The Bold & The Beautiful Update Thursday 12/29/05

Written By Wanda
Pictures by Boo  

In Stephanie’s office at Forrester, the day starts with Brooke bringing in some papers and literally throwing them down on Stephanie's desk. Enthusiastically, Stephanie rushes to look at them when she hears they are from Eric, perhaps his sales reports. Brooke is not so upbeat, but Stephanie tells her things will pick up. Brooke doesn’t want to argue with her. She doesn’t even want to be in the same room with her. Stephanie states for her not to hold back; she certainly didn’t yesterday. Finally Brooke lets out the fact that she was just as upset as everyone else that Ridge didn’t return home for the holidays. But, after seeing that report, she realizes he is exactly where he should be. Stephanie differs – he should have been home with his family. Brooke counters that he needs to be on the road, cleaning up HER mess. And, if Taylor wants to be upset with anyone for his absence, she should blame Stephanie!

At Insomnia Café, Thomas sits with Hector having some java and they chitchat about how things have been going. Thomas asks about Caitlin and how she’s doing with her mother in New York. In fact, he thought he would see her maybe for a while when she was home for the holidays. Hector explains that she was only home for a few days and went on down to Orange County to see some friends. Hector also says he is sure he could have convinced her to stick around and perhaps see him at the firehouse toy drive, but with all his family and stuff, he wasn’t sure Thomas would have time. Thomas replies, “like mom says, when it comes to helping other people, you just make time.” He thanks Hector for the big compliment when Hector says he’s a lot like his mother.

At Tridge Mansion, Taylor in her champagne satin robe, is fussing around a table getting everything just right for Ridge’s expected return. She’s setting places for two with the best china, crystal, candles and flowers. The doorbell rings and it’s Darla. Taylor invites her in and then asks if the big manila envelope she is holding is Ridge’s mail? Darla replies yes and a few others things that needs his signature. Taylor makes a point of saying she will give it to him ‘the first thing in the morning.’ Darla picks up on this and smiles that guess they aren’t expecting him back at Forrester then? Taylor replies not if she has anything to do with it.

Taylor lays the package down and Darla must intend to stay a while, she peels off her jacket. She comments on the romantic table setting and then drifts into she was sorry that Ridge didn’t make it home for Christmas. Taylor agrees; she wasn’t happy about that either. But, she wasn’t going to make a big deal out of that when Ridge comes home now. Darla isn’t willing to let this go and remarks that it WAS Taylor’s first Christmas since Taylor was back in L.A. Taylor justifies that Ridge needed to reassure the buyers that all was okay back at Forrester. And Darla questions if that was more important than him spending time with his family? Again, Taylor tries to justify that he’s protecting his legacy for his children. She’s nervous and she returns to fiddling with the china on the table. They sing song back and forth and Darla apologizes and says what does she know; she’s just a dingbat. Taylor tells her that is not true. But, Darla says her husband thinks so. And Taylor says she is sorry for the way he has treated her. Darla answers with that she is sorry to say this, but she doesn’t think Ridge has treated Taylor much better.

Stephanie states that Ridge is over-reacting and so is Brooke. New lines rarely ever meet with immediate success. Brooke argues that they should be grateful that he’s working day and night to add some panache to a line of muu-muus. Stephanie makes a face and repeats “panache,” they’ll have all the panache they need once this new ad campaign takes off. She unveils the new look with Taylor’s face as Brooke reads the logo – Return to Elegance. It's tit for tat with their opinions of getting out of the gutter and moving backward. And Stephanie whips out a former poster of Brooke in her bedroom vixen ads. Stephanie gloats she thinks they will all agree, there is NO comparison.

Thomas offers that his mom believes the more you have, the more you give and she’d brought up he and his sisters to believe that too. That’s probably why he and Caitlin had so much in common and why Hector gets along so well with his mom. Hector agrees that people who share the same ideals usually do. He asks if he has any big New Year’s plans? Thomas tells him no, just crash with the guys and give his folks some privacy. Hector deduces from those words that Ridge must be home. Thomas tells him no, but they are expecting him in a few hours. And his mom is making all these big Welcome Home plans. Hector seems resolved and says he’s happy for her. He knows how disappointed she was that Ridge wasn’t home for Christmas. Hector says he’ll get the check and they shake hands and trade good-byes.

