Back from Paris with a vengeance
It was a bright new day in Los Angeles and it was particularly busy for everyone at Forrester Creations. Hope for the Future was about to hit a huge success thanks to their secret acquisition and everything had to be ready before the big day in two days.
Hope Logan, the owner's line and namesake looked on in satisfaction. She couldn't be happier and satisfied with her life. She had a job that she loved, a great friend who had the potential to be more and most of all, a wonderful fiancé.
If she had to be honest with herself, she wouldn't be here if Steffy hadn't left town to visit her father in Paris to never return. Well, she'd still be here, just not this soon. She still worried the other woman had something in her mind to disappear like that without telling anyone where she was. After all, for a long time, Liam had been adamant about finding her, claiming that something must have happened to her.
Hope herself had tried everything to get his mind off the brunette without any success. Although she had succeeded at the beginning as soon as Steffy left town. It had worked for a while until Liam realized that Steffy hadn't called him once days after she had left and he couldn't get her on her phone either. He had gone as far as going to Paris but Taylor's family wouldn't tell him anything about her whereabouts.
But all that was over now: Steffy had been gone for months now and Hope would soon be Mrs. Liam Spencer. All she had needed to get him to make his mind up was his newfound brother showing his intentions towards her and Liam was wrapped around her little finger once again. Steffy could be back the next day and she wouldn't be able to do anything to prevent this wedding from taking place, not this time. She and her mother would make sure of it!
Unbeknown to Forrester Creations, another fashion show was being prepared at the same time, in another part of the city. The only difference was that this one would mark the start of a new company in the world of fashion. Unlike Forrester Creations though, this one was ready for the show. All that was left to do was rechecking everything one last time.
The two owners themselves weren't left unoccupied: they too gave as much as their employees and were finalizing the preparations. The brother and sister were proud of their accomplishment. They couldn't believe they had managed to prepare everything in the dark and no one had been able to notice their activity.
Even the press was oblivious to what was going on. The siblings weren't new to this of course and they knew how the press worked. That's why they had invited them. All they knew was that there was a new player in town that apparently took on the challenge of competing with Forrester Creations.
Of course the press was skeptical about this. After all, Forrester Creations had decades of experience and the most talented designer in the world. They doubted anyone could rival that but they were ready to see what this new fashion company had to offer and Forrester's reaction to them.
Seeing as the invitations had been short noticed they had been unable to get any information about them. Even Forrester Creations had been surprised at the news of a new player. The press had played their card right (without knowing that's how the new player had wanted it all along) but Forrester Creations was far from worried, probably because they thought their new campaign would be infallible. They thought that no one could beat them but they would see soon enough.
The big day finally came for the siblings. They looked on from the backstage as the show room filled with reporters, photographs and potential buyers. They looked at each other and gave nods to signify they were ready before each went to their assigned task.
The murmurs and speculations in the room stopped when none other than Thomas Forrester appeared on the stage. He took a few seconds to assess the room before talking.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for being here with us today. I'm sure you're all wondering what's going on so, I won't keep the suspense going for much longer. We invited you here today to witness a revolution in the world of fashion! In a few minutes, you will see a fashion show like you've never seen before: it's new, it's glamorous and it was thought of by TPS Creations!" Murmurs started anew as the guests wondered at the name. "Our designs were created for everyone: you are young, of a certain age or little and you want to look glamorous, then you came to the right place. Ladies and gentlemen, watch and buy!"
As announced, the show began and it was something none of the guests had expected: it started with children! And they were of different ages but they still looked fabulous in the designs. Flashes were lighting the room as photographs took picture after picture, not wanting to miss anything. Then came the time for young men and women to parade on stage: they wore other designs, some of the same style as the children, others not.
All along, Thomas was commenting on the designs and how they were available to anyone for all kind of height and condition. His declaration took all the more effect when his sister, who looked about ready to give birth, took her turn on stage with a beautiful gown. The flashes intensified even more and she gave her brother a brief look of triumph at their success.
It continued along before the show closed with the designs specific to older people. After that, everyone made a final appearance on the stage before reuniting in celebration behind the scene.
Thomas once again appeared on stage to answer to the press' questions and he knew there were a lot of them coming. As they had expected, the first one was about his and his sister's stance with Forrester Creations. He explained how they still had their shares of the company but felt they weren't appreciated for their full potential and their ideas were dismissed. Instead of staying there and taking it all, they thought they would get their ideas and concretize them in the shape of their own fashion company. They named it after their names and that of their late sister.
He told them how it would be possible to buy their designs from their shop but also order from their website. If you went there, you would be able to see a virtual show of their designs with the client as the model; all you'd have to do was enter your measurements and then you'd see how you would look in each design before making your final choice.
Thomas had the press eating at his hand with his explanations. When they got to the part about his sister's condition, he told them that the details were private and hers alone to reveal. In the end, Steffy's participation on the show was intended to show to the world that a woman could be pregnant and still beautiful and glamorous; she didn't have to stay at home and rest or be the perfect wife and mother for her future child. On the contrary, he explained how his sister had never been as inventive and full of ideas as she was at the moment with her pregnancy. And she hadn't been the only pregnant woman to parade on stage during the show.
