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[audience cheering]
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
[applause]
[lights buzzing]
-[mouse clicking] -[phones ringing]
[audience cheering, clapping]
[exhales]
[sniffs]
[panting]
[woman 1] He's ready to see you now.
Thank you.
[man 1] Thanks for coming in today.
Really appreciate you sending in your CV.
-No problem. -[man 1] It was funny.
Oh!
Okay, that wasn't my intention.
-But okay. -[man 1] Great.
Our current situation is unusual
in that we don't have many, any women working here,
mainly due to the...
-Oh, the sexual harassment case. -[man 1] ...sexual harassment case.
-Yes, yes, yes. -[man 1] Yes.
-Are you all right? -Uh, yeah. Sorry, I just, uh...
I just ran from the station, so I'm a bit hot.
-I'm really excited about this... -[man 1] Water?
Uh, no, no. No, I don't, uh...
-Actually, yeah, water would be great. -[man 1] So we're looking for someone
who can handle themselves in a competitive environment.
It well may give you a following,
but, uh, we have some pretty good followers here, so, uh...
-[laughs] -[fake laugh]
[audience laughs]
[man 1] Yeah.
It also involves updating the website
and throwing up an occasional twit.
It says here you've done something similar before
-at the cafe that you used to... -Yeah.
[man 1] Ah, okay.
Um...
I'm sorry, but I don't think it was very funny.
Oh, no, sorry.
I thought I had a top on underneath.
[man 1] Yeah, okay.
-But, for the record... -Oh, no, seriously,
in this case, genuine accident.
[man 1] Look, with honesty here, I understand what you might be doing.
No, I wasn't trying to... Jesus, I was hot.
[man 1] I take this kind of thing very seriously now.
No, I'm not trying to shag you.
Look at yourself.
[audience laughs]
[man 1] Okay, please leave.
What?
-But you don't understand. I need this... -[man 1] Please just leave.
-Perv. -[man 1] Slut.
Wow!
-[man 1] Please leave. -You... please leave.
[audience laughs]
[man 1] It's my office.
Yeah?
[man 1] Okay.
[footsteps trudging]
Uh, sorry... Wait!
[sighs]
Three nights ago, I ordered myself a very slutty pizza.
I mean, the bitch was dripping.
[audience laughs]
And that dirty little stuffed crust wanna be in me so bad,
I just ate the little tart like she meant nothing to me
and she loved it.
And that pretty much nailed that, and it was pretty late now,
so I dragged myself upstairs to get into my office.
Well, my bed.
And try to work on the figures for the cafe.
I run a guinea pig-themed cafe.
But it's out of cash and it's gonna close,
unless a check falls out of the sky, or a banker cums on my ass.
And neither are gonna happen.
And I don't wanna dignify the banker man with the proper mentions,
so I'm not gonna talk about him.
Well, how I do sometimes wish I could own up to not having morals
and let him cum on my ass for 10,000 pounds.
But, apparently, we're not supposed to do that.
So...
Okay.
I won't.
Even though it would solve everything.
I won't.
Even though I could.
Lying in my office, the cafe numbers
start to jump, pounce at me like little ninjas.
So I rationalized it'd be good to switch off for a bit,
improve my mind.
So I watched a pretty good movie, actually, called, um, Seventeen Again.
With Zac Efron who is...
He's fit.
I know, but...
I mean, seriously, he's actually a really good actor.
Mm-hm.
And the film could have been worse, Honestly. Check it out.
Then that finished, I lay there, thinking,
"Cafe, numbers, numbers, Zac, numbers."
Googled "Obama."
-To keep up with, um, you know... -[Obama] ...to have them in attendance.
-I am so happy to be here today. -Who, as it turns out, is also...
[Obama] It is wonderful to see all of...
...attractive.
Lay there, thinking, "Cafe, numbers,
numbers, Obama, numbers, Zac, Obama, numbers, Zac."
Suddenly, I was on YouPorn having a horrible wank.
-[metal rattling] -[woman moaning]
And found just the right sort of gang bang.
Now, that really knocked me out,
so I put my computer away, leaned over,
kissed my boyfriend, Harry, good night, and went to sleep.
[audience laughs]
The next morning, I wake to find a note from Harry, which reads,
"That was the last straw."
It's a bit out of the blue, to be honest.
Didn't know he was counting straws, but nice to know he was paying attention.
All of his stuff was gone.
And everything in the fridge.
I was a bit thrilled by his selfishness.
Suddenly fancied him again.
But I was relieved that one of us did something.
He used to say things to me like,
"You're not like other girls. You can..."
[finger snaps] "...keep up."
"Keep up."
I stood staring at a handprint on my wall
of when I had a threesome on my period.
[audience laughs]
[murmurs]
Mmm...
Harry and I break up every 12 to 18 months.
And when we do, well...
I wish I could tell you my threesome story was awkward and sticky,
and everyone went home a little bit sad and empty,
but, uh, it was lovely.
[audience laughs]
Sorry.
I do admire how much Harry commits to our breakups.
The fridge is a new detail, but he does always go the extra mile.
A few times, he's even cleaned the whole flat.
Like it's a crime scene.
I've often considered timing our breakups
when the flat needs a bit of going-over.
I never know what's gotta set him off.
Keeps me on my toes.
I sit on the loo.
Think about all the people I can have sex with now.
I'm not obsessed with sex.
I just can't stop thinking about it.
The performance of it.
The awkwardness of it.
The drama of it.
The moment you realize someone wants...
your body.
Not so much the feeling of it.
I reckon I got about a week before Harry gets back, so...
[claps] ...better get on it.
Into the shower, boom, bedroom makeup, boom,
I'm gonna really make an effort.
-[water runs] -I take half an hour trying to look nice,
and I end up looking amazing.
[audience laughs]
I mean, just best in ages.
One of those days! Boom!
Gorgeous! Fresh-faced, heels, wearing a skirt,
a new top, little bit sexy, on my way to save my cafe.
