Original subtitles

I've given up.

I've got a job.

And you're not gonna mention the fact that we had sex?

Okay, that-- that was a mistake.

[chuckles]

I think we should just move on.

200, collected, stapled.

Now, has it all gone in there?

I quit.

I broke up with Vanessa

because I'm not in love with her.

I love someone else.

And I know this isn't what you want,

but I'm gonna keep on making mistakes

until I do the one thing

that makes you love me again!

( jazzy theme playing )

Sometimes you wake up in the morning

and you think, "this could be it."

This could be enough.

The rest of my life.

Morning.

Hi.

You okay? Yeah.

You? Yeah.

I was wondering if you wanted to meet up

for something to eat after work.

Yeah.

I mean, if you want to.

That's why I asked. ( laughs )

( intercom buzzes )

You expecting someone? No.

Excuse me. ( buzzing continues )

What? You don't call,

you never write...

What do you want, Stephanie?

I'm here to make your day.

Little proposition for you.

One last job?

( upbeat horn theme playing )

As I said, I'm here to do business.

And, uh, strange though it may seem,

I'm not keen to discuss it here.

Well, you're not comin' up. Are you ashamed of something?

Not done the washing up?

Or, uh, is there a doctor in the house?

Stephanie, you can't just turn up here.

Well, maybe if you answered your phone...

I don't own a work phone anymore.

I've told you, I'm retired.

Well, that's what I told the client,

and he immediately upped his offer to a thousand pounds.

What client? What's it matter?

You're retired. Stephanie...

A gentleman caller who's tired of Eastern Europe

wants to try a little of your English rose.

Oh, please. Apparently,

your reviews speak for themselves.

No, I don't want to do it.

Is that your final answer?

Yeah. Sorry you've had a wasted journey,

but I'm not interested.

Shame.

Well, you know where I am if you, uh, change your mind.

( light rock theme playing )

Can you help me?

There you go, you look great. Really?

Wish I could come and watch you.

Uh, medical conference? No. It's beyond dull.

It's a morning of consultants and old buffers.

Yeah. Beats shredding at MH-fucking-Credit.

Right, come on. Let's go.

Bye. Bye.

I know, not great.

But I will tell him.

I just need to get another job first.

Ah, It's hopeless.

Completely unemployable.

I'm losin' it, you know.

Come on.

There must be something you can do.

Look, let's look at what we're working with, all right?

You're a 20-something arts graduate,

and what are your skills exactly?

I can put a condom on without using my hands.

( laughs )

I don't even know what half of these jobs are,

and they're all shitty pay and horrible bosses.

The same thing day after day, I don't know how--

So freelance.

Lucrative. Preferably sex-based.

If not actually having sex, then talking about it.

Sex therapist?

( scoffs ): Listening to people?

Asking questions?

Agony aunt, writer. Writer.

Writer, yeah. Yeah, why not?

Write about what you know. No, I don't think so.

Come on, you must have fuckin' loads to write about.

It's hopeless. You know, this is why

I started escorting in the first place.

There's nothing I wanted to do

that paid as well for so few hours.

So you're gonna go back to it?

You're talking about it like that.

No, no I-I can't.

You know, and I don't want to.

I've got Alex now.

And that's all I need.

( somber piano theme playing )

Uh, excuse me. Um, I'm looking for Hannah Baxter.

She works for MH Credit.

Oh, she doesn't work here anymore.

( sighs )

( clears throat )

"Once upon a time...

"there was an escort

"called...

Belle."

"Like all working girls,

"Belle had her favorite client.

The one she would find hard to give up."

"Ashok!"

( sultry theme playing ) I knew there was something I missed about London.

Congestion charge?

Black cabs? No.

So how was New York?

Seductive. Expensive.

There's nothing wrong with that.

You can be in the best place in the world,

but you're still chained to your desk.

You know, I almost feel sorry for you.

That's what I wanted.

Come on.

ASHOK: God, I've missed you.

Six months away.

The whole time I thought about you.

Imagined you.

Us.

And here you are.

And it's true.

You're flawless.

You're just not looking closely enough.

No.

There's no one else who can do what you do to me.

( jazzy theme playing )

HANNAH: To the clients, I'm a treat.

A luxury.

Something special.

We should go.

Together. New York.

A weekend away.

On me.

You'll buy me pancakes.

You do what you just did to me again,

I'll make you pancakes.

( phone rings )

Belle. Hmm?

Your phone.

Mm?

Hello? BEN: You're gonna to kill me.

But I need to meet you

at Bloomsbury at half-to. What?

There's a guy who comes to the bar--

James. He's a publisher's assistant.

He reckons his boss might be interested in your book.

No. W-w-what book?

The one you're writing.

I told him you were a middle-class ex-call girl,

and it's all a big secret and everything,

and his eyes lit up.

Ben. What?

It's okay. It's just a chat.

He said he can't promise anything,

but it's worth a try, right?

No, I'm not going. Don't be ridiculous.

Hannah, I got to go. I'll see you there.

I'll text you the address,

No. Don't be late.

( whispers ): Shit.

Shit.

Hiya. It's Ben and Belle,

we've got a meeting with James.

He's just on another call. Please take a seat.

Thanks.

( whispers ): Could be you.

You and Melv pressing the flesh.

Don't, Ben. Don't what?

Joke about this.

I don't even know what I'm doing here.

You're here because you want to write a book.

No...

Hey. ...you want me to write a book.

You're so fucking desperate for me to go straight.

BEN: What?

You-- You pretend to be okay with what I do--

What I did. What I did. --but you're not.

And-- And this is, I don't know--

This is like some way of kind of legitimizing it.

