11 July 2018

Gwyneth comes round the corner . . .

Gwyneth walks out of the alley to find that Sheryl is taking all her belongings out of the salon flat and leaving them on the pavement.   

. . . to find she has been evicted . . .

“I heard what you did to Sioned and DJ,” explains Sheryl, “How could you?   Erin Medi wants you out of the flat by today – and as you’re not answering your texts . . .”

Gwyneth says that her phone has packed in, 

. . . and then she is ignored by Britt 

and as Britt is passing, asks if she can put her stuff in the chip shop, but Britt simply ignores her and walks away.   Then Gwyneth sees Sara across the road and tells her she wants her out of number 9 by the end of tomorrow.

Sara knows her rights about number 9

“I’ve read the contract, and I’m not going anywhere!” is Sara’s aggressive reply.   Gwyneth is panicking that she is homeless, 

"Yes – and whose fault is that?"

but Sheryl wonders whose fault that is, and holds her hand out for the flat key.   Then Sheryl sees Hywel at the door of the house and runs across there.

So this is Moelwyn the caretaker

At school we see the current caretaker, Moelwyn, who is doing some painting;  Gaynor wants to speak to him, 

He is doing some painting . . .

but leans against the doorpost he has just painted, with the inevitable result.   

. . . which Gaynor discovers – too late

There is a large splodge of white paint on the back of her black dress, and she hurries away in a flustered state.

Angharad turns up an hour early . . .

Meanwhile, at Llwyncelyn, Angharad has arrived for the meal an hour early, 

. . . but Elgan tells her it does not matter

but Elgan tells her that it does not matter.   She compliments him on the wonderful smell of the food, which is Beef Bourguignon.   

"I might as well open this wine"

Of course, Gaynor is still at school, and Angharad says that she will open the wine which she brought.

Britt does not relish the thought of this meal

In the chip shop flat, Britt is not looking forward to the meal with Gaynor and Elgan.   She frets about the company there;  

She feels very inferior to all of them

“A doctor, a head teacher, an interior designer – and me.   You used to mix with them in their student days, which makes you cleverer than me, and you used to go out with Angharad.”

"I don't really remember Angharad"

Colin replies that he does not really remember her, 

"Come up, Sara!"

but then the buzzer sounds and Sara comes upstairs.   

"Catrin was supposed to be babysitting for her!"

Britt suddenly remembers she was supposed to ask Catrin to do some babysitting for Sara, 

Britt apologises to Sara . . .

and apologises profusely, as Catrin has gone to the cinema.   She volunteers to babysit instead, but Colin objects to this.

. . . but Chester volunteers

Chester pipes up, “I’ll do it – don’t you think I can look after a baby?   

"Do you know how sexist that is?"

“Do you know how sexist that is?”   

"You can go to the ball, Cinders"

Sara accepts Chester’s kind offer, and tells Britt she can go out after all.

Sheryl tries to drown her sorrows

Sheryl is drinking a large glass of red wine, and tells Hywel that he must have had plenty at the conference last night.   She is angry that she did not know where he was;  

"You could have been lying in the gutter somewhere!"

“You could have been lying in the gutter somewhere, for all I knew!”   He says that he did not intend to make her worry, but he had to attend the conference.   

"You could have told me at least!"

“You could have told me at least!” she rages, “I had no idea where you were – it has not been easy while you were away – there was a showdown in the Deri between Gwyneth and Sioned.   It brought back all kinds of feelings about Kevin – I can’t understand how anyone could behave like that.”   

Hywel escapes upstairs to Esther

Hywel decides to take up a cuddly toy to Esther.

Britt and Colin arrive at Llwyncelyn 

Britt and Colin arrive at Llwyncelyn, and Angharad extravagantly greets Colin;  

"If he's half as mischievous as he was years ago . . ."

“If this one’s half as mischievous as he was years ago, I don’t know how you put up with him!” she gushes, “He used to tell ghost stories late at night – who else would know about the ghost of Sir Herbert Lloyd from Lampeter?   

"It was a good way of charming women into his bed!"

“It was a fairly good way of charming women into his bed!”

Britt has not taken long to weigh up Angharad 

Britt has already taken an instant dislike to Angharad.   

Then Gaynor arrives, reeking of white spirit . . .

Then Gaynor arrives, reeking of white spirit, which Moelwyn said would remove paint from anything, 

. . . which did not remove the white paint

but it does not appear to have worked in this instance.   

