"THE INDECENT WOMAN" "Dear Charles, I know you don't want to talk about what happened." "That's why I'm writing you this letter." "Maybe I can explain it this way." "Not to defend myself." "But because I want to understand it myself as well." "I met Leon the day that I played for your prisoners." "It was a hot day." "I didn't intend to meet him or any other man." "It just happened." "Great idea." "Wasn't it fun?" "They enjoyed it." "I don't think they came for the music." "No." "We've done our good deed." "See you tonight." "Finish your plate and then tell us the rest." "I'm going." "Anna's asleep." "See you in a bit." "Emi..." "Get rid of that house." "Don't worry about a couple of thousand." "I won't." "Your mother's history." "It's open." "The sign has to go." "The new owner will do that." "Or do you want to keep it." "Please." "Listen." "I was never able to come home unnoticed at night." "Were they that strict?" "More afraid." "Especially my mother." "Afraid you'd do something stupid?" "That I'd do anything they didn't know about." "When does it have to be empty?" "At the end of the month." "Beautiful." "Custom made for my graduation." "I never wore it." "My mother didn't allow it." "I hated that dress." "The dress or your mother?" "Myself." "We can do it another time." "There's no rush." "No, I've got it." "Let me help." "You'll get it back when we leave." "Are you going?" "Marcel wants to, I don't." "But I never get my way." "See you tomorrow." "Looks good on you." "A bit tight, maybe." "How did you get in?" "From the real estate agent." "So you're here for the house." "Yes, that was the idea." "This is a bedroom." "Your room?" "A sink." "Here are three more bedrooms." "A second toilet and shower." "Handy for a big family." "Those things have to be removed." "Let's go downstairs." "I've already seen downstairs." "Alright, what do you think?" "I think..." "I think..." "I'd better not say." "There's another house that belongs to this property." "In the garden." "A garden house..." "I want you to leave now." "You're beautiful." "Sorry." "I was shaking." "I'd met a stranger and all I wanted was for him to touch me." "I scared myself." "How was it?" "What did you say?" "I asked how it was." "He had to think about it." "That doesn't sound good." "Are you coming in or not?" "I'm sensitive to drafts." "What is this nonsense?" "Don't you have a shower at home?" "This is my home." "I may have to renovate a bit, but I'll keep the colour, green." "I like it." "Does that happen to you too?" "You're standing somewhere... you're lost in thought and... suddenly you notice someone's standing behind you." "You don't look around." "You don't know who." "You feel his hands slide under your dress." "You want to turn around, but something stops you." "Those hands caress you everywhere." "Your breasts." "You feel your nipples get hard." "Then you feel a body press against yours." "You don't know who it is." "But you don't look around." "Because if you look around, you have to stop it." "Would you look around?" "Do you do this often?" "Yes." "Some women really like this." "If you want to buy the house, talk to the real estate agent." "Wasn't it exciting?" "They have the contract." "Sign it or there's no deal." "Not afraid, but angry." "Can I trust you to return the key to the real estate agent?" "Angry with me." "Of course I was angry." "I thought he was arrogant and pushy." "But I could hear a voice whispering to me." "Back already?" "Already?" "I'm late." "And this is to make up for it." "Make up for what?" "That I'm late." "I'll have a quick shower and then I'll help." "Just everyday people." "It's amazing research." "Have another gamba." "Nice." "I heard a story from my sister the other day." "One day, her brother-in-law was working in his garden." "He heard a woman." "Help, help!" "He listened again." "Help, help!" "It was coming from the house on the other side of the fence." "He climbed that fence and went to the house." "He still heard her call out." "He broke open the kitchen door." "He's a very big guy." "He went into the house of his back neighbours." "When he was inside, he heard the woman call." "Help!" "He went upstairs and stood in front of a locked door." "Help!" "He kicked the door in." "He saw a woman naked on a bed." "His neighbour." "She was tied to the bed." "Next to the bed, on the ground, was her husband." "In a black leather suit." "A Zorro cape and a little black mask." "He was in terrible pain." "He'd broken his leg." "He'd jumped down from the cupboard." "Crazy, the things people think of." "The best part is yet to come." "After a couple of months, these people moved." "Everybody kept calling him Zorro." "Tell them the story of that woman." "She wanted to surprise her husband and for 450 guilders... she had a fake tattoo made over her entire leg." "From removable ink." "The man came home tired from work." "He removed the sheets and saw his wife." "Naked, with fiery dragons on her thighs." "And he's completely turned off." "Asshole." "What, do you want to tell the story?" "You're such a