1 January 2025

Dani fixes her make-up . . .

Dani is doing her make-up, 

. . . thinks for a moment . . .

then thinks for a moment, 

. . . and then goes out . . .

puts on her jacket and leaves the house;  

. . . to the deli, where Cassie is waiting

she goes over to the deli, where Cassie is waiting for her and has got her a latte.   

"Thanks for getting me out of the house"

“Thanks for getting me out of the house,” says Dani, “I didn’t want to hide all day.”

Cassie maintains that there is no reason for her to do so;  

"You've done nothing wrong"

“You’ve done nothing wrong!” but Dani says that everyone is staring at her.   “Just ignore them – you look gorgeous.”   Dani remarks that make-up hides a lot.

“Have you heard from Jinx?   The coward is probably hiding,” Cassie snarls, 

"Can we talk about something else?"

but Dani would prefer to talk about something else.

Dani is offered a job

“How would you feel, at the start of a New Year like this, about a job in the Deri?   I don’t know what I’m going to do without Kath – and I’m only just managing.”   

"Kath will be back soon"

Dani appreciate that things have not been easy for her, but Kath will be back soon.

"It has been going round in my head"

Cassie continues, “Things have been going round and round in my head since she left – about Dyff and what she said about wanting nothing to do with me and nothing to do with the Deri.”

Dani stresses that Kath said that in the heat of the moment and they have worked together, apparently harmoniously, since then;  

"What if she decides to sell her share?"

Cassie asks, “But what if she decides to sell her share?   Where does that leave Brynmor’s share?   I only own a third and I’ve got no hope of getting a loan.”

"You're talking to the wrong person, Can"

Dani replies that she is talking to the wrong person;  “I’m skint!   Haven’t you got a friend who’s loaded?”   Cassie cannot think of anyone who would be interested in the Deri.

"Dyff?"

a moment’s thought, Dani suggests, “Dyff?   He mentioned that he was going out to Spain to run a bar – perhaps he’d be interested.”

"That would cause too many problems"

Cassie maintains that it would cause too many problems.

"Hywel?"

but Dani stresses, “Your problems are not half as big as mine!”   Hywel walks in and Dani tentatively suggests, “Hywel?” but Cassie regards this as too complicated.

Gaynor sits down by Tom

In the Deri, Gaynor sits down with her cup of tea opposite Tom;  

"Do you think she's been planning this?"

“Do you think she’s been planning this for a long time?” she wonders.   Tom thinks that Cheryl’s plan was to steal a lot more money, 

"You were clever enough to do a DNA test"

but Gaynor was clever enough to do a DNA test.   “Yes – well, two years too late,” she sighs, 

"I feel such a fool for worrying about her"

“I feel such a fool for worrying about her.”

"Not half as much of a fool as me"

“Not half as much of a fool as me,” he groans, “I’ve been in this situation before – you know when she disappeared to come here, she left a mess at her old job.   

He continues to blacken Cheryl's character

“She’d been taking money and helping herself whenever . . . sorry, I’m at fault for not telling you this earlier.

"You know she can manipulate everything"

“But you know how she can manipulate everything – I was afraid no-one would believe me.   So the next time you feel a fool, remember that I knew all this 

"I let her deceive me – again!"

“and I still let her deceive me – again.”

Gaynor suggests that they could get a bottle and goes across to the bar, where Cassie asks if everything is all right.   “Yes, I’m just starting to get to know the real Cheryl,” Gaynor replies.

"A bitter ex is not the best person . . ."

“Well, just remember that a bitter ex is not the best person to give a clear picture of someone,” Cassie warns;  

Gaynor looks across at Tom

Gaynor looks across at Tom.

Jinx has run away to Deri Fawr 

Jinx is energetically scrubbing the yard of an unfamiliar house when Ffion appears, so we assume that it is the back yard of Deri Fawr.   

"You have more important things to do"

“I’d say you have more important things to do than brush up here,” she tells him.

He replies that it is safer there and she remarks, “At least you’re not hiding in your bedroom now.”   

"I wasn't hiding"

He maintains that he was not hiding;  “But you just wanted to avoid answering difficult questions,” Ffion tells him, 

"What came over you, Jinx?"

“Have you talked to Dani yet?   Or Eleri?   What came over you?   I know you haven’t been happy with Dani for some time, 

"Why didn't you just finish with her?"

“but this is cruel.   Why didn’t you just finish with her?”

"With someone who's just lost a child?"

“How do you finish with someone who’s just lost a child?” he demands.

Tom is hitting the booze

As Tom pours himself a generous glass of red wine, 

"Do you know anything about this friend?"

