The Loved One Top of the Lake

I've only been back two weeks, but I've started work

and I really think that's going to stabilise me.

-I heard you were getting married.

-Cinnamon is gone in the night.

She's unhappy.

It's best she goes home.

-You didn't see Cinnamon?

-She's not there, she's gone.

"Dear Robin Griffin, birth mum, you gave me the gift of life.

"Thank you for having me."

What's happened to our baby, hmm?

If I'd got in her way, she'd kill me.

Alexander is asking for our permission to marry Mary.

Hello, darling. You want to tell me what you saw?

LOUD SUCKING

'HUMMING'

HE HUMS TO HIMSELF

SHE GIGGLES

I'm getting married.

To me?

Do you want to get married?

-To you?

-Mm-hm.

Um, I don't know.

Marriage seems to just fuck things up.

People are not so honest.

Well, I'm telling you, aren't I?

That's honest.

Yes, but who are you marrying?

-A girl.

-A girl...

..who I've known...

..since I was a boy.

THUNDER RUMBLES

PHONE RINGS

No, no.

Just relax, we'll get it.

I will.

It's probably the beer. Will you tell them where we are?

Hello?

Johnno?

Do I look like Hansel in these socks?

Can you walk any faster?

-No, not really, the bag is heavy.

-Then leave it.

-Leave it?

-Yeah, just dump it. I have to be somewhere.

-What about the plastic?

Fuck it, I'll get it later, run.

-Can you run?

-I'll try.

Johnno.

Johnno!

SIRENS BLARE

SHE SCREAMS

THEY LAUGH, BRIDGE CLANKS

-Who's all this?

-I'm his drug and alcohol counsellor.

This is his lawyer and his sister, and...

-Five minutes, you know the drill.

-Yeah.

-Five.

-Yeah, I heard you.

Start the ceremony.

Shall we wait for your fiance to dress?

No.

Just begin.

We are here today to witness and celebrate the marriage

and love vows of Jonathan Brian Mitcham

and Robin Elizabeth Griffin.

Cut to the vows.

Four minutes!

Robin and Johnno have decided to avow themselves to each other...

-Who's she?

-What?

..and that is a good thing for them...

The girl in your cell.

..for the community and for the universe.

Hitch-hiker.

I don't know.

Robin, it's just a bit of leaf, nothing.

No street value.

It's legal in America.

-Robin...

-And man and woman of the feminine and the masculine...

Robin?

Wait, who's this?

-What? Oh, you...

-Who's this whore?

-..slack prick!

-Jonathan, you're a show pony! What the fuck?!

-Slut face!

-You, Miss Piggy, in your fucking pigtails!

We'll be waiting for you, miss!

Soft-cock Mitcham!

VEHICLES APPROACH

ALL CHATTER

Eat something.

I have to go.

I have to work, I have to...

It's OK.

We hate our boyfriends, too.

-He could be out on Monday.

-I'd say sooner.

There's no way they'll hold him, not for leaf.

It's a good thing you didn't have his kid.

-Three.

-Yeah.

Nature telling you something?

I have to go.

-Johnno's not even family.

-He's not family?

Not even our family. No DNA. His fucking mother cheated on Matt.

-Yeah, poor fucking Matt.

-Johnno's mum was disloyal, he's disloyal.

It's bad blood.

He's disloyal, it's his blood!

We shall leave her!

-BOTH:

-No blood, no loyalty!

Keep going. OK, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, what do you reckon?

ALL YELL AND HOLLER

INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER

Homicide.

Do you think they're going to let us run this case?

If the victim is low visibility.

What have you got, badge?

It's not pretty, mate.

HE COUGHS

Fucking hell.

Asian female.

Any missing persons triggered?

No, no-one reporting missing.

-OK, I've got some calls to make.

-Mm-hm.

You ladies want to run this case?

Certainly.

You go with the government contractor and the body?

To the morgue, yes.

Oi! Fetch my jacket, would you?

No, she can't.

What? What's YOUR problem?

Respectfully, it's not her job.

-Do I get the jacket?

-Yes, please, I'm getting cold.

You single?

Make it look like we're discussing the case.

-You're new here. Are you single?