Another of their revolutionary ideas had been to make their own employees to parade and represent their designs. They all worked as a family so they didn't want to hire models or any outsiders to have the advantage of wearing the products of their hard work. They all knew and trusted each other so that's how they decided to do it.
Finally, they had decided to have the show early in the day because they didn't want the children to go to bed too late. They certainly were excited and would still be later so they thought it was enough work for their parents in attempting to get them to bed. They didn't want to add any more work than that.
Thomas had to put an end to the conference when the children came to him to start the party they had planned. He told the press that he would be available the next day as he had a few dance partners that were waiting for him but they were welcome to the party as long as they didn't harass anyone with questions. So it was that Thomas was led away by the children who were anxious to start the fun before bedtime came for them.
TPS Creations' fashion show didn't go unnoticed at Forrester. It had been a shock for everyone to discover earlier that day Steffy's and Thomas' resignation letters but this was the final blow.
Their grandfather had stood before the TV witnessing his grandchildren's success at the ideas he had so adamantly refused to give them the chance to try. And now, those same ideas were put to use somewhere else and there was nothing he could do about it.
He had called their company for a chance to talk to one of them but was told they were busy and couldn't take any calls before the next day. Add to that, they had apparently changed their cell phone numbers for the previous ones weren't working.
When all that failed, he had finally given up and called their father. He had been surprised and angry to find out that Ridge had known about his children's plans all along and hadn't tried to stop them. He had even gone as far as encouraging them.
"It's what they wanted dad and I couldn't have stopped them, even if I wanted to."
"You could at least have warned me about this! Do you know how I felt when I saw this and couldn't even tell anything because I was as surprised as anyone else?!"
Ridge sighed over the phone. "I know, dad but they swore me to secrecy and I couldn't deny it to them. It was the least I could do for my children. They felt left down when I left and then were stripped of their rights at the company. You were the one that didn't want to accept their ideas at Forrester. They simply made use of their talent somewhere else."
"I can't believe this. How could they do this to me, my own grandchildren?!"
"Dad, don't be mad at them. They did what they thought was best for themselves and you should be happy for them. That's what we taught them to do."
"Right. I'll talk to you later!" Eric slammed the receiver on his desk in frustration and anger. He'd have a talk with them, one way or another. Luckily for him, Hope's and Wyatt's wonderful idea for HFTF would be more than enough to beat them.
Hope Logan was thinking along the same line as Eric. At first, she had been happy to learn that Steffy and Thomas had left the company. She didn't mind Thomas, he was a good guy but Steffy, she had danced in joy at learning that she was finally free of her.
But then she had seen the show on TV and Steffy's condition and had begun to worry. Hope was sure Steffy was up to no good with that pregnancy (was even a true one?). She didn't know who the father was but she just knew that Steffy would use it to her advantage and she couldn't have that. Her wedding was just a few days away and now she had this. She couldn't afford to lose to Steffy again, not this time.
Hope looked around her office before getting an idea. Liam, she had to talk to Liam before Steffy got to him first and put any funny ideas about her supposed pregnancy. That thought made her start in fear and Hope almost sprinted out the door, barely missing Wyatt who was about to come in. He called her name but she ignored him and avoided the lift in favor of the stairs so anxious she was to get out and to Liam.
The man in question was sitting at his desk in Spencer Publications with a look of deep concentration on his face. He had a lot to think about and it was far from work related.
Earlier that day, he had received a strange mail. He had thought that it was work as usual and he almost dismissed it. But then he had opened it and was startled when it mentioned visitation rights. His first instinct was to make sure that the mail was addressed to him for he was sure that he didn't have any kids (no, it was his father's area to discover himself a father to some unknown kid).
When he found his name boldly written on the envelope, he finally made himself read the content. The shock only intensified when he found out that Steffy was the one to grant him visitation rights for their child. Their child! How was that possible? He was sure that he'd have known if Steffy was pregnant with his kid, although he hadn't seen her in months, but that wasn't the question. He knew that Steffy wouldn't have kept this from him, it wasn't her style. And she knew how important it was for him not to have a child growing up fatherless like he had.
No, there must be some kind of explanation for this. It was only when he finished reading that he understood. Steffy had been pregnant when she left and was now eight months long apparently. And she only decided to tell him now, and by way of a visitation rights form, no less!
He had to find a way to contact her, this couldn't go unexplained. But try as he might, he couldn't find any way of getting to Steffy. So, nothing had changed over the past six months. She still refused to let anyone know where she was.
And then, Liam had had the shock of his life when he saw the woman herself on TV and now the whole world knew that she was very much pregnant. He had looked at her and only her. She was magnificent, practically glowing and it had nothing to do with the flashes from the photographs.
Even an hour after the show had ended he still couldn't believe it. He was going to be a father! A father that was going to miss so many things from his child's life! He only then realized the implications behind the mail he had received. Without any thought in mind, he left Spencer Publications with only one destination in mind.