Coronation Street has laid the foundation for Abi Webster’s affair storyline as newcomer Carl is introduced.

Today’s episode began with Abi having a terrible time of it, as Kevin was feeling terrible and couldn’t keep food down, so she needed to sort out getting meds and soup while dealing with a client at work and trying to get Tyrone Dobbs to cover her.

She reached her boiling point when a stranger tried cutting her up to get into a parking space and dented her car.

The two raged at each other for a bit, before Abi started to outpour about everything that was getting under her skin.

“I was on the phone to me husband, he’s got cancer,” she said. “And I am trying to be nice to him, but it is hard ’cause he’s angry a lot, you see. I think he’s pushing me away.”

“I’ve just finished having treatment for PTSD after having a young lad die in my arms, who was stabbed to death,” she continued. “But yeah, you keep making your little jokes.”

He tried to stop her from walking away and received a punch to the face and a bloody nose. The two decided to draw a line under their little feud, but when his car wouldn’t start, Abi offered to fix it.

The two shared some cheeky banter as she fixed his vehicle, and he asked her out for a drink later, admitting: “I’m totally trying to pick you up. You’re funny, you’re gorgeous, and you can mend cars.”

He noted Abi’s earlier comment about her husband pushing her away, stating that they could go to a hotel for a one-off and no one would need to know.

She turned him down after looking at her phone and seeing the calls and messages from Kevin she had been ignoring, but the look on her face gave away that she was considering it (and from spoilers, we know that she will go there).

At the Bistro, Abi told the story about the car dent – leaving out the details about the mutual attraction and affair proposal – before heading off to the toilet.

Related: Coronation Street star leaving after five years for “new pastures”

When she returned, she was stunned to see that the stranger had turned up at their table and that he wasn’t a stranger at all, but Kevin and Debbie’s brother Carl.

Kevin repeated the story about Abi’s car park encounter, and she learned that he works with motors and could have fixed his engine himself. Abi could barely conceal her irritation, even more so when Kevin offered their sofa for Carl to stay on.

At the house, Abi insisted that she couldn’t wait for Carl to leave, which amused him.