-That's irrelevant.

Yeah, but are you single?

It's personal.

Yeah, I'm trying to be personal.

Oh, yeah. Thatta girl.

Come on.

-Look, if this blows up...

-Yeah, I know. You'll take it back.

-There you go, sweetheart.

-Thanks, girlfriend.

See, that's how easy it is.

Be in touch.

'Now, what are you doing back here?'

I thought we'd got rid of you. When was it? Four, five years ago?

Mm-hm.

Put that gown on, keep the whiff out of your clothes.

You know, if I'd have had a bigger penis,

I would've tried to marry you.

Thank you, Ray.

I don't want to get married.

I was trying to solicit sympathy. I just want you to look at me.

Thank you.

Oh, you're sad.

I was sad...

till I turned 50.

What happened at 50?

Changed partners.

He's a guy.

You didn't flinch.

Not bad.

I don't think I'm gay. I'm just a lover. Come on.

Let's check out China Girl.

That's temporary until you come up with an ID.

Should you be taking photographs?

So...

China Girl.

CAMERA BEEPS ON

-You sure she's Asian?

-Well, it's really just the hair texture.

The body's been in the water a long time, and by the looks

of the facial damage, she's been dropped in from a height.

There's really too much swelling and discolouration to be sure.

-Is that on?

-Yes.

We have - female.

Asian hair-type - length, 57cm approximately.

Age, by skin texture and teeth, early 20s.

Oh, we have a visitor.

Hi. Adrian Butler, my superintendent,

sent me to watch for experience.

I'm Police Constable Miranda Hilmarson.

-I hope that's OK.

-That's fine.

Have you signed in? We like that sort of thing around here.

That face is in very bad shape.

Will you make a police identikit using this face?

I don't think that's possible.

Now, possible cause of death... Strangulation.

See the bruising, there?

Could be a gasper.

-Erotic asphyxiation?

-Mm.

It's not very common in women.

True.

Scalpel, Bernard.

Adrian didn't say you were coming.

OK.

He wants me to shadow you.

Why?

-I can go.

-It's OK. Just... He really should have told me, that's all.

I'll let him know that.

-No, I'll tell him.

-Oh, got something here.

She was pregnant.

Oh...

It's a boy.

He's very well-preserved.

That'll be all the salt water.

Um... 17, 20 weeks' gestation.

So...

-Make it a double murder.

-Should do.

-How long will it take to get DNA on the baby?

-Two, three days.

I'll push it.

What will you do with it after?

Technically, it's still a foetus, so I will sew him back in,

nice and neat, where he belongs.

Yeah. Barbecue Tuesday.

Fancy a steak?

Across the road. Just the two of us.

Ray, I'm working on a case. It's at a vital stage.

15 minutes.

-Another time, I promise.

-Well, I tried. Remember that.

Tried what?

Honestly, angel, you are enlivened by dead matter.

OK, Ray.

I've got a case.

-And I care what happened.

-I care.

I don't take the corpse home with me.

Who are your loved ones, Robbie?

What is going on?

Am I bleeding from the nose, or blood coming out of my ears?

-What's the matter?

-You need someone in this business. Too tough.

Where's your loved one?

Lying. Promising. Fucking up.

I'm all alone, OK?

Believe it or not, I'm happy.

Hey, Robbie.

What happened at the morgue?

-He started the autopsy, and we...

-No, no, no. I mean with Hilmarson.

Nothing.

I gather differently.

I think I'm probably better off working on my own.

No, you're not.

What's wrong with her?

She's got ideas about me, like she's a fan or something.

-HE LAUGHS

-Well, give her a week,

you'll cure her of that.

-Bev, could you get Constable Hilmarson in here?

-Yep.

You know no-one else will team up with you two.

You're the leftovers, so, you know, just get on with it.

Constable.

Detective Senior Constable Griffin.

Don't let her go anywhere without you.

Pretty basic stuff.

There's been a complication.

She was pregnant.

The pathologist delivered the baby when I was there.

17 weeks, he thought.

Jesus.

Excuse me. Sorry.

Everything's going to Forensics. ISPR and DAL.

OK.

Can you check on your buddy, yeah?

