No 22
Terese continues her explanation to an upset Roxy and a baffled Paul; she says she and Vance had a fling one summer twenty years ago. She admits she should've told Roxy when Vance first turned up, but was so shocked to see Vance that she didn't know what to say.

ROXY: So you did the mature thing, and kept lying to me.
TERESE: I thought it would upset you.
ROXY: Yeah? Well, I'm glad that we dodged that bullet (!)

Apologising again, Terese claims that she didn't want to wreck the positive relationship she and Roxy were developing.

PAUL: Okay. That explains why you didn't tell Roxy. But it doesn't explain why you didn't tell me. Terese, I don't care who you've had flings with in the past, and you know that. Unless, of course, there's still something between you two?

Terese goes quiet, and Paul and Roxy are horrified. Paul leaves.

ROXY: That's twisted! What, do you know where Vance is, then?
TERESE: No - I don't. But I did make him leave.

Roxy walks out, still in disbelief at what she's heard.

The Waterhole
Pierce and Ebony are having dinner, and Sheila goes to fetch them the dessert menu. Ebony tells Pierce she's been looking at properties in the area.

EBONY: Darling, I just thought that since we're not getting the beautiful thoroughbred, a nice house would be a great consolation. And we did talk about a Melbourne base, remember?
PIERCE: True.
EBONY: Can't throw a garden party...
PIERCE: ... without a garden!

Pierce tells her to leave it with him. At this point, Chloe goes in, and Ebony is not best pleased when Pierce immediately gets up to talk to her. Pierce says he owes Chloe a drink, after she saved him $130K and a lot of embarrassment by tipping him off about the stolen racehorse.

CHLOE: I was just following Terese's instructions.
PIERCE: Yeah, but with your special brand of determination. Thank you, Chloe.

He takes her hand, and Ebony, who is watching closely, is green with envy. Sheila saunters over to Ebony and tells her not to worry; Chloe's not interested in Pierce.

SHEILA: The amount of money and time that Pierce spent on cracking that nut, everybody noticed. Buying her presents, paying her to spend time with him - he even took her away to the snow. I mean, in my day, I just went all doe-eyed about a guy in a clean shirt, but I guess times change. You know, he was even gonna support her when he found out about her health problems. But she turned him down every time. So as I say, nothing to worry about there, love.

Ebony fumes silently, and takes a big gulp of wine!

No 22
Terese gets a text from Paul, saying he'll be staying at the hotel. Roxy then comes downstairs, with her bags packed.

ROXY: Goodbye, Terese.

Roxy says she's sleeping at the Back Lane Bar.

TERESE: I was just trying to protect you.
ROXY: What, by lying to me, and driving away the love of my life?
TERESE: He's bad news. I was trying to keep you out of trouble!
ROXY: That's what you say. But I bet this has nothing to do with the horse, and all to do with the fact that you drove him away with your gross lusting for him!

Roxy walks out.

Back Lane Bar
The next morning, Roxy wakes up from a patch on the office floor to find Leo at the desk, staring at her. The office is a mess; Roxy explains she was looking for a possible note from Vance to explain why he'd left. She promises she'll clean it up. Leo explains that Vance left him a note, apologising for taking the money from the safe.

LEO: He's gone, Roxy.
ROXY: ... You think you know which way your life's going, and the people that you trust. And you'll never believe about Terese (...) Her and Vance. Not now, ages ago. But no-one thought that was important enough to tell me.... We were gonna get dogs.
LEO: Right.
ROXY: Staffies. We both love staffies. We were gonna start our new life together. And now... I'm on my own.

Leo looks sympathetic.

The Waterhole
Terese tells Chloe about the concierge service they're going to be offering to Ebony while she sets up an office at the hotel; she's keen to spend a lot of money with them, and Chloe will be at her beck and call! Ebony, who is sitting nearby, is amused when Chloe is introduced as her concierge. Terese asks Chloe to show Ebony the storage room, where she can pick out some furniture for her office.

Terese leaves Chloe with Ebony.

EBONY: So - you're all mine now! That's fab! Shall we get started?

Ebony walks out, and Chloe rolls her eyes before following.

Lassiter's
Paul is just coming out of the lift, when Terese accosts him, wanting to talk. He's still angry with her, and keeps walking. Terese persists, so Paul tells her he wants the truth about her history with Vance. Terese concedes she should've told Paul everything, but she was flustered at first and then missed the boat. Paul has his own theory, however.