bastard." "I'm just telling a story about a man and a woman." "Drop dead!" "Anyway, that woman wore long pants all summer." "Because she couldn't get the bloody ink off." "I'd better check on her." "Better pass me the gambas then." "I don't hear them drive off." "I hope they don't come back after I've finished everything." "Very childish to walk away!" "You started that story!" "What does it matter?" "Will you go have a look?" "You know them." "It's not the first time." "They've never lasted until desert." "You're such a cynical bastard!" "Emi, come." "It's just foreplay for them." "Charles?" "Yes." "Could you do that too?" "Somewhere in a car." "The thought never crossed my mind." "Could you meet someone and have sex with him right away?" "Not with 'him', first of all." "Also not with her, actually." "Just like that?" "No, I don't think I could do that." "But you would understand it?" "I've never thought about doing it with anyone else." "You don't have to worry about a thing." "I couldn't imagine you had never thought about another woman." "You said it to reassure me." "But I didn't want to be reassured." "I wanted to be afraid." "Afraid that I couldn't control myself." "Emilia speaking." "It's Leon." "Leon who?" "We've met in your mother's house." "How did you get my number?" "From the real estate agent." "I wanted to make an appointment with you." "I'm curious about you." "I'm busy all afternoon." "Why would I do it?" "I can only speak for myself." "I'd like it." "Don't worry, I won't touch you." "Mommy!" "I thought you couldn't make it." "No, I had to pack something." "So you won't stay for long?" "No." "Because I'm meeting someone here." "You're already receiving people here?" "You haven't signed the contract." "They're not really visitors, it's a woman." "With who I'll be playing a game." "And since it's still her house, I can't kick her out." "With who you want to play a game?" "I won't do anything against her will and there are only two rules." "Rule 1: when one of us says stop, the game ends." "Rule 2: you can say, ask and do anything." "In your imagination." "Are there really women who play along?" "Almost all of them." "What do you want me to do?" "I want you to listen." "And I want to tell you how you were in my fantasies last night." "You don't have to be afraid." "We won't touch each other." "Tell me then." "I saw the sun shine and I saw you." "You were at the beach." "It's crowded." "You can smell sun lotion." "You can hear radio's." "Try to imagine it." "The bright sunlight in your eyes." "The smell of the sea." "You're lying on a big towel." "It's hot." "You're only wearing a bikini bottom." "Then you notice someone standing in front of you." "For quite a while." "He's dripping water on your feet." "But it's not water." "It's a melting ice cream in his hand." "A drop in your neck, on your lip..." "On your breast..." "Then you notice you're no longer wearing a bikini bottom." "What's he doing to you?" "Tell me." "He's gone." "He's gone." "It's alright." "Is there a fantasy that goes further?" "I don't know." "Think about it." "For the next time." "Emilia." "Where are you?" "What's wrong?" "I've asked you three times whether it's been arranged with those tickets." "No, I can't make it." "We can choose from three evenings." "You didn't call yet." "I just forgot." "Damn!" "Sorry, again." "What's wrong, Emilia?" "I'm not blind." "Or deaf, but you're making me go deaf playing like that." "Your mind is somewhere else." "With a man?" "Yes." "If it's Marcel, I don't want to know." "No, you don't know him." "Are you in love?" "Or just horny?" "Or are you trying to wake up Charles?" "Yes." "He does something to me." "Fuck, I presume." "It goes further." "Even further?" "It's not about him, it's about me." "About my... my desire." "Desire for what?" "What do you want?" "You have everything." "It's a desire for... desire." "Without desire, there is nothing." "No music, nothing." "Charles?" "I'm going to play tennis until ten." "See you later." "She was playing until ten." "And under Koningsbrugge?" "Nothing?" "And under Simone Geelhof?" "Thanks, bye." "Charles Staal speaking." "Is Simone home?" "Both?" "Tomorrow evening." "Ok, no nothing urgent." "Bye." "Tell me." "It's a full house." "Full of silhouettes." "Men, women?" "Only men." "They left their wives at home." "They want to do terrible things to me." "I sometimes have that feeling when I'm performing." "Is there anybody else on stage?" "I'm alone." "What are you playing?" "Schubert." "I'm wearing a miniskirt." "Stretch material." "I hear people talking." "I look into the dark hall." "I hear them whisper." "I think they don't like it." "I try extra hard." "Then I notice my skirt has crept up." "I can't do anything." "I have to keep playing." "I'm playing better and better to distract them." "The whispering gets louder." "My skirt's now more like a belt." "I can't move or I might play a false note." "I can feel everybody looking at me." "I panic." "I'm starting to sweat." "The lights seem to get brighter and brighter." "The stage light's