Cwmderi Diary 2018: 24 July 2018

Floral tributes are left at the salon

As someone places flowers by the door of the salon, Debbie walks across the road

"Terrible, isn't it – just falling like that?"

and remarks to Jason and Sara, “Terrible, isn’t it – just falling like that?”
Sara replies that it just goes to show how fragile life is.

Debbie regales them with her graphic tale

Debbie recalls that she fell down the stairs once after boozing; “I had a huge bruise on my backside!” and Jason says that they get the picture, but she continues, “I had to borrow Nicky’s rubber ring in the end.

"Do you think she had been drinking?"

Do you think Sheryl had been drinking? It wouldn’t surprise me – I bet she was so stressed with everything.”

Gethin was not expecting Ffion

In the Deri flat, Gethin is surprised by the arrival of Ffion, who brings some flowers, but remarks that it was a silly idea. She asks how he is, and he ignores her;

"One minute she was with us, and then the next . . ."

“I can’t believe it, Geth – one minute she was with us, and then the next minute . . .”

"I'm worried about you, Geth"

“If you’re here for small talk,” he begins, but she is worried about him, and whether he is eating.

He is dismissive of her, and the flowers

“I’ll have something at the garage – take the flowers home – I don’t want them,” he says, and walks out of the room.

At Maes-y-Deri, Mark is peering through the curtains

"It's depressing out there"

when Debbie comes home, telling him, “It’s depressing out there – everyone’s gossiping about poor Sheryl. It just goes to show, you never know what’s round the corner – we have to make the most of life.”

"I can't find my big case"

Vicky comes downstairs, complaining that she cannot find her big case, and is told that it is on top of Ricky’s wardrobe. Debbie will not give her any assistance with preparing to leave, and then there is a knock on the door. Mark announces, “Ladies, we have a visitor!”

Vicky cannot believe who arrives

It is Vicky’s father, Joel, which causes them great surprise.

"Don't you want a little more?"

Hywel is trying to persuade Esther to eat some more food when Ffion comes in the back door

Ffion throws her arms round Hywel

and embraces him;

"Let's have a smile, then"

she greets Esther, and asks him if he has slept.

"I'd rather keep going"

He replies that he would rather keep going, but is just worried that this is all his fault – that he killed Sheryl.

"I put her under so much pressure"

“I had put her under so much pressure, pushing for full custody – perhaps she fell because her mind was all over the place.

"Maybe Esther hasn't got a mother because of me!"

“Maybe Esther hasn’t got a mother because of me!”

Ffion insists that he must stop this now, as no-one knows what she was doing when she fell;

"You have to be strong for her!'

“Listen to me – Esther needs her father now – you have to be strong for her. Thoughts like this won’t do anyone any good!”

"The honeymoon period is over"

Chester arrives late at Awyr Iach, and is told off by Sara; Kath sarcastically comments that the honeymoon period is over. Sara asks her to go and to check the order out the back, but is told that she has checked it already. “Well, go and check it again!” she is instructed.

Sara wants to draw a line under it

Then Sara tells Chester, “Yesterday was a very emotional day – that’s why I want to draw a line under what happened, so, are you OK? Nobody likes being rejected.”

Kath slithers back in to listen

Kath has sneaked back in to eavesdrop on their conversation, as Sara goes on, “I thought you might be embarrassed about trying to kiss me.”

"You told me she fancied me!"

Chester tells Kath that it is her fault anyway; “You told me that she fancied me!” but Kath dismisses that as a bit of banter, which she did not expect to be taken seriously.

"I wasn't expecting him to try it on with you"

“I wasn’t expecting him to try it on with you!” she protests, but Sara accuses her of doing something totally irresponsible, and she should know better.

A very unconvincing apology

She orders Kath to apologise, which she eventually does, in a half-hearted manner.

“Don’t get upset about it,” Sara warns Chester, “It’s part of growing up, and you’ll get over it.”

What has Anita been up to?

