The Big Picture.....by Ordinary Days Cast

DEB
I’ll have a mocha caramel latte-chino
Made with skim milk, no whipped cream
Please put that in a grande cup
But use the same amount of coffee that you’d put into a tall
That way there’s about an inch of extra room on top
To stir in my own nutmeg without spilling any coffee at all
What do you want?

WARREN
I’ll have a tea.

DEB
What kind?

WARREN
Just. Tea?

DEB
He’ll have your green Darjeeling tea,
Which I’m sure you know cannot be steeped for more than ninety-five seconds.
Shall we?
So, what’s your deal?

WARREN
My what?

DEB
Your deal. What are you about?

WARREN
Well, I’m about five foot five, I guess.
You really don’t find me funny at all.

DEB
Funny, yes. Amusing, no.
But seriously, Warren, I want to know.
Describe to me your big picture

WARREN
Well, there’s this Picasso

DEB
Don’t start.
Everyone’s got a big picture.
Something they shoot for that sets them apart.
We’ve all got an awful lot to do before we’re dead.
So, where do you see yourself in, say, five years?

WARREN
I haven’t thought that far ahead.

DEB
Are you gonna be serious?

WARREN
Do I have to.
Well. I work for an artist.

DEB
Tell me what you do.

WARREN
I don’t know, I watch his cat.
And this morning I fixed his curtain rod.

DEB
Sure, okay, that pays the rent
But that is not exactly what I meant
When I asked to hear your big picture
Something beyond your daily routine
Talk about your big picture
The fairy tale ending that you’ve always seen
I am sure there’s something more to you than doing chores
Everyone’s got a big picture in mind

WARREN
So, what’s yours?

DEB
Well, since you asked.
In five years I’ll have an amazing apartment
With bookshelves built into the walls
A window that looks out on someplace big
And a personal assistant who screens my calls
The book I write will be required reading
To get into the seminars that I’ll be leading
That’s the plan, as far as I can see it.
And yet it isn’t quite apparent what I’m supposed to do to get it.
Some big picture.
How’s your tea?

WARREN
My what?

DEB
Your tea?

WARREN
Oh, it’s sort of… gotten cold.