AIDAN AIRPORT_ANNOUNCEMENT AIR_STEWARDESS BARWOMAN CONGREGATION CONGREGATION_AND_STELLA FEMALE_TV_PRESENTER GERRY GERRY_TO_AIDAN GERRY_TO_BARWOMAN GIRL HENNIE KATHY MALE_TV_PRESENTER_ONE MALE_TV_PRESENTER_TWO MAN RECEPTIONIST SCOTTISH_PRIEST STELLA TEACHER TV_PRESENTER TV_PRESENTER_TWO WAITRESS WOMAN WOMAN_2 YOUNG_STELLA YOUTH STELLA We never speak about what happened in Belfast. STELLA Perhaps because beforehand we were so full of hope. GIRL Hi, Mrs Gilmore. YOUNG STELLA Hello. STELLA But a single day can change the course of any life. STELLA Leaving Ireland. Leaving our home. STELLA Alone. Unmoored. Adrift. STELLA And now... GERRY Five? STELLA ...we seem to have become exiles from each other and the promises we made. STELLA The promise I made. STELLA Bye, then. GERRY Bye, darling. STELLA Sure I can't tempt you? GERRY What's that? STELLA Hmm. CONGREGATION Snow had CONGREGATION AND STELLA fallen Snow on snow, snow on snow SCOTTISH PRIEST The body of Christ. CONGREGATION In the bleak midwinter, long, long, ago SCOTTISH PRIEST James. STELLA Amen. SCOTTISH PRIEST Chapter Four, Verse Fourteen tells us SCOTTISH PRIEST 'You do not even know what will happen tomorrow.' CONGREGATION What can I give Him Poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would give a lamb... SCOTTISH PRIEST 'What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. On this night of the year more than any other, we are reminded to cherish those...' STELLA I just wanted STELLA to say have a lovely Christmas. MAN Oh, happy Christmas, dear. STELLA So nice to see you. See you soon. WOMAN See you soon. Okay. STELLA Good night. Happy Christmas. MAN Oh... (indistinct) WOMAN 2 Merry Christmas. STELLA Goodnight. Oh, sorry. STELLA I'm back. It's freezing out there. STELLA It's ringing. STELLA It's the answer machine. GERRY Leave a message. STELLA Aye. STELLA Hi, Michael. It's Mum and Dad here. Not sure what time it is where you are. GERRY (OVER) Merry Christmas, son! Give Toby a kiss from grandad. STELLA (LAUGHS) Just calling to see how you and the family are settling in, you know. First Christmas in your new abode. STELLA Alright, well, er... we're around so... STELLA Lots of love. GERRY What's this? STELLA Surprise. GERRY Don't tell me. Don't tell me. GERRY Shoes. STELLA It's a little something. For both of us. GERRY Amsterdam? STELLA I thought it was time for an adventure. GERRY That's fantastic! GERRY Er... flights... hotel. GERRY You've outdone yourself, Mrs Gilmore. STELLA Start the new year off with a bang. GERRY You d better believe it. GERRY You and me. STELLA Me and you. GERRY Do you have the passports or do I? STELLA Passports, eyedrops, phone charger. All in your shoulder bag. GERRY What about my special shampoo? STELLA That too. GERRY Um... what's the limit again? STELLA That's six minutes. GERRY Someone whose opinion I trust once said I was flamboyant wearing this. GERRY I was never entirely sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. STELLA No. The knot's all wrong. GERRY What? STELLA Here. STELLA Alright. GERRY Don't choke me. STELLA It's tempting. GERRY Alright. STELLA There. That's better. GERRY Yeah, that's good. Okay. I'll... STELLA Right. STELLA Oh, that's seven minutes. I'm calling them. GERRY Oh, there's a taxi now! STELLA Oh! Right. Er... er... case... GERRY Alright. STELLA Is that everything? GERRY Er, yeah. I think so. STELLA Sure? GERRY Oh. GERRY Well, some people have more luggage than sense. STELLA There it is. GERRY Where did you say the shampoo was again? YOUTH (B/G) Go on, use some muscle. Get it in! GERRY Sweet before take-off, modom? AIR STEWARDESS For everyone's comfort and safety would you please place all hand baggage under the seats in front of you or in the overhead lockers, AIR STEWARDESS providing they will close. STELLA Oh, nearly forgot. GERRY What? STELLA Stop you from being sick. GERRY How? STELLA It's a wristband. Someone at church recommended them. It presses on your pulse point here. GERRY I'd be better off saying a prayer. Please, God, don't make me vomit on this flight. STELLA