30 July 2018 (2nd)

The Lost Hours of July  (Part 2)

"Why didn't you discuss it with me?"

Siôn asks Anita why she did not discuss it with him before telling Hywel;  

"I knew you would take her side"

“Because I knew you would take her side – you did it right in front of me!” she replies.

He tells her that no-one else would support Sheryl, and downplays what she has done, just having an affair;  

"Yourself included!"

“Like half the people in Cwmderi – yourself included!   Everyone is condemning her and punishing her as if she’d killed someone.”

“Aren’t you concerned about Hywel not seeing his daughter?” Anita demands, 

"Hywel is not entirely blameless"

and Siôn points out that he is not entirely blameless, and has been unreasonable about Esther.   “So it’s all right for Sheryl to kidnap her, is it?” is Anita’s reply, “What exactly are you saying?   As far as I can see, you think Sheryl’s perfect!”

Siôn comes to the conclusion that he is taking the cases back upstairs, as he does not want to go to Cardiff now, 

That is Anita's bargain hotel stay gone

and stresses that Anita herself has spoiled this.

Hywel orders a meal for himself and Esther

Hywel orders a meal for himself and Esther at the Deri;  Gethin comes over to speak to him. 

"You're keeping Esther from her mother!"

“Making sure that Esther eats healthily,” he says, “It’s a shame you haven’t given the same consideration to her happiness.   You’re keeping Esther from her mother!”

"Do you want to make friends with the pavement outside?"

Garry tells him to be quiet, unless he wants to make friends with the pavement outside, 

"There we are – two misogynists!"

and Gethin answers, “There we are, birds of a feather, or two misogynists who enjoy . . .”   Garry is about to forcibly eject him, but Hywel says to leave him alone, 

"Leave him, Garry – I feel sorry for him"

as he feels sorry for Gethin, and advises that he does not know what Sheryl is like.

“I know her far better than you!” Gethin retorts, 

"You're not still after Sheryl?"

and Garry is surprised that he is still after Sheryl, calling him embarrassing.   Hywel wishes him good luck, as he will need it with Sheryl.

Hywel gives Gethin some news

“Were you on the list of people moving to Canada to live with Darren and Katie, then?” demands Hywel, “And did you know she was planning to kidnap Esther to move out there?   But I’ve got their passports now.”

In a rage, Gethin thumps the bar, and hurries out of the Deri.   

"At least, I managed to upset him!"

Hywel is quite pleased that he managed to upset Gethin.   Garry cannot believe that Sheryl would do that, but nothing that she does surprises Hywel any more.   

Esther is playing happily

He glances across to where Esther is playing with another girl.

Ffion happens to see . . .

Ffion is looking along the street from outside APD, 

. . . Gethin going into the salon, again 

when she sees Gethin approaching the salon and going inside;  

Her suspicions are confirmed

she looks very suspicious.   

"Were you planning to go to Canada with Esther?"

Up in the flat, he demands, “Were you planning to go Canada with Esther?   Were you going to leave without me?   We had plans.”

"I wanted to get away from you and Hywel!"

Sheryl corrects him that he was the one who had the plans, and all she wanted to do was to take Esther as far away as she could;  “Away from you and Hywel!”

Ffion has easy access . . .

Downstairs, Ffion finds the door to the flat has been left ajar, 

. . . and creeps up the stairs

and she creeps up the stairs, so that she can listen to the raised voices.   

"I was ready to give up everything for you!"

“I was ready to give up everything for you – my home, Ffion, my family!” Gethin exclaims, 

"Hywel has our passports"

but Sheryl informs him that their passports have now been taken away by Hywel, so that she could not go anywhere, even if she wanted.

As Ffion silently climbs the stairs, she hears him saying, 

"There's nothing left here for either of us!"

“I’ve bought tickets to go to Ireland – we don’t need passports.   There’s nothing left here for either of us!”

“What about Ffion and Arwen?” Sheryl reminds him, and he replies, very forcibly, that he does not love Ffion, and has not done for a while.   He pleads that it is all organised now, and they can start a new life together.   

By this time, Ffion has heard enough, and goes

Ffion turns and goes back down the stairs.

"I don't want to be with you!"

Sheryl tries to make him understand, “I don’t love you – I was running away from you as well!   I don’t want to be with you – and I hate the way you behave towards me, as if I’m your property!   You need professional help – the only reason I agreed to go away is because you blackmailed me.   

"Get off me, Gethin!"

