August, Part V

…

Despite Katie's protests, Ridge and RJ had cut their road trip short to return home Monday night. RJ was keeping Will occupied upstairs whilst Katie and Karen considered their options, with occasional input from Ridge.

Karen clutched her cup of coffee avariciously.

"Right now, they're not overriding your appointment because they don't want to piss me off as majority shareholder. He'll do it, though. He'll get the job back. It won't be this year, I ensured that in this morning's scheduled vote. You've got that long to make them want you or you're out of a job."

"No pressure."

"That's the cost of doing business, I'm afraid. I wouldn't give up if I were you. You've shown we can conduct business with compassion and still make a killing. We don't have to be ruthless." Karen rubbed matter from her eyes. She'd flown down from New York to meet with Bill on Monday morning. It was obvious she hadn't slept a great deal since her brother's failed takeover attempt on Saturday.

"Compassionate business makes us look good. We've become an attractive place to work. We've been dubbed 'family-friendly'. There's a profit to be made in having that for a brand identity, but it's not fast. We have to show we're willing to take the hit in the short-run for doing the unpopular thing in order for our employees to benefit over the long run. I don't know that they're going to give you that time."

"Then, I'll have to make them regret getting rid of me."

"So you will."

Ridge came back from the kitchen carrying a tray of fresh coffee for all three of them.

"In the tradition of CEOs throughout history, you've got a loyalty problem."

Karen traded her old security blanket for another cup and began to look marginally more human. Katie took hers with thanks, but was more grateful for his arm around her shoulders.

"People that are loyal to Bill," Katie offered.

"People that loyal to Bill, Sr. or Bill, Jr. and then the company," Ridge countered. "You have to convert them to your way of thinking, demote them so they can't be a roadblock to your agenda, or you gotta send 'em packing."

"The employees will riot if I start issuing pink slips out of the blue."

Although Katie wasn't ungrateful for Ridge's input, she worried about alienating Karen whose support would be vital to her continued employment.

"Meaning you've got your work cut out for you. You'll have to go through employee records, annual evaluations, quarterly performance reviews and so on to find out who you really need where and who you can do without in a pinch. Chances are some people have kept their jobs this long by cozying up to the boss. Find people who may be better suited to these positions and your agenda and promote from within."

Karen emerged clear-eyed from her caffeine-fueled meditation.

"As much as I dislike telling tales out of school, Ridge has a point. If you want to succeed, heads need to roll."

"People are doing their jobs."

"People are trying to stay employed and they'll professionally disembowel you to do it. If you cannot say the same, print off your resignation. I can't fight for you if you don't want this."

"I want it."

"Prove it."

"Justin Barber needs to go."

Karen sat, arms crossed. "Are you asking my permission? You're the boss, dump him. Who's next?"

"Bertie Aldon."

"Aldon's entrenched. You'll get blowback. Are you ready?"

"I love my job. I think I can bring a positive change to Spencer Pub L.A."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I will be ready."

"Then, you don't need me." Karen put down her mug and stood to leave. "Let me know if my brother tries anything else. I'm meeting with him again tomorrow morning, his idea. We need to have words, Spencer to Spencer, because I must have failed to make myself clear. He seems to have forgotten I'm still the only person other than Dad who can put him in a headlock."

"If he thinks you're taking my side, he'll stonewall you."

"The upside of being majority owner is being able to ignore the pouting."

"Can this get worse?" Katie wasn't sure she had the stamina for worse from here. August was putting July to shame.

"Yes. You decide where you raise the white flag. Bill will push you right to your limit if he can." Karen dithered a moment. "There is a potential compromise on the table. You and Bill could co-occupy the executive seat."

"Not a chance."

"Ridge!" Katie was surprised at him.

"I'm sorry, I know it's not my place, but the thought of that guy around you day in and day out, I don't like it."

"He's not interested in me anymore. I sometimes think he hates me. I've heard what he says about me."

"He doesn't hate you. He may not like you, but that's not hate."

Karen weighed in. "My brother has complicated feelings for you. Like a child, instead of talking about his emotions, he lashes out and makes weapons out of what he can't put into words."

Katie had no desire to analyze the tangle of her former husband's emotional landscape. She had to prioritize the man she had chosen to be with now.

