Ripped By mstoll
Oh! I remember it now.
Oh, go on.
So, there's this, uh, fella,
um, he's buying this face cream.
- Yeah? - And he says to woman behind counter,
"This stuff's marvellous. I've only been using it a few weeks.
"You'll never guess how old I am."
And she says, "Oh, 36?"
He says, "No! I'm 47."
And she goes, "Oh, that's wonderful! I must try some of that meself."
Anyway, next off he goes on to post office
and he gets chatting to the fellow behind the counter and he says,
"You want to try some of this face cream I've been using.
"You'll never guess how old I am."
And the fellow behind the counter says, "Oh, er, 35."
He says, "No, I'm 47."
The fellow behind the counter says, "Oh, that's wonderful!
"I'll have to get some of that meself."
And he's just leaving post office
and he bumps into this little old lady.
- Oh, aye? - And he says to her,
"I bet you can't guess how old I am."
And she says, "Well, I probably can
"but I'm just going to have to put me hand
"down the front of your trousers."
And he was like, "Ooh, okay."
So, she puts her hand down inside his trousers
and does a bit of a...
...rummage around
and then, after two or three minutes, she says, "You're 47."
And he says, "Good Lord! How do you know?
"How can you tell?"
And she says, "I was stood behind you in chemist."
Hey, I... I never told you.
Our Gillian's got a date.
Oh, has she? Who with?
- I've kept you waiting. - No!
I'm really sorry.
- Let me get you a drink. - No, no, no, no! Oh, you've already...
- A fella. - Oh, well, that's something in itself.
God, this is really embarrassing.
Is it? Why?
- Gary, he's called. - Hmm?
Gary Jackson.
'Cause I've forgotten it was Valentine's Day.
Forgotten?
It's just one of those things that goes right over my head.
Where did she meet him?
Oh! He came in to the shop once or twice,
then he's asked her out.
Mmm?
Not that I didn't want to ask you out but it wasn't...
Shouldn't have been, obviously, quite so obvious
or full-on as that would seem to suggest and...
- And now I've offended you. - No!
- I'm such a... - No. No, you haven't,
Gary, honestly.
I wanted a chance just to talk to you and now I've...
- It's fine. - Is it?
Yeah, it'd take more than that to offend me. Really. Believe me.
I've been offended by people who really know what they're talking about.
You look really nice.
So do you.
I've booked a table for two, half past seven.
Er, Gary Jackson.
Your bonuses are on Quantum Physics.
Heisenberg's original uncertainty relation
concerned which two observable properties of a particle?
Position and momentum.
- Yeah, location and momentum. - Position and momentum is correct. Yes.
Quantitatively, the product of the two uncertainties
is always greater than or equal to the unreduced Planck's constant, h,
divided by what number?
4pi.
Come along.
Let's have it, please.
4pi.
Quickly.
It's 4pi.
- Hello. - Speed of light.
- It's 4pi... - Mmm, no shit.
- I'm turning this off. - ... energy and what quantity?
Oh, guess what? Gillian's got a date.
Has she? Gillian?
- This bloke just... - What bloke?
...just came into the shop, apparently, and asked her out.
Oh, that's romantic.
- Is it? - Isn't it?
Oh, it's very Gillian.
I can never work out whether you love Gillian to bits
or you think she's a complete plonker.
Well, it's kind of...
both.
Got something else for you.
This one is the card and the flowers and the chocolate.
What?
Okay.
You know, Christmas...
Yeah?
I was so happy
when, you know...
And I was thinking,
with the baby nearly due and everything,
should...
Shall...
Why don't we get married?
Properly...
married?
Is that it?
What is that?
Okay.
I'm going to tell you this thing that happened to me recently.
Okay.
- Okay, it's a story. - Yeah.
My mother died.
Oh, God.
I'm sorry.
It's, um...
Six or seven months ago, August... August 15th.
Er, she was 77. She'd been ill.
Well, anyway, I was sorting through the house,
going through her things, me and me brother,
and I found a marriage certificate.
Her and me dad's marriage certificate,
in an old biscuit tin under the stairs, which I'd never seen before.
Not surprisingly because,
it turns out, that they got married not in 1966,
when they'd always told us they got married,
but in 1967.
