Episode 114, originally published 01-Nov-98

Inn and Ouch

Does Alice have a fighting chance of getting an in for moving in on Victor?
Will Nick find out he's out if found out for knocking women up and down?
Can Cricket punch in in time to save Sharon from moving out to an Inn?
Can Esther still help Katherine kick back when kicked out of the mansion?
As Victoria sorts things out in her mind, will she hit on being hit upon?

Katherine is gazing out the window of the Chancellor Estate. "What are you thinking about, Mrs. C.?" Katherine points through the window. "The man I loved so deeply and completely buried out there in that garden. Can you understand what that's like, Esther?" Esther nods. "Of course I can. That's the way they have to bury people when they die--deeply and completely. Why would you think I couldn't understand that?" Katherine rolls her eyes but before she can say anything, the doorbell rings. It's Salena Wiley of the Genoa City Police Department. "Yes, may I help you?" Katherine says answering the door. "Right, can she help you?" Esther asks. Katherine shoos Esther away. "Never mind, Esther, it's too late--I've got it already," Katherine says. Salena says, "I'm just here to enforce the eviction order."

In Denver, Grace is with Nick in a hotel room whose balcony overlooks a large indoor area with fountains and trees which is the lobby of the hotel. A telephoto lens alerts us to the presence of Sharon pacing in the lobby, and from her facial expression, it's clear that Grace is aware of this fact, too. From behind Grace, Nick's impatient voice comes: "Damn it, where's Sharon?" he calls, "Why isn't she here yet? I need sex and I need it now." "Didn't Sharon say she'd be arriving at the airport and you should meet her in the lobby?" Grace asks. "Yeah, but I've called downstairs a number of times to check and she's not there." He grabs the phone and calls the lobby again. "This is Nicholas Newman. Is there a beautiful blonde woman waiting in the lobby?" "No sir," says the man at the desk. He hangs up and turns to Grace. "See? She's still not here. What am I going to do, Grace?" She smiles.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the lobby, Sharon is pacing around in circles. "Where is my husband?" she says. "He said he'd meet me here a half hour ago." She goes to the desk to the same man who just spoke to Nick on the phone. "Has my husband called to say why he'd be late?" The man shakes his head. "You're Mrs. Newman, right? Nope. He hasn't called for you--he's been calling looking for some beautiful blonde dame." Sharon looks alarmed. "Grace! I knew it." "He seems awfully anxious to see her." "Oh, I'll just bet he is." She goes charging toward the elevator.

From above, Grace can see Sharon moving toward the elevator. "Nick," she says, "can you help me prepare for my presentation." "You're giving a presentation? What about?" "Sexual harassment. It's a--it's a skit. I'm going to show people the bad things that can happen if they're not careful. Now, you play the boss, ok? And I'll be the helpless employee." "What do I do?" "Well, you know. Just come on to me. Can you handle that?" "Well, I--" "You'll do fine. Now come on--it's for the company. Please? Just grope me or something, ok? And say romantic things--you don't have to mean them--just anything that comes to mind. The more wild the better." Nick shrugs, "Ok, sure. Anything for the cause," he says. Just then, Sharon stops outside the door and listens. "Come here, Boss. I need you to give me some dictation." "Oh, you like that, do you?" Grace says, "What I like is that nice big paycheck in my envelope, Nick. Oh, and some kind of `pro motion', too, please." Sharon is aghast. She goes running down the hall and out of the building.

Grace watches from the balcony as Sharon races through the hotel lobby and out of the hotel. Unseen by Grace, she is hit by a car and taken to the hospital, of course. But up in the hotel room, the situation remains calm. The skit is still going on. Grace stops it though, saying, "Oh, this is stupid--I can't do this skit." Nick looks puzzled. Why not? "Because I don't even believe in this stupid policy. Nick, people at Newman, they like their bosses. We can't take that away from them! It will destroy company morale if people can't freely sleep together when they need to." Nick looks unsure. "Grace, what are you talking about?" "Well, suppose a guy has invited his wife to a hotel and she doesn't come. And what if it's not just the first time--but part of a regular pattern of ignoring him. Are we going to lose him to months, perhaps years, of marriage counselling? The kind of counselling that will take him away from important work on the Newman Y2K bug?" "Grace, I can't take time away from that." "Exactly. So you need the flexibility of getting sex somewhere." "You know, you are right. You are exactly right. My wife knew I needed her, and she didn't even show up. And I can't just---just---wait. I need sex now and that's that."

