29 June 2021

"I've just seen 'Eifion Trump'!"

As Sioned and her mother come into the farmhouse, she comments, “I’ve just seen ‘Eifion Trump’ – and I told him to use some tan remover, but I can’t see anything shifting that!”

Eileen has picked up the post and is concerned to see one of the items;  

"It's a letter for Jim from APD"

“It’s a letter for Jim from APD,” she tells Sioned, “According to this, he didn’t make the last payment of £3,000 – and unless we pay up, they’ll take us to court!”

Sioned is going to APD to sort them out

Sioned is completely outraged;  “Sending that letter to Jim is disgusting – and I’ll tell them that, too!”   She marches out of the house

Tyler creeps in through the back door

Tyler comes into number 7, via the back door once again, and Iolo thanks him for coming;  “I made a mess of things yesterday, didn’t I?   

"Things didn't come out as I intended"

“Things didn’t come out as I intended.”   

"I know where I stand now"

At least Tyler now knows where he stands, but Iolo contests that.   

"I want you, Ty!"

“I want you, Ty!   You’ve had an affair, I’ve had cancer – but we’re still here.   That must mean something.”

Tyler has said nothing, so Iolo continues, “You mean everything to me – you will always have – and when the time’s right, I will shout it from the Deri’s rooftop – naked, if you want!   But for now, can we just keep this between us two?”

Garry has forgotten his phone

Then he hears the front door opening, and Tyler is smartly banished through the back;  Garry comes in, having forgotten his phone.   

He fears Tyler is going to be discovered

“I think I saw it on the windowsill,” says Iolo, and is rather perturbed when Garry wants to look in the kitchen.

"Have you got a temperature?"

Garry suspects that something is amiss, maintaining that Iolo looks odd, and wondering if he has a temperature;  “Remember what the doctor said.”   

"I could swear that was in the garage"

As soon as he gets into the kitchen, from which Tyler has by now escaped, he finds both his phone and laptop;  “I could swear that was in the garage!” he grumbles.   

"That's a sign of old age"

Iolo suggests that it may be a sign of old age, but Garry is adamant that he is as sharp as ever.   “Get some rest,” he instructs Iolo, “I’ll be back late tonight, so you can have some space.”

"He's not as sharp as he thinks"

Tyler comes creeping back in, remarking that Garry is not as sharp as he thinks;  “I was hiding outside – this is fun!”   

Iolo is finding this rather wearing

Iolo is not in agreement with that.

"You don't have to tell me about Mark . . ."

“Kath, you don’t have to tell me about Mark,” complains Colin outside the shop, 

" . . .all I get is Andrea this and Andrea that"

“All I get is Andrea this and Andrea that – he’s besotted with her, poor dab.”   

"She hasn't been in touch with him for ages"

Kath stresses that is the point;  she has not been in touch with him for ages, and that is why she wants Colin to cheer him up while she is away.

"You should be packing, Mam"

At that moment Mark approaches;  “You should be at home, packing,” he tells his mother;  Colin suggests that they could have a pint tonight, to help him forget about Andrea.

“What has she been telling you?   Nothing’s wrong between me and Andrea,” Mark insists, “She’s not texting because she’s busy.”   

"Busy scamming someone else!"

Kath mutters that she is busy scamming someone else, and Colin warns him to be careful of her.

"There – see – it's Andrea!"

Then Mark’s phone sounds, and he proudly shows them that it is Andrea calling;  “Excuse me, I’m going to talk to my girlfriend,” he says, and Kath is disappointed that they have not seen the back of her.   

"He won't be happy when she's stolen every penny!"

She is quite sure that he will not be happy when Andrea has stolen every penny, and stresses that it is important Colin keeps an eye on him.

"Stuck with the same people, week after week!"

“Enjoy yourself now on the big open seas,” says Colin, “Mind you, I wouldn’t want to go on a cruise – stuck on a ship with the same people, day after day, week after week.   And you can’t escape – oh, no!   If you don’t like it, tough – you’re stuck!

