." " $75?" "That's so low." " I've never sold a piece in my life." " I want someone to buy it." " But it's not just a print." " You got a good spot." " Do you think?" " Have you seen mine?" " Where?" "Exactly." " Follow me into the annex." " Cool pyramid." "This is weird." "Does Olivier know they put you here?" "He said there are only four first years in the show and some people would be grateful." "Nice." " 500?" " Is that disgusting?" "The copper spray was so expensive, I had to take a loan out to pay for the fucking thing." "It sucks." "I'll buy dinner." "Hey, you people." "I'm needing workers here." "Can you untangle this mobile?" "It's by some big alumni idiot and I got it all fucked up." "Olivier, do you think I should have priced my photograph higher?" "The price tag and the placement." "It's disgusting." "20 years old, you should wanna give your work away." "Nobody in this country is born with a soul." "It has to be beaten into you." "There's another part that I ruined." "Lord knows where it goes." "Have you seen this?" "I don't like that guy." "He's too veiny." "Sarge was veiny." "Let's get the new Matt Summers." " I don't know why we wouldn't tell Frank." " There's nothing to say." " It was just a fun thing we did." " A fun thing we never did before." "So was the gospel brunch." "We didn't talk about that." " Do you wanna talk about that?" " No." "Do you wanna talk about Sarge?" "Not really." "I just thought it seemed like a therapy topic." " I'd rather talk about the dishes thing." " You're still angry about that." "David." " Father Jack." " Please call me Jack." " How are you?" " Great." "You?" " Just fine." " This is due on Wednesday." " What'd you rent?" " Something Keith picked." " Sister Act." "OK." " Jack, have you met my boyfriend Keith?" " I don't think so." " This is Father Jack from St Bartholomew." " Nice to meet you." " Likewise." "You still have Back To The Crack:" "Butt Munch 2." "It was due last Friday." "Thank you." "Sorry, I can't." "I cannot have this conversation one more time." " I can't give you what you want." " Love?" "I give you love, Lisa." "I fucking give you love every day." "There's just always some fucking thing." "Introducing Maya to some friend before I introduced you." "Who cares?" "It happens all the time." "It's like I'm an afterthought." "People notice." "I can't do any better than this." "Some women might be happy with a faithful, committed, devoted father and husband." " Father and husband." " I just don't have anything else for you." " What am I supposed to do with that?" " Nothing." "I don't know." "This isn't right." "What isn't right?" "This." "Us." " But I thought you loved me." " I do." " But not enough." " It's enough for me." " It's not, though." " It's not enough for you." "I'm totally fucking fine with what we have." "You're not happy but you have to make it about me." "That's what I can't live with any more." " So what are you saying?" "You wanna leave?" " Leave?" "I would have to leave because I moved my whole life to this shithole city!" "Not for me, you didn't!" "So you wanna split up?" "Maybe, yeah." "I don't know." "Maybe." "Just a moment." " Why, hello." " I hope I'm not interrupting." "Not at all." "Please come in." "That last song was so beautiful." "Did you write it yourself?" " I did." " It was just wonderful." "I'm so pleased that you liked it." "I thought I would call it Semiprecious." " For your Aunt Pearl?" " In part, yes." "I don't know how you can get such a beautiful sound from a computer." "It's unexpected." "As a child, I played the violin, but when I went to college, I..." "I had a very cruel roommate who threw the violin from our dormitory window." "It was hand-carved by my Uncle Gunther before he died of polio." "I gave up playing the violin altogether and left college to go to mortuary school." "It was there in the computer room that I discovered another way to make music." "Oh, my." "I wonder if you're available tomorrow night to come with me to this art opening." "It's a benefit show for Claire's school." "Apparently, some of these alumni are quite well-known artists." "I'm afraid I don't know any of their names." "Claire's very excited." "She's one of the few students whose work has been selected." "I think it's important for her that we all be there." "I would be honoured to go." "If you feel it would be appropriate." "Well, of course." "You're a member of our little family here." "Thank you." "That means so much to me." "The secret is the new three-in-one invention called the fanny lifter." "Part one is a six-inch segment used in the cardio sculpting." "Part two, an eight-inch section..." "What are you doing?" " What's going on with dinner?" " Couldn't decide." "Why not?" "Who cares?" "Meatloaf is fine." "Then I have to go out for meat." "So we'll make some rice and beans." " Kids had rice already