Phyllis admits that she’s too scared to take the next step; she’s hurt Jack so many times and doesn’t want to risk the friendship she values so much. We’ll always have that friendship, Jack vows. Phyllis doesn’t want to let Jack down and made her own assumptions about why he didn’t communicate with her before or during his trip. And then Summer called to offer her a job at Marchetti… Wait you’re moving to Milan!!?? Jack’s stunned.
After attending the seminar on adoption, Mariah and Tessa are overwhelmed; there’s so much more to the adoption process than they thought so have come to Society for coffee instead of CL’s (and the prying eyes) When Mariah goes to the ladies room, Tessa’s left to flash back to her encounter with Noah.
On the CL’s patio, Noah daydreams about Tessa as Nick talks about cost burden. Am I boring you? No, Noah apologizes for being tired. Going out last night was a bad idea. Yes, your Mom said you were going out with some friends. You were saying something about cost burden, Noah doesn’t correct his Dad.
Billy floats into CL’s on a cloud of happiness – good to see you, he beams at Adam (who can’t say the same) Billy lists all the good things in his life, concluding with helping Lily succeed at Chancellor. Hell yeah he’s satisfied with that (helping Lily succeed at Chancellor) Good for you, Adam tries to leave. Come on, you’ll be fine. You’ve got a good kid, live at the ranch rent free where Officer Rey and Daddy can keep an eye on you, a prestigious job at Daddy’s company – for now. Vikki is your Father’s daughter, Billy grins – she knows how to get what she wants.
Vikki fawns over her Father. Nikki’s sitting in too. Vikki’s eager to hear what her Father thinks of her offer. Victor needs to know one thing; they agreed that Adam must continue to be CEO Of both media companies if/ when they merge. But his name isn’t in the deal. Victor wants it added. Anything else? Yes, he will continue his advisory role to Adam, as he’s done with Vikki. Nikki chimes in to say Vikki will need time to think about it. Vikki doesn’t need time; we have a deal.
Nick continues to educate Noah on New Hope’s building projects. low income housing. Turning downtown hotel into affordable apartments another time. Noah can’t wait to see the building full of tenants. He doesn’t want to talk about what happened in London; no one was hurt but it wasn’t pretty. Nuff said? Yup.
Still at Society, Tessa and Mariah have agreed to be open to adopting an older kid. Cassie and Devon are examples of how that can change lives. Now they have more options. They laugh together until Mariah mentions Noah being an Uncle. Tessa stops.
There’s nothing for me here, Phyllis says. The dynamic is confusing her – we keep missing the mark. Jack can’t argue that. Follow your instincts; our paths will cross. Phyllis is going for a visit to see if it’s feasible. Jack has one request before she goes….
Ashland’s surprised when Vikki comes back so soon to announce that her Father loved their offer. Adam is still a deal breaker. I agreed right on the spot. Ashland doesn’t think they should schedule the next meeting not at the ranch, giving Victor home court advantage. Vikki doesn’t expect more negotiations. We made the deal, it’s done. You finalized the deal without even discussing it with me, Ashland looks like he’s ready to explode.
Jack’s request is that Phyllis have dinner with him; to make sure there’s no residual anger that they ‘missed the mark’. When I get back, Phyllis won’t be gone long. Jack’s disappointed that she can’t make time for him sooner but looks forward to when she can. Phyllis will have someone else run the hotel (so she’ll still have a connection to this city) Jack hopes there’s more than one. He continues to say all the right things. How does Jack always know what to say? Because nobody knows you better Red.
Noah’s excited about getting started but doesn’t have anything to report to his Dad on what he’s been assigned. As soon as Nick leaves out the back, Noah spots Tessa coming in. Yes, he does need to apologize for last night. How uncomfortable Tessa is right now is the last thing he wanted.
Ashland understood why he sat out the first meeting but he thought he’d have a say before Vikki closed the deal. You more than weighed in. We worked on the offer together. Yes, but Ashland would have added stipulations to keep Adam in line; define his authority. My Father might have canceled the deal. Ashland explains negotiating 101; maybe Victor’s just setting up a fight between you and Adam for his entertainment. They bicker. Ashland’s just trying to protect Vikki. Nikki comes in. Ashland thinks we should have added something to the contract, Vikki tells her. Nikki can tell Victor they need more time to discuss it. When Ashland leaves the decision to Vikki, she promptly decides to leave the contract as is – I can handle Adam. Now, if you’ll excuse me, she leaves Nikki and Ashland making faces in her office.