"LOVE MATHS AND SEX" "Why are these 3 points aligned?" "This one's the middle of the segment." "How was that one drawn up?" "It's the centre of the circle." "3818 multiplied by 132... 3818 multiplied by 132..." "We have that vector." "I've already used the equilateral hypothesis." "It can be used twice." "So why does it work?" "Ah, those two angles are equal." "Then this one is equilateral." "Which gives us a rhombus." "The two vectors are equal." "This one... is a third of that one." "So the 3 points are aligned." "I have some physics too." "How much?" "It's urgent, I have to copy it out." "25 francs then." "And I don't give credit." "Careful, the maths teacher!" "Sabine, can I see you a minute?" "The best from each country go to Brussels for a year." "I'm sure you have a good chance." "But... do we have to pay?" "Just the journey and 3 nights in a hotel for the competition." "But you know... you have to be picked for France first." "This meant planning long term." "A lot of work, over 2 hours a day and unpaid... a loss of about 150 francs." "I'm good at finding solutions, not only in maths." "I'll sleep two hours less." " Coming to eat?" " Ever seen Sabine eating?" "Sometimes I think you're a bit anorexic." "Ease up on school dinners." "They give you spots." "Sabine!" "I don't give a shit about taking the money." "I hate waiters." "They don't do shit, they pick up 15% and you gotta pay them twice." "Anyway, you can't like everybody." "I really can't stand them." ""The media decorate an officer without knowing if he deserves it."" ""People tend to flatter..."" "You replace b with its value, that makes 16..." "You do it." "It's like in class, just stick to the formula." "If it's positive you have 2 solutions, or else no solution with real numbers." "It's easy when you explain it." "And if you weren't so lazy." "5 francs." "You're lucky, a parabola is 15." ""Sexuality is vital for adolescents," ""it brings contact with another body..."" "Not only for adolescents!" "Vital for you too, right?" "Sexuality is vital!" "His expression was so different." "I tried to imagine them, the others, without the smooth foreheads that never reflected troubles, the acne that disgusts me," "the plump rosy cheeks that I find obscene, the wide eyes that see nothing." ""...helps youngsters be confident."" "Now I see what my problem is." "I'm deprived of contact!" "I had a flash that he might think I was shaking down my friends." "Perhaps he was a cop?" "Maybe he was going to intervene?" "Hey!" "I'm not a cigarette machine!" "Hit the road, babe!" " Are the guys from class invited?" " Sure, the girls too." " Madame Bovary in veils?" " Too boring!" " She never talks." " Makes a change!" "Lay a hand on her and you get a knife in your ribs." "Gabrielle!" "Give this to mum, it's for tonight." "Wait, I need 5 francs for a coffee." "Want some chewing gum?" "And a Twix..." "Here's 5 francs for you too." "Coming?" "Not now." "Do your homework, right?" "I've got a message for you!" "Josephine's mum says can you baby-sit Saturday night?" "You said yes?" " Shouldn't I have?" " You did fine!" "Sunday we'll go to a movie, just you and me." "How about that?" "I've scored 150 million!" "I've broken all records!" "Better than your equations!" "She won't buy it." "I can't come Saturday night." "Playing cool or scared of giving in?" "A date with a guy?" "Sabine with a guy?" "Work isn't everything." " What else is there?" " Want me to show you?" "Very funny." "Dating won't get us out of this." "Out of what?" "As luck would have it Josephine's parents got back late, setting off a chain of events." "No more buses so I walked home, obsessed by my equation." "Then I wandered off my route..." "So he was a cop." "Was it simply a coincidence?" "No." "There was a meaning to it all." "Hi!" "Who was that man who crossed my path?" "I didn't see him that day." "Three times in a row can't be accidental." "It's a twist of fate." "The chances of it falling face up:" "One in ten." "Face up three times running:" "One in a thousand." "The probability of meeting him again:" "Infinitesimal." "You're hurting me." "Let go!" "You'll break my arm!" "Hey!" "The bill!" "That's him!" "Three times running!" "I've never trusted probabilities." "I should have used statistics." "Tossing bread and butter isn't destiny." "Why play cops?" "I can't stand cops!" "They wanted to hold me all night because of you." "You know what a night with the cops is like." "Got a cigarette?" "He had a foreign accent and a warm, magical voice... maybe because it was foreign." "I was going to yell at you." "I prefer this to a lecture." "I don't know where to take you..." "It's not my town." "You must know somewhere?" "Where is your town?" "Prague." "The wallpaper's pretty, it goes with