for lunch." " That's OK." "It's one day." "I couldn't remember what we had last night." "We had burgers last night." "That's where the meat went." " Are you taking the medication?" " Yes." "It's only been two weeks." "He said it takes up to a month sometimes." "For anything to happen at all?" "I gained five pounds already, so something's happening." "Her mom's pretty much crazy." "She couldn't deal with arranging the funeral." "I don't think Melinda even told her we broke up." "Did Melinda leave any instructions for what she wanted in terms of a service?" "No." "She did leave me a note." "But it wasn't about her funeral." "I tried to end the relationship before, but she always said she was going..." "I never thought she was really going to do it." "But maybe, in some way, I did, because I stayed for years after I wanted to leave." "I finally moved out about two weeks ago." "And I thought she was OK." "She seemed really... calm about it." "And then... it's like I keep waiting to find out it's all this mistake." "It's not your fault." "This note." "It's so horrible." "You had to live your own life." " Was she depressed?" " For years, yeah." " What was she like?" " Rico." "It was like those tribes or whatever, they think if you take their picture, they'll lose their spirit." "It was like her spirit got stolen, and all that was left was this body that she didn't even want any more." " Was she on medication at all?" " Everything, all of them." "Mostly it just made things worse." "Then she was on something that was really working." "I thought." " What was it?" "Paxil?" " Paxil made her really jittery." "This was a combination of Zoloft and something else." "She did seem better." "I'd have never left if I didn't think she'd be all right." "It's OK." "Mommy's OK." "I hear that when I rewash the dishes after you've washed them, it makes you feel like I don't think you're good enough." " Did David hear you correctly?" " Yes." "So I'm sorry and I'll try not to do it any more." "Thank you." "Has anything else come up since our last session?" " Not really." " David?" "We did have three-way sex with a stranger." "I just wanna make sure Frank thinks that's a healthy couple activity." "How did it feel to you?" "Fine." "It was a lot more enjoyable than the paintball." " What do you think, though?" " Were you safe?" "Of course." "There are certainly a variety of ways that couples can enjoy their sexuality." "Then it's totally OK to just have sex with whoever?" "Generally, it's best when there's an open negotiation between partners as to what the rules are in these situations, so that both people are comfortable." "Were you both comfortable with what happened?" " Yes." " We didn't exactly negotiate the rules." "It just sort of happened." "Is it something you might wanna do again?" "It was very liberating to be spontaneous and kind of wild together instead of always being so careful about everything." "It was fun to be wild." "If this is something that you think you might like to do again, then I suggest you take some time to lay down some ground rules." "OK." "Do you need to borrow some blush?" "Those peach tones you're wearing just don't pop." "That's OK." "I don't need to pop tonight." " Want some of these for your bag?" " I quit, remember?" " I didn't know you were still in that mode." " That's the goal, to stay in the mode." "I'm just curious." "What makes you think that was such a problem for you?" " Being stoned all day and night?" " It was never like that." " How would you know?" " I work with addicts." "You're not an addict." "You went through a difficult break-up and needed to act out, but that was just stress." "I'm not interested in discussing this with you." "You seemed very defensive when I offered you a joint." "I would appreciate it if you respected my choices." "If I thought that they were your choices and not some 12-step Christian dogma, I'd feel much better about it." "Whenever in my whole life have I ever wanted to take on someone else's dogma?" " That is not a big problem of mine." " But you do tend to overdramatise yourself." "I'm sorry, but I've known you for a long time." "Thanks for your support, Mom." "But I am sorry if you feel I've been insensitive." "Thank you." " You guys ready?" "The car's double-parked." " I just have to do one final coat." " How you doing?" " OK." "I'm sick of being so fucking conscious all the time." "It's like I'm this incredibly boring, watered-down version of myself." "I know what you mean." " What piece have you got in this thing tonight?" " It's a new one." "Might suck." " That's all right, sweetie." "It's for charity." " I'm sure it doesn't suck." "That blouse might actually work if you got rid of the bra." "That skirt might actually work if you got rid of that ass." " It's 7:15." "Where's the baby-sitter?" " I'm sure she just hit traffic." "Oh, God." " You