PAUL: Because there was a part of you that loved it.
TERESE: Oh, don't be ridiculous.
PAUL: Yeah - you loved having an old flame hanging around. A cowboy swaggering back into your life to flame those old Feelings™.
TERESE: Vance has gone. Because I made him go. Surely that shows you that I didn't have Feelings™ for him?
PAUL: Yeah. Or maybe you didn't want him hanging around, because the temptation was too hard to resist? You know, you asked total honesty of me. You made out that it was a complete deal-breaker. Turns out honesty's just a one-way street with you.

Paul walks off.

Recording Studio
Bea is in the sound booth, recording 'Sorry', observed by Yashvi and a recording studio employee, Jamie. Finn turns up, also keen to watch and excited to see Bea doing well. He offers to take over from Yashvi, saying he's only brought lunch for two - but Yashvi replies that she's staying, so they'll have to make lunch work! The recording continues...

Lassiter's
Pierce arrives, and is surprised to find Chloe lugging furniture around. She explains it's part of the concierge service they're providing for Ebony while she sets up her new office.

PIERCE: This is the first I've heard about an office? I mean, she's gearing up to launch her own fragrance line - but I didn't realise she'd be running it out of Lassiter's.

Pierce gets a phone call, and walks off.

CHLOE (to herself): So I'm putting my back out for a perfume. Spectacular (!)

She tries to push a large chair into the lift, but can't get it through the doors...

Recording Studio
Bea, Yashvi and Finn are having a lunch break. Ned turns up suddenly, and it's awkward. He's brought lunch too, and hides it behind his back when he realises they're all eating already. Embarrassed, Ned goes to leave, but Bea tells him to stay - the more food the better. Finn reluctantly budges up so Ned can sit next to him! Bea thanks Ned again for organising this.

YASHVI: *You* organised it?
NED: ... Oh, I mean, not really. I just... made one call.
BEA: And picked up the bill. Which I am paying back!
NED: I'm just glad it went okay.

The recording lady, Jamie, reappears and asks if Bea's ready to resume the session.

BEA: Thank you for lunch.
FINN and NED: No worries!

It's awkward again - not least for Yashvi. The trio fall into silence as Bea heads next door...

Lassiter's
An out-of-breath Chloe has finally managed to get the chair to Ebony's office.

EBONY: You know what? I'm just not sure about the chair.
CHLOE: You said downstairs that you thought it was precious!
EBONY: Yeah, no, no - I do, do. It's just that - now that it's in situ, I'm not so sure.

Ebony proceeds to have enormous fun getting Chloe to push the chair around the room to see which position looks best. At which point Pierce arrives and offers to help Chloe, but Ebony tells him...

EBONY: Chloe has strong thighs.

Ebony kisses Pierce, and generally gets touchy-feely with him to wind up Chloe. Pierce quietly asks Ebony whether working with Chloe will be an issue, but Ebony replies that she's been an 'absolute dream' - while, in the background, Chloe clutches her aching back! Chloe gestures to the chair.

CHLOE: How's this?
EBONY: No, actually, I think I preferred it where it was.

She goes back to kissing Pierce, and agrees to meet him later for dinner.

EBONY: Oh, darling - I put everything on the joint account, just so you know.

Pierce doesn't seem fazed by this, but Chloe looks concerned.

Back Lane Bar
Terese arrives, to find Roxy downing her sorrows out of shot glasses.

ROXY: You're not welcome here.
TERESE: Roxy, come on. I know I should've told you from the start. It would've avoided all of this.
ROXY: You wanted him for yourself, though, didn't you?
TERESE: That's not what happened.
ROXY: Yeah, right. Then why would he stop all contact? Unless he was afraid that you were coming after him?
TERESE: Look, this is exactly why I held off from telling you. I was worried we didn't have enough trust in our relationship to handle this. I was worried that I was gonna lose you.
ROXY: Yeah? Well, you lost me (...) I loved you. You were my amazing Auntie T, who was so smart and strong and successful. I wanted to be you!

Roxy downs another shot.

ROXY: Now, I can't even stand being in the same room as you.

The Waterhole
Paul is sulking at the bar. Leo arrives, having been summoned by Sheila and Amy; they explain that Paul's just been sitting there for an hour, staring into space, and they don't know what's wrong with him. Amy's tried talking to him, but to no avail - so Leo goes over to give it a shot.

LEO: Dad?
PAUL: Leo.
LEO: I just wanted to thank you again for your help yesterday. Roxy told me about Terese and Vance - if you need someone to talk to...?
PAUL: No, I'll manage.

Leo begins to walk away again, but Paul changes his mind.

