EastEnders - 18/03/2010

The lost little girl has spent the night with Ronnie, who is a little apprehensive about approaching the father. Eventually Ronnie goes to Max’s house and organises for Abi to watch over the girl for a while. Having spoken to Max, who says he could not survive without his daughters, Ronnie calls Jack to arrange a meeting. She speaks to Jack about his daughter Penny, living in France with her mother, and he is adamant that his daughter is doing fine without him and that it was the right decision to make. Ronnie’s next stop is to speak with Billy, whom she thinks has done a wonderful job with Jay. Billy says that he would do it all again. Finally, at the end of the day, Ronnie heads over to the Vic with the little girl. Jean, enthusiastic, takes some ideas for a new fountain round for Denise to see in the hope of having it delivered by the next week. Eager to plough on, the pair are reminded by Lucas that they wanted to wait for a photographer from the Walford Gazette. With Lucas telling them that the photographer cannot come until Monday, Denise agrees to wait. In a sudden outburst, Jean takes a spade and heads over to the tree and starts to dig, saying that she must get the garden ready for Stacey; she needs to feel useful. Lucas manages to calm her and succeeds once more in delaying the digging of the garden. Desperate, the murdering preacher heads out to the garden in the middle of the night and destroys all the good work done. On her first day of home schooling, Lucy impresses Ian who realises that he cannot possibly keep up with all the material necessary to teach his daughter properly. The Beales agree that it would be best for Lucy to go back to school. Feeling that Phil is giving her the cold shoulder, Shirley is surprised when Ben accidentally leaves behind a shopping bag and she finds a diamond ring inside. Heather seems sure that Phil is going to propose and when a terrified Ben runs back to get the bag, Shirley assures him that she has not seen its contents. Carol, still looking for a job, is pleased when Billy tells her that he knows a man who may be of some assistance. A mortified Carol soon walks out on Billy, though, when she is met by Ian Beale’s smug face; Ian is Billy’s useful contact. Vowing never to work for Ian, Carol considers herself lucky to be offered a job doing paperwork for Zainab. Completely unaware, Carol is led off to meet Zainab’s business partner and her new boss. She cannot believe her misfortune when she learns that Zainab’s partner is none other than Ian and she will end up cleaning deep fat fryers either way. A nervous Ricky is still unable to break the bad news to Billie that they cannot afford to keep him on at the Arches. Feeling guilty, Ricky lets Billie win Mo’s fun run and they all head off to the Vic to celebrate with disgruntled losers Billy and Mo in tow. Having confided in Phil, Ricky is alarmed to see him whispering the bad news into Billie’s ear as the crowd cheers in admiration of the young man’s impressive win. When Ronnie opens the door of the Vic she sees Max, Jack, Billy and Phil engaged in a bust up. She turns and leaves. Feeling that it is best not to introduce the girl to her father, Ronnie calls social services who come and pick up the now betrayed and distraught child. Drinking her feelings of guilt away, Ronnie takes one more look at the photograph of the girl’s father. It is a photograph of Phil, Lisa and their daughter Louise in happier days.