Gaynor asks him, “Do you know more about this friend in Stoke?”   She refuses any more wine and will wait for the food, as it is going to her head.   

"Has anyone in Wrexham heard from her?"

“Have you asked people in Wrexham if they have heard from her?”

"I know how you're feeling, Gaynor"

He reports that no-one has heard anything and assures Gaynor that he knows how she is feeling.   “Do you?” she says, “Because I don’t!   Sometimes I feel angry with her – 

"Sometimes I just want her to . . ."

“and sometimes I just want her to . . .”

Tom completes her sentence, “Walk in through the door – pretend everything is all right?”   Gaynor describes such thoughts as pathetic, but he says they are understandable, as she is grieving for a sister she thought she had.

"Yours is on the way"

Cassie brings across Gaynor’s meal, advising Tom that his is on the way.

Dani is cleaning the kitchen cupboards

is cleaning the kitchen cupboards at number 9 when she hears a knock at the door, followed by Mark’s voice, asking if she is there.   

Mark comes to visit her

She goes to let him in and tells him that she is not all right, as he had expected.

“I never know what to say in situations like this – 

"I know what to buy . . ."

“but I know what to buy.   

". . . gin, ice cream, tissues, chocolates . . ."

“Right, we’ve got gin, ice cream, tissues, chocolates, and a candle – 

". . . and – I don't know why – a candle"

“I don’t know why a candle.”

"I was organising a wedding yesterday"

He tells her to sit down and she wonders, “Why am I in this mess?   I was organising a wedding yesterday.   They were on the sofa, Mark, while Gabs was upstairs – how could he, after everything?”

"I could throttle Jinx!"

Mark says that he could throttle Jinx 

"The wedding was the only thing I had left"

and she goes on, “The wedding was the only thing I had left – it was helping me to get up in the morning  I was busy with it – I know that sounds pathetic.   

"How could he do this?"

“Seren adored him – how could he do this?”

Cassie has her beady eye on Tom

Cassie is keeping a careful eye on Tom, who is at present laughing with Gaynor.   

"Is there any Cawl today?"

Hywel comes in and asks if they have any Cawl today.   However, she is not listening to him, 

"What's she doing, having lunch with that swine?"

but rather asks, “What’s Gaynor doing, having lunch with that swine, after he slept with her sister?”

Hywel points out that Cheryl was not her sister;  “And they’re on their second bottle of wine,” Cassie continues.   

"At least, they got served"

He pointedly remarks that at least they have got served.

"She always thought she knew better"

“If she’d just listened – but that was her problem, wasn’t it?” Tom is saying, “She always thought she knew better.”   

More alcohol

As he sinks another glass of wine, 

"You ought to have something to eat"

Gaynor suggests that he ought to have something to eat, but he maintains that he is not hungry.

"Perhaps I wasn't good enough for her"

“Perhaps I just wasn’t good enough for her,” he groans and Gaynor thinks that it might be a good idea if he went home;  she will go with him if he likes, 

"What we need is another drink!"

but he is of the opinion that they should have another drink.   “It’s the new year isn’t it?   We should start it in style – champagne!”

"That's not a good idea, Tom"

She recommends that he does not do that, but of course he will not listen 

"I'll get another bottle"

and goes to the bar, where he orders, “A bottle of your best bubbles, please, Cas.”   

"What are you celebrating?"

She wonders what he is celebrating;  “Do you ask every customer that?” he demands.

"When the customer's girlfriend has disappeared"

“Yes, I do – especially when the customers girlfriend has disappeared,” she replies.

"You hate me, don't you?"

“You hate me, don’t you?” he snarls.   

"Haven't you had enough?"

Hywel interrupts to comment that he has had enough, 

"This was the last thing I wanted"

but Tom goes on, “Don’t you think this hurts me as well?   This was the last thing I wanted!”

"It's time to go, Tom"

Gaynor tells him that it is time to go and he turns all maudlin;  

"I think she's right"

“I think she’s right,” he says, and Cassie is eager to hear what he has to say, although Gaynor is trying to take him home.

"What's your fault?"

“What’s your fault?” she demands.

"This mess"

He answers, “This mess,” then turns to Gaynor to ask, “Do you hate me, too?   I’m sorry, I’m sorry for everything.”   

"That's not the worst thing she's done"

Gaynor maintains that jumping into bed with him is not the worst thing that Cheryl has done.”

"Burt we don't know what she's done"

Cassie intervenes to point out that they do not know what Cheryl has done, so Gaynor growls, “How do you explain my card being used in Stoke?”

