"As the sun rose over Pine Valley, Palmer and Vanessa enjoyed the comforts of The Valley Inn's room service as well as each other's company. Palmer said that his hotel suite offered a certain level of discretion that was impossible to find elsewhere. Had they been at Cortlandt Manor, he said, surely the servants would have been "nattering about who the master spent the night with." Vanessa nodded and added "discretion is a plus." She sighed slightly and mentioned that she'd never imagined that their dinner date would turn into such a memorable and pleasurable night. Palmer wanted to stick around, but he had to run off to the office. While he was in the shower, the phone rang. Not knowing what else to do, Vanessa decided to take the call. She was shocked to hear Donald's voice on the other end. "How dare you call me here," she snapped. "Hello, Vanessa," sneered Donald. "Where's my money?" Donald didn't care about the perceived inappropriateness of calling Vanessa in her gentleman friend's room. "The clock is ticking," he said sinisterly. He again reminded Vanessa that unless she came up with ten thousand dollars, he'd go public with the snapshots of "Erica Kane as Scarface." Vanessa's lip quivered, her breath growing short. Donald noted that Vanessa could do time in jail if David found out that she'd stolen the pictures from his office. Vanessa begged for more time. Donald granted her an extension---but only forty-five minutes more. Vanessa slowly hung up the phone and began to panic. She scurried over to Palmer's suit jacket and began rummaging through his pockets. As her hand found the millionaire's wallet, Palmer emerged from the bathroom. "Are you looking for something?" he asked. Vanessa quickly turned around and without skipping a beat told Palmer that she was going to take his jacket to the cleaners. Apparently as some point during their evening together, some wine spilled onto the jacket. Palmer assured her that the hotel's cleaners could take care of the stain. Vanessa shook her head feverishly and said that a delicate garment like Palmer's jacket should not be entrusted to just anyone. She vowed to find the best cleaner in town. "You get so excited about the most peculiar things," Palmer chuckled. Palmer cleaned out his pockets and gave Vanessa permission to clean his jacket. As he made his way out, Palmer asked Vanessa to join him later for dinner. After Palmer left, Vanessa cursed herself for flubbing her chance to steal Palmer's wallet. She took a deep breath and asked herself how she was going to get ten thousand dollars.
Toiling away in his home office, Edmund placed a call to The Valley Inn to tell Brooke that he'd be a little late for their meeting. As he gathered all of his belongings, the phone rang. On the other end, a very chipper Dimitri informed Edmund that he was on his way back to Wildwind. Dimitri also took time out to tease his brother about his not-so-secret admirer, Leslie Coulson. When asked if he'd made progress with the attractive attorney, Edmund chuckled that Leslie hadn't called him in several days---and that was progress in his book! Dimitri said that he wasn't sure when he'd be touching down in Pine Valley. When he did, however, he instructed Edmund to have a party waiting for him. Edmund asked his brother why he was feeling so festive. "I am out of my head happy," Dimitri chirped. "And that's all you need to know for now."
In the dining room of The Valley Inn, Brooke told Jack all about her trip to England. Though Jack was hanging on every word she said, Brooke feared that she was dominating the conversation. Jack told Brooke that he didn't might one bit because he'd missed hearing her voice. He mused that Brooke's "zany, unbalanced quality" was something that he'd gotten used to. Edmund rushed up to the table and apologized for being late. Edmund told Brooke that her time away made him appreciate just how much work she does. He then told the pair that Dimitri was coming back to town with good news. He mentioned that he wasn't sure what the good news was, but said that Dimitri wanted to have a party to celebrate. Brooke smiled and said that she guessed his business trip to London went well. Edmund scrunched his face slightly and informed Brooke that Dimitri went to Budapest. Brooke shook her head and explained that she'd seen Dimitri in London hailing a cab. "Uh oh," Jack laughed. "Dimitri's got an evil twin!" Edmund again stated that Dimitri had flown directly to Hungary and could not have been in London. Brooke, however, was sure that she was right. Edmund was paged away. While he was gone, Brooke and Jack wondered aloud about Dimitri's good news. Jack figured that Dimitri's news had something to do with a business deal. Brooke thought otherwise, saying that she was sure it was more of a personal nature. Perhaps, she said, he'd managed to get Eugenia and Gillian's fortune back. No matter what the occasion, Jack asked Brooke if she'd be his date to the party. Brooke smiled sweetly and nodded her head.
Vanessa knocked on David's door and begged him for help. David knew that his mother wanted money, but he refused to help bail her out. Vanessa whimpered that "something dreadful" would happen if she did not get ten thousand dollars within the next few minutes. David shrugged his shoulders indifferently and told his mother that he did not care if she was in trouble. Vanessa knew the magic word to use to regain her son's attention----Erica. She said that the "something dreadful" could ruin Erica's life. Vanessa said that Donald Steele was demanding money from her to keep him going public with something that would rock Erica's world. Conveniently, Vanessa alleged that she had no idea what Donald was planning to do. David didn't trust his mother's words and was certain that she was "up to [her] eyeballs" in trouble. Quite possibly, he said, Vanessa was also the cause of the trouble. David kicked his mother out of his suite and headed off to find Donald.
