Whilst the ending of Neighbours had many good things about it, they committed one big mistake: They killed Hendrix. So I decided to treat everything after that as simply an alternative and come up with an ending where he's alive. And some other stuff happens too.
CHAPTER ONE
Mackenzie helped Hendrix through the door to their new flat. It was the first time he'd set eyes on it, since he'd still been recovering in hospital when it had been sorted. With the funds they had available, they could have bought something akin to a palace but instead they'd chose a simple one-bedroom flat with a bathroom and a large living area.
With Mackenzie's help, Hendrix eased himself down into an armchair. "Are you all right there?"she asked him anxiously. "Can I get you anything?"
Hendrix looked up at her fondly. "What, are you my personal nurse now?"
The fact that Hendrix still had his old attitude caused her to relax a bit. She smiled back at him, falling into the pattern of banter. "Should I dress the part?"
Hendrix gave a small laugh. "I don't think seeing you as a naughty nurse will help keep my heart rate down."
She sat down on the arm of his chair, took his hand and kissed the top of his head. "I can't believe we get to do this for the rest of our lives."
"Yep,"Hendrix confirmed. "And that should be a very long time now."
Harlow was sat in the coffee shop, swilling around the dregs of a cup that had long since gone cold. Freya stopped by her. "Are you all right?"
Harlow sighed. "Yeah. Just having a hard time feeling safe at the minute. Especially with Corey still out there."
Freya slid into the seat opposite her. "I know what you mean. I've still got the lumps to prove how whacked he was."
Nicolette had heard enough of the conversation to catch the gist and came to stand by the table. "Well, if he shows his face in here again, I'll let him know what it feels like to be hit on the head with something heavy."
Harlow gave a small smile. "Thanks, both of you."
"You're safe around friends,"Freya told her. "I don't think he'd be daft enough to try and snatch you from the middle of the complex."
"Maybe not. It just feels like I'm in limbo until I know what's happened to him. I thought maybe I could help the police trap him somehow…"
"Might be best to leave it up to them?"
"Maybe." Harlow got to her feet. "Maybe I should go and see if Grandad can cheer me up."
When Harlow heard the raised voice coming from Paul's office, she knew he wasn't going to be cheering her up.
"Read that, go on!"he was barking.
Chloe's voice came in reply. "New outdoor exercise area set to open?"
"And see who's organising it? The Quill Group, with backing from the Udagawas."
"Is this going to affect Lassiters business?"Chloe wondered.
"Well, it's not going to help. And see this: The land used was purchased by the Quill Group last year."
Harlow was close enough now to join in the conversation. "Is that the land we tricked them into buying?"
Paul nodded. "Completely unsuitable for construction. There's a criss-cross of underground pipes and tunnels that means you'd never get a foundation in. Complete white elephant. But no, they decide to set up an outdoor gym, affiliate it to one of their hotels and no doubt have a steady stream of clients and hotel guests just lining up to go in there."
"Well, I can see why we don't want anyone poaching our guests,"Chloe mused. "Maybe we should think about revamping the hotel gym? Or we could get Aaron to do us a deal at the Shed?"
"This isn't about business! This was meant to be their punishment for everything they did to me and Terese, they weren't supposed to make a success of it!"
"Maybe you should calm down, Grandad?"Harlow suggested. "I mean, that scheme was where things started to go wrong with you and Terese, you don't want this to backfire on you again."
"Yeah, maybe you're right,"Paul conceded. But experience taught her it might not be as simple as that.