And, yes, I am strutting.
And I can see a man coming towards me from the bus stop.
He just cannot take his eyes off me.
And I am walking like I got a paintbrush up my ass
thinking, "Yeah, you check me out
because it's never gonna happen, chub chub."
[audience laughs]
I opened the cafe with my friend, Boo.
She's dead now.
She accidentally killed herself.
It wasn't her intention, but it wasn't a total accident.
She didn't think she'd actually die.
She just found out that her boyfriend fucked someone else
and wanted to punish him by ending up in hospital
and not letting him visit her for a bit.
She decided to walk into a busy cycle lane,
wanting to get tangled in a bike, break a finger maybe.
But as it turns out, bikes go fast and flip you into the road.
Three people died. She was such a dick.
I never told her parents the truth.
I told her boyfriend.
He cried.
A lot.
[rapid footsteps]
Chub chub's getting closer.
Oversize jacket.
Meaty face.
Looks me up and down.
It's like he's confused about how attractive I am.
[audience laughs]
Like he can't quite believe it.
I worry, for a second, I'm gonna make a sex offender out of the poor guy.
Oh, oh, he's gonna say something. Here we fucking go.
This better be good.
He's passing. He's passing.
He brings his hand to his mouth, and he coughs,
"Walk of shame!"
[audience laughs]
It's too late for me to go home and change and...
I have flat shoes in my bag.
And, anyway, he was fat.
And he can't take that off at night.
[audience laughs]
Harry's a bit fat.
He lightly pats his belly like he's a little bear,
proud of what he's achieved.
Hunted, gathered, eaten. Pat.
Evidence. Pat, pat.
Makes me laugh.
A pretty girl at a party once asked me
if I secretly liked that Harry had a little paunch
'cause it made him less attractive to other women.
Her boyfriend was a whale in the corner,
blocking the doors to the toilets.
I asked her if he made her wash the bits he can't reach.
She slapped me!
[audience laughs]
Actual slap.
-Which means he did. -[audience laughs]
Boo's death hit the papers.
"Local cafe girl gets hit by a bike and a car...
and another bike."
There was a buzz around the cafe all of a sudden. Notes. Flowers.
Guinea pig memorabilia were left in her memory.
Boo made sense of the guinea pig theme.
She was all small and cute
and put pictures of guinea pigs everywhere.
I pretend they're not there,
which I suspect makes the whole guinea pig cafe experience a bit creepy.
Boo was built a bit like a guinea pig.
No waist or hips. Just...
Straight down!
But she rocked it.
And she was beautiful.
Tricky though.
Jealous.
Sensitive.
But beautiful.
And my best friend.
Ten past eleven at the cafe.
Quiet.
Eerily so.
Boo always used to play music, read out horoscopes,
and shrivel crisp packets in the microwave.
It used to make the place stink,
but she turned the little packets into key rings
and give them to the people who were especially polite.
One guy in the corner
drinking tap water and using the plug.
He should buy something, but it's just nice to have someone around.
He's reading.
He's quite attractive, actually.
But he doesn't look at me.
Even when I purposely drop a cucumber
just so I have something to bend over for.
Even Joe hasn't turned up.
Joe is always here at 11:00.
Proper old geezer, coggly from the toes up.
One of life's good people.
Huge teeth!
White hair, ludicrous grin,
and a joy that slaps you in the face until you can't help but smile at it.
Even the fucking furniture loves Joe.
I swear the door swings open voluntarily when he arrives,
if only to give the man an entrance.
Suddenly, he'll just be there.
-Crash! -[door opens]
-[bell rings] -It almost clatters off its hinges
with the force of him.
Nothing...
touches Joe.
He's invincible.
You can hear him bellowing,
"Hello, sweet pea," to the whole street
before he swaggers in, long white hair blowing behind him,
cut off checkered trousers, white T-shirt, braces,
dripping wet from the rain, all,
"What magic! What a beautiful morning.
I can't... I can't actually get over how glorious it is out there.
Lucky to live, eh?
Lucky to live."
I don't know what he does.
I just know he comes in at 11:00.
Usually.
I find myself watching the door.
I never really noticed he was such a regular when Boo was here, but now...
But then, it's okay.
'Cause I see his silhouette take up the window,
and wait for the door to crash open,
but today, it just flops to its side with a whimper.
And Joe limply shuffles to the counter.
I'm not prepared for this.
"All right, Joe?"
"Uh, yeah, yeah, ducky, yeah.
Yeah, I'm all right."
"Tea, Joe?"
"Uh, yeah, darling, yeah, that would be lovely. Thank you.
I'll just, um...
I'll just be at the back."
I make his tea. Six sugars.
I take it outside, place it on his little table.
He rolls a fag and watches the cup steam.
"Now, ain't that a beautiful thing."
I'm not sure what to, um...
I asked him for a rollie.
I don't smoke. Well, I do, but...
Oh, shut up!
Um...
[sighs]
"Can I have a rollie, Joe?"
"Sugarplum, you can have anything you want.
May I have the honor?"
"Yeah, thanks."
He rolls it for me with his spindly inky fingers.
It takes four seconds. Proper pro.
I take it from him.
-Light it. -[lighter ignites]
We smoke.
I sit beside him, two of us on these tiny little kids chairs,
sort of a gimmick thing, but, really, they were cheaper.
He looks ridiculous.
"I love these chairs, you know?"
"What's wrong, Joe?"
[sniffs]
"Ah, my girl.
My girl.
I love people.
But they get me down."
"Yeah.
Yeah, people are shit."
He turns to me.
I can see into every deep line of his face.
"Oh, no, darlin'. No!
People are amazing.
But when will people realize
that people are all we got?"
He smiles at me, but I feel a bit ambushed.
So I pretend I have to wash the cappuccino machine,
just go inside and wipe the nozzle a bit.
Five o'clock. Northern line.
I'm trying to read an article
about how the word "feminist" has apparently become dirty.