It's driving me out of my fucking mind.

I can't sleep at night.

I'm going to have to call you back.

-Yeah. OK. Thank you. Bye.

-PHONE BEEPS OFF

Everything OK?

Yeah, I'm feeling a bit fragile. Um...

You know, it's hor... It's hormones.

What kind of hormones?

Baby hormones.

I'm pregnant.

18 weeks. The same as the victim's, and it caught me off-guard.

Yeah. OK.

You'll want to give that up.

What?

Oh, yeah. Yes.

Anyway, the homicide detectives are here.

OK. I'll be right up.

Hi.

So, there's a bit of a theory that Carson and I have been discussing.

-Uh-huh?

-We think that women want their man to be a calm point,

-so they can spin out emotionally and go chaotic.

-That's right.

And when they circle back in, they want to see their man cry.

-Can you turn the screen on?

-Mm-hm.

Ironically, we think that's when the men actually go underground,

and they get cunning.

You know - porn, affairs, prostitutes.

Interesting theory. Is that what happened to you?

No, I haven't cried in seven years.

Sarge.

Boss.

Hi.

So, Robin, you lead off and tell us where we are.

Yes.

We're calling this a murder case,

because circumstances indicate that's a high probability.

-There's also the death of the foetus.

-That's not murder.

I mean, it should be, but then, uh, the baby has to be born,

"a person in being".

We have a serious problem with identification.

The face is very damaged,

even beyond computer reconstruction imaging.

And nobody's registered a missing Asian female in the last ten days.

We went beyond that to 30 days - still nothing.

So, not likely to be an Asian Australian, then.

What about the DNA?

DNA and fingerprints have been taken and run against our files.

No match.

Immigration came up with nothing, which means that either

she's Australian or she's come in under a false passport.

-We check the suitcase?

-What for? A travel tag?

They can be that stupid.

My guess - Asian student working in the sex industry. It's a loophole.

They finance their studies by working in brothels,

ministering to creeps.

Hey, steady on...!

-2%, maybe.

-That's 2,000, boss.

I mean, you go to these colleges, there's no-one there.

They never intended to go to school.

Yes, it's a high likelihood.

But what we have here is a crime of passion.

She's from a poor family in Thailand, doesn't know anyone,

can't speak the language.

Hoping to make some money to send back to her family.

She probably arrived on a brothel subsidy with a big debt.

She's had unprotected sex and got herself pregnant.

Some kind of crazy relationship with a customer or a pimp.

Course, the facts give us a lot less than that.

Yeah. Nothing.

No. No, no. Not nothing.

We have the foetus.

A paternal link can be established.

It's never been done, but technically,

if we're holding the father's DNA on our system, we've got a lead.

SHE EXHALES SHAKILY

THEY CHATTER INDISTINCTLY

MAN WHISTLES SLOWLY

What can I get you?

Can I just get a glass of water with some lemon in it, please?

-I'll grab a cappuccino, thanks.

-Can I just get a water without lemon?

-Yeah, just waters for everyone, thanks.

-OK. All right.

-Cheers.

-She keeps coming up to you. It has to be a sign.

-It's like a neon sign.

She's over here because she's a waitress.

She gets paid to come visit us.

Right? If you really want to hit on her,

what you've got to do is you go over to her.

Oh... How would that look?

-Want to see?

-Yeah.

Is he...actually going to do this?

The Continuing Adventures Of The Fuck Wizard.

She's smiling.

"Get away from me" smiling, or is it "smiling" smiling?

I think it's smiling like, I think...

Here it comes.

-And the conqueror returns...

-Pickles, boys.

..with a small tub of gherkins.

What happened?

She likes Vietnamese food.

So, you didn't ask her out?

No, I gave her a bit of masculine bravado,

and she's kind of still thinking about it.

So, you just bought some pickles?

No, what I did was transcended the Friend Zone, mate.

No coins, just talk about adult stuff. "Hey, you look cute.

"What's up?" "Oh, this guy's giving me attention.

"I can feel the pheromones burning. Real hot stuff."

The problem is, Nathan, that you actually can't

-ask a real girl out, can you?

-What?