the bedspread" "and the carpet is nice and thick." "I don't know this hotel, it seems OK, and they were cool downstairs..." "What...?" "It never occurred to me..." "I'm sorry." "There's no need." "I should have realized..." "Idiot!" "Maybe it's different in Prague... don't blame yourself." "You mustn't do it with a stranger." "Not the first time, it's too important." "Not with me." "Scared?" "Scared?" "I'm saying this for you!" "But I want it to be with you." "It's you I like, not someone else." "Who are you?" "I want to know..." "Do you want us to meet again?" "Look at me." "Sure you can't stay a bit?" "Here's my phone number." "Stupid, huh?" "I thought..." "You did the right thing." "Nothing's free here, you know." "Is that you, Sabine?" "At least apologize!" "I'll tell your mum!" "Exemption?" "This isn't a gym class." "I've agreed with the headteacher and my colleagues so far." "But I'm sorry," "I won't accept this." "You can't follow half the syllabus because some classes clash with your morals." "You can't make me attend a class!" "What if reproduction is in the exam?" "Your parents' letter won't help." " I'm going to the head." " Don't!" "She's honest, she didn't cut class." "I say Muslims hide their bodies to arouse our desire." "And drawing is against your religion." "My face didn't give me away." "No one noticed a thing." "Now will they...?" "The tin..." "If they question me I'll lie while telling the truth, like in logic." "After all, when I say:" ""I am telling a lie"" "am I lying or telling the truth?" "I don't even know your name." "Tell me your name..." "Leave me alone." "What's got into you?" "So it didn't always happen like with them." "Has my mother ever experienced this?" "Have they?" "Don't drop me!" "Hey guys!" "I feel terrific today!" "3000 francs." "How will we pay the summons?" "You shouldn't have emptied the tin." "That 500 francs wouldn't fix it." "I could have won a fortune with Jean-Pierre." "Then there'd be no summons." "He's bad luck for me." "High stakes pay off, he says, so I double my losses!" " Sure." "You halve your chances." " What?" "But you'd have won double if you'd won." "You're more likely to win by playing lots of columns, not a lot on one column." "If you're so smart where's my 3000 francs?" "If there's no money Sabine can write a cheque." "3000 francs!" "By 5:" "6002nd degree equations." "By 15: 200 parabolas." "By 30: 100 derivatives." "A good exam exercise." "But even if I up my prices and only coach 6th formers to make 3000 francs" "I'll have to speed it up." "I'm not alone here..." "I'll call you back." "What is it?" "Sabine's too fast for us." "We're not machines." "We need time to think." "This isn't the Einstein competition." "Want to apply, Emile?" "The selection is still open." "Take it again:" "A - 2, factor of..." "Factor of a squared + a + 2 = 0." "Delta = b squared - 4 ac." "So a - 4 x 2 = - 7..." "No solution." "Hello?" "Jiri please." "What?" "Speaking." "I've woken you up..." "Sorry." "What's the time?" "10.30!" "I'll call you later." "Who is it?" "Sabine, maybe you don't remember me..." "My little robber!" "Where are you?" "Want to come over?" "Hurry up!" "Lend me your bike." "No way!" "I'm going to my mum's." "Walk." "Gimme the keys, I need it now!" "Gonna pull a gun on me too?" "I don't need one." "I'll just tell the physics teacher about that test I did for you..." "You're a bitch." "Get me someone in charge." "You're giving me the runaround!" "I've been waiting half an hour." "What should I do?" "Stay in the dark?" "Send someone over right away." "Yes, it's urgent!" "No, I can't wait." "Not without electricity!" "In the building, maybe in the district." "Thanks a lot!" "The electricity here is just like back home." "I'm glad you called." "Hello." "Is that a Cossack custom?" "Shaving a cheek a day?" "It blew while I was shaving." "They won't fix it." "I can't even offer you coffee." "I'll call them back." "Right." "Where's your fuse box?" "Here it is." " Got any lead wire?" " I don't know." "Let's see your razor." "The fuse must need changing." "What's that?" "It can't be repaired." "Trash it." "Trash it?" "Give it back immediately!" "Trash it, change it, buy it." "Commerce triumphs!" "Reality is extremely... indecent." "It's the same everywhere." "Anyway, don't plug it in again." "I thought you'd hold it against me, I was so eager." "It was so fast, it's never happened to me before..." "To me neither." "No time to fix your image." "Your hair's changed?" "You're even more beautiful." "You're too young to see yourself as you really are." "It's 3000 francs." "The fuse is included." "So love is out of date." "I never thought all the girls in Marivaux's country were whores." "Not all." "Me." "You?" "A whore?" "I'm not used to paying