The buzzer sounds, and he tries to prevent Sheryl from answering it;  she invites Siôn to come up, pointing out to Gethin that their conversation is over.   

"Just checking that you're all right"

Siôn says that he just wanted to check she was all right, and Gethin tells him to leave.   Emphasising that they have nothing further to talk about, Sheryl tells Gethin he is the one who is going to leave, 

"You heard what Sheryl said!"

and Siôn is ready to enforce that.

"You know I can make it happen!"

As he goes, Gethin remarks, “Give what I said some thought – you know I can make it happen!”   

"I've lost everything, Siôn!"

She sinks into a chair and asks Siôn what she is going to do – she has lost everything.   

"It will be all right"

He tries to convince her that everything will be all right.   

Why on earth did they sell her vodka?

Ffion comes out of the shop, hiding a bottle of vodka in her bag;  Garry sees her, 

"Is there a sign on my forehead saying 'Idiot'?"

and she demands, “Is there a sign on my forehead saying ‘Idiot’?”   He tells her that Gethin is not worth it, 

"He's not worth what you've got in there!"

and he is certainly not worth what she has in her bag.

She tells him that they are running away together, but Garry corrects her;  “Sheryl was going to Canada, just her and Esther, but Hywel found out.”   

"They were discussing running away to Ireland!"

Ffion insists that she has just heard them discussing going to Ireland;  “And on top of that, Gethin hasn’t been in love with me for a long time!”   He tells her that she is coming to have a meal with him and Dani – and he will make sure that Gethin is not there, but she refuses.

"Ffi, you're better than this!"

Looking at her bag, he informs her, “Ffi, you’re better than this!” but she wonders what she is supposed to do, and he advises, “Get revenge!   You can’t do that if you’re drunk.”   

She hands over the vodka bottle

He holds out his hand, and she gives him the bottle, then she walks away.

Garry tells Dani that he relieved Ffion of the vodka

Dani approaches, and he tells her that Ffion was going to drink it;  Dani proposes to fetch Carol, and then they can check on Ffion later.   

Back home in the flat . . .

Ffion returns to Cysgod y Glyn 

. . . Ffion takes out the other bottle

and retrieves the other bottle of vodka from her bag.

"I'm sure Anita told you what she was going to do"

Siôn goes to see Hywel, who asks him to take some bags of clothes across to Sheryl, as he does not want to talk to her;  “I’m sure Anita has told you what she was planning to do.”   

"Sheryl was very upset"

Siôn stresses that Sheryl was very upset, and says that it must be difficult for Esther, not being able to see her mother.

"I was never going to see her again!'

Hywel reminds him that Sheryl was going to take Esther away, and she would not care if he never saw her again, but Siôn replies that he is doing the same thing.   “I know you didn’t kidnap her, but you won’t let her spend time with her mother.   

"You're punishing Esther too"

“You’re doing it to punish Sheryl, but you’re punishing Esther too.   Can’t you see another way through this?   I’m sure you can reach a compromise for Esther.”

He really thought Sheryl was 'the one'

Hywel confesses that he thought with Sheryl this was it;  “You know as well as I do that I haven’t been the most faithful of men, but I was happy with her.”

Siôn says that it has not been easy for any of them, including Gethin and Ffion;  

"It's the children who suffer"

“But it’s the children who suffer – and that’s not right.”

Ffion has had several attempts at writing a note . . .

Ffion is writing a note, but then screws it up and starts again;  

. . . and the vodka is not far away

near her we see the vodka bottle.   

She ignores the buzzer . . .

Then the buzzer sounds, but she ignores it;  

. . . and eventually Garry gives up

it is Garry outside, in the darkness, and after a few more presses of the button, he gives up.

"I'm going out, Dani"

In the Deri flat, Gethin announces that he is going out, and Dani asks if he has talked to Ffion.   He replies that he is the last person she wants to see at the moment, 

"Ffion bought a bottle of vodka!"

but she informs him that Ffion had bought a bottle of vodka.   “Garry persuaded her to give him the bottle, but who knows?   She could have bought another one.   You have to talk to her.”   

Gethin is concerned by this news

He agrees, and leaves the flat.

Sheryl assembles the doll's house

Sheryl is assembling the dolls house when she has a visit from Hywel, 

Hywel brings more of her belongings . . .

bringing over two more bags full of her clothes.   He says that Iolo is keeping an eye on Esther.   

. . . and suggests a compromise

“Listen,  it’s all turned very bitter between us, and Esther is the one who’ll suffer.   I suggest we come to some sort of compromise.”

