Teresa "Tess" Bell had just finished catching up with her old work colleague, Susan Kennedy, after attending a protest to save Erinsborough High. The protest itself quickly turned ugly, when former and present staff and students broke their way inside the school grounds. Fortunately, Tess didn't get caught up in that drama.
As Tess made her way towards her car, she noticed Melissa Jarrett - a former Erinsborough High student years before Tess had begun her teaching career - sitting on a bench talking to someone on her phone.
"Look, I'll be home on the next flight, sweetie." Melissa said. "Okay, love you, Josh. Bye."
Tess then approached Melissa.
"You're Melissa Jarrett, aren't you?" Tess asked her.
Melissa looked at Tess.
"Yes, but I don't know who you are..." Melissa replied.
"Oh, I was a former teacher at Erinsborough High - way after you left. I started teaching there in 1999 to 2001." Tess said.
"Well, I'm a former student at Erinsborough High." Melissa responded. "I attended from 1989 to 1991 - the year I went to America."
"You're married to Josh Anderson, right?"
"How do you know Josh?" Melissa asked Tess.
"Believe it or not. Josh works in Randwick with my husband, Anthony." Tess replied.
Melissa looked shocked.
"Anthony Dimos? You're married to him?"
"Yep. Have been for almost 16 years." Tess replied. "We met when I was living in London - he was there on business, and we just instantly connected."
"Wow." Melissa said. "Who would've thought our husbands knew each other, but we're only meeting ourselves just now."
"How long have you and Josh been married for?" Tess asked.
"For over 20 years, though we've been together on and off for about 33 of those years." Melissa replied.
"Was it a break up, get back together sort of thing?"
"No, actually, in April of 1991, my father got a job transfer at his firm. So, the whole family - including myself and my younger brother, Sean - moved to California. About a year later, I returned to Melbourne to attend uni, where I graudated with a Bachelor in Midwifery. In 1995, I moved to Sydney, where I got my first job as a midwife. Josh and I still kept in contact all this time, and would even go so far as travel between Sydney and Mildura just to see each other."
"How sweet." Tess said. "I'm currently teaching at Sydney Girls High School - something a little than Erinsborough High."
"The deaths of our two best friends, Cody Willis and Todd Landers brought us closer together whilst we were in our grief."
Tess smiled at Melissa, before saying, "Anthony and I got together during a rough period in both of our lives."
"May I ask what happened?" Melissa asked Tess.
"I went through a bad break up, and was severely depressed." Tess replied. "He was also struggling with the death of his fiancé in a car accident."
Melissa then went into her handbag and showed Tess a recent family photo of her, Josh and their kids.
"Those are our kids - two boys and a girl."
"Anthony and I have two sons, as well."
Tess then showed Melissa a picture of her, Anthony and their two sons standing behind the Surfers Paradise beach sign.
"That was taken on our recent family holiday up on the Gold Coast." Tess explained.
"We'll have to catch up - the four of us. Josh and I live in South Coogee."
"Anthony and I live 5 minutes away in Maroubra." Tess said.
"Hopefully, our kids will become friends, too." Melissa said. "How old are your boys?"
"Jack is 14, and Sam is 11." Tess replied.
"Our oldest son Jacob is 19, then we have our only daughter Maria who is 16, and finally, our youngest son, Zac, is 14 like your son, Jack." Melissa said.
"It's so nice that we have old memories about our time in Erinsborough High, though we're from different generations." Tess said.
"But we've made a new friendship along the way." Melissa said.
"You know what, Melissa?" Tess said. "Cancel your flight back to Sydney - I'm driving us back."
Melissa looked shocked by Tess's gesture.
"You're gonna drive 8 hours back?" Melissa asked Tess.
"If I can drive from Sydney to Melbourne in a straight trip, I can drive back there in a straight trip, too." Tess replied. "But if we get tired, we can always stop halfway and stay at a motel for the night."
"We could share more Erinsborough stories on the way." Melissa told her.
"I like that idea."
Tess and Melissa then hugged.
"To old memories, and new friendships." Tess said.
"To old memories, and new friendships." Melissa repeated.
"Let's get this show on the road, Melissa."
"Got any Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston songs we can listen to?" Melissa asked.
"Sure do." Tess replied with a smile on her face.
Tess and Melissa then walked to the car - both happy that the protest to save Erinsborough High brought them together as new friends.