"With the fiscal year coming to a close, Marian and Stuart opted to skip Hayley's birthday party so that they could work on the gallery's books. The topic of money once again brought about strange behavior in Marian. Citing her experience with bookkeeping at the realty agency, Marian assured Stuart that she could handle the gallery's finances. Stuart was initially skeptical and warned Marian that one wrong click could result in the loss of his records. Marian nodded confidently and told Stuart that he should run along and uncrate some new arrivals. Stuart hadn't gotten very far and probably hadn't even unpacked any of the new paintings when everything went terribly wrong. Marian opened the accounting program with relative ease. She smiled proudly and clicked on one of the entries. Suddenly, an error message flashed on the screen complete with a little bomb icon. Marian panicked and raced to call in the reinforcements. Adrian, Belinda, and Opal arrived a short while later to help Marian through her computer crisis. Marian quickly explained what she was doing when the computer crashed. Unfortunately for Marian, the sound of voices drew Stuart back into the gallery. Marian was forced to concoct a bogus tale about Opal needing some new artwork for Cortlandt Manor. Opal played along. Marian smiled devilishly and suddenly kissed Stuart on the lips. With her free hand, Marian waved Adrian and Belinda into a back room. There she hoped that they could fix the computer. Marian unlocked her lips from Stuart's mouth and asked for forgiveness for her sudden romantic outburst. She claimed that art was a real "turn on" for her. Since Adrian and Belinda were still gone, Marian did her best to distract Stuart. It wasn't going to do any good. Adrian and Belinda returned to the room and Adrian broke the bad news that Stuart's computer didn't make it. Marian apologized profusely for breaking the computer, but Adrian informed her that the computer meltdown was not her fault. Someone, said Adrian, had infected the computer with a computer virus. Marian and Stuart appeared to be the only ones who couldn't figure out who'd planted the bug. "I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count," Opal snarled. Opal was certain that Palmer was the culprit. He had, after all, warned Stuart about the dangers of crossing him.
"Surprise!" shouted the voices of Hayley's friends and loved ones. Hayley covered her face and ran away from the crowd. This was hardly the reaction that everyone had anticipated. Hayley tried her best to cover for her tears by claiming that she was touched that everyone had remembered her birthday. Trevor chirped in with his usual wit, remarking that Hayley was now "a quarter of a century" old. Tad, meanwhile, mused that having the party at Sounds of Salsa was a gem of an idea. Not only did Hayley get presents, but she got to share in the profits generated by the party as well! Adam boasted that the birthday party was merely a prelude to "the biggest wedding since PT Barnum." Gillian asked Hayley if she and Mateo had set a wedding date, but Hayley didn't respond. Before she could open her mouth, Scott appeared in front of her with his video camera. Hayley and Mateo looked glumly at one another as they were urged to smile for the camera. Across the room, Tad and Dixie knew that something wasn't quite right. Dixie told Tad about Hayley and Mateo's troubles with Max and how Hayley had been given advice to hold off getting married or having a baby. Tad commented that Hayley shouldn't be in a rush to have a baby because her "biological clock isn't going off." The seemingly icy comment about children hushed Dixie. Liza approached Hayley and told her that she should blame her because the party was all her idea. Scott approached Liza and pitched his movie idea to her. Liza in turn told Scott that she'd pass the idea along to Adam. Scott smiled and asked if he could talk to his uncle about the idea. Adam was otherwise busy at the moment. He scooted up to his daughter and asked her if she'd mind sharing a dance. "I haven't done a samba since they closed down the Coconut Grove," he chuckled merrily. He grabbed Hayley's arm and led her on a funky little dance across the dance floor. Mid-stride Adam stopped and suggested that Hayley would much rather dance with Mateo. He then pushed the presumed lovebirds together and urged them to dance. Mateo and Hayley each took deep breaths and slowly danced around the dance floor. At the conclusion of the song, Adam announced that it was time for Hayley to open her presents. Marian and Stuart had given Hayley a bronze sculpture and Gillian got Hayley a silky negligee. Janet told Trevor that she knew something was wrong because Opal and Belinda had said that they'd seen Hayley checking into The Valley Inn---alone. Trevor held up his hands and stated that the gift giving had to take a temporary break. He then ushered his niece across the bar for a family powwow. Upon expressing their concern, Trevor and Janet were met by angry comments from Hayley. Hayley accused