Control Part 11

While waiting for Thorne to arrive, Stephanie sits in her living room, looking through photo albums.

Turning the pages of the album, Stephanie smiles at the pictures of Ridge and Taylor on their wedding day and the most recent pictures of Ridge, Taylor, and their three kids.

“Look at all those smiles; a perfect, happy family. I knew you were the right woman for my son, Taylor. You just needed my help to make him see that. All the troubles you went through to bring those beautiful children into this world, well, it was worth it. Ridge will never leave you now. He would never leave his children. Brooke is out of his life forever. Too bad it took so long to accomplish.” Stephanie reminisces as she continues to look at the pictures.

She stops again at the pictures of her hospital wedding to Eric. “Well, a few good things came out of that stroke. Eric and I are together again. We never should have gotten divorced all those years ago. It was all that slut’s fault. Brooke caused trouble the second she laid eyes on my family. I just can’t believe it took so long for Eric to realize what a sick woman Brooke really is.” Stephanie looks at her wedding ring and smiles. “But now he has, and things are finally the way they should be.” Stephanie turns the page and sees a close up of her maid of honor and best man, Macy and Thorne. “That stroke also kept you and Brooke apart, long enough for your father to get involved. I should have insisted that you and Macy get married right after us. Then all of that other nonsense wouldn’t have happened. I knew you two were right for each other. Well, Macy is a better match than Brooke would ever have been, even if she is a Spectra. Macy looks up to me, cares about me, and as an extra bonus, it drives Sally crazy.” Stephanie laughs. “No, she wouldn’t have been my first choice, but I can control Macy. I just wish they would start having kids. That would really cement their relationship. Thorne has always wanted children.” Stephanie smiles. “Maybe that’s what he’s coming over here to tell us. Maybe Macy’s pregnant. That would be such wonderful news.”

Stephanie continues to page through the album, stopping again a picture of Eric smiling, with Rick and Bridget at his side. “They were so happy. (Scowls) Once again, my family’s happiness is threatened by Brooke. (Shakes her head) No, Taylor will set things right. She doesn’t want those kids under Brooke’s influence anymore than I do. No, my children and husband have been removed from her spell, now it’s time for my stepchildren. (Determined) And it will happen. Then, once she’s out of the family for good, we just have to get her out of the company.” Stephanie thinks for a minute, sets the photo album down, and walks to the study.

Stephanie gently knocks on the door, entering at the same time. “Eric, are you busy?”

Eric looks up from his work. “I was just finishing up, is Thorne here?”

“No, not yet. I was just thinking about something…” Stephanie drifts off.

Eric smiles. “About what? Did you figure out what he wants to tell us?”

“Yes, no, I mean that’s not why I came in here. But I do have an idea about that.”

“Well, are you going to share?”

“What if he’s coming over here with happy news? What if Macy’s pregnant?”

Eric smiles, then frowns. “I hope not.”

(Confused) “Why?”

“Stephanie, Macy has been drinking for a while. If she’s pregnant, the alcohol could cause problems for the baby.”

“Oh, I didn’t think about that. Well, then, what if they decided to start trying for a baby?”

“That would be wonderful news. I think that is exactly what they need. Nothing brings two people closer than having a baby together.” Eric hugs Stephanie.

“Yes, I think it would solve all of their problems.”

“So, what was the real reason you came in here?”

“Huh, oh right. When do Rick and Bridget come into their inheritance?”

(Confused by the change in subject) “What?”

“You heard me.”

Eric paces for a few minutes thinking. “Well, the last I knew, it comes due at age twenty-five.”

“So, in about six years, Rick gains control over his share of Forrester stock. And Bridget two years later.”

“Yes, as far as I know. That’s the age we set it up for when they were born.”

“Could Brooke have changed it somehow?”

“I don’t think so. When the kids turn twenty-five, they get a portion of my stock, and a portion of her stock, along with the money we set up for them.” Eric stares at his wife. “Where is this coming from?”

(Smiling and laughing) “Oh Eric, don’t you see. It may take a little while longer, but we will finally get her out of our lives for good.”

“What are you talking about? Who? Brooke?”

