Series 1 Episode 3
It was Helen's weekend off but she couldn't help think about Nikki and how she was going to get her onside. Her boyfriend, Sean, was claiming he had too much work to do but it didn't stop them making love for the entire weekend; Helen knew there was something missing between them, something she couldn't pin down but she did know that it wasn't working with them living together.
Nikki's weekend was like every other day; she and Monica chatted about things and she spent time reading and doing the prison gardens but her thoughts often floated to Helen and what could be doing with her free weekend; she was the itch Nikki couldn't scratch and Nikki knew it would always be that way.
Helen's first day back at work was eventful with Zandra asking her if it would be possible for her and her fiancée to get married in prison. Helen was fearful of the idea but knew she couldn't really deny it no matter how against she was. Helen had seen little or nothing of Nikki which made her sad for a reason she didn't want to admit even to herself; the more time she spent with the troubled inmate the more she felt for her.
(Scene 1)
Nikki had been served her dinner and she turns to walk towards the tables when she bumps into someone
"Watch what you…" Nikki realises she had just bumped into the one person she was been wanting to catch a glance of since she had come back to work after her weekend off. Helen.
"Oops" Jim watches in a suspicious manner as the two women talk. He knew that Helen was a prisoner's friend and he knew that she was trying to get Nikki onside in order to gain intelligence from someone on the other side of the bars
"Sorry" Helen had a renewed ambition to get Nikki onside whatever it took, little did she know it would take just that
"No, my fault" Helen knew of Nikki's passion for reading and glancing, briefly, down at the inmate's tray that she had also finished George Elliot's "Middlemarch" "Oh, you finished "Middlemarch" Nikki was in mood for idle chatter especially with the wing governor and Fenner looking over her shoulder
"Something you want, Miss?"
"No I don't think so" Nikki nods her head towards the empty table
"Then if you don't mind, I'm hungry" Helen sighs inwardly, the weekend hadn't improved Nikki's mood or attitude. Fenner wasn't in the mood for Nikki's attitude and decided to make it known
"Oi let's have some respect. That's no way to speak to your governor" Nikki just ignores him and Helen gets annoyed "Respect, doesn't know the meaning of the word. Right hard case if you ask me" Nikki listened to every word Fenner spoke and inwardly smiles at his ignorance and stupidity.
"A hard case?" Helen looks at Nikki, who glances back at her. It takes a nutcracker to crack a walnut, maybe Nikki's passion for books would be Helen's nutcracker; there was no harm in trying.
"Ah, you know. Just difficult for difficult sake" Helen smiles and nods in agreement. Nikki was, at times, difficult for difficult sake and she was going to change that big time.
"Jim, I don't need a bodyguard. I can handle the prisoners myself, thank you" Nikki smirks at Helen's confidence and ability to tell Fenner where to go; her admiration for the young Scot grew even more.
(Scene 2)
Helen was passing and she saw Nikki on her bed reading yet again. The wing governor was pleased to see this; it provided a channel for her to use in order to break down the inmate's walls
"More George Elliot… it's good to see the women using the library" Nikki was in a more cooperative and pleasurably mood than earlier much to Helen's relief
"People in 'ere aren't stupid you know. They're a lot brighter than your screws anyway" Nikki's dislike of the officers was clear as day to everyone in here including Helen
"My officers are trained professionals"
"Well if Fenner's anything to go by, you'd be better off training chimpanzees" Helen couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her face. Nikki was right; Fenner was just a baboon that had learned from experience rather than his training
"He reckons you're a tough nut. Difficult for difficult sake he says" Nikki was about to open a can of worms with her next statement, a very big can
"Yeah well, I'm not in his fan club am I?" Helen was intrigued by Nikki's statement and wanted to know what she meant by it
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nikki continues to look at Helen, was she truly that blind and stupid?
"You work it out for yourself" Helen took this as it was meant to be taken and turned the conversation serious
"If Mr Fenner's conduct is less than professional you better tell me Nikki" Oh here we go again, Nikki was getting tired of Helen trying to make her a nark
"Look, I'm no one's nark. Especially not yours" Helen was quickly running out of ideas; Nikki was just being stubborn and they both knew it.
Helen's entire week went from bad to worse when it was discovered that Zandra's fiancée was engaged to other woman, Rachel Hicks had be taken to the hospital after she was attacked but she refused to give up a name, Nikki was still being stubborn and her feelings for the inmate were getting stronger and easier to identify; Helen was falling in love with the inmate and there nothing she could do about it.