eBook - ePub
Dessert
About this book
A British financier and his wife host a lavish dinner party for their affluent American friends. It's over a year since the two couples were together and they have plenty to talk about. The food is delicious, the conversation animated and dessert is on its way – when, from one second to another, the evening takes a sinister and alarming turn.
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Yes, you can access Dessert by Oliver Cotton in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & British Drama. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Act One
England. The Present. Wiltshire. Autumn.
The elegant dining room of a tastefully furnished Regency country house.
The British owners, HUGH FENNEL, 55, and his wife GILL, 50, are entertaining their American friends WESLEY BARNES, 56, and his wife MEREDITH, 53. They are in the middle of dinner.
ROGER, a casually dressed man in his mid-forties, stands by a mahogany serving table. He is opening a bottle of wine.
MEREDITH talks to GILL. WESLEY talks to HUGH.
Their separate conversations interweave and often overlap.
MEREDITH | WESLEY |
– and then they paint you with this black gum – from some tree – | – maybe 25, maybe 30 to 35 percent tops, no way of knowing right now, |
MEREDITH | WESLEY |
It stinks like dead flesh but it’s really, really good for the organs – you know? | – but what’s for sure is they amortised at a real low figure. |
MEREDITH
– all the inner organs. I mean my liver’s never been great. Remember the guy in Paris? The Chinese guy?
GILL
Philip?
MEREDITH
What?
GILL
Wang.
WESLEY | GILL |
Don’s seen some of the ground work – | Philip Wang. |
MEREDITH | HUGH |
Right. | Don Sharp? |
MEREDITH | WESLEY |
Philip Wang – yeah – | Right. He thinks it adds up. |
MEREDITH | GILL |
God that was so amazing! The heat from his fingers – | – his hands. I know. He is pretty incredible. I remember when we – |
MEREDITH
But my adrenals have been such a mess since we came back from Brazil.
WESLEY | MEREDITH |
So I’m keen to get a few guys down to take a look. | Philip said I was low on magnesium – remember? |
WESLEY | MEREDITH |
Goes without saying I want you to get involved but only when I’ve had the get-go from Sam. | – and I guess he was right because Christine thought exactly the same thing. |
GILL
Christine! How is she?
MEREDITH
Long story! Long story!
WESLEY
Sam’s tied up right now and won’t be back from Beijing till Monday –
MEREDITH
Magnesium’s the fourth most abundant mineral in the body. Did you know that?
WESLEY | GILL |
– and I don’t want to do any of this online. So we wait. | I didn’t know that. Tell me about Christine. |
MEREDITH | HUGH |
Later. She put me on that avocado and halibut regime – well not just those two things but that’s what I remember. | How long for? |
GILL
And does the gum have magnesium in it?
MEREDITH
Gum?
WESLEY | GILL |
Who knows? | From the tree? |
WESLEY
Soon I hope.
MEREDITH | WESLEY |
Oh right! Yes – that’s what I was telling you – yes it does. | Till then I have a good feeling about a good feeling and – |
MEREDITH interrupts WESLEY.
MEREDITH
Wesley? Sorry – what was the name of that tree?
WESLEY
What?
MEREDITH
The on...
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Characters
- Act One
- Act Two
- By the same author