Your problem is you're a little bore-girl.

You bore chicks to death, right?

Probably like that chick found dead at Bondi.

One of your bore victims, mate.

-Which one?

-Death by boredom.

-What are you talking about?

Don't you watch the news? Come on, get it up. It's been everywhere.

That's probably your GFE, mate.

Have a look.

She's in, like, a bag or something.

Yeah. It's pretty sad, actually.

Have you guys been booking her?

-We tried to, but..

-You gave her such a great rating.

-Long legs, big breasts, dark skin...

-"Good noises. She was going for it.

"The best bit was spooning with her afterwards."

ALL TEASE AND LAUGH

Prozzos die if you don't fuck them, mate. They're like plants.

You've got to water them with cock.

THEY LAUGH

Mate, we've just started. Come on, mate.

-We've got business to talk about. We're not finished.

-Chill out.

-I just need to check on something.

-Are you serious?

-He's actually going.

-Don't worry.

INTERCOM BEEPS

INTERCOM BUZZES

She usually sees me for a one-hour GFE.

What?

"Girlfriend experience".

Where you buy this one?

Gardeners Road Chinese.

-No good. Bad food.

-Cinnamon likes them, so...

-She had before?

-Yeah, she likes them.

OK. I get her.

-Just wait.

-Thank you.

Mahlee?

Can I see you, please?

Are you feeling better?

Please.

OK.

Room four.

I take this.

No food in sex room.

You enjoy.

Shower?

Wash your mister.

Is Cinnamon...?

Shower first, yeah?

Mm.

OK.

SHOWER RUNS

Wow. Yeah. OK, good.

You big boy, huh?

Is Cinnamon here? Is she busy?

You like?

Mmm.

Yes.

Um... Uh...

Oh, you funny boy, huh?

No. I'm not trying to be.

You want spank? You can spank. I don't mind.

No, really. I'm just...

-Sorry.

-Funny boy.

SHE LAUGHS

-Uh, look. This isn't really working for me.

-Why? What wrong?

Hmm?

Hmm?

You like? Hmm? Come.

You like?

-Something wrong?

-Yeah. That's not Cinnamon.

-You told me that was Cinnamon.

-New Cinnamon. Old Cinnamon away.

There was an Asian girl found on the beach.

No. Gone to Canberra.

You love Cinnamon.

But she is prostitute. You know that.

She blew me without a condom.

Yeah, and then after, she say, "I don't normally do that." Yeah?

Pretend.

She can't go with you to Gold Coast.

She has to work, have to fuck with customer.

-She has to pay back a lot of money.

-To who? How much does she owe?

30,000.

That's 300 guys.

Come.

WOMAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

Sit.

Sit down.

WOMAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

Now, which one you want?

You want lady boy?

-Uncut. You try? Very popular.

-MOBILE PHONE RINGS

I have a big cock.

No, thanks.

-Hello? How can I help you?

-Do you like to holiday?

Cinnamon and I - we're going to go on a holiday.

She gone.

She got upset.

You know she don't understand Puss.

Who?

Puss. He teach us we are victim.

Oppressed. We have to be strong.

Who is this guy?

Puss, he...he very, very good teacher.

Sometime, he too angry.

He hurt us, but he very good teacher.

It is because they want to remind me of...

This one, Puss! ALL CALL OUT

Puss, you hungry?

No, thank you. Who's this?

He in love with Cinnamon.

No, sit down.

-In love with Cinnamon?

-Yeah.

You a student?

Yeah.

Philosophy? IT?

Pretty much.

Got a big schlong, yeah?

THEY LAUGH

THEY CHATTER INDISTINCTLY

Hi, Mary.

This woman is part of a sex workers' collective,

and she's pretty anti-cop.

She was defensive on the phone, but we need her help,

so don't scare her.

-Scare her?

-Yeah.

-What do you mean?

-Just let me do the talking.

Oh, no. No, it's not my talking, is it?

It's this.

Just try listening.

-Yes?

-Hello. Eastern Coast police.

Linda, please.

Yeah, if you'd just like to wait over there,

-and I'll send a message through now.

-Thank you.

DOG BARKS AND PANTS

Hey!