Alright? GERRY Yeah. STELLA It looks nice. GERRY Hello. STELLA Hello. GERRY How are ya? RECEPTIONIST Welcome to Amsterdam. STELLA Thank you. STELLA Oh... STELLA Here we are. STELLA Er...Hard to tell. GERRY Let's try this way. GERRY This is it. GERRY Ah... STELLA Try the other one. GERRY Ah, there you go. STELLA Huh. GERRY We're in. GERRY Let there be... GERRY light. GERRY Oh, very nice. STELLA Oh, it's bigger than I thought. STELLA It's lovely. GERRY Yeah. STELLA Oh, would you look at that grey sky. GERRY Maybe next time you book somewhere in one of the sunnier hemispheres? GERRY Time to test the bed. GERRY Ah! STELLA How is it? GERRY Hard as a brick runway. GERRY Perfect. In fact, er, I might have a wee snooze. STELLA Oh, it's the middle of the afternoon. GERRY So? STELLA So, you never take a nap in the middle of the afternoon. GERRY Yeah, but we're on holiday. Away is different. GERRY You don't mind, do you? STELLA If you insist. Half an hour, no more. STELLA Chocolate, sir? GERRY Oh, thank you, modom, GERRY Oh, lovely. This is the life. STELLA Ooh. RECEPTIONIST Hello. STELLA Hello. GERRY Good evening. Um... could you recommend somewhere not too pricey for a drink this evening? RECEPTIONIST You are in the right place. Amsterdam is so full of options. GERRY Right. STELLA Oh. STELLA Trust you to find the only Irish pub in Amsterdam. GERRY God, a well-built ant could piss more! STELLA And that's a double. GERRY You're learning. STELLA Killing you with kindness. GERRY You and me. STELLA Me and you. STELLA I suppose we're lucky to have each other to ignore. GERRY The arrogance of amplification in a space this size. STELLA You used to like this one. STELLA For me And the ocean's waves do roll And the stormy winds do blow STELLA And the stormy winds do blow GERRY You know, it's Ireland's greatest export A bullshit lesson on how to enjoy yourself. That and the car bomb. STELLA Oh, would you... would you come away from the edge. STELLA Gives me the weirdest feeling. GERRY What does? STELLA Come on. GERRY Alright. STELLA Alright. Hold my arm. STELLA You're a liability, you are. FEMALE TV PRESENTER in Spain and at the end of this year MALE TV PRESENTER ONE with six crying babies - I ll quit smoking. Honestly, I think this would really work for me. The only danger in caf s is puking people. Because, you know, those strollers have that bar you can hold onto, and you could just blame the baby. MALE TV PRESENTER ONE Like, Oh, the baby just ate the shwarama . MALE TV PRESENTER TWO Yeah, those babies eat anything. MALE TV PRESENTER ONE Hey Yannick, you have a kid, don t you? MALE TV PRESENTER TWO Sure do. MALE TV PRESENTER ONE Not for very long, I think? MALE TV PRESENTER TWO Four years. MALE TV PRESENTER ONE Haha, this is Peter s world MALE TV PRESENTER ONE You haven t had a kid for very long -it s four years. Or she, you have a daughter. And what you just said would you dare to do that? MALE TV PRESENTER TWO Well, not now. She runs off, of course. MALE TV PRESENTER ONE Uhm, no, you clearly don t know anything about kids. I d have to put her in a straitjacket, and then she d just glare at me furiously. MALE TV PRESENTER TWO I don t even dare to tie my dog up outside the supermarket. MALE TV PRESENTER TWO Nothing MALE TV PRESENTER ONE Okay, but you don t bring it inside, right? Into a restaurant? I can t stand that. MALE TV PRESENTER TWO Definitely not. It s a whippet that s not a dog, that s a whippet. MALE TV PRESENTER ONE A what? MALE TV PRESENTER TWO A whippet. MALE TV PRESENTER TWO It s a small greyhound. MALE TV PRESENTER ONE That s not a dog. It s like a rat, isn t it? TV PRESENTER Unlike the Provisional TV PRESENTER IRA, the new IRA possesses limited weaponry. It's enough to mount a campaign, but not on the same scale as the paramilitary groups of the past.. TV PRESENTER Following its ceasefire in nineteen-ninety-four the Provisional IRA decommissioned the bulk of its arsenal, much of it supplied by Libya, STELLA On and on it goes. TV PRESENTER ...but now, almost thirty years later it s clear that not every