Clearly Taylor is frustrated and doesn’t want to talk about this or have to defend her absentee husband. She tells Darla that she loves her husband. Darla answers that she knows she does, and she respects her loyalty, but it broke her heart to see Taylor without him Christmas. She shrugs and says it wasn’t possible and she’s not going to blame him for that. Darla quips that she would have! If Thorne had done that, made some lame excuse for not being home for Christmas, she would have wanted to kill him. …..but, she didn’t think Thorne would ever do that. (that’s it, Darla, rub it in some more the difference in good Thorne and bad Ridge). Then she throws in words like it wasn’t thoughtful, considerate and she adds insult to injury when she says sounds like Ridge has a different relationship with his wife. And Darla says she hopes he realizes just how lucky he is that Taylor is going to all this royal treatment trouble after the way he has behaved. Taylor smiles sweetly and says she is going to make sure he does. Darla remarks then she will leave her to it. And offers Taylor good luck tonight. She hopes the reunion will be everything she wants it to be. Both women part being a little on edge with different points of view.

Stephanie waves her hand at Brooke and tells her they are through selling underwear. Brooks answers that it isn’t anything to be ashamed of. Everyone buys underwear, even Stephanie. Chuckling, Stephanie quips that coming from a women who doesn’t even wear underwear, that doesn’t mean very much. Brooke points her finger and tells Stephanie that she should be ashamed of those sales figures. And she should be ashamed if the company goes under, because she can’t get over her animosity toward Brooke. Stephanie fires back that shouldn’t Brooke be ashamed of her feelings for Nick? “How many times do I have to tell you, nothing was going on between me and Nick in the hospital yesterday,” states Brooke. Stephanie scoffs, the more she says it, the more she believes it! Brooke answers that with she also is sick of her accusations. Thinking that she would want her daughter to miscarry just so she could be with her husband. That was disgusting! Stephanie admits yes it is. Brooke sighs; she thought they were over this. They were going to stop this. They had come together at Christmas. Stephanie reminds her that one or two moments of decency on her part doesn’t make up for all her trashy behavior. She just thanks God that she has her out of her family. Brooke remarks that she is still there. And that she will always be in Ridge’s life. In fact, she was thinking about taking R.J. over there tonight when Ridge gets home. Stephanie warns her, “don’t you dare!” Brooke relays she won’t be there long. Stephanie tells her don’t go at all. She knows she is getting a little antsy because she hasn’t had a man in her bed for a few weeks, but Ridge is off-limits. Brooke can’t believe it; first she accuses her with Nick and now Ridge. Can’t she accept the fact that he’s happy alone? Stephanie purrs, “unlike Taylor, you need a man to feel good about yourself.”

Brooke remarks that unlike Stephanie or her angelic daughter-in-law, she never claimed to be perfect. Stephanie retorts that she wished she was perfect, then she would have been able to have gotten rid of Brooke. Brooke admits she has made mistakes, but so has Stephanie. They are only human. Stephanie prisses that is such a copout. Taylor would never place herself in a situation where she would have to say something like that. That is why she is the new face of Forrester. Brooke maintains that virtue doesn’t sell dresses. Stephanie points out that it inspires respect and admiration. Brooke scoffs, “oh please, like she would never wreck a home or destroy a family. Look what she did to mine!” Stephanie shoots back – hers? They weren’t legally married. Ridge was Taylor’s husband. And she wanted a life with her husband and she wasn’t going to let anything or anyone interfere with that….and she never will.

The doorbell rings at Taylor’s as she is now elegantly dressed in sexy black dress with silver sequins. She’s lighting more candles on the mantle and mutters guess there must have been no traffic on the 405 for Ridge. She quickly straightens the champagne bucket and heads enthusiastically for the door. Behind a big bouquet and a smile, there’s Hector. He stands a second and asks can he come in? She says sure a little awkwardly. He apologizes, and knows she is disappointed that it wasn’t Ridge but explains that he ran into Thomas at Insomnia and he said he didn’t think Ridge would be there for a few more hours, soooooo…….She says that is probably true. He states that gives them a few minutes to talk. He presents her with the huge bouquet of flowers. She thanks him and excuses herself to put them in water. He grabs her before she can leave and says they will be okay for a while. She takes them on into the living room and sits them down. He remarks she doesn’t need anything else in this room to brighten it up. She remarks that she got sort of carried away, but she wanted to do a little celebration thing. He comments that after Christmas, yeah he could see they had some time to make up. She says they shouldn't talk about that; she has put it behind her. So he knows she is moving forward. And he states that is why he is there. He wants to wish her the best of luck. He knows that might sound insincere given the way he feels about her, but he promises her that he means it. He moves a little closer and says, “your happiness is very important to me, Taylor. And if your commitment to Ridge is what makes you happy, then I’m happy for you.” And he tells her, by the way, she doesn’t have to tell Ridge where those flowers came from. But, if she feels compelled to do so, she might want to point out that yellow roses are a symbol of friendship. One that he hopes will continue. And she replies that so does she! He gives a big sigh and tells her she looks beautiful. He won’t deny that he’s disappointed. He was hoping it would be him that she kissed at midnight. But, it wasn’t meant to be and he was man enough to accept that. So Happy New Year.