SHE FUSSES OVER DOG

-Is she friendly?

-She's friendly, yeah.

Hello! Hello!

'So what makes you think she's a sex worker?'

It makes me sad that you'd jump to that conclusion.

It's safer to work in a brothel than to walk home at night,

there's always other ladies around, someone to help,

and now that we're legal, we can call the police.

We are checking other avenues,

but at the moment, we want to know of any Asian women who are missing.

We don't have an ID yet.

Even if you did, she'd most likely be working under a false passport.

Criminal networks coach girls with good English to pass

their interviews and get the student visas.

But the photos would be different?

I know one girl who did 26 interviews.

We all look the same to you.

Do we look the same to you?

PHONE BUZZES

I've got to take this. Sorry.

Robin Griffin.

Yes.

Yes, I left it.

I hope that was OK.

Of course.

I can come tomorrow, any time.

Great.

Thanks. Bye.

SHE BREATHES SHAKILY

May I ask... Do you have a photo of her?

Um...

She came in this.

Where's the girl?

You don't want to see it.

Show me.

I'll do what I can. I speak Korean and understand Thai quite well.

MIRANDA SPEAKS NEARBY

I would really like to...

I'd really like to know how many girls you have working here

full-time, part-time...

MUSIC DROWNS OUT SPEECH

MUSIC DROWNS OUT SPEECH

INDISTINCT CHATTER

LAUGHTER AND CHATTER

MUSIC DROWNS OUT SPEECH

Uh, yeah. Oh, sorry. Sorry, I'm just in the middle of something...

I make it six missing or unknown.

Yeah, one girl, Charlie, and not her real name,

from Cheapest Escorts, didn't come in to work this week.

Left a text message, and then her phone went down.

We'll follow her up.

Yeah, there's another five presumed moved or returned home,

but this one from...yeah, Silk 41, is one of them.

Shop name - Cinnamon, who they believe has gone to Canberra.

She's not responding to phone calls,

and one of the girls has her passport for safekeeping.

This is the photo page.

Probably a fake photo. A fake name.

Oh...

Prada. Look, there's the label, there.

Could be fake.

Fake-real, like from Hong Kong.

No, they're real.

How many guys would that be?

Well, for her? One.

Have you ever thought about being an escort?

No.

Have you?

I've had offers. I think it's my height, you know? I'm a curiosity.

I've thought about it, because the money's so good, but the work...

What?

A bit bleak.

MEN CHUCKLE

-What have we got?

-We're on to something.

Well, good. What is it?

Call girls wear Prada.

-You having coffee?

-Yeah.

MOBILE PHONE BEEPS

Take a seat.

Panda's gone.

What?

Oh, yeah. I gave that to, uh, Patrick.

-I have to go. I need a couple of hours.

-OK.

Hey, Adrian....

Do you go to brothels?

Yeah. I mean...

Well, I used to.

Is this her?

She's too young, isn't she?

You're putting on your jacket? Why?

Pyke, don't flirt.

-Remember.

-Yes.

-Please.

-Yes.

Robin?

Hi, I'm Pyke, Mary's father.

Please, come in.

Excuse my office.

I think I explained. Mary's not here.

She hasn't read your note yet.

Julia and I thought it best if we met first.

You're really looking at me.

Are we similar?

Um, pardon me, Robin. This is Mary's mother, Julia.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-We'd like you to know that we both really...

-Pyke, um...

Are you going to have a coffee? Because I'd like one.

-Yes, thank you. Flat white. Are you...?

-No.

He has one in the morning. That's it.

Very disciplined.

I'm going to have one.

That's right. I'm having one.

-Good.

-OK.

-Tell Bettina, then.

-Yep.

I'd like to say thank you, for my daughter.

But at the moment, she is a nightmare.

I'd hoped that it would stop, but...

-I think it's actually getting worse.

-A nightmare?

She's a teenager. Isn't that the definition...

Don't dissemble, Pyke. You know. You know it is worse than that.

-Did anything happen?

-Um...

Well, a while back,

when she was 12, she got very excited about contacting you.

She asked us if we'd mind, and... Particularly me.

