Flutter Page #5

when I married you.

You've just

done it again.

Oh. When I left this

morning, Leo was missing.

Yeah, babes. I meant

to tell you about that.

Uh, when I came in

last night,

found him floating

on top of the bowl.

What did you do with him?

Gave him

a traditional fish funeral.

Flushed him down the loo.

Poor Kate.

She'll be lonely now.

It's all right.

I'll get you another one.

Careful.

She's upstairs.

Last door on the right.

Look, before you say a word, I

don't want to speak about yesterday.

My lips are sealed.

I wanna do

one final bet, Stan.

- Oh, really?

- Yeah. One last bet, and then that's it.

I'm out. I'm done. I'm finished

with the life. I've had enough.

You sound like

a man transformed.

Well, I am.

Impending fatherhood

will do that.

Wait a minute.

How'd you know...

Women can sense

these things, John.

I just want one last win.

A proper amount. Something I

can use to make a clean break.

How much did you

have in mind?

Fifty grand.

That's a lot of money,

John.

Yeah, I know.

So what do you reckon?

Oh, I have something really

special for you tonight.

John, I'd like you

to meet Gail.

John, Gail. Gail, John.

Take a seat, John.

Gail here is a doctor.

Tell John what kind of

doctor you are, Gail.

My PhD is in biological

tissue engineering.

She is also

a professional gambler.

Not a very good one,

are you, Gail?

No, Stan.

Mmm. Thought she could work a nice

betting system through mathematics.

Now she owes me a favor.

This all clear so far?

Crystal, Stan.

Gail, maybe

you'd like to explain the bet.

Basically, I do research

in creating new parts...

for people who have been in an

accident and may have lost something.

So that instead of

transplanting from a donor,

we can just

grow it from scratch.

Well, that's great.

But what's the bet?

Up till now,

we've used mice.

You might have seen a picture of a

mouse with an ear growing on its back.

That's my department.

Well, your parents must

be very proud of you, Gail.

But what's the bet?

To substitute you

for the mouse.

You what?

We want to grow an ear

on you.

Are you out of

your f***ing mind?

What are you talking about,

you want to grow an ear on me?

Really, it's quite safe.

Just a local anesthetic

and a tiny little incision.

No. I'm not gonna let you grow

an ear on me. You're insane.

Once it grows, we'll take it right

off. You won't even have a scar.

No!

There's nothing

to be scared of.

I'm not doing it.

It's ridiculous.

Oh, f***ing hell.

You wanted the money.

What would the stake

have to be?

That's a good question.

- Have to be a little more substantial than a goldfish.

- Yeah, I figured.

How about your wedding ring?

No way. No.

That's what I want.

Come on, John.

50,000 for a little ear

to grow.

No, I can't.

Get that f***ing thing

out of here!

F***ing ostrich.

So, the bet.

On or off?

It's on.

Gail, get your equipment

ready.

You know you would have

done the same.

Fifty grand, Freddie.

Can't turn that down.

Not on a surefire winner

like this.

Tell me I'm right. After this one,

I'm walking away. I promise you.

Even though I love

your daughter,

you know I don't want to lie to her

about this, but f***ing hell, Freddie.

50,000.

I can't turn that down.

You wouldn't.

What are you doing here?

Oh, I just popped in.

Have a word with the

old bugger, you know?

See how he is.

Tell him about his grandson.

What's this?

Where'd you get that from?

Who gives a f*** where

it came from? Look at it.

Yeah, I know it looks bad,

but there's a perfectly

good reason for this.

I'm guessing that's Stan.

- It was for a bet.

- And did you win?

No. That's the worst bit.

So, what was the bet?

That you couldn't kiss her?

Well, yeah.

And you couldn't even manage

to win that?

No, I...

It wasn't like that.

I don't... I don't know

what happened to me.

All the time we've been

together, I've said one thing:

You tell me the truth, John.

That's all I've ever asked

of you. And you failed.

You've been lying, cheating,

seeing people behind my back.

It wasn't like that.

It was just a bet.

It's all just a game to you,

isn't it? It's all just a laugh.

No, no. Helen.

These were proper bets.

I won good money.

We won good money.

That's just what I remember

my dad telling my mum.

My baby's not having

the childhood I had.

It's over, John.

What do you mean?

Us.

You lied to me,

and now it's over.

Give me your keys.

Don't be daft.

Give me your keys.

Helen.

Keys.

Where's your wedding ring?

Oh, sh*t. Now, that

needs an explanation.

Your wedding ring, John.

Your wedding ring.

- W...

- Does nothing have any meaning for you?

No. H-Helen.

Look.

- You see that? This is gonna win us 50,000.

- Jesus. What have you done?

- I did it for us.

- You're scaring me.

No, Helen, wait.

Wait!

Sh*t.

Oh, come on.

Helen!

Helen, please let me in.

Helen, come on, love.

Oh, f***ing hell.

Helen...

Helen, please. We need

to talk about this.

I've been...

I'm sorry.

She doesn't wanna see you, John. Can't

you just tell her I wanna talk to her?

Yeah, I've told her. I've told her every

single time you've asked me to ask her,

and she still says the same.

She doesn't wanna speak to you.

Helen.

So you might as well go home. I can't go

home, can I, 'cause she's locked me out.

You can't hang around here

all day.

I'm gonna tell you this

one last time.

I don't want to speak to you.

I don't want to see you.

I don't want anything more to do with

you. Is that simple enough for you?

- Helen, I'm sorry. Please.

- Too late.

Can't we just talk about it? No.

There's nothing more

to talk about.

Helen, wait. Look, I know I've done

some pretty f***ing stupid things,

and I can't tell you

how sorry I am.

But I promise you, I promise things

will be different from now on.

You come here

and try and apologize...

and you haven't even got the decency

to put your wedding ring back on.

Oh, f***ing hell, Helen.

How dare you?

Get this into your thick head.

It's over.

We're over.

Leave me alone. We're done.

Stan?

Where's Stan?

Not here.

So where is she?

I need to see her.

She's got a new place.

Putting on some races

of her own.

What are you talking about?

She'll be there

this evening.

You just saved my life.

John.

Just in time.

Come take a seat

and have some dinner.

No, that's all right.

I'm not hungry. Mmm.

How's your ear doing?

It's kind of what I've

come to see you about.

Suits you, John.

You should keep it.

So tender. Best ostrich I've ever had.

Seriously,

you should try some.

Stan, I need to

talk to you.

So talk.

Well, it's about the bet.

What about the bet?

Well, I got a bit carried away. I should

never have put my wedding ring up as a stake.

Oh, no?

No.

So, look, I was wondering

if we could just cancel the bet.

You know, forget the money,

forget everything.

Just give me back my wedding

ring and call it quits.

No.

What do you mean, "no"?

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