weapon has been destroyed. GERRY Aye. Are you done in there? STELLA Aye. TV PRESENTER TWO Forensic examination has revealed that some of the weapons seized TV PRESENTER TWO from dissident republicans, trace back to the original stockpiles of the Provisional IRA. There are some figures, some senior leadership figures, who never bought into the peace process... TV PRESENTER He went on to form the violent splinter groups and he retained access to weaponry that had been left... GERRY Stella, have you seen my statins? GERRY Stella. GERRY My statins. Have you seen them? STELLA Have you looked in the washbag? GERRY Er... STELLA There. There. GERRY Sorry. STELLA It's a religious community. GERRY A convent? STELLA Er, no, er... More like a sanctuary. think it's that way. GERRY You think or you know? Because having a map and knowing the way are not the same thing. STELLA Oh, shush. GERRY Here. STELLA Behold. The Begijnhof. GERRY In there? STELLA Yeah. GERRY Lead on. STELLA Ha. STELLA It's home to some of the oldest buildings in the city. STELLA For women who wanted to live alone. STELLA A sisterhood of unmarried Catholic women. In the sixteen hundreds, Catholic worship was... was banned by the Protestant powers that be. GERRY Why are we whispering? STELLA I STELLA Public mass wasn't allowed, so they used to do it in their own homes, you know? In secret. GERRY Yeah, which is why it doesn't look like a church from the outside. STELLA It's camouflaged. STELLA They lived like nuns but... without all the... all the vows and what have you. STELLA Hm. GERRY Reminds me of Van Gogh's prison yard. // STELLA Nonsense. STELLA Excuse me? STELLA Is... is the church open yet? KATHY Which church were you hoping to see? STELLA Oh, you're Irish! STELLA She's Irish. KATHY Guilty as charged. KATHY Waterford, originally. But I've lived all over, really. STELLA County STELLA Derry. From a townland nobody's heard of in a place STELLA nobody knows. KATHY Hm-hmm. STELLA Do you live here? KATHY Oh, yes, I'm one of the lucky ones. KATHY And what brings you to Amsterdam? STELLA Well, um... we're not getting any younger, so... KATHY And tell me again, which of the churches was it you wanted to see? STELLA The Catholic one. KATHY Oh. It's just through here. STELLA Oh, thank you. GERRY Okay. STELLA Gerry. GERRY The miracle of Amsterdam. GERRY Ye olde graphic novel. STELLA In the year of thirteen forty-five in the city of Amsterdam a man lay dying in a house on Kalverstraat. GERRY Solid opening gambit. STELLA A priest came and gave the man communion. STELLA After he had gone, the sick man felt so unwell that he STELLA vomited up the sacred Host... GERRY Lovely. STELLA ...into a bowl. GERRY That's really put me in the mood for lunch. STELLA The man died the next morning and his maid, she threw the contents of the bowl into the fire. However the following day when the maid checked the fireplace... there it was, the Host, STELLA untouched by the flames. STELLA The priest had this place built to commemorate the miracle. GERRY Which was? STELLA The indestructible Host. GERRY Well, it seems a bit... minor league as miracles go. You know, a fireproof wafer. STELLA You know as well as I do, Gerry, that miracles come in all shapes and sizes. GERRY Stella, what GERRY happened to you was not miraculous. Right? It was perfectly within the bounds of possibility... TEACHER ...and this is a painting by Rembrandt van Rijn, 'de Staalmeesters' , 1662, and it is so remarkable... GERRY Every time I open my glasses case nowadays GERRY I'm pleasantly surprised to find my glasses. Now that's a miracle. GERRY The model married couple. I think you can see how much he cherishes her. STELLA Why is she protecting her stomach? GERRY Everything alright? STELLA Oh, my feet are throbbing. I've been on my pegs all morning. GERRY Ah. You're not going to chicken out, are you? STELLA No, no. It's a pit stop. GERRY Okay. Look, GERRY I can't not see The Night Watch. So... STELLA No. GERRY So, erm why don't we meet in the cafe in er... thirty minutes, for a bit of lunch? STELLA Sure. GERRY