don't have to come if you don't want to." " I'm not going for you." "I'm going for Claire." " I have a relationship with her." " I know." "I thought maybe we should talk some more." "Obviously." "That's Kayla." "Fuck it." "I'll just be cold." "Come here, baby." "I'm pretty sure that's Jan Vanhoosen." " Look, he's going straight to his own piece." " Narcissist." " Who'd ever buy that?" " MoMA." " Let's go see if anyone's looking at my piece." " Narcissist." "I just feel bad for it back here all by itself, no one coming to see it." "Oh, my God." "Someone bought it already?" "Do you think it's a mistake?" "Russell, it's a really beautiful piece." "Maybe that's why I got such a good spot." "Do you think somebody actually thought I was somebody?" "You are somebody." "It's pretty good, don't you think, for a 19-year-old?" "Yeah, I guess." "Looks like art." " It's dark." " Really?" "I think it's kind of funny." "Funny?" "It's so, "What's the point?"" "Come on." "It's like, "Life goes on."" "I so totally don't get that, and I know Claire a lot better than you do." " She has no sense of humour?" " She has a very dark vision." "I think you just have this one really old idea about who she is." "Maybe, but it happens to be accurate." " It's magnificent." " It's great." "Thanks." " It's so incredible." " Awesome." " God, you guys didn't all have to come." " Why not?" "It's a big deal." " It's so not." " Is that Vigo Mortensen?" " How did you get the plastered-out look?" " Who?" " It's infrared film." " No, it says duratrans." "It's like this process they use for ads in airports." "It's really boring." " No, it's not." " I love that movie." "I wept." " I remember." " Fiona Kleinschmidt." "She's got some pots in the next room." "Nate was deflowered by a mildly famous ceramicist." "I don't think she's coming, though." "I heard she was in Japan." "Where'd you guys get the drinks?" "I pumped so I could drink tonight, because I wanna drink tonight." " The bar's over there." " Need anything?" "So what happened to you?" "You were showing everywhere and then nothing." "Did you get married or something?" " I went crazy." " What a drag." "Where'd they put you?" " Clarendon." " That place isn't too bad." "I had another student who used to go there." "Micky Herschel." "I think they had some of his feeling art hanging in the cafeteria." " How was it?" " Not bad." " He had a breakthrough with me." " Who doesn't?" " The repressed people." " Right." "Them." "Billy." " How are you?" " Great." "How are you?" "I'm good." "You guys know each other?" " Olivier visited for a term while I was here." " He was my best student." "After I cracked him open." "Before it was all too pretentious, right?" " The first class I ever taught." " You said you taught in Argentina." "I lied." "There's Jani." "I have to go pretend I like his piece of shit." "Jani, it's so good to see you." "His best student?" "I don't know about that." "I'm pretty sure I was the only one sleeping with him." " Really?" " Yeah." "It was a pretty amazing experience for me." "I had a lot of static around my sexuality." "It was totally suffocating my work." "It was a sex thing, not a gay thing." "Wasn't that sort of a fucked-up power dynamic, though?" "There's always a fucked-up power dynamic in sex, isn't there?" "Not always." "How you doing?" "Fine." "This dip tastes like vomit." "Cheese is OK." "Here." "It's all right, thanks." "I don't want that, thanks." " You eat it." " I just had some." "So throw it out." "You don't want that." " I don't?" " I'm told it tastes like vomit." "Brenda, this is my wife Lisa." "Lisa, Brenda." "Nice to meet you." "You too." "So what can I eat here?" "Disturbing work always takes longer to sell." "Most people want something that's pretty." " Like the cleaning supply installation?" " He was on the cover of Art Forum." "Olivier's right." "You can't give a fuck about what sells." " It's easy for you to say." " Yeah, but that was just a fluke." "My mom probably called from Florida to put a hold on it." "That's sweet." "If my mother buys mine, I'll kill myself." "Any asshole can take a camera to a cemetery." "It's better than my lame self-portraits from my first year." "That's true." "Baby, it's so nice in here." "Angie and her boyfriend took the boys to Shaky's and then to play Goofy Golf." "Baby, I can't drink on these pills." "I forgot." " Even if they're not working yet?" " You're not supposed to." " Sorry." " It's OK." "You know, if this medication isn't working, you can try a different one." "I know." "I'm a nurse." "I'm just saying, sometimes it takes a while for you to find the right one." "Baby, I know." "I'm a nurse." "Billy's?" " It's really different for him, isn't it?" " Yeah." "I like it." "I think." "It's very... cool." " And sort of painless." " You haven't seen it before?" "No." "He doesn't use me that