for it." "I don't like it." "Too bad." "Something happened between us, didn't it?" "Stay the afternoon with me." "You think we all live like you?" "What do you want 3000 francs for?" "I told you nothing was free." "I gotta return this bike." "Come back afterwards..." "Give me your number." "I'll call you." "OK, I see." "But if you're not back by tomorrow throw my number away." "Too late." "I know it by heart." "You walk too fast." "You haven't woken up yet." "Woken up for what?" "Waking up properly is vital." "There are only 24 hours in a day, if you miss the beginning you're lost, it's like TV." "They wonder why I'm not rich with such a clever girl." "You see, you walk along dreaming aloud." "Guess I must have missed the beginning somewhere as I can't keep up, it's all too fast for me, all those computers and everything." "I got out of the elevator." "You didn't." "But what good does it do you?" "It helps me convince you that a tumbling dice isn't a magic wand." "You can't live on it." "I've managed so far." "And it's all I can do..." "You can do lots of other things." "We never get to talk just the two of us." "Only when there's a problem." "That's right, but today's different:" "I'm talking, you're answering." "Let's make the most of it!" "You're laughing too!" "No more vacancies today" "They say 6 a.m. But you gotta be here at 5." "Just my luck." "It doesn't matter..." "One week's work is hardly worth it." "There must be a way to get 3000 francs." "This is gonna surprise you:" "300 kms an hour, faster than a car." "Faster...!" " We'll have to get a ticket." " Over there." "Departure date..." "Go on." "You do it, you know how." "It doesn't take reservations." "You can explain to the guard." "Oh, too bad anyway." "You're going!" "We all agreed to buy this ticket!" "You must ask Uncle for 3000 francs!" "Come with me, you can talk to him." " I'm working!" " So I get the crap!" "You're dumping me in it alone?" " Are you going or not?" " Wait!" " My dad's an exam expert." " My ass!" "Really." "He says you sleep 90 minutes four times with a tape of the work playing." "Come to supper, he'll advise you." "Not tonight, she's coaching me." " Does he pass many exams?" " Lots." "Don't let that moron Choquet get you down." "You'll beat him hands down." "We'll get him drunk the night before the exam!" "And you take some speed." "If we can get any..." "It's in ecstasy, I'll give her a tab." "Is there a dope test for maths?" "My lesson!" "Orange juice, beer, vodka?" "I don't know what you like..." "Or the labels." "I took it all." "Have you thought it over?" "Do you want to?" "Let's see what you can do..." "You're the same yet you're different." "So sweet." "The little savage has vanished." "Little girl..." "I don't know what's happening." "That's what it's like when you let go:" "An abyss." "It's not that..." "No one's ever talked to me like you do..." "I'm not used to it..." "You've never been in love?" "The boys I know?" "They... they're not finished." "Finished..." "You're an adult." "Yes." "But an adult so early." "I had to be." "I didn't think a man could be so good." "So gentle..." "So strong..." "So geometrical..." "What's the nearest shape?" "The trapezium?" "More like a heptagon topped with a circle." "Satisfied?" "Sabine, stop this money bullshit!" "Look!" "Think you can have a girl like me for free?" "Everything has a price, huh?" "You'll get what you deserve, little savage." "Was that how he saw me?" "Strange." "I knew the data of the problem." "I saw his solution in the window," "I didn't see how he reached it." "Aren't I worth more?" "Don't you like it?" "When I saw it I thought of you." "Can't we find something else?" "It looks a bit Czech!" "Do you have that in your country?" "Sure..." "It turned people's lives upside down." "The sea!" "That's the only thing we'll never have." "Which one do you want?" "The red one." "Sure you don't regret the dress?" "You don't regret the money?" "Happy?" "I'm cool." "I'll call you." "Bye!" "I just want some respect." "That is a symbol of slavery, denigrating women." " I'm sorry but it is!" " I agree." "Then dressing to seduce you is worse as no one forces us." "So liberate yourselves." "Yeah!" "Do it!" "Free yourselves!" "Come on, you guys!" "Let's liberate ourselves!" "Sabine?" "You must get to work for this exam." "You haven't been selected yet." "It's not easy!" "You must work!" "I'll set you some new problems." "We've discussed the real body, there's a complex body too, an even more abstract notion." "A beautiful construction, purely mathematical... you'll never find it in nature." "Geometry in space needs imagination." "I'm sure you'll enjoy it." "How does it apply to masculine and feminine?" "I can admit they're two different sets, but disjunctive