Episode 8503

Extended Summary

Mali and Mackenzie have just finished a surf on the beach, although Mackenzie is looking tired. John pulls up and notes this is what working from home looks like. Mali points out that the sign at the shop says “Gone Surfing”. John says he should be “surfing” the community and drives on. Mackenzie offers to speak to him and Mali quips that she’s too busy getting busy.

Cash sits Eden, Abigail and Levi down at the Lyrik house and tries to get them talking. Levi says Eden asked their opinion on inviting Jimmy to the wedding and Eden says Levi thinks it’s a terrible idea. Abigail says it makes no sense and Eden thinks Levi should be supporting her. Eden and Levi start arguing, prompting Abigail to announce she needs to get back to work and Eden to decide to go with her.

Sonny tells Theo and Lacey he’s going down the beach. Theo says it’s with his girlfriend and Sonny says it several times before noting it still sounds weird. After he’s gone, Lacey comments that she could have given Dana tips on how not to do an interview. She says she’s considering getting work closer to home. Theo says there’s the surf club, Salt or the hospital and the job at the Diner. He suggests she comes with him when he meets the PT filling in for Tane.

Dana and Sonny meet outside the surf club. Dana apologises for not being able to spend time with him yesterday, noting that with Harper needing help she didn’t do much interview prep anyway. However, she thinks the competition is weak and Levi knows her. They run into Eden and Abigail who say Levi is at Eden’s place. Dana was hoping he’d decided on a candidate. Eden says if he does, he’ll change his mind, leaving her confused.

Cash brings Levi a drink outside the house. Cash says this was a big deal for Eden. Levi says that Eden hasn’t spent any time with their dad and the last time they were in a room together it went badly. He worries there’ll be a family meltdown at the wedding. Meanwhile, Theo arrives at the surf club with Lacey and points out Mali to her. Lacey approaches and asks him about work but Mali says it’s a staff of one, adding that he used to have an assistant but has scaled back. After Lacey has gone, John protests that Mali just turned away the answer to his problem. He says if Mali doesn’t want to open the shop, someone else could. Mali says it’s none of John’s business: He’s checked the lease and isn’t required to have employees, keep regular hours or turn up at all.

Up in Salt, Eden and Abigail wonder how Cash is getting on with Levi. Mackenzie comes over and says Eden got an order wrong and she’ll sort it, telling Eden to stock the fridges. Abigail tells Mackenzie that Levi and Eden aren’t talking again. Lacey comes in and asks if she could speak to the manager about work. Abigail starts to get Mackenzie but Eden says there’s no work and if Lacey leaves her CV, then she’ll explain she was responsible for the brawl. Cash comes in as Eden is telling Lacey to have a fresh start somewhere else and wonders if that was necessary.

Downstairs, John asks Mali if he should fix the “Gone Fishing” sign up permanently. He also asks if he’ll see Mali tomorrow, saying it’s a genuine question, before arguing with Lacey when she bumps into him. Lacey tells Theo it was a disaster. Cash follows her down and offers to talk to Eden and Mackenzie. Lacey says a lot of people think it’s a bad idea to hire her.

Eden insist to Mackenzie that they dodged a bullet. Abigail thinks it was shot down. Mackenzie reminds Eden that her brother’s a River Boy but agrees they don’t need trouble. She gets a text from Levi saying he has to work late. Cash comes up and Eden says she couldn’t deal with Lacey today. Cash reminds her that Lacey helped arrest the River Boys and save Theo and Sonny. Eden says they’ll talk after work.

Mackenzie turns up at the hospital with pizza. Levi is still looking through the applications and says he’s waiting on a couple of references. He says he’ll try and get home so they can have another shot. Mackenzie says to wait though, since they’ll have plenty of other windows of opportunity. She leaves him to it and he picks up Dana’s application.

At the Diner flat, Dana is repeatedly checking her messages as Sonny asks if there’s been any news in the last four seconds. They are interrupted by the return of Theo and Lacey. Sonny takes Dana’s phone, saying he’ll call the hospital, and Dana chases after him. Theo reminds Lacey there’s still the job at the Diner. Lacey thinks it’s a pity job and not a good idea for her to work with Leah.

Eden goes to the police station and tells Cash she was harsh earlier. Cash asks if she means with him or Lacey. Eden says Levi’s flip has unnerved her. Cash tells her what Levi said: They all want Jimmy at the wedding but Eden can be unpredictable when challenged. He says he doesn’t want to be worried that she’ll fight with Jimmy on the happiest day of their lives.

Next morning, Lacey is sat outside the surf club, considering phoning Leah. Mali and Abigail approach, with Mali having just finished a board. John approaches saying he took a delivery for Mali and a board order and surf lesson enquiry but it would help if he had an actual assistant, gesturing to Lacey. Mali asks her if she still wants a job and says she can start now.

Cash finds Eden sat out the front of the Lyrik house. She says Levi wasn’t right but did have a point, which Cash suggests is a roundabout way of saying he was right. Eden says their wedding isn’t the right time to fix things with her dad and she needs to test the waters first. She makes the call.

Dana and Sonny arrive at Salt. While Abigail is showing Sonny onto the balcony, Dana approaches Levi and Mackenzie at the counter and suggests Levi could just tell her she’s got the job. After trying to put her off, Levi eventually tells her she didn’t. Downstairs, Mali shows Lacey how to record board orders and gives her the day’s schedule. John hands her the insurance papers and Mali says she has to go down the beach now for a beginner’s class. John adds he’s a bronze medallion instructor and Mali gives Lacey a wetsuit.

Dana and Sonny arrive back at the flat with Dana horrified that she joked to Levi about getting the job and didn’t get it. Theo passes through, on the phone to Lacey about her getting a job. Sonny suggests Dana is happy with her current job and would just be doing the same thing. Dana asks if he’s ever had a job and he offers grade six breakdancing. Dana storms out.

Lacey is nervously addressing a class on the beach. Theo arrives and Lacey quietly explains she didn’t know what Mali was asking and now she’s taking a surf class without knowing how to surf. Theo thinks she should have been honest. Lacey says it’s too late and asks for help.