Christmas Day in Brookside Close and there's tension in the air...
Jimmy and Lindsey may as well not be talking since all they can do is pass barbed comments to one another. They don't even bother about putting on a show for Jackie and it's surprising that she doesn't twig.
Even the sounds of the Magic Rabbits playing in the background don't help. Things lighten a bit however, when Shelley turns up for lunch. Lindsey makes a point of trying to pass an olive branch to Jimmy but he's unrepentant.
"You *know* how I feel," is his stubborn response.
Jimmy's appetite is normal though and he eats continually, polishing off anything which happens to be lying around and pausing only for a quick spell in the shed (working on the millennium pro-ject, no doubt).
We find out a fair amount about Shelley over lunch - whether any of this will be relevant in the future, I don't know. Brought up in an ordinary semi, her father was a council clerk who loved his work and having retired, found himself with nothing to do, passing away soon after. She was encouraged to have elocution lessons but claims to be no more posh than the Corkhills. Hmm, really? She'd love to have kids "despite the obvious difficulties" and whilst her father found her sexual orientation difficult to understand, her mother was quite accepting of it.
Jackie and Shelley had quite a natter whilst Jimmy was off pottering in his shed (and Lindsey had been called away to check the Club due to a faulty security alarm) and Shelley guessed that Jackie was working her way round to asking if she and Lindsey were having an affair.
"Well, we're not," Shelley assured her.
Jackie admitted that she'd have been wary had the answer been different, although she would have supported Lindsey's choice.
"I couldn't lie to you and say I'd be made up or anything."
Jackie tells Shelley that she personally, couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like to be with another woman.
Over at Number Eight, there are also tensions, notably between Luke and Ryan. Luke is definitely *not* in the Christmas spirit much to Niamh and Joey's bemusement. They assume that he has split up with Katie (well, that much is true, eh!).
Matt looks expectant:
"Could be my turn soon," he jokes.
Ryan insists on nipping out before lunch, denying that he's intending to pay a visit to Katie but Niamh correctly guesses that that's *exactly* what his plan is. Katie tells him about Luke's confession.
Back home, Ryan has to wait all day until everyone's gone out before he can tackle Luke. Katie meanwhile, uses Rachel as a shoulder to cry on.
As Ryan tries to get his brother to spell out exactly what's been going on, Joey returns from work and it's obvious to him that something's up.
"What's going on?" he asks sternly.
There's no response. He tries again: "Well?"
"I raped her," stutters Luke, pointedly keeping his gaze away from both Joey and Ryan.
"You *what*?" asks Joey, incredulously.
"Nikki. It was me."
Luke still avoids making eye contact.
"I never thought I could be ashamed of one of my own," says Joey, as the news sinks in. "But knowing what you did, just looking at you is turning my stomach. I'll never be able to forgive you for what you did to that girl. I never want to see you again."
I think Joey's a bit annoyed, don't you?
Episode written by Roy Boulter
Summary © 1999 Graeme Selway
Brookside and all related materials are © Mersey Television 1982-2001