Trying – Ghosting

By: Gladys Luna

Nikki (Esther Smith) manages to fix Bev’s (Clare Higgins) computer for Tyler and realizes that she was subscribed to a dating website and now has just received a message from a man called George (Jim Broadbent) confirming a date for that same night. Nikki immediately tells Jason (Rafe Spall) about it and convinces him to go with her to this date to tell the other man in person about Bev’s passing. This situation makes the woman to ponder about the life that she and Jason had been recently living and how they have forgotten about spending some time with each other. She is very vocal about this but he disagrees with her. While they are discussing about the situation, a door slam can be heard and Nikki confesses that in the recent days, Princess (Scarlett Rayner) has been acting out and even criticizing the way she sips her tea. Right that moment, she receives a message from George saying that he will meet her at “Serafina” for dinner.

Meanwhile at Karen’s (Sian Brooke) house, the woman is discussing about pollution and supply chain matters with her little daughter Stevie (Matilda Flower) who appears to understand everything she is saying and only limits herself to nod at her comments while she is having breakfast dressed as a pinguin. Right then, Scott (Darren Boyd), walks in asking his daughter about how excited she is for her first day at school. Karen asks the man not to discuss further details about their wealthy life of what they do for a living and he agrees to it. In the meantime, Jason and his friend Anthony (Javone Prince) are at a football field to where they have taken their sons while the first one takes the chance to asks his friend about his dating life with his wife. The other man’s opinion is not so far from what Jason thinks so that turns out to be reassuring for him.

Princess arrives to a place called “The Box” looking for Kat Reid and claiming to be her daughter whom she abandoned when she was five years old but when she is faced with the Kat (Rebecca Yeo) that works there, she immediately realizes that said woman could not be the one she is looking for so, she scratches one more name from the long list she is carrying.  Nikki meets with Karen at a clothing store looking for a dress for her date with George and just as Jason did, she asks her friend about how much time she spends with Scott but does not get the answer she expects. She spots a blue dress that she immediately likes but the price is not so convincing. Karen encourages to buy it and she does but promising that would leave the price tag on so she could return it the next morning. Nikki takes the chance to ask Karen to “babysit” Princess and Tyler (Cooper Turner) while she is gone on a date with Jason and George to what she unwillingly agrees. Later that night, Princess  has a conversation with Karen in which she confesses what she has been doing behind her mother’s back and the woman offers herself as someone the young girl can confide on. Scott spends some time with his daughter and compliments her culinary skills as though she has cooked for him. Once again, the little girls just nods as though she understands what he means then, he asks her about her first day at school and she shows him a drawing they made of the world in which there’s nothing but chaos something that concerns the man.

Nikki and Jason arrive to the restaurant and they are introduced to George who wastes no time in complimenting Nikki when he mistakes her for Bev. The woman informs him about Bev’s passing and he understands it well and as a way to thank them for taking the time to meet with him, he invites them for dinner. Jason does not feel comfortable and only wants to go back home but ends up accepting at Nikki’s request. Karen builds a blanket fort for her and Princess and they get in there to drink a milkshake and eat pizza meanwhile, George takes Nikki and Jason to a ball room where the first two share some dance together while Jason watches them from the bar. The song is over and Nikki takes the opportunity to share a drink with her husband whose discomfort is evident but the woman is having the time of her life at the chivalry of her other companion. While George and Nikki are once again on the dance floor, another woman named Sylvie (Gillian Axtell) shows up looking envious of Nikki and the attention she appears to be receiving from the older man and ends up dancing with Jason. The three of them leave the ball room and while George is driving them back home, the car suddenly stops in the middle of the street and then, the man takes out a box with food and starts eating much to the couple’s surprise.

Back at Scott’s house; he walks by Stevie’s room and realizes that the girl is still awake. When asking her about the reason she responds that she is worried about the climate emergency and the animals dying. Scott tries to read her a story but he notices that this topic is exactly the one that all of her story books talk about so he goes to find her something else. Jason tries to push the car but he can’t do it alone so he asks for his wife help to what she refuses given that she does not want to ruin the dress she will return the next day. Nikki asks George to turn off his hearing aids to have a proper chat with Jason in which she confesses that she thinks he’s no longer making an effort for their relationship and feels unseen by him but they are going nowhere with the conversation so, she asks George to turn his hearing aids on again and he apologizes for meddling between the two. He confesses he misses his wife with whom he enjoyed of forty-three years of marriage and asks them how they met. Jason says that he used to be obsessed with Nikki from the very first moment and to this day, he still is while Nikki admits that she knew he was the man for her since the first time they kissed. This exchange of confessions reminded them what they mean to each other and they make amends. Jason asks her to keep the dress so she can use it on another date with him and rips the price tag off of it then, the two of them push the car and start it again. They arrive to their home where Nikki realizes that Bev has been talking to a lot of men and decides to ignore the conversations; Princess throws the “Kat Reid” list to the trash and finally, Nikki and Jason end the night eating the left-over pizza at the tent that Karen built and spending some more time together.