Episode 98, originally published 21-May-98

Over Due Payment

Veronica is milling nervously around in the living room at the Ranch. Nikki enters to find her. "Veronica?" she asks. Veronica smiles sheepishly and forces a polite "hello". Nikki looks concerned. "I thought we told Miguel quite definitively that we wouldn't be requiring your services as a maid ... for security reasons," Nikki says. Veronica nods. "Yes, I heard that. But you see I'm not here as a maid. I'm just here as Miguel's friend--waiting for him to go off shift, so that we can go on a date." Nikki breathes a sigh of relief. "Well, THAT sounds safe enough." Then she adds one meaningless extra condition: "Just so long as we understand each other..." Veronica shrugs and goes back to pacing. Then, without thinking, she idly takes a little glass animal from the mantel. "Sarah!" Nikki chides her, almost by reflex. "Will you chill!?" Veronica instinctively responds with a tone of irritation in her voice. "And my name's Veronica now, Mrs. Landers," she adds. Nikki sighs and says, "I'm sorry, Veronica--I'm just a little edgy these days. Oh, and my name's Mrs. Newman now." Veronica nods. An awkward moment passes. Then Veronica asks, "Uh, might I use your bathroom?" Nikki smiles and says, "Of course. It's--" But Veronica cuts her off. "I can find my way around, thanks," she says impatiently, and wanders out.

Miguel enters the living room saying "Ok, I'm all ready to go." He stops and looks around, surprised to find Nikki and not Saronica. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Newman. I thought I would find Veronica here." "Yes, so I imagined," Nikki says. "Did you send her away, Mrs. Newman? Because, I--" "Relax, Miguel," Nikki says. "She's in the bathroom." "Thank goodness," says Miguel. "I don't know what I would have done if I found you'd been mean to her again." "Well, I wasn't," Nikki says firmly. "There is one thing, though," she adds. "Yes, Mrs. Newman?" "Well, your--friend--was playing with that little glass animal of mine on the ledge there. I wish you'd ask her not to." "I'll speak to her about it," Miguel says. "Thank you, Miguel. Now, I'm tired and I'm going to go lay down. You have a nice evening." "Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

It's evening. Trisha enters Crimson lights to find Jay. "I need to talk to someone," she says. Jay smiles and says, "For a beautiful young woman like you? I'm all ears." She shakes her head. "No, not that kind of someone. I'm told you have a ... friend ... someone who arranges bad things?" She slips him a $20 bill. Jay looks around and then, seeing no one is watching, takes the money and says, "Ah. You mean Vinnie. Sit over there. He'll join you shortly."

It's still evening. Nikki wanders out to the living room calling, "Miguel?" No answer. She stops and thinks. "Oh, right. He's got a love life now. I guess I'll have to make my own snack." As she starts for the kitchen, she stops at the mantel. There is no glass animal!

Back at Crimson Lights, Trisha sits at a booth and, after verifying that she's still allowed to do so even after moving in with Ryan, she orders up a virgin drink. A short while later, Vinnie slides into the booth opposite her. "Jay says you was askin' for me," Vinnie says. She smiles. "You must be Vinnie." He nods, and she starts straight in with her business: "I have this friend. Ryan. Well, I love him. And he loves me. So I guess we're more than just friends. And I so I want his wife killed. But not really. Just close at first, does that make sense?" Vinnie stares at her. "No." "Well, it's just that--well, he has this son--Phillip--and Phillip doesn't like me. But that's because Phillip still wants his mother Nina to be together with Ryan. So I thought--well--if you could hurt Nina, and she was on the brink of death, then I could let Ryan go to be with Nina while she died. And Phillip would be really grateful to me for that. And then after Nina died a slow excruciating death at the hospital, Ryan could come back to me and Phillip would have no choice but to like me, too. Because his mother would be dead. Only he wouldn't know I caused it. So he'd like me. Don't you think?" Vinnie stares at her. "I try not to think hard about these things," he says. "So basically," he goes on, "you want the dame injured to the point of death--but not killed outright. Is that right?" Trisha nods. "That's right. Exactly."

It's the next morning. Victor, John Abbott, Victoria, Jill, and Ashley are in the board room at Jabot waiting on something. Victor asks Victoria, "Did your brother say anything about what this meeting was about?" Victoria shakes her head. "Nope. Nothing. He just arrived back from his trip full of energy and said he had this great new idea. I asked him what it was but he said he didn't want to spoil it--that I'd have to come to the meeting." Everyone goes back to looking at each other and waiting expectantly as the Nick enters carrying an easel. Grace follows behind with some posters. She takes a seat next to him and holds the posters.

