A Dozen Black Roses - 2. Act II

ACT TWO SCENE ONE

Setting as Act One Scene One.Mid-evening.Duncan and Grant are having a blazing row,facing each other across their lounge.

GRANT(shouting) What the hell were you thinking of?You were the one accusing me of infidelity so I suppose you decided to take your revenge by sleeping with someone else,did you?

DUNCAN(in a low voice) No,it was not like that.I just got jealous.You were spending so much time at the hospital,I was sat here on my own imagining all kinds of things and then you refused to let me into the bedroom.

GRANT(sarcastically) Poor old Duncan!There I was working all hours,sometimes twenty out of twenty-four to bring home enough money to pay for this oh,so expensive house-which you insisted we bought-and..you had the audacity to suggest that I was having an affair!How exactly could I fit all that in between ward rounds,operating on all those patients and teaching-may I say at times-rather daft students?

DUNCAN I know and I am so sorry- but you are so damn goodlooking,there are all those young men hanging onto your every word -you would have be mad not to fall for their charms!

GRANT ’Hanging onto my every word’?God,I hope they were-I am a consultant at a teaching hospital-they are supposed to listen and take notice of me or otherwise what would be the point?

DUNCAN I just got jealous!

GRANT But why?What is to say that ’those young men’were interested in me,anyway?I am ten years older than most of them and I am sure that very few are actually gay.I think you must be confusing medical students with male nurses.

DUNCAN So,you fancied one or two members of the nursing staff,did you?

GRANT(shouting) NO!I love you so what the hell would I be doing ogling them,even if I did have the time.I know we had a blazing row but despite all your explanations at the time I failed to understand even then your deep sense of insecurity.I would almost say that you have an inferiority complex!

DUNCAN(meekly) Maybe I have.I don’t know.Perhaps I just cannot really believe or understand why you fell in love with me in the first place.I am not exactly a premium catch,am I?

GRANT To be honest,after your revelations this evening I am beginning to wonder why I did.Ok,so we had had a row and were not sleeping together but I am sure all couples,gay and straight have arguments.Why,oh why did you feel the need to go off and have sex with someone else?Despite your suspicions,I managed to keep my fly zipped up so why couldn’t you?I would have thought that considering how close we were to breaking up the last thing on your mind would have been getting your end away.I could not even get an erection during that week.We were barely communicating!

DUNCAN I feel really bad,Grant but I suppose we all deal with things in different ways.I do love you,you know.It was only sex after all.

GRANT Only sex?We are supposed to be getting married next week-and we have been living together for two years.Does that not mean anything to you?

DUNCAN Of course,it does.I so want to spend the rest of my life with you.

GRANT Well,you have a funny way of showing it.OK,let us start from the beginning.Just explain to me slowly-it has been a long day-why you imagined that I was having an affair in the first place.

DUNCAN Well,like I said before all those young men at work...

GRANT That does not make any sense.I explained to you months ago that the love and affection that I have for you completely obliterates and almost makes a mockery of any feelings that I have had for other men in the past.You know that I have never made a fuss about my sexuality.To me being gay is no different to Peter next door,for example being straight.Only my close work colleagues know I have a boyfriend,not because,I hasten to add-before you interrupt-because I am embarrassed or ashamed-but it is just none of their business.Do you understand what I am saying?

DUNCAN Well,yes but you have such a high sex drive that I am always worried that I am not enough for you-and look at me-you a successful consultant and me,just a lowly editor of a small niche publishing company.Why wouldn’t you want more?

GRANT God,you do have an inferiority complex.I entered into a relationship with you voluntarily,didn’t I?You or anyone else for that matter did not force my hand.I saw you in that bar after the show and felt a nervous excitement.

DUNCAN Did you fancy me-even then?

GRANT Of course,I did.Otherwise why would I have given you my telephone number?(Becoming agitated)Look,I have had enough of this.What ever it was we dated,didn’t we and declared our love for each other?

Duncan nods.

They both sit down on the sofa.

So,did you never believe that I loved you?

DUNCAN I believed that you loved me but just that I was not enough for you.

GRANT So,you could not trust me to stay faithful to you then?

DUNCAN I don’t know,Grant.I am in such a mess!

GRANT To the extent that you had to go and have sex with another man-or was it MEN?

DUNCAN It was just Gavin.I did not sleep with anyone else.

