Alice: Where is this love? I can't see it, I can't touch it. I can't feel it. I can hear it. I can hear some words, but I can't do anything with your easy words.
Larry: Is he a good fuck?
Anna: Don't do this.
Larry: Just answer the question! Is he good?
Anna: Yes.
Larry: Better than me?
Anna: Different.
Larry: Better?
Anna: Gentler.
Larry: What does that mean?
Anna: You know what it means.
Larry: Tell me.
Anna: No.
Larry: I treat you like a whore?
Anna: Sometimes.
Larry: Why would that be?
Larry: You don't know the first thing about love, because you don't understand compromise.
Larry: Dan, I lied to you. I did fuck Alice. Sorry for telling you. I'm just not big enough to forgive you, Buster.
Dan: At six, we stand round the computer and look at the next day's page, make final changes, add a few euphemisms for our own amusement.
Alice: Such as?
Dan: "He was a convivial fellow" - meaning he was an alcoholic. "He valued his privacy" - gay. "He enjoyed his privacy" - raging queen.
Alice: What would my euphemism be?
Dan: She was... disarming.
Alice: That's not a euphemism.
Dan: Yes, it is.
Dan: I'm your stranger. Jump.
Larry: What would happen if I touched you now?
Alice: I would call security.
Larry: And what would they do?
Alice: They would ask you to leave and ask you not to come back.
Larry: And if I refused to leave?
Alice: They would remove you. Those are security cameras in the ceiling.
Larry: I think it's best I don't attempt to touch you. I'd like to touch you. Later.
Larry: I know who you are. I love you. I love everything about you that hurts.
Alice: I don't want to lie. I can't tell the truth. So it's over.





Answer: Anna says that Alice has "had quite a life" (after she read Dan's book that was based on Alice). Presumably Alice has been through difficult situations: abuse, neglect, etc. She considers herself a "nobody" and enjoys lying as a form of control. Which is why she never told Dan her real name, or everything about herself. She could never trust anybody completely. She also says "I'm the one who leaves." She prefers to leave men before they can leave her.