Episode 136, originally published 30-Apr-2001

Pill Age

Given the keys to Jack's kingdom, would Phyllis pillage and plunder?
Will Mac end up on the pill?
WIll the Jabot board find Jack's recent actions hard to swallow?
Will Trisha's visit to Michael lead to pillow talk?

Trisha is with Michael in his office. "So let me get this straight," he repeats. "You were drugged by this man--" "Just once," she interjects. "Just once. And yet you slept with him again after that... voluntarily?" She nods. "I thought--well, I had crossed the line, broken my vows. That's something I never expected to do. But once I had, I coul'n't go back," she says. "Fascinating," Michael says. He thinks for a minute. "And where is that drug sample now?" he asks. "It's here," she says, handing him the vial. He holds the vial up to the light. "You're sure that's what these pills are?" he asks. "Yes, I had them analyzed." Michael sets the vial on his desk, and turns to the window. "Did they say if you were at any other risk for having taken them? Flashbacks? Cancer?" "No, Michael, none of that. It just ruined my marriage, and then it was done. And I was left with a new lover. But that's bad enough, isn't it?" His mind has been wanrdering, but the stress in her voice brings him back. "Oh, yes, absolutely. That's exactly bad enough..." "Will you keep them here? I'm afraid if Carter finds them on me, he'll know I took them." Michael nods. "Oh, absolutely. I'll make sure Carter never knows."

At Jack's office, Phyllis is so excited to see that the Jabot spring campaign has been cancelled that she practically bowls Jack over. "I'm so glad you did this for me," she says. "Wait, wait, wait, wait..." he says, trying to slow her down. "I'm afraid I didn't do this for you," Jack admits. She stops, wide-eyed. "You didn't?" "No," he says apologetically, "though given your reaction, I wish I had. It has to do with Raul..." Jack says, and the scene fades as Jack begins to explain.

At Genoa City Police Department, Police Chief Carl Williams puts down his newspaper, and looks up from his desk to the young woman who's just told him her story. "That's a very sad story, Miss--" he pauses. "Mrs.," she corrects him. "Mrs. Trisha McNeil." "Right, you said that. In fact, you seem very familiar..." He looks down at his newspaper, where there is a big picture of her and a headline "Have You Seen This Woman?" She gets suddenly very nervous as he points to the picture and then looks up at her. "Please, Mr. Williams, you're not going to tell your son where I am, are you?" she pleads. He points to the wall where there is a framed newspaper clipping containing a similarly large photo of himself and a headline next to it saying "Have You Seen This Man?". "Nah," he says, "I wouldn't tell. And don't worry--with my son on your tail, you've got plenty of time. Now, let's get back to your story. In order to bring a case, we're going to need that vial for evidence." "Oh," she says, frowning. "I left it with my lawyer." "No problem. You know where to find me, so go find the vial and then bring it back here."

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At the hospital, Raul is up and alert. Jack enters the room to see him, and the Nurse ushers the other teens out. "Hey, slugger," Jack says to Raul, "how ya doing?" Raul smiles up at him blearily. "I've been better," he manages to say. "Well, you gotta get better quick because we've got a big looming crisis and I need your help." "The Jabot Spring Campaign?" Raul asks, "I thought that was canceled." "It is," Jack assures him, "but there's something else." "Something else?" Raul asks. "Well, I hate to get into this with you, but I don't know who else to ask. And it's a bit personal."

In Hong Kong, the camera wends its way into the apartment through the window, panning around until it finds Michael and Cricket in bed together. She is asleep, but he up and running his hand lovingly through her hair. At this conveniently chosen moment, she opens her eyes and smiles up at him. "Michael?" For a long moment, he just smiles at her. Then, as if coming out of a daze, he says, "Good morning, Counsellor." She laughs. "Michael, there's no need to be so formal. After all, just a few hours ago you were calling me your little 'love bug', if I recall." He laughs. "True..." he admits. Just then, the phone rings and the scene fades to reveal Christine, daydreaming at her desk, a ringing phone breaking her out of her fantasy. "Christine Williams," she answers. Michael is at the other end of the line. "It's Michael," he says. "I need to, uh, see you..." "Ok. When?" she asks.

