The Black Orb

SCENE 9

Identical to Scene One.  STELLA enters, curls around ROLAND’s shoulder seductively. PAUL continues writhing on the floor.

ROLAND

Step Eight - Using a bonesaw, cut the spine in half.  The meat here is tight and tough.  Remove it with a boning knife and cut into square portions for soup.

Step Nine - Using a fillet knife, cut along the curve of the pelvis.  This quarters the carcass.

Step Ten - Using a short fillet knife, Trim as much meat as possible from the neck for mincemeat, stew or ground meat. Remove the boneless flanks by cutting along the last rib down to the loin, then along the leg. This can be used for steak.  On smaller animals it is ideal for ground meat or jerky.

PAUL

Step one, call the client, step two, call them again, leave a message, step three, call another client.  Make them into buyers.  Make them into buyers or… step four e-mail the client, e-mail another client, mass e-mail all clients, no, no, don’t do that because it’s not personal.  Instead, waste time, make individual meetings, we can’t cram important people together at one time.  Step five, go over the space again in your head.  Plan to make promises, don’t know if you can keep them, but make them.  Make the sale, make them into buyers, not clients.  Step six, go over old client list, compare against current locations for possible return business, not that they’ll remember you, not that they care about you, or you care about them.  Make the sale, make them into buyers.  Buyers.  Call.  E-mail.  Leave messages, make lunches, make meetings, don’t leave them alone, but don’t pressure them.  MAKE THEM.  Step seven.

Question every decision you ever made about your own life.

Step eight.

Ask yourself ‘What would it be like if I took advantage of the window in this nice new office?’

Step nine.

Phone rings.  Run to get it.  It might be a client.  It might be a reason to live.  Instead, it’s just Mr. Thorpe checking on you.  Or maybe it’s O’Grady, gushing about the new mark he found, the new ‘bug in the rug’; fell in love with the whole space, down to the carpet.  And they don’t want any refurbishing he says.  They don’t want any new phone lines or network lines or any lines so it’s a clean sale, no contractors, no costs, ALL BOTTOM LINE.

Step Ten.  Stare blankly at the wall, white knuckled…

GO TO SCENE 10