“Yes, don’t you see? Once Rick gains control over his stock, Brooke won’t have 51% anymore. She’ll only have…how much does Rick get?”

Realizing, Eric begins to smile. “Rick gets 4% from her and 3% from me. So Brooke will only control 47%. And when Bridget reaches twenty-five, she loses 4% more. Brooke will only have 43%, unless she decided to give the kids even more on her own.”

“Oh, Eric. Think about it. We will finally be able to gain control of our company again. The first thing I’m going to do is throw her out of MY office. Next, she will be barred from the building. Oh, and Megan can go with her. You should see the way that secretary treats me. Then…”

“Stephanie, wait. I don’t mean to dampen your excitement, but as things stand now, the kids will never vote against their mother.”

Stephanie walks up to Eric and takes his hand. “Eric, I have every confidence that the kids will be out from under her influence very shortly. Taylor will see to that. And once the kids see the truth about Brooke, she will never be able to control them again.”

“Yes, you’re right. The kids will vote with us.”

“Oh, Eric, this is so wonderful. The end is finally in sight. It has taken twenty years to remove that woman from our family. I can wait another few years to remove her from our company.”

“I know how you feel. Believe me, I don’t know how much more I can take. Have you seen this?” Eric hands her a Forrester catalog.

“No, I haven’t.” Stephanie takes it and starts to thumb through it, the throws it down in disgust. “I though we were going to scale back on the lingerie line.”

“Yes, well, Brooke had other ideas. And as usual, she didn’t consult me.” Eric picks up the catalog. “This was mailed to all of our buyers a week ago. (Scowling) Of course, I just got a copy yesterday.”

Stephanie takes it from him and looks at the cover again. “Does that woman have no shame? Wait a minute, isn’t that last year’s design?”

Eric takes a close look at the cover, which shows Brooke in a red teddy. “You’re right, that is from last year.”

Stephanie quickly thumbs through the rest of the catalog. “And there are no other pictures of her in this catalog. These are all Forrester models in the new designs. After humiliating herself and the company for so long, modeling these ‘outfits’, why didn’t she do it again this year?”

“Who knows what is going on in her mind? The shock value of the CEO on the cover is probably enough.”

“But why is she using the same design from last year? The purpose of the catalog is to show our customers the new designs. This just shows them what they already know. That certainly isn’t good business. As much as I hate the line, she could at least send out a catalog with current designs. Has she lost her mind?”

“Stephanie, calm down. I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. As much as I hate having no control at Forrester, I am glad that I don’t have to see her. Forget about this. Just concentrate on surviving for the next few years. We will finally get our company back.” Eric puts down the catalog and hugs his wife.

Stephanie hugs him back, but looks at the catalog on the desk. Something is going on. “Eric, don’t you think…”

“Mom, Dad, are you here?”

Hearing their son, Stephanie and Eric leave the study and walk into the living room where Thorne is standing. Eric sits on the couch as Stephanie gives Thorne a hug, and then joins her husband on the couch.

“Where’s Macy?”

Thorne looks at his mother, confused. “What?”

“Well, you said you had news for us, I assume it is happy news about you and Macy. I just hope it is the news I have been waiting for.” Stephanie smiles at Thorne and then at Eric.

Thorne takes a deep breath. “Mom, Macy isn’t coming. There’s something that both of you need to know.”

********

As Brooke and Giovanni watch the scene before them, Brooke just laughs. “Oh, open the window. I want to hear this.”

Giovanni complies with her wishes. “Don’t you think we should stop them?”

“Are you crazy? This is too much fun, now be quiet, you’re drowning them out.”

Brooke and Giovanni just watched the madness in front of them. Within seconds of each other, Rick, Bridget, and Katie all pulled up in front of the house. Rick arrived first with the Thai food. As soon as he got out of his car, Bridget pulled up with the ice cream. Rick just stares at her with confusion, glancing between her car and the house, where he thought she was. It looks like he is watching a tennis match. Exiting her car, Bridget walks over to her brother, equally confused. Before they could say anything, Katie pulled up in front of the house, with Megan in the passenger seat.