"There must be some explanation"

“I’m not saying she’s an angel, but there must be some explanation,” insists Cassie.

"There is – she's deceived us all"

"“There is – she’s deceived us all – open your eyes, Cassie!” Gaynor urges her, having evidently been convinced by Tom.   Hywel considers that it is best if Tom goes home;  Gaynor escorts him from the bar as he continues muttering that he is sorry.   Cassie and Hywel look at each other with some puzzlement.

"Right, what's next, Dan?"

Mark has been doing some cleaning for Dani and ask her, “Right, what’s next?”   She says that he does not have to help her and he answers, “Listen, if cleaning the fridge while singing Abba makes you feel better, that’s exactly what we’ll do!”

"Your singing actually made me feel worse"

“Your singing actually made me feel worse,” she says, then he points out that there is mince in the fridge, so he could make her lasagne for dinner.    “The kids would love that,” she replies, but then they hear someone opening the front door 

She heads towards the back door

and Dani is ready to escape out of the back door.   

Mark confronts Jinx, telling him to get lost, but he asks if Dani is there;  

"That's none of your business!"

“That’s none of your business!” says Mark.   Jinx insists that he just wants to explain, but is told that there is nothing to explain.

As the door is closed in his face, Jinx shouts, “Dani, please phone me!”

"I need lots of bin bags"

Dani asks Mark, “Can you do me a favour?   Bin bags – I need a lot of bin bags.”

"I don't know what came over me"

Back at Maes-y-Deri, Gaynor has made Tom a strong cup of coffee, while he apologises, “Sorry – I don’t know what came over me.   

"The wine, probably"

She strongly suspects that it was the wine and appreciates that he has been under a lot of pressure lately.

"She's not the only one who's left me"

“Yes, I should be used to it – Cheryl’s not the only one who’s left me – Mam, when I was a child.   Drinking was more important to her than anything.   One day when I was seven, she took me to Nain’s [Grandma’s] house and she never came back.   

"She didn't want to look after a child at her age"

“Nain did her best, you know, but she didn’t want to look after a child at her age.”

Gaynor wonders about the rest of his his family;  

"You said you had a happy upbringing"

“Because you did say that you had a happy upbringing.”   

Are his plans being affected by the alcohol?

He improvises that he does not like revealing this to everyone – not until he knows them properly and can trust them.   

She seems very gullible, for a headmistress

Gaynor appears to have been taken in by this, as she so often is.

"Why do I always let Cheryl do this to me?"

“I’ve been thinking and thinking,” he goes on, “Why do I always let Cheryl do this to me?   Why do I always keep getting lured back?   

"I was happy with you"

“Because I was happy with you.”

"She deceived us all"

Gaynor comments that she has deceived all of them, 

"I'm here, on my own, again"

but he goes on, “She likes the fact she had this hold over me, you know?   I thought things would be so different this time, but there we are – I’m here, on my own, again.”

"How many shots of coffee are in this?"

Then he gasps, “How many shots of coffee are in this?”   

"Enough to sober you up?"

She hopes that there is enough to sober him up.   “My head feels like a man with a hammer is having a party in there,” he moans, 

"I'll let you get some sleep"

so she takes this as her cue to leave, in order that he can get some sleep.

"The worst thing I did was choose her"

Once again, he says how really, really sorry he is about everything;  “The worst thing I did was choose her,” but Gaynor does not appear to be convinced and leaves the house.   He is afraid that he may have failed to persuade her this time.

"It was on the floor outside"

Jinx is at Cysgod Y Glyn, where he brings Eleri her ‘Bah, Humbug’ ornament which he says fell on the floor outside.   Have you seen Dani?” she demands 

"You persuaded me!"

and he says that she is not talking to him.

“Why did you come over last night?   I knew it was a stupid idea, but you persuaded me.”   

"I don't remember holding a gun to your head"

She growls that she does not remember holding a gun to his head, but he continues whinging, 

"Perhaps I should tell them how it started!"

“And now I’ll have to put up with the whole village pointing the finger and blaming me.   Perhaps I should tell them how it started – with you pushing everything!”

"Wow – blame the woman!"

“Wow!” she exclaims, “Blame the woman – how cliché!”

“Come on, you insisted on me coming over that first night to sober me up,” he reminds her.

From what Eleri remembers, he had already sobered up;  

"Were you too weak to say no?"

“And what about the rest of the time?   Were you still drunk or too weak to say no?”

He maintains that he was just completely stupid and has so many regrets;  

"I didn't even get a laugh!"

“This was supposed to be a laugh, but I didn’t even get that!”   