Exact same day they'd always celebrated but one whole year later.
Which would also mean that when they got married,
she was already pregnant, four or five months,
with me.
You know, these things happen.
- Yeah, well, less so then. - No, no. It's a myth.
Does it matter?
Yeah. No, well, no, no. Not in itself.
Okay.
So, anyway, I just happened to mention this to me Auntie Jean,
who's me dad's sister. She's in her eighties, 85. Lives up Siddal.
This was over Christmas.
Anyway, I'd said it,
and she went a bit quiet and then, eventually, eventually
she said, "Well,
"I suppose if I don't tell you, there's no one left that can.
"Gordon wasn't your real dad."
No way!
- Yeah. - Wow. God.
Apparently, my mother
had a relationship, a fling, with a man who was married.
And then she went and got pregnant, with me.
My dad, being me dad, or the man I always thought was my dad,
he'd always had a soft spot for her
and they were friends and basically,
he must have agreed to pretend that I was his.
My God, so that's a... Wow. That's, um...
... a shock.
Yeah, he's a nice man, my dad,
and I'd never had any reason to imagine that...
Well, why would you?
So?
So, I said to my Auntie Jean, "Well,
"who was my real dad, then? This man that was married."
And she said, "It was that Buttershaw fella."
I mean, it's a long time ago, obviously, but she seemed very sure and so,
- the thing is... - Hang on.
Which Buttershaw fellow?
Your dad.
In1966?
- Yeah. - No. No. Er...
He married my mum in 1957.
Yeah, well, okay.
Do you know how many Buttershaws there are around here?
I do, yeah.
Can I just... Can I just get to the end of the story?
Okay, go on.
So, when she said, "It was that Buttershaw fellow," I said, "Who?"
And she said, "Him, in the Courier."
"Celia and Alan find wedded bliss after 60 years."
She said, "That's him."
Is she senile?
No. She can't get about like she did but mentally, she's bright as a button.
Okay. What you, um...
Bless your auntie, but what you have to understand,
Gary,
is that my dad isn't like that.
Oh, I don't know. Obviously. I've...
- I've not met him. - It...
It sounds to me...
- I'm just telling you what she said. - It just sounds to me like
she's seen a photo of somebody in the paper
and she's just latched onto it.
- Would he do a blood test? - No!
Gillian, I don't want anything, Gillian, I just... It's...
It's just that now I've started getting a little bit used to the idea
that my dad
wasn't my dad,
I want to know where I came from.
Oh, hang on. So that day, when we got chatting in Greenhough's...
Yeah, that... Yeah.
Yeah, that wasn't entirely, um...
Er, a friend of mine recognised you from the picture in the Courier
and after I told him this business that me aunt had said and...
I didn't know that it was Valentine's Day when I suggested tonight
and I'm really sorry if you got the wrong idea.
And I approached you rather than him 'cause in the Courier
it said that he'd had a heart attack,
so I didn't want to go giving him a shock, obviously.
Well, that's... Um...
He loved my mum. They were nice, happy people.
I'd just been born in 1965.
He...
He wouldn't have been mucking about with somebody.
You couldn't broach it with him?
She's barking up the wrong tree.
You up?
I'm just taking Alan a cup of tea in bed.
Uh, just quickly. Uh, Kate and... Oh! You have a nice evening?
- Perfect. - Good.
- Aren't we boring? - No, you're lovely.
I know what they were all thinking. Dozy old beggars.
- All who? - In the restaurant.
- I couldn't give a monkey's. - Well, that's...
That's one of the joys of getting older,
you finally give less and less of a monkey's.
Yeah, good. Sorry, I'm in a rush, Mum.
Uh, you won't like this, but me and Kate, we're going...
Well, we're going to have...
- A bath? - No.
- A party? - No.
A fortnight in the Bellonas?
We're going to get married. So, um...
So, we've chosen a date.
Why do you assume I wouldn't like it?
Well, I know you... I know it's all, you know,
outside your comfort zone.
I don't know why you think that.
There's no one more broadminded than me and Alan.
- What's so funny? - No, I'm pleased.
I know you like to think I'm stuck in the Dark Ages.
Well...