Okay? Alright. GERRY See ya. GERRY Oh, that cold. It would cut right through ya. STELLA Oh. GERRY Oh, God. Oh. STELLA Ah. GERRY Oh, yeah. GERRY Would you... would you look at what these socks have done to me. Egg timer! Look, feel it. STELLA No, I'm happy to forego that at the moment. GERRY Oh, God. Ah... ah... STELLA Stop it! GERRY The only thing that feels better than this is... STELLA You'll make it worse. GERRY Ah, I know you shouldn't, but... when you give in, Stella... when you give in... STELLA You'll draw blood. GERRY Oh. Oh, that's better. STELLA What? GERRY Help us with this, will you? STELLA Gerry? GERRY Hmm? STELLA Do you ever think about where you'd like to be buried? GERRY Other than with you, you mean? STELLA At home or in Scotland, I mean. GERRY Is Scotland not home? STELLA What happens when all of this stops? GERRY Well... there'll be no more. STELLA And what'll be the point then? GERRY Fuck! Jesus! Stella! STELLA Yes, I'm coming, Gerry! GERRY I slipped. STELLA Oh, come on. Come on. It's alright. It's alright. God... (LAUGHS) Oh, God... GERRY It's no laughing matter. STELLA Alright. Wait a minute. Let's get this on you. It's alright. It's alright STELLA Get your legs over. Alright, come on. One at a time. GERRY I could have been a goner. STELLA Oh, sssh. You're alright. There. GERRY There's no bath mat. STELLA Oh. Hm. GERRY Every bath should have a rubber mat. STELLA I know. I know. Oh... Oh, you're alright. Come on, now. Steady. Steady. Oh, you're shaking. GERRY Ah! STELLA Good man. Good man. STELLA Sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. GERRY Oh... STELLA You alright? GERRY Oh, just pour away. WAITRESS Sure? GERRY I'm sure it's fine. WAITRESS Thank you. Thank you. GERRY Thanks. GERRY Moderation in all things. GERRY Especially moderation. STELLA Moderation. STELLA There's something I'd like to talk to you about. // STELLA Hmm? STELLA Gerry, I'm tired of living the way we do. STELLA I keep... STELLA I keep feeling at a loose end, you know, at home. STELLA What with Michael gone and... and it doesn't sound like there's going to be any more grandchildren. STELLA What's my role? STELLA What if we've cut the cloth of our lives all wrong? STELLA There's too... STELLA great a sense of drift. STELLA And I keep thinking... I keep thinking, Gerry, that I... I... I want to do something better. GERRY What do you mean, better? Better in what way? STELLA I want to live a more devout life. STELLA It's an unfashionable word nowadays, I know... GERRY There's nothing wrong with you, GERRY is there? STELLA Not in any physical sense, no. GERRY No, no. Yes, but hang on a minute, Stella. Just hang on. No. It's.. STELLA No, no, no, there's nothing STELLA wrong with me. Gerry, calm yourself. No. STELLA But, I'd like to make an appointment. You know, the place we, we visited this morning. Just to speak STELLA to someone. I mean, the talk was that it's a good place STELLA for women like me who want to live a more religious life. STELLA A... a community STELLA of like-minded women, interested in... in exploring the big questions. GERRY And there's somebody in there with all the answers, is there? STELLA These are questions that you have to answer for yourself, Gerry. GERRY We should order, I'm famished. STELLA Did you take your statins. GERRY Yeah. STELLA Thank you. GERRY Er, are you um... any easier in your mind about yesterday? GERRY See, I'm trying to remember what was said. STELLA Unlucky with the weather, haven't we? GERRY Stella STELLA Let's eat. We should eat. GERRY Oh, she's thought of everything. GERRY What is it, love? STELLA Do you remember Schindler's List? At the end? STELLA The pebbles on the gravestones? The little tokens? STELLA I noticed something similar at the end, on the wee shelf. STELLA I used to do that book with so many classes in school. And so I thought... (LAUGHS) STELLA I thought, Why don't I leave something? GERRY Yeah, and what's wrong with that? STELLA Oh, it's stupid. GERRY Says who? STELLA I've not right. GERRY Why? It's a perfectly legitimate gesture. STELLA