Brad tells Lauren that they got together for the wrong reasons and as much as he likes her, he just can't keep going out with her. Lucy informs Beth of Brad and Lauren's breakup. Julie is stunned to hear that Phil has resigned from Lassiter's and is heading to Perth for a fresh start. Debbie wants to go to Perth with her father. Helen walks in to the newly renovated Waterhole to find the Ramsay Street residents have thrown a surprise birthday bash for her...

Helen is ecstatic but even more so when Lucy turns her round to see Paul standing there. She screams with delight and hugs him before finding out that Christina and Andrew couldn't make it. Still over the moon, she wants to know who organised the party and realizes it was Pam. Pam confides that they tried to get Scott and Charlene too but couldn't as Daniel is too unwell. They'll call her later. Helen thinks it's a shame that Jim couldn't be there too but Pam is sure he's there in spirit and demands someone get the birthday girl a drink. Excitedly, Hannah leads Helen over to open her presents. Stepping away Paul asks Gaby for a word in the office and leads her out of the pub. Meanwhile everyone has gathered round Helen and Doug gives her a kiss on the cheek as she opens a card.

. . .

Paul and Gaby enter Phil's office and Paul apologises for dragging her away from the party. He informs her of Philip's departure and the need to find someone to look after the complex. Obviously assuming she's been passed over, Gaby asks if the man he has in mind is going to be hard to work with but Paul says it's a woman. Gaby is frustrated that Paul didn't even give her a thought for the position but he counters that he has -- he's appointing her as the new manager of Lassiter's. Gaby realises why Philip's been giving her so much extra responsibility lately. She thanks Paul and promises not to let him down. They commiserate over the breakup of Phil and Julie's marriage and as Paul gets up to leave, Gaby asks to stay behind. Paul knows she wants to get a feel of the place and thinks they're two of a kind. After he leaves, the phone rings and Gaby answers as the manager.

. . .

Back at the Waterhole, Pam is laying out more food as Lou congratulates her on the spread. They notice Doug's over drinking and Lou suggests some strong black coffee causing Pam to realise she forgot it. She rushes over to Annalise and asks her to go and get some cups and saucers from The Coffee Shop. She is reluctant until Lucy bounces over to flirt with Mark but suddenly hauls him away to do the task. Lucy observes to Pam that Annalise obviously doesn't like competition and Pam says that she's been getting quite a lot of it from Gaby lately. Mischievously, Lucy ponders hanging around to give them both a run for their money. Lucy wanders off past Phoebe, joking that models aren't allowed to eat. Lou takes food over to a solitary Lauren but she's not hungry. Philip pulls Hannah away from Helen's present opening and tells her he'll see her soon -- he's going to Perth for a while. She hugs him tightly until Julie passes by on the prowl. Phil goes over to Helen to say goodbye and she is sorry that he has to go but he replies that it's for the best. Giving Debbie a final embrace he walks out of the pub past a glaring Julie. Julie hugs a tearful Hannah who wants to know when her father's coming back but Julie offers to discuss it after the party. She sympathises that Hannah doesn't want him to leave.

. . .

In The Coffee Shop, Mark is surprised at the paltry number of cups that Annalise hands him and accuses her of getting him there under false pretenses. She asks if he minds and states that she assumed he'd want to spend some time alone. Mark was enjoying himself at the party -- he wanted to talk to Lucy Robinson about her modeling. Pushing against him, Annalise defensively recalls having her own chance to become a model. She just didn't follow it up. Mark thinks it's a pity because she's got what it takes. She wants to know if he really thinks so and he nods, grinning.

. . .

At Helen's party, a drunken Doug is propping up the bar whilst complaining to Paul about the whole world economy falling apart. Paul disagrees that they're heading for another great depression if the Robinson Corporation is anything to go by but Doug cuts him off scoffing that it's alright for the big blokes but not guys like him. He starts ranting about Paul being a fat cat as Pam swoops over excusing him. She doesn't know what's got into him apart from a few gallons of beer that is. As Paul slopes away, Doug laments not having the right to an opinion but Pam hammers home that it's not Paul's fault they're suffering from financial difficulties. Beth is at the bar with Brad and observes that his Dad seems angry with the world. Brad thinks he's just letting off steam and notes that it must be pretty tough on her too. Lucy interrupts the pair wanting him to take pictures of her and Beth with Helen. Rick approaches Lauren in the corner and asks her for a dance but she's not in the mood. Elsehwere, Julie is ranting to a defensive Cheryl over how Darren ruined her family's lives. Cheryl is adamant it wasn't her fault but Julie replies that it wouldn't have happened if she'd been a better mother. Angrily, Lou jumps in that Julie's had enough trouble with her own kids to know that parents aren't always to blame. He demands that Julie leave Cheryl alone and she makes a sharp exit as Cheryl hugs Lou for coming to her defence.

. . .

. . .

Outside the Lassiter's Brasserie, Debbie approaches Hannah and asks where Julie got to. Hannah says she ran off and Debbie tries to comfort her. Unmoved, Hannah thinks that Philip left and he's never coming back. With her and Michael going to, she'll be left with just her mother. Debbie points out that Julie loves her very much and although Hannah loves her too, she doesn't want things to change. Out of sight, Julie arrives and begins to eavesdrop as Debbie points out that you can't always get what you want. Hannah knows her parents still love each other and doesn't understand why they can't just talk it all out. She thinks that loving each other is enough and Debbie replies that it should be. Debbie embraces her younger sister as Julie looks on pensively.

. . .

