True Romance

Love, sex, relationships and marriage all featured this week in almost every storyline. Tumultuous, even histrionic, tales of intrigue, deception and secrets and, amid all of it, one fleeting glimpse of true romance.

Hayley arrives home from Palm Springs. When asked if she’d like something to eat, she says no, she’s been nibbling all through the long day. Anna flashes her a warning signal, yes you want to eat. And Roy holds up a plate of beef stroganoff, wrapped in saran, awaiting her. My favourite, thank you, oh yes please, Hayley says to him.

He is so excited about her being there that he didn’t really pay attention to her previous statement about not being hungry so he’s just happy that he can provide sustenance for her. We didn’t see her eating her dinner, but I bet she cleaned up every bit of it.

No stroganoff for you

An absolutely lovely moment, set up for us by Roy’s dithering in the café kitchen earlier. Worrying about setting aside the stroganoff, obviously a bit hit with customers since it was nearly all gone. Lloyd ordered it and was told there was no more. Seeing the wrapped plate, he protested. But Roy told him firmly that the plate was already allocated. Even with Roy’s impeccable standards of customer service, the customer in his café does not always come first, not when Hayley’s needs are involved.

Alas, by the end of the week, even Roy and Hayley were at odds with each other. Hayley decided to patch things up between Roy and Mary. It didn’t go well.

But I have more confidence in their ability to sort out their disagreement than I do about any of the other relationships unraveling on the street. Leanne, Nick, Peter, Gail, Audrey, Kylie and David – they and pretty much everybody else on the street could learn a lot from Roy and Hayley about caring about and respecting your partner.

Corriepedia gives you a brief summary of what all the characters were doing in this episode.