If there's one thing of which you can be certain in Brookside Close, it's that there'll *always* be at least one person who's in a particularly bad mood. It's Susannah who's brassed off now - presumably she's still smarting from the bust up with Jacqui and Lindsey. Poor Nikki must have wondered what she'd walked into when she called at Number Seven to see Katrina who's supposed to be on her day off. Susannah is very terse and snappily shouts up the stairs to Katrina.
There's the sound of a thud followed by crying, which panics an already very stressed Susannah. It turns out that Harry has fallen and banged his head. Susannah blames Katrina for leaving him unattended and they row. Katrina and Nikki leave the house.
Over at Bar Brookie, Jacqui takes a couple of calls on her mobile from employees of The Shelf phoning in sick. Odd really, that the restaurant staff would a) phone Jacqui and b) use her *mobile* number, but anyway it gives Miss Dixon a chance to pass a comment to Rachel about what Susannah's staff must think of their boss and it also allows her to get on her high horse, call Susannah and demand that the latter comes round to the restaurant immediately and sorts out her staffing problems.
Presumably, it's Susannah's day off too and given that Katrina has gone out with Nikki, there's an immediate problem of what to do with the babies if she's going to bow to Jacqui's request. Mulling over this issue, Susannah happens to see Kelly and Emily walking past the house and so Susannah convinces the girls that they want to look after Harry and Emma for a couple of hours. They, in turn, convince Susannah that such a responsible task at such short notice is worth a tenner. Each!
Having successfully disposed of the kids, Susannah traipses over to meet Jacqui and the two have the inevitable bust up. Jacqui threatens to find someone else to run the restaurant unless Susannah can sort herself out and this suggestion causes Susannah to stomp off in a huff.
In the back garden of the Shadwick's, Emily and Kelly notice the bruise on Harry's forehead and allow their imaginations to run riot:
"You don't think...", begins Kelly.
"What?"
"...that Susannah one's a secret baby-basher?"
"No, she doesn't look the type" replies Emily.
Kelly's not so sure and continues with her original thought process: "Bit weird though, isn't it? How all of a sudden her husband disappears and she starts calling herself by another name. I wouldn't be surprised if they [who 'they' might be, isn't explained!!] found a dead body buried in that back garden [surely not - when have you ever heard of anything as silly as *that*, eh?] and she couldn't get rid of these <gestures towards Harry and Emma> quickly enough, before."
"And it's not the first time little Harry's had a nasty bruise" interrupts Emily, coming around to the idea that Susannah might not be quite what she seems. "I remember me Nan saying something when she used to clean over there but she thought it had something to do with Katrina."
"Princess Perfect?" asks Kelly. "No way."
"Honest to God. I'm *telling* you."
"Weird."
Later, Princess Perfect and Nikki return to the bungalow, where they're surprised to see Harry and Emily with the two girls and snatch they kids away from them. Kelly waits for Katrina to be out of earshot, turns to Emily and says:
"Your Nan might have been right about that one. She's not right in the 'ead, 'er."
Katie tells Ryan how proud she is that he's managed to stay away from Jerome following the car accident. Ryan says that he's just waiting for Luke to be released from jail and is biding his time. To Katie's disappointment, Ryan's clear about one thing: he hasn't finished with Jerome "by a long way".
Back in Bar Brookie, a parcel is delivered which is marked for Ron's attention. Ron and Anth are currently away rambling and as the courier couldn't get any response at Great Grannies, he's tried Bar Brookie. *Not* a particularly likely scenario, in my experience, that. Anyway, Mike can't control his curiosity and opens the box. He finds it full of candles. Loads of candles, all different sizes and colours. Vic Web-site-designer is watching and suggests to Mike that "you might have a doomsday end-of-the-world nutter in your family". Well, given that Ron was lapping up everything which Mr Moore was spouting on this subject, she's probably spot-on. At least with the last word, anyway. There aren't many people who'd disagree with that as an apt assessment of R'Ron.
Victoria is really in the bar to talk to Darren. She'd noticed that Mark had been sitting in his car outside her office and had to slip out via the back entrance in order to avoid him. She's depressed that her marriage has failed and wants some reassurance. Darren tells her to get a move on with the divorce, get things sorted quickly and get Mark out of her life sooner rather than later. Vic's obviously in denial and can't face such a big step right now.
Darren tells Vic that he's considering a trip working abroad - an idea that he's been toying with since university. As he feels that things with Vic are going well, he bites the bullet and asks her if she'd go with him. Darren tries expressing his feelings for her albeit rather clumsily and Vic totally misses the significance. She merely reiterates that, for now, she's finished with love.
Mike suggests to Rachel that they consider buying somewhere to live rather than spend money renting. Could this be a pointer to the future residents of the bungalow, perhaps?
On the parade, Katie notices the mark on little Harry's head and is horrified. She marches straight across to Jacqui and tells her that she has "to do something".
With all the problems surrounding the Club, this is probably the last thing that Jacqui wants to hear right now. It's hardly going to help her to rebuild the relationship with Susannah either, is it?
Summary © 1999 Graeme Selway
Brookside and all related materials are © Mersey Television 1982-2001