or with an intersection?" "Unless they're overlapping?" "No." "The situation is more symmetrical." "So what's the intersection?" "It can't be an empty set!" "There are mutual points, even if we are different." "I was waiting for you inside." "Had a nice day, little savage?" "Is this Fort Knox?" "Can't we go to your place?" "I have to see a friend from Prague." "But don't worry, I've got your present!" "They won't let me in." "I'm underage." " Underage?" " What does it change?" " Why didn't you tell me?" " You never asked!" "I'm just the same." "A bit older even!" "Underage?" "It doesn't change anything." "Don't you understand?" "It's really serious, I'm risking my neck." "For those waiter's tips" "I was nearly thrown out of France but the theatre manager intervened." "So he was someone special!" "We'd never have got involved." "Working in the theatre gave him time to meet people." "The parameters had changed." "The configuration cop + hooker worked." "But this form was more complex." "How would it turn out?" "Will you stay in France?" "I don't know, it depends how the play does." "You don't live alone?" "Pity!" "I need to see where my friends live, the view from their windows, where their phone is..." "We'll see..." "Go on telling me about your country." "What can I tell you?" "That my life now is as empty as this glass?" "Define empty." "This glass isn't an empty set." "It's empty now but it could contain vodka." "It's simple:" "An empty set is a set of elements with incompatible properties." "Like white blackbirds!" "It looks quite normal to me." "No cracks or chips, it doesn't seem to leak." "A man of 40 with a girl less than half his age." "40 - 15 = 25." "25 is a lot!" "What's the common factor?" "40 over 15 cancelling by 5 gives 8 over 3..." "Only 5 years difference!" "AO squared + OE squared" "= AE squared according to Pythagorus's theorem." "We know OE = A root of 2 over 2... so OE squared = small A squared over 2..." "= half of AC." "Well?" "I don't know." "I did it but..." "Sabine to Brussels!" "They only take 6 from each country." "6!" "Disgusting!" "If we're 150,000, the odds are 1 in 25,000." " Give yourself a break." " The teacher's backing you!" "3818 X 132... 3818 x 132." "Have you gone off monkeys?" "I'm sick of the zoo." "I want to see birds flying." "You're funny, Sabine..." "Have you got a boyfriend?" "I knew it!" "Who is he?" "Ahmed?" "Pierrot?" "Cousin Michel?" "Uncle Roland?" "He's a foreigner..." ""It's the tale of a pastrycook" ""Whose love melts like an eclair." ""I gave him a cherry tart" ""He broke my heart Coz he don't care..."" "Now I look for the limit where y curves towards..." "We won't finish this exercise today." "Pity you have to wear that scarf." "Your hair's lovely." "I don't have to." "It's funny how you all think that." "I want to wear it." "My family couldn't care less." "I think you're really brave." "What are they playing?" "Backgammon... since childhood." "Shall we continue?" "Call me when you've got a perfect example." "Let's go!" "I, 2... 3." "They played two moves in advance, I could see four." "Not there." "Even if I took them both on they couldn't beat me." "Two against a girl:" "Easy!" "Next step:" "Get them playing for money." "Double or quits?" "Sexy!" "She thinks she's Samantha Fox!" " Great news, you've been selected!" " I'm one of the 6?" "I'm so proud of you!" "When is it?" "The 3rd, 4th and 5th in Brussels." "Now you have 1 chance in 4." "Stimulating, eh?" "A year with others on your level." "What do I do now?" "Work hard!" "Your parents must write a letter." "I'll explain all that." "A year in Brussels?" "Why not New York as well!" "I've never been anywhere and it hasn't killed me." "Almost!" "Today is the final date for the summons." "She'll forget it." "Lucky I have my friends..." "Friends?" "They drain you like leeches!" "You're the leeches!" "Hurry up!" "It's drying." "Yeah, but it's gotta be good." " It will be good." " You wouldn't know." "I've built more walls than you have!" "I'm a metalworker." "Put one here." "They're forbidden to demolish walls to move stuff out, see?" "Careful, it's moving." "Get it?" "That way the fridge stays put!" "Hurry up!" "What d'you think I'm doing?" "He's messing about." "Take the chest." "Full up." "I'll take the telly but that's all!" "I'll take the chest with the sofa..." "Take your mum's cardboard boxes over to Fred's." "Now we wait for the bailiff." "Another of your pathetic scams?" "Got 3000 francs, have you?" "It's all so petty." "You'll never change." "No, you'll never change your mind, you're proud of it." "When I think of all I've done for you..." "You won't get another penny!" "You can think up ideas, you don't need me." "Just because it wasn't your idea!" "Are we throwing this