I try to engage,
but all it makes me think of is a bunch of dirty little feminists.
[audience laughs]
Yes.
Mm-hm.
I snort laugh at myself.
And then catch the eye of an attractive looking man.
Oh!
Well, he is attractive and holding his paper to about here.
It all gets a bit rodenty from the nose down,
but it's good enough for some eye-fucking on the tube.
He smiles at me with his tiny mouth.
[audience laughs]
I smile back.
[muffled giggle]
He looks down.
I look down.
And then we both look up at the same time.
Little giggle.
Other people on the carriage start to notice.
Charmed by the moment.
It's revolting.
The tube pulls in Tottenham Court Road
and we both stand up at the same time.
[giggles] I could vomit.
He says to me,
"Um...
Well, this doesn't happen very often, does it?"
[audience laughs]
I give a horribly giggly,
"No, no, it's..."
[giggles]
"I, I suppose it's quite rare. Yeah."
He says it might sound a bit crazy,
but he's got this "crazy" idea,
and the "crazy" idea is to take my number.
We give credit to the moment and exchange numbers.
I leave the tube.
Suddenly have a Harry panic.
He just won't be there anymore.
Madam Ovary is telling me to, "Run back to safe place.
You can make baby in safe place."
But gotta ride it out. The fridge means nothing.
He'll text me later. Ride it out.
I met a nice rodent on the tube. I have a lot to be thankful for.
[announcer] Welcome to Women Speak.
The lecture will commence in five minutes.
Please have your tickets ready.
I find my sister outside the lecture hall.
She's uptight and beautiful and probably anorexic,
but clothes look awesome on her, so...
Mom died two years ago.
She had a double mastectomy, but never really recovered.
It was particularly hard 'cause she had amazing boobs.
She used to tell me I was lucky
'cause mine would never "get in the way."
When I asked her what she meant,
she used to demonstrate by pretend struggling to open a fridge door.
"And then you can't."
[groans]
"This is all good. This is fine.
I wonder if I can..."
[grunts]
"Yeah."
[sighs]
Or pretending not to be able to see what's on the floor.
"A fucking nightmare, darling.
Sorry, I... I can't see anything.
I have no idea what's there.
Damn it.
Is it...
Is there something there?
I don't know, but you know you're very lucky."
My sister's got whoppers.
But she got all of Mom's good bits.
Dad's way of coping with two motherless daughters
was to buy us tickets to feminist lectures
and start fucking our godmother, and, eventually, stop calling.
These lectures are every three months.
It's virtually the only time I see my sister.
She looks tired.
We sit in the waiting room.
I realize I'm wearing the top
that she "lost" years ago, so...
Yes, this is gonna be tense.
She really fucking loved this top.
Her eyes fixed on it.
But... And I can see her brain ticking.
She decides to bank it for later.
[audience laughs]
Makes me nervous.
Ammo.
She's reading her Kindle.
She's done her hair a bit fancy.
I wonder if she's going out after the lecture, or she just got her period.
She always does something a bit different around her period.
She gets really bad PMT.
Mom used to call it her monthly confidence crisis.
But it's PMT.
The only way she can get through it
is to reinvent herself in some small way.
One particularly bad month,
she came into the kitchen on the brink of tears,
in full Lycra.
Even Dad had to leave the room.
It looked like she climbed into a condom.
That was an emotionally complex couple of days
that we are not allowed to talk about anymore.
She's sitting so still.
She's definitely having a monthly confidence crisis.
I mean, it's in plaits.
Both sides that are tied to the top, it's unbearable.
I can't resist.
[audience laughs]
[laughter continues]
"Hair looks nice."
"Fuck off!" [laughs]
Brilliant!
She asked me about work and I get a little spiky.
I tell her the cafe leases up in a couple of days
unless I can find at least five grand, which is impossible.
So I'm having to deal with letting go of the only thing that I have left of Boo,
the only thing that's stopping me
from becoming a corporate lady slave like her.
And I know that everyone thought I was gonna fuck it up.
But now, it looks like I've surpassed everyone's expectations.
Which I didn't mean to say, it just falls out,
and I'm gonna get her smugness all up on my face.
But she just looks at me.
No reaction.
I know the rules.
So I asked her about her super high-powered perfect job work, super life.
She tells me she's finally been offered the wet dream of a job in Finland,
where they want to overpay and underwork her
and she doesn't have to wear powersuits anymore.
"Wow!
Finland."
But she's turning it down
because her husband says she shouldn't go because of Jake.
Jake's her stepson. He's really weird.
Probably clinically, but no one really talks about that.
He freaks out, if she's gone for longer than a day.
And he's got this thing about trying to get in the bath with her.
He's 15.
[audience laughs]
I tell her, "He's not your son."
"That's not the point."
Hm...
"Don't make a face."
"I didn't make a face.
Go!
This is about you."
"I knew you'd say that."
I tell her she's making a terrible mistake.
She shouldn't let other people get in the way of what she really wants,
and Finland's what she really wants.
She tells me that, okay, her husband...
isn't "other people."
Her husband...
is her life.
So I tell her that her husband tried to touch me up at Christmas.
[audience laughs]
I don't know why I said it.
It's true, but he was drunk, so...
Martin's always drunk,
which is odd, because she's so straight.
Or maybe that's not odd.
But he's very good at being drunk
and that he's a fun drunk.
No one wants to admit there's a problem,
because, then, they don't get to have crazy nights out
with fun, drunk Martin anymore.
[exhales]
[in French accent] Martin.
He's one of those men...
who is explosively sexually inappropriate with everyone
that makes you feel bad, if you take offense,
'cause he was just being "fun."
Honestly, you could tell him you're gonna pop to the loo, and he'll say,
[in Scottish accent] "Aye, aye, you pop to the loo.
Pull your little knickers down,
and I'll come in and fuck you!"
[audience laughs]
Clare always tries to sort of...
[nervous chuckle]
[fake giggle]
Half laugh like she gets the joke.
Which isn't even a joke.