No, it's STELLA shameful is what it is. STELLA I'm not even Jewish. GERRY Come on, Stella. Don't take things so seriously. // STELLA Gerry, if you can't take the Holocaust seriously GERRY You GERRY know what I mean, right? You felt something, right? You took action. You did a thoughtful thing. STELLA No. I did a STELLA selfish thing. To make myself feel better. There's a difference. STELLA Why is anything spiritual so impossible for you to grasp? GERRY Cake? STELLA Cake? AIDAN How you doin ? GERRY Pint of stout. thanks. GERRY And a... large whiskey. No ice. GERRY Are you, er... from Derry? Donegal? AIDAN Derry. GERRY Ah. GERRY I studied there for a while. GERRY Magee college. AIDAN Oh, yeah? GERRY Yeah. A bit before GERRY your time, obviously. AIDAN Don't tell // AIDAN me. Accountant? GERRY Architect. AIDAN Same again? GERRY TO AIDAN Graduated in the mid-seventies GERRY and then as luck would have it Leon McCormick took me on. GERRY He was a big architect in Belfast back then. And then they burnt the entire bloody place to the ground. Petrol bomb. No one was killed, thank God. Aye, but all that work, though. You know? Years and years of hard work up in smoke. GERRY Ireland's fight for fucking freedom. GERRY It wasn't long after that that we left. AIDAN To? GERRY Glasgow. AIDAN Miss it much? GERRY Work? AIDAN Home. GERRY You know, erm... we used to have these scale models. GERRY There was cars GERRY the size of Dinky toys. Trees as GERRY small as those little cotton buds. GERRY You know? Tiny figurines. Mini churches, libraries, streets. GERRY Windows were made out of cellophane. GERRY They were miniscule. GERRY They were disarchitects, those fellas. GERRY The end of human decency // GERRY in the name of religion. GERRY I can still smell it. The black char. GERRY Yes, they certainly levelled GERRY my career, anyway. GERRY Strictly third division after that. GERRY That was on a good day. AIDAN Hm. GERRY Ah, would you look at the dome on that. GERRY Norman Foster eat your heart out. GERRY Taste texture, temperature, perfect. GERRY Some people say the black stuff transforms you, you know, brings out the worst in you. Not me. I love people. I've always loved people. I'm a people person. (LAUGHS) GERRY Stella... STELLA Do you know what I'd like to do tonight? GERRY What? STELLA Something fun. GERRY The railway men GERRY would leave their burning lanterns outside the bordello doors. GERRY Red lanterns. Red light district. STELLA Charming. STELLA Oh. GERRY I hesitate to say what turns me on but this certainly isn't it. STELLA I just feel so sorry for them. GERRY Aye. STELLA The lighting is awful. GERRY I know. That's UV lighting. GERRY The same thing the butchers used to use to kill the flies. GERRY I know. GERRY What's it called? BARWOMAN Jenever. GERRY An ant could piss more. BARWOMAN Before you English had gin we had jenever. GERRY TO BARWOMAN I'm not English. BARWOMAN With a beer it's very // good. GERRY Here we go. GERRY There. STELLA Oh. What are we drinking? GERRY Jenever. STELLA What? GERRY Jenever. First you drink the beer. Then you drink the er... STELLA Jenever? GERRY Jenever. STELLA Ha. GERRY Cheers. STELLA Cheers. STELLA Holy Mary Mother of God. STELLA Same again? STELLA What bliss to be away from all that noise. GERRY Aye. GERRY What? STELLA Gerry. STELLA Look. STELLA Come on. STELLA Oh, you're beautiful. STELLA Hm. STELLA Morning. GERRY What's that for? STELLA Body. GERRY Think it would do anything for my body? GERRY What's the occasion? STELLA Well, I thought I'd go back to the Begijnhof again. GERRY The vomiting miracle place? GERRY Er... do you want me to go with you? STELLA No, thank you. No. STELLA Oh. STELLA Good morning. I wonder if you could help me? HENNIE Sit down, there. STELLA Oh. Thank you. STELLA Excuse me. Excuse me. I... I... I... I have a plane to catch. A flight. HENNIE Please sit. STELLA No, no. So... Is, is there anyone else that I...? KATHY Hello, again. STELLA Oh, hello. Oh. KATHY Um STELLA Oh, sorry. KATHY Oh, sorry. No, no, no STELLA Just KATHY Is there a package for me? HENNIE