There is an intruder in Awyr Iach . . . 

The back door of Awyr Iach quietly opens, and Gwyneth, with all her worldly goods on her back, creeps in.   

. . . looking for somewhere to sleep

As she begins to unroll her sleeping bag, she hears the sound of Sara, who has returned to work, and promptly hides.   

"Yes, Chester is babysitting!"

“Yes, I’ve come back to work to finish the order,” Sara tells Jason on the phone, “Chester is babysitting – yes, Chester!”   “I’ll see you later.”

She arms herself with scissors

Then she suddenly hears a noise in the next room, so goes to investigate, picking up a pair of scissors with which to defend herself;  “Is anyone there?” she shouts, 

Gwyneth pushes over a pile of boxes . . .

but Gwyneth, trying to make herself more inconspicuous, pushes over a pile of boxes.   In her fright, 

. . . and Sara escapes very rapidly

Sara flees from Awyr Iach, and Gwyneth breathes a sigh of relief.

"Esther wanted more stories tonight"

Hywel comes back downstairs, saying that Esther wanted more stories tonight because he has been away.   

"She missed you, just like me"

Sheryl insists, “She missed you, Hywel, just like me – 

"I wanted to feel your arms around me"

“I wanted to feel your arms around me.”   He urges her to stop it, but she insists that they have to try, for Esther’s sake.

"Stop putting emotional pressure on me!"

“Please stop using Esther like that,” he answers, “It’s bad enough you’re using what Kevin did to you.   You’re putting too much emotional pressure on me to love you – when I can’t!”

“Can you please forgive me and move on?” Sheryl pleads, but he replies that it is impossible.

"I can't bear to look at you!"

“The truth is, I can’t bear to look at you – I can’t bear waking up next to you every morning – I can’t bear the fact that you want me to love you and forgive you.   

"I don't want to forgive you!"

“I can’t forgive you – I don’t want to forgive you!”   

"You just want to annul the marriage"

She alleges that he just wants to annul the marriage, and that is it; 

"No – I want you to move out!"

“No – I want more than that!” he snarls, “I want you to move out as soon as possible!”

"There must be steam coming out of that sewing machine!"

Chester is amazed that Sara is back from Awyr Iach so quickly;  “There must be steam coming out of that sewing machine!” he tells her, “Unless you are sexist and you don’t trust me to babysit after all.”   

"I think there's a goes there!"

She says that she thinks there is a ghost there or something;  “A box fell without anyone touching it!   

"It felt as if someone was watching me!"

“It felt as if there was someone there, watching me!”

Chester takes the keys to investigate

“Right, give me the keys,” he tells her, “I won’t be long,” and he hurries to Awyr Iach.   

Dinner at Llwyncelyn 

Around the dinner table at Llwyncelyn, the five of them are enjoying the meal, 

"Remember when you made Chilli con Carne, Colin?"

and Angharad recalls the time when Colin made Chilli con Carne;  Gaynor says that she missed three lectures after that.   Angharad remembers, “Colin was all over me like a rash!   

"Then he started sniffing around Gaynor" 

“But then he turned his nose up at me and started sniffing around Gaynor!   It was the night before the inter-college dance.”

Britt puts a plan into action

Britt is getting heartily fed up with this, and under the table, out of view of the other diners, she begins composing a quick text to Chester.

"I have to find a new 'normal' for me"

Sheryl demands how Hywel can carry on as normal, as if everything is OK, and he replies that he has to find a new ‘normal’ for him.   

"I cannot carry on like this"

He has been stewing for weeks, and cannot carry on like this, so is giving up.

"Have you given any thought to Esther?"

“Have you given any thought to Esther?” she asks;  he says it will not do her any good living in a home without love.   “But I still love you – and I believe that you still love me!” Sheryl squeals.   There is a knock on the door, 

"Go and answer it yourself!"

and Sheryl continues, “If you want to see who’s there, go and answer it!”

Gwyneth bewails her lot

It is Gwyneth, whining that she has nowhere to go, and begging for the key to the flat for a few more days.   Cheryl is not in the mood for this, and tells her to go.   “I don’t have anywhere to go – and no job!” Gwyneth whimpers, 

"Women round here don't take responsibility for their actions!"

and Hywel wondered what it is about the women around here, who do not take responsibility for their actions.

"How many affairs have you had?"

Sheryl turns on him;  “You’ve got a nerve!    How many affairs have you had?”   

"And I paid dearly for them!"