Back at the ranch, Nikki calls for Miguel. To everyone's surprise, he actually came home last night. Taking immediate advantage of the good luck, Nikki says to him, "Miguel, I'm afraid I'm starting to have suspicions about your new girlfriend." "Sar--I mean, Veronica? Why?" "Well, that little glass animal from the mantel is missing." Miguel blushes. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Landers." "Well, Miguel, you don't have to apologize for your bad taste in women, it's just that--" "No, Mrs. Landers. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. After you said she'd been touching that object, I decided to put an end to this concern once and for all. I took the object to Carl Williams at the Genoa City police department for fingerprinting and a background check." "Oh. OH! Well, I--I'm sorry, Miguel. I shouldn't have--" "It's ok, Mrs. Landers. Now I just hope this puts to rest any concern about my fiancee." "Your fiancee?? You've asked her to MARRY you?" "No, but I'm planning to. And I just know she'll say yes. So I'm practicing calling her that."

Nick begins his presentation to the Jabot Board. "For some time now, we've been showing pretty laggy numbers in the Couch Potato demographic for our products. People seem to have fallen into a rut. The last time we were making serious sales was when Leanna Love was running her show." There's a murmur among those assembled, with various people nodding and acknowledging fond memory of Leanna. John Abbott pipes up. "Look, I was as fond of Ms. Love as any here, I'm sure, but she's long gone by now. She moved to LA and changed her name. I don't think she wants anything to do with us." Nick smiles and points a laser pointer at John Abbott's nose. "Exactly my point, John," Nick says. Now, look at the kind of show that was succeeding back then. He takes a poster from Grace and puts it up. It tracks the success of various popular TV shows like Oprah, Sally Jesse, and Leanna Love. "But today," he goes on, "we have a very different market." He holds up a sign showing Howard Stern's and Jerry Springer's popularity going way up, and another, dotted, line with a question mark following after.

Ignore the fact that virtually no time has passed. Miguel has virtually teleported to the GC Police Department using the same speedy transport device as goes between the ranch and the Tex-Mex Diner. He pokes his head into Carl Williams' office. "Señor Williams?" Carl looks up. "Oh, hello, Miguel. I'm glad you stopped by. The fingerprints on that glass object you brought by? I checked them out and they're clean. They belong to a housekeeper with a long history of faithful service." Miguel breathes a sigh of relief. "You seem surprised," Carl says. "Well, I wasn't certain," Miguel admits. "You should have more confidence in yourself," Carl says. "Myself?" Miguel asks. "They were YOUR fingerprints." "Mine?" Miguel asks again. Carl nods, and then clarifies: "Next time, pick up the item with a cloth before putting it into the evidence bag." "Ah," Miguel says. "Good point. I'll do that." "Anything else I can do for you today?" "No," Miguel says politely, "but thank you for your time."

Back at the board room, Nick's presentation goes on. "What this company needs," Nick concludes, "is to come out fighting. Something universally appealing like Leanna Love was, but appealing to today's market. A kind of Leanna meets Jerry Springer. Or, if you will, a kind of Nick Newman with an edge--the kind of sharp edge you find on a guillotine. I call it the `Nickotine Hour' and I'm prepared to host it myself. Guys can call in for marital advice and I can explain to them why it's all their wife's fault. But it's not just for guys. Women can call in, too, and I can tell them straight out what they're doing wrong and what they need to change." Nick pauses and looks around. There is silence. Finally Neil breaks the silence. "I don't know about anyone else, but I must say, I like it. As many of you know, my marriage is just as on the rocks as Nick's and I suspect for similar reasons. A wife who's just an utter disappointment. Guys like us can feel awfully alone sometimes, and I think it'd be great if we had a place to rally support for one another's life traumas and to find out what cologne to buy at the same time." Nick smiles. "Thanks, Neil. I was hoping you'd say that. In fact, I was thinking of having you come on one of the first shows and hawk that new book of yours--the ``Neil Winters How to Treat a Lady Handbook''? I've been reading it and it is really hot stuff. I wish I'd had it when I still had my wife at home to kick around; a guy can really learn a lot from you." Victoria starts to say, "Uh, I was thinking--" but Nick cuts her off. "Thanks for that, Sis, but I think we've got that area covered." Neil nods, and they high-five each other.

Sharon is pacing about in her mother's living room. Doris watches her, uncertain of what to say or do. Cassie comes in from the bedroom. "You're thinking about Nicholas, aren't you?" Cassie asks. "Yes, I am, Sweetie. How did you know?" "You're always thinking about him," she says. "Oh, sorry." "It's nothing to apologize about," Cassie says. "It's good to think about family. I'd think about you if you weren't here," she says. Sharon smiles. "Thank you, Cassie. I'm glad." "Would you like some free advice?" Cassie asks. "FREE advice?" Sharon asks, a bit surprised. "Well, we at Collins & Sons usually charge for legal advice, but since you're family, I don't think Mrs. Collins--I mean, Grandma--would mind if I gave it to you for free." Doris smiles and nods. "You're a bright young girl, Cassie," she says.

