"Fine china and elegantly folded napkins adorned the dining table at The Gatehouse. Marian had gone all out to make sure that the evening would go off without a hitch. Unfortunately, Stuart's food selection for the evening was a bit of an odd fit for the table setting; he'd prepared tacos and other of Adam's favorite Tex-Mex foods. Scott sauntered into the room sporting a blue button-down shirt and white t-shirt. Marian looked at him with a half-smile and suggested that he run back to his room and put on something more suitable for a business meeting. Scott bowed his head and turned around. Meanwhile, Stuart took a phone call from Liza. Marian listened to the conversation all the while worrying that Liza's presence would spoil her plans. She hurried over to the phone and instructed Stuart to tell Liza that they only had enough food for four. Stuart didn't hear a word she said and told Liza that her idea to drop by was okay. When Stuart hung up the phone, his wife immediately urged him to call back Liza and tell her that their plans had changed. Stuart was puzzled by Marian's reaction. He first explained that Liza wanted to stop by the gallery with Colby in a few days and then asked her why she didn't want Liza to join them for dinner. Had Marian kept quiet she would have spared herself a great deal of embarrassment. Now she was forced to explain that she thought that Liza's presence would somehow foul up the meeting she'd arranged between Scott and Adam. Stuart headed to the kitchen to check on the food. While he was gone, Adam arrived. Scott returned to the room wearing a sport jacket and joined his uncle and stepmother at the table. Scott thanked Adam for giving him the money to tackle his documentary. That opened a door that Marian couldn't ignore. She immediately looked to Scott and urged him to tell Adam why he was there. Scott thought it was best to wait until after dinner, but Marian commented that there was no time like the present. For Marian, Scott's statements to Adam couldn't have been scripted any better---and the best part was that Scott was truly speaking from his heart. He told his uncle that he felt a bit unprepared because he'd never had to work within a budget or keep track of his own finances. On top of that, he said that he knew little if anything about his trust fund such as how it was invested. Adam glanced across the table and observed Marian hanging on every word, practically drooling with every mention of money. Adam told his nephew to drop by the main house in the morning so that they could discuss things in private. Marian blinked several times and sighed slightly. Adam then smiled widely and muttered that he needed to take his tie off before it drove him crazy. Scott followed suit and the two men got a little more comfortable. Adam was quite pleased with the feast Stuart had prepared. After dinner, while Scott and his father were clearing the dishes, Adam demanded to know that Marian was up to. He recalled that only a few weeks ago she'd lobbied for Stuart to take full control of his financial accountability. Now, he noted, Scott had somehow gotten the same idea. Marian shrugged innocently and claimed that she was not up to anything. "Scott looks upon you as a mentor," she said. Adam chuckled to himself and said that if would enlist Marian as his spin doctor if he ever entered politics. Adam had to call it an evening and Scott, needing to meet up with Becca, followed him out the door. Elated that the evening had gone almost according to plan, Marian sat down on the sofa with Stuart and told him how happy she was that Scott was finally going to be treated like an adult. Stuart, too, seemed pleased, but he warned Marian not to push Adam too hard.
Myrtle returned home and found something startling on the floor and wall of the boarding house. After the initial shock wore off, she giggled bemusedly to herself. Gillian had been doing a handstand against one of the walls. As Gillian flipped right-side up, Myrtle asked her why she was suddenly engaging in gymnastics. "Because my whole world is upside-down and I thought maybe if I looked at things upside-down it would make sense," Gillian replied. Myrtle wanted to help her friend feel better and offered to be a sounding block for the princess. Gillian said that she'd found her heart when she fell in love with Ryan. Now, well now, she felt oscillating waves of numbness and pain as she realized that Ryan was out of her life, possibly for good. "I make men repulsive," Gillian mumbled. Myrtle raised her hand to her mouth to cover an emerging smile. When she'd stifled her laughter, she told Gillian that she probably meant that men found her repulsive. Myrtle urged Gillian to clean up her life and right the wrongs. It seemed a lot easier said than done. While not wanting to seem like she was defending Ryan, Myrtle reminded Gillian that Ryan had fallen in love with her during a very tumultuous time in his life. "After what at he's been through, [he] believes that that every apple as a worm [in it] and instead of taking a bite out of it he just throws it away," Myrtle noted. The colorful metaphor actually seemed to make sense to Gillian. "He'll find his way back to you," Myrtle smiled. A knocked sounded on the door. Becca dropped by because Myrtle had said that she'd like to tape a breakup story for Scott's documentary. Becca wondered if she could kill two birds with one stone and asked Gillian if she wanted to share a story. Gillian was crushed and stormed out of the house. Becca realized that she must have "stepped in it" and asked Myrtle to explain why Gillian was so upset. Myrtle glossed over the facts, referring to Gillian as "her Royal Highness." Becca then realized that Gillian was the woman that Scott had been ready to marry. She pressed Myrtle for details about the relationship. Myrtle knew that Becca wasn't asking just out of curiosity---there was definitely something else to it. After hearing the story, Becca told Myrtle that she needed to run along.
Scott met up with Becca in the park. As he sat down on a park bench next to her, she gently placed her index finger over his lips and asked him to listen to the beautiful chirping of a bird.