She opted to set aside that immediate issue to walk Karen to the door.

"Karen, thank you for helping me deal with this. I don't know how everything got so out of hand."

"This is life in the corporate world. The best thing you can do is call the ref when you're cornered by a foul play. In your case, I'm the ref."

"Do you have somewhere to stay? You're welcome to join Will and I here during your visit."

"I'm occupying the Spencer Executive suite at the Omni. It's only for tonight. I plan to head home tomorrow. I miss my bed—and my wife, for that matter."

"Give Dani my best when you talk to her."

"I will." Katie and Karen embraced warmly. Karen leaned around Katie to tender a wave to the third person in the room. "Ridge, as always, a pleasure."

Ridge stood by the sofa, hands in his pockets. "The same to you. Drive safe."

"Thank you. Until tomorrow," Karen murmured sotto voce on her exit.

Katie pulled the last of her energy together to face Ridge.

"Do you trust me?"

Ridge pursed his lips, gave an oblique nod.

"I don't want Bill back. Given the way he's hurt me, I wouldn't want to sit next to him on a plane, much less work with him, much less build another home with him. There's no threat here."

"You still love him. Because of Will, because of all the unfinished business. If he promised to change, I'd be outta luck."

"He's sworn to me he could be better before and that was a trick. I have this life now that I couldn't imagine two years ago. I have this dream job and I have Will and you. What could Bill give me that I don't have?"

"Your dignity. He took that with him and left you in shreds. He comes back and you two make up and it's yours. You were right, he was a pig, you two were meant to be all along. I'm a detour."

"Putting aside that dignity remark, which we will be coming back to, where is this coming from?"

"Experience."

"You think Bill is my destiny?"

Ridge scrubbed a hand down his face and sat back down. He started to say something and then seemed to reconsider.

"I don't know what I'm saying. Forget it."

Katie sat down on the coffee table so that they were face to face.

"I don't think I can. No, I know I can't. Bill is…he's himself. He's ridiculous and brash and shallow and ruthless. His ego could fill up this room and not leave an ounce of oxygen for anyone else to breathe. He's an egotist. He's vain."

"You love him."

"I care about him, he's the father of my child."

"Like I care about Brooke."

"I suppose so. Why?" Katie folded her arms in front of her. "How do you feel about Brooke? Is she giving you trouble at the office?"

"Nothing I can't handle."

"Are you doubting our relationship? You seemed sure before." You staked your life on us.

"You don't need to worry about that. My feelings for you are solid. I'm not so sure yours are for me."

"I'm not sure what to say, this is coming out of nowhere." Katie sifted through her memories. Ridge had been fine before he left for his trip with RJ. This was the first hint she'd gotten that he wasn't entirely content. "Somebody's gotten to you. Was it Brooke?"

"I don't talk to her that much. She's a non-issue."

"I don't see how she could be. You see her every day. What did she say to make you doubt me?"

"It wasn't…" Ridge sighed. "Bill Spencer and I had words, he made some good points about the past the two of you share. Maybe I'm not the one with the unfinished business. That could be a good thing."

"For me to go back to the man you said yourself is a terrible person? How could that be considered in any way a good thing?"

"I've got the sword of Damocles hanging over my head. It's not even swinging, but sometimes I think I can see it. Bastard that he is, he doesn't have that."

"The list of what I want and need that Bill cannot give me is endless. Time doesn't even make the top twenty."

…

Ridge had taken RJ rollerblading to make up for coming home early. They had plans to hike the next day, and to take Will sandcastle building that afternoon. Katie had absented herself from their itinerary early on. She'd encroached enough on their time together. She took this opportunity to hand some very necessary personal business.

That son of a bitch lied to me. I let him lie to me. Because as she'd told Justin, Katie had a tendency to trust the very people in her life who'd proven they couldn't be trusted.

She let herself into Liam's beach house with spare key taped to the mail slot.

"Every time I turn my head, you're up to something, and none of it productive. What do you do all day?"

Bill shut off his HDTV. "I think. I brainstorm. I play the stock market. I make money, which is more than anybody can say for you these days."

"I make a great deal of money for myself and the company. Ask Karen."

"Oh, we've spoken."