Cassie straightens up and strikes a professional pose as she prepares to offer Sharon the legal advice. "I think we should move back in with Nicholas." "Move back in?" Sharon says. "But he doesn't want us there." "That may be true," Cassie says. "But if I were speaking objectively--from outside your family--and I'm the closest to that position right now, so I guess it's my responsibility to speak that part--I'd have to say that Nicholas is being... well,... you know--a horse's behind." "That's true," Sharon says, "but that's because he doesn't want us to be around." Cassie sighs. "You don't get it, do you?" "Get what?" Sharon asks. "He wanted you to make the first move," Cassie explains. "That way, he doesn't have to explain to his family why he wanted you to go. He can just say `you left him' and that looks bad enough. You don't think if we move back in he'll ever go to someone in the family and say he wants us out, do you? Or even the courts. He'd look pretty stupid. Well, I mean--you know--even stupider than usual, I guess is what I mean." Sharon smiles suddenly. "You know, Cassie, you're an awfully smart little girl. Ok, you're right. We'll move back in right away." "Yay!!" Cassie cheers.

Victor looks to Nick as he finishes his proposal. "You're serious about this or what?" he asks. Nick nods. "DAMNED serious, Dad. This is just the jab in the arm that Jabot needs. Get it? Jab--Jabot? Heh. Seriously, though, I'm hoping you'll be on the show, too, so you can explain the old one-two you pulled on Diane to end up back with us as a family. I'm sure a lot of guys would love to see a blow-by-blow of that one so they could try it out at home." Victor smiles. "Well, I have to admit, I was really quite proud of the way I handled that difficult time." "Then it's settled," Nick says. "First air date will be Monday. Thank you everyone for your time."

Nick stands with Grace in the board room after everyone's left. "So, how do you think it went?" Nick asks. "I think it went very well," Grace says. "Your wife probably wouldn't agree, but..." "Why is that, Grace?" he asks. "Well, I don't know. I guess she's just not interested in your money as I am." Nick smiles. "That's what I like about you, Grace. You're always thinking of me. I wish Sharon would do more of that."

Michael is walking through the park when two shadowy figures run up behind him. One sticks a knife under his chin and the other checks his pockets. "Nothing here," the second man says. "I say we knife him." The other one feels his midsection and says, "Nah, feels like he's had his kidney out already--nothing here worth stabbing." The two men step back and chuckle. Michael extends his arm with a chuckle and they all shake hands. "I want to thank you all for your part in this," he says. "I got my law license back and I couldn't have done it without your... surgical skill. The injuries you caused Danny--absolutely perfect." They each take a bow, and one says, "It was nothin'--in fact, I'm a regular at that restaurant his sister Gina owns--it was almost worth it just so we didn't have to hear the dude up there singing away for the last couple of weeks." Michael says, "Well, then I guess you don't want the payment we arranged after all..." They both laugh and the talkative one says, "Well, I wouldn't go THAT far."

Michael says, "The money's in a locker at the bus station. Here's the key." He hands them a a locker key, and adds, "It's been a pleasure." "If you need us again," the man says, "you know where to find us." Michael laughs and holds his side. "Let's hope not. A man can be only so generous with his body parts. I'm just glad this worked." The two men run off and leave Michael to his private thoughts. He sits alone on a log, smug and satisfied. "Yes, Christine, step one of my plan is just about complete. I've made you see what a changed man I am. Now for step two: to make you see how wrong you were in rejecting me, and how much you really love me..."

Later, at the ranch, Nikki calls to Miguel. "Yes, Mrs. Newman?" She points to the mantel, where the glass animal has reappeared. "Did Carl Williams run that background check for you?" Miguel looks embarrassed. "Uh, yes, he did, actually." "And the results?" she asks. "The check came back clean," he says proudly, unwilling to admit his mistake. "Clean?" she says. "Well, specifically, he said he found a long history of faithful housekeeping service." Nikki looks impressed. "Well, that's very interesting. Perhaps we'll reconsider hiring your friend after all." Miguel smiles a sly smile. "Thank you, Señora. Thank you very much."

In the hospital hallway, Trisha is pulling Ryan by the arm. "Come on, Ryan," she says. "We have to hurry." But when they arrive at the hospital room, Cole is already there with a priest and we hear Nina saying "I do" as she drifts back into unconsciousness and Cole is pronounced her husband. Ryan protests, "But I'm already her husband!" But Cole flips a first-class airline ticket to the Dominican Republic at him. Trisha looks to Phillip and says, "Phillip, tell me it's not true. I was going to arrange to have Ryan reunite with Nina!" Phillip stares back at her and mocks, "You can't do anything right can you. I'm never letting my father marry you!"

Suddenly, we break away to a black and white out-of-body sequence in which Nina is standing in the middle of the room and is surrounded by various people. At one end of the room is Ryan pulling at her. At another end of the room is Cole, wearing 1940's dance clothing and twisting oddly to the beat of a surreal tune. On another edge, Jill and Cricket stand together, motioning for her to follow them. She looks around the room from one to the other to the other. Finally, she screams a long, loud, piercing scream and yells out, "Which is Heaven, which is Hell, and which is Life? All three exits look like Hell to me! Is it REALLY too much to ask at a time like this that the various exits be clearly marked???"

That's all for this episode. Hope you learned something. Don't miss Episode 99!
If you missed any older episodes, see the index.

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