Katie quickly gets out of her car and rushes over where Rick and Bridget are standing. Megan follows. “What is going on here? I leave for a little while and both of you leave your mother alone?”

Dumbstruck for a moment, Rick tries to figure out what has happened. He looks over at Megan. “What are you doing here?”

“I came back with Katie because I wanted to check up on your mom.”

Rick digests this for a moment and then turns to his sister, pointing at her. “Why did you leave Mom? You’re supposed to be by the pool.”

Bridget is equally confused. “Me? You are the one who left her alone. You are supposed to be upstairs in your room.”

Rick holds up his bag. “I only left because Mom wanted Thai food. (Accusingly) I saw you by the pool when I left.”

“So why didn’t you tell me you were leaving? I only left because Mom was craving ice cream.”

“You didn’t see that my car was gone?”

Bridget rolls her eyes. “Rick, you park in the garage. What, am I supposed to have x-ray vision?”

“Bridget, admit it. You are the one who left her alone.”

“It’s not my fault. You should have told me you were leaving.”

“You should have gone upstairs to see if I was still there.”

Katie glances at Megan. “See I told you I didn’t trust her to behave.” Katie walks in between the still arguing kids. “Rick, Bridget, stop it right now.” Katie is about to continue when she sees they have an audience at the window.

Inside, Brooks stops laughing. “Darn, we’ve been spotted. I guess that means the show is over. Really, I think they could give the three stooges a run for their money. Did you see their expressions when they realized I tricked all of them into leaving me alone, without a chaperone? It was priceless. I just wish I had it on film.”

The door opens and Katie rushes in followed quickly by Megan, Rick and Bridget.

Ignoring their expressions of worry and anger, Brooke takes charge. “Oh, good, the food is here. Giovanni was about to faint from starvation. Rick why don’t you get some plates, and Bridget, put the ice cream in the freezer or it will melt. We will have it for dessert, later.” Brooke moves over to the table and starts clearing off the papers so they will have someplace to eat.

The kids remain where they are, shocked. Katie is equally astonished. “Brooke, what do you think you’re doing?”

(Calm) “I think it’s quite obvious. I’m clearing the table so we can eat.” Brooke looks over at Megan. “I hope the two of you had plenty to eat for lunch, I’m afraid I didn’t order enough food for six. (Smiles) But, I can always send Rick out for some more.”

Katie walks over to the table and picks up some of the Forrester work. “Where did this come from?”

Biting the bullet, Giovanni steps forward. “I brought it over.”

Katie turns to Giovanni. “Are you crazy? Brooke is supposed to be resting. Resting means no work for the next few days.” Katie looks accusingly at Megan. “Why didn’t you tell him?”

“Don’t look at me like that. I did tell him. In fact he agreed with us. Isn’t that right Giovanni?”

Giovanni glances at Megan. “Yes, but...”

“But nothing. How could you go behind our backs like this? We need to work together on this. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes, but…”

“But what?”

Giovanni looks to Brooke for help. Brooke just shakes her head, refusing to get involved. Sighing, Giovanni turns back to Katie. “Katie, calm down. Everything is alright.”

Knowing he can handle himself, Brooke turns her attention to the kids who have continued their argument from before. Without interrupting, Brooke watches them, bemused.

Rick is once again pointing his finger at Bridget. “I can’t believe you left her all alone.”

“Me? You’re blaming me? How is this all my fault?”

“Ice cream?” Rick grabs the bag from Bridget and looks inside. “This is your favorite flavor, not Mom’s. In fact, she hates chocolate chip malted crunch. You left to get this for yourself.”

“Who do you think you are? I would never be that selfish to leave Mom alone to get myself ice cream. She said she was craving it. Pregnant women have weird cravings all the time. How was I supposed to know any different? Besides, what’s your excuse for leaving?”

“Mom was craving Thai food.”

“So you had to rush right out and get it?”

“Yes.”

“So, it’s ok for you to leave and get something she is craving, but not me? Explain the logic in that for me, because I just don’t see it.”

Brooke smiles at her daughter. Good point sweetheart, don’t let him bully you. What do you have to say to that, Rick?

