Monday, December 07, 2009, Episode #5706

Bill confesses to Katie.

Katie enters Bill's office and scolds him for running out on her at Forrester. He tells her that he had to get back. Giving him a hug, Katie asks what could be more pressing than his wife. While embracing him, she sees the sword necklace on his desk and asks where he found it. He tells her that someone else found it. She offers to get the clasp fixed, but he tells her he won't be wearing the necklace anymore. Katie asks why not, so Bill tells her it has to do with where the necklace was found and why. Katie is confused, so Bill tells her that it has to do with Steffy, who apparently has a crush on him. Katie laughs that everyone has a crush on Dollar Bill, but Bill tells her it's more serious than that and recounts the whole story, starting with the first kiss and moving on to how a distraught Steffy asked him to come to Big Bear and how that led to the second kiss. Realizing that Bill hid this from her since their wedding, Katie asks why he's telling her now. He explains that he doesn't want secrets in their marriage. He admits he thought about not telling her, but he doesn't see any sense in keeping this when there's nothing to hide. Katie sighs that she believes him, but she still wishes he hadn't gone to Big Bear, since doing so only encouraged Steffy. If he's ever in that position again, she wants him to refer his damsel in distress to a shrink or a priest, or even better, just hang up. Bill thinks that's fair and agrees. Katie thanks him for his honesty with a hug and promises that she'll never make him regret trusting her with the truth.

Steffy tells Brooke she learned her lesson.

At Forrester, Brooke calls Steffy out for what happened with Bill and asks for Steffy's side of the story. Steffy doesn't see the point, since Brooke knows everything, but Brooke wants to hear her point of view. Steffy admits to kissing Bill after he promoted her, but Brooke reveals that she knows things went further at Big Bear the night before Bill's wedding. Steffy comes clean and recounts what happened, matching the events as Bill confessed them to Brooke (and to Katie). Brooke asks Steffy if she intended to seduce Bill. Steffy says that she didn't. She doesn't know what she was thinking, but something came over her. She knows it was wrong and she wishes she had never called Bill to the cabin. "Brooke, what are you going to do?" she asks. Wondering how a bright girl like Steffy could get drawn into something like this, Brooke asks if she understands the impact of her actions. She fears that Steffy's foolish behavior could upset the harmony they've finally achieved at Forrester, especially if Ridge were to find out. Steffy asks if that means she's going to tell Ridge. Brooke isn't sure; she can't make any promises unless Steffy can give her some kind of guarantee that this won't happen again. Steffy assures that she learned her lesson and won't make the same mistake again. Having made a few painful mistakes of her own looking for love, Brooke believes her and agrees to keep mum. She feels that Steffy just got caught up in something, but luckily no one was hurt. Still, she needs Steffy to be on guard and committed to never let this happen again. Steffy promises that she will and thanks Brooke with a hug.

Katie confronts Steffy.

Later, Katie returns to her office and finds Steffy there. Steffy offers to show her the latest sales figures, but Katie coolly looks at her and says, "I know what happened with you and Bill."

Whip and Taylor discuss Sandy.

Taylor drops by Jackie M (for no apparent reason) and talks with Bridget about the surrogacy. As Bridget reveals Nick's concerns about Sandy, Whip pops in. When Bridget tells Whip that she and Taylor were just talking about Sandy, he hides his concern. Taylor asks Whip if he knows Sandy. When he says they met, Taylor and Bridget ask for his opinion of the surrogate. Recalling Sandy's discomfort at the photo shoot, Whip presumes she was just overwhelmed by the noise and the cameras, but Bridget thinks Sandy was upset about something specific given how she just bolted out.

Bridget wonders about her surrogate's behavior.

Whip tells Bridget not to read too much into it, since Sandy is her surrogate and not her B.F.F. Taylor agrees with Whip, pointing out that Sandy is doing something very generous for the Marones. Despite the fact that Sandy is getting paid, she can see where the woman might need a little personal space. Bridget thinks Sandy needs more than just some space, and she's sure that Nick agrees. Whip sits down at the computer to do some work to mask his concern over Bridget's suspicions.

Nick pleads with Sandy to trust him.

In Sandy's trailer, Nick realizes that she is skittish about all men and not just him. Clutching her stuffed animals, Sandy says that she just doesn't like men, but Nick thinks there is more to it and asks what she's been through. Sandy refuses to talk about it, but she tells Nick it's not his fault. He counters that it might not be his fault, but it is his responsibility since she is carrying his child. Sandy tells him he doesn't have to be responsible for her, and Nick wonders if that's because he's a man. He assumes that whatever turned her off to men was traumatic and asks her to open up and trust him at least a little as the father of the child she's carrying. Sandy admits that Bridget reminds her of the woman in the profile she wrote for the surrogacy agency, the woman she used to be. Nick urges her to get beyond what happened to her. She says that she is moving on by becoming a surrogate, but Nick feels that she needs some form of recovery. She points out that she's giving him and Bridget a baby and asks what else he wants. "I want the truth," he states, advancing toward her and pleading with her to tell him what she's hiding.