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EPISODE EIGHT: Love Is A Drug

"Emma? A word."

Emma paused on her way out and turned at Nisha's call. "Yeah, what is it?"

"I need you on evenings for the rest of the week."

"From tomorrow, you mean?"

"No, I mean from tonight."

Emma gaped at her. "That means I'll be back here in three hours!"

"You'll have all day tomorrow off to recover. It's a shorter shift for the same money."

"But I'll barely see Ethan and Eddie!"

Nisha glared at her. "Emma, I need someone I can rely on."

Emma shuffled, quietly angry. Nisha had her over a barrel and she knew it. She could take the job away from her just like that. "I'll need to talk to Ethan."

"You've got three hours to do it in."

Ethan looked good. It was the smartest she'd seen him in a long time. But the scowl on his face was the most annoyed she'd seen. "You can't let her keep doing this, Emma."

Emma sighed. "What am I supposed to do, resign?"

"Yeah!" Ethan tried his best to make it sound possible. "We'd manage."

Emma shook her head. "No we wouldn't."

"This evening was meant to be about the six of us getting together. You, me, Laurel, Jordan, Char and Justin."

"I know and I wish I could be there with you but…I can't."

Ethan looked exasperated. "What about Eddie?"

"Mum's fine having him. Can you pick him up on the way back?"

"Guess I'll have to, won't I?" Ethan softened slightly as he realised how upset she was. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later."

Emma watched him leave and it was at that moment that her phone rang. She checked the caller ID, then answered it. "Sutton, hi."

Although Emma didn't know it, Sutton was close at hand: In a car across the road to be exact, with Dan by her side. They ducked out of sight as they saw Ethan come out of the house and drive off. "Emma, you got time to chat?"Sutton asked cheerily.

"Not really. I'm meant to be working this evening."

"Okay, I'll call back later. Good luck." Sutton ended the call and turned to Dan. "She's working."

"You got a plan?"

Sutton nodded. "I know Emma. She always pours herself a glass of wine before she goes in the shower, drinks it when she comes out. And she always has a shower before she goes to work." Her gaze drifted up to the flat. "And there go the bathroom lights. You got the stuff?"

Dan handed her a plastic bag full of white powder. "It'll knock her out for hours."

Emma put the glass of wine down on the kitchen surface, wrapped a towel around herself and headed for the bathroom.

A few moments later, the door to the flat quietly opened. Sutton slipped in and headed for the kitchen, before pouring the white powder into the wine glass…

"Last call, place your bets!"Lexi announced. She looked worriedly at the door. Someone would notice something soon…

"Lexi, where's Emma?"Nisha demanded.

Lexi grimaced. It was a question she'd been asking herself for nearly an hour. And all she could do was give an honest answer. "I don't know."

Nisha looked part angry, part…concerned? Maybe she cared for Emma more than she seemed to. "She never turned up?"

"No. Do you want me to go look for her?"

Nisha hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. "No, I need you here. But I'll be having words with her later."

Ethan arrived home with a sleeping Eddie in his arms. He turned on the light and was slightly bemused to find Emma passed out on the couch. "Guess Mummy had a hard shift,"he whispered to his comatose son. He took Eddie into his room, then fetched a blanket from his own room and draped it over Emma. He picked up the empty wine glass from the table and put it in the kitchen before going to bed…