Rick is silent for a second. “Well, you see, oh never mind. We’re not talking about logic here, we’re talking responsibility.”

“What?”

Seeing that the kids are just going around in circles of blame, Brooke focuses back on Megan, Katie and Giovanni.

Katie throws up her hands. “I don’t believe this. I leave for a few hours and you bring over a ton of work when Brooke should be relaxing on the couch.”

With all of their fighting, everyone seemed to have forgotten that Brooke was in the room. Finally, Brooke has had enough, especially since they were fighting over her, and at the same time ignoring her. Quick to remedy the situation Brooke yells at her ‘loving family and friends’. “Brooke, is right here, in the room, listening to all of you idiots.”

Everyone is silent as they look over at Brooke.

Katie walks over to her sister and tries to guide her back to the couch. (Patronizing) “See, this is exactly what I was talking about.” Katie glares at Giovanni. “Brooke, you shouldn’t be getting this upset. It’s not good for you.”

Brooke quickly pulls her arm out of her sister’s grasp. “Work is not making me upset. In fact, I was fine until you came home. Do you want to know what is making me upset? You are. (Brooke turns to her kids) And you two are. (She turns to Megan) And also you. The four of you are driving me crazy with your demands to ‘rest’, and ‘just lay on the couch’, and ‘don’t do any work’. I’m not an invalid that needs looking after. I am a grown woman who just happens to be pregnant with a broken arm. I do have a mind of my own, and I know how to take care of myself. Believe it or not, but I have been doing it for a quite some time now.

Katie tries to calm her sister. “Brooke, we are just doing what is best for you.”

(Sarcastic) “Really? Now where have I heard that phrase before?” Brooke pretends to think for a minute then snaps her fingers. “Right, now I remember. That was the excuse Eric and Ridge used to ruin my relationship with Thorne.

Katie gasps. “How can you even compare us with Eric and Ridge?”

“Let’s compare, shall we. Without consulting the parties involved, they decided what was best for Thorne and Stephanie, devised a plan, and acted on it. You four, without talking to me, decided what was best for me, devised a plan, and acted on it. Hmmm, notice any similarities?” Brooke takes a deep breath. “Listen up people, because I’m only going to say this once.” Everyone remains silent. “Yes, I love all of you, and yes, I appreciate everything you are trying to do for me. I even understand your motives. But stop it, right now. The only thing wrong with me is that I have a broken arm, and am pregnant. I am not dying, and I don’t have to be waited on hand and foot. And, most importantly, I do not have to be protected. I thought I made it perfectly clear months ago, that I wouldn’t tolerate anyone trying to control my life. Anyone.” Brooke holds up her hands. “And, before any of you deny it that is exactly what you are doing. Ever since I got out of the hospital, you have decided what I do, where I go, where I sit, what work I do, what work I don’t, etc, etc, etc. This is my house, and Forrester Creations is my company, and I am in control of both, understand? Me and me alone.” Brooke waits a moment, letting it sink in, and then turns to Megan. “I love you, and you’ve been a great friend. But you work for me, not my sister. I appreciate your concern, but I need to be able to trust that you will do what I say, and that you can handle things at Forrester Creations while I’m working at home. If not, then I won’t be able to remain at home until the baby is born. Understand?”

Megan nods.

Brooke walks over to Katie. “You are my little sister, not my mother or my jailer. Do you honestly think that I would do anything to harm this baby or myself? I know what the doctor said, and I know that, for me, not doing work is more stressful than anything over there (points to the dining room table) could possibly be. Understand?” Katie nods. Brooke gives her a hug and whispers so no one else can hear. “Oh, and are you going to ever tell me what other plan you were cooking up yesterday?” Katie pulls back and gasps. “Don’t give me that innocent look; I knew something was up the minute you showed up at the hospital.” In shock, Katie says nothing. “Fine, you can tell me later. Because, believe me, sooner or later, I will find out.”