"As long as you don't have an Arctic storm"

“But there we go, I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun – as long as you don’t have an Arctic storm.”   

Kath is not looking so keen now

Kath now seems to be rather less enthusiastic.

"What have you got in there – Mark?"

Brynmor comes into number 9 with a large suitcase;  “What have you got in there – Mark?” Cassie asks, and he says that he wanted a few things from upstairs to take with him.   She asks how things were in Maes-y-Deri last night, 

"It was as if I'd never left"

and he replies that it was as if he never left.

“Do you have time for a coffee and a quick chat?” Brynmor enquires, but she has a shift in the Deri.   

"I'm sorry about the misunderstanding"

“Cassie, I’m sorry about the misunderstanding,” he says, but she argues that these cruises are overrated.   “But it’s not right that Kath is so angry with you.” he goes on.

"It's not the first time – and it won't be the last"

“It’s not the first time – and it won’t be the last,” she answers, “I want you both to enjoy yourselves, every second of it – have you got your passport?   

"Remember to take some photos of the fjords"

“Remember to take some photos of those fjords for me.”

At APD, Izzy appears to be going through the next batch of threatening letters when Sioned rushes in;  “Are you here to settle the bill?” Izzy asks.

"Nobody can upset Mam like that!"

“Settle the score, perhaps,” is the answer, “Nobody can upset Mam like that!”   Izzy is sorry that Eileen is upset, but again points out that a debt is a debt.   

"And this is the best way to handle it?"

“And this is the best way to handle it?” demands Sioned, just as Mathew walks in, 

"Threaten a man who died 18 months ago?"

“Threaten to take a man who died 18 months ago to court?”

"There's no room for sentiment in business"

Mathew is angry to hear this, and Sioned continues, “APD meant a lot to Jim – he was a partner – and this is how you treat him?”   Izzy insists that there is no room for sentiment in business, but Sioned reminds her, “There is a place for respect!”

"You'd flirt with a bar stool!"

“You have no respect for yourself, let alone anyone else,” Izzy snarls, “I’ve seen you in the Deri – you’d flirt with a bar stool!”   

Mathew calls a halt to this, 

Sioned discharges a glass of water . . .

as Sioned seizes a glass of water which happens to be on the counter and hurls its contents at Izzy.   

. . . which reduces Mathew to a gibbering wreck

Unfortunately she has moved, and the water ends up all over Mathew, bringing back painful memories of the last liquid thrown at him, which was acid.   

"Get out, both of you!"

Sioned is horrified, and he screams at them both to get out;  

"Izzy, I don't want you here – go!"

“Izzy, I don’t want you here – go!”   

His acid attack comes flooding back

He is left reliving the moment when he was attacked.

Iolo peers round the curtains

Iolo is peering anxiously round the curtains, and Tyler urges him to just chill;  

"Dad yesterday, Garry today!"

“How can I?   Dad yesterday, Garry today!” he growls, 

"You wanted to keep it quiet"

but Tyler reminds him that he was the one who wanted to keep it a secret.   “Not if it’s this hard!” Iolo moans.

"The Deri flat is no safer than here"

Tyler has one answer, but is told that the Deri flat is no safer than number 7;  to his surprise, Maes-y-Deri is suggested.   “I’ve got a key, and Kath is away,” explains Tyler.

"Mark will be around the place"

With Mark around the place, Iolo protests that he will not be able to relax there either, 

"How about a night in a hotel?"

so Tyler proposes a night in a hotel, as he is sure that Siôn would look after Greta.   

"Dad would want to know who I was with"

“He’d want to know where I was and with whom,” Iolo groans, then he thinks of something;  “We can’t carry on like this – I have to tell him the truth – today!”