- Well, what? - No, I'm pleased. I am. I'm pleased.
I often flick through the G2 when Alan buys a Guardian.
Uh, it won't be a big do, it'll be very discreet.
Just immediate family and one or two friends.
- Okay. - So, the Friday of half-term, hopefully.
We're going to see if we can book a nice little function room
in a nice little hotel.
It's... I just...
We thought that with the baby on its way,
we ought to make it as official as we can.
Then it's, you know, it's... ... it's official.
What will it call you when it arrives, the baby? Will you be its dad?
No, I'll be its mum.
Well...
It'll have two mums.
- Won't it get confused? - No.
A child needs a father.
Mum, gay couples bring up children all the time.
It's perfectly normal.
No, it's not normal, is it?
That's not the right word.
It's becoming increasingly normal.
It'll have two very responsible, mature, loving parents and that's...
Oh...
...all that matters. - But no dad.
No dad. What the hell is so fantastic about dads?
Look at my dad. Look at John. They're a liability.
Alan's not a bad dad.
No, well, Gillian's very lucky.
I sometimes think you've turned out the way you have because of your dad.
Do you?
Well, he wasn't a role model, was he, your father?
I thought you thought it was your fault.
My fault? No.
Kate said that when you went round to her house
to apologise after you'd fallen out with Alan,
that you said you were worried it was all your fault.
Yes, because of your dad being ineffectual as a man.
So I projected things, ideas and expectations onto you.
Oh, so that's my dad's fault, that you projected "expectations"?
Yeah, in a sense,
in a very obvious sense. I thought you were in a rut.
Yeah, but you do know that's all bollocks, don't you?
"I was born this way." To quote Lady Gaga.
Oh, I like Lady Gaga.
- Do you? - Mmm, she's nuts.
I'm going now.
She reckons to be a lesbian.
I bet she isn't, no more than you are.
Hmm. You know... I'm going to work.
Mmm, okay. Ta-ta, love.
Guess the latest.
Nigel Farage has thrown in towel after realising it's not 1957.
No.
They're getting "married".
The lesbians.
Ah!
"A little do," she says. Thank God!
Are we going all Attila the Hun again, dear?
Oh, they do what they want.
I told her. I said, "We're very broad-minded, me and Alan."
Why are you smiling?
Nothing, they're very well-suited.
Well, apart from the fact that they're both women, yes! Possibly.
I thought we'd gone beyond this?
It's for the baby, it's... So it's all official.
I said, "Oh, will you be the father?"
She didn't like that.
They're both going to be mums.
I said, "Well, it'll get very confused."
Will it, heck.
No. I suppose one black one, one white one.
It'll soon know its colours.
More tea, Archbishop?
Ah, go on.
Here, we might have to get our skates on.
Harry will wonder where we are.
What time's he due in court? Dozy sod.
Oh, I knew they'd be late!
I said they should have driven over last night
so there wouldn't be a panic.
Yeah, well, I'm here now. So come on.
I could've rung our Yvonne, but she'd not have come.
She'd have said, "Call a taxi." Which is all very well and good,
but it's moral support you want as much as anything.
Of course it is.
And she won't want the humiliation.
Oh, Harry! You made a mistake.
It was a mistake. Anyone could've done it.
That were the first thing the lock-keeper said.
What time you meeting your solicitor?
Uh...
That overpriced pillock? Ten to.
Hey! How'd you get on last night? Didn't you have a date?
Oh, yeah. Uh...
Turns out he's not my sort.
Thought you liked all sorts?
No.
Not always.
Harry,
did you...
You know, you and me dad...
Did you ever know a Mary Kershaw?
From up Siddal?
I don't think I ever knew anyone from up Siddal. Why?
Hey up.
Where've you been?
You've got a phone call with Alec Bracewell
from the Independent Schools Association in 10 minutes.
They're after you delivering the keynote lecture
at the conference in March.
You're seeing Cressida Wade's parents at 9:45.
Your HODs meeting is at break,
then you've got the architects in again at 11:00
and then you've got the year reps.
Oh, and then first thing after lunch,
you're teaching!
Good God, am I?
Oh, and your stepsister rang on your mobile. Gillian?
She said she's sorry to be ringing you when you're working
but can you ring her back ASAP?
