Tuesday, December 15, 2009, Episode #5712

The Forresters preview their video for THE CATWALK.
At Forrester, Ridge calls Eric to report that he emailed their buy-back offer to Bill. He thinks it's time to take control again. Meanwhile, Brooke enters Ridge's office and finds Steffy there. Steffy tells Brooke that Katie didn't fire her and only gave her a stern warning. She hopes Brooke doesn't think less of her because of what happened with Bill. Brooke says she'd never do that since she had a hand in raising Steffy. She assures her love for Steffy and the ladies hug. Ridge and Donna arrive to view the presentation for THE CATWALK. Ridge is glad to see his wife and daughter so chummy. Brooke says she was just wishing Steffy luck for the show tomorrow. Donna notes that she's supposed to be impartial as the host of THE CATWALK, but she still tells Steffy to "knock 'em dead." Thomas arrives with the video for the presentation. As everyone gathers around to watch, Ridge praises Steffy for her work on the campaign, but he admits his designs are merely acceptable and don't represent his best work. Steffy tells him that she understands how hard it is for him to work for Bill and Katie. Ridge fears that he'll never get used to working for those two. As Thomas plays the video on his laptop, Taylor pops in to see how things are going. She takes Steffy aside and expresses concern that her daughter hasn't been herself lately. Steffy admits she's been going through something, but she assures that there's nothing to worry about because it's over. As the video ends, the team pat themselves on the back for coming together to work on the campaign. They're sure they'll beat Jackie M's fig leaves. Brooke wants to celebrate, put a pensive Ridge points out that they haven't won yet. But it's just a matter of time, Donna predicts. For a lot of things, Ridge adds.

Jackie, Owen and Nick discuss Jackie M's promo plans.
At Jackie M, Whip announces to Jackie, Bridget, Stephanie and Owen that they're already getting rave reviews of their green eco-friendly fashions. Stephanie congratulates Whip for positioning them to change the industry with this campaign. When Nick comes in, Whip quietly approaches and asks to talk about Sandy, but Nick says, "Not tonight." The others invite Nick to join them in drawing up battle plans to take on the Forresters again and win this time. Whip asks what the Forresters have to compete with their green campaign. "Just the Logan girls wearing old Hollywood," Stephanie snipes. Whip thinks that proves his point. Nick reads a press release aloud about the responsible fashion statement they're making today. Bridget finds another blog giving them props for their environmentally sound fashions. Whip cheers at all the free press they're getting.

Stephanie shows Bridget and Whip their sales figures.
Stephanie shows Bridget and Whip the latest sales reports, which show that their preproduction orders are going through the roof. Owen and Bridget think that shows that their customers don't mind spending money to be environmentally conscious, but Jackie quips that it might have been Owen in the fig leaf that sold their customers. The others groan at Ms. M's attempt at humor. Whip doesn't see how the Forresters can compete, since they haven't thought outside the box over there for years. While they're going green, he predicts that Forrester is headed for extinction. As Whip finishes editing their video for tomorrow, Taylor arrives and announces that she's remaining neutral between the two battling fashion houses. "You mean you don't have any good gossip to tell us about what's going on over there?" Stephanie asks. Taylor says she just wanted to wish them luck. "May the best team win," she proclaims. And the best team is definitely Team Jackie M, the others agree.

Taylor kids with Whip.
Taylor takes Whip aside and notices the smile on his face. He thinks he has reason to smile since Jackie M is going to kick butt tomorrow, plus his personal life is going well thanks to Taylor. Taylor advises that he owes her dinner at a ritzy expensive restaurant very soon because of the way he disrupted her office the other day. Whip thanks her for coming to see him. She reminds him that her friend Stephanie works here, but she also admits that she might have also wanted to see him "just a little." As Taylor prepares to leave, Stephanie thanks her friend for her support. Taylor wishes them luck again. Even though she's proud of what her kids are doing at Forrester, she wants everyone here to know that she cares about them.

Steffy tells Thomas how she feels about Bill.
Back at Forrester, Thomas and Steffy are watching their video again when Steffy gets a video chat invitation from Whip. Whip tells her that he wanted to wish her luck, but Steffy doesn't think she'll need it. Whip reminds her that the online votes will determine who rules the catwalk and tells her, "May the best fashion win." That will be Forrester, Steffy brags, ending the chat. Thomas thinks that chat shows how Jackie M is running scared. Steffy tells them that she'll be on stage to face Jackie M down, since Katie decided not to fire her after Bill put in a good word for her. Thomas warns her to be careful, but she assures him that she doesn't even like Bill Spencer and simply likes tormenting Katie. Thomas warns her not to let their dad ever find out she kissed Bill. She tells him that it never happened as far as she's concerned. She doesn't even want to look at Bill unless it makes Katie sweat.

Bill and Katie look forward to the competition on THE CATWALK.
Bill enters Katie's office and tells her that he can feel the excitement about THE CATWALK competition in the halls. Katie admits he was right to keep Steffy on, although she still doesn't trust Steffy completely. They talk about the competition tomorrow. Bill predicts that they will destroy Jackie M, since his beautiful wife is both the star of the show and the CEO of the company. Katie thanks him for his faith in her. He tells her that this is a family owned company again - but this time, it's THEIR family that owns it. Katie likes the way that sounds and they kiss. As they talk about how they turned the company around, Bill gets an email from Ridge and is surprised by the document inside. He prints the document out and shows Katie that it's an offer to buy back Forrester for 10% over what he paid. They wonder where Eric found the financing. When Katie reminds him that Eric still has wealthy friends, Bill laments not keeping an eye on Eric when he allegedly was at home licking his wounds. Katie realizes her sisters might have known about this but didn't tell her.

Brooke and Ridge wonder how they can take Bill down.
Alone in his office with Brooke, Ridge laments his current situation. He hates what Bill has done to the company and resents having to answer to Katie when he has so much more experience than her running this company. He confides that he'll never be happy here given how things are. Bill barges in and tells Ridge to forget about any ideas to buy back the company. Bill intends to keep it for as long as he wants to, and Ridge works for him under an iron-clad contract. One signed under duress, Ridge points out, but Bill reminds him that he put himself in this situation. He warns Ridge that he's done coddling him and orders Ridge to start doing his job. He keeps Ridge around because of his design talent, but he expects Ridge to produce. "Like it or not, you work for me," he states, and then he leaves. Brooke tries to comfort Ridge, who advises that he can't keep going like this. Brooke reminds him about his contract, but Ridge insists there has to be a way. He points out that someone who dresses like Bill obviously knows nothing about fashion while he has spent his whole life learning everything about the company. There has to be something in there that he can use to take the tyrant down. Brooke asks what he has in mind. Ridge doesn't know yet, but he knows it has to be something that catches Bill by surprise. More importantly, it has to be all about the designs. Looking at a sketch, Ridge keeps mulling that idea over, and it suddenly comes to him. He has the answer to their problem!