The Bold & The Beautiful Tuesday 3/5/02

By Linda
Proofread by Becky

Amber: Look, the family is having problems because of Ridge, and if you ask me, the sooner he's out of here, the better.

Bridget: Ridge is one of the best designers in the world, Amber. If we lose him, what the hell are we going to sell, huh? These?

[ Knock at door ]

Josh: Excuse me. Amber?

Amber: Come on in, Josh. I have everything right here. Did you finish my first piece yet?

Josh: Yup. It just left the cutting room.

Amber: So, how does it look?

Bridget: Yeah, josh. Tell us what everybody thinks of Amber's first design.

****************************************************************************

Eric: You're leaving here with him? Both of you?

Ridge: Yes, dad, we are.

Eric: Well, you've come after my wife and now my son? That's very, very impressive.

Stephanie: Eric, mass has nothing to do with this.

Eric: I doubt that very much.

Massimo: The truth is, Eric, you're more responsible for this than I am.

Ridge: Dad, you and I, we think of things so differently now. Your priority is to pacify Brooke. Mine is to wage war on the woman.

Eric: Ridge -- Ridge, that will never, never work.

Ridge: That's why mother and I have to leave, 'cause we can't accept what she's done to this company. To stay would just compromise everything we believe in. We've made up our minds. We have to go. I wish to god we didn't. But we do.

Eric: Look, Ridge, I don't know what else I can do. I told you, I will talk to Brooke. I'll get her to share power with you.

Ridge: I don't want to share power with Brooke, Dad. As a kid, I watched you build this company. I've worked here ever since I was in college. I wouldn't share power with anyone except you. Now I don't even want to do that.

Eric: I see how angry you are with me. I see that.

Ridge: Angry? Angry? I've gone beyond anger, beyond resentment, disappointment. To be honest, I just feel kind of cold inside. I've been let down so much and so often in the last few weeks.

Eric: Ridge -- Ridge, I only was doing what I felt was best for the company.

Ridge: I think that's probably what hurts the most, Dad. What you thought was best was letting Brooke run the company instead of me.

Eric: No. No, I didn't want Brooke --

Ridge: I know what you want. I know what you wanted, and I know why you did it. I've accepted that, and now, you've got to accept what I need to do for myself now.

Eric: You're going to go work somewhere else, Ridge? You're never going to have the creative freedom that you have at Forrester.

Massimo: Yes, he will.

Eric: How do you know?

Massimo: I just know.

Eric: What does he have to do with this, Ridge? Has he offered you a job?

Ridge: Dad, you've got to let this go. This has nothing to do with Massimo. This has to do with me -- what I want and what I need for myself. I probably should have done this years ago when Brooke first took over the company, and the two of you had kids. I mean, I should have seen it coming. Of course you would defer to her and the kids.

Eric: No, no. Ridge, now come on. I never -- I never deferred.

Ridge: Dad, please. Please don't argue about this anymore. I -- this is the hardest thing I've ever done, the hardest thing I'll probably ever do. I owe you. I owe you so much. You've taught me pretty much everything I know. I know I wasn't always the best student, but you were one hell of a good teacher, and more important, you were an amazing father. I couldn't have wanted or got anything better than what you gave me, and I want to thank you. From the bottom of my soul, I want to thank you for everything.

****************************************************************

Bridget: So Josh, what's the word in the cutting room, hmm? How do you guys like Amber's first design?

Josh: The truth?

Bridget: Nothing but.

Josh: They're absolutely crazy about it. It is so hot. The sewers already want to buy it. It's all they're talking about.

Amber: Is that so?

Josh: You are going to be a huge success, Amber. Everybody's saying that, too.

Amber: Well, well. Huge success, huh? Well, I'll have more sketches for you later.

Josh: You know where I'll be.

Amber: Well, I hope Ridge comes back, too. But if he doesn't, we may just survive.

************************************************************************

Nurse: Excuse me, Mr. Forrester. I have your release forms at the desk.

Ridge: Thank you. I'll be right out to sign them. Do you want to come with me? I think my mother and father need some time alone.

Massimo: Yes, of course.

Nurse: Let me get a wheelchair for you.

Ridge: I don't need it.

*********************************************************************

Eric: Stephanie, please. Please don't let this happen to us.

Stephanie: It's already happened, Eric. It's over.

Eric: Listen, that's not what I want.

Stephanie: Well, it's the last thing in the world that I ever wanted. I love you. There's so much about you that I love.

Eric: Well, then we can work this out.

