Monday, December 14, 2009, Episode #5711

Steffy is surprised by Katie's announcement.

In Katie's office, Bill tells her that firing Steffy was a bad business move. Katie refuses to work with someone she can't trust. Bill asks her to consider how damaging this could be to the company. Since Steffy's Glamour campaign is the talk of the industry, he feels that firing her will attract bad press. Katie doesn't mind, since he once told her there's no such thing as bad press, but Bill feels this is an exception. He also reminds her that she has to deal with Ridge once he learns what happened to Steffy. "You can't let personal matters get in the way of good business sense," he implores, telling her to stop acting like a jealous wife and start acting like a CEO. Katie tells him that he's being condescending, but he thinks he's being accurate. Just then, Steffy comes to the door. Katie tells Steffy to come in, since they were just talking about her. Steffy drops off a file and says she'll be out of the building by the end of the day. Katie asks Steffy what her next move would have been had Bill not confessed about the kisses. Steffy insists she wouldn't have gone after Bill after he rejected her and asks Katie if she's threatened by her. When Katie says she isn't, Steffy asks what firing her accomplishes. Katie argues that Steffy's actions will make it hard for them to work together, but Steffy wonders how Ridge will react when he learns his daughter was fired. Katie relents and tells a shocked Steffy that she can stay. She thinks they all want the company to succeed, but she warns Steffy not to mess up again. Steffy thanks her. Katie orders Steffy to unpack her office and have a full report on the Glamour campaign ready in the morning.

Bill makes a promise to Katie.

Bill tells Katie that he's proud of her, but she thinks she just made a big mistake, and she's not saying that as a jealous wife. When Bill disagrees, Katie advises that she'll be watching Steffy. Bill doesn't think she'll have to unless she's questioning her trust in him. He presumes she's upset about having to protect her turf when they're mere weeks into their marriage and tells her that she doesn't have to be. While he's sure he'll make a few mistakes in his lifetime, betraying her trust won't be one of them because he shares a connection with her that he's never had with any other woman. Caressing her cheek, he tells her that they're one and he's in love with her, and that's something "Dollar Bill" has never said before. He adds that she's thawed his cold heart with her warmth and kindness, and that's why he'll never stop loving her. He leans in to kiss her and then embraces her as a tear trickles down her cheek.

Eric explains his plan to Donna.

At the Forrester mansion, Eric meets with Ridge, Brooke and Donna. Ridge admits that as much as he loved working with Steffy on the Glamour collection, he feels like something is missing. The designs are lovely, Eric states, but they're not inspired, so they don't represent Ridge's best work. Brooke and Donna asks if that means that they'll fail when they face off with Jackie M on THE CATWALK. The collection is decent, Ridge states, but it could be better if it had Eric's signature touch. Donna asks her "honey bear" if he could spice it up to give them a better chance at winning, but Eric says he's been busy with other matters. Brooke asks what he means, so Ridge announces that Eric has some exciting news. Brooke and Donna are anxious to hear this, so their husbands explain what's going on. Ridge and Eric point out that as designers, they can't feel inspired when their loyalties are divided and their efforts only serve to line Bill's pockets. Tired of working that way, Eric approached some friends of his (and some enemies of Bill's) to raise enough money to buy the company back. He now has 10% more than what Bill paid, so he's confident that he's close to making a buy-back offer.

Ridge and Brooke are on board with Eric's plans.

Brooke asks Eric why he thinks Bill will sell after fighting so hard to acquire the company. Eric states that Bill's forte is the media, not fashion. Ridge thinks both Bill and Katie are way out of their league running a fashion house. Eric asks Brooke how she'd feel if Katie was replaced as CEO. Brooke points out that Katie has worked so hard. Eric agrees, and he even admits that Katie has done better as CEO than he expected. Still, Ridge points out, Katie is lacking in experience. Brooke and Donna have to agree. As much as their sister loves her job, they feel that the Forrester family should own and run the company that bears their name. Brooke and Donna agree to handle Katie. They just hope Eric can make this work. "We can do this," Eric promises.

Whip turns out to be Sandy's "intruder."

In Sandy's trailer, she's shocked to see that her "intruder" is Whip. Whip reaches out to calm her down, but she violently pulls away and tells him not to touch her! Whip apologizes for startling her and explains that he came by to see how her day with Bridget went. When he got here, the door was unlocked and the lights were off, so he went around back to check the circuit breakers. Sandy thanks him for trying to help her and asks him to leave. Whip says that he'll go, but he wants to get her lights working first. Right after Whip leaves the room to check the lights, Nick comes in. He tells her that he saw her lights were off as he was about to drive away, so he came back to make sure everything was OK. Just then, the lights come on. Nick assumes it must have been a circuit breaker problem, but then Whip re-enters the room. Confused, Nick asks why Whip is there. Sandy tells him that Whip was just leaving, so Whip takes that as his cue and exits.

Nick asks Sandy for answers.

Nick asks Sandy why Whip was here. When she says Whip came to fix the lights, Nick wonders why she'd ask a guy she barely knows to help her and demands answers. Sandy reluctantly admits that she and Whip are cousins, noting that she had no idea Whip worked for Nick until after the implantation procedure. Nick is furious that she hid yet another secret from him on top of the others and asks her to come clean about her past. Sandy hesitates, but Nick reminds her that the stress from keeping these secrets could harm the baby and insists on knowing exactly what's going on. Sandy recounts how she used to work at a bar where a lot of fashion types hung out. Whip tried to help her get a job in the fashion business and introduced her to a photographer who invited her to his studio in his apartment to take some head shots. After they shot the photos, the photographer invited her to stay for a party he was throwing. She decided to stay and met this attractive guy who flirted with her. People were doing tequila shots, and then someone offered her one. Everyone was telling her to go for it, so she took the one shot - and that was the last thing she remembered until the next morning, when she woke up in a strange apartment and realized she had been totally violated. She sobs that the police were called and asked her a bunch of humiliating questions, but nothing ever came of the investigation. That was when everything changed for her, and she's been trying to forget it ever since. She never even told Whip, and now she feels like she'd die if Bridget found out.