[announcer] Welcome to Women Speak.
Sorry for the delay.
The lecture will begin shortly.
Those who may have food or drink can eat it in the auditorium.
She just stares at me.
And then her neck goes red.
I've only seen that happen once before.
Then she looks ahead of her.
I give her half my sandwich, which she eats.
Maybe she's not anorexic.
Maybe clothes just...
Bitch.
[audience laughs]
We sit and wait, eating the sandwich.
I can't read her.
I've never been able to read her.
She pulls out a card from Dad, puts it on the seat between us.
It's probably still there.
[announcer] Women Speak is about to commence.
Please enter the auditorium.
The lecture hall is huge.
We go right to the front and sit down.
Still can't read her.
Suddenly, she says...
"I'm gonna go to fucking Finland."
"Okay."
"I hate these suits."
"Okay."
"How much do you need to save Boo's cafe?"
[scoffs] "About five grand."
"Okay.
I'll transfer the money tomorrow.
But I don't wanna come to these anymore."
"Okay."
"And I want my top back."
[audience laughs]
"Okay." [light giggle]
"Thanks, Clare."
[tapping on microphone]
[lecturer] Thank you.
Gosh, look at you all.
Thank you so much for coming.
I'm overwhelmed by how many faces I see before me.
I hope I do your efforts justice with what I have to say this evening.
But before I begin, I want to ask you a question.
The same question that inspired me to give this lecture.
The same question that was posed to women all around this country
with, frankly, shocking results. [lecturer chuckles]
Now, I don't know about you, but I need some reassurance.
[lecturer giggles]
-Mm-hm. -[lecturer] So.
I pose the same question to the women in this room today.
Please raise your hands,
if you would trade five years of your life
-for the so-called perfect body? -[scoffs]
[audience laughs]
Four hundred women stare at us.
Horrified.
We are bad feminists.
After the lecture, Clare says she's going home
to talk to Martin.
I want to ask her to have a drink with me before she goes, but...
I don't know how, so...
I just watched her plaits disappear into the crowd outside the tube.
[phone message alert chimes]
Text from rodent.
Still smiling, smiley face.
Oh, god.
[audience laughs]
I text back, "You free now?"
He is. We meet up and get very, very drunk.
I can't stop staring at his tiny mouth.
He's telling a story like he doesn't wanna let the words out.
"You know..."
[indistinct mumbling]
[indistinct mumbling continues]
He tells me that his sister is deaf,
which is his way of letting me know
that he's interesting and sensitive, which is fine.
But then, he is the only one in his family
who didn't learn sign language.
[audience laughing]
Apparently, because they grew up together,
she can lip-read him brilliantly.
Which makes me wonder what she thinks he's saying all the time.
Because, to me, it just looks like... [indistinct mumbling]
[muffled speaking] "...up the stairs,
and he's been fooled, really.
And he didn't even know.
You know, what two, two of my friends are doing right now?
I'd say this one is a good restaurant."
He tells me his sister is so instinctive.
How she can read people brilliantly.
How she'd be able to read me.
He's having an excellent time.
[chuckles] Harry has terrible instincts.
Once. I think this might be the best thing he's ever done.
Once, he was in a restaurant, he's quite shy, really.
He was in a restaurant,
having had a filthy night out with me the night before.
I mean, the man was hanging.
And he was having lunch with these really important website bots.
When, suddenly, it hit him.
Halfway through the starter, the...
[in low voice] "Yeah.
Yeah, he was gonna be sick.
Yeah, like now."
So he excused himself.
And Harry walks to the loo, only to burst in to discover
that all the cubicles were locked and all the urinals were taken
and he couldn't bring himself to spew in one of the sinks.
So, in a panic, he kicked down one of the cubicle doors,
revealing a man having a shit.
"Ugh!"
And then, boom!
It just all came out.
He puked all over this guy.
His face, his chest, his balls,
his feet, on the walls.
Drenched him.
But then, and this is the best bit.
In the frenzy of it all, Harry rationalized,
[in low voice] "Oh, god, I just puked on this guy,
He's gonna punch me."
So he smacked him in the face!
[audience laughing]
[nervous breathing]
Isn't it beautiful?
It was particularly good
'cause when he first told me and Boo, he didn't know...
[in low voice] "It was a funny story?"
[laughs]
It will never be heard like that again.
[in low voice] "It was such a serious story."
And he was mortified.
Boo loved poo stories.
So she couldn't actually deal with the glory of this one.
She just stared open-mouthed,
paralyzed with joy, as he told him.
[audience laughing]
A few weeks ago,
when Harry thought I was sleeping,
he rolled over, stroked my hair, and whispered,
[in soft voice] "Where have you gone?"
[audience laughing]
[in soft voice] "Where have you gone?"
He thinks I'm neglecting him.
But when your heart is...
I wish he'd just fuck me.
All he wants to do is make love.
He's wasting me.
I was once fucking this guy who would breathe with every thrust.
"You're so young!"
Mmm...
I masturbate about that all the time.
[audience laughs]
I masturbate a lot these days.
Especially when I'm bored.
Or angry.
Or upset.
Or happy.
Last tube.
Attempting to kiss tube rodent, but it's like target practice
with a very small moving target.
[audience laughs]
I asked him if he wants to come back to mine,
he said he's got work tomorrow.
I say I can go back to his.
He said it's an early start.
I tell him I'll get him a cab to work in the morning.
He says, "That's ridiculous."
I say, "What the fuck is your problem?"
He says, "Nothing." He just wants to see me again, not rush.
I tell him he's a prick. He says he's...
[in low voice] "Not sure what's going on."
I tell him he's a pathetic excuse for a man,
and I leave him at the barriers, ha!
It's a bit weird, then, because we both have to come down the same escalator.
I push my bum out a bit.
Give him some perspective.
I turn around when I get to the platform, but...
he's gone.
The end of the platform,
sat on this sort of bench thing,
is the drunkest girl I have ever seen.