slowly looking for my thighs." "I'm getting warm." "Hot." "I can feel everybody looking at me." "They're all looking." "And I expose myself." "Look..." "look." "Look." "We weren't going to do that." "Wouldn't you want it?" "That's not the point." "Are you still awake?" "Why didn't you go to sleep?" "Anna felt a bit sick, so I stayed with her for a while." "How was tennis?" "What do you mean sick?" "Did she have a bad dream or do you think she's really sick?" "No dream, just a bit hot." "A fever?" "I don't know." "I don't think so." "I didn't play tennis." "I mean, I went there, but it was the wrong week." "Did you go out with Simone?" "No, they're not home." "Where have you been then?" "Our house." "Did you do a lot?" "I cleared out the attic." "It's a bit scary up there." "You can't see or hear anything." "And you were completely alone too." "Not completely." "The new owner came by." "He came to measure things." "He's going to put in parquet floors." "Shall we go to sleep?" "I know I wasn't honest with you, Charles." "But I didn't know how to explain." "I didn't want to hurt you." "It wasn't about you." "Leon was about lust, not love." "Something temporary." "But the more I tried not to think of him... the more I thought of him." "Do you know who made that?" "Grandma." "It's me." "Have you got a moment?" "I'll tell you a fantasy." "I'll help you in a sec." "Yes, tell me." "I imagine you're going into the city on a sunny day like today." "And you've got a raincoat with you." "You walk past the sex cinemas and the porn shops." "You look for a shop where they sell whorish lingerie." "What he suggested was absurd." "But also provocative." "That's how contradictory a fantasy can be." "When I thought about it honestly, I wondered... don't I want it or am I afraid?" "Because I didn't know the answer, I came to see you." "Apparently, nothing could stop what was going to happen." "I now realise I crossed a line that day." "What are you doing here?" "It's a surprise." "Let's have lunch." "Now?" "I'm about to have a meeting." "Can't you sneak out?" "This isn't a place you can sneak out of." "They try it almost every day." "I'll come home early." "We can have dinner somewhere, alright?" "We'll see." "I'm sorry." "Where?" "In half an hour, near the Hallen." "Did you buy something nice?" "You'll see." "How much?" "Fifty." "Ok, get in." "Where are you going?" "To my house." "I'm not crazy." "The parking lot, behind here." "We weren't going to touch each other." "A whore you can't touch?" "I'm paying, ain't I?" "Ok, tell me what you want." "Take off your undies." "I want you every day." "I don't need your money every day." "Your money looks the same as any asshole's money." "Can we go?" "I have more work to do." "What time is it?" "Three o'clock." "Three o'clock?" "Anna!" "Damn!" "Can I take you somewhere?" "Yes, to my car." "No, I'm hungry!" "Get a sandwich." "Hi." "Hi." "Are you home already?" "Yes, I'm fed up with prisoners." "Are you wearing a coat in this weather?" "No, I have to go again." "Tea's ready." "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "I'll get changed." "Ellis' mother called." "Yes, I was a bit late, sorry." "It won't happen again." "The rehearsal went too long." "You never have rehearsals on Friday." "Ok, I was in the city." "I have a surprise for you." "Like it?" "I bought it for you." "Do you like it?" "Yes." "Shall we go upstairs?" "Now?" "Now." "Pay first." "I have ten bucks." "You'll need more." "I do?" "How much?" "Depends what you want." "I don't think I want this." "Alright then." "Pity." "I think something's going on." "I can't prove it, but..." "How long has it been going on?" "How long do you think?" "A week, a couple of weeks." "A couple of years." "Have you asked Emilia?" "Didn't you ever notice anything?" "I have my hands full controlling Marcel." "What do you mean?" "Nothing." "But if you suspect something, do something about it." "Ask Emilia." "What if I ask her and it's not true?" "She'll wonder what's wrong between us." "Why do I think that?" "After the bed, the mattress and the paintings." "Hello." "I went along with your fantasy." "Now I want you to go along with mine." "I want you to do it with someone else." "Another woman." "And I'll watch." "Where?" "Not at home, but somewhere where you could be caught out." "A toilet." "A public toilet." "In the toilet of an expensive restaurant." "Ok." "Did you see someone you'll do it with?" "I made my preparations." "Is it that redhead?" "Could be." "Not the one in the brown dress, behind me?" "Wouldn't that be interesting?" "Find a spot." "Where is she?" "Look in the mirror." "Look in the mirror." "No." "Anyone could come in." "Isn't that what you wanted?" "Come on Anna." "You have to eat to become a strong girl." "I don't want to become strong." "One bite for Pluis." "Pluim, with an M." "Dad can say Pluis." "A bit for daddy." "A bit for mommy." "No." "Don't I get anything?" "No." "Don't you find mommy sweet?" "No." "That's bloody enough!" "Emi!" "Is she asleep?" "Emilia." "What's wrong with you?" "I wish I