At SOS, Mateo offered to tend the bar so that Ryan could have a break. Ryan, however, snapped that he wanted to continue working to make "the day" go quicker. Mateo corrected him by reminding him that it was nighttime. That only irked Ryan more. Mateo then asked Ryan if he'd seen or heard from Hayley recently. Ryan curtly replied negatively, but Mateo continued asking questions. "Look, man, I said I haven't seen her, okay?" Ryan snapped. Mateo knew that something was bothering his friend and he correctly determined that his problems had to do with a woman. Ryan, however, lied about his foul mood, chalking it up to "caffeine jitters." Mateo reflected on the previous Fourth of July---Holidays was blown to pieces. Mateo also remembered how happy he and Hayley were. Ryan became increasingly fidgety and did everything he could to keep from making eye contact with his boss. Gillian sashayed into the bar and Ryan raced up to her to tell her that he was glad to see her. Gillian, though, wasn't at all pleased to see Ryan. She blasted him for "not [giving] a damn about her." She accused him of being nice to her only to keep her silent about the oceanfront kiss. She said that she might just tell Mateo about the kiss, asking "who the hell are you to stop me?" Gillian slinked over to the bar and stood between "two buffed boys." She smiled sexily and asked which of the men wanted to dance with her. The two men nearly tripped over one another trying to get to their feet. Gillian selected on of the men and led him to the dance floor. Gillian wiggled and jiggled in a sultry dance with the unknown. Ryan was unable to take his eyes of the spectacle. Mateo walked behind him and asked why Gillian was acting so strangely. He then happily noted that he'd called Trevor and found out that Hayley was at the hospital at an AA meeting. Ryan shook his head and stormed across the club. He looked angrily at Gillian's dance partner and asked him why he was dancing with his wife. The man put his hands in the air and grumbled that he never would have danced with Gillian if he knew she was married. Ryan grabbed Gillian by the arm and walked her towards the back room.
In the dining area of The Valley Inn, David met with a waiter and asked for his help in making sure that the evening went off without a hitch. The doctor slipped the man a fist of cash and said that he wants "smooth, prompt, and discreet service." David momentarily reflected on the kiss he and Erica shared at the hospital in Brazil. In the lobby, Erica checked her makeup in a small compact mirror. She turned when David entered. As walked towards the doctor with a broad smile, but fumbled her purse when she got within a few feet of him. They both bent over to pick up the fallen purse, their eyes meeting. "You look absolutely stunning. Black is definitely your color," David told Erica referring to her black dress. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps and clamoring voice approached from the opposite direction. A small media contingency swarmed around Erica asking questions and taking photographs on his first night out since her surgery. "Was the surgery a success?" asked one reported by the name of Charlie. "What do you think?" Erica replied wryly. While Erica was tending to the press, Leslie Coulson filed out of the dining area and walked over to David. She knew instantly that Erica was the reason David had been avoiding her. It was evident that Leslie wanted to be with David so she resorted to low blows about Erica in order to charm him. "She can share a table for two, but not the spotlight," the attorney grumbled. David said that this was a night for Erica to shine and nothing more. Erica promised to hold a press conference in a few days and returned to David's side. Leslie bid Erica hello, but Erica said nothing. She looked at Leslie with squinted eyes, feverishly trying to figure out who she was. Then it hit her: Leslie was doing "pro bono" work for her Teens Against Addiction organization. Erica said that she almost didn't recognize Leslie because she'd done something new with her hair... "something more feminine." David and Erica walked to their table, but things were about to go down hill. David asked Erica how the press knew where to find her. Erica replied that she figured that David had dropped her name when he'd made the reservation so that they could get a good table. David sternly replied that he doesn't need to drop names to get reservations. Obviously, said Erica, because the table he'd gotten was "kind of drafty" and hardly the best seat in the house. David took a deep breath and informed Erica that he's made arrangements to have a chocolate soufflé served for dessert. "I never eat dessert---or chocolate," Erica gasped. "Or humble pie," David muttered under his breath. David was paged away. As he rose to his feet, Erica asked the doctor if he'd be returning. "Will you still be here?" he asked in response. As David headed to the front desk to make a call, Leslie intercepted him. David then realized that Leslie, not the hospital, had paged him. "If she cuts you down to size," said Leslie of Erica, "be sure to keep a little something left for me." Leslie licked her lips and walked out away. David returned to the table. He was surprised that Erica had waited for him and Erica was surprised that David had returned. David told Erica that after all they'd been through together, it wasn't right for them to be treating each other so coldly. They'd each seen the best and worst of the other. All David wanted, he said, was a chance to start the evening over. Erica nodded her head slightly, apparently embarrassed by her petulant behavior. David did, however, take the blame for picking such a public place for their first date. "Oh, so this is a date," Erica responded in surprise. Erica likened first dates to "being nominated for a big award." She added, "You wake up in the morning and you try pretend that it's a regular day. And you don't know going out the door whether you're going to come home a winner or not. And you try to tell yourself that it doesn't matter, but deep down in your heart of hearts you don't wan to go home alone or empty-handed [because] you'd like to have a reward for your patience and endurance and know that all the waiting as been worth it." David smiled slightly and mentioned that he's never been found of crowds. "What do you say we take this dinner and conversation upstairs to my suite?""
- Soap Central