out?" "Sabine's green woodpecker!" "A collector's item!" "He'll flap his wings if we oil him." "That was for Sabine's birthday when she was your age." "You weren't even born then, we made the kids toys after hours..." "With Bernard on guard." "Sabine was so upset when her woodpecker got lost." "We put some bottles back!" "Memorable!" "Thank God he was there." "He was my vector." "I'll say, no more gifts." "Say I want to pass the competition." "What's a trip to Brussels for him?" "Nothing." "But what if he refuses?" "Excuse me, are they still rehearsing?" "I mean, is Jiri still rehearsing?" "Yes, they're on stage." "That was him, he just went past." "Didn't you talk to him?" "My dress!" "She's mad!" "Let me go!" "You jerks!" "Let her go!" "Are you drunk?" "I was wrong." "A guy like that wasn't for me." "He could preach away, but he was the whore." "Hurry up, you're not the only person here." "How did he come by these earrings?" "They looked cheap, everything about him was cheap." "Conclusion:" "Zero." "No way would I see him again." "I don't understand." "I can't follow this function." " I don't feel like doing maths." " Even for 50 francs?" "You got 50 francs?" "Ask them!" "It might unglue them." "But it's love." "Superglue, want some chocolate?" "Call that love?" "Marshmallow mush!" "What's with you?" "I don't have time for guys who don't pay." "Give me back my 50 francs or..." "Or what?" "Come and get it." "She's freaked out." "She's flipped." "Cool it!" "Give her back her money!" " You never spend it with us!" " Right!" "We're getting pissed off." " Not even a party for your exam." " She's stingy." "And she's stuck up." "I couldn't give a shit for you or the exam." "Get out then." "Piss off." "Congratulations!" "You can all drool with jealousy." "I'm not going to Brussels." "Ciao!" "I thought I'd smothered the pain but it kept coming back, worse than ever." "The coefficient of the slant had been low but now it was rising." "And I realized that the slant was inverted and the angle was sharper." "The 2nd derivative was negative." "Now what?" "Do I let myself slide?" "Corruption of a minor." "Corruption?" "Did he try to abduct you?" "No..." "He abused me." "Did he hurt you?" "Rape you?" "Are you sure he abused you?" "Would I be here because a guy asked me for a light?" "Be careful, kid, an accusation of sexual abuse is very serious." "Think it over." "I mean it." "You don't come to school any more so I came here." "I can't sleep." "I can't keep up..." " I need my coaching." " I don't have time." "Did you go to my place?" "I didn't dare." "I didn't know if..." "Why don't you come to school?" "I wondered if you were sick or..." "I'm alright." "Call him back, I promised." "It's the foreigner." "I better go." "I shouldn't say this, you'll think it's stupid... but you're wrecking your future." "What future?" "Look at my future!" "Forget it, I don't need anyone." "You were selected, it's a gift from God." "Stick to it." "You don't have the right to give up!" " What are you doing?" " Same as you." "No, you're not that bad." "Without you I'm alone" "Without you my love..." "Mum!" "Mum!" "It's that competition." "If I say a word she goes crazy." "She barged into me the other day and didn't even say sorry." "Shouldn't you be at school?" "Don't expect an answer, you won't get one." "You don't care about my studies, all you want is my grant." "Now you've spat your poison, get out!" "It's your maths teacher." "Come in." "There's usually a chair but it's a bad day." "Because the bailiff is coming." "We only owe 3000 francs but we played safe and took everything out." "That's why this competition is a problem." "It sure is!" "You can be proud of her though, us too." "Top in maths in France." "Leave us alone." "But 3 days in Brussels, I don't..." "Why didn't you tell me?" "Is that your bed?" "You should never have come." "You've ruined everything." " Shouldn't you explain?" " You're not my teacher!" "We must talk after what you did." "Why didn't you tell me what you wanted 3000 francs for?" "The moment you saw me you thought I was bad and you assumed I was a whore." "Then I apologize." "I'm trying to see... where that pride comes from." "Now you've seen, get out!" "Stop!" "You've barricaded yourself up but your armour is cracking." "Get out of my room... and my life!" "I will." "If you really want." "Are you blind?" "Even that is an admission." "Get out or I'll scream." "Then I'll get out." "I lied." "I knew it." "Too late now, I warned you." "Your complaint is filed and has gone to the prosecutor." "Give me back the paper I signed, please!" "Did someone force you to denounce him?" "No!" "I acted on impulse..." "I regret it now." "That's for the court to judge, kid." "As you lied you'll be summoned for a false