Episode 1237

Extended Summary

As Ailsa prepares a meal for Fisher, Roxy tells her about the lemon she’s brought which has cost her a tidy sum. But what’s really annoying her is, Luke’s attitude of “I told you so” and if he’d been with her it would never had happened. Ailsa’s answer to that is for her to have some chocolate cake, as she takes Fisher food out to him, Angel arrives. She joins him and is shocked when he gives her money to buy some new clothes. At first, she’s reluctant to accept it but as he points out, she can’t keep borrowing from Sarah. He makes her promise she won’t waste it all on jeans and T-shirts and agrees to ask Ailsa to accompany her.
As Fin helps Pippa prepare the food for the kiosk, she tries to get her to understand Michael’s feelings but she’s still wrapped up in her own grief, to accept it. Sally arrives and when she asks what’s wrong, Pippa snaps at her and ends up cutting her hand. The girls offer to take the food down to the kiosk but Pippa ignores them, as she attends to her injured hand. Later, at the kiosk, Fin tries again to get Pippa to talk to Michael but she tells her it’s nothing to do with her. Over on the pool table, Nick tells Luke there’s nothing he can do to get Roxy’s money back and when he suggests he do the repairs, Luke tells him, she refuses to let him anywhere near the car.

Michael goes for a walk and ends up at the Stewart’s where Alf’s doing some gardening and is only too happy to take a break, for a couple of beers. Inside, they talk about Pippa and the baby and Michael is worried his marriage is falling apart because he doesn’t know how to get through to her.

Back at the Diner, Ailsa leaves Roxy in charge, as she goes with Angel on a shopping spree and Fisher is left to hear Roxy going on about the car. When she tells him how much it’s going to cost and she’s turned down Luke’s offer to repair it, he asks her why. Her reply is that she intends to do it by enrolling in a Car Maintenance Class at TAFE and he finds that very amusing. Later on, Luke and Nick come in and tell her they’ll fix the car and it will only cost her 40 dollars, instead of 800 but when she tells them what she’s decided, they think she’s completely mad. Luke has a brainwave but Nick looks worried as he explains he’ll have to steal the car and will need his help. First they rope Alf into handing over the car keys and under the cover of darkness, they take the car back to the caravan site, to make a start.

Angel and Ailsa return home from a successful shopping trip but when Fisher asks where is the school uniform, Angel informs him she refuses to wear one. Ailsa feels guilty because she had no idea they were supposed to buy one, but he tells her it’s not her fault. After Angel leaves, they discuss why she’s so rebellious. Fisher says she reminds him of what Bobby was like when she first came to the Bay and the issue of the school uniform, is just the tip of the iceberg. Meanwhile, Angel is telling Fin and Sally about it at the Surf Club and they each have their own ideas on the matter and when Michael comes in, he puts over his view. He makes the mistake of saying Fisher’s used to getting his own way in these sort of matters, which prompts Angel to reply – “We’ll see”.

Roxy’s determined to carry out her plan but as she studies the car manual, she can’t make head nor tail of it and when Alf explains it to her, he nearly has kittens, when she wants him to go out to the car and show her. Some quick talking, he manages to persuade her that it’s too dark to do anything and goes off to make a drink. Pippa’s telling Ailsa how selfish Michael is being and that he’s feeling a little guilty of shouting at her, because he’s been avoiding her, ever since. She’s taken aback, when Ailsa agrees with her and finds herself defending Michael. It’s just the jolt she needed and finally realises it’s her whose being selfish.

The repairs are going well and once they’ve replaces the pistons, Luke tells Nick that Roxy could even sell the car for a lot more than she bought it for, because the rest of the car is in good nick. Meanwhile, Michael’s waiting for Pippa’s return and she’s surprised it’s so late because the kids have gone to bed. They talk and come to an uneasy truce and agree that having another baby is not the solution for them. The job completed, Luke and Nick return the car, once again under the cover of darkness and leave it to Alf to return the keys, without Roxy getting suspicious. Next morning, Roxy steps outside and finds a note on her windscreen and loads of balloons surrounding the car and she looks furious, as she reads it. The next scene is comical, as she drives over to confront Luke, the balloons still attached and try as she might, she realises just what a smashing bloke he is and they end up kissing.

Over at Fisher’s, he’s having breakfast and Nick come in, looking knackered and when he jokes about moonlighting as a car mechanic, Fisher looks bewildered.

It ends when Angel comes in, dressed in a stunning short black dress and Fisher looks horrified but she reminds him that he should know her by now. When she says she’s going to do something, she means it and after she leaves, he left wondering, if he’s bitten off more than he can chew…

Avril M Harrison