Coronation Street Blog: Tina O'Brien interview: Sarah locks Eli in the office

This week, Sarah locks a potential client, Eli, in the office. What can you tell us about that?

Carla is unable to take a meeting, so Sarah enthusiastically says, ‘I’ve got this!’ But from the off, the meeting goes pear-shaped because Eli has to leave for the airport, and Sarah doesn’t read the room. She doesn’t see how stressed he is. She stupidly locks him in the office mid-pitch [once Kit arrives], which, from her point of view, she wasn’t trying to lock him in; she was just very stressed, and it was like, ‘Come on, let’s keep an eye on what we’re doing here and keep everyone else out.’ Eli assumes that Sarah is trying to come on to him – then he goes on to accuse her of sexual harassment.

What else can you tell us about the exchange between Sarah and Eli?

She pushes Eli down into the chair and says, ‘Right, stop thinking about anything else. I want you to think about our underwear.’ She’s pushed him down into the seat and he’s like, ‘What the hell…’ In her mind, she’s thinking, ‘I want to get this pitch.’ I don’t think she thinks that what she’s doing is inappropriate.

And Kit is involved in the drama too

At the beginning, Sarah is unaware about what’s happened between Kit and Eli. But to this day, I still don’t know if Kit knows that this guy was meeting Sarah, and whether that’s why Kit does it. Did Kit intentionally do it to wind up Eli and stop him getting to the meeting, or was it coincidence? I’d quite like to watch it back myself and go, ‘Oh, right!’

How does Sarah feel when she learns that David provided Eli with Kit’s details?

David throws both of them under the bus. David doesn’t like Kit, so he intentionally tries to stir the pot, which gets Sarah into even more trouble. She’s really upset with David because it’s an underhand thing to do!

And how about when she finds out that Kit intimidated Eli?

She’s now fuming at Kit as well. He lied to her and told her that he hadn’t. He tried to do the right thing, but he’s made things worse for her. She’s totally stuck in the middle. Everyone’s pointing the finger, saying that she’s sexually harassed this guy. Sarah’s like, ‘I didn’t do anything!’ She gets the blame off Carla, too. She feels pretty sorry for herself by the end of it.

Does Eli still want to proceed with the deal?

Sarah’s told that he’ll do the deal, but he wants 40% off. It feels like he’s blackmailing her, and it’s his word against hers. She’s so confused by the whole thing. Carla believes her, but she’s also annoyed that Sarah put herself in that position in the first place and caused so much drama!

Glenda Young

Bestselling novelist published by Headline