Outside the El Dorado Topless Bar
Doug exclaims at Gaby that he can't believe she'd take on a job like this; if she thinks this is a decent job, she's coming home with him right *now*. He stares at Beth and rants at her that she *knew* Gaby was doing this. Gaby snaps at her father that it's honest work - all the girls inside *earn* their money. Doug retorts:

DOUG: By having a bunch of morons leering at you?
GABY: Exactly. And how do you think *I* feel finding out my own father is *one* of those morons?

She storms off.

No. 26
Helen comments to Jim that he could at least have let her in on what he was planning; they've lived in that house together for a very long time. Jim apologises, saying it was thoughtless of him. Helen goes on that she supposes it'll be some months before he finds a buyer. Jim says Wayne can still move in, and by the time he gets settled into teaching at Erinsborough High he'll probably find a place of his own. Helen cries that she still doesn't understand why he's doing it. Jim points out that they've both been saying how strange it feels rattling around the house on their own. He goes on that Ramsay Street just isn't the same anymore. Helen cries:

HELEN: But your friends are here. You'll miss them.
JIM: I would doubt whether my departure would cause more than a slight ripple.
HELEN: That's rubbish and you know it.

She goes on that it's Pam, isn't it: Jim can't cope with the fact that she and Doug are back together. Jim just looks away.

No. 24
It's evening- time. At No. 24, Annalise is painting her toenails as she sits on Lou's lap and says to him that she's been thinking: Cameron must think the two of them are being a bit unfriendly - why don't they get together occasionally? Lou points out that they *are* pretty busy doing other things. Annalise muses that a big spender like Cam must be in big demand. Lou asks in surprise what gives her *that* idea, and Annalise replies that he's been throwing all that money around; he must be loaded. Lou, however, points out that the poor bloke's just lost his job; the money was just the rent he owed. He then asks why the sudden interest in Cameron. Annalise smiles that she's just curious. She then adds:

ANNALISE: Anyway, you're twice the fun of any of the young guys I know - and really, really romantic.

The two of them start kissing - just as the front door opens and Beth comes in. Lou pulls away from Annalise quickly and tells Beth that they were just deciding whether to get take- away tonight.

No. 28
Doug is ranting at Pam that he knows jobs are tough to come by, but a topless waitress...? Pam sighs that it must be so demoralising to want to work and then find out there's nothing around. At that moment, Gaby comes in through the front door and Pam takes her over to the couch for a chat. She says to her:

PAM: Look, love, I know how desperate you must be. You're not cut out for that kind of work.
GABY: Well, neither are a lot of the *other* girls, but they prefer to eat too.
DOUG (chips in): Yeah, but *you* don't have that problem.
GABY: Well, I have my pride.
DOUG: Yeah - and I have *mine*, and it doesn't include a topless waitress for a daughter.

Gaby retorts that when she went for the job, she didn't know what was involved. Doug snaps that she should have quit the minute she found out - imagine how *he* felt, walking in there with his mates and finding his own daughter. Pam snaps:

PAM: Yes, I can, Doug. You must have felt like a prize hypocrite.

Doug snaps that he's going to ring the manager right now and give in Gaby's notice. Gaby, however, growls that if he touches the 'phone, she'll pack her bags right now, and this time she won't be back.

No. 24
Annalise - wearing a bikini - invites Lou to join her by the pool, but he declines. Annalise heads outside, leaving Beth to remark to Lou that he has a *daughter* older than Annalise. Lou just asks what that has to do with anything. Beth warns him that Annalise is just using him and stringing him along. Lou assures her that he can look after himself. Beth asks him if he's sure Annalise has broken up with Cliff. Lou replies that Annalise gave him her word, and that's good enough for him. He adds that Annalise is staying, and if Beth can't accept that, perhaps she'd better find somewhere else to live...

No. 28
The next morning, Gaby is ignoring her father as she eats breakfast. Helen turns up and Gaby heads off to take a shower. Pam tells Helen to take a seat. Helen does so and then tells Pam and Doug that Jim has put the house on the market. Looking surprised, Pam remarks that it's a bit sudden. Doug asks why he did it. Helen replies that Jim said the house is too big for the two of them, but she'd already invited her young cousin, Wayne, to come and live with them. Doug remarks that Jim will fret himself to death away from Ramsay Street. Pam asks Helen what *she'll* do, but Helen says she hasn't made up her mind yet. Doug asks:

DOUG: Did he give a hint as to why?
HELEN: Well... he... he feels that Ramsay Street isn't the place it used to be; not for him, anyway.