Mathew is still dwelling on things

Mathew is still thinking at APD and recalling that previous situation;  

He unleashes some violent punches . . .

in a fit of rage he violently punches some cases on the shelf, 

. . . and looks into a cracked mirror

then looks at himself in a cracked mirror.

"I haven't started yet!"

Mark reaches home and is surprised to find that his mother has not finished packing;  “I haven’t started yet,” she informs him, and he says that she can borrow his thermals and warm socks;  

"Come on, Mam, get a move on!"

he has some warm gloves somewhere, too, and urges her to get a move on.

“I’m not going – you know how much I hate being cold,” she moans, 

"You were so excited"

and he points out that she was so excited.   “That was before I talked to Colin, wasn’t it?   

"Claustrophobia – no I'm not going!"

“He was talking about cruises and claustrophobia – no, I’m not going.”

Mark tells her that it will be an adventure;  “Think about all that snow and ice.”   The only ice she wants is in her vodka and tonic.   

"You're not allowed to jib out!"

“Sorry, but tough – you’re not allowed to jib out, so come on,” he orders her, and she protests that you cannot force her.

“How will Brynmor feel if you let him down again?” demands Mark, and she maintains that he will understand.   “Listen, Mam – he’s put a lot of thought into this, all right – you don’t want to let him down, do you?”

Eventually Kath's resistance weakens

Kath is at last persuaded, and wants to know where those thermals are, 

Mark has persuaded her

while Mark smiles with satisfaction.

"I could strangle Sioned!"

Izzy creeps back into APD, asking if Mathew is all right;  “I could strangle Sioned!” she rages.   

"It's not Sioned's fault"

He points out that it is not Sioned’s fault, and she would not have been there if Izzy had not made her angry.   He reminds her that the water was meant for her, not him;  “You’re the one who upset her!”   

"It's over now – let's go back to the flat"

She maintains that the matter is over now, and they should go back to the flat for something to eat.   

"Leave me alone, Izzy"

Mathew turns and asks her to leave him alone, which she does.

"You know I'd love to have Greta"

Siôn tells Iolo that he would love to have Greta;  “Are you sure you’re not too busy in the shop,” Iolo asks, and he replies that he is never too busy for his granddaughter.   

"I'm going to a hotel with my boyfriend"

“I’m going to a hotel with my boyfriend,” Iolo announces, “We’ve been seeing each other for a while now.”

"You kept that quiet"

Siôn replies that he kept that quiet, and enquires as to the identity of the lucky man, but Iolo does not answer, then says that it is complicated, although he is not married or anything like that.

"He can't be worse than Tyler!"

“Well, whoever he is, he can’t be worse than Tyler!” is Siôn’s opinion, “Does he have a name?”   

"It's early days yet, Dad"

Iolo evasively answers that it is early days and he does not want to jinx it.   It feels like they have been together for long time because they are so happy together.   

"What does he do for a living?"

His father thinks that it sounds serious, and wonders what he does for a living;  

"He's a librarian"

the reply is, “A librarian,” so Siôn wants him to help in the shop, and is very pleased for his son, 

"You deserve some happiness"

whom he says deserves some happiness.

"I need a drink, thanks to APD!"

In the Deri, Sioned phones her mother to say that she is just having a drink before coming home;  “I need it, thanks to APD!”   Cassie overhears this, and assumes that she has also had a letter.   

"No – Jim has!"

“No – Jim has!” snarls Sioned, and Cassie wonders what is wrong with them.

"I've heard APD has money problem"

“Between you and me, I’ve heard that APD is having money problems,” Sioned says, “But it’s no excuse to bully people for their money.   I think they’re desperate – 

Is Sioned putting about malicious rumours?

“if you hear of anybody looking for a builder, perhaps it would be safer if they went to another company.   Nobody wants a company to go bust halfway through an extension!”

It would not be surprising

As she sips her drink, Sioned is wearing a conspiratorial look.

"A librarian?"