Trevor walked downstairs to gather his belongings for a day at the office. As he was coming down, Hayley was just returning home. He smiled devilishly and told Hayley that he'd help her move her things back to the condo. He'd surmised that since Hayley hadn't come home the night before, she and Hayley must have been doing "the man and wife thing." Hayley broke down in tears and Trevor instantly knew that something wasn't right. "It's over," Hayley cried. "Mateo and me. I've never seen him so angry." Hayley told her uncle that a fight with Mateo had escalated into something much worse. Trevor was aghast when he learned that Mateo had poured her a glass of vodka. "He was so cold and scary... and final," Hayley said softly. In passing, she glossed over the reason for the argument: kissing Ryan. Trevor stopped her as she tried to continue onward without explaining the kiss. "You did what?" Trevor gasped. "No wonder he's pouring you shots." Hayley was peeved that Trevor had seemingly jumped on Mateo's bandwagon. "It was a meaningless kiss," Hayley said rolling her eyes. "A two second brush of the lips that meant nothing." Obviously, noted Trevor, the kiss meant something to Mateo or he would not have hit the roof. Trevor asked his niece to explain how the kiss happened. Hayley claimed that she'd been "in a funk" and that Ryan had followed her to the beach because he feared that she might do something foolish. Ryan was a friend, she continued, who wanted to keep her from "falling apart." Trevor shook his head and said that he didn't buy her story. Hayley again went on the defensively, swearing up and down that the kiss was a mistake and that she and Ryan both knew it was a mistake. From out of nowhere, Trevor related a tale from his days as a mercenary. He said that he and a nurse, named Ellie, had serious plans of getting married and starting a family together. One day, though, he caught her kissing one of his best friends. That ended their relationship. From the story, Hayley determined that Trevor was trying to tell her that her relationship with Mateo was kaput. It did seem that way. Trevor quickly shook his head and said that Mateo and Hayley were different because they were already married. Well, sort of. Hayley threw her arms in the air and called the story a waste of time. Trevor forced Hayley to confront her own feelings of jealous. She admitted that she would have thrown a fit if she'd seen Mateo and Raquel kissing. Trevor again told Hayley that he was sure that she and Mateo would get back together, but he urged her to right her wrong before it was too late.
Still frantic that her part in the "tell all" book would be revealed, Vanessa headed back to Palmer's room. She told Palmer that she was "absolutely desperate." Vanessa claimed that Donald had stolen pictures of Erica's injured face from David's office and was now threatening to make them public if she did not come up with ten thousand dollars. Palmer was shocked that Donald would do such a thing, but he wondered why Donald would be blackmailing her and not Erica. Vanessa said that Donald had come to her because he figured that she had enough money to pay him. The lie was pretty lame, but Palmer bought it. Palmer tried his best to comfort Vanessa and then promised that he'd give her the money to protect their mutual friend. Palmer put his arm around Vanessa and walked with her to find the scandalous author.
The Glamorama would be the site of the launch of Enchantment's new cosmetics line after all. Janet and Opal, who now donned a pink wig (see today's Snapcaps for a photo of the new do), were busily making sure that everything in the salon was in order for the big press conference. Janet tried to make Opal see that her anger at Erica was misplaced. Opal mumbled that it upset her that business dealings were more important than a friendship. Erica breezed into the Glamorama and immediately praised Opal's new---albeit fake---hairstyle. She thanked her friend for agreeing to host the launch party for the new line of makeup. Then, she looked at her friend with sad eyes and begged Opal to forgive her. Opal rolled her eyes and said that they'd already hashed out their differences. Erica nodded in agreement, but said that their previous talk failed to yield a reconciliation. Erica told Opal that she loves her, but Opal noted that people toss around the phrase very loosely. "I've lost my mother. I can't lose my best friend," Erica said just above tears. "I love you." Opal's heart melted and the two women shared an embraced. With the hardest task out of the way, Janet wanted to learn more about Erica's new product line. Erica called the line a "therapeutic blend of healing agents and foundation." Janet wondered if Dr. Hayward would be getting a slice of the profits. Erica shook her head quizzically and asked Janet where she'd gotten that idea. Janet mentioned that she'd heard that Erica and David had had dinner at The Valley Inn the other night---and that the dinner included some dancing. "Don't tell me you're getting sweet on this guy," Opal groaned. Before Erica could respond, the media swarmed the salon. Erica fielded questions about the new line of cosmetics and she and Opal posed for several pictures. In the foyer of the mansion, Jerry Reeves and approximately four other men organized their plan of attack. One of the cameramen groused that he didn't get a degree from college to film infomercials. Jerry muttered that what he had planned was much better than an infomercial. Jerry and his cronies barged to the front of the media pack. There, he reached into his bag and produced a manila envelope. He asked Erica if she'd care to comment on some photos that he'd just received. Erica flashed a smile and asked if the photos had been obtained from her new personal web site. Jerry shook his head and opened the folder. His media colleagues gasped and clamored around him as he exposed pictures of Erica's face pre-surgery. "Where did you get those?" Erica gasped as she covered her mouth. "It doesn't matter, lady," Jerry cackled. "I've got them now.""
- Soap Central
