RISE
(fragment)
by Elijah

(…)
MARTY
And I always feel so bad because I know that he’s basically paying for everything. Sick pay isn’t the best and with everything going on… yeah.

ALEX

Oh, yeah. I know that feeling. I hate being basic, but have you talked to him about it? Does he even think that?

MARTY

Mh. I mean, not really. It’s just a feeling… I just hate bringing up money. It sucks! It puts you into this weird dynamic and the relationship gets pretty weird. Like I don’t know… I feel like it takes away the connection. Sorry, that’s probably stupid. And normal. And stupid because its normal-

ALEX

[interrupting] No. It’s not stupid. Really, I mean… honestly? Same. It sucks. Like… imagine when we were coworkers-

MARTY

[sharp inhale]

ALEX

No, no, listen [laughs] imagine if we met in a different context. Maybe we would’ve ended up catching the fucking sunrise more often? But we were under so much pressure because we didn’t have a real contract. And I don’t know… Maybe if we hadn’t been under so much pressure, we would have gotten a beer every now and then… met. Properly.

MARTY

You think so? I don’t know. I always kind of felt, like… you hated me.

ALEX

What? I didn’t hate you. [sighs] okay, I probably communicated in not so nice messages… But seriously, I like this. The sky is pretty amazing. Maybe you have a lot of places to show to people. Even though this is a boring bench…

MARTY

Yeah. Maybe… [smiles] I just hate that it has to be like this. It feels childish, I know, but why does everything have to be about money? 
And I feel like I can’t even say that because it’s such an obvious thing to say. Like, obviously no one likes that shit but it still makes me fucking mad… And then I get annoyed that it makes me mad… And… Who knows how many friends or potential friends we never properly meet because a money context ruins everything.

ALEX

It’s not childish! It’s actually very normal? Like if you could never complain about stuff, you know you can’t change, then what would half of Berlin talk about?

MARTY

[laughs] You have a point.

ALEX

I know. Years of research.