GRANT(sarcastically) Oh,well that’s all right then.

DUNCAN Like I said before,I am so sorry.I just don’t know what came over me.

GRANT I think what it all boils down to is that you and I regard sex completely differently.

DUNCAN What do you mean?

GRANT Well,you seem or seemed so concerned that due to my so-called ‘high sex drive',although I do not consider myself to be anymore rampant than the next guy you feel inadequate and convinced,despite my protestations of love,offer of marriage and argreeing to buy this house with you that I will be off with the next attractive man that comes along.Is that right?

DUNCAN I suppose so.

GRANT I have always thought of sex as simply an expression of love for the other person where as you seem to look upon the activity as some sort of sport or hobby.

DUNCAN May be.

GRANT You are not being very forthcoming in your answers,Duncan.How the hell are we going to sort all this sorry mess out if you won’t open up?

DUNCAN I’m sorry.

GRANT(becoming frustrated and angry) What I don’t get is why you carried on seeing this man.Once might just be almost understandable but you had sex with him,how many times?

DUNCAN Please stop shouting.I saw him perhaps half a dozen times.It was meant to be a ‘one-off’ but he kept ringing me.

GRANT And you just kept running to him,I suppose.Hell,thinking about it,you and I were sleeping together again by that stage so..you were having us both at the same time.You should have suggested he came over to the house and then you would not have had to change beds!We could have taken turns to slip our members up your posterior-or did he let you take him?

DUNCAN Please don’t be like this.I appreciate that you are angry but you are like a different person.It is not like you to be so crude!

GRANT ‘Don’t be like this’?How exactly did you expect me to react?I get accused of having an affair months ago-I felt like I was about to lose the man I love.I tried to take on board your insecurities and reassure you that you are-and always will be-the only person that I need in my life.Fool as I am,I think that all that unpleasantness is behind us and allow myself to imagine that we will spend the rest of our lives together.Despite us previously cancelling our engagment,I ask you to marry me again,we plan the ceremony and..then you come out with your ‘guilty secret’ tonight.Did you think I would just say,’That’s OK,darling’,let’s just forget that my fiance has had sex on numerous occasions with another man.

(shouting) How did you think I would react?

DUNCAN(sobbing) I am so sorry,I am so sorry.

GRANT If I hear those pathetic words again,I shall walk out.Do you realise that you have broken my heart?You might as well have used one of my scalpels and cut it out of my chest,sliced it into dozens of pieces and fed it to that stupid cat of yours!

DUNCAN(now on his knees with his head in his arms on the sofa) I am sorry,I am sorry..

Grant walks out.Duncan looks up and watches him leave the room.

The front door is heard to be opened and slammed shut again.Duncan slips onto the floor and only his jagged breaths can be heard.

Oliver until now out of sight approaches his prone figure warily.Duncan looks up at him and takes him into his arms.Oliver purrs contently as Duncan’s sobs grow louder.

Lights fade to black.

ACT TWO SCENE TWO

Two days later-late morning.Door to left of stage.

The lounge of Steve's flat in which Grant has been staying in since he left Duncan.A bed has been made up on the sofa.The room is in a mess with an empty bottle of wine and the remnants of an Indian take-away strewn on the floor.

Grant is pacing around the room,nervously and repeatedly checking his watch.

There is a knock at the door.

Grant opens it forcefully but quickly moves back into the room.

Duncan enters and rushes to him but he backs away.

DUNCAN(close to tears) Please Grant,don't!You did argree to see me when I rang earlier.We really need to sort out this terrible mess.

GRANT(angry) ..Of your making!And you're late.You said you would be here at 10.00.

DUNCAN I know but work insisted I drop in for a couple of hours when I called them first thing.I am so sorry!

GRANT Oh,for God's sake don't start all that apologising again.I had another of that at the week-end.You are the one who wants to talk.Have you something new to say in your defence?

DUNCAN Well,not as such..

GRANT So,why did you almost beg me on the 'phone to come over here this morning?Did you think that I would have forgotten all about your sordid little affair in just two days?

DUNCAN Hardly!It is not something either of us are ever likely to be able to erase from our memories.I just wanted to see you again-and to ask for your forgiveness.

GRANT And why would I give you that?

DUNCAN Because you love me and what we have between us is too good just to be thrown away.

