"A letter drenched in lilac essence arrived in the mail for Scott. Marian gently teased the teenager about a possible female admirer. Scott, however, paid little mind to the letter which he said came from a girl named Julie. Julie, he claimed, was a friend---"with an emphasis on friend." Marian asked Scott if he could play the tape he'd made for his film class, but Scott played down the film. The topic was less than exciting; it was a documentary on bugs that ravage the California vineyards. There was something peculiar about the way he was acting, but it was nothing that anyone could put a finger on. Scott forced a yawn and dashed upstairs. Marian concocted a plan to arrange a gala premiere for Scott's first film project. She envisioned a glitzy opening at the local theatre where guests would arrive by limo and eat catered food. The plan seemed less realistic when she thought about the amount of money they'd have to shell out. Marian asked Stuart about his finances---in particular how much money he had. It seemed rather crude, but this was a normal question for a wife to ask her husband. Stuart shrugged and replied that Adam takes care of all the finances. Marian also toyed with the idea of playing matchmaker for Scott, but Stuart urged her to let Scott work his own magic.
The wedding reception had now come to an unofficial end. Janet returned from her outing to Enchantment and was miffed that she'd missed the fun. She briefed Trevor on the details of what Vanessa was up to and he urged her to return to Enchantment to take care of Vanessa. He, meanwhile, would tend to some legal matters. Janet nodded and the pair agreed to meet later.
Across the room, Ryan told Jake and Gillian that he was going to call it a day. He smiled proudly and commented that Tad and Dixie truly deserved to be happy. Reflex action took over and Gillian told Ryan that he was also deserving of happiness. The two awkward tried to work their way out of the situation. Ultimately, Ryan said goodbye and Gillian tried to pull her foot out of her mouth. Jake and Gillian sat down at a table. Once seated, Jake asked Gillian why she and Ryan were not still together. Gillian took a deep breath and told Jake the sordid details of her affair with "the other man." The explanation, which took place off camera, included the details of sleeping with the unnamed other man in order to raise Ryan's bail money. Jake was able to deduce from what he called "tell-tale signs" that the other man was actually David Hayward. Gillian was stunned that Jake knew who she was talking about, but even more surprised that Jake was not "disgusted" by what she'd done. She also spilled the beans about keeping the money that she'd acquired from David. Jake said that since Gillian no longer had money of her own, he doesn't see anything wrong with her decision to keep it. Jake offered Gillian a ride back to the boarding house, but Gillian said that she was "too awake" to go home. She invited Jake to join her for a night of dancing at Sounds of Salsa. Jake agreed, but said that he'd have to meet her there because he was scheduled to visit Colby.
Ryan dropped by the gym to take out his aggression on an unlucky punching bag. A woman observed his technique and asked him if he gives private lessons. Ryan didn't know who the woman was, but the woman was a familiar face in Pine Valley; she was Leslie Coulson. Ryan helped the woman work on some squats, but they had yet to introduce themselves. Ryan stopped the workout when he noticed that Scott was standing behind them with a video camera. Leslie angrily asked the teen if he was "some kind of sicko." Upon learning that Scott and Ryan knew each other, Leslie warmed slightly. She did, however, warn Scott that he could get himself into a lot of trouble by sneaking up on people with video cameras. Scott sheepishly informed the pair that he did have a consent form for them to sign. Leslie took the paper and carefully scanned over it. She advised Scott to have it checked by an attorney because the agreement gave her "wiggle room" to cause him a lot of headaches later. The woman flashed a smile and explained that she was an attorney. Among her clients, she said trying not to brag, are Juanita Ramsey and Dr. David Hayward. Ryan blew up when he learned that Leslie represented David. He apologized for his outburst, in which he ordered Leslie to tell her client to "stay away from [his] wife." Leslie told Ryan that he was not the first man to fly off the handle at the mention of David's name. Leslie was paged away, but before leaving the trio finally introduced themselves by name. Scott knew that David must have been the reason for Ryan and Gillian's split. He offered to help Ryan get even with David, but Ryan felt that there was no need to enact revenge. He and Gillian were through.
Vanessa assumed her perch behind Erica's desk at Enchantment. She took to the phone when a man by the name of Donald Steele called. "We're going to be co-conspirators," purred Vanessa. She cleared her throat and changed her statement to "collaborators" instead of "conspirators." She asked the man to drop by the office later so that they could "get to work." Somehow Vanessa had gotten her hands on the journal that Erica kept when she was staying at The Betty Ford Clinic. She poured over ever page, taking careful notes on anything that she thought she could use against Erica. Janet burst into the room and asked angrily asked Vanessa why she hadn't left town yet. "Be gone," snapped Vanessa, "before a house falls on you." Janet reminded Vanessa that she was not in the position to give orders. All it took was the pressing of the play button on her tape recorder and Erica would know all about Vanessa and Jerry Reeves' relationship. Janet also accused Vanessa of hiring the second accountant to try to dirty her reputation. Vanessa accused Janet of being paranoid. "How often do you have to go in for a sanity check?" she growled. "Are you due now?" Janet took a deep breath and looked coldly into Vanessa's eyes. "Maybe I've slipped," Janet mused. She said that there was a little voice in her head repeating, "Janet Dillon took an axe and gave Vanessa forty whacks. When she saw what she had done she clicked her heels and cried 'Oh, what fun!'" Vanessa rolled her eyes. Janet mentioned that Vanessa was lucky that a crowbar wasn't lying around. She thought for several seconds and realized that even a piece of standard office equipment could be used as a deadly weapon. She picked up a stapler and circled the desk. She held the stapler over her head and toyed with the idea of stapling Vanessa to death. Of course, she was joking---but Vanessa was definitely shaking in her boots. Janet asked Vanessa what she'd done to Erica. Vanessa shrugged and claimed that she had no idea what had happened to Erica. Perhaps Erica was at the mall giving another impromptu interview or maybe she had a prisoner locked up in the basement of her house. "That is so sick," groaned Janet. "You're not funny." Janet was quickly rushed out of the room when Donald arrived. Vanessa shushed the writer when he started to introduce himself, so Janet was unable to figure out who he was. After Janet left, Vanessa and Donald sat down on the sofa to get to work on their masterpiece: a tell all book about Erica. Donald would act as ghostwriter and only Vanessa's name would appear on the cover.
David worried that Erica's healing might be compromised if she didn't maintain her regular cleaning regimen. Erica called said that David was "so earnest, so noble." She lowered her head and walked away. She returned later with a towel and a turnkey that she would later use to release the vise's grip on David's hand. For the first time, Erica showed signs of remorse. As she grip on David's hand released, his pain continued. His right hand was purplish and he had trouble moving his fingers. Erica extended her hand to the doctor and offered to help him by running his hand under warm water. Eventually, David was able to put on a pair of latex gloves and tend to Erica's wound. The process was quite intensive. Erica winced in pain several times as David used swabs to apply some sort of medicine of balm to her face. Still, though, the actual wound was not shown. David placed a protective layer of gauze over the wound and the process was complete. He looked at Erica for several moments before telling her that she was "so beautiful." Erica was stunned by David's spontaneous remark. Erica froze in place for some time before asking the doctor to hand her her mask. Erica struggled to put the mask on her face, so David stepped in to help. As he did, he gently caressed her face."
- Soap Central