It's important.
I told you I'd never get in the back in that bloody thing.
I don't know why they bother pretending sports cars have a back seat.
It's nowt but a shelf for your shopping.
So, you're going to be all right without this for an hour or two?
Yeah, like I say, I have you to take to the vet.
So long as you don't mind me wedging her in the passenger seat. Celia?
We could probably get two more on the back seat, back shelf as well.
Yeah, I'll lay a bit of straw down and then, you know,
- it won't make so much mess. - Yeah!
Yeah. You're both so funny.
Right. You just remember to mind your Ps and Qs, Harry. Be polite...
- Yeah. ...to the Judge.
Oh, shit.
- Caroline. - Gillian?
Oh, is it Caroline?
Yeah, can I ring you back in, like, 10 minutes?
Beverley said you said it was important.
Yeah, it is. It is. Can you just give us 10 minutes?
Well, ring me back when you're ready. I'm in my office.
Okay, I will. Ta-ra.
Good luck! Break a leg!
Dozy sod.
So, that's it.
I left the restaurant, I walked out.
Thing is, though, if I don't
broach the subject with my dad, he will, and then what?
Well, look, either he is or he isn't
and if he isn't, he'll just laugh, surely.
And if he is, well...
Not going to come as a surprise to him, is it?
He knows whether or not he had a fling.
Yeah, but he just wouldn't.
Oh, when my mum told me about my dad being a bit of a one,
I couldn't take it in.
"My dad? Not my dad. My dad wouldn't do something like that." But he had.
He did.
And more than once.
Did he...
What?
Have other kids? Another family?
Oh, no, no, no, nothing. Well, not that I know of.
Well, you wouldn't, necessarily, would you?
There was this thing
last night
when we were talking.
What thing?
What was your mother's name?
Before she married your dad.
Kershaw, Mary Kershaw.
What was she like?
Ooh, well, um...
She had a great sense of humour.
No. I mean, what did she look like?
Oh, she was quite attractive.
- I've got a... - You've got a photo?
Yeah.
When I was little,
we had a bureau at the top of the stairs.
And I used to entertain myself for hours
going through all the little drawers, tiny cupboards.
There was all sorts.
And I remember this little tin box.
It was red.
And it had a lock on it but it never worked.
And on the lid,
in gold letters, it said,
"Tall oaks from little acorns grow."
And inside there was foreign coins,
paper clips.
And there was this photo,
a little photo,
a passport photo, black and white,
of this woman.
I had no idea who she was. It wasn't anyone I'd ever seen.
And on the back,
it said "Mary".
And?
Does she look like...
Oh, I don't know. It's hard to know.
It's so long since but...
As far as I can recall...
Oh, I don't know, there might have been a resemblance.
Could you ask him about the photo? See what he says, see if he reacts.
Yeah.
I could.
But...
You all right?
He wouldn't do that to my mum.
No, no! God, no.
So, I was thinking...
Um...
So, the thing is...
I was thinking maybe you could
talk to Celia
and she could tell him.
It'd be better coming from her.
I'm terrified about his heart condition, Caroline.
I don't want this thing hitting him from out of the blue.
Uh, yeah, yeah, but surely,
if it is true,
it's going to affect my mum really badly, too.
Your mum?
Oh, it destroyed her when she found out about my dad sleeping around.
I mean, it killed her. It changed her.
Yeah, but
even if it is him, which is stupid,
it isn't like he's been unfaithful to her.
Well, no, no. But, you know...
If he's been unfaithful, full stop,
it'd put him in the same category as my dad in her book, wouldn't it?
Would it?
Well, yeah. I think surely it's got to come from you,
if you don't want this fella talking to Alan himself.
Yeah, but...
Look, if he's a troublemaker and it's all nonsense,
- your dad'll just say so, won't he? - Yeah.
Yeah.
What am I going to do?
I don't think there's much alternative.
On the plus side, once you've sold your house,
paid off your fines, you'll have quite a lot of money left over
to rent somewhere with.
Oh, you could buy another narrowboat.
I'm not going near that canal ever again.
How did it happen?
It's easily done.
Back of the stern got caught on the seal, didn't lock.
You see, already it's double dutch.