No. 28
Sometime later, Doug and Pam are sitting, talking, Doug saying that now the Martins have moved out, things must be pretty quite at the Robinsons'. Gaby emerges from the bedroom area and Doug heads off to work, asking Pam to talk some sense into his daughter. Pam tells Gaby that Doug just hasn't got used to her being an adult - although *she* hates to think of her doing that job, too. Gaby tells her not to worry: she didn't *take* the job! She adds that she thought about it, but when it came to the crunch she just couldn't do it. She explains that she'd already quit when she ran into her dad, and when he started carrying on like some born- again moralist, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of him telling her what she should do. Pam muses:

PAM: Let's not tell him you've quit - not yet. We might just teach the old boy a lesson...!

Coffee Shop
Doug is sitting at a table with Jim, commenting that it's been a long time between drinks. Jim points out that that's the way Doug wanted it. Doug sighs and says he's sorry he came down on Jim so hard. He then comments:

DOUG: Helen was telling me you put the house on the market.
JIM: Yes.
DOUG: Pretty sudden, isn't it?
JIM (shrugs): I've been turning the idea over in my mind for quite a while, now.
DOUG: Why didn't you talk it over with your mates?
JIM: I didn't realise that I still fitted into that category...
DOUG: Come on, Jim. We've had our ups and downs... and some pretty hairy camping trips!

Doug goes on that when the chips are down, they're still mates and neighbours. Jim murmurs that he supposes *he* was the one who mucked things up. Doug, however, tells him that they *both* mucked up - but that doesn't mean to say they can't get back to square one. He goes on:

DOUG: We'd feel terrible - Pam and me - if we thought for one moment that you were leaving on account of *us*.
JIM: Well, I'd be lying if I said you didn't have *any* influence - but there's more to it than that. It's like the politicians are so fond of saying: it's time for a change.

Car Yard
Annalise is walking across the yard with Lou, saying she wants him to look nice, doesn't he? Lou gives in, hands over some money and smiles that he has to be the first one to see her in it. Annalise takes the money and walks off, leaving Benito to remark to Lou:

BENITO: Now I've seen everything: the super conman conned by a 17- year- old kid.
LOU: Do I detect a note of envy there, Benito?
BENITO: Do you seriously think a girl like that would be interested in a bloke like you?
LOU: Why not? Sean Connery's doing all right - and *I've* got hair!

No. 28
Pam joins Doug and, starting the conversation, "By the way...," she asks him casually what *he* was doing in that topless bar. Doug replies that he owed Ernie and Davo a drink, and that's where they wanted to go. Pam muses that he didn't object... Doug asks suspiciously:

DOUG: What *is* this...?
PAM: Oh no, no, no, nothing. I'm just trying to get this straight. So you don't approve of topless waitresses as long as one of them isn't your daughter, is that it?
DOUG: Are you saying you *approve* of what Gaby's doing?

Gaby emerges from the bedroom area and points out that *all* the girls are somebody's daughter. Pam tells Doug that he's not being consistent: it's all very well for him to leer himself silly at all those other young women and expect them to put up with it, but she wonders how *their* fathers feel about it. Doug insists that it's not the same: they're strangers. Gaby retorts:

GABY: So was *I* to all the other customers. And if it wasn't for people like you and your mates who are prepared to spend money in bars like that, then there wouldn't be any topless waitressing jobs at *all*.

Doug stands there as Gaby and Pam smirk at each other. Gaby finally admits that she quit the job before she even started. Doug asks why he didn't tell her. Gaby smiles that she wanted him to realise what a hypocrite he was.

No. 26
Helen is sitting at the kitchen table, reading a letter from Madge. She tells Jim that she seems fine, although she'd blow her top if she knew what Lou was up to. She then comments:

HELEN: It's all so unreal, the idea of strangers moving into this house... wiping out all the years we've shared here. Pam's very upset: she feels that she's the one who's causing you to *make* this decision.