Yes, here. That woman over there is in a hurry KATHY Ok. I'll go and talk to her. HENNIE Ok KATHY Hi. Um... STELLA Hi. KATHY I'm sorry. Hennie is very busy right now. KATHY But maybe I can help you with something? STELLA That would be lovely, yeah. KATHY My house is just down there. STELLA Right. STELLA Oh... The gardens are so beautifully kept. KATHY Yeah. In the summer they're extraordinary. Especially in the evenings with the night-scented stock. STELLA Oh. It's so quiet. KATHY It's a metre lower than the outside world. The noise goes over its head somehow. KATHY This is me here. STELLA Oh. KATHY Stairway to heaven. KATHY The only disadvantage is when you want a grand piano. STELLA Maybe stick to the violin. STELLA Oh, it's lovely. STELLA Minimalist. KATHY Sit yourself down, I'll make us some tea. STELLA Thank you. KATHY So what KATHY can I do for you, Stella? STELLA Well, um... KATHY Oh, do you need sugar? STELLA Er, no, thank you. STELLA I suppose I just wanted to make an enquiry. STELLA I was in Amsterdam STELLA some thirty odd years ago. KATHY Ah-hmm. STELLA Teacher training conference. KATHY Are you a teacher, KATHY Stella? STELLA I was. KATHY Me too. STELLA Oh. STELLA For years I was an Irish woman living in Scotland teaching English. KATHY An Irish woman in the Netherlands teaching comparative religion and maths. STELLA Oh. Right. Well, that was when I first heard about it. You know, the set-up here. Ah. STELLA But... back then er, there was no urgency. KATHY What s the urgency now? STELLA I want to live a more valuable life, Kathy. To make a contribution. However small. You know, so I suppose, really, I just wanted to find out about the life here, you know. How someone like me might go about applying to become part of this. KATHY This? STELLA The order. The sisterhood. KATHY Stella, I don't know where you've been getting your information from, but there's no religious order now. Not anymore. KATHY There hasn't been a sister living here since nineteen-seventy-one. STELLA Oh... Well, what is there? KATHY Affordable living for KATHY anyone who can afford it. STELLA So the sisterhood is a figment of my imagination? KATHY No. The sisterhood is real, but KATHY the religious aspect... the religious aspect has all but disappeared. STELLA So, I've got this all wrong. KATHY It's possible still for women to live KATHY here. The only criteria is that you must be prepared to live by yourself. Older than KATHY thirty. Younger than sixty-five. STELLA Well, that rules me out, then. KATHY Oh, no. I don't KATHY believe it. STELLA The other hitch is that I'm married. Though I'm not sure how much marriage we've got left in us. STELLA Can I STELLA ask you,... Are... are you... KATHY A Catholic? STELLA Right. STELLA Do you still practice? You know, prayer and so forth? STELLA Kathy, I... I want to tell you something. It... it's something I've never really told anyone. STELLA I was involved in an accident. This was years ago. It was our first summer together as husband and wife. I was pregnant. I mean, very, very, heavily pregnant. It was unseasonably hot. It... too hot for tights, anyway. STELLA Somebody was ambushing somebody else. I'm not sure how long I'd been running for, but all of a sudden running became falling, and falling became not moving. Sprawled. At first, I worried that I'd wet myself. And then I thought, you know, it must be my, my waters, you know. My waters must have broken. KATHY Hmm. STELLA But then, of course, I realised. So, I said a prayer. As I lay there on the street, not... not knowing one way or the other what was going to happen. I said the only prayer I could remember. An act of contrition. And I knew that wasn't right. I knew that wasn't what I wanted. I mean, that's to save yourself. I knew that and I wanted to save my baby. So, I said.... I said, 'Lord, spare the child inside my womb, and I will devote the rest of my life to you. Lord, let my baby live and I will devote the rest of my life to you. Now, either it was a miracle, STELLA or, as Gerry would say, the wee one must have