We wondered that it might not turn out how she'd hoped,

that the letter might not find you,

but she insisted that she wanted to try.

She didn't care what happened.

Did you receive the letter?

Of course you did. How else would you have our address?

Yes, I did.

And you didn't think it necessary to reply?

It was necessary.

But I couldn't.

You couldn't?

No.

-Julia, she is the mother, as well.

-Is she?

This is... This is a bad idea.

You withheld from her.

Mothers don't do that.

They reassure their children. That's what they do.

I... I can't... I need to go.

JULIA SIGHS

As time passed and she didn't get an answer, she thought,

"Oh, well, it must be the wrong address."

But she couldn't let it rest.

She started to think somehow she'd written something off-putting.

-Or something... Something indelicate.

-Indelicate, yeah.

That was the word - "indelicate".

She agonised over that letter every single day,

wondering about every little detail.

Why didn't she get a reply? Why? Why?

And then her personality changed.

She started to speak with this sort of American accent,

like she was a newsreader, fakely pleasant.

It was bizarre, painfully bizarre.

Yeah, but that's not happening any more.

No, it's changed now.

It's different again, and now she's rude, and she's sometimes violent.

Julia, it's not always that bad.

-It's not.

-Anyway, there's someone waiting for me in the car.

My girlfriend.

I can exaggerate sometimes, but...

..your baby has been loved by me very much, and now she hates me.

There are other reasons for Mary's behaviour.

We're getting a divorce.

Oh.

Julia fell in love with the French teacher at her school.

Was he married too?

He is actually a she, and, yeah, yeah, she was married too.

Mary is angry on my behalf.

She attacked Julia over it, the whole...lesbian aspect.

At five years old, and I think she was about eight...

And this... This was her first pony, Sovereign.

The saddle went underneath his stomach. She broke her arm.

We wanted you to know the situation.

Last week, we met her boyfriend. He's 42. She's 17.

How old was she when you brought her home for the first time?

She was two days old.

Two days?

That was the last time I saw her.

I was 16.

I don't... I don't think I can help.

I'm not her mother.

I just... I gave birth to her. That's all.

Personally, I think she needs to meet you.

LAUGHTER AND CHATTER

-Hi.

-Hi.

-See you later.

-Yeah, I'd love that.

Thought I'd cook dinner for you.

Thanks. It's nice of you.

Listen, I hope you don't mind. I asked your friend to dinner.

Oh. She's not a friend, but OK.

We work together.

So, Miranda, I take it you're in the law enforcement trade, too?

Yeah. Oh, have you got an ashtray?

I am giving these up.

Yeah, use this.

So, um, what do you do when you're not cooking green chicken curry?

I do energy work. I do massage. I do Chinese massage.

I, basically, open people up, you know,

to new levels within themselves.

OK. I like the odd massage, but, you know...

For most people, I'm too much.

If you want to give it a try, it'll only take a few minutes.

It's just about being shown the door, really. Here, try this.

-It's good?

-Mm-hm.

-Yeah.

Once that's done, you can step through any time you like.

What about dinner?

Can you watch the chook, Rob?

Sure.

Just turn it down a touch.

OK, let's show me the door.

SHE GIGGLES

Slowly, slowly, approach the door, and open it.

-It's not coming open. It's locked and bolted.

-Hey, that's OK.

-So, reach into your pocket.

-My pocket... But I'm a leopard.

Right.

Now, reach into your leopard-skin...

..to find a key.

Now, take that key...

It's opening.

Now move through...

into this other world.

SHE SOBS

Shhh...

SHE CRIES LOUDLY

MOBILE RINGS

This is Robin.

Yes.

Yes, I can tell by your voice.

Yes, whenever you like.

OK.

Oh, hey. Take it easy. Relax.

Here.

You are going to remember this moment for the rest of your life,

OK?

So concentrate. You're beautiful.

I believe we share a gene pool.

Yes.

It's true. We do.

You can call me Baby. Not Mary. I don't like Mary.

-I want to say I'm sorry that I didn't reply...

-No, I...

I mean, it was an adolescent fantasy. I was 12.

I mean, I thought you were going to ride over the hilltop

and take me away to live a wild life amongst the gipsies.