"Personal?" Raul asks. "Well, it's about me and Phyllis. You see, she and I had a little misunderstanding and--well,--in order to paper it over, she wants me to give her the 'keys to the kingdom'..." "Keys to the kingdom?" Raul asks, confused. "My Jabot password." "Oh," Raul says, struggling to maintain consciousness as Jack continues to explain his dilemma. "You can see how I wouldn't do that... but then, I don't want to lose Phyllis either." "So what do you want me to do?" Raul asks, blinking his darkened eyes. "Well, I was thinking that maybe since you're a computer wiz, you could make me some kind of simulation of Jabot, and I could give her the password to that instead." "Let me get this straight: You want me to make a fake Jabot, so you can prove your sincerity to her?" Jack nods. "That's about the size of it." "Well, Jack, I don't know. I'm kind of tied up recovering here right now and..." "About that," Jack says, "You know, Jabot is paying for all of this, since your HMO declined. And, to be frank, we're not really sure it's worth the expense. So I was thinking, maybe, if you could help me to score with Phyllis, that, well,..." "Your blackmailing me?!" Raul asks, appalled. "I like to think of it more like, you scratch my back and I scratch yours," Jack says. Raul mulls this. "I'll think about it," Raul says.

"You're sure it's not here?" Trisha asks Chantal. Chantal looks in a few more of Michael's desk drawers. "I don't see it," she says. "Perhaps he's taking them with him on his trip." "His trip?" "Yes, he's gone to see his partner, Christine Williams, in Hong Kong. Just a minute..." She hauls his suitcase of of a closet. "Here they are," she says. Trisha frowns. "He takes his work so seriously--taking the pills all the way to Hong Kong just so he doesn't let them out of this sight. That's so sweet." "Well, I can just tell him you found someone else you had to give them to," Chantal volunteers. "No, no--don't do that. I don't want him to think I don't trust him." She fishes around in her purse and finds some TicTacs. "Here," she says, giving a few to Chantal. "Switch these with the pills in the bottle. That way he doesn't have to know I went somewhere behind his back." Chantal smiles underestandingly. "Of course," she says.

Victor, Phyllis, Neil, and Alex are at the hospital, visiting Raul. "So you see, m'rival," Victor explains, "you would have been the perfect 'smoking gun' for our lawsuit against Lawson, if only you didn't work for Jabot. The problem now is that if we succeed against Lawson, it will just mean money in Jabot's pocket since Lawson will have to reimburse them for all this stuff they've done for you." Raul sighs and slips back into apparent sleep. "I think you could have put that a little more diplomatically," Neil says to Victor. "Maybe we should take this out of this room," Alex says helpfully. "Ok," says Phyllis, "but I want to stay just another minute." The others file out and Phyllis leans in to squeeze Raul's hand. "Hang in there, Raul. We're rooting for you." Raul opens his eyes again. "Phyllis?" She nods. "I'm right here, Raul." "Jack..." Raul says. "Shhh," she says. "No, no, I have to--Jack says, he says you want the keys to his kingdom." Phyllis seems surprised. "He told you that?" Raul tries to nod. "He asked if I'd make him a Jabot simulation... a fake Jabot to satisfy you." "And you said you wouldn't." "I couldn't say 'no'--he threatened to cancel my care here." "But, you're not going to do it." "I told you, didn't I? But I'm not sure I'm up to making something like that." She is obviously fuming about Jack, but kisses Raul on the forehead. "Rest easy Raul. I'LL make you the simulation to give Jack. But you have to do one thing." "What's that?" "Get his password. Tell him you need it to research the simulation." "Ok..." Raul says. She leaves and we can see her talking to Victor in the waiting room outside.

On the steps of the Genoa City Police Department, Isabella comes up to Trisha. "Aren't you this woman?" Isabella says, pointing to a rolled up newspaper she is carrying. Trisha's shoulders fall. "I guess it woul'n't do any good for me to say no," she says, dispairing. "But you're a key witness in a murder trial," Isabella says. "Paul Williams needs to find you." "I don't know who this Paul Williams is, and I don't know his father Carl, either. But whoever he is, he just THINKS he needs to find me," Trisha insists. "It's Carter he needs to find," she continues, waving the bottle of pills around. "Carter drugged me with one of these pills that made me sleep with him. After that, I stayed with him voluntarily, but that was because I thought I'd broken my marriage vows and I figured I had crossed the line..." "Really?" Isabella asks with sudden intense interest, eyeing the drugs in Trisha's hands. "That's very interesting. Do you suppose they work on men?" Trisha is impatient. "Probably. Here, have some," she says, pouring some into Isabella's palm and then rushing off as soon as Isabella is occupied pocketing them.