Anita, who has mysteriously acquired a scratch on her left cheek,

Siôn tries to console her . . .

has a visit from Siôn, who gives her a hug;

. . . but she seems to have been deeply affected

“I’m never going to see her again – I’m never going to talk to her about Wil,” she wails, “I’m never going to listen to her chatting away in the salon.

"She was part of so many people's lives"

“She was part of so many people’s lives, wasn’t she?”

"There were quite a lot of arguments between you"

Siôn tells her that it just goes to show we should tell people how we feel about them while we have the chance. “There was quite a lot of quarrelling and arguments between you,” he says, “I’m only saying that though it’s hard for you, there is no need for you to feel guilty.”

"She used to drive me crazy!"

She replies that she was not, until he arrived; “I know we argued like cat and dog all the time and she drove me crazy, but I’m going to miss her every day!” Siôn tries to console her.

Things are not very cordial between Vicky and Joel

Vicky is very antagonistic towards her father, and reminds him that if he did love her, he would have been there for her when she got pregnant.

"I should have supported you, and I didn't!"

He agrees, in English, “You’re right – I’m not proud of the way I reacted. I should have supported you, and I didn’t! I wanted so much more for you – you had your whole future ahead of you

"And bang – you were going to be saddled with a . . ."

“and bang – you were going to be saddled with a . . .” Then he thinks it wise to rephrase that; “You were going to be a Mum.”

“So you did what any caring parent would do – turn your back on me!” rages Vicky, also in English.

"I wish I could turn the clock back"

He regrets that he cannot turn the clock back, but he can try and make it up to her, and he has been meaning to get in touch for ages, but felt too ashamed. He admits that he let her down, but she stresses that his timing could not have been any worse;

"Well, I'm leaving tomorrow!"

“I’m leaving tomorrow, so I’ve got loads to do – I’m off to see the world! You’ve had your say, so go!”

Joel adds that there is one more thing; “The business has been thriving, and I’m looking for a PA to manage my diary, arrange meetings – you might consider yourself for the rôle.” She accuses him of not listening to anything she said, but he emphasises that he is offering her a job;

He offers her a tempting package . . .

“A good wage, accommodation, childcare all thrown in – it’s the least I could do. It might go a little way to rectify the damage I’ve done.”

Vicky’s response is, “When I was pregnant, do you know how scared I was? I needed you then – and I can’t forget that!”

. . but Vicky is not persuaded

She walks out of the room.

"Everyone thought a lot of Sheryl"

Anita tells Hywel that everyone thought a lot of Sheryl; he wonders how she came by that injury on her face, and she explains that she scratched herself with her ring during the night.

"What can I do to help?"

She is keen to do anything she can to help – tidying up, or helping with the funeral arrangements,

"We have to wait for the post mortem"

but he says that nothing can be arranged until after the post mortem, which has to be done when there is a sudden death.

"Wil has not been told yet"

She tells him that Wil has not been told yet; Darren will tell him when he wakes up. Hywel is glad that Esther is too young to understand, and will not remember her mother when she has grown up, which will be a good thing.

"She won't be able to mourn someone she didn't know"

“She won’t be able to mourn someone that she didn’t know,” but Anita assumes there will be photos of Sheryl around the house, and Hywel will show her videos, and at things like that.

“It’s up to you to keep her memory alive now,” Anita reminds him.

Josh prepares for a prompt getaway

Josh has just been pumping up the tyres of his caravan, and was not expecting to see Vicky today.

"I told Dad where to go!"

She reminds him that they are not going until tomorrow, and tells him about her father turning up; “He offered me a job, but don’t worry, I told him where to go!”

"There's no need to be hasty"

He warns that there is no need for her to be hasty,

"Why would I want to work for him?"

but she demands why she would want to work for him after what he did, and she has plans about going with Josh anyway.

"A ticket for tonight – for only one person?"

She sees ferry tickets in the top of his bag, but discovers they are for tonight and there is only one passenger listed. He fobs her off with the excuse that the company has made mistake.