Head rolled forward.
Tit hanging out.
Bag sprawled.
Nicely dressed. Normal-looking girl
who clearly just had one hell of a night.
Last tube rolls in.
She doesn't move.
I nudge her awake.
She gets up, only to stumble on to the carriage,
slump into another seat,
head still rolling.
Other tit folded out now.
Bag tangled in her feet.
I asked her where she needs to get off.
And she says...
"Waterloo."
[audience laughs]
Great. My stop. I help her off.
I ask her where she needs to get to next. And she says...
"London Bridge."
"Okay."
"And then, Kent."
[audience laughs]
The tubes are finished. They were finding an overground to London Bridge.
At one point, we're walking, she just falls flat on her face.
-[thuds] -Get her up, keep going.
Try and keep her talking.
Her head's going all over the place.
After about 45 minutes...
Forty-five.
We're on an escalator.
There's a bit of a lull.
And she turns to me and she says,
"Aww."
[audience laughs]
"You're such a lovely man."
[audience laughs]
Her train pulls in, but I don't let go of her.
I asked her if she'd rather spend the night with me, and she says,
"How dare you, naughty boy!
No!"
So I push her on the carriage and she's gone.
I leave the station thinking, "What's one more?"
I go to a bar.
It's a "business" bar.
People are doing "business."
I drink a lot and pretend that I'm in business.
A bald, sweaty man cups my vagina
from behind at the bar.
[audience gasps]
But he buys me a drink, so...
[audience laughs]
He's nice, actually.
After a while, he disappears.
And the business bar closes.
Closed for business.
[audience laughs]
Shutting up shop.
That's what Boo used to say whenever she closed the cafe.
"Shutting up shop!"
Like she was drunk.
Which we often were.
We'd look up, sink a bottle of wine.
She'd play the ukulele and we'd make up filthy songs for hours.
♪ Another lunch break ♪
♪ Another abortion ♪
♪ Another piece of cake ♪
♪ Another 2 fuckin' 20 cigarettes ♪
♪ And we're happy ♪
♪ We're so happy ♪
♪ To be modern women ♪
Suddenly, I'm at a familiar doorstep.
I ring the bell and ring the bell,
and hammer on the door, and yell like a goat.
-[doorbell rings] -This should be
a humiliating experience.
Howling through a man's letterbox
in the middle of the night, but I am rolling with it.
A light goes on.
I see his silhouette as he trudges down the stairs.
He must have recognized mine through the door
because his body language changes suddenly.
He slowly unhooks the latch.
-Opens the door. -[door opens]
He looks like shit.
I place my hand...
right over his face...
and I push it a bit.
[groans]
[audience laughs]
Strikes me as something I never thought I'd do to a parent, but, uh...
Feels right at the time.
He stands in the doorway.
Boxer shorts, T-shirt.
I can see the shape of his little man boobs.
"All right, Dad."
"Um, what's going on?"
"Oh, no, no! I'm absolutely fine."
"Okay."
"I just, uh...
I just...
Uh..."
"Yeah?"
"Nothing.
I didn't even, um...
Ooh, gay.
I just, uh...
Ooh, sorry.
I'll just...
Oh, fuck it. I have a horrible feeling
that I'm a greedy, perverted, selfish, apathetic,
cynical, depraved, mannish looking, morally bankrupt woman
who can't even call herself a feminist."
He just looks at me.
"Well, uh...
You get all that from your mother."
[audience laughs]
"Good one."
I wonder if he'd find me attractive
if I wasn't his daughter.
"If you saw me on the internet...
would you click on me?"
[audience laughs]
"I'm gonna call you a cab, darling."
He lets me wait in his living room as he calls me a cab.
I could hear my godmother trying to be quiet at the top of the stairs.
When the cab comes,
he gently puts me into it,
-gives me 20 quid. -[car door closes]
[car rumbling]
I'm in a cab.
I can go anywhere.
So I tell him to take me to...
my flat.
Already thinking about what I'm gonna look up.
[woman moaning]
Back at the flat,
I turn on the TV and cry for a bit.
I started thinking about this girl called Lily
I used to touch a bit when we were drunk.
Harry didn't know, but girls don't count.
I text her. She was quite close, I think.
Suddenly, I'm on Pornhub,
wet as a beach towel, but I can't get there
'cause the girl's got spots on her ass.
Some of them just don't make the effort.
Nothing back from Lily.
I start thinking about this ginger guy I met at the festival last summer.
It was about a month after Boo had died.
I had taken a pill and flown off into the woods.
I was desperate to get away from Harry.
He started to relentlessly hug me, telling me how much he loved me,
asking how much I loved him,
and checking if I was okay.
There was a rave in the woods.
And I was panicking and, and I'm touching my face a lot.
And, suddenly, he was there.
Ginger guy.
He told me that I could follow him
and he would take me back to my tent.
We were walking for ages.
He was holding me by my wrist.
It was very dark.
I couldn't work out where we were.
At one point, he even picked me up,
he was holding my legs really tightly,
said that I was too weak to walk and I had to trust him.
Eventually, we stopped.
I felt him lying me down on my back in a tent.
And then he...
He...
He put a cover over me
and a bottle of water next to my arm
and he sat outside till I fell asleep.
[audience laughs]
Though he could have at least tried to touch me up a bit.
I never quite let that go.
I text him, tell him I'm single and horny.
He says he's out and can be here in 20 minutes.
Great. Quickly drink half bottle of wine,
get in the shower, shave everything.
Decide I'm gonna up my game a little bit,
pull out some Asian provocateur business, suspender belt, the whole bit,
open the door to him, "Hello."
We get to it immediately.
After some pretty standard bouncing,
I realize he's edging towards my asshole.
But I'm drunk and I owe him a thank you
for being nice to me at the festival, so...
I let him.
He's thrilled.
The next morning,
I wake to find him...
sitting on the bed,
fully dressed,
gazing at me.
He tells me that last night was incredible.
Which I think was an overstatement.
