Anneika Rose (Anisha Jayakody)
Anisha returned home after visiting friends in Newmarket, with some news for Rex – she hadn’t just been visiting friends, but had applied for a job there and she got it. It’s a dream job for an equine vet “and they virtually offered me a partnership” she tells Rex. Well, did they or didn’t they? It’s important to clarify these things, I would suggest. She is over the moon and she wants Rex to go with her; after all, he has never settled in Ambridge, not in a professional sense. So what are all those pigs at Hollowtree? Rex gave it about three seconds’ thought and then said ‘yes’. If he goes, I hope he takes Toby with him.
There is one small problem, in that Anisha already has a partnership with Alistair; he will have to be told. The opportunity arrives the same day, when the two vets are tending to a horse that had a difficult foaling. Things look OK, but then the foal starts to fit and only emergency action by Anisha saves its life. Alistair bangs on about what a great equine vet she is and what a good partnership they make and Anisha tells him about the Newmarket job. Unsurprisingly, Alistair is unhappy and accuses her of stabbing him in the back and “I’ve been covering for you so you can go for an interview?”
Anisha protests that it wasn’t like that, but Alistair points out that they bought in a load of new equipment for horses and the debt on these still has to be serviced. To be fair to Alistair, he does have a point, as they spent around £250 k, from memory and Anisha is a much better equine vet than Alistair – he probably doesn’t know what half the stuff is for. Alistair accuses her of planning to run out on him, like Shula “and they say lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice.” He adds that, between Anisha and Shula, they have finished him, whether they meant to or not.
So, I think it’s fair to say that Alistair has had better days and he is in a foul mood, as we learn the next day, when Lynda tells Lilian that she phoned Alistair to see if he would be the vet in residence for the ‘Pets’ Party Pieces’ at the fete – apparently this is proving a huge success and, so many animals have been entered that Lynda decided a vet was needed to look after them on the day. Alistair told her “to find some other mug” and put the phone down. Lynda was affronted, but we learn later that Alistair rang her to apologise and of course he would be delighted to look after the animals. Sounds to me like he realised that, with Anisha gone, he will need all the work he can get and insulting the good people of Ambridge really isn’t the best way to go about achieving this.
It was a fairly dramatic week for a lot of people in Ambridge; take Freddie and Lily, for example. They are partying to celebrate the end of exams and Lily has a run-in with Ellis. She tells him that he will get his come-uppance one day, but the good thing is that, after today, Freddie need never set eyes on him again. Ellis is amused and says that Freddie never stopped dealing drugs and the two of them are really going to clean up; how else is Freddie going to pay for all his planned travelling? “Face it – you don’t know Freddie at all”, Ellis taunts her.
Lily promptly confronts Freddie and tells him that she is really frightened for him, so much so that she is going to tell Elizabeth about the drugs. Freddie counters this by saying that, in that case, he will tell his mother about Lily’s affair with Deputy Principal Russ. Lily doesn’t care and Freddie raises the stakes by saying that he won’t just tell Elizabeth, but everybody; the college, the press and Russ’s wife. Lily walks off, so we don’t know how the matter was resolved, if it ever was.
There was a surprise in store for Emma as Susan told her that she and Neil want to contribute towards the cost of their deposit on one of the new houses. Emma wasn’t the only one surprised, as this was the first that Neil had heard of it and the shock caused him to cut himself on the knife he was using to prepare the vegetables. Susan says how lovely it is that they can afford to help Emma and Neil points out that it is hardly fair on Christopher. Wrong answer Neil! Susan promptly says that they can give him the same amount of money as well. If I were you, Neil, I’d start looking for some overtime, the way Susan is spending your wages.
Actually, there is a chance that there may not be many of the affordable houses on the market. At the start of the week, Pat meets Lilian and the discussion turns to progress on the development site. Lilian is a touch cagey and reveals that there has been “a little hiccup” on the affordable houses front – there will still be some, just not as many as was first mooted. Pat is furious; partly with Justin and partly with herself for being taken in – this is exactly what everybody said would happen and what a fool she has been.