statement." "Cut that out or I'll arrest you!" "Help me." "Now listen." "You can retract." "But it could land you in trouble." "You'll be charged... for making a false statement and you'll be fined." "I hope your parents are solvent." "They're on income support." "Well, in my experience, you'll be fined at least 4000 francs." "The problem with games of chance is chance." "At 8 to 1, I could have cleaned up." "4000 in one game!" "But not a single 6, not one double throw." "It wasn't my game." "Why didn't I see it in time?" "My round." "OK by your ethics?" "What ethics?" "You're broke." "You lost with style." "And for you?" "Come on." "Are you ashamed of me?" "No." "I don't know what came over me." "You think you can do anything you like, then act all innocent?" "I won't be treated this way!" "Not by a little jerk!" "Me, ajerk?" "How about you?" "And you bark like a dog!" "Goodbye!" "I hate fights and yelling and alcoholics." "Go on!" "Maybe it's your old lady." "She's an actress!" "Actresses are vulnerable!" "Vulnerable?" "Oh yeah?" "Ciao!" "She's waiting for your lousy play, you can have all the women you want but your play's lousy!" "What women?" "Look at me." "What women?" "The ones you pay and who pay you!" "Who are you talking about?" "My producer?" "Where did you get that idea?" "You're raving!" "Do you resent my gifts?" "Or want to drive me crazy?" "That's bullshit!" "I don't want your gifts!" "Never again!" "You don't know what you've done to me!" "I've turned into a monster." "I have to tell you..." "I've done something dreadful." "Listen to me." "Sabine, I want to help you..." "Let me love you, even if it's hard." "I've looked for you everywhere, even on the bus," "I've waited here like a prisoner." "Not even a phone call." "I was shaken by his pain." "I recognized it, it was my own." "I don't want you to vanish again..." "I wanted to go too fast, like a kid tugging a plant to make it grow faster." "I should have been patient and waited for you to love me." "You've never been taught how." "The equation was simple while he was the unknown quantity." "I surprised myself." "Now there were 2 unknowns." "Was there still a solution?" "He said "I love you"." "And I believed him." "I admitted I'd wanted to get rid of him but I couldn't say how." "Let me make you happy." "Sabine, you're here beside me..." "at last." "I want to keep you." "I want to keep every bit of you..." "I almost lost everything." " Are you hurt?" " Don't ask." "Don't worry." "I won't force you." "But let me look at you again." "Then I decided not to go so I didn't enrol." "And you'd said no money between us." "You're going to enrol." "And win!" "Come on, we'll celebrate it." "What's wrong?" "Don't you want to share yourjoy?" "It's not that..." "I'm cold." "If you go to Brussels I'll go too." "I'll offer my play to the Varia Theatre." "There are theatres everywhere." "Plays too." " You can do maths anywhere?" " Sure." "Together we can do things anywhere." "If we really love each other!" "What have you got in here?" "Keep the keys, come over whenever you like." "It's all old stuff." "You can look at it." "I'm safe until you can read Czech." "This isn't Czech..." "Put it back." "Is it a love letter?" "In a way." "You know, I've been in prison..." "That's the appeal my wife made to the West." "It was a huge risk for her at that time." "I wouldn't have had her courage." "I survived thanks to her." "Prison... is hell on earth." "What does your wife do?" "She ceased to be my wife long ago..." "A writer." "You from the West, me from the East:" "Hardship is our home." "And 5 our number!" "It's our common factor!" "I feel homesick tonight." "The Vlatva..." "Snatches of piano music from the Bartramka..." "The smell of coal..." "I miss Prague." "Homesick." "What a terrible word." "Beautiful too, but I've never felt it." "His wife got him out of prison but I might put him back in." "Stage 1:" "Intercept the court summons." "Stage 2:" "The fine." "I had a solution..." "FOR SALE:" "RED PEUGEOTMOPED 4000 FRANCS" "Stage 3..." "Where have you been?" "Come in." "When did I last see you?" "I didn't send off the application form for the exam." "Do you not want to take it?" "Or are your parents being difficult?" "Is it too late?" "No, you idiot, I sent the form off for you." "I'll give you the receipt." "Take them your parents' signed permission." "Is that a Calder mobile?" "Yes." "But it's mine not his." "Do you know about it?" "I saw one recently..." "I've seen lots of things." "So you've been visiting museums?" "I screwed up, huh?" "I blew it." "I lost control." "I'm in a mess." "You're not the only one, you should see your classmates' homework!" "We've never discussed topology." "See this?" "It's a Möbius strip." "It joins a point on