Friday, 30th July 1999

Sinbad's having problems with his van, which causes some parking problems in the Close. Jerome takes full advantage of this, to leave his car in various positions with the basic intention of winding up Jason.

In fact, even driving into the Close was enough to achieve this particular aim, since he gave Nikki a lift home from the Club. Jason saw her getting out of Jerome's car.

"What are you doing with *him*?" he roared at his sister.

Jerome just watched, smiling, before giving Sinbad a hand to get his van started. Now, it was Jason's turn to watch. Much to Jason's disgust though, Jerome got Sinbad's van going, which in turn got Jason going once again. He tackled Nikki about her friendship with Jerome. Nikki, though, was having none of it and told Jason straight. Leo then questioned Jerome about the wisdom of his friendship with Nikki.

"I think I'm in with a real chance there and I'm not going to give it up because of a divvy brother" Jerome retorted.

As residents of the Close came and went, Jerome moved his car accordingly. Each time he did so, Jason got more and more het up.

"I don't want to look out of the window every day to see scum like him parking outside ours" he fumed.

Eventually the two of them brawled which led to Leo getting elbowed in the face and Susannah getting knocked to the ground. The latter incident set Greg off, who grabbed Jerome by the throat.

"What do you think you're doing, eh?" he started, before being talked out of taking things further by Margi, who was getting concerned about her nice family being seen as "yobbos".

Back in the bungalow, Jason was interrogated as to his problem with Jerome. "I just don't like him, alright?" was all he would say. Greg suggested that Jason goes next door to apologise to Susannah. Margi, however, refused to let Jason set foot outside in case there was more trouble and Greg let her convince him that *he* ought to go and say sorry to Susannah, which was, of course, just what he wanted.

At Susannah's house, Greg suggested that they spend the evening together since Margi had to go out. Susannah, however, was supposed to be working and wasn't keen to change her plans. This led to a row during which Susannah insisted that their liaison was 'just an affair'.

Greg: "There's no such thing as 'just an affair'. Not to me, anyway."

Susannah: "Well, I'm sorry but that's all it can ever be."

Greg: "It's a bit late for that now."

Susannah: "Why is that?"

Greg: "Cos I love you, that's why."

Elsewhere on the Close, Jackie and Lindsey are stripping wallpaper in number nine, when Jackie reveals the mysterious initials "NG" scribbled on the wall beneath the paper. They can't think of any previous residents who have those initials and so settle for it referring to "Nat" and "Georgia" Simpson.

Lindsey has some rather grandiose plans for the house, but is unsure how much time she'll have for decorating as the opening date for the Club is fast approaching. Jackie suggests that Lindsey gets Greg to help, but Lindsey reveals that she's already put him on standby to do some work at the Club.

Over at Katie's, Ryan is cooking a bizarre Moroccan dish, which Katie fears will be too strong for her. Whilst Ryan isn't looking, she adds some additional wine to the pot. Ryan then has to pop across to his parents. Whilst he is out, Abby phones and announces to Katie that she is planning to bring her daughter to Liverpool.

Back on the Close, Jerome, Leo and Nikki are about to set off for an evening out. Egged on by Leo, Jerome reverses rather too enthusiastically and careers into the back of Ryan's car. Assuming that no-one was watching, he speeds away. Ryan, however, saw what happened, and not-surprisingly wasn't best pleased.

Did Jason see the incident? It appears not, which was a shame - that really would have made his day!