"We've heard a bit about you," said his mother. "Not the most important bit," added his father. Thus, the second episode of Leaving found these unlikely lovers facing his somewhat surprised parents - how could this possibly end well?
Where it went made for interesting portrayal of a woman caught between frustration at home, guilt for her own betrayal, happiness in the early days of courtship and romance, and fear at being humiliated by a hormonal man-child half her age.
Julie and Aaron - a romance bound to end in tears, surely...
That Julie (Helen McRory) could listen to the vows of the weddings she helped organise, and then fall straight into the arms of her happy youngster Aaron (Callum Turner), provided the final proof - she was fully and irredeemably lost. "Take every opportunity until you're done with it," was her seemingly only friend's helpful advice.
Last week, it seemed implausible that these two would like each other. This week stretched credibility asking viewers to believe they wouldn't immediately be busted, grabbing each other behind the slim pillars of the hotel where they both worked, arguing in the corridors before sneaking another quick firtle. Or that this surly teenager wouldn't already have tired of her mercurial mood swings, jealousy and general self-indulgent nonsense.
And here they are! Julie feels the wrath of her husband once he discovers her betrayal with Aaron
Of course, Julie's husband's eye was making its excursions away from home, mirroring her with his own attraction for a young colleague, and this was the one that all ended in tears - which seemed a bit unfair, but sort of realistic, even if was a plot contrivance designed to keep us on Julie's side in proceedings.
More appealing were Julie's scenes in her family home, whether it was being laughed at round the dinner table for her futile attempts at glamour - bakelite tan and all - or trying to protect her daughter's own fumbling attempts to be grown-up in love, with none of the irony lost on her or us.
And now Julie's husband has finally found out and walloped her in front of Aaron, where can this possibly go? Conclusion to this hardly believable, highly enjoyable soap opera next week, that's where.
Pictures here... does this romance look believable to you?