Philip is saying goodbye to Michael at the hospital, apologizing that he just has to get away because he can't cope with seeing Julie all the time. Michael muses that he must love her although he can't see why. Phil accuses him of always looking for the worst but Michael counters that it's all he could ever see. Unrelenting, Phil states that in that case there's a lot that he missed out on. Julie can be very tender and loving. She may always think she's right but she genuinely cares for people and only tries to stop them doing what she sees as the wrong thing. She's bossy and moralistic and a lot of other things…but she's very loving and supportive. Michael scoffs that she was never supportive to him but Phil points out that she tried to be and after the way he treated her, he can't blame her for turning against him. Michael wonders why he's leaving if he still loves her and Phil simply states that it doesn't matter how much you love someone if they don't love you anymore. He doesn't know where it all started falling apart but somewhere along the line she just stopped letting him in -- and if she doesn't trust him enough to tell him what's wrong there's nothing he can do. Michael thinks it will all get better when he and Debbie move to Perth. It'll be just like old times…before Julie.

. . .

Julie re-enters the pub and grabs her bag from a table. She tells her grandmother that she has something to do and apologises for ruining the party. Helen assures her she hasn't but she's worried about her. Julie maintains that she's alright and kisses Helen on the cheek, wishing her a happy birthday before leaving. Debbie and Hannah go over to Helen who tells them that Julie's probably gone home as she might not be in the mood for a party. Mark and Annalise enter with the cups as Pam moans at them for taking so long. Annalise says they got a little distracted and Cheryl picks up on the innuendo despite Mark's futile attempts to hide it. Annalise leads Mark away to look for Gaby. Beth walks past Helen's table and asks if she wants another drink but Helen has to drive. She points out that Lauren doesn't look very happy and despite Beth's protestations that she brought it on herself, Helen pushes her to go and talk to her rival.

. . .

Without warning, Wayne brings out Stephen in his wheelchair announcing that they have a big surprise and this one's for Phoebe. As everyone watches, Stephen tentatively pulls himself to his feet and walks over to hug Phoebe amidst applause.

Julie bursts into Michael's hospital room and asks where Philip is. Her stepson doesn't answer and she begins to break down assuming that he's gone before she got the chance to talk to him. Michael assures her it's alright as she states that she should never have let him go. As if on cue, Philip enters and Michael asks him to talk to Julie before she floods the place. She tells him there's a few things she needs to get off his chest and he sighs assuming she's after another argument. Michael speculates that she doesn't want to have a go at him and Phil agrees to go home with her.

. . .

At the party, Helen and Pam comment on how wonderful it is that Stephen's walking again. As they talk Doug begins to verbally attack Wayne at the bar with Lou attempting to calm him. Helen ponders that it's not like Doug to drink so much and Pam mentions him having a lot of worries lately before excusing herself to diffuse the situation. Beth sits herself down at Lauren's table as Lou comments to Brad that it's good to see them talking again. Beth sympathises how tough it must be for Lauren breaking up with Brad, especially now Connor's gone. Lauren accuses her of rubbing it in but Beth denies it. Bitterly, Lauren tells Beth that she's nothing but a hypocritical bitch before storming off. Lou grabs her and berates her for what she's just done.

. . .

Gaby is in her new office at Lassiter's when Stephen and Phoebe enter. She jumps up, ecstatic to see Stephen walking again and offers to go back to the party to celebrate. However, they're there on business and want to discuss the shop. Gaby had hoped they'd changed their mind. Philip already agreed to let the shop to Mrs Slater and although she's yet to sign a lease, he already accepted a deposit. Phoebe figures it's not the end of the world. At least Stephen's walking again and they've still got their jobs at The Coffee Shop. Gaby adds that a unit might even be available at the end of the month as a couple of leases are due to run out soon and they'll be first in line.

. . .

Lou continues to rail at Lauren in the Waterhole telling her that if she wants to live on the street then she's going to have to get on with the neighbours. Lauren thinks he's made his point and asks him to stop going on about it. Going on that she didn't even want to come in the first place, she gets up to leave but Cheryl stops her and shouts out to the gathered guests that she's got an announcement of her own to make. Lou tries to stop her but she yells out that she and Lou are engaged to be married. Lauren storms out as the guests cheer and Lou looks on in shock.

Phil and Julie arrive at number 32 as she admits to blocking him out and offers an explanation. She begins to tell him how everything's been turned upside down since Queensland. Phil says he thought everything with her father was fine but Julie cuts him off so she can continue. Her father didn't love her mother. He raped her and she was the product of that rape. Stunned, Phil realises it must have hit her hard and she explains that the reason she didn't tell him was because she didn't know he'd feel about her once he knew. Phil doesn't care what happened in the past or how she was born. He loves her how she is. Visibly glad to hear this, Julie replies that she loves him too and the only reason she wanted a divorce was because she felt so lousy it was easier to blame him than anyone else. She never backed out because she felt she'd done so much damage to their marriage that divorce would be the cleanest option. Phil asks if she still thinks that but she tells him it's what he thinks that matters.

. . .

Back at Helen's party, Wayne congratulates Lou and Cheryl. Meanwhile Stephen and Phoebe inform Doug that now they're not opening a shop after all they won't be able to hire him to do the remodelling. As they apologise and walk away, Doug laments to Pam that a man his age doesn't even have a job. At the bar Lucy asks Brad where Beth got to and agrees that he should go and find her. Pam tries to comfort Doug but warns him he can't take it out on other people. He tells her that he's scared.

Beth is sitting on a bench by Lassiter's lake and Brad arrives and apologises for what happened with Lauren. She ponders that maybe what Lauren said was true. She almost got involved with Philip and he's still married. Brad remembers that when Beth first moved to Erinsborough she had a thing for older men. She really liked Philip but when she thought about it it wasn't nearly as much as she felt about Brad. Brad thinks it was the same with him and Lauren. Beth jokes that they've both done some silly things.