It’s a Thursday afternoon; the day of the expanding man. We join the PROTAGONIST, about to start his shift at a bar.
It’s a quiet shift. A man, DON, walks in and orders a Cuban Breeze. He watches the passersby while he talks to his high school sweetheart on the phone about moving to Manhattan. He leaves. Enter ANNIE WONG, a beautiful second year cellist with whom the PROTAGONIST is instantly smitten. She is waiting for a friend who hasn’t turned up, and the fact that it’s a quiet day gives the PROTAGONIST time to get to know her. They quickly hit it off and exchange numbers.
The next night they go to an Italian restaurant for drinks and dinner. The PROTAGONIST brings ANNIE flowers, which she adores. As they are about to leave, it begins to rain. The PROTAGONIST offers her to come back to his apartment to wait out the rain and have a warm cup of tea; she cautiously accepts, wondering if he only wants sex.
When they arrive, they watch the rain through the window. They hang their wet clothes up to dry; wearing only their underwear, they sit together on the couch and stay up all night talking. They watch the sun rise and share a kiss. ANNIE leaves for class. After saying goodbye, the PROTAGONIST’s gaze lingers on the sunlight shining down on a nearby building.
It’s the pair’s honeymoon phase. They take a weekend trip to Broadbeach together, staying in an apartment close to the shore. Their first day, they go for Yum Cha at Mr Chow’s, where ANNIE encourages the PROTAGONIST to try new things; he orders Szechuan dumplings while she looks on impressed.
Afterwards, they return to their apartment and ANNIE paints her toes white. They head out, where ANNIE – who already has pierced ears – gets another earlobe piercing. The couple venture to the beach and walk along the shore, the waves dancing at their feet. ANNIE picks up a shell and together they listen to the sounds inside of it. She walks on ahead and the PROTAGONIST stops to stare at her, realising how much he cares for and loves her.
After the beach, the pair head to Anthony’s Bar and Grill for dinner. DON is at the bar and orders a scotch whisky. ANNIE is treated badly by the staff, at one point being mistaken for an employee and being ordered about. She obviously doesn’t like the establishment at all, though the PROTAGONIST brushes off her feelings and insists the pair stay for after-dinner drinks.
The next day, the couple venture to a jewellery shop where ANNIE laughs and smiles as she tries on a pair of earrings with dangling seashells; she buys them. The pair head to a convenience store to buy condoms where, while browsing, they overhear DON trying to buy Patton’s Kiss and Tell and a pack of Chesterfield Kings. The pair disagree on where to head for dinner (the PROTAGONIST wants to go back to yesterday’s steakhouse), and in the end they head home early.
At the PROTAGONIST’s insistence, ANNIE invites him over to meet her parents. ANNIE’s brother is immediately cold towards the PROTAGONIST, and the PROTAGONIST’s awkward interactions with ANNIE’s family do nothing to forestall her worries about the relationship.
The pair head out alone for dessert, and ANNIE begins to shed light onto her disquiet about a future together. She gently tells the PROTAGONIST she feels that he’s attracted to what she is, not who she is, and that it’s as if he’s trying to turn her into something she’s not. Enraged, he says she could never understand what he feels. She tells him they’re through.
Some time later, the PROTAGONIST is aimlessly riding a bus through the city at dusk, and watches the hand grips sway as the bus rounds the corner onto the freeway, passing the trees covered in lights at QUT Gardens Point. He goes to some small little cafe singing songs only the lonely know, and relives the moment ANNIE told him it was over. Even in his memory, her words all blur into one.
Stages of grief. First, denial. The PROTAGONIST imagines being in his happy place where he’s still with ANNIE. They’re on their beach holiday, and she’s cooling him with her fan.
Next, anger. It’s night, raining. Frustrated at the world, the PROTAGONIST drives aimlessly – basking in the light of the damp, wet city – before deciding to head to Broadbeach again. He tells himself he never needed ANNIE in the first place, and decides to call her and tell her the same. When she doesn’t answer, he leaves a long message berating her as his rage boils over.
The PROTAGONIST returns to Anthony’s Bar and Grill with mixed feelings (contempt and pity) for the bartender, James. The PROTAGONIST keeps trying to reach ANNIE but she won’t return his calls or messages. He continues to drink. Bargaining into depression. The PROTAGONIST realises he’s just the same as James, and wallows in self-pity. He leaves ANNIE one last voicemail, telling her he wants to make everything better again and take her for dinner at Anthony’s Bar and Grill, before walking back to his hotel room.
Morning. The PROTAGONIST visits the same beach he and ANNIE went to in Side 2. He walks alone and hears ANNIE laugh with him, as the bitter taste of losing her blows past his face. He listens to a shell but it just isn’t the same without ANNIE there. The PROTAGONIST reflects on their relationship, ultimately realising he does cherish the time they had together. He refers to ANNIE as his child of bliss, and vows to never forget her. Acceptance.
It’s a Thursday evening; the night of the expanding man. On his walk to work, the PROTAGONIST sees a girl with seashell earrings. He stops for a moment, lost in thought and staring at the girl as she walks away. He’s still shaking off the last of the emotion of the break-up. He tells himself he’ll be alright. He lights a cigarette and continues his walk to work. DON, the man from earlier, is ordering at the Emerald Bar in the far distance: this time he wants a smooth retsina. A voice asks, “Isn’t this where we came in?”