Back in Genoa City, Michael is with Diane, who has come to him saying she wants to just settle. "Diane, listen to me," he urges. "You don't have to give up. No one knows you told Victor you'd agree to his terms. He can't prove it. We can just say it's another of his lies. Just go on as you were, and things will be fine." "Michael, I'm not giving in--I'm making a business decision." "A business decision? You're taking $25 million rather than a fraction of Victor's business and you call that a business decision?" "Michael, don't take me for an idiot. I've been following Victor's company in great detail. He's not making very good decisions. Do you know how much time the average Newman employee spends in their office--when they're not having sex with another officeworker, I mean?" "No." "Well, it's not a lot, let me tell you. And do you know what products Newman Enterprises makes? Or do you know anyone who knows?" "No, I don't." "Think about it. How can you have sales if you don't tell anyone what you're selling?" "That's a good point," Michael admits. "And here's the kicker," she says, "do you know who's assigned to handle the the Newman Enterprises Y2K problem?" "That's the computer bug that will crash everyone's computers when the new millenium rolls around?" "So they say." "All right, who?" "Nicholas Newman." Michael's jaw drops. "I'm starting to get the picture," he admits after a moment's reflection. Then he asks, "So you think the cash settlement is better?" Diane nods. "I guess I can live with that," Michael says. "Trust me, Michael, you're going to thank me."

At GC Memorial, Victoria is being examined for the cramps she was having. "Anything I should be alarmed about?" she asks Olivia. "I don't think so. It's probably nothing." "Probably?" "I'm pretty sure it's nothing." "Well, humor me. What do you think it was?" "Ok, I'll tell you. I think it was guilt pangs." "Guilt? I don't have any guilt. What would I be having guilt pangs about?" "Not you. The writers." "The writers? What writers?" "It's a long story." "I have time. Tell me," Victoria urges her. "I just did," Olivia insists. "No you didn't--you said it was a long story," Victoria replies. "Right. That's what they feel guilty about." "That it's a long story?" "Right. Think about it. When did you get pregnant?" "I don't know--I thought it was January 15." "And what's today?" "October 30." "And how long has your pregnancy been so far?" "Eight and a half months?" "Try nine and a half." "Oh, right," Victoria says with a blush. "I'm not very good with numbers." "Neither are the writers." "So shouldn't I be close to having this baby if it's been so long?" "Probably. And that's what I think the guilt pangs are about--the writers are giving you these pains out of a sense of displaced guilt for not having given you a baby by now." "Olivia, that's really, really weird." "Well, you asked."

At the Chancellor Estate, Esther and Katherine are coming out of the house. Esther lugs a large suitcase. She sets it down. "Why do I have to carry all this stuff?" she asks. "Esther, this situation is bad enough without your whining," Katherine chides her. "But Mrs. C., you do own a multi-million dollar company. Can't someone from Chancellor Industries give us a ride or something?" "A ride? A ride to where? I have no place to go. We'll just have to wander." "Wander? I can barely carry this suitcase 10 feet." "Esther, will you please get a grip? If you can't handle this problem, I'm sure there are other homeless people who can."

Having heard about Sharon's accident, Nick is sitting impatiently in the lobby of the hospital waiting for some news. Finally a doctor emerges to speak with him. "Her prognosis is good," he explains. "You're lucky. Usually women with her injuries end up with amnesia, but she seems fine. She'll be bandaged for a few days--that's all."

It's the next morning in the Genoa City Park. Esther brings Mrs. Chancellor some bread and hands it to her. "What is this, Esther? Cold bread?" Katherine asks. "I'm sorry, Mrs. C. Some people were feeding them to the pigeons but the pigeons didn't seem to want it, so I took them. I warmed them up on the hood of that car--well, it's not there any more. But it was. A man told me the car was hot, so I thought maybe I could make some toast on it. But he was wrong, it was cold. I don't know what he was talking about." "Well, Esther, I can't eat this--take it away." "Here, try some juice," Esther says, handing her a can. "Esther, it's still in the can." "Oh, that's not the same can as it came in. In fact, it didn't really come in a can. It's made from rain water." "Well, it's got leaves in it." "That's the orange--I couldn't find oranges, and those fall leaves were the only thing I could find that was orange. So I used them..."