"Did she get your head on straight? We cannot have this amount of in-fighting, it damages our image and it's a blow to employee morale."

"Being in the red is a blow to the bottom line."

"That's propaganda. You shouldn't believe your own lies, Bill; they always come back to bite you when you do."

"I'm trying to salvage my father's legacy."

"You couldn't stand your father. You're trying to line your pockets."

"Nothing wrong with profit."

"I never said there was anything wrong with it. In fact, I'm sure you've gotten perfectly adequate checks from Spencer since your departure. Are they smaller than the hauls you're used to? Probably. But you can be sure that in time they'll grow—if you and Brooke stop sabotaging me at every turn."

Bill swilled his scotch. "I couldn't be bothered. You wanna run my company into the ground, you go right ahead. I'll be waiting to be called off the bench and fix what you decimated."

"I'm still not a stupid woman, Bill. I put all my cards on you, because it made sense. Who else wants their way desperately enough that destroying my credibility wouldn't be too high a price? That's you. It was you, then; it's you now. What I failed to account for is your particular flair. Coming after me as a woman and mother isn't you; that has another type of person written all over it. That's Brooke. You and Brooke teamed up to oust me. Very clever." Katie might have applauded if loyalty hadn't guided her wrong again. "If only you'd had the good sense to stop when you were winning. That's where your partnership hit the rocks: you don't have the same ends in mind. You want the company, but that's not what Brooke's after, is it?"

Bill's jaw bulged under the force of him grinding his teeth.

"She's got you good. You're so far gone that you're going along with this, thinking she'll get him out of her system and devote herself entirely to you. That's…pretty sad, actually."

"What Brooke and I do is none of your concern."

"Oh, no, you're going to have to try another diversionary tactic. That one worked once, not twice. See, whatever your motives for being involved in Brooke's little scheme, you are trying to undermine my relationship with Ridge and you need to stop."

Bill grunted and wrenched himself out of his sprawl to refill his drink. "I served him some home truths piping hot. What's the matter with that? If your puppy love can't take it, it wasn't much to begin with, was it?"

Katie stared at his back, aware she'd offended his vaunted pride. She knew him so well.

"Do you hate me that much that you'd sabotage one of the best parts of my life just to see me suffer?"

Bill favored himself with another gulp of bitter brown liquor. "There's nothing good about Forrester. He's in this 'relationship' of yours to get back at Brooke for straying from that fainting couch he left her on and finding better for herself. You're low-hanging fruit."

Katie felt each word like a slap to the face and tried not to let the sting show in her voice.

"God, did you ever love me or was I just one more errant stroke for your overfed ego?"

Bill stood silent for a while, his great shoulders slumped. She had loved leaning against his back; he was the ultimate man and he had wanted Katie of all women. She had loved him.

"I loved you, Katie. I loved the hell out of you. It was you that didn't love me. The person you wanted to love wasn't me."

"We'll have to agree to disagree on that." What hadn't they disagreed on in the end? "Anyway, I don't think that can be said for Quinn. She seems very invested in you just as you are. What would Brooke say about that? As her sister, I have some reservations about your inability to commit."

"You know, the problem with our marriage wasn't commitment, Katie. It was you."

Brooke's self-delusion is catching.

"I'll take some of the blame for our marital struggles, I will. I was demanding and dictatorial. I wanted everything exactly how I wanted it with no room to negotiate; I wasn't open to compromise. Never mind that I was only asking you not to commit crimes on a regular basis because we had a son and I thought you might want to see him grow up. I didn't want you dead and I didn't want you incarcerated for the next sixty years. I wanted us to grow old together."

"That wasn't in the cards for us."

"I see that. That doesn't mean I'm going to watch you hurt my sister because 'commitment isn't the problem'. Figure out what you want, but leave my family out of your mid-life crisis."

"I'm Brooke's family."

Katie braced her hand on her hip to keep from slapping Bill. She and her sister would never again be close, but they were sisters and each other's family first.

"That hubris is what cost you your company. It will cost you everything else before long."

She left him sitting in the dark beach house with his alcohol for company. She had better places to be.

…

Katie fortified her nerves to speak to her sister. She knocked on Brooke's open office door at Forrester Creations.