"You're not serious?"

Sheryl is astonished to hear this, and he concedes, “You can spend time with her tomorrow if you want.”   

She cannot believe what she is hearing

She is overjoyed, and wonders what made him change his mind;  he says that it was something Siôn said.   He tells her to call round after lunch, but she is not to bring Esther back to the salon flat.   

Hywel is not inclined to trust her

He does not trust her after today.

She protests, “The only reason I was going away was because I wasn’t allowed to see Esther. 

"I don't want to take her away from her father"

“I promise you the last thing I want to do is to take Esther away from her home – and away from her father.   He says they will decide something tomorrow.

Sheryl phones Siôn . . .

She makes a phone call to Siôn, “I don’t know what you said to Hywel, but I can’t thank you enough.   I can spend time with Esther tomorrow – it’s a step forward.   You’re welcome to come over for a glass of wine.”   

. . . who agrees to go round for a glass of wine

He replies that he will see her later.

Gethin reads one of Ffion's notes . . .

Gethin arrives at Cysgod y Glyn, where he reads one of the screwed up notes, 

. . . is concerned to find the bottle empty . . .

sees the empty vodka bottle 

. . . and blames himself

and despairs.

"Sheryl is still planning to run away with Esther"

Garry goes to see Hywel;  “I don’t know how to tell you this,” he begins, “Sheryl is still planning to run away with Esther.”   

"No – I've just been talking to her"

Hywel does not accept this, as he has just been talking to her.   “She can’t go abroad, but she can go to Ireland with Gethin.   

"Gethin is going to help them flee to Ireland"

“I saw Ffion – she heard them discussing it – Gethin is going to help Sheryl and Esther flee to Ireland.”

"Are you sure about that?"

Hywel demands if he is sure about this, and Garry advises not to let Sheryl see Esther again.   Hywel insists that he is going out, and asks Garry to look after Esther, but is told that this is not the time to reason with Sheryl;  

"You have to fight – and I'll help you!"

“You have to fight – and I’ll do all I can to help!”

Siôn tells Sheryl that Esther will love the doll’s house, and she replies, 

"She will be able to play with it tomorrow"

“Thanks to you, she will be able to play with it tomorrow – I’m going to take it over to her.   Siôn, you’ve been such a good friend - I don’t know what I would have done without you.”   

"I admire you, Sheryl"

He says that she is a strong woman, and he admires that.   She maintains that she tries her best, but it is not always enough – that is the story of her life, but he insists that she is doing remarkably well, 

He gives her a cwtch . . .

and gives her a hug.

. . . which she regards as inappropriate

Sheryl becomes anxious and asks what he is doing, 

"I was trying to console you"

and he says he is trying to console her.   

"I'm not stupid – you're all the same!"

“I’m not stupid – I know exactly what you were going to do!” she exclaims, “You’d better go – just get out!   You’re all the same!”

"But now I see what you really are!"

Siôn is very hurt that she thinks she that, and points out that he has argued with Anita and Hywel – he has stuck his neck out for her;  “But now I see what you really are!” he tells her, as he leaves.   Sheryl looks terrified.

Outside in the street Garry is watching . . .

When Siôn comes out of the salon, Garry is watching from the street corner;  but before he can reach the salon, 

. . . and Gethin is also out and about

he is accosted by Gethin, who says that Dani has been trying to get in touch with him.   “She asked me to tell you your dinner is in the bin.   

He objects to the way Garry treats his sister

“She’s been slaving over a hot stove, as well as looking after a baby and running a pub!”   He walks away into the night.

Anita is at home, until she, too, goes out

Anita is sitting alone on the sofa;  she picks up her phone and leaves the house.   

"Let's talk about this rationally!"

Sheryl answers a phone call, and demands, “Who said that?   No, you’ve misunderstood – let’s talk about this rationally!”   But the caller hangs up, 

Sheryl grabs her coat . . .

and she hurries from the flat, grabbing her coat on the way, 

. . . then trips over the doll's house box . . .

stumbles over the doll’s house box, which is on the landing, and falls headlong down the stairs.

. . . and hurtles to the bottom of the stairs

As she lies, semiconscious, at the bottom, 

A mystery figure approaches

a shadowy figure crosses the road towards the open outer door, then opens the door to the flat.   

Sheryl murmurs Hywel's name . . .

Sheryl sees a figure standing there, and murmurs, “Hywel?” 

. . . before the lethal blow is struck

but the figure administers a violent blow to her head, and she is left, motionless.