GRANT Well,to be honest Duncan I am not sure if I do love you anymore.You don't trust me around other men-even if they are straight-and you seem happy to slip into bed with any man who is prepared to listen to your sob stories!

DUNCAN Now you are exaggerating.I only slept with one man which I now deeply regret.If I could turn back the clock..

GRANT Come on,don't give me that old cliche.'One man' is one more than me,not as you would believe that!

DUNCAN(walking over to the sofa) Look,love why don't we sit down and talk about this properly.I have done alot of navel gazing since you left...

GRANT(perching on the end of the sofa) Go on.

DUNCAN(clearing a space and sitting down at the far end ) OK.You have made it very clear that you don't wish me to keep apologising so I shall try my best to not say 'sorry'-but despite what you said earlier I do believe that you still love me and like myself would rather that we put all this sorry mess behind us than split up.

GRANT And what has given you that idea?

DUNCAN Well,for starters- look at this place!At home you are always so meticulous.I am the untidy one.You haven't shaved-or washed(sniffing in Grant's direction)-and by the state of this floor I am taking an educated guess that you have been consuming rather more than your usual daily glass of wine!

GRANT I'm in a mess,I cannot deny that.Steve had to go away on family business this week so I have been here on my own just thinking about things.I just could not make any sense out of it all- so starting on Steve's drink supply seemed as good a plan as any.

DUNCAN Why didn't you ring me-at work or home?I have tried to call you several times but the 'phone just rang out.Now that I know Steve was away-and seeing what a state you are in,that makes sense.

GRANT You broke my heart,Duncan when you dropped your bombshell on Sunday.I was so shocked to find out that you had slept with another man.I thought after that argument we had months back that we were solid but now..

DUNCAN We are solid,darling.I just had to tell you about Gavin.There was no way I could stand with you in front of that registrar next Saturday with all that guilt whirling around in my mind.I regretted what I did as soon as I woke up the following morning in Gavin's bed.

GRANT And yet,you saw him again several times after that.That is what I don't understand.Like I said at home,once just might be excusable but to then carry on seeing him.I just cannot get my head around that!

DUNCAN Neither can I!I suppose I felt pressurised.Gavin was so needy-he kept ringing and almost begged me to meet up with him.

GRANT(sarcastically) You'll be saying next that you did it for medicinal purposes,like a kind of therapy!

DUNCAN Please don't be like that.I was under some sort of illusion,anyway.When I did eventually tell him that it was over he didn't seem to give a damn.He said that he just regarded me as a 'sex object' and that he would soon find another 'young man to satisfy his needs'!

GRANT And you risked everything for that?In a way,I could understand it if you had fallen for him-or vice versa-but it sounds like he just used you!

DUNCAN Or maybe I used him!I don't know.Like you said before,I tend to regard-or should I say,regarded-sex as a hobby.I understand now why me stating that it was 'just sex' on Sunday did not exactly help my case.I guess my past has been rather more sordid than yours-not as that is much of an excuse,I know.

GRANT And how do you regard it now?

DUNCAN As an expression of love!That was one of the many things I have been pondering over since you left.I seriously believe now that even if-and God hope this never happens-you had an accident and were laid up in hospital for weeks on end I would never even go online and ogle the gay sites!

GRANT Well,I suppose that is some sort of improvement!I guess nobody could dispute your commitment.Have you been talking to that friend of yours again?

DUNCAN What makes you say that?

GRANT Well,you are coming out with stuff,albeit admirable that I have never heard before.I would have no objection if you had.I always rather admired Maggie-for putting up with that husband of hers-if nothing else!

DUNCAN I have never met Andrew but yes,it was Maggie who persuaded me to tell you about Gavin.I had supper over at her place the day before I told you,you know after the cat show?

GRANT Oh,yes.I do remember now.I must have drunk more of that wine than I thought.What did she have to say about it all then?

DUNCAN She was as disgusted and shocked as you were.She could not understand,anymore than you why I didn't just buy a top shelf magazine from the corner shop and 'do my own thing',so to speak!

GRANT Quite!She's certainly got her head glued on the right way round.I did not realise you two talked about such intimate matters!

DUNCAN I do find it easy to discuss subjects with her of a deeply personal nature.I suppose it is a bit like a straight man having a best mate,although obviously that person would be male and from the little I know of the heterosexual world they don't talk about their feelings like Maggie and I do.I think she prefers having a gay man as a best friend rather than a woman.