That's bullshit. My friend's an escort,

but it's okay because she writes about it.

Bollocks.

HANNAH: I've kept this a secret for years.

I haven't told anyone. And now suddenly

you want me to just let them all in,

so they can read and point.

Hannah, will you--? ( grunts )

BEN: Where are you going? HANNAH: I'm going.

( somber rock theme playing )

Might have to reschedule.

( beeps )

Alex, it's me. Can you call me as soon as you can, please?

Cheers.

STEPHANIE ( voice-over ): One last job?

Apparently your reviews speak for themselves.

HANNAH ( voice-over ): Alex, can you please call me back?

I really need to talk.

STEPHANIE: You know where I am if you, uh, change your mind.

( phone rings )

( beeps )

Hello?

ALEX: You left a message? Yeah.

What do you want? I've got to get back to the theater.

Alex, I love you.

Mm-hmm. You know that, don't you?

I've got to go. Would--? Please, can you--?

Don't work too hard.

Well, well, well.

Forgive me if I don't look surprised.

( sighs ): Escorts.

They're like boxers.

Retire every year, then surface for a rematch,

a little fatter, more desperate, and further down the rankings.

Who's the client?

What's it matter? It matters to me.

Uh, his name's Simon. He sounds American.

He's only in the city for a week.

Why don't I call him?

Name a price, leave the rest to fate.

Simon? It's Stephanie.

I've had a word with Belle,

and she's prepared to reconsider.

Obviously on her own terms.

One hour, 5,000 pounds.

( chuckles ) Yeah, absolutely.

It's my pleasure.

The Molton, 9:30 it is, then.

The royal suite.

Bye.

Yes.

Don't worry,

they say it's like riding a bike.

Belle, hey.

You thought about this, have you?

What are you doing? One last job.

Yeah, but what if it isn't?

What if you can't give up? What if Alex finds out?

Alex won't find out. But he might.

Bloody hell, babes,

I saw you when you were split up,

and you were lost. No, no.

You don't do this, all right?

You don't tell me what to do or how I feel.

You're nothing like me, Bambi.

( upbeat jazz theme playing )

I'm not bein' funny, I know she's your mate,

but she was really horrible to me.

I mean, I was only tryin' to help.

What?

You know, make sure she'd really thought about it.

Make sure it's bloody worth it.

Bambi, what are you talking about?

She is taking a booking.

9:30 tonight.

( sighs )

HANNAH ( voice-over ): This is a sensible decision.

5,000 pounds.

It's a lot of cash.

And I'm only doing it for the cash.

It's not like anyone will know.

There's always anxiety when you take a break.

First day back at the office, first day back at term.

Now to see if the uniform still fits.

What?

These things are bloody expensive.

You're really worried about her, aren't you?

No.

Do you think we should go and do something?

( sighs ): She's a big girl, Bambi.

It's not up to us.

I just don't think she knows what she's doin'.

( sips loudly )

( somber piano theme playing )

( elevator dings )

HANNAH ( voice-over ): There's no other job like it.

Maybe actors waiting for the curtain

or athletes before the gun.

That feeling, the butterflies, the knot in the stomach.

I've missed this part the most.

The mystery.

Who'll be on the other side of the door,

what will he want?

Bit dressed up for the office.

I-I didn't want you to come.

I'd hoped that you wouldn't...

( somber piano theme playing )

...but I knew you would.

Because I think

that you love this job

more than you love me.

And when you stopped,

it was like a light had gone out in you.

You...

You look like you looked when I first met you.

The-- The hair and the make...

It's a different hotel, though.

It was cheaper.

I'm a rich American, remember? ( chuckles )

I didn't want any of this.

I--

I wanted Hannah.

I didn't want Belle.

They're one and the same.

We never quite got it right, did we?

We got everything right.

( somber theme playing )

Babes.

You all right?

Come on, we were really worried about you.

( Emiliana Torrini's "Today Has Been OK" playing )

♪ Friends tell me It's spring... ♪

You can stay if you want.

My bed.

Promise I won't touch you.

I'll put a line down the middle. I won't cross it.

Good.

You're a terrible shag.

( laughs )

I'm glad you're here.

♪ That loved Like me and you ♪

♪ All the same I miss you ♪

♪ Today has been okay ♪

♪ Today has been okay ♪

♪ Preacher lost his son ♪

♪ He's known by all in town ♪

♪ He found him With another son... ♪

HANNAH ( voice-over ): "The first thing you should know about me

is that I'm a whore."

"In escorting, as in life,

you don't always get the ending you expect..."

"but it helps if you write your own story."

♪ Wind has burned your skin ♪

♪ The lovely air so thin ♪

♪ The salty water's Underneath... ♪

Studio 2.

Bloody hell, babes,

you look like a transvestite.

Thanks, Bambi.

A pretty one. Yeah.

Yeah, thanks for your support.

♪ Here is where you'll stay ♪

♪ 'Cause life has been insane ♪

♪ But ♪

♪ Today has been okay ♪

♪ Today has been okay ♪

WOMAN: Today sees the much anticipated publication

of "The Secret Life of a London Call Girl."

Tell us, how does it feel

to be the latest literary sensation?

HANNAH: Actually, it feels pretty good.

When you're working as an escort,

how do you manage to keep your emotional life

separate from your work?

Uh, it's-it's difficult.

It's probably the hardest part of my job.

Have you ever been in love?

Yes. Once.

It was wonderful.

I didn't actually think I had it in me.

( laughs )

And then it broke my heart.

WOMAN: Do you think now that you've found this new career,

you'd ever see yourself giving up escorting?

Never.

A girl's got to do her research.

( upbeat horn theme playing )