But he goes on to say, it was particularly special
'cause he's never actually managed to...
...up the bum
with anyone before.
To be fair, he does have a large penis.
And even though it's always been a fancy of his,
he's never found anyone he can do it with.
He touches my hair.
And thanks me with a genuine earnest.
It's sort of moving.
Then he kisses me gently.
I kiss him back.
And then he leaves.
And I spend the rest of the day wondering...
"Do I have a massive asshole?"
It's five to eleven at the cafe, I'm still thinking about it.
Haven't heard from my sister.
No transfer yet.
I wonder if Martin's murdered her
and is now stalking the city, looking for me.
The door smashes open.
-[door slams] -Joe.
"Hello, sweet pea!"
His legs are too long for his body.
"Look at this beauty!"
He holds up a ukulele that apparently someone gave him in a pub last night.
Just gave him a ukulele.
He says he's written a song.
"I don't wanna hear it."
He holds up another ukulele
that, apparently, another person...
gave him in another pub.
"Crazy how the world speaks to you all at once, eh?"
He says he's gonna sing his song to me.
Then he's gonna teach it to me.
So we can both sing it to Hillary.
I tell him I'm too busy and sit out the back till I hear him leave.
He tinkles a bit, but...
[Joe playing the ukulele]
I don't hear him sing.
[Joe playing the ukulele continues]
Schoolkids used to come into the cafe.
Mainly because of Hillary.
Basically, I'm shit at presents, and for Boo's birthday two years ago,
I panicked and bought her a guinea pig.
She called it Hillary. And now, I'm stuck with it.
I didn't feel anything about guinea pigs. They're pointless.
But Boo took Hillary very seriously as a gift,
and soon, everything became guinea pig related.
I think she was just relieved to have another animal associated with her.
When Boo was about five,
she mentioned, on a childish whim, that she...
[exhales]
...liked owls.
For the rest of her life, she got owls.
Owl duvet covers.
Owl pens.
Books about owls. Trips to owl sanctuary.
She fucking hated owls.
Show her an owl, and she would lose her shit.
What she really liked, and I knew this...
was screwdrivers.
Just crazy about them.
We'd spend hours unscrewing things.
Screwing them back on.
She slept with screwdrivers under her pillow till she was about ten.
Come to think of it,
a screwdriver would have been a better present than a...
guinea pig.
Midday.
Still nothing from my sister.
Martin's gonna hate me.
I picture his massive Scottish head.
Hope he hasn't beaten the shit out of her or anything.
Nah, he'd never do anything as sexy as that.
I'm joking.
Jesus.
Okay.
Um, Hillary is fat and ginger with frizzy bits.
Like Annie, the orphan.
If she was grown up and fat and a guinea pig, which, uh...
Well, who knows what became of her.
She's got this sort of punky bit of fur
that explodes off the crown of her head
and falls down over her eyes.
Makes her look pretty badass.
She has a very straight expression.
Boo always said that if Hillary was in a band,
she'd be the guitarist that takes the music really seriously.
She did take music seriously, actually.
Whenever Boo played anything in the cafe, she'd be all...
["The Mother We Share" by CHVRCHES plays]
♪ Never took your side ♪
♪ Never cursed your name ♪
♪ I keep my lips shut tight ♪
♪ Until you go-o-o-o-o-oh ♪
She's also a sneaky little shit.
She knows how to open her hutch door.
I have seen her do it.
She pushes the little wood stopper till it just drops out.
And the door swings open.
-[hutch door clicks open] -Then she freezes.
Like she hasn't done anything.
And then, she actually turns herself around
and lowers herself down onto the counter,
little legs kicking, looking over her shoulder occasionally, checking.
Checking.
She often does a little poo in the excitement.
[groans]
Then, once landed,
she creeps.
All the way along the counter
till she gets to the window.
And then, when she gets there,
in her frenzy of freedom,
she sits down.
And she looks out.
Watching the world.
If she wants me to think that she's really profound and poetic doing that,
I'm not rising to it.
Apparently, guinea pigs need other guinea pigs
or they can die of loneliness.
But Hillary never needed a mate. She got more than enough attention.
The punters loved her. She was always on someone's lap.
And she had Boo, who never left her alone.
They adored each other.
The morning Boo's boyfriend told her he'd fuck someone else...
she walked right past me.
Took Hillary out of her hutch
and sat out the back with her for hours.
I once read a story from the paper to Boo and Hillary
about a little boy who repeatedly stuck rubber-ended pencils
up the class hamster's asshole,
'cause he liked it when their eyes popped out.
He was sent to a juvenile boot camp.
I read it out as a bit of a joke, really, but Boo was distraught.
"What?
They sent him away?
But, but he needs help."
She was a surprising person.
"Yeah, he pencil fucked a hamster.
I mean, what are you gonna do?"
"Yeah, but he's obviously not happy.
Happy people don't do things like that."
"Fair point."
"And, anyway, that's the very reason they put rubbers on the ends of pencils."
"What? Uh...
What, to fuck hamsters?"
"No! No.
Because...
people make mistakes."
But now, Boo's gone.
It's a death cafe, so no one comes in anymore.
Hillary sits on her hutch like a lump.
Staring at me.
[hutch door clicks open]
I don't know what to do with her.
-Six o'clock. -[door opens]
Two yoga body girls come into the cafe
and order risotto off the menu.
I popped the Tesco, microwave their economy meal.
The girls are talking about how they never wanna give birth
because the effect it'll have on their sex lives.
Still haven't heard from my sister.
I put an empty crisp packet in the microwave.
Watch it shrivel.
Play with my phone for a bit.
[Boo] Hi, this is Boo. I can't come to the phone at the moment.
But leave a message and I'll get back to you.
Someone should probably disconnect that.
[phone message alert chimes]
I start texting tube rodent.
I apologize and apologize,
and eventually sent him a picture of my tits.
He sends me one back.
-[phone message alert chimes] -I think it's of his cock.