You didn't say that before you were caught!"

Eleri cannot remember his saying any of that before he got caught.

"You took advantage!"

“Look, I was going through a tough time and you took advantage,” he accuses her.   She warns him not to bring Seren into this. 

"Don't contact me – don't talk to me!"

“Just don’t contact me – don’t talk to me – don’t come near me!” he snarls as he leaves the flat.   

"Fine by me!"

She replies that is fine with her, but she does look rather disappointed.

"It explains a lot"

Gaynor, with Hywel at her side, is informing Cassie that what Tom has told her explains a lot about his behaviour today and Hywel agrees that he has been through a lot.

"He has complete control of what we get to hear"

However, Cassie reminds them, “You have no proof that what he says is true – he has complete control of what we get to hear – because Cheryl has disappeared.”   Gaynor really does not want to believe this either, 

"She wasn't the person we knew"

but thinks that it is about time they all faced the fact that Cheryl was never the person they all knew.

"What have you go against Tom?"

When she has left, Hywel demands what Cassie has got against Tom;  “I don’t know, but the whole thing doesn’t sit right with me – 

"Call it a gut feeling if you like"

“call it a gut feeling if you like – and that’s never wrong.”

"That does your gut say about last night?"

“And what does your gut say about last night?” he enquires, “The kiss?”   

"Everyone kisses on New Year's Eve"

She says that it was New Year’s Eve, when everyone kisses and he should not make a fuss.

"Horrible, isn't it?"

Mark is still hard at work at number 9 when Dani brings in a strange ornament of Jinx’s;  “Horrible, isn’t it?   His eyes follow you around the place,” she says 

It goes in a bag

and it is put in a bin bag.   “Do you think he expected me to forgive him?”

"He obviously didn't know you at all"

“He must think a lot of himself if he did,” is Mark’s reply, “He obviously didn’t know you at all.   Right, give me that other bag and I’ll take it over to him now.”

"No – I'll take it over myself"

Dani decides that she will take it herself, commenting that she is not hiding for ever.

Cassie leaves a message for Dyff

In the Deri, Cassie is on the phone;  “Hello, Dyff, Happy New Year to you – listen, can you phone me when you get this message?   

"I've got a business offer for you"

“I’ve got a business offer for you.”

Jinx slouches in

Jinx walks gloomily into the Deri 

"You've got a cheek!"

and Cassie remarks, “You’ve got a cheek!”   All he wants is a pint.   “You’ve had a hard day, have you?   Get out!”   

"You can't just ban me!"

He protests that she cannot just ban him, so she points out that she is not;  “I just don’t want to see that face – 

"You'll put the customers off their pints"

“you’ll put the customers off their pints!”

Dani arrives

At the moment, Dani comes in through the door with a couple of bin bags;  “Don’t worry, Dani, he’s leaving!” says Cassie.

"I saw him come in"

Dani marches up to him;  “I saw him come in – that’s why I’m here.”   

"Can we talk properly now?"

Jinx asks whether she is ready to talk properly now.   “Talk – yes – but listen to a word you say – no!”

"Somewhere a bit more private?"

He thinks that perhaps they should go somewhere a bit more private.   

"Everyone saw you last night!"

“Why, Jinx?   Everyone saw you on the street last night – or are you hiding something else?   Do you know what?   Loads of men have hurt me – but you’re worse than anyone.   

"Did you ever love me?"

“You held me when I was crying all night, after being with her!   And Seren adored you.   Did you ever love me?”

"Of course I did"

He maintains that of course he did, but she urges him to tell the truth.   

"All you had to do was finish with me!"

She shouts and attracts the attention of everyone in the pub, “All you had to do was to finish with me!”   He answers that he did not want to hurt her.

"When did it start?"

“Hurt?   I’ve lost a child – and you think that would hurt me?   When did it start?”   

"Can't remember"

He argues that he cannot remember, 

"I'll go and ask her, then!"

so Dani will have to go and ask her in that case.   She is halfway to the door 

"The night before Seren's funeral"

when Jinx calls her back, “OK, Dani – the night before Seren’s funeral – all right – we argued in the house and you threw me out.   Do you remember?”

"So this is my fault?"

“Oh, wow!” Dani shouts, “So this is my fault?   I’m just glad that everyone knows what you are – a selfish coward who only cares about himself!   You know what?   I’m starting to realise why Gwern did what he did – 

"I should have let that house burn!"

“I should have let that house burn!”

The ring is returned . . .

She slams down her engagement ring on the bar and storms out, 

. . . and the others . . .

leaving Cassie 

. . . look at it

and Jinx looking at it.