At the hospital, Sharon is by herself. She gets up and walks out without telling anyone or checking out. She wanders the streets aimlessly until presumably she finds the airport and Wally waiting for her. Because, in no time, she's back in Genoa City. No sooner is she home and beginning to pack to move out on Nicholas than Nikki arrives. Seeing a delirious, bandaged Sharon packing to leave, she asks, "What's going on here, Sharon?" "I don't want to talk about it. It's between my husband and me." "Well, I think you have to talk about it--you can't just leave." "Yes, I can. Watch me."

In Denver, Victor's cell phone rings. "Victor? It's Nikki. Something is very wrong with Sharon." "Sharon is there?" Victor asks. "I thought she had come here." "Well, she had, but now she's back." "Just wait there, I'll be there as soon as I can, ahright?" he asks and then hangs up before waiting for the answer. Slipping into a side room, he dons his black rescue jacket and twirls in a circle until suddenly there is a bolt of lightning and he becomes--dum-dee-dee-dum!--Mr. Silent-Entry-Exit Man. More or less to the tune of the Underdog theme, he mumbles, "Here I come to save m'boy!" and with that, he's gone. Back at the ranch, Nikki is just hanging up the phone from speaking to Victor when she is startled to hear mumbling behind her. She turns and is surpised to find Victor standing there. "Victor, how long have you been standing there?" "Let's just say long enough to know that Sharon is in trouble, ahright?" Sharon comes out of the kitchen and sees Victor, who is still wearing his black rescue jacket with the Mr. Silent-Entry-Exit-Man logo on it. "Victor, I didn't hear you come in," she says.

In the park, Jack and Brad are trying to have a meeting when suddenly Jack stops Brad and says, "Hold it, Junior, isn't that--" Brad nods. "It sure does look like the spitting image of Katherine Chancellor--but what would she be doing out here in the park?" They walk closer and see Esther trying to pry a piece of bread free from a pigeon. "Give me that," she is saying. "Katherine, it is you," Jack says. "What on earth brings you out here?" "I could ask the same of you, Jack," Katherine says. "At least, I had nowhere else to go--Jill Abbott has had me thrown out of my house." "She what?" Jack says. "She kicked us out," Esther whines. "And I had to carry the luggage." Jack shakes his head in disbelief. "Just a moment," he says. He punches in some numbers on the cell phone. "Jill?" "Hello, Jack," Jill says. "What's this about you having Katherine Chancellor thrown out onto the street?" "Oh, don't be ridiculous Jack. That old crow has plenty of money--she wouldn't just be out on the street." "Maybe," Jack says. "But she says she has nowhere else to go." "Well, Jack, that's why they have parks." "Listen, Jill, I'm not going to let you off easy on this one--Katherine Chancellor took you in when you had nowhere to go. It's time you return the favor..."

At Legal Aid, ace Private Detective Cricket Williams conspicuously sniffs the air. Sensing danger, she immediately goes to visit Sharon. As the door opens at Sharon's house and Cricket sees Sharon's bandages, she says, "Oh, my goodness. What happened?" "I got in a car accident," Sharon says with a matter of fact shrug. "Were you all right?" "I was fine. But I'm moving out."

Later, Cricket is with Paul again at home. "I'm telling you, it was weird. She told me it was a car accident, but I don't think it was." "What else could it be?" Paul asks. "Chris, I think you should let it alone." "I can't," she says. "Don't you see? My nose knows. It smelled trouble before--that's why I went over there. And now it's telling me to nose in until I've blown this case wide open." "So what you're telling me," Victor says, arriving silently in their apartment, "is that you suspect m'boy is a wife abuser?" "It does have a certain ring of truth to it," Nikki tells Victor later. "What do you mean, truth? Are you calling m'boy an abuser now, or what?" Victor asks. "Well, he has been prone to violent behavior," Nikki observes. "That's enough, ahright?" he says loudly. "Victor, you're scaring me." "Well, you damned well should be scared. You're accusing my son of doing something no Newman would ever do," he yells. "No Newman would ever so much as raise his voice to a woman, ya got that?"