Jim replies that Doug said must the same thing - but it's not *just* Pam; a man's entitled to a life of his own, isn't he? Helen nods that she knows he's been lonely for a long time. Jim says:

JIM: I have thought about this a lot since my heart attack, you know? I've realised that I've been taking my life for granted. I'm not going to be here forever and I've been given a second chance.
HELEN: Yes, I understand. It's your decision, of course.
JIM: So what will *you* do? Come with me or get a place on your own?
HELEN (pointedly): Nice of you to ask.
JIM: I'm sorry - but you know I wouldn't leave you in the lurch.
HELEN: I was beginning to wonder, as you hadn't even *mentioned* selling the house before you put it on the market, let alone ask my opinion.
JIM: Perhaps I was afraid you'd try to change my mind.
HELEN: I certainly would if I could.
JIM (firmly): I don't *want* to change my mind, Helen. I've thought about this carefully.
HELEN: Fine.
JIM: It doesn't mean I don't feel guilty.
HELEN: Why should you? I'll find something. You don't need me.
JIM: You don't need me, either - but I reckon we make a hell of a team.
HELEN (smiles): Yes, perhaps we do - but it sounds to me that you need to fly solo for a while. I'll make my own arrangements when the time comes.

No. 24
Lou is sitting drinking from a Daffy Duck mug when Beth arrives home. He apologises to her for being so rough on her yesterday afternoon - he knows she's got his best interests at heart. Beth sits down with him and tells him that Annalise *is* awfully young. Lou sighs that Jim was right: those three years make an enormous difference. Beth asks him if he's going to break it off. Lou nods:

LOU: Yeah. It won't be easy - I've come to care for that girl a lot; *really* care. She came along just when I needed her. I guess she made this old codger feel young.

He adds that the sooner he puts an end to this relationship, the better. At that moment, Annalise comes in through the back door and asks:

ANNALISE: *What* relationship?

Outside the Waterhole
Doug and Benito are enjoying a drink together, and Doug warns Benito not to pick up too many tricks from Lou at the car yard. Benito comments that it's opening up a whole new world to him - like image and advertising. He picks up a magazine which is open at a page showing a glamorous woman sitting on a motorbike, and he tells Doug that sex sells a product. He then looks across to an attractive woman sitting at a nearby table and tells Doug to imagine her in a bikini, draped across a shiny new sports car - it would sell a million. Doug frowns at Benito that he's being a bit sexist - how would his *female* customers feel?; it's exploitation. Benito frowns:

BENITO: Doug! This doesn't sound like *you*!
DOUG: Being a family man like yourself, I don't believe in double standards.

No. 26
Helen opens the front door to Dorothy and calls to Jim to ask him to pour a sherry. Dorothy asks Jim to make it a double. Helen and Dorothy sit down and Helen asks what's happened. Dorothy explains that Tom just 'phoned: it seems he pulled every string he could think of, but no go. Helen says sympathetically:

HELEN: Oh... so he has to transfer. Well, what about this VIP friend of his in the Department?
DOROTHY: Did his best, but it was too late.

Jim hands over the sherry and comments that it's bad luck. Dorothy says it seems that they're desperately in need of experienced staff in the country, so that's where he's headed. Jim asks when he takes off, and Dorothy replies:

DOROTHY: In a couple of days.

No. 24
Lou is reading the newspaper in the kitchen when Annalise emerges from her bedroom, wearing her new very- tight- fitting dress. She asks Lou what he thinks and he tells her that it's very nice. Annalise looks disappointed at the reaction. Beth comes out from her room and tells Annalise that she looks terrific. She heads out, leaving Annalise to smile at Lou fondly:

ANNALISE: I'm glad she's gone. Just you and me now...

Lou, however, tells Annalise that they've got to talk. They head through into the lounge room and Lou tells Annalise to grab a seat. When they're seated, Lou says:

LOU: Listen, love, it's us. You and me. You understand?

Annalise shakes her head, looking confused. Lou continues:

LOU: Well, I'm talking you 17, me 50.
ANNALISE: What - I'm too young or you're too old?
LOU: Yes, both. Well, both, definitely.
ANNALISE (smiles): So what? Big deal. *I* don't care if *you* don't.
LOU: Annalise, it's not just us, love. It's people - and people talk. It just wouldn't work. I'm sorry.
ANNALISE: I see...

Annalise sits there for a moment, and then a broad grin crosses her face. She says:

ANNALISE: Would it make any difference if I was your wife?
LOU (astonished): My *wife*?
ANNALISE: That's what I said!
LOU: Do you mean as in marriage?
ANNALISE: Well, yeah. Why not? It'd be all right, then, wouldn't it. What do you say, lover? Let's get married.

Lou sits there looking shocked!