Cwmderi Diary 2016: 31 October 2016

Siôn is now divorced

Siôn opens an official letter, to find his Decree Absolute; as he stares at it, Iolo arrives to tell him their suits will be ready for collection on Wednesday.

He is completely oblivious of Iolo

Iolo is concerned when he gets no response, then Siôn tells him, “Sorry, the divorce has come through – I’m a free man!”

"Can I borrow some shoe polish?"

Iolo asks if he is all right with this news, and gets to the main reason for his visit; “Can I borrow some shoe polish?” Siôn directs him to the cupboard under the sink.

Colin writes his speech

Colin is writing his speech for the wedding, which he says is a surprise; “I was there from the beginning, when they fell in love,” he tells Britt,

Britt is looking at the divorce document

but she does not hear as she is also studying her copy of the same document.

"So it's official then!"

When she shows him, Colin says, “So it’s official then! This is a cause for celebration! How about bubbles at the Deri later?”

"To celebrate my failure as a wife?"

Britt is subdued; “To celebrate my failure as a wife?” she demands,

Colin has put his foot in it

and Colin looks upset.

The café flat goes on the market

Debbie puts up a notice by the café door, advertising the flat. Dani comes in for some doughnuts,

"You said I'd be compensated!"

and Debbie moans, “I want a word with you! You said I’d be compensated for loss of business, but I haven’t seen a penny!”

"It's only for one day!"

Dani replies that she cannot to afford to pay anything, as money is tight enough as it is, and it is only for one day.

“Yes, a complete day’s takings – I’ve got bills to pay!” protests Debbie,

"I could cause you a lot of hassle!"

“I could cause you a lot of hassle on the day – unless you pay for my slience! I could make things very difficult!” Dani storms out describing Debbie as ‘all mouth’.

"Can we have a small party here tomorrow?"

Then Sheryl arrives, asking if she could hold a small party in the café tomorrow, for about ten or so, and tells Debbie to get Vicky to bring Nicky to it. Debbie brightens up with the promise of some extra money.

Iolo works on his shoes . . .

As Iolo polishes his shoes, Dani goes through her list of what has to be done. Tyler has the idea that it would be nice to have fireworks, and Dani becomes angry;

. . . while Dani bewails her workload

“Why did you wait until now to tell me? I have loads to do, and Debbie is on my case too, threatening to sabotage the wedding, as she thinks she is going to lose out financially.”

They are worried about what Debbie might do

Even though she insists that everything will be fine, Iolo and Tyler are clearly worried.

Sheryl wants to keep the letter secret from Hywel

Sheryl has received a letter, advising of her Annual Appointment at the hospital on 4 November, but she hides it in a drawer when she hears Hywel coming.

"You're having a birthday party, aren't you?"

She tells him she is organising a birthday party for Esther,

"Her birthday was ages ago!"

but he points out her birthday was some time ago. “Yes, but we didn’t have time to celebrate – and it’s a shame not to do something!” Sheryl replies. Hywel is not sure he can get away at this short notice, and asks why she did not mention this to him.

"Oh, I thought you'd be supportive!"

“Oh, I thought you’d be supportive!” she moans, “We don’t want you there if you’re going to throw cold water over it!” Hywel explains that he would just like to know what is going on around here, but she will not listen;

"We don't want party poopers round here, do we?"

“We don’t want party poopers round here, do we?” she says to Esther, so Hywel picks up his coat and goes out again.

"You'd better have a word with Debbie!"

As she leaves number 7, Dani suggests that Tyler ought to have a word with Debbie; “The last thing we want is some silly woman spoiling it for us!” he says,

"Give her a rôle – to keep her happy"

“Maybe we should give her a rôle – pay her to make the tea and coffee to keep her happy.”

"What? After she made those threats?"

Dani considers that is the last thing she deserves after making those threats.

Hywel visits the shop and asks Colin if he can read minds.

"No, I wish I could read minds!"

Colin answers, “No – or I would have done that to Britt today. Her divorce came through today, and I managed to say the wrong thing – I’ve been trying to text her, but she won’t reply.” Hywel maintains that whatever men do is never good enough.

Siôn comes in, as the chips are sizzling away merrily

Britt has just put another batch of chips into the fryer when Siôn comes in and asks how she is, after this morning’s news.