way any more." "That sounds like an improvement." "It's my new thing." "I won't take care of anyone else so I'll be forced to take care of myself." "Theoretically." " How's that going for you?" " I'm still living with my mother." " Who isn't?" " God, that's right." "You too." "Temporarily." "We've really evolved." " Excuse me." "Sorry." " Come on in." "We're smoking some of my husband's cancer pot." "It's incredible, and I got a ton of it." "Went a lot faster than anybody expected." "Jani was just talking about that pyramid." " You been in it yet?" " Too much of a line." "It's fantastic." "Sensual." " It's plastic." " I thought I heard your voice." "I looked for you." "Are you ready to go out and get that drink?" "In a minute." "You're smoking pot." " You want some?" " It's California pharmaceutical grade." " No, thanks." " Oh, God, Bern." " It's lovely, Claire." " Lovely?" "The way it looks." " Did you make the frame as well?" " No, I bought the frame." " It was the perfect choice." " Well done." "This must be your mother." "Mom, this is Olivier Castro-Staal, my form-and-space teacher." " It's so nice to meet you." " And you." " This is my friend Arthur Martin." " It is a pleasure and an honour." "I know you've had quite an effect on Claire." "Not as much as you have." "Thank you." "What do you think of her piece?" "I think it's very sweet, really." " It's supposed to be disturbing." " It is." "Great art often provokes controversy." "And, if I may, I also feel the image is quite tender." "It suggests the quiet dignity of eternal love." "Would anyone care for a refreshment or an hors d'oeuvre?" "No, thanks." "I'll come with you." " You think they're fucking?" " No." "I'm sorry if that was weird before." "It was a little confusing." " I didn't tell Nate we'd met." " But you did know who I was at the spa." " No." "I just figured it out." " Just now?" "Then why were you pretending we'd never met?" "I don't know, I just didn't wanna get into it with him." "I think you did know who I was when you came in." "I'm sorry." "I just wanted to know what you were like." "That's weird and dishonest and kind of stalkerish." "Getting a massage isn't the best way of finding out what happened between Nate and me." " He hasn't been very clear about it." " Why does it matter?" "I don't know." "I'm such a wreck right now." "He's pretty good at making people feel crazy." "Not that I wasn't." "I am too, I think." "I feel like I've totally lost my mind." "What was I doing sneaking around like that?" "It's so desperate." "It's not desperate." "It's just trying to get something you don't have." " You mean Nate?" " You have Nate." "I think you'll have him for ever if you want him." "He doesn't love me the way he loved you." "He didn't love me." "Not really." "He was just trying to get something he didn't have." "He's such a fucking idiot." "He's living life." "It doesn't feel like plastic." "It feels like those shells, abalone." "I know." "Kind of makes you wanna build a pyramid to live in." " I understand why you wanna leave." " I don't wanna leave." "I'm not happy either." "I wanna blame you, but it's not your fault." "I've known you for so long, I don't know why I thought getting married would transform you." " It has transformed me." " I know." "I didn't mean it to sound like that." "I know how committed you are." "I just mean it didn't change the way you feel about me." " God, it did, though." " Not the way I wanted it to." "It's not fair to you and I guess it's not fair to me either, really." "It's good we tried." "I think we had to try." "Don't you think we could maybe now just... start from a different place?" "Neither one of us is ever gonna be what the other person wants." "This is bullshit, this idea of what we want." "Maybe it's enough now to just stop pretending." " And be like friends, you mean?" " Yeah, but not just that." " And you wanna be lovers still?" " Yeah." "Without all the pressure to be something we're not." "But what if it's never any good?" "Then we'll know we really tried." "Really tried." " I feel really relieved." " You do?" "I do too." "You see?" "These fucking pyramids really do work." "Sorry." "It's OK." "Come in." "It's really nice in here." "It's supposed to have the same proportions as the pyramids in Egypt." "I thought it was supposed to be this horrible plastic version of a sacred space." "That's kind of a reverse message." "Like modern life isn't always so bad?" "I don't know, like... even though we feel like we've lost touch with this more authentic history, there's a continuity that we don't even realise." "That's really comforting." "I wish we never had to leave." "Excuse me." "Do you know who bought it?" "Fifi Rochedale." " Is that you?" " No." "It isn't." "Your old cat's name was Fifi and I don't know where you got Rochedale." " It's the street." "It's your porn