knew, Charles." "You've never hit Anna before." "Never do it again." "I know I can't do it, shouldn't do it." "Sometimes you lose control." "Is that so bad?" "How can you say that?" "I hear that at work all the time." "Did your mother ever hit you?" "No, and look how I turned out." "We still have to discuss the party for Anna." "Why should she have a party?" "Her birthday's coming up." "Oh God." "Did you forget?" "No, but it's in a month." "In two weeks." "Do you have a lover?" "Yes." "We can't see each other anymore." "What's the problem?" "Everything..." "Anna..." "Who's Anna?" "My daughter." "And what's wrong with Anna?" "What's wrong with Anna?" "I hit her." "For the first time." "Life can be hard." "We went too far yesterday." "Too far for who?" "For you?" "For Charles." "Did you tell him?" "No." "Well then." "We were going to stop before..." "Please." "Please." "Don't ask me, ask yourself." "I haven't heard you say stop yet, by the way." "How about that job of yours in Dubai?" "Marcel rejected the job." "Simone didn't want to come." "And Marcel loves me so much, he didn't want to go alone." "Especially when he realised that all women there wear veils." "And can't be touched." "That's not true, darling." "The more veils, the more exciting the unwrapping." "Do you know it's the first time in ages that you made it to desert?" "Whilst being married or whilst cheating?" "Normally, you would already have walked off angry." "You'd be in the car in front of our house." "We'd wonder why we didn't hear you leave, so we'd have a look." "And we'd see you argue and after about 5 minutes..." "So you were spying." "Did I hear that correctly, Simone?" "Have they been spying on us?" "Some people can solve things together." "And other people need someone else for it." "Mommy, mommy!" "What's wrong, darling?" "What is it?" "It's nothing." "Look." "See?" "We have to talk about your party." "Would you like a party?" "I think she'll like the presents." "Yes, what would you like, Anna?" "Today, I'm mommy." "Pick another day, girl." "This isn't a good day for me." "Then I'll be daddy." "Another day, darling." "Take the day before yesterday." "I felt good then." "Can I pick that day too?" "Yes." "Then I'll be that man from yesterday." "Which man?" "He called when mom was having a bath." "Did he have a name?" "Yes, but I forgot." "What did he want?" "You had to call back." "You're right." "What?" "You're right." "I've thought about it." "We have to stop." "Stop?" "Stop." "Now?" "Now." "I don't understand." "Why?" "Stop." "Don't say it." "Not now." "What's wrong?" "What do you want me to do?" "It's over, Emilia." "I'll do anything for you." "Anything you want." "Anything?" "Anything." "What if I wanted to tie you up?" "What if I wanted to hit you?" "If that's what you want." "Ok." "What I want... say that you love me." "Stop." "Stop!" "Love?" "I didn't love him, Charles." "Believe me when I say that." "Those words are too precious and only meant for you." "I thought it would be all finished when I said stop." "I only realised days later... that the game hadn't been wrong, but one of the players." "Stop it." "I didn't ask you to touch me." "What are you doing?" "Are you going?" "You disgust me." "When you touch me, I want to kick you, hit you." "You don't know that side of me." "But I love you, Charles." "That's easy to say." "Easier than to dress up like a whore and get fucked in the back of a car." "But how..." "I get daily phone calls at work." "I always keep it short." "Charles, believe me!" "You play a great whore." "In the back of my car..." "You don't know your own wife, sir." "Where are you going?" "To the whores, alright?" "I'm glad you came." "Want a drink?" "It's over, understood?" "Stay away from me and my child." "And from Charles." "We've started a new game, with only one rule." "Everything's real." "And you can't stop that." "You're crazy." "No." "Let go off me." "I missed you so much." "Does Charles know?" "That the game's over?" "Hello." "Just who I needed." "Your wife's here and she won't be coming back any time soon." "She'd rather stay with me." "Stop it!" "You know I'll never let you go again." "Doesn't that turn you on?" "Keep your hands off me." "I mean it." "I know, you play it well." "Don't get me wrong." "I can't live without you." "Emilia, please open the door." "This kind of fantasy's going too far for me." "You don't want me, do you?" "Why not?" "I don't love you." "What about all the times in this house?" "Doesn't that mean anything?" "You're a body to me." "A fantasy, nothing more." "What's going to happen to us then?" "You don't understand." "We both go our own way." "That's impossible." "We could die together." "You're crazy!" "Ok, if you want me, go ahead." "But I'm not here." "I'm with someone else." "I saw the panic in your eyes." "I went to see Leon to tell him to get out of our lives." "But part of me couldn't choose." "Didn't want to choose." "Because I'm more than just your wife." "I can never deny that again." "I only know one thing for sure." "I love you." "Kiss." "Your indecent wife."