the inner surface to the outer without changing sides." "Run your finger along the inside of the strip, you're inside... keep going and bingo!" "You're on the outside." "You always come back without changing sides." "Hello, Uncle Roland." "What's all that?" "What have you been up to?" "What is it?" " No secrets from me." " What bugs you?" "The bike or the condoms?" "We're not stupid." "Easy money?" "You should know!" "No marks." "She's a prostitute!" "You're pathetic!" "Talk or we'll lock you up!" "And no more maths crap!" "Your mum agrees." "When I think how you treated us, we were skint after the bailiff and you had a bike!" " It's for Brussels." " You won't go." "No more bike." "And the keys?" "Whose are they?" "A friend's." "Who?" "I had to play it cool." "They were in a close formation." "If I got to one of them the edifice would collapse." "Find the angle of attack." "What did you think?" "The school hands out condoms." "And I forgot to return the keys." "Who is this friend?" "You don't want to say?" "Answer or you'll never see him again." "You never tell us anything..." "She's old enough to work and you need it." "They could do what they liked, I was invincible." "I threw myself into maths, it had always been my refuge, and to my joy the mechanism functioned as perfectly as ever." "I had to win the competition." "Theatres are everywhere and exile would solve the legal problems." "Is it complicated, Sabine?" "Very." "But I must get it right." "Be back here at midday." "You missed your vocation." "You'd have made a good cop." "Can I see?" "My parents don't even open the mail any more." "For them letters mean trouble." "Why this long silence?" "Coming over?" "I miss you." "I want you here..." "the sheets smell of you." "I must tell you something serious..." "Has something happened to you?" "No, it's not that." " You've met someone?" " No, old man!" "There's only you." "I talk to you in my head." "Do I answer?" "How I long to caress you, I want to bite your neck." "I want to touch your little ears..." "What are you wearing?" "Your little pink top?" "And your blouse I can't open?" "Did you find the buttons?" "My darling, my little cat," "I want to sink into you." "We'll be cut off!" "Shit!" "Screw their holidays!" "Not on my parent's filthy money." "London, techno..." "Pollution." "We're off to the mountains." "Her idea of the mountains?" "Nightclubs and sex!" "Safety curtain!" "Tourmakoff, watch." "You'll be handling this instrument." "Max, what bags under your eyes!" "Too much vodka!" "Look, Tourmakoff." "You don't see the image." "Max does." "What's the cue?" " The frisk?" " Yes." ""You see," ""I usually give the most hardened criminals" ""a chance to repent up to the last minute."" ""If you like I'll promise to give up the profession..."" "No!" "Sitting down!" "It's hard to frisk a man sitting down." "They'll lift you up on the chair." "Now..." "Truth." "Tourmakoff..." "While you gaze at yourself" "Truth will approach in the reflection and lean against you." "She'll taunt you." "Maybe you could try a light, precise gesture that I won't attempt myself." "Do I see her reflection?" "Hardly." "You see a flash of red." "You see her." "I came to talk to you." "I can't stay." "If only you'd let me know." "Want to watch the rehearsal?" "We'll be quick, OK?" ""I need a man who is trusted and admired" ""by all those people," ""see what I mean?"" ""We're not alike..."" "I didn't imagine it like that." "A play is more than the written word." ""We both refuse to be bought..." ""I'd rather hang!"" ""Wouldn't you say there's a difference" ""between the bribe the defence attorney" ""accepts from a criminal" ""and the chance of repentance that this man offers a criminal?"" ""Betrayal is always betrayal!"" "This is Sabine." "I'm Petr." "This is our marvellous Petra, and he's Jan..." "Let's go to Ostend for some sea air!" "Come here." "I knew we couldn't trust you." "Know what the word means?" "You won't get away with it." "You think you're like those other kids but you're not." "They despise you, it's obvious!" "Think you're different from us?" "Let me show you something." "Take a look." "Keep out of this." "Go on, look!" "Look at that!" "Your mum was beautiful then!" "You'll end up like her." "Right!" "Sign this, I need it for the competition." "Still on about it?" "No way." "You know me, I hate forgeries." "So sign it!" "And get off my back." "I can stitch you up now." "Yeah, all your tax fiddles and your dole," "I don't have to keep quiet about them any more." " You wouldn't?" " Sign it." "I went to Brussels with him." "I had everything under control." "While he was with me he wouldn't meet the postman." "Don't worry, we'll be on time." "I'll pick you up 3 days from now." "I have an exam too:" "Opening