I know what I want, so if you want to look at the menu...

Yes, I already looked.

You would have had to fight Julia for me, you know?

The child thief. The interloper.

Blood is thicker than water, though.

-What do you want?

-I'll have a strawberry milkshake, thank you.

Uh, iced tea, please.

-Nice. Um, I might not stay very long.

-OK.

So, you're a policewoman? That's hilarious.

Well, I'm not really laughing.

-I'm just wondering if I'm doing anything illegal.

-Oh...

Yes, I'm a detective.

So, what do you wear? How do you know what to wear?

Is there a dress code?

Uh, slacks, suit... This.

What are slacks?

Smart casual trousers. These.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know about slacks.

I'm still sorry.

-I'm sorry I didn't write back.

-It's OK. You found me.

I think you followed me in your car.

No, it's OK. I like it.

So, I'm too much, right?

Too intense, too needy.

Too direct.

It's OK. I can take it.

I think you're amazing.

Amazing?

Why?

Because you're alive.

So alive.

So beautiful.

I'm not beautiful. I have facial and body irregularities.

My nose on the right side is less good than the left,

and my thighs rub together at the top,

and my breasts are small and flat.

You probably thought about aborting me.

That's OK. I mean, you didn't, so, yay.

So, do you know what you want to do?

With my life?

I want to be a wife.

I'm getting married. Did they tell you that?

Dad really likes him, and, yes, Julia is outraged,

but, you know, she's a new lesbian, and sort of political,

so it's bonding for her and Isidore to be outraged together,

especially about "finishing your education", but honestly,

school is so feeble.

Do you love him?

Alexander?

Yes, I adore him.

He, too, wants me educated, but differently.

He's tender and he's caring,

and he lives an actual life in a real world, and he has ideals.

You know, something that my parents strenuously avoid.

I'm going to go, though, because I'm feeling edgy,

and I just wanted to say thank you for having me,

and, you know, thank you for not aborting me.

-So, I might call you again?

-OK. Call me any time.

-OK.

-OK. Um...

-Thanks.

-I'll stay because it's wasteful, and...

-Take it with you.

I know why you didn't contact me.

Do you?

You know I do.

It's OK.

I mean, it's not OK for you,

but it is OK for me.

I'll wear his jeans better than he did.

I'll even kill him for you if you like.

Born to revenge.

My daddy was a rapist, then I shot him and he was dead.

I like you.

I smoke, so... I'm sorry. I just...

That's OK. I smoke, too.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Do you want to have a cigarette together?

-Yeah.

-All right. Cool.

Yes, I was raped...

..and you should know that it wasn't one perpetrator.

OK?

There were three.

Mum and dads...

Shall we do a photo?

Yeah, OK.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

Baby, if you need to see me again...

If you're ever in trouble, just call me.

Call me, OK?

Hey, you know, you wouldn't believe it,

but I have Asian friends who have never been to the beach,

and I was going to take them and teach them to swim,

so if you can swim...

I can swim.

Cool.

Oh, Rob, you didn't need to come in.

Just wanted to speak to you about a strange result.

Come on in.

This is Andy, who I live with.

Hi.

Hi.

Yes, we had a little bit of a problem with the sample.

Couldn't get a true result.

-How do you mean?

-Well, the foetus's DNA wasn't matching China Girl's.

-Really?

-Really.

I suspected contamination, so I took another sample,

sent it off to two labs.

Same results.

I mean, I don't know. You were there.

We both saw this little guy growing in her womb.

Never seen anything like it.

Ray.

I met my daughter today for the first time.

Oh!

She's 17.

HE LAUGHS

My darling, you never told me.

She's completely precious.

Look at that.

She didn't grow up with me.

Ah, well...

There's your wound, Robbie.

I don't know.

I don't feel anything.

No, no. Well, you wouldn't.

Not now.

But you wait, and you will FEEL it!

Ray.

Ray!

Hmm?

China Girl's a surrogate.

That's why there's no match.

-She's a surrogate.

-Course.

She's a surrogate!

Good Lord. Didn't even think of it.

Shit. Modern times, eh?

Come and have a glass, eh, Robbie?

I'm working, Ray.