Her phone rings and she stops Hector and tells him to let her get that and then she’ll walk him to the door.

It’s Ridge. Taylor thinks he’s on his way home from the airport. He asks didn’t she get his messages? She replies she’s been so busy, she hasn’t even looked at her voice mail. He maintains that he left messages on her cell phone hours ago. He’s got more meetings and couldn’t get away. Slowly her bubble bursts and she’s disappointed that he promised and now isn’t coming. He makes light of it. He is sorry, but just a postponement. They can still celebrate when he gets home. She wants to know when that will be? He’s not sure. They are making progress, but there is still a lot to be done. She tells him, “Ridge, I prepared a whole evening for us. I sent the kids away. I sent them to go to their friends for New Year’s. I NEED my husband.” He says it’s only a few more days. Then he segues way that he has to run. He’s got a car waiting downstairs. He’s really sorry about this. He loves her, and Happy New Year.

Meanwhile, Hector has heard half the conversation, Taylor’s part, and his face shows he’s disappointed for her. Taylor sits on the sofa, wipes her nose and tries to compose herself. He comes and sits with her, putting his hand on her back. What happened, and what did Ridge say?

Brooke fires to Stephanie that Taylor wanted Ridge and she got him. Doesn’t Stephanie think that is selfish? Stephanie smarts that she thinks he chose her because Taylor is everything that Brooke isn’t. Brooke offers that the issue isn’t even Taylor; it’s Stephanie and her obsessive need to belittle Brooke; it’s destroying this family and the company. Stephanie opines if she’ so concerned, why doesn’t she leave? Brooke answers for the same reason that Ridge didn’t come home for Christmas. Somebody has to stop Stephanie from dismantling this company that she and Eric and Ridge worked so hard to build. Stephanie accuses her of thinking she doesn’t care about her children’s legacy. That she and Taylor and Thorne don’t want the collection to succeed? Brooke only scoffs that she thinks she is way over her head and just needs the professionals to take over. Stephanie argues that Taylor is MORE of a professional than Brooke has ever been. Brooke hammers away that she gave Taylor this job, just like she gave her Ridge when she faked her heart attack. Stephanie rebuts that Taylor deserved him; Brooke didn’t. Taylor has always kept HER vows.

Taylor sits dejected. She tells Hector that Ridge said he would be there for New Years. But, now he’s still in Paris. They see-saw back and forth that his flight wasn’t cancelled; he was on the company jet. Hector asks if it needs repair or did the pilot get sick, what? No, he’s still working; his work wasn’t finished. Hector tells her then she is. She was finished making excuses for this guy. Taylor still makes excuses, she SHOULD have checked her cell phone messages. She jumps up and starts blowing out the candles. Hector points out she was too busy. She was making all this romantic homecoming and Ridge was blowing her off with voice mail. It wasn’t right! Taylor tries again. She sniffs that he said he wanted to be there. Hector again points out that if he WANTED to be, then he would be. But, he’s not. And it should be clear to her that she’s not his number one priority. He turns her around by the shoulders. “Enough is enough, okay, Taylor. Enough of Ridge. Enough of this pain and disappointment. You need a man. A real man who respects you…who cherishes you…. a man like me.”

Stephanie piles on by telling Brooke that Taylor is twice the woman that Brooke is. She’s always been a very loyal friend….a devoted wife and wonderful mother. Brooke seems to think she is NOT a robot. She can slip up like anybody else. Stephanie accuses her that the only way she can improve her sense of self-esteem is to try and diminish someone else. She points her finger at Brooke and tells her that she is jealous. SHE (Taylor) has brought back class to this company, stability to the family. SHE’s an example for her children. She was never going to see Taylor on some tabloid cover at the supermarket. “SHE is a woman of unimpeachable integrity.”

Still holding her by the shoulders, Hector tells Taylor that Ridge is not there for her. He’s not there for the kids. And he hasn’t been since the day she came back to L.A. Taylor offers that he has to work. He remarks that Ridge has to work. He has to take care of the company. He has to take care of Brooke. But, who in the hell is going to take care of Taylor? With tears down her face, she says she can take care of herself. He asks isn’t she tired?……tired of being stood up and being let down? Why didn’t she be honest with herself? Wasn’t she ready to be with a man who appreciates her? Didn’t she want to spend her life with a man who treats her right?

He cups her face with his hand as she gazes into his eyes, “Taylor, tonight is our night. It’s New Year’s Eve. A fresh start, a new beginning, honey. Let’s make this a night that neither of us will ever forget. I want you, and tonight nothing is going to stop me.”

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