night!" "The exams continue tomorrow at 8 a.m." "Did it go well?" "No need to ask, your smile says it all." "I found you a hotel." "Must you go?" "Let's eat some shellfish." "By the sea?" "Little monkey!" "And the theatre?" "We can plot this curve differently." "It must have a function." "A function is more precise than your word, grace." "It doesn't have the same ring." "It doesn't tell us about the aesthetic quality." "Is beauty a question of proportions for you?" "Beauty is harmonious." "Geometry never betrays." "Function opposing grace." "How can we communicate?" "By drawing!" "Symbols!" "It's the same for everyone!" "That can be very dangerous." "How do you symbolise freedom?" "The joy of being together?" "By space!" "We're here." "But if I do that?" "We're here." "No, we're here." "And if I do that... 1, 2, 3..." "Then we're here!" "It depends on the frame of reference." "Hey, sir, don't walk there please." "You're trampling over her odalisque..." "Please." "Move along!" "The sea will wash it away." "I'll remember it." "Good!" "I must get back to the theatre." " The sea is surrounding us." " No!" "The bubble had burst." "I saw all the pieces bursting into laughter." "And I heard them echoing in my head." "You couldn't have known." "We do that next year." "You had to express numbers in base 2." "It's a tough problem." "Don't lose heart, you can take it again next year." "No one's mentioned base 2 since primary school!" "Here's my sweetheart." "Give me a kiss." "What's wrong, pet?" "You still being moody?" "Let's get on with it." "Have a drink." "He backed the first three?" "Didn't your dad tell you?" "Tell me what?" "Ask him." "Go on, tell your daughter." "About what?" "Your moped." "I got 4000 francs for it." "The bailiff's paid off, we're 1000 francs up." "Did you bring me some chocolate?" "This what you wanted?" "You see..." "Sabine!" "Aren't you in Brussels?" "I blew it." "Dominique, widen it!" "Higher up." "You'll win other competitions." "Failures toughen you up." "Use the boom, Stephan." "That's not bad." "That reflection's interesting, huh?" "Like this lighting?" "Come over here." "Higher, higher." "Tourmakoff is much taller." "I don't know how I missed it!" "Base 2!" " Don't you care?" " Yes, I do." "You might stop for a minute!" "If this doesn't interest you I have something else to say..." "I am listening but I'm behind schedule." "You're accused of corrupting a minor." "It's awful." "I couldn't stop it." "My parents did it." "The neighbour saw us together..." "And we were so careful." "She recognized you when you came over." "They filed a complaint and they won't withdraw it." "But this is terrible!" "What..." "Terrible!" "Listen, I've been thinking." "I've had enough." "They disgust me..." "and guess what they did?" "They sold your bike!" "There's only one solution." "We must leave here." "You could go to prison." "You said it was hell on earth, you mustn't go back there, not for me." "I love you too much." "Leave here?" "I can't go away before the opening." "It's impossible." "Some things are more important than your play or my exam." "I'm sure there's a way!" "You can direct plays anywhere, and me maths." "Let's go together." "Let's go away." "I could ask Jan to take over rehearsals..." "Where is he?" "Ask him!" "Let's go away together." "I'm ready." "Withdraw your complaint immediately!" "The police were here." "They held me for hours!" "I still can't decide if you're a bitch or a little shit." "Withdraw your complaint." "The cop explained..." "Pay the fine." "I never want to see you again!" "Don't leave me, Jiri!" "It's great you've come." "Come on, it's wild." "I can't take it!" "Can I touch?" "Jerk off, and give us a break." "Been watching your dad?" "How was the competition?" "A fuck-up." "Anything to drink here?" "Sabine!" "I'm so pleased you came." "It's great." "Dance?" "Not now." "You look sexy in that dress!" "We're not used to you like that." "Give me your glass." "Hey, that's whisky!" "I'll get another glass." "And bring a bottle." "You've changed so much this year." "I don't know how exactly..." "I met a guy." "But it's over now." "Shaken up?" "I'm tough as nails, I bounce back fast." "Fancy going out somewhere?" "It's stifling in here." "No, it's weird but I'm fine here, I'm staying." "What now?" "Was life like the Möbius strip?" "You think you've crossed over, found a way out, then you're back at the beginning?" "It's not possible, there must be a way out." "Where do we sign?" "There." "She'll be happy?" "You'll hear from her on the 10th of every month." "Are you still ready?" "I won't forget you." "I'll be in touch soon." "I know them, did they make you pay?" "I did what was necessary." "He took my hand and off we went." "My only regret was my sister."