Episode 130, originally published 05-Feb-2001

Spark Raving Mad

Will Nick finally realize he's mad for trusting Carter?
Will sparks fly when Mac and Billy attend the rave together?
When Trisha gets mad, will she jump to an inappropriate conclusion?
Diane's plans didn't work out, but who should she be mad at?
When Nina sparks Tomas to succeed, will it spell poison for her career?

Victoria is with Sharon and Nick in their living room. "So can you believe what happened with Diane and Dad?" Victoria asks. "You mean how it turns out Victor isn't the father of the baby Diane is carrying?" Sharon echos, helpfully reminding those of us who haven't been watching the show for interminable months of what plot we're in the middle of. "Exactly," Nick says, kissing his wife to reward her for her brilliance. "I wonder who the father really is," Victoria says. "I don't know," Sharon says, shaking her head, "Diane seemed so sure it was hers. I wonder how she could be mistaken about that." "Maybe she got drunk and accidentally implanted someone else's sperm," Nick suggests helpfully. A sudden chill runs up Sharon's spine. "Honey, Diane has never stayed here in Noah's room, has she?"

Trisha is standing at the ledge of the window. It's bright as day outside. She can see down to all the cars below, and is obviously thinking of jumping. She's not known for her quick thinking, though, and this means she isn't quick about her decision to jump. She stands there, pondering her next move.

At the coffee house, Matt Clark/Carter Mills takes the bag of drugs out of its protective plastic bag and then, using his ungloved hands, places it on the shelf. Just then, his drugland contact Jordan enters. "Hey man, you got the stuff?" "It's here," Carter says, pointing to the package on the shelf. Just ask for the bag marked "Extra Conspicuous". "Why don't you just hand it to me?" Jordan asks nervously, handing him an envelope of money. "Shhh," Carter says, pushing the envelope away with the tips of his ungloved fingers. "I can't do that. I'm waiting for Nick can come in so we can sting him during the sale." "But won't I get stung, too?" Jordan asks him. "Huh," Carter says, thoughtfully, "I never thought about that." "Sell me the stuff now, or I'm going to turn you in to the heat, man," the guy insists. Just then, Nick enters. "Can I help you guys?" "Uh, yeah, I want some of that Extra Conspicuous blend coffee there on the shelf, and your assistant manager ain't selling it to me," Jordan huffs. "Well here," Nick says, not yet having removed his winter gloves, and handing it to the guy and taking a fat envelope in response. Before another moment passes, though, a plain clothes detective comes in and cuffs both of them.

"Just relax," Nina tells Tomas. "The ideas will come to you. You managed to do Master of the Dust, didn't you?" Tomas looks doubtful, but nods. "I don't know if I could do that again." "You will, Tomas. You will. Promise me, you will." He looks skeptical, but nods. "Ok, I promise. But before that--Nina, will you marry me?" "I already said I would," she reminds him. "No, I mean today." "Today? Really? That's really fast, but--ok. Today."

At Jabot, Nikki is in Ashley's lab talking to Brad and Ashley about the matter of Diane and Victor. "Ok, ok," Nikki admits. "I did have some hand in this." "You did? How?" Brad asks. "She found the sperm sample in Diane's closet and borrowed it for a while," Ashley explains. Brad does a doubletake. "Wait a minute," he exclaims. "You know about this?" "Of course, she knew," Nikki says. "I had to have someplace to hide it when I took it from Diane's. So I brought it here to the lab." Brad looks to Ashley. "You went along with this?" Ashley blushes. "Well, sort of. Nikki asked me to swap the sample with one of Jack's." "So Diane's carrying Jack's baby?" Brad asks. Ashley looks pained. "Not exactly." Brad and Nikki are both looking confused now. Ashley continues. "I couldn't do that to my brother either." "But you must have given her something--Diane did get pregnant," Brad observes. "I know," Ashley says, almost cringing. "So whose baby is it? Jack's or Victor's?" There is a pregnant pause as Ashley gathers the courage to answer. "Both. Or neither. I spliced the genes here in the lab using some of those bottles of colored water. Neither is a father, but both are half-fathers."

It's late evening. It's dark out. Trisha is still standing at the ledge of the window. She can no longer see what's below, but she still seems lost in thought over her apparent "decision" to jump. Just then, finally, Carter enters and sees her "just in time" (for us, not for Trisha; we couldn't take another minute of this plot, even though Trisha obviously could have stretched it out quite a long ways if the writers had let her). He rushes to save her, but she trips and falls out the window, landing on her head.