A while later, at Sharon's, the door opens and Nikki enters, bandaged similarly to Sharon. "Sharon, is there anything you want to tell me?" Nikki asks. "Nice try, Nikki, but I'm not going to open up to you just because you got some bandages matching my own. It makes me feel like you're making fun of me." "This isn't making fun. Sharon, can I be honest with you?" "Of course," Sharon says. Nikki looks around cautiously, hoping not to be surprisd by Mr. Silent-Entry-Exit Man and then 'fesses up: "When I confronted Victor with the fact that I believed what Cricket suggested--that Nick was beating you--he beat me until I promised not to say such things about his family again. Sharon, I can just imagine what you're going through." "No, Nikki, I--I can't believe this," Sharon protests. "I've brought this family enough hurt. I have to go..." She rushes out.

In Denver, Grace and Nick are arguing. "Grace, I never should have done it," Nick shouts. Just then, Mr. Silent-Entry-Exit Man asks from behind, "What's going on here?" he asks. "Dad. I didn't hear you come in," Nick says. "How much did you hear?" "Just what everyone else in this hotel heard," he explains. "That you had sex with Grace here." Grace, realizing they are trapped try to think fast, decides to bail out. "He made me do it, sir," she lies. "It was sexual harassment."

At Collins & Sons, Nick is in Cassie's office looking for legal advice. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to refer you to Doris for this one," she tells him. "Oh, right--the subject matter is pretty mature, I guess." "Actually, it's pretty IMmature, frankly. I just don't have the patience Doris does," Cassie explains.

Later, after Nick leaves, Doris and Cassie discuss his case. "You're lucky you don't have this case to worry about, Cassie," Doris says. "I just don't see how to proceed," Doris says sadly. "I had an idea," Cassie says helpfully. "It's a little far out, though." "I'm open to just about anything at this point, girl. What is it?" Doris asks her. "Well, you know the Michael Crichton book--Disclosure?" "It's a movie, too," Doris tells her. "I know, but I'm not old enough to see the movie," Cassie explains. "Anyway, Crichton makes the point that sexual harassment isn't about sex (whatever that is), it's about power." "I'm not sure I'm following," Doris says. "Well," Cassie explains, "do you really think Nick is ever the one in power over there? Why do you think he has Grace? He works for her..." Doris gets a smile. "Cassie," Doris says, "if this idea works, I'm going to make you a partner!"

Later, on her way home, Cassie is suprised to see Nick and Sharon ahead of her on the sidewalk. But just as she is about to run to say "Hi, Mommy", she sees Nick start to push her into traffic. She shouts ahead, "Nick, no!" Nick stops for a moment, confused, long enough for Sharon to regain her balance and step back. "What were you doing?" Cassie asks. "Don't you love mommy?" she asks. "Of course I do," Nick explains. "I wasn't going to hurt her." "You were pushing her into traffic." "Oh, that," he says. "Well, the doctor told me that most of the time in situations like that people would get amnesia. And I was just thinking maybe if she had amnesia, she wouldn't be mad at me any more..."

Victoria is back in Olivia's office. "Has something else happened?" Olivia asks. "Actually," Victoria says, "it's the weirdest thing. Do you remember the discussion we had about my pains really being the guilt pangs of the writers?" "Yes." "Well, I woke up this morning feeling really calm." "Calm? But you're nine and a half months pregnant and only barely starting to show." "No, I'm not. That's the thing." "What do you mean?" "Well, I only thought I was that pregnant, but it turns out I'm not." "You're not? You told me the last time you had sex with Cole was January 15. It was. But suddenly I remembered I'd had sex with my first husband, Ryan, in February." "Ryan? Really? You never told me about that." "That's right. I'm not even sure I knew it myself. And I never told anyone. But then, I never told anyone I hadn't either--so it could have happened." "This sounds like that same cheap trick the writers used to have Cole sleep with Nina retroactively." "Well, who cares, really? The point is that I don't feel any more of those displaced pangs of guilt. And my baby's not due as soon so Neil and I have more time to plan."

At Hope's farm, Mr. Silent-Entry-Exit Man stops in for a moment to see how Hope is doing. He watches her fix something on the stove, but doesn't identify that he's there. A moment later he's gone. Hope feels a slight breeze as he leaves and cocks her head in puzzlement, but then she shrugs and goes back to what she was doing.