Basically, he got back of his boat hooked on to the top of the lock gate,
so when all the water drained out of the lock,
the stern stayed up,
stuck to gate,
and the bow sank down into the mud at the bottom of the lock.
I could've been killed.
Well, you shouldn't have been kaylied.
It's easily done. Don't have to be kaylied.
So, okay, so the bad news is
they couldn't fit us in at half-term, they're fully booked,
jam-packed wall-to-wall,
but bizarrely, amazingly, as luck would have it,
they've had a cancellation two weeks on Saturday, 11:30.
What's this for?
Oh.
Well...
we've decided we're going to get married.
It'll only be a small do, there's no need to panic.
I was just going to ask you and Will,
Mum and Alan and perhaps Auntie Muriel and...
a few people from work.
Right.
We thought before the baby's born, we ought to, you know...
You can ask Angus if you like.
He's probably busy.
Well, ask him.
You hadn't told him. Sorry.
Is it too soon, fortnight on Saturday?
No. No. No.
Sooner the better, as far as I'm concerned.
Oh!
How's the nursery?
Oh, here we go.
- John. - Caroline.
Speaking.
I just...
I wondered, um...
You all right?
Yeah.
No. Judith's, um, she's...
She's lost the baby.
We've been in the hospital all day.
But she's over...
...thirty... - What's the matter?
Yeah, it's...
Judith's lost the baby.
How?
It's been awful,
she had to give birth.
Good Lord.
They said it was the only way, with it being 30 weeks.
Apparently, that's...
That's what you do. So...
- She had to give birth... - It's been pretty drawn-out...
and distressing, one way and another.
I couldn't pop round, could I?
Can he pop round?
Of course.
Yes, of course you can.
- Never even wanted it. - No.
But I didn't want this, either.
Wouldn't wish this on anyone. It's been...
just sad, actually, just...
so sad.
This little person, it should have
run around and grazed her knees
and grown up and lived to a ripe old age
and breathed the air long after we were gone.
But she won't.
She didn't even get to start.
She just gets nothing.
Forever.
Was it...
definitely a she?
Yes. Yes. A little girl.
Life's so precious.
And we just take it for granted, don't we?
Squander it.
He's in shock. You're in shock.
Yeah.
You all right?
Yeah.
- It's not fair. - It invalidated his insurance.
- He's 75. - He were drunk!
Yeah, but you can't make a man his age sell his house.
And how else is he going to pay all his costs?
Hey, hey.
- Have you told Mum? - No.
- How long did he give you to pay it? - Twenty-eight days.
You can't! They can't expect you to sell your house in 28 days.
And how else is he going to raise that kind of money?
She needs a bottle.
Come on, then.
Right. I'll go and find our Gillian.
Find out what it was she wanted to talk to me about.
- Do you want me to come with you? - No. No. You, er, stay.
Where it's warm.
- I'm going to get changed. - Right, love.
Hey, what's up?
Breech.
But, uh, I'll sort her out.
What did you want to talk to me about?
Oh, okay.
Well, it's...
It's a bit delicate.
Do you remember when I was little in the house up Barkersland?
There was the bureau at the top of the stairs.
- Oh. - And in it, there was all... stuff.
And do you remember a little tin box
with a red cover
in the shape of a book?
"Tall oaks from little acorns grow."
And in it, there was a photo of a woman.
And on the back, it said "Mary".
Did it?
Yeah.
Yeah, it did.
Did you ever know a woman
called Mary Kershaw?
No.
No. No, I don't think so.
I don't want to upset you.
Well, you haven't told me owt yet.
Okay. So...
Okay, so, um...
as Mum used to always say to me,
I won't be cross if you just tell me the truth.
Did you ever have a fling with someone
- after you married me mum? - No!
Of course I didn't!
- Don't be so silly. - Right.
Why would you think that?
- So, who's this Mary? - I've no idea!
- Mary in the tin... - I've got no idea!
Have you still got that tin? You know the tin I mean?
Well, I threw a lot of stuff out when I moved in here.
Yes, yes, I know the tin you mean.
It were a savings box from the post office.
Okay.
You know, yesterday,
my date with Gary?
Gary Jackson.
Well, it turns out it wasn't me he was interested in.