Tyler cannot believe that Iolo said his boyfriend was a librarian, and is just happy that they are going to a hotel – a whole weekend, just the two of them.   

"This librarian sounds hot!"

Tyler reckons that this librarian sounds hot, 

"His name's Brychan!"

and Iolo comes up with the name Brychan;  “Your father will want you two at Y Felin for dinner soon,” laughs Tyler.

"That's when Brychan has his cynghanedd lessons"

“Except for Wednesdays – that’s when Brychan has his cynghanedd [harmony] lessons,” fantasises Iolo, 

"Right, it's about time we packed"

and thinks that it is time they packed.

"Where are you, Kath?"

Brynmor is waiting outside the Deri, and tries to contact Kath by phone;  “Where are you?   Phone me back and hurry up!”   

She is wrapped up against the Arctic chill

At that moment he sees her approaching along the High Street, well muffled against the cold.

“I have to wear this coat – there’s no room in the case,” she complains.   Mark advises that he is lucky she is there, as she nearly had cold feet.   

"Is anything cold under that coat"

Brynmor is surprised that anything is cold under that coat, and informs her that it will be warm on board the liner.

“What are we going to see – sunbathing penguins?” she asks, and he replies that there are no penguins in the Arctic, which is news to Mark.   Brynmor tells her that it will be hotter there than in Cwmderi at this time of year.

"Take half that stuff back to Maes-y-Deri"

She takes off her coat, which she calls an eiderdown, before she suffocates, and orders Mark to take half the clothes back to Maes-y-Deri.   

"I don't want Andrea anywhere near my house!"

“And I don’t want Andrea anywhere near my house while I’m away!” she stipulates.

“What are you going to do about it, out at sea?” he demands.  

"Your mother will be treated like a queen"

Brynmor assures him that his mother will be treated like a queen.   

Cassie watches them go

As Kath is about to get into the taxi, she glowers at Cassie, who is standing in the doorway of the Deri.

The first time we have seen that for ages

Brynmor looks up at the mural of the polar bear with a salt cellar on the wall, before getting into the taxi.

"I feel a bit better"

Mathew is still deep in thought at APD when Izzy returns again;  he says that he feels a bit better, and she wonders if this has happened before.   

"He's still out there"

“I can still feel the acid sometimes,” he confesses, “He’s still out there.”

Izzy insists that he should have talked to her, but he believed that he was really recovering – until today.   

"Stop threatening the customers"

“Stop threatening the customers,” he instructs her, but she denies that she is threatening anyone.    

"They have to pay, no matter who they are"

“It’s our money and people have to pay, no matter who they are!” she goes on, but he cannot believe that includes Jim.   “Even Penrhewl, yes!” she emphasises.

"Jim's name on the letter was just cruel!"

He demands,“Why put Jim’s name on the letter?   That was just cruel!”   Izzy gives the excuse that she was busy and did not realise;  

"So we can buy a house"

all she wants to do is collect the debts – so that they can buy a house, and says there is nothing wrong with that.

"What if someone came after us?"

“What if someone came after us – someone who wanted revenge?   Someone worse than Sioned?”   She assures him that no-one is coming after him.   “You don’t know that, do you?   I’m serious, Izzy, please stop!   

"What about next time?"

“Perhaps it was water today – but what about next time?   Or the time after that?   You never know.”

"All right, I'll stop"

She agrees that she will stop, 

She puts the letters in the bin

and takes out the next batch of letters from her bag, depositing them in the bin.   “If it helps you, that’s what I’ll do,” she tells him, 

"No more letters, OK?"

“No more letters, OK?”

"We'll get our house, I promise"

“We’ll get our house, I promise,” Mathew promises, “Our home.”   

"You go home – I'll lock up"

She tells him to go home, and she will lock up.   

She fishes the letters out of the bin

As soon as he is out of sight, she retrieves the letters from the bin and replaces them in her bag.