Brooke walks over to Rick and Bridget. “Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about you two. You are my children. I am the parent, not you. I appreciate your concern but it is truly driving me up a wall.” She hugs them both. Again, Brooke lowers her voice so only Rick and Bridget can hear her. “Are you two going to tell me what happened yesterday while I was still in the hospital? (They are surprised) Don’t look so shocked, I’m your mother, I know when something is bothering you.” Neither Rick nor Bridget says anything. “If you aren’t telling me because you want to protect me from something, I think we just established why that won’t be necessary. You don’t have to tell me, but it might make you feel better.”

She takes a few steps back and faces everyone. “Now that the ground rules have been laid out, I want to thank all of you. I couldn’t have survived these past few months without your love and support. I know you are all concerned about me, and that concern made you all act crazy, but hopefully, it has passed and now things can get back to normal. At least for this house.” Brooke pauses. “Now, the smell of that Thai food is driving me crazy. Bridget, why don’t you put the ice cream in the freezer, and Rick, get some plates for the food. Katie, please help me gather up all of this paperwork.” Still a little shocked, everyone does what Brooke requests. “Megan, why don’t you stay and sit with us for lunch. That way we can get caught up with everything from work.”

********

Unable to keep silent, Stephanie interrupts Thorne. “Oh my god, Macy isn’t in jail is she? (Turning to Eric) I told you Eric, Brooke can’t be trusted to keep her word. I knew it, when will that woman stop causing misery in my family.” Stephanie turns back to Thorne. “Thorne, honey, don’t worry. Our lawyers will take care of everything. Macy won’t have to spend one more minute in jail and then the two of you can happily go on with your lives.”

Thorne sighs. “Mom, you’re jumping to conclusions. If you will just listen to me…”

Stephanie interrupts again. “Really? Macy isn’t in jail?”

“No. And she won’t have to either. I told you about the deal with Brooke, and…”

“Yes, but who can trust that woman to keep her word. Anyway, if Macy isn’t in jail, why isn’t she here with you?”

(Strained) “Well, if you would let me finish a sentence, maybe you would find out.”

“Don’t use that tone with me.”

“Well, then just listen to me. Please? This is hard enough to say without you interrupting me every five seconds.”

Stephanie is about to speak again, but Eric places a hand on her arm. “Stephanie.” Stephanie remains silent. “Ok Thorne, we’re listening.”

Unable to keep still, Thorne begins pacing. “This isn’t easy for me to tell you. A lot has happened in the past few days. The last couple of months, actually, but it came to a head a few days ago.” Thorne shakes his head. No more beating around the bush. If I don’t say this now, I won’t. Thorne takes a deep breath. “Mom, Dad, Macy and I have agreed to end our marriage.” Thorne looks over at his parents. Both of them just sit there with a stunned look on their faces. He tries to explain. “We haven’t been happy in a long time. In fact, we never should have gotten married at all. It was a mistake for both of us.”

Stephanie can’t keep silent any longer. “How can you say that? You and Macy love each other. Getting married was the right thing to do.”

“No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t good for Macy and it wasn’t good for me. I should have ended it months ago, but with all of the family pressure, I couldn’t. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. Instead, I hurt everyone, especially myself.”

“What are you talking about? What pressure?”

Thorne looks at his mother with disbelief. “Are you kidding me? At every turn, you and Dad, and even Ridge were pushing me to marry Macy.”

“Thorne…”

“No. At the hospital, when you and Dad got remarried? And what about springing that surprise wedding on me? You don’t call that pressure?”

Stephanie shakes her head. “ We were encouraging you, not pressuring you. Thorne, you and Macy were in love and engaged.”

“No we weren’t. I had never asked Macy to marry me again.”

“But you two got married anyway. Besides, we certainly didn’t set it up so the two of you would marry in Amsterdam.”

Thorne just glares at his father. (Sarcastic) “No, you had nothing to do with that.”

Stephanie doesn’t catch the sarcasm. Eric just stares back at his son, praying he won’t mention Brooke’s name in front of Stephanie.

Thorne looks back at his mother. “From the beginning, I wanted to tell you the truth. But every time I started to, you would say how happy you were, how you were looking forward to our wedding, and how it was helping you to recover from the stroke. Right after we got married, I knew it was a mistake. But then you stood up to congratulate us. What was I supposed to do? I was drowning in guilt.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” No, no, no. This can’t be happening. We finally got you away from Brooke and married to Macy. I can put up with Macy. Now you want to throw all of that away. “Thorne, how can you throw away what you and Macy have?”