Stephanie: No, we can't. We're two very different people now. We were very good for one another for a very long time, but that time has passed. We built a beautiful business. We raised a wonderful family, we did. But the mistake I made, honey -- and I think it's a mistake a lot of people make -- I thought it was going to last forever. We were young, and we were full of dreams, and some of them came true, didn't they? And some of them faded away. But I loved you, Eric, and I adored you, and I -- I loved the way you looked at life as an artist. You were so full of those dreams. I really loved that. I did. But the truth is, the thing with Brooke has just never gone away. It's been like a burr under a saddle. And now it's come full circle, and it's affected ridge. And I have to ask myself, how long before it affects Thorne and Kristen.

Eric: Well, Stephanie, you're making too much of that.

Stephanie: No. I could never make too much of Brooke, and after everything that you and I have been through, that you could even think that --

Eric: This is not about Brooke. Please don't make it about Brooke. She's nothing to me. You -- you are everything to me.

Stephanie: Yes, honey, but you have two children with her, and Brooke and her children own more of our company than you and I do. You've got two families, Eric. I only have one. So, I think we have to accept this fact and make the decision and move on. I know it's painful. I understand that. Change always is. There's not a whole lot of happiness involved in it. But as hard as I have tried to find an answer, I just can't see us growing together anymore. We haven't for a very long time. So, I think we have to do what's best for ourselves and each other, and I think we have to walk away. I don't think we should try to work something out, because we'll only end up resentful of each other. So please listen to me. It's better we let it go, and that way we can maintain our respect for one another.

Eric: We would never lose -- how could we lose our respect for one another? I respect you. I respect you and Ridge so much. How could you even question that? You know that.

Stephanie: I know that your loyalties lie somewhere else.

Eric: No. No, they don't.

Stephanie: Yes -- yes, they do.

Eric: Stephanie --

Stephanie: It's okay.

Eric: Stephanie, you and ridge are my family. You have been my family -- you've been my family longer than anyone else, and I love you. Please. No one else means as much to me as you do.

Stephanie: Well, you haven't treated us as though we're part of your family, Eric.

Eric: Stephanie, don't.

Stephanie: It's not an accusation, honey. It's not an accusation. It's just the way it is. I -- I --

Eric: What?

Stephanie: I shouldn't -- I shouldn't have expected you to treat us all the same. I know that. I just wish that --

Eric: Stop, stop, stop. Please don't. Please don't do this. Please. Please.

Stephanie: No, Eric.

Ridge: You ready?

Stephanie: Yes.

*************************************************************************

Eric: I want a moment alone with Massimo.

Massimo: All right. Go on. I'll meet you at the elevator.

Eric: You planned this, didn't you?

Massimo: If I'd planned this, Eric, believe me, it would have been a lot less tragic than this.

Eric: What did you offer my son? How did you get through to him?

Massimo: God almighty. You have so much to learn about Ridge.

Eric: You're not going to take him from me.

Massimo: You're not going to understand this, Eric, but the truth is, you've never had him.

Eric: Now, you understand this. Those two belong to me, and if you do anything to put them in harms way --

Massimo: Why in the world would I hurt two people who mean so much to me?

Eric: Ridge doesn't mean anything to you! You just used him to get to Stephanie.

Massimo: Eric, believe it or not, I don't dislike you. Ridge is what he is today, at least in part, because of your influence. But you have got to let him go. He is man enough to make his own decisions.

Eric: And Stephanie, too? I have to let her go, too?

Massimo: You did that a long time ago, Eric, from the first time that you saw Brooke as a woman. Hey, come on. I'm no saint, all right? But the fact is, the day that you touched Brooke was the day that you stopped seeing Stephanie as the love of your life. You see, that's a difference between you and me, my friend. I've never stopped seeing her that way. Stephanie has always been the love of my life from the very first moments that we spent together. I know that your pride is hurt for losing her, but think what it's done to me all these years knowing that she should have been mine, all right? But for circumstance and fortune, she would have been. I could despise you, Eric, for keeping her away from me all this time. But you know something? I don't. I respect you. Now, I expect the same from you.

Eric: You expect that from me? Well, you're not going to have it. I'll never respect you, and you're not going to have Stephanie, either. You're never going to have the love and the commitment that she and I have shared. You're never going to have that. We have children together -- something else you're never going to have with Stephanie.

Massimo: Really?

[ Massimo sighs ] bye, Eric.

Eric: Massimo, don't. Don't do this. You're tearing my family apart.

Massimo: Your family -- your family is not what you think, Eric.

[Eric leaves]

[ Elevator rings, Ridge and Stephanie enter as Eric comes running up ]

Eric: Please don't leave me.

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