It was you.
He thinks...
He thinks you had a fling
with his mother, Mary Kershaw.
And that you're his dad.
Ah, look, if it isn't true, it doesn't matter.
No, I told him it'd been rubbish.
It's just I'd promised him
I'd ask you, because...
Oh, because he was a nice man, actually, and...
if I didn't ask you, I was worried he would.
We neither of us wanted to upset you, with your heart and...
What does he want?
Nothing. Just...
Just to know, I suppose.
Right. Well.
He needs to know he's got hold of wrong end of stick.
- He asked if you'd do a blood test. - No! I darn well won't!
Right. Good. Okay. Well, I'll tell him that.
Cheeky beggar!
Okay.
Well, is that it, then?
- Can I go? - Sure.
You all right?
I did love your mum.
I know.
I know that.
I didn't...
I didn't know there'd been a child.
Wow.
It's shameful. A fella in his seventies, being ordered
by some over-privileged, toffee-nosed twat of a judge to sell his house.
- He could've killed someone. - Yeah, but he didn't.
He was enjoying his retirement, he had a mishap.
Which would've all been fine, had he not been over the limit.
Who is it that he actually owes the money to?
Who is it that's taken him to court, the council?
- No, it's... - Waterways and Rivers Authority.
- Yeah, that's it. - Can't believe the bastards.
Your mum never knew.
It finished before it even started, really.
It were...
ridiculous! An embarrassment!
It should never have happened.
How do you know she didn't know?
She didn't.
I'll have to take your word for it.
What does he want?
Nothing.
I think he just wanted to know
for a fact
if it was true.
What does he look like?
You, actually.
Taller.
He's very dapper.
He's very charming.
- What's he do for a living? - I've got no idea.
- He's married? - Don't know.
- Kids? - Yes. Three.
Tim, Toots and Teeny. I've got no idea!
- No need to be snippy. - Oh, really?
Here, I don't think we should tell Celia about this.
What good would it do? None.
Or is it a mistake not telling Celia?
- Oh, I don't know. - I don't like having secrets from Celia.
No. No, after all,
it's not like it's her you've been unfaithful to.
Is it?
No, just me mum.
And me.
On the other hand,
as Caroline pointed out, being unfaithful, full stop,
in Celia's mind, could...
Could put you in the same category, same...
doghouse as Kenneth.
What the hell does Caroline know about it?
I mentioned it. On the phone.
I didn't know how to tell you, so I thought if I told Caroline,
she could tell Celia and then Celia could tell you.
But then Caroline pointed out that that might not...
- be a great idea. - Fancy telling Caroline!
Hey! Don't you get Shirty Burty with me!
So, what do you think?
About meeting him?
I need to think about it.
Okay.
Have you taken your pills?
Yeah.
She wants to go buying another hat in the morning.
Celia does.
Caroline and Kate are getting wed.
- Yep. Did she tell you? - No.
Oh.
I think you've got to bite the bullet.
I have.
I rung the estate agent.
That one down Ripponden. She's popping up this aft.
I'm very good at selling houses.
I've sold four. And we always got the asking price.
- My! - What you need, Harry,
is a good tidy-up and a lick of paint.
I have tidied up.
When? Recently?
Yeah. Just before you came.
Okay.
I think what somebody'd be buying with a house like this
is personality.
I think... I'm only giving you an opinion.
No, no, no. Go on.
I think your definition of tidied up and somebody else's might differ.
Well, yeah, obviously.
But anybody with an ounce of wit could see it's got potential.
And you couldn't put a price on the view out of that Velux window in the attic.
No. No.
I think that's your big selling point. It's a blank canvas.
Have you thought where you might move to, if it did sell?
I'm not moving without Yvonne.
No.
Even if she asked me, which she wouldn't.
I've got an appointment with local housing.
Rang 'em this morning.
Nice girl.
But obviously, there's a waiting list.
Right.
- Shall we make tracks, Mr Buttershaw? - Mmm.
I don't suppose I could move in at farm?
No, you couldn't. There's not room.
No, but you and Celia have got your little pad in Harrogate.
- Happen I could doss in your room? - Don't be so bloody daft.
Yay!
You don't have to come, man.