Britt hands her ring back to him

She hands her wedding ring back to him; “I was going to take it to the Maenan Appeal, but it is right that you should have it,” she says.

"It wasn't all bad, was it?"

“It wasn’t all bad, was it?” Siôn muses, and apologises for everything.

Poor old Colin's world has collapsed around his ears

They hug, and of course that is very the moment when Colin is about to walk in. He recoils in horror, and wonders what to do.

"This is your chance to have a word with her!"

Dani finds Iolo and Tyler in the Deri and informs them, “Look who’s over there – this is your chance to have a word with her.” Tyler gets up and strides over to the bar, where Debbie is standing.

"I don't want to be out of pocket!"

He has heard she has a problem with the wedding, and she replies, “I don’t want to be out of pocket!” He suggests she could supply all the soft drinks for the wedding, and she insists she would need paying up front.

"Double that, and I'll consider it!"

He gets £40 from his wallet, but she remarks, “Double that, and I’ll consider it!”

"I need another £40"

He has to return to Iolo and Dani for further funds, which Dani once more supplies,

That shuts Debbie up

then comes to an agreement with Debbie that there will be no nonsense.

"Is there still something between Siôn and Britt?"

Elsewhere in the pub, Colin tells Hywel of his suspicions that there is still something between Siôn and Britt,

"Well, they do have a lot of history"

and is told that they have a lot of history. Hywel laughs when Colin relates that he saw them hugging, and points out that means nothing.

"What if I'm not the man either?"

“Siôn may not have been the man – but what if I’m not either?” frets Colin, and confirms, “She’s the one for me, without a doubt!”

“Well, tell her then – and you’ll know where you stand,” advises Hywel. Colin finishes his drink and leaves, with a look of steely determination.

"Sorry I was a bit negative"

Sheryl is outside the salon door when Hywel returns and apologises for his negative attitude. She explains that she had things on her mind, but it is all sorted now.

"You are coming, aren't you?"

She hopes that he will come to the party;

"The party pooper gets an invitation, does he?"

“Oh, the party pooper gets an invitation, does he?” Hywel enquires.

Colin frantically searches for something

In the back room of the shop, Colin scrabbles around madly on a bottom shelf, sending old newspapers flying,

"Ah – bingo!"

and eventually finds what he wants – some flattened cardboard boxes.

He leaves a trail of devastation in his wake

He takes them and leaves a mess, which Eileen will not be pleased about.

"There were periods when we were happy"

Siôn explains to Tyler that he is not glad he wasted all those years with the wrong person, but there were periods when they were happy.

Siôn is again implanting doubts in Iolo's mind

He insists, “Now you two are going for it, make sure you don’t do it on a whim. Make sure you love and respect each other – I don’t want you making the same mistake that I did.”

Colin raps on the window

Britt is behind the chip shop counter when Colin raps on the window, then holds up, in sequence, his message, written on the cardboard box sections.

I know . . .

. . . that I'm stupid . . .

. . . but . . .

. . . I love . . .

. . . you . . .

Britt is quite entertained so far . . .

Britt, who has been watching this performance with amusement,

. . . but "Marry me?" is slightly over the top

looks serious when the last one is displayed. She rushes outside and drags Colin into the shop, closing the door.

"What's all that about?"

Opposite, Siôn who has been watching the show, asks, “What’s going on?” Hywel is not sure, but thinks that Colin just proposed to Britt.

"I've done something stupid, haven't I?"

Inside the shop, Colin is downhearted; “I’ve done something stupid, haven’t I? It was a huge mistake!” Britt asks what gave him the idea that she wanted to get married. “I was sorry about what I said this morning,” wails Colin.

“So you’re apologising by asking me to marry you?” demands Britt,

"No, it's because I love you!"

but he insists it is because he loves her,

“Just because it didn’t work out for you and Siôn doesn’t mean that it won’t work for us – we could be happy!” Colin tells her. She assures him that she is happy as they are now, and has no regrets about the divorce.

"Now is not the time, Colin"

“I’m flattered that you asked, but now is not the time,” answers Britt, “We don’t need a piece of paper to be happy!” Colin decides that he had better go and recycle the cardboard,