Tuesday, February 19, 2008, Episode #5252

A newspaper photo "exposes" Eric.

At the Forrester mansion, Eric is on the phone with Donna rehashing the events of last night. Eric assures her that they narrowly escaped getting caught by Stephanie, since no one saw him on the ledge. Donna frets that their getting caught together will send Storm to jail, but Eric is sure they'll be in the clear once things cool down. When Stephanie comes into the room with some tea, Eric ends the call. Stephanie asks if he's OK, so he "confesses" that he went to Donna's to bring her a Valentine's gift, only to have Donna slam the door in his face. He sighs that the whole thing just reminded him what a fool he'd been to chase after Donna. Eric then goes to open the morning paper and is stunned to see a photo of himself standing naked on the ledge last night, with the headline "Eric Forrester Revealed!" He gets so flustered that he spills his tea. When Stephanie asks what's wrong, Eric blames his own clumsiness and tries to clean up, taking the section of the paper with the photo with him to cover. Just as Stephanie goes upstairs to get some things before they leave for the office, Ridge comes in. Eric tells Ridge that he needs his help; Ridge thinks he knows the reason why and pulls out his own copy of the paper with the photo.

Ridge inadvertently gives his dad an idea.

Ridge informs Eric that Stephanie was already suspicious that Donna was still in the picture. Although Ridge wanted to give Eric the benefit of the doubt, this photo confirms that Stephanie was right. When Ridge asks why his mother isn't on the warpath already, Eric explains that Stephanie hasn't seen the photo yet. Ridge thinks it's only a matter of time, since Eric would have to send Stephanie to Tahiti to keep her from seeing the picture. Eric thinks Ridge is on to something and books the Forrester jet to take him and Stephanie to Tahiti! When Stephanie comes down, she's surprised to learn of Eric's sudden travel plans. But when he suggests that it's the perfect way for them to get reacquainted, she agrees and goes to back her bags. Eric tells her that everything's already arranged and they need to leave right now. Stephanie wants to grab the newspaper to read on the flight, but Eric tells her that they won't need that, since they'll have plenty to talk about on the way to their tropical paradise.

Katie berates Donna for her foolishness.

At Brooke's house, Donna recalls her passionate night with Eric last night. Katie comes down and sees the weird smile on her sister's face, so she knows something is up and asks if it has anything to do with why Donna blew off their family meeting with Brooke last night. Donna tries to claim that she forgot about the meeting, but Katie isn't buying it and asks what's going on. Donna says it's nothing, but Katie's not in the mood for games and demands to know what was so important that Donna couldn't meet with her sisters. When Donna tries to play coy, Katie figures out that her sister was with Eric and berates Donna for her casual disregard for their brother's freedom. Donna insists that everything's under control and suggests that Katie calm down and read the paper, but she realizes what a bad idea that was when Katie opens up the STYLE section and sees the photo of a naked Eric on the ledge! "How can you and Eric be so idiotic?!" she exclaims, furious over her sister's foolish lack of self-control. Upon seeing the photo, Donna freaks out, worrying about what might happen if Stephanie sees this. Katie thinks it's a bit late for that, since it's only a matter of time before Stephanie sees this and sends Storm to jail.

Storm wonders why Donna is so worried.

As Donna and Katie try to figure out a way to convince Storm to go back to Paris to see their dad, Storm arrives. Katie suggests to her brother that he leave for Europe ASAP to see their father, but Storm has no intention of leaving his family and insists that he's staying in L.A. Donna tries to help change Storm's mind, but he remains adamant, so Donna rushes off to make a phone call. When Storm asks Katie what's up with Donna, Katie tells him that it's too long a story to get into, which only gets Storm more curious.

The Forrester flight crew gets ready for take-off.

Eric and Stephanie board the Forrester jet, where Davis the pilot and Carly the flight attendant have everything ready for the romantic trip to Tahiti. While Davis goes off to file their flight plan and prepare for take-off, Carly helps Eric and Stephanie get comfortable. Stephanie realizes that Eric has this trip all planned out and thanks him for doing this for them. She's so moved by his gesture that she admits that she had a private investigator follow him, so she already knew that he was at Donna's last night before he confessed earlier. She's not proud of deceiving him, but she sees now that he just wants closure with Donna so he can move on and heal their marriage, so she wants him to know how sorry she is for what she did. She thinks his actions today, including planning this trip, prove that he's a man of honesty and integrity, so he'll always be a prince in her eyes. She's just glad that he got through that whole fling with Donna without s scandal. She knows he thinks Donna made a fool of him, but she personally doesn't think anyone can make a fool of him.

Stephanie is shocked by what she sees in the paper.

Before Eric can answer, his cell phone rings. Telling Stephanie that it's the office calling, he steps into the forward cabin to take the call, but the call is actually from Donna, who wants to know how Stephanie reacted to the photo in the newspaper. Eric tells her that Stephanie hasn't seen the photo yet, and he's taken steps to make sure she doesn't see it by whisking his wife off on a trip to Tahiti. Donna points out that someone still might tell Stephanie about the photo, but Eric is sure he'll have a way to handle it by the time that happens. Donna fears that Storm will go to prison once Stephanie learns of the photo, but Eric assures her that he won't let that happen. Unfortunately for him, back in the main cabin, Carly brings out of tray a bloody mary's that Eric ordered and gives one of the drinks to Stephanie, along with the newspaper to read. While Eric makes some quick calls in the forward cabin to arrange for him and Stephanie to be cut off from civilization once they land, Stephanie sits back to read the paper - and when she opens the STYLE section and sees the photo of her naked husband, she exclaims, "You son of a bitch!"