A few minutes after Phyllis's exit from visiting Raul, Victor enters to see Raul. "Raul, Phyllis has explained to me that you are willing to help her with Jack. I want to make a further proposal with you, one that might lead to your not having to worry about your health care after all." The scene ends as abruptly as any of Victor's phone calls.

At a coffee station in the Genoa City Police Department, Trisha fumbles with the pills, trying to move the real pills back from the TicTac container to the proper vial so she can give them to Carl Williams. Clutz that she is, though, she spills the pills into the sink and they run down the drain. Carl Williams walks up behind her. "Don't worry," he says, "we'll just get the relevant information from the prescription label on the vial." "Prescription label?" He nods and holds the vial up to the light and reads. "Date Rape Drug. 10mg. Issued to Matt Clark a.k.a Carter Mills. Give once daily until laid. Disposal Precaution: To avoid chain reaction affecting entire town's water supply, do not drop multiple pills down the sink."

But it's too late for precautions. At the Genoa City Coffeehouse, Mac is chatting with JT. "Wow! Forget the caffeinated stuff, try some of this Genoa City tap water! Or better yet, just forget the water.. Let's just find a rooom... now!"

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A couple of days later, in Hong Kong, Cricket comes out of the ladies room to find Michael dropping something into her drink. "He's drugging me?" she thinks to herself excitedly. Then she turns to make sure her nose is properly powdered. Before coming back out again, she gets on her cell phone and calls her secretary. "I'll be--on a trip--for a couple of days... No, no, I'll let Michael handle everything... Just tell Paul I'm unavailable." Finally she returns to her waiting drink.

Halfway around the world, Jack is in bed when Phyllis enters. "I've been waiting so long for this," Jack says. "Well," Phyllis says, "I'm just so glad you were able to trust me with your password," she says. Just then, her cell phone rings. "Newman Enterprises? Now?" she says into it. Moments later, she hangs up. "Jack--I'm sorry--we'll have to postpone our little 'celebration'. Work calls." The sheets on the bed deflate slightly. "How long is this going to take?" "I can't say Jack. But I really have to run." She runs back into the bathroom to get dressed. As she does, the phone rings at Jack's bed. "Board meeting? ... They are? ... I'll be right there."

At the Hong Kong hotel, Cricket is feeling no effect of the TicTac, though plainly Michael is getting more and more turned on by the minty fresh flavor of her breath. "Damn, it's not working," comes a voice over from Michael's mind. "How come I'm not feeling woozy?" comes Cricket's voice over, confirming the problem. "I wonder if I should push," says Michael's voiceover. "Maybe I should just be a pushover anyway," Cricket's voiceover says. At the table, neither has said a word as they sip their drinks. Michael forces a smile. Cricket smiles back. They each eye their watches impatiently. Finally Cricket's voice over says, "I've got to do something. This is as excruciating as being married to Paul." She decides to slump over in pretended sleep. "Christine? ..." Michael asks, faking concern. "Cricket? ..." he asks more quietly. But he gets nary a chirp out of her. He slaps some money on the table and then takes her in his arms and carries her off.

And back in the Jabot board room, Jack enters to find everyone staring at him. "What?" he asks. "Jack," his father says harshly, "what has happened to your common sense?" Jill flares up, "Oh, don't play dumb, John. We know where it's gone. It's in his pants." "What? What is all this?" Jack asks defensively. "The new Newman line, little brother," Ashley says. "they've just announced it. And it comes with a contest." "Contest?" Jack asks. "That's right," Sean says, "a contest. And the grand prize is based on the name of the new line itself." "So don't keep me in suspense," Jack says. "What's it called?" They all look at him, surprised he doesn't know. "Keys to the Kingdom," Jill says finally. "And that's just what the grand prize winner gets..." Jack's cell phone rings. It's Phyllis. "I take it you've heard," she says. "Yep," Jack says resolutely. "Feeling screwed?" "Yep," Jack says. "Good," she says, "because I know you wanted that earlier when we were teogether, and I wouldn't want you to think that I don't deliver on my promises. Have a nice day, Jack."

That's all for this episode. Hope you learned something. Don't miss Episode 137!
If you missed any older episodes, see the index.

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