At the office, Melanie is on the phone, trying to get in touch with Des, but having no luck. She hangs up and tells Paul that Dr Dawson saw them leaving the flat with their cases not long ago. Paul realises that they did such a good job at keeping the party a surprise, that Des now thinks that nobody cares about him and has left for Perth a day early. Melanie decides to call the airport and try to get Des paged there, whilst Paul goes to phone Geoff Sinclair and see if he knows Des’ flight details.
. . . 
At the pub, everyone is waiting for the guest of honour to arrive. Doug asks Chrissie, Helen and Dorothy if he can get them any drinks, but Dorothy says that she’s going to have to leave, as she has a dinner date. She then explains to Helen and Chrissie that her date is with John Brice, and she’ll be picking him up so that she can make a quick escape if he turns out to be unsavoury. As Dorothy leaves, Chrissie tells Helen that Paul is buying number 22 back from Gail and kicking her and Caroline out, so that he can live there with Isabella. She then starts to tell Helen about the incident with the dictaphone.
At number 26, Todd asks Melissa if he can get her anything to eat. She tells him that she has to get home for dinner, but explains that she called in to invite him over to watch a video on DNA for their biology project. She explains that Cody is coming, but isn’t impressed when Todd suggests inviting Josh. Melissa says that she’s still annoyed about the whole Katrina situation and Josh clearly isn’t about to apologise. Todd thinks that they’re as bad as each other, and Melissa storms off when Josh walks in.
. . . 
Back at the office, Melanie is on the phone to the airport, putting on a fake voice and claiming that she’s Des’ sister and he’s left his portable kidney dialysis machine at home. Paul quickly stops her and explains that he’s spoken to Des’ secretary and found out that he’s staying at the airport hotel tonight, so he’s got his room number and is about to go and get him. Melanie is relieved.
At the pub, Helen agrees with Chrissie that it seems like Isabella isn’t to be trusted, and Paul is a fool for rushing into marrying her. Just then, Isabella arrives, which is Chrissie’s cue to get up and leave. Isabella tells Helen that Christina hates her, because she is jealous of seeing Paul so happy with someone else. She says that she has tried to be friendly, but it has not worked. Helen doesn’t seem to be very impressed.
. . . 
At John’s apartment block, he and Dorothy are preparing to leave for a French restaurant, when a woman named Mrs Moorcroft calls out, asking them to hold the lift. She gets in and starts telling them that she’s on her way to her grandson, Seymour’s, fifth birthday party and is running late with all of the party food in a bag. Suddenly the lift stops and Mrs Moorcroft is horrified, telling Dorothy that this is the third time it’s happened in the past three months. John can’t get a signal on the emergency phone, so he presses the alarm button. Mrs Moorcroft says that it won’t do any good, as last time she was stuck in there for over three hours before help came.
Some time later, the three of them are sitting on the floor and Mrs Moorcroft is convinced that the wires are snapping and they’re going to plummet to their deaths at any moment. John and Dorothy encourage her to think positive thoughts and he decides to open the champagne, encouraging them to have a little to calm their nerves.
. . . 
At number 26, Josh can’t concentrate on doing homework as all he can think about it Melissa. Todd says that he doesn’t blame Melissa for being annoyed, as Josh took so long to try and work things out. Josh admits that he loves Melissa, but he can’t sort the mess out, as she won’t let him go anywhere near her, let alone talk to her. Todd then says that if he can’t go to Melissa, he’ll bring Melissa over to the house, tomorrow after school, and Josh will have to be ready to grovel.
Back in the lift, John and Dorothy are discussing their shared love of travel and are relieved to realise that Mrs Moorcroft has nodded off. Dorothy admits that she thought the woman would never stop whining, at which point she opens her eyes and asks if she can’t simply rest her eyes for five minutes without being insulted. Suddenly, the lift starts up again and Mrs Moorcroft gets out, deciding to take the stairs to the ground, as Seymour is probably asleep by now anyway. John and Dorothy decide to stay in the lift and finish off the champagne, as the doors close.
. . . 
At the pub, Jim and Paul are ribbing Des about the time they made him think he’d broken his arm after his bucks’ night, and Des then thanks everyone for coming. He says that he should have known that they wouldn’t let him leave without a bit of a song and dance, before telling Melanie that that wasn’t her cue to sing. Paul reminds him of his efforts to learn Japanese, which saw him getting sacked. Doug shakes Des’ hand and wishes him luck for the future and everyone raises a toast to Des, who asks why he got a call earlier for the airport about his kidney dialysis machine.
The next morning, at number 22, Helen arrives and asks Paul if she can use the office to interview for new chauffeurs. Paul agrees and explains that he’s off to the airport to say goodbye to Des. Isabella walks past, ignoring Paul and Helen, before Paul asks her for a goodbye kiss. As Paul leaves and Isabella goes upstairs, Christina points out to Helen that Isabella had another mysterious call earlier and suddenly her mood changed and she dropped the lovey dovey act. Chrissie decides to ring immigration and find out what’s going on. Helen isn’t sure that it’s such a good idea, but Chrissie points out that she has nothing to lose.
. . . 
. . . 
. . . 
At the airport, Des returns with a comic to keep Jamie occupied, and asks Paul and Melanie where he is. Paul explains that Jim has taken him up to the observation deck to look at the planes. Des decides to go and get him, as the flight is about to board, and asks Paul and Mel not to come with him, as he hates long, drawn-out goodbyes. He shares hugs with both Mel and Paul, and tells Paul to be happy with Isabella. He walks away, with Mel stopping him to give him Porky, Jamie’s teddy, and then he leaves, with Mel in tears.
At the Coffee Shop, Chrissie arrives and tells Helen that she called immigration and claimed to be phoning on Isabella’s behalf. She said that Isabella had trouble understanding the conversation earlier, and could they repeat the information. She tells Helen that Isabella’s family have all had their requests for visas denied, which explains why Isabella was in such a bad mood. Chrissie suggests that Helen has a chat to Isabella and tries to get to the bottom of it all.
. . . 
At number 26, Melissa arrives and wonders why Todd is acting so strangely. Josh then appears and Melissa tries to leave, but Todd stops her and says that they have got to sort things out. Melissa agrees to listen, as Josh apologises for not telling her about his crush on Katrina. Melissa tells him that he’s an idiot for wanting to be with Miss Riley anyway, and that everyone is laughing at him. Josh then walks out and Melissa looks guilty.
. . . 
At number 22, Helen and Chrissie are chatting to Isabella about her family and whether they’ll be able to visit after the wedding. Isabella bitterly asks them why they would care, just as Paul arrives home. He admits that he’s a little depressed after seeing Des off, but he has good news. He says that his divorce from Gail is about to come through and that a function room at Lassiter’s has become available, so they can marry in two weeks’ time. Isabella then stops him and says that Helen and Chrissie just looked disgusted at the mention of the wedding. Paul is upset to hear that his gran doesn’t approve of the wedding plans, but Helen says that they simply don’t think Isabella is being entirely honest. Paul says that he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks; he’s marrying Isabella in two weeks and none of them will stop him.