GRANT What makes you say that?

DUNCAN Well,after I had blurted out my guilty secret..

GRANT I am glad you told me,by the way!Did Maggie have some confession of her own to make then?

DUNCAN Kind of.It turns out that an ex-work colleague of hers has declared her undying love!

GRANT No way!I have always assumed Maggie was strictly 'hetero'.

DUNCAN That is what I said to her when she told me.She has feelings for this woman too but is in a bit of a quandry as to how to proceed.You know,in regards to Andrew,let alone admitting to herself that she might be just a tiny bit bisexual!

GRANT Quite!Anyway,enough of Maggie for now,although I guess I should be thanking her,really.Without her intervention,albeit indirect you and I would be calling it a day by now!

DUNCAN So,does that mean you are giving me another chance?

GRANT I guess it does.You have not been the only one 'navel gazing' over the last couple of days.I do love you,Duncan,otherwise I would never have argreed to you coming over here.The only time that I would have seen you would have been to collect my belongings from the house.You do drive me crazy sometimes-and please believe me that if I ever find out that you have been unfaithful to me again then that will be it-but you also drive me wild with desire.I can see why Gaven found you so irresistible!

DUNCAN(moving along the sofa towards Grant) Thank God for that!I really did think that I had lost you.I do trust you implicitly.Even if all your work colleagues were gay I know deep in my heart that you would never be tempted to stray-and I in turn-will take Maggie's advice if for some reason in the future you ban me from our bedroom again!

The two men stand and embrace each other warmly.Breaking away slightly,Grant kisses Duncan on the lips.He responds and they tumble back onto the sofa,tangled in each others arms.

GRANT I want you so badly!

Grant tugs Duncan's T-shirt over his head and throws it across the room. Just for a second his mouth lingers over his left nipple and then he sucks frantically on the nub,whilst simultaneously unzipping Duncan's fly and bringing his semi-erect member out into the open.

DUNCAN (gasping) I know I drive you crazy but I have never seen you this wild with desire before.Maybe we should fall out every week!

Grant has been gorging himself on Duncan's penis,sliding his lips up and down its shaft at a furious pace. He withdraws and starts sucking on his right nipple,just pausing...

GRANT I'm five years older than you,remember.I can't take another week like this. For God's sake,just keep your tackle squirreled away when I’m not around,OK? I can give you anything your perverted mind dreams up!

He kisses his way down Duncan’s body,encircling his navel with his tongue.

DUNCAN Oh,my darling.I solemnly promise to be true and constant,both in my love and desires.

He grabs Grant and wrestles him onto the floor. He releases his now throbbing penis and starts to suck it tenderly as Grant feasts on his member-in the conventional ‘sixty-nine’ position.Grant remains fully dressed but in the wrestle Duncan has shed the remainder of his clothes. Duncan is close to ejaculation.He pulls away from Grant’s crotch and wraps his arms around the top of his legs. Grant swallows the semen as it pumps into his mouth. He turns his head towards Duncan,grinning.

GRANT Just saving the furniture!

Duncan grabs him and then hug each fiercely both on their knees.

DUNCAN What I am going to do with you?

GRANT Well,for starters or perhaps we are on the desert by now..I want to give you another of those prostatic orgasms you could not stop raving about last week.

DUNCAN And I thought it was me who had all the making up to do! Funny you should manage that,though.I did do alittle more research and I gather if I lie on my back-like this...

He scoots himself afew inches away from Grant,still completely naked,his penis starting to wilt.Lying flat on his back,he lifts his legs over towards his head,exposing his anus to Grant.He tugs at his penis afew times and it returns to its erect state.

Now,come over here,big boy and..take me to Heaven!

Grant blushes and kneels by Duncan’s buttocks.He dribbles saliva onto his anus and massages it. He runs his hand up and down his own penis afew times and then drives it firmly into Duncan’s rectum.

Oh,my God!

Grant’s testicles slap against his fiance’s buttocks as he plunges in and out,building up an easy but furious pace.

Yes,yes,yes! You’ve done it again.Here I come!

Grant pulls out and shoots semen in a long stream over Duncan’s back.. They collapse together in a heap.

GRANT Be rest assured that our bed sheets will always bear the scorches of our passions-long after we are married!

They embrace and kiss passionately.

DUNCAN Oh,darling,I do love you so very much!

Lights fade to darkness.