“Whatever Macy and I had was based on a lie. We took a good friendship, and ruined it by getting married again.”

“No, I won’t listen to this. Thorne, you are throwing away the best thing that ever happened to you. You need to go back to Macy and make things right before it’s too late.”

“No mother. It’s over. It can’t be fixed, and I don’t want to fix it. The divorce is already in the works. Sally and Adam are there for Macy and....”

(Angry) “What?! You told them before me? How could you treat me like that, like some second rate citizen behind Sally Spectra? No, I won’t listen to anymore of this.” Stephanie storms out of the room as Thorne and Eric just watch her go.

Once she is gone, Eric turns to his son. “Are you proud of yourself? You have just upset her so much it will surprise me if she doesn’t have a relapse.”

(Angry) “Stop it! That isn’t going to work any more. Do you hear me? Mother has completely recovered from her stroke and is stronger than ever. She even survived that mess with Amber and the baby, when she was much weaker. If that didn’t cause a relapse, nothing will. Nothing can harm her now. And I refuse to live the rest of my life based on what’s best for other people. You and Ridge guilted and tricked me into throwing away the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Eric holds up his hands. “Don’t even say it. Oh god, you haven’t learned a damn thing, have you? What will it take for you to get Brooke out of your system? She is like a poison to this family. She plays each of us off the other, just to get a reaction. You know she has never gotten over Ridge, how can you still think you love her? Or that she loves you? Brooke only loves Brooke. And I won’t even remind you what happened the last time your mother found you with Brooke. Do you want to kill your mother?”

“Of course not, how can you even say that? I never wanted to hurt her….” Thorne falls silent and just looks at his father. “No, I’m not listening to you about this anymore. You can’t guilt me into doing what you want. I am no longer a little boy desperate for your approval. No, I am a man, capable of living my own life and making my own decisions. And one of the first things I am going to do is win Brooke back.”

“Thorne, you know she will never make you happy. She will use you, and then throw you away when something better comes along.”

(Deadpan) “Funny, I thought I did that to her.”

Eric ignores that. “Do you really want to cause this family more pain and turmoil just so you can sleep with Brooke? I have. And your brother has. Believe me, she isn’t worth it.”

In less than a second, Thorne has his father by the shirt. “Don’t. Don’t you ever say anything like that ever again.” Realizing what he has just done, Thorne release his father and takes a step back, trying to control himself.

“See?! She already has you fighting with your family. What will happen when she finds out you are divorcing Macy? She will pounce, just to cause your mother and me pain.”

(Desperately trying to stay calm) “For your information, Brooke already knows about me and Macy. She was the first person I told and she didn’t leap for joy. Basically, she told me to go to hell. Contrary to popular belief, Brooke does not spend every waking hour plotting new and devious ways to torture this family. We do that to her. Brooke has been busy running this company, and doing a damn fine job of it. She also hasn’t been pining over me, or any other Forrester male.”

“And how can you be so sure?”

“I know.”

“You can never know what is going on in her devious mind. She isn’t having any fun unless she’s causing trouble in this family.”

“Just trust me.”

“No, there’s something you’re not telling me. What is it?”

(Exasperated) “Because she’s seeing Giovanni, ok.” Thorne quickly falls silent. Damn, I didn’t mean to tell him that. He just makes me so angry sometimes and I can’t think straight.

Eric looks at Thorne with disbelief. “Giovanni? The photographer?” Eric laughs. “Oh, she’s good. I have to give her credit for that. Thorne, she probably just told you that to make you jealous. Obviously it worked.”

(Trying to stay calm) “No, she didn’t mention him. I saw them together.”

“She probably set it up so you would see them together.”

“No, Dad, that’s your trick.” Eric just glares at Thorne. “How is she supposed to plan me seeing them together when she has told us, in no uncertain terms, that if she lays eyes on any of us, we will be fired? Did you forget that little fact?”

“Well, obviously she found a way. You did see them together.”

