Two Cactus Lamps
Petra: Okay, don’t laugh. What did you get her?
Callan: Why? What did you get her?
Petra: I asked first.
Callan: The cactus lamp. The little green one, from the shop on Bedford Avenue.
(Petra goes into the hall and comes back with a bag. She puts a green cactus lamp on the table.)
Callan: No.
Petra: Yeah.
Callan: Okay. Don’t panic. Several options. One: I take mine back tomorrow morning.
Petra: You bought yours three weeks ago. Nobody takes anything back after three weeks.
Callan: Two: you take yours back.
Petra: Mine was on sale. No returns on sale things.
Callan: Then suggest something, because the party’s at seven.
Petra: Wait. How did you even find that shop? You never go to Bedford.
Callan: She sent me a photo of it. About a month ago. She said she was obsessed with it.
Petra: She sent me the same photo.
Callan: The same photo?
Petra: The same photo. On a Sunday. With three little heart things.
Callan: So she did this to us.
Petra: She did this to us.
Callan: Okay. New possibility. Nobody takes anything back.
Petra: Nobody takes anything back. She wanted a lamp, so she gets two.
Callan: And when she opens both of them?
Petra: Then she smiles, and next month she sends us both a photo of a chair.