My boyfriend before Harry used to make me send him pictures of my vagina,
wherever I was.
Ten or eleven times a day.
I used to go and have to lunge in a disabled toilet,
take an attractive picture of my vagina,
which isn't easy on the whole.
Especially as he always wanted the worm's eye view.
Mm-mm.
It often looks a bit like
someone had dropped a little bap...
on its side...
on the floor of a hairdresser's.
-Then taking a photo of it. -[phone chimes]
One tempting morning,
he asked me to send him pictures of my favorite bits of my body.
I go to the disabled loo.
[audience laughs]
[phone message alert chimes]
[man 2] Oh, that is so hot. Send another one, you beautiful bitch.
[audience laughs]
[audience laughing continues]
[audience applauds]
[phone message alert chimes]
[man 2] Now, say something so dirty you'll shock yourself.
Send me another picture.
Oh, god, I'm wanking.
It exhausted me, but you gotta do it.
-Can't have them looking elsewhere. -[knocks on door]
The boss banged on the disabled loo door.
It was my fourth visit that morning.
[in Australian accent] "Um, is everything all right in there?"
He's Australian.
"Uh, yeah.
I just... I've, I've got cystitis."
"Oh, no, you poor chickadee.
Oh, I wonder if my wife gets that all the time.
Cranberry juice, that's what you need.
Buckets of it. Shall I get you some from the canteen?
Huh?
Hello?
Are you crying?"
I'm gonna stop waxing.
I met a man once who said...
I say said, it's more of a yell, really.
How much he loved a full bush.
And how rare they are these days.
Even though it was inappropriate, at the time,
a family friend at Mom's funeral.
It filled me up with something.
Hope.
Relief.
I don't know.
Can't bring myself to actually grow one.
I called tube rodent.
He comes to the cafe with a bottle of wine.
We drink it. He whispers to me...
Um...
[in soft vice] "I have an enormous penis."
I say...
"Really?"
He says...
"Yeah."
I say...
"Well, that's lucky.
Because I have an enormous vagina."
He says...
"Awesome."
We fucked behind the counter.
He's very bony, all corners.
It's like having sex with a protractor.
He doesn't cum.
Says I'm being too intense, whatever that means.
We turn the lights off, so it's quite dark now.
He's pulling on his trousers, trying to find his phone,
see if his friends are going out later.
He's wearing this pink and purply paisley scarf.
He looks like a lady.
He hops over to the window,
leans on the sill,
turns his phone on, then he screams.
Really high-pitched.
The light from his phone had made Hillary's eyes flash red in the darkness.
She must have wandered over to the window when we were having sex.
For a second, I laugh at his reaction.
But she moved and he screams again.
She tries to run towards me, but panics, and sort of slips off the side.
She lands on her stomach and struggles a bit.
-But tube rodent sees red and kicks her. -[audience gasps]
She flies against the wall with a thud.
He just stares at the furry pile on the floor.
But she twitches. It makes him jump and he kicks her again,
and she goes flying across the floor.
I can't move.
I think about Boo.
I think about them playing together.
Tube rodent's panicking, mumbling something about a rat phobia.
-I tell him he can go and he disappeared. -[door closes]
Hillary's on her front, but her back is to me.
She looks like a...
a furry bullet.
She's still alive, but...
I put her back in her hutch and we sit for a bit.
I text asshole guy.
He gets back, saying he's got a girlfriend who was really drunk the other night,
would love to hang out in a non-sex way. Sorry if he led me on.
I sent my ex a picture of my vagina.
I sent Harry a picture of my vagina.
I text Lily. Still nothing from my sister.
Hillary's not moving.
[Boo] Hi, this is Boo. I can't come to the phone at the moment.
But leave a message and I'll get back to you.
Hillary's making this horrible chattering noise.
[Hillary chattering]
I take her out of her hutch,
put her on my lap, stroke her.
She doesn't stop.
I put her back.
I go to the Rabbit and Winslow pub.
I smoke outside. There were three people laughing by the door.
[men laughing]
I can just make out the white hair and the braces through the crowd.
I can hear him.
[ukulele playing]
Someone's let him on stage with his ukulele.
He's singing his song.
People are laughing and clapping.
I listen to it from outside.
It's about a train journey he once took through Ireland,
where he met a man who told stories to everyone
about love and home, and romance and adventure,
and beautiful women and beautiful men,
and mothers and daughters, and fathers and sons,
monsters and fairies, and parties and wishes.
All the usual crap.
The whole scene is like something out of a revolting rom-com,
but he's nailing it.
He goes to the bar after.
Everyone buys him drinks.
The man doesn't need to work.
I realized I've forgotten to give Hillary her Earl Grey.
-Ten-thirty that night. -[thumping on door]
I hammer and hammer and ring the bell.
[doorbell rings]
I see his silhouette at the top of the stairs, but...
he doesn't open the door.
Back at the flat,
Harry's obviously been around.
The TV is gone. It smells like he did a shit.
He never used to shit in the flat. He was really weird about it.
He used to go to the pub across the road.
I sit on my stripy sofa.
Open my laptop.
[woman moaning]
Anal, gangbang, mature, big cocks,
small tits, hentai, Asian, teen,
MILF, big butts, gay, lesbian,
facial, fetish, young and old, swallow,
rough, voyeur, public.
Suddenly, the sun's creeping in and I'm raw.
Lease is up today, still nothing from my sister.
-I leave the flat. -[Boo] Hey, this is Boo.
I put the closing sign up outside the cafe.
It's three minutes past eleven.
He's not here yet.
-Ten past, the door flies open. -[door opens]
"All right, baba ganoush, forgive me. I'm a little late,
but have I got a morning story for you or what. Listen to this."
I tell him to shut up and close the door.
He looks confused, but he does it.
"Why do you come here, Joe?"
"What?"
I lock the door, close the blinds.
"Why do you come here, Joe?"
"Uh, tea, love.
See my ladies."
Hillary's not moving.
"It's okay, Joe.