name." "Nice." " God, you're fast." " It doesn't make it OK that no one wanted it." " I wanted it." " I love it." " You're in debt." "It's a good investment." "The thing's gonna be worth so much more in five years." " Weird." " Checked all the stalls?" "Yeah, and upstairs." "What shall we do?" "Fuck it." "She's got a cellphone." "She can call a cab." "Might I remove my glasses?" " Please do." " Thank you." "How weird was it that Brenda was there tonight?" "I don't know." "How weird was it?" "She dropped off the face of the planet as far as I knew." "What do you think about him?" " He's pretty sexy." " So?" " So what?" " Do you wanna go for it?" " Really?" " Unless you like someone better." "I just thought we were supposed to be negotiating if we did it again." "We are negotiating." "You can pick somebody else." "Frank made it sound like there are rules or something." " Like what?" " I don't know." "Maybe certain things we only do with each other." "Like what?" " I don't know, like kissing, maybe?" " That sounds OK." "Would that be rude to the other person?" "I'm sure he won't care." "OK, let's start with that." "That's Patrick." "What about him?" "For us?" "No way." "Why not?" "He's so nice." "We're not doing it with somebody we know." "It's just creepy." "I'm gonna talk to the tall guy." "I thought you were at your sister's art thing." "We just came from there." "How is this place?" "I don't know." "It seems pretty much like a free-for-all." "I think I'm not so much a gay-bar person." "Is that really sad for me?" "I think that's really happy for you." "Mom?" "Darling, you're home." "I'm sorry." "It was too late to stop." "Honey, I bought a painting." "All right, then." "Thank you for a lovely evening." "I should be getting back now." "You can stay if you'd like." "No, I couldn't." "I really should be getting back." "All right." "Thank you so very much." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Let us know if there's anything else we can do." "That's hard to live with." " Someone kills herself over you." " She was depressed." "But he said she was doing fine." "She was on the right medication." "She did it because he left her." "It's depressing how deluded people are about what love is." "Wait." "What do you mean?" "Like it's gonna make their lives better." "It does a little, right?" "It's just not like someone else can change who you are." "Like this woman Melinda." "That guy was the only good thing in her life?" "He didn't seem that great to me." "I wouldn't wanna be him right now." "Me neither." "It takes all my heart to keep from giving that asshole in five a triple dose of this stool softener." "It would hurt us more than it would hurt him." " How are you doing on the Paxil?" " Not great." " All I can feel are the side effects." " So when are you gonna go see Rogers?" "I should try and stop in this week, but I always feel like he has no idea who I am." "I go in there for five minutes and he goes down some list." "They don't give a fuck." "They just give you whatever samples came with the best gifts." "When I was depressed, the only thing that worked was Celexa with Ativan." "I should probably ask Rogers." "Just try it and see if it works for you." "You can tell Rogers that you saw another doctor while you were on vacation." "Here." "Gave you generic." "Still the machine." "I already left a message saying I was coming over, so if she wants me to walk in on more fucking, that's her choice." "I can do it for you if you feel like you've seen enough of Mom's pussy for a few days." "Who could ever see too much of Mom's pussy?" "It's like a trip down memory lane." " Really, though." " I know." "Thanks." " I don't even know where everything is." " I can come with you." "That would help." "Good." " I appreciate you letting me stay here." " I have the space." "It's just until I get my client list back together." "Stay as long as you can stand my friends." "Is Kenny still over here all the time?" "You know what?" "He's not that bad." "He used to come into my room and fart on my pillow." "He was ten." "Get up." "I can't believe how much money I've spent fucking up my life." " Did you ever find out who bought your piece?" " Yep." " Was it your mom?" " I wish." "You wish?" "Who could be worse than your mom?" " It wasn't my mom, was it?" " No." "It was Olivier." " That's flattering." " I'm sure it's just some kind of head trip." "Why?" "To teach me some kind of weird lesson or something." " What kind of lesson?" " Like he owns me." "His whole power thing." "Maybe he just really liked your piece." "Kind of doubt it." "Tickles." " I fell asleep." " It's OK." " Is it late?" " It's not even five." " Is Maya..." " She's fine." "She's sleeping." " How long have you been here?" " I just got here." "What?" "Nothing." "I'm just happy to see you." " You are?" " Yeah." "I'm happy to see you too."