About Time Page #8

Really? Yes.

Okay, thanks.

God.

Where's Posy?

I left her downstairs.

Not leaving the door open to the

room with the manuscript in it?

I don't think so.

Look at me. Look me in

And talk me through this.

Basically my life is over.

I really need to go out for just

like two minutes, maybe one.

Don't you dare!

Don't you dare answer that!

What am I gonna do?

I think that we should

really answer the phone.

?f you answer

the goddamn phone,

I will kill you with the phone.

I won't answer the phone,

but I do need to get out.

No, no getting out,

no getting out. No.

Okay, right.

Sorry, Mr McEwan.

We read most of your book but,

you see, the rest of it was

coloured on or shredded.

Yeah.

I had no idea Posy

actually knew how to use

that machine.

In a way that's impressive.

What is it? How can I help you?

Mary.

No, everything... Sorry.

Your son will explain.

?t's your mother.

Hi, Mum.

No, no, it's okay. We'll...

We'll come straight down.

Okay, bye.

Hello, darling.

Mum. How are you?

Honestly?

Why not?

I am f***ing furious.

I am so uninterested in

a life without your father.

Mary. Come on,

let's make some tea.

How are you?

Yeah, I'm fine.

Did you eat?

Yes, of course.

Desmond.

How are you?

I'm very well, thanks.

Though a little hot.

Your father,

I think, is not so well.

Cancer.

Yes.

I'm very unhappy about it, Tim.

At your wedding

he said he loved me.

He does. I know.

That was

the best day of my life.

So this is probably the worst.

Dad.

For God's sake.

Not you, too.

What?

Well, Kit Kat's just rolled up blubbing

her eyes out and now you're here.

What's Mum been saying?

The truth.

Yeah, well,

apart from that?

?t may have been the

smoking but I couldn't

undo that as it was

before you were all born.

And anyway, your mother definitely

wouldn't have gone out with me

if I hadn't been

such a sexy smoker.

I did get diagnosed as soon as

possible, but it was too late.

How long have we got?

You know, it, it could be years.

How long really?

Weeks, I'm afraid.

Have we had this

conversation before?

Yeah.

What happened?

I rather let myself down.

I hugged you.

Sorry.

I think I just thought

with the time thing...

No, I never said

we could fix things.

I specifically never said that.

Life's a mixed bag,

no matter who you are.

Look at Jesus.

He was the Son of God,

for God's sake, and look

how that turned out.

I know, but

you must see

I feel a bit cheated.

Don't. In fact,

feel the opposite.

The only people who

give up work at 50

are the time travellers

with cancer who want

to play more table tennis

with their sons.

Right.

So that's been the deal?

I'm sorry we had to call.

It's suddenly got very bad.

And I have something very

important to tell you.

Or, let me check,

do you want to

know the big secret,

or would you rather find it

out for yourself like I did?

Christ,

there's another secret?

Less dramatic.

Much more important.

The real mothership.

No, go on. Tell me.

Let's save some time.

And so he told me his

secret formula for happiness.

Part one of the two part plan

was that I should just get on

with ordinary life,

living it day by day,

like anyone else.

This is our current statement with a

revised paragraph there, highlighted.

Rupert. Rupert, is that

the best you can do?

No. Absolutely not.

We can change that.

ltem number two.

Good afternoon, sir. Are you

eating in or taking away today?

Take away, please.

Yeah? No problem.

Lovely, that's 4.24 then, please, sir.

Thank you kindly.

Lovely. And there's your change, sir.

76 pence change.

Thanks. Thank you. Hello there.

Are you eating in

or taking away?

Do you find the Defendant, John

Welbeck, guilty or not guilty of fraud?

Not guilty.

And that is the verdict of you all? Yes.

Thank you. You may be seated.

Thank God.

Let the Defendant

be discharged.

Be upstanding in court.

Lights out? Yeah.

Tough day.

But then came

part two of Dad's plan.

He told me to live every day

again almost exactly the same.

The first time with all the

tensions and worries that

stop us noticing how

sweet the world can be,

but the second time noticing.

Okay, Dad.

Let's give it a go.

What's our statement

at the moment?

This is it with the revised...

Robert, this does not pass.

Is this the best you can do?

I'll leave you two

to thrash this out.

Ooh.

Good afternoon, sir.

Good afternoon.

Are you eating in or taking away today?

Take away, please.

Would you like a bag?

That's fine.

Lovely. That's 6.23 then, please.

And enjoy the rest of your day.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

Hello, there.

Look around you! What?

?sn't this room beautiful?

Yeah.

Come on.

Not guilty.

Fantastic!

So not such

a bad day after all?

No. it was pretty good really.

Very good day, actually,

as it turns out.

Well, that's a relief,

because if it had

been a very bad day,

I thought I might have had to have

had sex with you to make up for it.

Goodnight.

?t was a very, very bad day.

?t went very, very badly.

I got fired from my job.

And then I killed a man.

That is a very bad day.

?t's terrible. Yeah.

Like the worst day ever.

So sorry.

Some days, of course, though,

you only want to go through once.

You okay?

Right, are we ready for this?

'Course we're not. Hateful day.

Just give me one minute.

This is so brilliant.

Dickens is so good on

actual jokes, actual gags.

Where have you come from?

?t's the...

Okay.

Big day.

Thanks for dropping in.

How's Uncle Desmond's suit?

?mmaculate.

Excellent.

Did I mention I wanted

the Nick Cave track?

?t's taken care of.

Thank you.

Can I just read

you this one bit?

Read away,

I've got lots of time.

?'l think the Romans

must have aggravated

?'one another very

much with their noses.

?'Perhaps they became the restless

people they were in consequence.

?'Anyhow, Mr Wopsle's Roman

nose so aggravated me...?'

What do you

think about the kids?

What about them?

Not many of them, are there?

What?

Well, I mean two?

?t's more than

the Chinese are allowed.

I just thought

that maybe, you know,

it was time for

the insurance baby.

What?

In case one of them

is really smart,

we don't want the other one to

feel stupid their whole life.

And if we had a third one, then

we could have two happy dummies.

What do you think?

It was the toughest

decision of my life.

Saying 'yes' to

the future meant

saying 'goodbye'

to my dad. Forever.

Why don't we wait a bit?

Absolutely.

You're right. Yeah.

How about now?

Or now?

Now?

Yeah,

okay.

Really?

Dad always wished

there had been more of us.

So...

Anyway, we might try

and nothing happens.

Exactly.

Really could be tonight.

And you cannot believe

the detail in which

I know the route

to the hospital.

Yay.

Will you excuse me for a sec?

Just have to go downstairs.

and it's 17-20 in

this incredibly tight contest

being played by

the two most physically

perfect players in

the history of the game.

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