(Frustrated) “By accident! She didn’t even know I was there! Besides, Katie confirmed it.”

“Haven’t you realized by now that Brooke will use anyone to get what she wants, even her own family?”

Thorne just shakes his head. “You just won’t give up, will you?”

“Thorne, I’m saying this for your own good. You aren’t happy with Macy? Fine. I can live with that. But don’t go after Brooke. She will only cause you pain. She will never love you.”

Thorne starts walking towards the front door. “I’m leaving. It’s obvious you won’t listen to anything I say. I suggest you really work on your attitude towards Brooke, because I’m going to do everything in my power to make things up to her. And if it comes down to choosing between Brooke or you, Brooke will win, hands down.”

Thorne turns and walks out of the house, slamming the door behind him. Eric just sits down in the couch and shakes his head.

From her hiding spot around the corner, Stephanie sneaks into the study. Don’t you worry Eric. You did your best, but it’s my turn to deal with Brooke. I got her away from you, and Ridge, and I will surely keep her away from Thorne. I know you tried Eric, but leave things to the expert. Brooke and Giovanni, huh? That could actually work.

Totally unaware that Stephanie heard his entire conversation with Thorne, Eric picks up the phone and dials. Impatiently Eric paces as he waits for his call to be answered. “Come on, come on, and pick up already. I know you’re there.”

When Ridge answers, Eric’s only greeting is, “We have to stop your brother no matter what.”

********

Thirty minutes later, all the food is gone, and Megan and Giovanni decide to head back to work.

Brooke hands Megan the Forrester work. “Megan, here is everything I need you to take back to the office. You understand everything that needs to be done, right?”

(Confused) “Yes, it’s not too difficult, why?”

Brooke and Giovanni share a look, and laugh. “Never mind, Giovanni will fill you in on the ride back to the office.”

Brooke walks up to Giovanni and hugs him. “Thank you, I knew I could always count on you.”

“Yeah, cause I’m an easy target. You knew just what to say to get your own way.”

(Wide grin) “Now you know the secret to running Forrester.” Brooke, Megan and Giovanni laugh. “Megan, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Don’t worry Brooke; all work comes to you, no filtering.”

“Thank you; you know how much I appreciate you, don’t you? And no matter what I said earlier, I do trust you. You have been a true friend to me.” Brooke gives her a hug. “Oh, but no more three hour lunches. The boss might get suspicious. (They laugh) Bye.”

As Brooke closes the front door, Megan and Giovanni walk over to his car.

“Well I knew it couldn’t last.”

Giovanni looks over at Megan. “What?”

“Brooke, letting anyone take care of her. She hasn’t been able to let someone take care of her in a long time. Not even those that love her.”

“Do you blame her?”

Megan sighs. “No, every time she has trusted anyone enough to give up some control, she gets slammed. It’s just sad.”

Giovanni just nods in agreement as they drive back to work.

Inside, Brooke can see the kids are just waiting to help her with something. “Listen, all of you. I just want each of you to continue with your lives as if nothing is wrong. Because nothing is, right?”

“Yes.”

“Ok.”

“Yes. Mom, do you want the ice cream now?”

Brooke looks over at her daughter and smiles. “No thanks, you go ahead though. I’m going to go upstairs and take a nap.”

“Ok.” The kids finish cleaning up the table and take the trash into the kitchen.

Brooke looks at her sister. “Do you promise to wake me if necessary?”

Katie walks up to Brooke, holding up two fingers, the Boy Scout pledge. “I promise.”

Brooke laughs. “That didn’t work on you, why do you think it will work on me?”

“I’m just kidding. No, I really do promise. No more protecting you for your own good.” Katie shudders. “If for no other reason than I never want to be compared to Eric ever again.” Katie and Brooke laugh. “I just wanted to make your life as easy as possible. God knows you deserve it.”

“I know, but let me decide what is best for me. I’ll gladly take suggestions, just not orders. It’s my life, let me live it.” Brooke smiles and heads upstairs. “And right now, I need a nap before I get even more cranky. ”

Katie laughs. “Impossible.” Watching her sister go, Katie turns and walks into the kitchen in search of ice cream.

End of Part 11

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