Episode 2 – Anouk

13 October 2011

Anouk leaves the BBQ more appalled by seeing Hector flirting with Connie than Harry slapping Hugo. Her life is full of pressure - her mother is ill, a young writer at work has his sights set on her job – and the slap is the last thing on her mind. Feeling ill from what she assumes is stress, Anouk visits a doctor, where she discovers to her shock, that she is pregnant with her much younger boyfriend’s child. She tries to talk to Aisha, but can’t bring herself to.  Her confusion is compounded when Rhys proposes they quit their jobs to travel around the world together. She is torn by her feelings for him, his kindness, and commitment to her, and the fear of tying him down and holding him back.

The next day, Anouk gets into a heated argument with her boss, and quits. Still reeling, she catches up with Aisha and Rosie for a drink that night. When the conversation turns to the slap, and Rosie tells them she and Gary are pressing charges against Harry, Anouk doesn’t hold back in telling them how she feels. Rosie and Aisha are stung at Anouk’s reaction, and she storms out feeling estranged from her two closest friends.

Feeling guilty, Anouk visits Rosie’s house the next day to apologise, and inadvertently confesses that she is pregnant.  Saying it out loud, and trying to persuade herself that it is a chance for renewal, Anouk realises she doesn’t want to have the child. The morning after her abortion, Anouk wakes to find Rhys cooking her breakfast.  Unaware of her decision to terminate, but having worked out she was pregnant, Rhys is overcome with excitement at the idea of having a baby. But when Anouk tells him there is no baby, Rhys is devastated. Furious at not giving him the choice, he leaves her.