PAUL: Leo... Would you like a drink?

Leo sits down next to Paul, and Sheila and Amy smile.

Recording Studio
Bea is finishing up after her recording session, and thanks Ned again for organising it. Ned leaves, and Yashvi watches him as he goes. When Bea asks if she's okay, Yashvi testily replies that she's fine.

BEA: Listen... If you want to try again with Ned, and if he changes his mind, I am cool with it.
YASHVI: Thanks. But I don't think there's much chance of that happening (...) There's some things you can't undo.
BEA: Well, just so you know - Ned and I are strictly in the friend-zone.

Bea and Yashvi walk out, arm in arm. Finn, who has been in the room next door, follows them out.

No 22
Paul is with Terese. She tells him to ask her anything; she doesn't want any more dishonesty.

PAUL: There's only one question that I want the answer to (...) What exactly do you feel for Vance?
TERESE: ...
PAUL: Hesitation again.
TERESE: No, no, it's not like that. It was just... the nostalgia.
PAUL: Did anything happen?
TERESE: No.
PAUL: ...
TERESE: No!
PAUL: You know, twenty-four hours ago, Terese, I would've believed that. But now, the way you're being so secretive about everything -
TERESE: Oh, come on - give me a break, Paul! Coming from the guy that just discovered honesty a month ago! And even then, just dabbled!
PAUL: I can't help the way that I feel.
TERESE: Can you honestly tell me that if your first love turned up here today, you wouldn't be swept back to the days when life was simple and there was no responsibility? I mean, I admit it - I got caught up in it. But I didn't do anything about it! There was a spark. But every time, I chose you - every time! Please, Paul. What do I have to do to have you forgive me?
PAUL (sadly): I dunno yet.

The Waterhole
Pierce finds Chloe sitting at the bar; he acknowledges that he knows she's had a tough first day with Ebony, but Chloe is chipper about it.

PIERCE: I just want to make sure that if it makes you feel uncomfortable working with my fiancée, then we can find someone else to help her.
CHLOE: I actually think, umm... we're gonna be great together.

Pierce is pleased to hear it; but at this point Ebony comes in, and looks upset to have found the pair together again. She watches from a distance as they carry on chatting, oblivious.

No 22
Paul is pouring himself a whisky, when he hears noises from upstairs. Someone begins throwing clothes down the stairs, and a jacket lands in Paul's face! It's Roxy - she's intent on taking all Vance's possessions out into the garden and torching them, so that Terese can watch them burn!

PAUL: Oh, great - well, that's one course of action!
ROXY: And definitely the best!
PAUL: Or - hear me out on this one - you could let me buy you a cup of coffee, or whatever else you might want, while you sit there and slag off Vance until you run out of insults?

Roxy briefly considers this, dumps the pile of clothes on the floor, stamps all over them, then says...

ROXY: Okay, fine.
PAUL: Let's go, then!

Paul enjoys stamping on the clothes himself, before following Roxy out of the front door!

Lassiter's
Ebony has summoned Chloe to her office, to ask her what she thinks of the latest location for the chair!

CHLOE: Looks tip-top - like everywhere else we put it!
EBONY: Mm. I'm just... not a hundred percent on it.
CHLOE: Is this what the urgent message was about?
EBONY: No, I dunno where that came from.
CHLOE: ... Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then.

Chloe goes to leave, but...

EBONY: You made a mistake, Chloe.
CHLOE: Okay?
EBONY: You had your chance with Pierce, and you blew it.
CHLOE: I don't think -
EBONY: No, no - it's okay. I understand; we've all made mistakes. We haven't all given up on the catch of a lifetime, but you can regret that at your leisure, okay?
CHLOE: ... I don't regret anything.
EBONY: Mm... Before you go, Chloe, let me make something very clear to you. If you're trying to win Pierce back -
CHLOE: I'm not.
EBONY: If you are - if it's part of some weird long game you're playing - I would think again. Because he is mine.
CHLOE: ... Understood. Can I go now?
EBONY: Fair warning, Chloe - do not make an enemy of me. Because you will lose; and you will lose badly.

Coming up on Neighbours
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- Andrea replies that she's told them all she knows; but not, apparently, that Heather is in her flat!
- Toadie angrily tells Dipi that he's not going into this blind
- Andrea angrily tells someone on the phone that their one- time arrangement is done
- Shaun tells Elly that Mark's the one who makes him happy
- Toadie talks to Mark, predicting that he still loves Elly; Mark admits it's eating at him
- Mark looks depressed at home