He replies that he has paid dearly for his affairs, so why should she be any different.   Gwyneth considers that no useful purpose would be served by her remaining there, and goes.

Sheryl screams that it was a mistake in her case, and she would do anything to change it;  she argues that they are meant to be together as a family.   “I’ve already withdrawn the offer on Glyn Alaw,” he informs her, 

"There's a spare room at the salon flat now!"

“Perhaps Gwyneth has done us a favour – there is a spare room at the flat above the salon now, isn’t there?”

Chester has only found an open window

Chester returns to number 9, reporting that all he found at Awyr Iach was an open window round the back, so perhaps a breeze moved the boxes.   Sara tells him that she feels really stupid, 

"You won't tell Jason, will you?"

and begs him not to mention it to Jason, as he would not understand;  “I would never hear the end of it – it will be bad enough having you pulling my leg.   

She will bring some chips back

“I’ll bring us back a bag of chips each.”   She returns to Awyr Iach.

This is what Britt wants

Then Chester receives the text from his mother;  “Please phone me, pretend something’s wrong.”   

Old college photos are being passed round

At Llwyncelyn, they are passing round photos of their college days when Britt’s phone sounds.   Chester asks how the middle-class convention is going, but her end of the conversation is somewhat different.

"Is Aaron OK?   Will he need stitches?"

“Is Aaron OK?   Do you think he’ll need stitches?” she says, and Chester calls this a performance worthy of an Oscar.   

"I'm on my way now!"

“Don’t worry, I’m on my way home now!” she assures him, excusing herself and Colin from the gathering.   

"Sorry, we shall have to go"

Apparently the story is that Aaron has cut his hand, so they will have to go, as a matter of urgency.   Angharad regrets this, as they were just getting to the colourful stories, 

"It's fab to see you again, Col!"

and embraces Colin, telling him how ‘fab’ it is to see him again.

"You were always the coolest girl in the year"

Then she returns to praising Gaynor as ‘the coolest girl in the year’;  Elgan says that she still is, and kisses her, 

Angharad is put out by this kiss

which seems to offend Angharad.

The homeless wanderer trudges the streets

Gwyneth, with all her accoutrements, walks sadly along the street, 

"So there isn't any SOS after all?"

while on the other side, Colin is informed that there is not any SOS;  “I couldn’t stand being in her company!” 

"I would have stuck my fork in her backside!"

Britt tells him, “I think I would have stuck my fork in her backside if I’d had to stay!”   Colin adds that he might have managed to do it first, 

"I was quite pleased to hear of Aaron's injury!"

and was quite glad to hear of Aaron’s injury.

"So Gaynor's the bottle-washer, is she?"

“So you’re the cook, and Gaynor’s the bottle-washer, is she?” Angharad asks Elgan, who proposes having a cup of coffee, but she would prefer brandy.

"After all that wine you've drunk?"

“What – after all that red wine you’ve drunk?” Gaynor interrupts, and then hears that Angharad arrived an hour early.   

"Make sure no-one steals Elgan from you!"

She admires Gaynor’s  good track record with finding men, and warns that she should make sure that no-one steals Elgan from her, like she stole Colin from Angharad.

Gaynor is desperate to get rid of Angharad 

Gaynor’s patience is by now exhausted;  “I’ve got a lot of work to do before bed, so thank you for coming tonight, but we’ll have the brandy another time.”   Angharad agrees to go, so Gaynor can have her beauty sleep, 

Another over-the-top hug

but first she embraces Elgan, in a rather exaggerated fashion.   

"Hallelujah!"

When she has gone, Gaynor sighs, “Hallelujah!”

"You complain you don't have any friends . . ."

Elgan laughs, “You complain that you don’t have any friends, yet you treat the ones you have like that!”   

"I'm not going to let this happen, Hywel!"

Sheryl turns off the television, and tells Hywel, “I know you’re disappointed in me – but I’m not going to let this happen.   You love Esther, so how can you think of throwing us out?”

"I'm not throwing Esther out, am I?"

“I’m not throwing her out, am I?” he replies, “Esther will live with you for half the time, but she will be with me for the rest – that’s only fair, isn’t it?   Joint custody.”

"If you think you're getting joint custody . . ."

“If you think for one moment you’re getting joint custody, you can think again!” she instructs him, “If you want Esther to live with you, you will have to fight tooth and nail to get her.   

"I hope you're ready for a fight!"

“You’re not going to win this battle easily, Hywel!   I hope you’re ready for a fight!”