Mac is with Raul and Rianna. "I just can't let Billy go through with this Rave," she mutters. "You aren't his mother," Rianna says. "Yeah, Billy's got to make his own choices. And anyway, he's not going to listen to you." "I've got an idea!" Mac says suddenly. "We'll have a faux rave." "A what?" "We'll stage another rave. Only it'll be one without drugs." "Without drugs? What will we use for entertainment?" "Are you kidding?" Mac says. "Don't you remember what a hit our Glow by Jabot house was on New Years? We'll just invite Phillip and a few extras from a web site contest and we'll sit around drinking orange juice all night. Billy will be having so much fun he won't realize it's not the real rave." Rianna stops to think about this. "It might work," Raul admits.

Nikki is still visiting Brad and Ashley. "So you're sure your baby's not Victor's?" Brad asks Ashley. "I told you, I don't want to get the father involved. It's embarrassing." "I'm not asking to get him involved--I just wondered who he is and why all this secrecy. We wouldn't have to embarrass him." Ashley sighs, "It's not the father I'm trying to protect from embarrassment, it's me." "You?" Nikki asks, surprised. Ashley sighs. "Yes, me. It was all just a big mistake." Nikki looks suddenly concerned. "A mistake? You didn't stay over at the ranch with my son..." Ashley gives Nikki and understanding look. "No, but almost that bad." They both wait expectantly for her to fess up. "Ok, ok, but you can't tell anyone." "Our lips are sealed," Nikki promises eagerly. "Well, as you can probably guess, I had planned to impregnate myself with the leftovers of Victor's sperm. But Jill's grandson Phillip was visiting that day, and she'd convinced him to sign up at the Sperm Bank as part of their Early Saver's Program. So, to make a long story short, the samples got mixed up and ended up having Phillip Chancellor's child..."

At the court room, Nick is at the defense table. Sharon and Cassie and Carter sit in the audience behind him, and Doris Collins, in her wheelchair, sits next to Nick, ready to provide his defense. "Don't worry," Cassie whispers. "if anyone can get you free, Gramma Doris can." Nick smiles back at her, then turns his attention to the front as Doris wheels out to the witness stand to talk to the detective. "Now, detective," she asks, "did you dust the bag of coffee for prints?" "We did." "And whose prints did you find?" "Someone named Matt Clark." There is a buzz in the courtroom. Nick looks ready to beat someone up. (In other words, he looks like he always looks.) "And whose prints were on the money?" "Someone named Matt Clark," comes the reply. Nick gets a sudden look of understanding and points to Carter. "You!" he whispers. Carter looks nervous. "Me?" Nick nods. "I'm going to be tied up here in this trial for a while. I'm sure Doris will get me off, but it may take a while. I want you to go home with my wife and stick with her wherever she goes. If that Matt Clark is running around, I need someone I can trust at home with my wife at all times."

Ryan enters the hospital room to find Trisha with her doctor. "Trisha, my god, I heard you jumped out a window." "Well, I din't really jump. I sort of fell." Ryan nods. "You fell a long way." "It was just lucky she had a soft landing," the doctor says. Ryan looks surprised. "But I had heard she landed on her head," he asks. The doctor nods and smiles, but says nothing, waiting for Ryan to put it together.

And now a word from our sponsor.

In a hotel room of the Genoa City Hotel, Tomas and Nina sit sipping champagne. Nina is getting pretty tipsy. "Come on, Tomas, tell me how you got the idea for Master of the Dust." "Ok, I guess I finally can." "Because we're married now?" "No," he admits, "because I've poisoned you. And you'll be dead before you can tell anyone." "Poisoned?" she asks, gulping. He nods. "Yep. That's how I got the idea for Master of the Dust." "By poisoning someone?" she asks, almost at a panic now. "No, in that case I shot her. But same idea. You see, my previous wife was a writer. Master of the Dust was her idea. I've always been a frustrated writer, and really have never had an idea of my own. So she told me about her idea, and I thought it was a good one. And I killed her for it. Trouble is, now I need more. But fortunately, you've told me lots of your ideas, so I should be set for a long time once you're out of the way. Good bye, Nina."

At the faux rave, Mac comes up to Billy. "Having a good time, Billy?" Billy looks around. A few people are stategically placed here and the camera angle is cut to make it look crowded, even though there are only 5 people present. "Lay off, Mac. Can't you see I'm busy partying hard with Brittany." "Will you mellow out?" Mac complains, offering him something in her hand. "Here, swallow this." Billy extends his hand to take the offering, then looks at it. It's a small sugar candy with writing on it. "Is that X?" Mac shakes her head and puts some candy hearts into Brittany's palm. "This is just candy," she says, disappointed. "You really want Billy to have some X?" Mac asks her. She stares hatefully back at Mac. "I think he should have the opportunity." Mac shrugs, "Ok, but don't say I didn't give you the choice." She turns to Billy. "Billy, I'm your ex. Brittany says you should have some of me if you want. What do you say?" Billy breaks into a wide grin.

That's all for this episode. Hope you learned something. Don't miss Episode 131!
If you missed any older episodes, see the index.

Feedback, good or bad, is always appreciated.