Frances -- Week Five

At the start of the session, Paul and Frances sit in awkward silence. Frances isn't ready to talk about the results of the breast cancer gene test, so instead she focuses on Izzy, whom she'd "ambushed" outside of school. After the embarrassing (to Izzy) encounter, Izzy texted her mother to suggest she see Tricia who "looks like a skeleton." Jealous of the attention her daughter pays to Tricia, Frances abandons her promise to call Tricia after the show and instead, goes out and has sex with a younger member of the cast. At home afterward, Frances was unable to open the test results. No matter the outcome, Frances insists she will not have a mastectomy. She pulls out an envelope and asks Paul to read it for her. It's negative. Though tremendously relieved, Frances refuses to see Tricia, saying it would be inconsiderate to shove her health in her dying sister's face. When Paul suggests that Tricia is likely to be happy for her, Frances still doesn't budge. Firmly, Paul tells Frances, "You need to see your sister before she dies." Frances counters by telling Paul that years ago, Tricia was in love with Paul and thought Paul felt the same way about her. Paul refuses to take the bait, and as Frances leaves the room, he tells her, "If you don't do it now, you will always regret it."