I don't mind coming, dude.
It'll be, like, boring.
Dude, so what? Saturdays are, like, boring anyway.
They better not read out, like, any poems.
- Why not? - 'Cause that will be truly embarrassing.
- Sorry, man. - Oh, yeah...
Poems, no, not poems. Search for poems that are lesbino.
- What? What's that? - It's nothing.
- What is it? - Nothing.
It's not worth it. It's not worth it!
Who was it?
- No one. - Who was it?
Seb Dickson.
Could you find Sebastian Dickson's parents for me
and explain to them that he's been involved in a homophobic incident...
- Do you have to? ...and I'd like to see them
at their earliest convenience. Yes, I do have to.
Are you coming a fortnight on Saturday, Angus, to the wedding?
Has Lawrence invited you?
Yep. Thank you.
Nobody is going to bully or humiliate or ridicule me...
- It's not just about you. ...or anyone. Anyone!
In this school.
- Dark horse, isn't he? Your dad. - Yep.
You all right?
I ought to be really cross with him.
I am really cross with him.
I'm more...
It's my mum and he's...
And she never knew, he says.
But how can I be cross with him? With his heart? I can't say, "You...
"shag bandit."
That's what he's called me over the years.
Was it just the once?
He says.
Do you think there are others?
Not asked. Oh, I don't want to know.
I can't imagine there were.
But Caroline says she couldn't imagine her dad.
How did it happen?
How does a fellow like your dad end up getting into bed with somebody else?
I don't know. I'm not... I'm not going there.
Maybe it was an in-the-back-of-a-car, knee-tremble type job.
Ahh.
So, does Celia know?
No. Shit, no. Not yet.
- Is he going to tell her? - Don't know.
So what's he after, this Gary?
Nothing.
- Money? - No.
- Compensation? - No. He doesn't seem short of money.
Yeah, well, don't you be fooled.
- Caroline and Kate are getting married. - Are they?
- Apparently.
You going?
Just the toffs are being invited, by the sound of things.
- How's Cheryl? - Oh.
She wants a new kitchen.
Oh, damn.
Do you think this colour's too rich, too vivid?
Should I have gone for something more pastelly?
I've no idea.
Well, I'm asking for an opinion.
I think it looks very nice.
- What's up? - Nothing.
You've been quiet all day.
Why were you so snippy with Harry?
Sorry.
I love you.
Do you remember when you came out of hospital?
You said you'd decided it was time to give life a real kick up the trousers.
Yeah.
Kenneth's sister lives in Australia.
Deborah, Debbie. We always got on.
You see?
What?
There's stuff about each other we still don't know.
Towamba, it's just left of Brisbane.
Her husband got a post with the university, education.
He taught people how to be teachers.
Of course, he's retired now, has been for 20 years.
Do you keep in touch?
An email at Christmas.
I told her about us. She was really happy for us.
Well, we've got all this money
that we reckon to be spending on buying a house
but the alternative,
and I never thought I'd hear meself say this,
'cause all my life I've been a saver,
is that we spend it doing something daft.
Something memorable.
Do you fancy getting away? A holiday?
A big trip.
We could go and see Ted and all their lot.
Yes.
Yes, I would.
I got your text.
Hi.
Um...
I've got a break in about half an hour or so,
if you fancy a coffee.
Okay.
Um, but the basic, uh,
gist is that, um, is...
It's true.
He's your dad.
He's your father.
My father...
Blimey!
Shocked.
Upset.
Really?
Well, it's tricky for him, with Celia.
Her first husband was a bit of a worm
so it wasn't a very happy marriage.
Whereas, you see,
she thinks me dad, in comparison,
- is squeaky clean. - No.
- So... - Did he... Did he
show any interest in wanting to meet me?
He asked what you look like.
- I don't want to cause any problem... - No, no.
But I would like to meet him, if he...
I don't know.
Do you think he'd want to meet me?
I think he's worried about what it is you'd want.
I don't want anything.
He's not loaded.
It's not about money.
No, I didn't think it was.
I think maybe it's more he's worried about
what you expect.
He's just
a very ordinary little fella.
Does he not want to meet me?
He didn't say that.
I just want to say hello, really, I suppose.
Now that we know for a fact.
