Cashback Page #5

- what's that?

- i can come to the party.

- shouldn't be a problem. - cool. right, let's find you a stripper, eh?

two halves, please.

what was the other one?

two halves.

oh, yeah.

i just found the world's

stupidest barman.

- sean, i'm not sure about this.

- no, it's gonna be fine.

that's

three quid, mate.

yeah!

- how much?

- a quid.

each.

i was, uh, wondering

if you could help us.

um, it's his boss's

birthday on saturday,

and we were looking for someone who could come and do a surprise, uh, strip.

i'm busy on saturday.

oh, um, well, do you know anyone

else who might be available?

i know one.

but she's very expensive.

that's cool.

is she here?

no. she only does

private venues.

she's gorgeous.

top of the line, you see.

hiya, ben.

will you be my date?

- ben!

- huh?

- 200.

- what?

oh.

don't worry, love,

she's class.

- okay.

- great.

two tickets

to pittsburgh!

it was now my fourth

straight week without sleep.

i had slowly stopped thinking about suzy and had dragged myself into the present.

the extra eight hours of my life had done nothing to slow the effect of time.

the minutes flew into hours,

the hours into days.

and the days joined

the fast rushing river of time.

the bad news

is that time flies.

the good news

is that you're the pilot.

most of my shifts were now spent

thinking about sharon.

i drew her endlessly.

over and over.

her pale, milky skin.

her delicate frame.

in her eyes,

i could see the world.

i thought about sharon escaping the life-sapping neons of the supermarket...

traveling to south america,

pursuing her dreams.

i thought about her

asking me to go with her.

both sharing in our dreams.

her love of people,

and my love of painting them.

- you off home?

- yeah.

you still wanna be my date for

the party tomorrow night then?

yeah, of course.

will you come by

and pick me up?

yeah.

- yeah, 8:
00.

- okay. see you tomorrow.

sharon had broken the spell.

for the first time

in weeks, i slept.

i slept right through

to the following afternoon.

mmm. yeah?

there's a call for you, ben.

- hello? - hello, is this ben willis?

yeah.

my name is alex prout,

from the prout gallery.

i saw some examples of your work at the university yesterday.

y- you did?

yes. and i'd be very interested in putting on a show of your latest works.

hello?

um, ah, yeah, yeah.

i would love to.

great. why don't you bring some

more examples of your work

down to my gallery

next monday? say 10:00?

okay. thank you.

no. thank you, ben!

bugger off.

you're the talent.

better get ready

for the party.

- hello?

- hey, it's ben.

hi, ben,

i'll be right down.

hiya.

you look lovely.

thanks. you too.

are you okay?

i had some

great news today.

what?

there's a gallery interested

in showing my work.

ben, that's fantastic!

look at you.

you're beaming inside out.

wow. you're on your way.

well, come on.

let's go and celebrate.

we can leave

if you want.

welcome!

hello, mate.

oy.

- ben, this is, ah...

- katrine.

- katrink.

- katrine!

katrine. ben.

this is sharon. sean.

i've heard a lot

about you.

- nice to meet you.

- very sweet.

hi.

oh, no.

hi, ben.

- hi.

- how are you?

- uh, good, good. and you?

- thanks.

suzy, this is sharon.

- nice to meet you.

- and you.

- what are you doing here? - it's steve's brother's birthday.

what, jenkins?

yeah. he's steve's older brother. do you know him?

yeah. he's our boss.

- you're working at sainsbury's?

- yeah, i work the night shift.

that's great.

well, i'd better get back.

- it was good to see you.

- you too.

- nice to meet you.

- you too.

you all right?

no, that's disgusting.

no, sorry.

isn't it great,

your brother's face!

come on, jenkins,

you rotten git!

kon-a-nichi-wa!

yeah!

oh, no!

- natalie!

- sean?

who's natalie?

it's a long story.

well, your act's grown leaps and bounds since the garage.

- god, how long ago was that?

- uh...

will you, ah...

will you stay for a drink?

yeah, i'd love to.

is this the queue

for the loo?

sharon!

thanks.

happy birthday.

thanks.

so, you wanna

come up to my bedroom?

eat some popcorn?

shag?

no.

why? what's the matter?

don't you like popcorn?

barry's gonna do a stunt!

barry's gonna do a stunt! barry's gonna do a stunt! everyone!

no, but seriously

though, sharon.

i always thought that one day

you and me might...

are you wearing

eyeliner?

hey, ben.

hey.

we really made a mess

of things, didn't we?

wasn't that bad.

i just wanted to say that

i'm sorry about everything.

i know i never really gave you

a chance to make me happy.

you can't rely on other people

to make you happy, suzy.

i know!

is that you?

yeah. jungle survival

course, mexico.

but enough about me.

you.

you!

you look

gorgeous tonight, sharon.

i still think about you

all the time, ben.

why are you

telling me this?

have you seen ben?

five! four!

three! two!

one! go!

no.

you can speed it up,

you can slow it down.

you can even

freeze a moment.

but you can't

be rewind time.

you can't undo

what is done.

i thought about

what she'd seen.

i thought about

what she hadn't seen.

i thought about

how i could explain.

but the more i thought about it, the more i knew

nothing i could say

would make her anger go away.

how long could

i just wait there

delaying

the inevitable?

i had sat there with the world

on pause for two days

and still

no solution had come.

i thought about the night

at the sports center

when i'd seen a person move

when time was frozen.

if other people could move

within the frozen world,

then maybe it was something

i could bring sharon in on.

it was the best

i could come up with.

sharon?

i'm definitely winded.

i had forgotten how fast

everything was moving.

hello?

sharon, it's me.

hello?

this felt familiar.

i tried to explain

that suzy was an ex.

and she had attacked me

when my guard was down.

sharon had seen the wrong second

of a two-second story.

but she wasn't listening.

member of cleaning staff

to aisle three, please.

cleaning staff

to aisle three quickly.

- what language is that?

- russian.

- do you speak russian?

- no.

can i get it back

on to english?

yep? can i help you?

i've got an appointment

with alex prout.

yeah, that's me.

hi. ben willis.

you called me

about my work.

there must be some mistake.

i've never heard of you.

you didn't call me?

bastards.

ah, sorry.

someone's played a joke on me.

well, since you're here,

let me take a look.

- these are yours?

- yeah.

you got any more?

yeah, i've got hundreds.

can you bring them by?

sure.

why don't you make

an appointment with lucy.

proper one this time.

and we'll take it from there.

yeah.

ben.

ben.

all right, ben.

well done.

wonderful show.

thanks.

- i'm anna. anna shapiro.

- ben willis. nice to meet you.

i've got a gallery

in new york.

i'd be interested to talk

to you about your next show.

my next show?

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