"I thought you were the only person who wouldn't let me down!"

Vicky realises that although he was supposed to be the only person who would not let her down, he has done just that.

"Go and talk to your father"

“You don’t really want this life,” he assures her, “You don’t know what you want. Go and talk to your father – he can offer you something better than me – a better life.”

"We all want the best for you and Nicky"

“You knew he was coming,” she deduces, and he admits it, explaining that Mark phoned Joel, because he wants what is best for her and Nicky – in fact that is what they all want. Vicky is still adamant that she wants nothing to do with her father.

"He's offering you a new life!"

He suggests that it would be an idea for her to think of forgiving him, and that he is offering her a new life. Now it is time for Josh to leave, and he warns her that she cannot hold a grudge for ever; “You only get one chance in this life – make the most of it!”

Josh kisses her goodbye

He kisses her and tells her to go home, which she regretfully does.

"Trying it on with the boss like that!"

Kath continues to taunt Chester, “Well, you’ve got guts – trying it on with the boss like that.”

She will not accept any responsibility, and he tells her that her problem is that she is jealous;

"No-one is desperate enough to go anywhere near you!"

“No-one around here is desperate enough to go anywhere near you!”

"That's enough, Chester!"

Unfortunately, Sara is listening, and tells him that is enough, but Chester is by now in his stride;

"The big 'I am', Sara Francis!"

“Here we go – the big ‘I am’, Sara Francis – a big fish in a very, very small pond – that’s all you are! And you’ve got the cheek to put all the blame on me!

"What's wrong? Not getting it at home?"

“You’re the one who was flirting – what’s wrong? Not getting it at home? You’re bored, old and looking for kicks.”

Sara has had enough and tells him to get his stuff together;

Chester is summarily dismissed

“Don’t bother coming back tomorrow! I’m sacking you – now go!”

He replies that he does not want to work here anyway, and adds on his way out, “The two of you are as tragic as each other!”

"I went to see Hywel this morning"

Ffion finds Gethin still working in the garage, and tells him that she went to see Hywel this morning; “It hasn’t hit him yet,” she says,

Gethin continues to wrestle with the engine

but he is more interested in his struggle with part of the engine of the car he is working on.

She continues, “It will take him a while to accept that she’s gone – but when he does,

"I shall be there for Hywel"

“I shall be there for him, I hope he knows that. Right, I’ll be going – don’t work too hard.”

Gethin sinks to his knees, sobbing piteously

He drops his spanner and collapses in a heap on the floor;

Ffion returns . . .

Ffion comes back in

. . . and attempts to comfort him

and tries to comfort him.

Siôn comes to visit Hywel . . .

Siôn visits Hywel, saying that he could not stay away,

. . . bringing an old book

and brings a rather old book entitled ‘Where is Grandad?’ which he says may be of use, but Hywel insists that he will not need it.

Hywel will not tell Esther that her mother is dead . . .

“Esther is too young – I’m going to tell her that Mami has left.” Siôn objects to this, pointing out that Sheryl never stopped loving that little girl.

. . . but Siôn disapproves of this

“No-one wants to tell a child that their mother has died – it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do – but you have to be honest with her,” recommends Siôn.

"I know what is best for her"

Hywel is adamant that he is her father and knows what is best for her, but Siôn will leave the book, just in case,

"Do the right thing – for Esther and Sheryl!"

encouraging him to do the right thing, for the little one and for Sheryl.

Nicky and his Grandad are chatting happily

Nicky is getting on well with his Grandad when Vicky returns home; “Mark phoned me for you,” Joel tells her,

"Mark was worried that you skipping off was a mistake"

“He was worried that you skipping off into the sunset was a mistake, and he wanted me to make you a better offer.

"This could be the making of both of us!"

“You know I regret the way I treated you – you’re my daughter, and I’ve missed you so much! This could be the making of both of us – the chance for you to make something of yourself, and the chance for me to be a Dad again.