I think that's all I want.
Maybe that's not enough of a reason, if he doesn't want to...
I've never had a brother.
I've never had a sister.
- You all right? - Yeah.
Where's Celia?
Bathroom.
I saw Gary. This aft.
Told him.
He'd like to meet you.
- He asked me if you... - I'm not... I told you, I'm not sure.
I need to think about it.
- Why? - Just...
He's a nice man.
Morning.
- What time are Seb's parents coming in? - Half past nine.
- What are you going to say to 'em? - Nothing. I'm not dealing with them.
- Mr Harrison is. - Why?
Because it's the most appropriate way of dealing with it.
What if Seb's parents decide to kick up a fuss about you being...
Oh, they'd be very misguided and stupid to try anything like that.
I'm a good head teacher.
My private life has got nothing to do with the quality of my work.
Well, you know, they gave birth to Seb, they probably are very stupid.
He chose to raise the issue by putting that note on your back.
If he or his family
are going to try and use it as a stick to beat either you or me,
in the misguided belief that I'll take it lying down, they're mistaken.
Hi.
Hi. How are things?
Uh, fine.
I've not heard from my mother for a few days
and I just wondered if there'd been any developments with this, um,
Gary business, situation.
Oh, yeah.
Um, yeah, I should have rung you, sorry.
- Definitely? - Apparently.
Well, he definitely had a fling with this woman and the dates fit,
so yeah.
My God, you never can tell, can you?
- My mother still doesn't know. - Boom.
He's going to meet him, apparently. Alan's going to meet this guy.
Gillian's fixed him up with a date in some tea shop in Halifax next week.
She's going to take my mother out shopping
for a new outfit for our wedding, so it's all going on behind her back.
She thinks her and Gillian are having a girly day out,
when in fact it's just a ruse to get her out of the way.
That's more or less how she said it.
"Like I'd choose to spend a day with your mother?"
And I thought, "Don't you damn well talk about my mother like that."
- She didn't say that. - It's a subtext.
You didn't... say anything?
Well, yes, in fact, I did.
Okay. Well, Gillian,
I'm sorry, I understand it's a difficult situation
and I really don't want to make it any worse than it is but he...
Well, someone is going to have to tell my mother at some point
and if none of you do, I will, because my dad deceived her for years
and I am not, not having that happen again, ever.
Thing is, er, Caroline, nobody wants to deceive anybody.
I just... I think if he meets him first
and gets that out of the way sort of thing.
Yeah?
Yeah.
- Okay. - Right.
Okay.
Thank you.
Congratulations, by the way.
Oh! Uh, yeah.
Thank you.
On being a lesbian.
You busy? Fortnight on Saturday?
Oh, um...
Er, you and Raff, Ellie and the baby,
11:30 at the register office in Harrogate.
Well, we, we...
Well, it's not going to be a big deal. It's not...
You know, don't feel obliged, it's just us and
one or two of my friends from Oxford, a few of Kate's friends from UEA
and one or two senior members of staff, it's not... You don't have to, you know,
feel obliged.
Um...
Yeah, sorry, it's, um...
Yeah, sorry, damn! Sorry, we're, um...
Well, I know it's short notice.
Sadly, yeah. We're, um, yeah, busy.
Otherwise, yeah, we'd have loved to have, um, yeah...
been there.
Okay.
So...
He wasn't unfaithful to her, though.
Was he?
I don't think it matters.
She'll be gutted.
She'll be devastated.
But I do know she'd never forgive me
if she knew I'd known and not said anything.
I don't know why you won't come with us.
No! I don't want to go trailing round clothes shops.
Hey, hey! Don't spend up.
Ta-ra!
Bye.
Gary?
Alan, hello.
Kate's my wife's girlfriend.
Why did you let him go with you?
She never told me. I had no idea.
So, what did he say? What does he want?
He asked me if we'd like to go and have a meal at his house.
Oh, my God!
There was an incident at work involving Cheryl.
- I've heard the news. - Which...
So you lost your job?
In just over three hours' time, we'll be shackled to each other forever.
What the hell were you doing telling Caroline for?
He hasn't told her.
I know there's something bothering you, I wish you'd let on what it is.
Ripped By mstoll