ducked, but the bullet passed STELLA right through me, in one side and out the other. The only damage was that I wouldn't be able to have any more children. STELLA But that vow. That pledge. Kathy. That bargain there is a debt to be paid and I've been looking for a way to pay it ever since. STELLA I've never breathed a word of this to, to anyone, not even to Gerry. STELLA But, here I am...at my age, and... and I've failed. I'm a failure. GERRY You still haven't told me how your meeting went. STELLA No, I don't suppose I have. AIRPORT ANNOUNCEMENT are ready for you to proceed to departure gate number forty-two. AIRPORT ANNOUNCEMENT If you AIRPORT ANNOUNCEMENT see any unattended luggage or anything suspicious please contact a member of staff immediately. STELLA You'll do yourself damage. GERRY As if you would care. STELLA Pardon? GERRY You heard me. Oh, Jesus, give me peace. GERRY Oh, for God's sake. STELLA Oh. Here. STELLA Gerry, when we get home... STELLA I'd like to put the flat up for sale and then I want to get a place of my own. GERRY You'd be better off waiting till summer. More chance of getting a better price. STELLA Gerry, you're not listening to me. I can't go on living the way we do. I won't. STELLA I mean, the drink. If I mention it, I'm a nag. If I don't then I'm complicit. STELLA Do you not think I don't see it? Smell it? STELLA Yes, I suppose you could go on doing it behind my back until you've no liver left... STELLA But it's not just the drinking. It's... it's... it's the deception STELLA that goes along with it. It's ruining you. GERRY Says you. STELLA Well, it's ruining me, that's for sure. GERRY I... wouldn't know about that. STELLA You used to be so considerate. What's happened to you? STELLA These days you're... you're nothing but appetite. GERRY Okay, fine then. I'll stop. Okay? Right? No, I will. I'll quit. STELLA Oh, Gerry GERRY No, look, I mean it... if... if you're serious about this then I am too. STELLA I've STELLA heard it all before. GERRY No.... Uh... look. I... I can do it, okay. We can... I... I can change. I mean, I gave up the cigarettes, didn't I? GERRY You think I don't know how to change? Uh? You think I... I... don't know what this stuff is doing to me? Sure I hate myself as much as you do when I'm drinking. STELLA Well, then, why in God's name do you put yourself through it? GERRY Because GERRY I hate myself even more when I'm not. STELLA What about my faith? GERRY What about it? STELLA We believe in different things. GERRY So? GERRY I mean, we've always known that. STELLA But It's STELLA gotten so much worse, Gerry. I mean... The mockery. GERRY No, I GERRY have never mocked you, Stella. STELLA Oh, well if that's not mockery then I don't know what is. GERRY It's... it's... GERRY a debate, right? We're talking about debating the...the greatest GERRY deception that we've known in our entire lives. STELLA No. No. We are talking about respect. GERRY Stella! STELLA The joking and the poking fun and STELLA the derision and scorn. I mean, it... STELLA It's like you... you have no idea STELLA how much you hurt me and... Or maybe you do and you just don't care anymore. I'm not sure which is worse. GERRY Surely, Stella, then I have to be allowed my truth. The truth. STELLA You're doing it again. You're dismissing me. STELLA All I want is to feel close, you know? It's too much. GERRY It's still chucking it down. GERRY Sweet, modom? GERRY Stella... Er... my being with you is the most wonderful thing there is. I adore you. And when I think of the future all I think about is you. GERRY And I wish I had been there with you in Belfast, and I know that I'll never be able to share in what happened to you that day. GERRY But erm... I... I won't ever be able to accept your version of events. And I'll tell you why. Because passing through this world beside you, that's the real miracle. GERRY The miracle is you. STELLA That... GERRY Look. GERRY Is that a plane? STELLA It's not moving. STELLA I think it's the morning star. GERRY Do you think we'll ever get away? STELLA Hmm. We can only hope.