- Belle goes to a date with a rich punter called Simon. However it turns out to be Alex who has set a trap to test whether she has given up escorting. He concedes that she loves her job more than him and finishes with her. Bambi and Ben come to support her and, at Ben's suggestion, she writes a book about her experiences, which becomes a best-seller and she is seen going into a television studio to promote it.—don @ minifie-1
- Hannah brushes her teeth, thinking she might be happy for the rest of her life. Alex comes into the bathroom. A life in which she could settle down? The door buzzes. It's Stephanie the madam. She has a proposition: one last job.
A client is offering 1000 pounds. He read her reviews. Hannah says no. Then she goes upstairs to help Alex with his tie.
Hannah gets dressed for the day and leaves for the job she quit. With Alex's back turned, she turns around and goes back inside. She plans to tell him - right after she gets another job.
Instead, she meets with Ben, trying to figure out what she might be good at. He suggests something sex-related but not involving actual sex. He tells her to write about what she knows. She says this is why she became an escort in the first place, there was nothing that paid so well for so few hours.
Alex goes to find Hannah at her job - the one she doesn't work at anymore. A woman informs him.
At home, Hannah contemplates her laptop. She starts writing. "Once upon a time there was an escort named Belle," she spins her story about clients that are hard to give up. Ashok, her favorite. She imagines a scene with him. Him stripping her, saying no one else can do what she does to him. She writes the whole dirty thing. (Over a montage, naturally.)
She writes about being something special to clients, imagining Ashok, as her phone rings.
Ben calls, saying he's set up a meeting with a publisher's assistant. She looks at her screen, having actually gotten no further than "Once upon a time there was an escort named Belle."
Ben and Hannah go to the publisher's. She starts arguing with him in the lobby, saying he's trying to legitimize her by pushing her into writing. She storms out. She calls Alex and leaves a message.
She remembers Stephanie's offer. The twin lures of Stephanie and Alex tug at her. Alex calls. She tells him she loves him but he gets off the phone quickly.
Stephanie isn't surprised to see her. The client's name is Simon, he sounds American. Stephanie calls him and asks 5000 pounds. He agrees.
"Don't worry," Stephanie says, "they say it's like riding a bike."
Bambi asks Belle what she's thinking, saying Alex might find out. She remembers what Belle was like without Alex.
Bambi goes to Ben's bar and blabs.
Hannah/Belle talks herself into taking the job, calling it sensible.
Bambi asks Ben if he thinks they should do something. Ben says Belle's a big girl.
Belle arrives for the date, talking about how the nerves are unlike any other job. She misses the mystery, not knowing who's there or what he'll want. The door opens. It's Alex. She hangs her head. He lets her in.
He tells her he didn't want her to come, and hoped that she wouldn't. But he knew she would. She loves the job more than she loves him. When she stopped, it was like a light had gone out in her.
He's calm and polite, sweet almost. He didn't want Belle, he wanted Hannah. "They're one and the same," she says. They hug. He leaves.
Belle walks out, stunned. Bambi's there. And Ben. He drives her home. She tells him he can stay. She won't touch him. "Good," he says, "you're a terrible shag." They laugh.
It's nighttime and Belle paces. She goes back to the laptop. "The first thing that you should know about me, is that I'm a whore," she writes. (The beginning of the book on which the series is based.)
The next chapter... Hannah is dressed with Bambi and Ben there. Belle gives an interview in disguise, following the publication of her book. She says she'll never give up escorting. She takes off her shades: "A girl's gotta do her research."
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content