Lauren’s family are out to get her
WITH ABI AND MAX ON HER CASE, LAUREN HAS LOTS TO DEAL WITH…
Lauren’s family are doing their best to ruin everything for her…”
There’s another angry showdown between Abi and Lauren this week, as Abi carries on with her spiteful bid to get one over on her big sister.
With Lauren going all out to make her mark in her new career, Abi continues to stir up trouble with Steven behind her sibling’s back. However, when her dad Max questions Lauren about the precise nature of her relationship with boss Josh, is Abi the least of her troubles?
“Lauren’s really not having an easy time of it,” sighs our Walford source. “All she wants is to prove herself at work, but her family are doing their best to ruin everything by sticking their oars in. Lauren and Abi have always struggled to get on, and Lauren has only just made peace with her dad after his jail term. Not only that, she still has no idea how far Steven has been going in his paranoid bid to keep her under control.”
As the week begins, Lauren faces a big day in the office helping Max to prepare an important presentation. Back in Albert Square, meanwhile, Abi is winding up Steven by questioning why Lauren has been so distracted of late. Fortunately for Lauren, the presentation goes swimmingly – but, of course, Lauren’s good performance is the last thing Abi’s interested in.
“Abi might make out that she wants to support Lauren – however, she’s also been known to hold a jealous grudge!” mutters our sneak. “And while Abi is slaving away in Walford and juggling parttime jobs to get by, it’s a real poke in the eye to hear how well her sister’s glam new career is going. So when Lauren suggests that they could wipe the slate clean,
Abi gives her short shrift.”
As if Lauren didn’t have enough going on with Steven and Abi’s troublemaking, she’s in for more aggro when Max asks awkward questions about her close working partnership with Josh. We’ve recently discovered that Max’s own relationship with the boss is a rocky one – so is the Branning bad boy looking out for his girl or fishing for blackmail material?
“Who knows what Max’s agenda is?” tuts our insider. “While we would like to think that it’s his daughter’s welfare he’s keeping an eye on, he hasn’t been keen on Lauren working at Weyland & Co from the beginning, despite the big opportunity it’s offered her.
“There’s no doubt about it, Josh and Lauren have got too close for comfort of late,” adds our snoop. “But she dismisses her dad’s interrogation by insisting there’s nothing to it. We all know there’s no flies on Max, though – so surely he won’t leave it at that?”
Lauren is unsettled when she later returns to the Square, prompting Steven to suggest that they spend some time together – but once again, Abi puts paid to the pair’s plans by announcing that Josh will be in attendance at her 21st birthday party. Noting the nature of Lauren’s reaction to the news, Steven bristles, and is more paranoid than ever. So what new horror could lie ahead for Lauren now?