Brooke's confusion was palpable. You are not the only one.

"This is a surprise."

"Yes, well, I just wanted to tell you something."

"What could you possibly want to tell me?"

"It's about Bill."

"You disapprove of me becoming involved with him."

"Involved with him again. Let's not forget that this isn't new. But, that isn't the point I came to make. I don't have a say in any of this—"

"No, you don't."

"Regardless, I think you should be warned about him."

"Why do you care?"

"The same reason you care about Ridge after everything the two of you have lived through: you love him. And I love you despite a considerable amount of treachery on your part. Bill is incapable of fidelity. You will get hurt if you pursue this relationship."

"Am I supposed to take you at your word despite this massive deception you've perpetrated against me?"

She should not instigate a game of tit-for-tat with me.

"You don't think you're being a little bit dramatic?"

"No, I'm not being dramatic, Katie. You made me bow and scrape and beg for your forgiveness when all along you had your eye on the prize of doing it right back to me."

"Not true. If you put a modicum of the focus you put into chasing your destiny into what comes out of your mouth, you would realize how ridiculous that is. Ridge chose to be with me, that was his greatest gift to me. He gave his heart to me to love and to cherish for as long as we last."

"You don't think the two of you will go the distance."

"Whether we do or we don't, we're committed to each other. How committed are you and Bill?"

"Extremely committed."

"I'll remember that the next time you make a play for Ridge. I'll remind you. In the meantime, watch who you trust."

"You've taught me that lesson very well."

"Likewise. Oh, and Brooke?"

"Yes?"

"If you attack my relationship or my company again, whatever proxies you may use, I will find out, and I will take extreme satisfaction in shutting you down. Sisters or not. Am I clear?"

"As a bell."

"Good."

Katie left Brooke's office, feeling like she'd drawn even in some great battle as a sister but won in another, as yet undefinable way.

…

Katie arrived home to the smell of fresh French bread and basil beckoning her from the front door.

The coffee table had been moved from the middle of the living room to make room for a checkered picnic blanket. On top of the blanket sat a duet of place settings and wine glasses. There was a wine bottle chilling and lit candles placed strategically around the room to give it a diaphanous glow. A wicker basket sat to the side of the couch, no doubt the source of the sumptuous aroma welcoming her inside.

"Katie, you home?"

She turned to meet Ridge as he came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of glistening strawberries.

"Hey. Am I interrupting something?"

"Nope." They shared a kiss. "This is for you. A romantic evening to ease some of the strain you've been under lately."

"What the occasion?"

"Me being an idiot."

She fixed him with a dubious look. "Did Donna tell you to say that?"

He shrugged noncommittally. "It came to me."

"So Taylor, Caroline, Donna, and Steffy told you to say that."

"And Pam," he muttered.

"You're eating every single lemon bar she sends us after the month we've had. All of them. And no foisting them on Will."

"Why not? He likes 'em."

"He likes them too much. The sugar high will drive us both insane."

He conceded without much further arguing. She kissed him hello properly in spite of her certainty that her son had at least a dozen lemon bars too many in his future. Ridge held her close with one arm whilst he balanced his strawberries in the other. This was the part of their relationship she could get used to dangerously easily, this coming home to him. They parted finally, standing brow to brow.

"I spoke to Bill and Brooke."

"How's Spencer?"

He was making a point of showing disinterest in Brooke. He did that for her; she loved him a tad more for thinking to try.

"Sententious and bellicose, the same as always."

"Do I wanna hear about this?"

"You need to hear it."

"I don't like him."

Katie helped herself to his strawberries, setting them aside on an end table for later devouring, and slid her arms around his neck.

"In case you were unaware, he's no great fan of yours either. You know, I've been so busy acclimating to being with a man that loves me and only me that I didn't stop to think that maybe you had some doubts, too." Ridged rubbed her back, not replying. She kissed his temple. "Ridge, I love you, whatever they have to say about that is irrelevant to us for that reason. Everyone telling us that we're wrong together will have to get used to this." She indicated their embrace. "We're not going anywhere. We'll show them."

"Living well is the best revenge."

"And we're well on our way to getting even."

She kissed him again and, don't tell Ridge, but it turned out to be better than dinner and dessert combined.