This being Pat, she cannot let it rest (just think of the £900k in the bank, Pat) and goes round to see Justin to give him a piece of her mind. Justin says that nothing has been set in stone yet, but Pat won’t be fobbed off. Justin says that the development has to be profitable and profits have already been pared to the bone. “Perhaps you’d like me to abandon it altogether?” Justin asks. “Is that a threat?” demands Pat, to which Justin replies that his hands are tied. “Well, mine aren’t” Pat tells him. If I were you Emma, I’d get your name down on the list pretty sharpish.
At Brookfield, Josh continues to run his reconditioned farm machinery business. David is getting annoyed, as things seem to be slipping out of his control. For example, Josh goes to a sale and tells David that he bought “one or two” machines. When they turn up, there are seven of them and Josh parks them in a barn that David wanted to use for something else. Not only that, but Josh reveals his plan to convert part of the barn into a temporary paint shop, using bales of hay to block the area off. David tells his son that, if he was storing the machines anywhere else, he would have to pay rent, plus he couldn’t just annex a barn or two whenever he wanted. Josh cannot see this and says to David that the machines will only be around for a month or two.
David runs the rent idea past Adam, who agrees that it might make Josh appreciate what things are like in the real world. David also tells Josh that, while he (David) admires Josh’s determination to grow his business, he cannot expect to keep doing it for free. I think that young Josh is in for a rude awakening before long.
Things are hotting up at Home Farm over the proposed sale of land near Spiritual Home. Jen and Phoebe (whose 20thbirthday it was on Thursday) are getting stuck in on giving SH a makeover. Unfortunately, Kate is not helping them and keeps going off to no-one knows where, pursuing some business of her own.
Brian is digging his heels in – the sale of the land is the only possible answer to how to pay for the clean-up and he won’t hear otherwise. Kate keeps trying to ring him, but he blanks her. She wants to call an emergency meeting of the farm partnership but Adam is too busy. Brian eventually tells Kate that they cannot spare any time for yet another meeting, but Kate goes behind his back. While Brian is visiting Brookfield on some errand, Rooooth casually tells him that she has set time aside for the emergency meeting that Kate has called for the following day. Brian is thunderstruck – this is the first he has heard of it “There isn’t going to be any meeting” he tells Rooooth.
Wrong again, Bri! We learn that Kate has been talking to Debbie, who is all for the meeting, as is Alice, who has juggled her work schedule to make time for it. Phoebe tells her granddad that Adam is coming too and Alice tells him to face facts – he has been out-manoeuvred and the meeting is going to happen. Would he like a drink to celebrate Phoebe’s birthday? Brian says that he might just bring a bottle to the meeting.
Just touching on Phoebe’s birthday for a while, Kate’s present to her daughter was an open air ticket to South Africa for whenever she likes. Where does Kate get the money from? I thought SH was on its uppers? Mind you, if Phoebe were to take Kate with her to South Africa, I might pay for the ticket myself.
And so to the meeting. Brian is in prickly mood “Let’s get this over with” is how he greets the others. Kate says she has taken legal advice and it appears that her share of any land sale cannot be used to fund the clean-up without her specific permission. Furthermore, if the rest of the family forces through the sale of the land, she will sue for her share. This goes down like a lead balloon and the members of the family say that surely she wouldn’t contemplate taking such action?
Kate responds by saying that she’s only talking about the land near SH – if they decide to sell any other land, she would gladly let her share go towards the clean-up. Brian protests that the sale of land near SH is the only viable alternative but Kate says that they haven’t explored every possibility and drops her bombshell – have they considered selling the farmhouse – it should easily fetch £1 million? Actually, that’s what Jennifer spent on the kitchen, I reckon.
The other family members are stunned, with Jennifer saying “but it’s our home Kate” and Brian asking “You’d turn your mother and me out of our own house just to save Spiritual Home?” Got it in one, Brian! If I were him, I’d repossess Kate’s holiday cottage and turn her out on to the street. To say that Kate’s idea is unpopular is a gross understatement, but amid all the insults and anger, there is one dissenting voice, as Rooooth says “Kate has got a point – it is something we haven’t considered and Kate’s right; the house is a major asset. At the very least it’s worth discussing, isn’t it?” Rooooth my love, I doubt if you have ever been so close to death as you were then.
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