Author's note: Well, I finally feel like season 4 of Offspring has found its groove. The first couple of eps were a bit worrying, but episodes 5&6 have won me over. I know that we got a sense of the frustration of having Martin Clegg as a houseguest, but I wanted to explore that a little more. Hope you enjoy!
Nina walked into the locker room at St Francis', and smiled as she saw Patrick sitting at the table. She hadn't seen her partner for several hours, and had assumed that he had already left for the day.
"Hey! I thought you'd gone home."
Patrick smiled faintly, and shook his head, folding up the newspaper he had been reading.
"I could lie and say I was waiting for you, but-"
"Martin." Nina replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Yeah" Patrick sighed heavily, as Nina came and sat down next to him.
"What are we going to do?" Nina looked pleadingly towards Patrick.
"I dunno. We can't go on like this, I know. I just… I just can't bring myself to kick him out."
"I know, me either. Do you think for tonight we could just avoid the problem, and go out for dinner instead?"
Patrick looked relieved at Nina's suggestion, and the couple headed out the door, discussing restaurant options.
Less than an hour later, they were both seated in a quiet corner of a fashionable Gertrude St restaurant in Fitzroy. They had declined the waiter's offer of the wine list, opting for sparkling water instead, and were now perusing the menu.
Nina looked up, having narrowed the choices down to either steak or risotto, to find Patrick looking at her and smiling.
"What?" she asked, with a touch of paranoia, and immediately started fussing with her hair, worried about her appearance.
"Nothing!" replied Patrick soothingly, reaching across the table to grasp Nina's hand.
"I was just thinking how nice it is to go out on a date with you. We didn't really ever…"
"No, we didn't" Nina agreed. "We were a bit too preoccupied hanging out in each other's bedrooms!"
They both laughed as Nina blushed attractively. She was saved from further embarrassment by the return of the waiter, and they ordered their meals before settling back in their chairs and looking contentedly at each other. Patrick was the first to break the silence.
"So, Martin…"
"Oh, can we please not talk about him? Just for tonight." Nina pleaded, and Patrick readily acquiesced.
"All right then, how's it going with Eloise, since the big declaration?"
Nina groaned. "I think I'd rather talk about Martin! It's awkward, obviously, and now Kim & Zara have figured out what the problem is, so they're giving me a hard time, and God knows what they've said to Eloise. I just want us to move past it, and get back to a professional mentor-student relationship."
Patrick smiled at Nina, and tried to reassure her that it would probably just be a matter of time. Nina wasn't so sure, but decided to change the topic.
"Kate said that she's found a babysitter for Isabella and she and Joseph are going to come to Mick's gig tomorrow night. That'll be good!"
Patrick frowned slightly and responded with a non-committal "Hmmm".
"Oh, come on, Patrick, he seems nice, and more importantly, Kate's happy. Isn't that what you want?"
"Yeah, I guess. I just… Neens, you have no idea how bad a state she was in when I got her away from that bastard! And I felt so bad that I hadn't realised before. I'd just been in such a dark place myself… Anyway, it's taken so long to get her back to something like normal, and I don't want to see her get hurt."
"I know, but she needs to get on with her life, Patrick, just like you have. In the meantime, give Joseph a chance, ok? Kate told me about your interrogation."
"Interrogation? I was just trying to get to know him!"
Nina raised her eyebrows, and Patrick had the decency to look sheepish. At this point their meals arrived, and they tucked into their food with gusto, with conversation kept to a minimum.
Later in the evening, they drove home and got out of the car, ready to head inside. However Nina & Patrick were stopped in their tracks by the unmistakeable sound of loud sobbing. They looked at each other in despair, before Patrick spoke.
"You go upstairs and get ready for bed. I'll make sure he's ok."
"Thanks!" Nina answered in relief, as she unlocked the door and entered their house.
Patrick took a deep breath and followed Nina, heading over to the couch to try and console a distraught Martin Clegg.
I've always felt cheated that we didn't get to see more of the early stages of Nina & Patrick's relationship, without all the angst. Hope this remedied it somewhat. Let me know what you think.