I understand.
There's nothing wrong with you."
I take off my top, unhook my bra, place them gently on the counter.
He stares at me.
I step forward,
showing him my young tits.
He shuffles a bit.
His breathing changes.
He's trembling.
He moves his hand up.
Nine o'clock that morning, my sister's door.
Martin looking down at me.
"Hello, you."
"Is Clare here?"
"Aye."
I tried to get past him into the house, but he won't let me.
Clare comes to the door.
She's crimped her fringe.
I deliver a beautifully constructed joke about it.
But she snaps at me.
Tells me I've got to stop talking to people
like I'm doing a stand-up routine.
That some things just aren't fucking funny.
I laugh.
And then I don't laugh.
And then my throat goes dry.
No one says anything for a bit.
"You didn't transfer the money."
"No."
"You're not going to Finland."
"No."
"Why is he still here?"
"He didn't touch you."
[scoffs] "He tried!"
"He said it was more like the other way around."
"What?
But that's just not true."
"How can I believe you?"
"What? Uh... How...
Well, because I'm your..."
"After what you did to Boo."
"That wasn't my fault.
He wanted me.
So..."
It's 11:15 now.
Joe's shaking.
I'm standing topless, just the right angle.
His hand keeps rising...
till it rests on his eyes.
"Ooh! Uh...
Put your clothes back on, darlin'."
"What?"
"Put your clothes back on."
"It's okay, Joe.
I'm not gonna judge you."
"Yeah, uh...
I come here for my tea, darlin'.
And to see you.
That was a sad thing that happened to your friend."
"You're weak."
"Yeah, that maybe true, but, uh...
I'm gonna go now."
"Oh, come on, Joe, stay.
Please.
I'm nearly half your age."
He stops.
He brings his hand down from his eyes and he finally looks at me.
"Go home, darlin'.
I'm sorry, but...
this ain't my bag."
I grab his arm as he walks past me.
He's thin but baggy. His skin pinches in my grasp. It's disgusting.
-[door closes] -[bell rings]
I sit on Joe's chair for a bit.
There's something not right about that man.
[Hillary chattering]
Hillary's teeth are going again, crashing against each other.
The noise is unbearable. It's relentless, relentless chattering.
They do that when they're in pain or distressed, or...
I can't listen to it.
I take her out of her hutch.
I hold her little body to my naked chest.
I can feel her claws.
[claws scratching]
Her bones feel bent
and her breathing is shallow, but her teeth are going like...
[Hillary chattering]
I can't...
I look into her face through her little punky bit.
I imagine sticking my finger in to make her eyes pop out.
No, I imagine that. I imagine doing that.
And as my hand moves down her body, I...
I...
When I first gave her to Boo,
she was so tiny,
I put her in this little gift box from a crappy card shop.
She just sat on this bit of cotton wool,
looking out through her tiny punky bit.
She was ridiculous.
This overexcited little fuzzball.
She just sit in your hand like... [imitates poofing sound]
Boo's face.
Boo's face when she opened that box.
A huge grin spread over her whole body.
"Is this a...
Is this... Did you...
Is this a guinea pig? What?
Did you get... What is this?"
"I don't know.
Something to love?"
I'm crying.
My fingers are gripping her.
But I can't...
I can feel how scared she is.
How much pain she's in.
But I can't...
I hold her to me tightly.
I hold her to me tighter.
I hold her to me tighter until I feel her bones crack against me
-and the chattering stop. -[bones crack]
Everything is quiet.
And she is safe.
[man 1] Okay, please leave.
What? But...
-But you don't understand. I need this... -[man 1] Please just leave.
-Perv. -[man 1] Slut.
Wow!
-[man 1] Please leave. -You... please leave.
It's my office.
Yeah?
[man 1] Okay.
[footsteps trudging]
Wait!
[sighs]
What made you laugh?
[man 1] What?
On my CV.
You said it was funny.
[man 1] Um, you owned the only cafe for guinea pigs.
Right, okay, that's not strictly... Right, okay.
[audience laughs]
Yeah, but that made you laugh?
[man 1] Yes, I suppose. I never thought guinea pig...
-It was guinea pig-themed cafe. -[man 1] Oh, right.
-Yeah. Yeah. -[man 1] That makes sense.
What if I wrote that I fucked that cafe into liquidation?
That I fucked up my family?
That I fucked my friend by fucking her boyfriend?
That I don't feel alive unless I'm being fucked.
I don't feel in control unless I'm fucking
'cause fucking makes the world tighten around me.
And I've been watching people fuck
for as long as I've been able to search for it.
And I know that my body, as it is now,
really is the only thing that I have.
And when that gets old and unfuckable, I may as well just kill it.
And then, sometimes, I wish that I didn't even know that fucking existed
'cause, somehow, there isn't anything worse
than someone who doesn't wanna fuck me.
That I fucked everything.
But this time, this time, I really wasn't... I genuinely...
Either everyone feels like this a little bit...
and they're just not talking about it.
Or I am completely fucking alone.
Which isn't fucking funny.
[man 1] That really wasn't appropriate.
Right, yeah.
Sorry.
[man 1] Look. [exhales]
[man 1] Three months ago, I touched a colleague's breast at a party.
Not for the first time.
It's really the reputation of the business
I've been doing my whole life
and has completely alienated me from my family.
Why did you do it?
[man 1] It was a terrible...
mistake.
-People make mistakes. -[man 1] Yes, they do.
That's why they put rubbers on the ends of pencils.
[man 1 chuckles] Is that a joke?
I don't know.
[man 1] Shall we start this interview again?
Okay.
[paper rustles]
[man 1] Thanks for coming in. Really appreciate you sending in your CV.
No problem.
-[man 1] It was funny. -[laughs]
Fuck you!
[audience laughs]
[audience cheers]
[audience claps]
[light jazz music playing]
[audience whistling]
[audience cheers]
Thank you!
[Phoebe laughs]
[mouths] Thanks.
Thank you!