BARNEY TROUGHTON:
What are you doing here, more to the point who you are.
PHEOBE HARTNELL:
I'm Pheobe, I'm Oliver's friend from way back, and my husband has been smacking me around, and i don't know where the bolognese sauce is.
BARNEY TROUGHTON:
Something to note about Oliver is that there is always an arrangement for the things he keeps. So why the Lasagne?
PHEOBE HARTNELL:
I want to thank them for providing me with some shelter. Anyway, how did you know that i was making Lasagne.
BARNEY TROUGHTON:
My wife Maxine is borderline addicted to it, when she was pregnant she always was crying out for it... speaking of.
MAXINE TANNER:
I heard my ears burning.
BARNEY TROUGHTON:
I'd tell you to contact your GP, but then i forgot you have a live-in one.
MAXINE TANNER:
That's why i married you.
BARNEY TROUGHTON:
I can help you make it if you want.
PHEOBE HARTNELL:
What do you mean he has an arrangement for everything.
BARNEY TROUGHTON:
You should see his study room, it's a football treasure trove.
MAXINE TANNER:
I'll show her that while you start on making the Lasagne.
BARNEY TROUGHTON:
I've only worked a full shift.
KATHY TROUGHTON:
I'm guessing you've met her then.
BARNEY TROUGHTON:
Yeah, nice lass, she thought of the grand suggestion of making Lasagne for you and Oliver to show gratitude although she and Maxine are going to see aladdins' cave.
KATHY TROUGHTON:
We could all be a bit more like her.
BARNEY TROUGHTON:
Don't think church fits into the shift patterns i have, put it this way I've been working from 5.30 am to 4 pm and it's me who's doing the cooking.
KATHY TROUGHTON:
Everything ok with you and Maxine.
BARNEY TROUGHTON:
Yeah, and anyway, i sometimes like doing the cooking. I worry about Maxine's mother sometimes.
KATHY TROUGHTON:
Why?
BARNEY TROUGHTON:
Maybe it's because I'm in the profession or maybe the tiredness, but Sylvia isn't firing on all cylinders like usual.
MAXINE TANNER:
She's going for tests. I can't pretend that I'm not threatened that she's losing her mind.
PHEOBE HARTNELL:
You should pray,
BARNEY TROUGHTON:
Why not.
PHOEBE HARTNELL
(praying)
Dear Lord, we come before you today to ask for your healing grace for Sylvia. Give strength to Maxine and her family as they face these uncertain times. Guide the doctors in their work, and help us all to find peace in your presence...
MAXINE breaks down during the prayer, her shoulders shaking. BARNEY moves to hold her.
BARNEY TROUGHTON
(whispering)
It's okay, love. We're all here.
Caleb Troughton:
You sit down, I'll sort the Lasagne out.
KATHY TROUGHTON:
Is it bad?
MAXINE TANNER:
She always keeps birthdays in her head. She and dad were accountants in two firms, and she had an incredible memory for detail. Now, she struggles, and is there any wonder with the post office scandal and the feud with Peter Clinton she's had a rough 19 years.
PHOEBE HARTNELL:
I'm sorry to hear that, Maxine. Sylvia sounds like a nice woman.
MAXINE TANNER:
I owe so much to that woman, while dad was winning Grand Prix in a seat that was financed by her funds. She was looking after us. She could have divorced my dad so much over the years, yet she didn't. She had the patience of a saint. After all the shit she had to put up with why her, she doesn't deserve to die this way. Praying won't bring her back to the way she was.
PHOEBE HARTNELL:
The church is always open.
KATHY TROUGHTON:
I'll check on how Oliver and the girls are getting on in the pub.
PHOEBE HARTNELL:
I will, too. It was nice meeting you, Maxine, and i know we'll be very good friends. i hope your mother comes up OK with the tests.
(Kathy and Phoebe exit)
CALEB TROUGHTON:
I thought she was making Lasagne, honestly typical Christians.
YOU ARE READING
Masefield Avenue: Episode 21,513
General FictionIt's 10th January 2019 As Krista warms to the community after her return thanks to Oliver and Caleb, Jeffrey seeks help from his friends but will the method of a pub brawl give way to a cunning plan by a long-time resident