them of wanting to find "someone to chew up and spit out" now that Tim was in France. She immediately realized that her lashing out was off base and apologized. Hayley led the couple to her office so that they could have a private conversation. Before she could slip away, Tad and Dixie pulled her aside and told her that they had to run home because they'd left Jake in charge of the kids. Their gift to Hayley was a romantic getaway at The Sleepy Hollow Inn. They figured that Hayley and Mateo could use the mini-vacation. Scrawled inside the card was a bit of sage advice: If you wanna take a bath, leave the bathroom door open. Hayley's exit prompted Gillian to worry that Hayley and Mateo were having troubles. She approached Ryan and asked him if everything was okay between the couple. Ryan, however, confirmed her fears. Gillian was heartbroken. She said that "Mateo and Hayley were [her] hope" for a happy ending. Ryan failed to echo Gillian's exact sentiment---in particular the part where she believed that Hayley and Mateo's relationship predicted that he and Gillian might find true love with each other. In the back room, Hayley told Trevor and Janet that she and Mateo were separated. Her explanation also included her near-drinking experience. Hayley said that she was going to go back to square one, which meant that she'd need to attend ninety AA meetings in ninety days. Janet asked Hayley to leave The Valley Inn and move into Tim's room. Hayley refused, but changed her mind when Trevor cited words of wisdom from Arlene of people. Hayley's mother had once told Trevor that the worst thing for an alcoholic was to be alone inside one's own mind. Hayley agreed to stay with Trevor and Janet---but only for a little while.
It was difficult to tell who was doing the babysitting at Tad and Dixie's house---Jake or the boys. Jake filled Junior and Jamie's impressionable minds with stories of how he and Tad had run wild as boys. This included tales of late-night game playing among other things. Tad and Dixie returned and found the boys still gathered around the table playing a game. Junior and Jamie tried to scurry off before they were noticed, but it was too late. "Busted!" Dixie squawked. The boys were up well past their bedtime. Tad asked them if they'd "snowed" their Uncle Jake. They nodded. He then approached them with a dollar for each of them as a congratulatory gift for convincing Jake to let them stay up after hours. "Be sure to spend it on something that will rot your teeth," he chortled. Tad walked to boys to their room. Meanwhile, Jake determined that Dixie had yet to tell Tad that she was pregnant. Dixie nodded, but said that she had good reason for the delay. She knew that Tad was going to "shoot down" the idea of having a child because it would pose too much risk to her health. She said that she needed time to build up her strength so that she could fight and let the little life inside of her know that someone was on his or her side.
David fell asleep in a chair next to Erica's bed. He was fast asleep, but quickly awoke when he heard a muffled groan. He raced to Erica's side and softly told her that he was there for her. The first words to come from Erica were questions about the success of the operation. Actually, she first asked when she was going to be taken to the operating room. David informed her that the operation was already completed. It was too soon to tell Erica about the results of the operation. He did, however, tell her that she'd get the see the results firsthand very soon; the bandages would come off in the morning. Erica's mouth was parched and felt like cotton. David stepped out of the room to get some ice cubes. While he was gone, Erica gently touched the bandages on her face and closed her eyes. When David returned, he gently fed Erica ice cubes. The nurse entered the room and told Erica that it was time for a shot of painkillers. David held up his hands and told the nurse, "Thanks but no thanks." He was concerned that the controlled substance would pose problems for Erica because of her past addiction to painkillers. Erica was beginning to feel twinges of pain and feared that the pain would be too much to bear. David led her through Lamaze-like breathing exercises and they seemed to do the trick. Next, David asked Erica to close her eyes and imagine that she was on a beach overlooking "turquoise waters." On the horizon, he said, were two spot dots. As Erica walked closer, she would see that the dots were two loved ones---Mona and Bianca. Together they would link hands and fly over the waves like seagulls. Erica fell fast asleep. David gently kissed her on the forehead and left for the night. Erica's mind wandered away from the beautifully imagery set up by David. It looked ahead to the unveiling of her face. When the bandages came off, David looked at Erica's face in horror. Suddenly, Erica's room was filled with familiar faces---Opal, Trevor and Janet, and Adam and Liza. All looked on in disgust at Erica's face. Erica woke from her sleep in a cold sweat."
- Soap Central