In Denver, at the Stockholders meeting, Jack has made a proposal that Victor be removed as head of the company and replaced by himself. Just as the vote is about to close, there is a call for any remaining votes. Mr. Silent-Entry-Exit man calls out, "What is going on here?" "Oh, Mr. Newman, I didn't notice you come in," says the man who is conducting the vote. "There's a vote to see if we should replace you with Jack Abbot. So far, all 500 of us here in the room has voted Yes." "Well, I vote no." The man shrugs and nods, "That makes it 5,000,000 votes against and 500 votes in favor. Victor, you are still the CEO. Any remarks?" "Yes, I have some remarks. first, I want Jack Abbott the hell out of here..."

In a side room later, Victor consults with Mitchell. "I didn't like those people voting against me, Mitch. I want all the outstanding shares bought up." "But Victor, if they voted against you, do you think they'll want to sell to you? It could get very expensive. Why not just leave it?" "Mitchell, I don't need you to tell me what I do and don't want---just buy the damned things. I don't care what you have to spend. Just do it." "Victor, I-- Mitchell, if you can't do it I'm sure I can always find some shyster lawyer that will."

In the main hall, Mitchell chats with the stock holders. "Gather around here, now," he tells them. "I need to buy up all your shares." "What do you mean, `buy them up'?" one asks. "Well, Victor's unhappy about having you voted against him. You there, Bill--you've got a hundred shares. Here's a check for $5000." Bill shakes his head. "$6000." Mitchell tears up the check and rewrites it. "You're gonna just give him $6000?" Mitchell nods. "I have no other choice. Victor told me I had to get the shares at any price." "Well, I want $70 for mine," another man says. "And I want $80," says another.

The next day, back in Genoa City, Nick is in his dad's office. "Hey, Dad, I saw on TV yesterday the Newman stock is rising like a rocket." Victor smiles smugly. "Well then, m'boy, it's a good thing I just told Mitchell to buy more of our stock," he says smugly. "Wow," Nick says, impressed. "It this how you made your fortune?" Just then, Mitchell walks in so Victor doesn't get to answer. "Did you get the shares bought?" Victor asks Mitchell. "Oh, I got them," Mitchell says. "But the price kept going up." Nick says excitedly, "I watched it on TV," Nick says. "Don't be so excited," Mitchell says, handing Victor a pile of papers. "What's this?" he asks. "Bankruptcy papers--no charge. Not like you could pay me if there was a charge." Victor looks surprised. "What are you talking about? Newman stock has been skyrocketing, m'boy tells me." "Yes, and that's why it cost me so much to get your shares back. You have no money left--and the price has fallen, too; so you're poor. I had enough left to write a check to myself for selling your stocks, and another to Diane Newman--for that settlement you insisted on. Nothing else." He walks out. Nick comes around and pats his father on the back. "Cheer up, Dad," he tells him. "There is a bright side." Victor raises one eyebrow. "Oh yeah? And what the hell kind of bright side is there?" "Well, last time you built your company from scratch, you had to do it all by yourself." "So what's your point?" "Just that this time you've got me to help..."

Alice enters. She shows a newsclipping photo of Victor to someone and is pointed across the room to where Victor is just leaving.

In his hotel room, Mr. Silent-Entry-Exit Man watches the open door of the room as Nikki unpacks the result of a recent shopping run. She turns around and gives a small cry of surprise. "Victor!" she says. "You startled me. I didn't hear you come in." "I'm sorry, my darling. I didn't want to disturb you." "How was the conference?" "Well, there's just this little thing," he mumbles. "You see, it appears I've become bankrupt, you know. So we'll have to return these items to the store." "Victor! We're bankrupt? How will we live?" She goes into massive tears. Just then Alice pokes her head through the door and grabs Nikki by the collar. "I suppose you're his little wifey?" she asks. "Who are you?" Nikki squeaks. "I'm here for Victor. And it looks like I'm just in time, too. Geez, if I had a nickel for every guy I went out with who was bankrupt, I'd--well, I wouldn't be bankrupt myself, that's for darned sure. So if you can't hack it, move over for someone who can." She pushes Nikki out the door and slams it shut. Victor watches with amusement. Alice says to him, "Relax. She'll be fine. Her kind always is. She'll find some nice sugar daddy to take care of her and off she'll go. Oh, sorry," she says, sticking out her hand in offering to shake Victor's. "The name's Alice. I just got in from Madison. You don't know it yet, but I'm gonna be your next wife."

That's all for this episode. Hope you learned something. Don't miss Episode 115!
If you missed any older episodes, see the index.

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