Secrets & Lies Page #2

That's it. Lovely!

I feel so silly.

Aha! Lovely! That's it!

Ah! Thank you very much.

- What do you think you're doing?

- Sorry.

Didn't you hear me?

- Well, hi.

- What? Mind, out of the way.

- Want a drink?

- What?

If I want a drink,

I'll get it myself, thank you.

Since when was Hoovering

a spectator sport?

Hello.

- Can I have a glass too, please?

- Sorry. I thought you didn't want one.

I've changed my mind.

I'm having milk. Not in a wine glass.

Give me a highball.

You don't put milk in a wine glass.

- There you go.

- Thank you.

- That'll do you good.

- Meaning?

Nothing.

Had a good day?

Scintillating.

Suppose you'll be

starving as usual.

I'm a little bit peckish, yeah.

I just wanted to say that.

- Do you want me to do something?

- Like what?

- Anything you like.

- No, I bloody well wouldn't.

- Fair enough.

- Well, all right then.

There's the fridge.

There's the freezer.

There's the hop.

There's the recipe books.

Help yourself.

And don't make a mess.

Unless you fancy a take-away.

- You're not gonna smile, are you?

- No.

Okay. It's a free world.

Now, you're under no obligation,

but you can, if you want to...

Give me a lovely big smile.

Thank you.

Oh, go on! Come on!

Lovely.

You're under no obligation to me,

but you can smile if you like.

Yes.! Thank you.

- Did you smile, Mother?

- No.

That's it. To me.

Now look at each other.

That's lovely.

- Don't.

- Go on. Look up. Keep your face up.

- Wait, wait, wait. Wait, please.

- That's lovely.

- Yeah. You were closing your eyes.

- Wait a minute.

Don't forget to burp it properly.

Give it a drop of gripe water.

We used to pour it down Roxanne

by the gallon.

She farted like a trouper.

Runs in the family.

Would madame care to

test the temperature?

I'm sure it'll be fine.

Thanks.

- Been bad, has it?

- It eased off at lunchtime.

Managed a couple of crackers.

It's unpredictable, isn't it?

No, it's not unpredictable.

- You've drawn the short straw, mate.

- You're telling me.

I wish it was unpredictable.

- What are you gonna have for your tea?

- Tonight I'm eating fancy.

- What?

- A steak.

- Don't worry about me.

- You'll be keeling over with a heart attack.

Don't we still have

something a bit lighter?

There's a chicken Kiev

in the freezer.

Be a bit cold, wouldn't it?

Anyway, I'm on a diet.

You're disgusting.

Okay. That's very good.

And we can see the ring perfectly.

All right now.

Sir, if you just bring your chin up...

Yeah. Just like that.

That's brilliant.

- All right. Great.

- Wait. Sorry. Listen.

- Um, take your glasses off.

- I don't want to take my glasses off.

Take them off!

- Doesn't matter... keep 'em on, take 'em off.

- No, it's all right.

- It looks better without them.

- It's not what I look like, okay?

- Come on. Just... here.

- Right. Okay. And to the...

Can you... One moment, please.

Can you take the cross out, please?

- Mm?

- Take the cross out. The gift. Take it out.

- I just think it looks awful.

- It doesn't look awful.

It looks awful 'cause it's not gold.

I told you to buy gold.

Okay. Right.

Okay. And to me again.

Right. That's lovely.

Now, if you want to look happy

or sad, I don't mind.

That's it!

Ah, look at me! And lovely!

Hello. My name's

Hortense Cumberbatch.

I got your letter. Hi.

All right. Tuesday.

Hello.

- Hortense. Hello. Jenny Ford. Nice to meet you.

- Oh, hi.

- Come this way. How are you? All right?

- Fine. Thank you.

Good. I'm sorry

about this prison cell.

We've been going on about it

for years, but there you go.

Have a seat.

Make yourself at home.

Now, before we go any further, have you

got any I.D... passport, driving license?

- Oh, yeah.

- I have to get used to all this red tape.

- Would you like a Rollo?

- No, thank you.

- You sure?

- Yeah.

There you go.

Hmm. Have a shufty.

- That's great, Hortense, then.

- Thank you.

- You on your lunch break?

- Yeah, an extended one.

- Well, have you had any lunch?

- No, not yet.

No? Me neither.

So what do you do?

- I'm an optometrist.

- Oh, really?

Oh, God. That's one of those things you

keep putting off and putting off, isn't it?

When I got to the station,

over the Guardian crossword...

but I'm going like this,

so I think the time has come.

I'll have to pop in.

You can give me a test.

- Where do you live?

- Kilburn.

- Right, right. In a flat?

- Yes.

- You share?

- No, I live on my own.

All right.

I lived on my own...

For about six years.

Before I was married. It's all right.

Right, Hortense. Let's talk a little bit

about you, shall we?

Now, obviously, you've been

giving a great deal of thought to things...

and you've come to a decision,

which is good.

But for me,

the question is "why now?"

I just feel that it's

the right time, that's all.

- Right, right. You thinking

about getting married?

- No.

- Do you have children?

- No.

- You thinking about having children?

- No.

That's fair enough.

Are you sharing this with your parents?

Do they know that you're here today?

How do they feel about it?

They're both dead actually.

All right.

Uh, Mum died

two months ago now.

Oh, that is recent.

I'm... I'm sorry to hear that.

- Was it sudden?

- Yeah.

Perhaps that's what has

made you start on this.

I don't know.

It's possible.

Well, I'm not trying to

replace her.

She's irreplaceable.

They both are.

No. Of course, of course.

- And when you were growing up,

was it a happy environment?

- Yes, very.

Oh, good, good.

And did you, um...

Were you able to discuss

the fact that you'd been...

No. It was never

really an issue.

Right, right.

So you've only just found out?

Oh, no. They told me

when I was little.

Oh, good, good. And do you remember

how you felt about that?

Well, it's not exactly

something you forget, is it?

No. No.

I'm sure it isn't.

So how did you feel?

Well, we all just got on with it as

a family, do you know what I mean?

Yeah. Perhaps you

should have discussed it.

My parents loved me,

and that was all that matters.

Isn't it?

Yeah. Yeah.

So, now that we've got you here,

what are your expectations?

Basically,

I just want to know.

Yeah, yeah.

Of course you do.

Let me share something

with you, Hortense.

Somewhere out there,

and we don't know where...

is your birth mother.

Now, she's probably married...

perhaps not.

She may have other children.

She might be dead.

She may even be in Australia

or somewhere. We just don't know.

But what we do know is that

at the time she gave you up for adoption...

she was under the impression that she

would probably never see you again.

Now, as I know

you're very well aware...

the law has changed since then

and you are now legally entitled

to seek your birth mother out.

But the snag is,

she may not want to see you.

So I don't want you to raise

your hopes too high at this stage.

- Sure.

- Okay.

Have a look at this.

What is it?

It's all about you.

I tell you what.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes