Chapter 52: Manipulation – Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

Kate arrived at the Salem Inn to talk to Lucas. When Lucas let his mother in, he closed the door behind him. "What brings you over today? Do we need to discuss business?"

Kate wanted to avoid this conversation altogether, but she promised Will she would try to get through to Lucas. "Lucas, I came here to talk about your son."

Even though he knew what Kate wanted to talk to him about, he played dumb. "What about him?"

Kate knew Lucas was only playing dumb. "You know good and well what it is. Lucas, you need to accept that your son is gay and move forward with all of this."

Lucas hated talking about Will's homosexuality. "I don't understand how Will can just accept it and live his life as a gay man. Why would anyone want that?"

Kate placed her hand on Lucas's shoulder. "Son, we have been down this road before. You made your decision, and I tried to support you in your decision. I helped you anyway I could. I told no one about your struggle." Kate thought back to when she bribed Nicole to marry Lucas. As she continued, Kate made Lucas look at her. "Do you want Will to end up like you? Do you want Will to be unhappy in his life? … because when I look at you all I see is regret, and I will admit that I have some fault, but you need to realize this is not about you."

"Of course this is about me. I have to help Will through this. I know what he needs to do, but he won't do it." Lucas sat on his bed annoyed. "And to set things straight I am happy. You may not see it, but I love Hong Kong, and it's been good to me. Salem just brings back bad memories."

Kate took a seat next to him. "Lucas, you came to Salem because you knew Will was in a bad place. You came here to show Will that you love him and are always here for him even though you live in Hong Kong." Kate placed her hand on Lucas's back. "You have fought yourself over this your whole life and now you expect your son to do the same. Stop trying to dictate how your son lives his life." Kate knew her statement was quite hypocritical, but she would never admit it. "Man up, Lucas. Allow your son to do something you could never do. Allow him to accept himself and live his life!"


After making the delivery, Chad returned to the DiMera Mansion. He found his father in the living room pouring himself a drink. Chad walked over and patted Stefano on the back. "I've returned, father. The package has been delivered."

Stefano turned happy to see his son. "Oh, good. Were there any complications?"

"Nope. I did exactly as you asked." Chad smiled back at his father. He liked seeing Stefano happy.

Stefano looked Chad over and saw that his hands were empty. He scratched the side of his head. "Where is the money?"

Chad gave Stefano a puzzled look. "Money? What money? I did not know I was supposed to receive money in exchange for the package."

Stefano quickly became serious. He slammed his drink down as he yelled at Chad. "I cannot believe you delivered that package and let that man get away with the money." Stefano pulled out his phone to make a call. "I'm going to have to send Marco to fix your mess."

Chad stepped back as Stefano laid into him. "I'm so sorry. I did not know."

As Stefano dialed Marco's number, Stefano glanced up at Chad. "Take a break. Take the rest of the day off to think about your mistake. I don't want you to mess anything else up." Stefano put the phone to his ear and threw his hand at Chad to dismiss him.

Feeling horrible, Chad apologized again before heading up to his room.


After arriving at Java Café, Melanie spotted Dario and took a seat across from him. She could not believe that it had been more than a week since they had talked about their relationship. She wondered if they both came to the same conclusion. "Hey," Melanie softly greeted Dario.

Dario turned towards the barista. "Do you want something to eat? I can buy."

Melanie shook her head. "No. I'm good, thanks." Melanie glanced at Dario while she played with her fingernails. "So we're going to be completely honest, right?"

Dario nodded his head. "Yeah. Completely honest."

"I guess I'll go first then." Melanie looked down at her hands as she started, "You were right. I did change on you when we became a couple. I think I might have even changed on you before that." She looked up as she continued, "Even though I can have fun with you, there are times I wish that I could be with Nathan as I've seen a different side of him I forgot existed."

Dario looked down as he remembered his conversation with Nathan earlier. "I knew you were just settling for me."

"How did you know?"

Dario thought back to the scene with Sonny in the Penthouse Grille bathroom. He remembered the look in Sonny's eyes. Melanie had never looked at him in the same way. Even though he promised Melanie they would be completely honest, he knew he could not tell her about Sonny. "I could just see it in your eyes."

Melanie took Dario's hand. "I'm so sorry that this did not work out."

"Me, too." Dario hated letting go of Melanie, but he knew it was the right thing for the both of them. "But it's the way life goes…" Trying to reassure her, he continued, "I want you to be happy with Nathan."

Melanie took her hand from Dario's hand. She looked to the side as she wondered what would happen next. "I don't even know if Nathan still wants me after I rejected him again."

Dario looked Melanie in the eyes hoping he could make her feel better about their situation. "I'm sure he does. He would be a fool to ever get over you."

Melanie smiled at Dario's sweetness. She felt bad that she could not give her all to him. "Will you be okay?"

"I'll probably be alone forever, but don't worry about me. I'm a survivor." Dario smiled back at Melanie hoping she would just let him go.


Will arrived back to his apartment and found Sonny sitting on the couch. "Hey, have you been here long?"

"I've been here for a bit." Sonny stood up. "I just finished dinner. Are you hungry?"

"Sure. I could eat." Will smiled at Sonny. He was glad to have him as a roommate and friend.

After taking a seat at the table with their food, Sonny remembered that he never brought Will back something from Java Café. "Sorry I forgot to bring you something to drink. Things got crazy when I was at Java."

"What happened?" Will asked before taking a bite of spaghetti.

Sonny put his fork down. "I met this cute guy, and we flirted a bit. Then out of nowhere, Dario walks in and chews the guy out. I've never seen him so upset."

Will questioned why Dario would be upset at all. "Why would Dario react that way?"

Sonny realized he might have said too much. "I am not sure." Sonny wondered if Dario was jealous. Sonny realized that Dario and Manny had similar features. "Maybe they're related…"

Will still questioned Dario's behavior to himself. He looked to the door when he heard a knock. "I'll get it." As Will answered the door, Sonny wondered if he would have to make another plate of food.

After being invited in, Gabi walked into the apartment and spotted Sonny as he walked in from the kitchen. She turned to Will ignoring Sonny for a moment. "I was hoping I could talk to you, Will."

Will looked her over. "Of course. What do you want to talk about?" Will was surprised that Gabi came over to talk to him.

Gabi placed her hand on Will's cheek. "I wanted to let you know that I forgive you." She turned to Sonny as well. "I forgive you, too."

Will and Sonny thanked her for forgiving them after apologizing again. Sonny walked closer to Gabi. "You want some spaghetti?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks. I just came here to tell you that I hope that we all can be friends." Gabi thought about her next comment. "I also wanted to tell you that I am praying for you two because you guys are living in sin."

Sonny became defensive but held back. "No we're not. How can you say that?"

Feeling that Sonny was a lost cause, Gabi turned her back on Sonny and placed her hand on Will's cheek again. Looking Will straight in the eyes, she told him, "Will, don't waste your life away for something that will never make you happy. I'm here as a friend, and I don't want to see you waste your life away." Gabi kissed Will on the cheek and left.

Sonny locked the door behind her and turned to find Will silently sitting on the couch. Sonny hurried over to Will's side. "She got to you, didn't she? Don't listen to her. We are not living in sin. I hope you know that."

Will slowly looked up at Sonny. "Whether or not Gabi is right on the sin issue, she was right about one thing." Depression hit Will hard as he thought about his situation with Chad. "I'll never be happy being gay because I'll never get what I want."


Kate and Stefano sat in the dining room of the DiMera Mansion enjoying dinner together alone. After taking a sip of her wine, she placed her hand on top of Stefano's hand. "My love… I have been thinking…"

Stefano playfully rolled his eyes and smiled. "Should I worry?"

Knowing Stefano was only messing with her, Kate smiled and continued, "Chad has been working really hard this week. I think he should be rewarded."

Stefano stopped eating to give his full attention to Kate. "What did you have in mind?"

Kate thought about her new plan to get Will and Chad together. "I think you should let Chad take the yacht out for a week of sailing. He could use a vacation."

Stefano shook his head at Kate as he thought her suggestion was ludicrous. "Chad messed up today. I'm not sure he should be rewarded at all."

"Stefano, you know everyone makes mistakes." Kate needed to convince Stefano to let Chad go if she wanted Chad and Will to be together. "It would be nice if you okayed this. I'm sure Chad would appreciate the time off as he's worked harder this week with EJ gone."

Stefano knew Kate had a point. "I'll think about it," he replied as he continued eating.


At the Horton house, Abigail and Chad sat on the couch after grabbing a bite to eat. Chad thought about his dispute with Stefano earlier wishing he had done things right. Chad felt like he was losing at everything. Abigail noticed Chad was somewhere else. "What are you thinking?"

Chad looked down to Abigail. "I had a rough day today with Stefano. I don't know what to do."

Abigail smiled inside because she hoped that meant that Chad and Stefano were at odds with each other. She also liked that Chad called him Stefano instead of father. She hoped Chad would just walk away from his family. It would make things easier for both of them. She hid her joy from Chad as she rubbed his arm. "I'm sorry."

Abigail moved in closer to Chad to cuddle with him. As he placed his arm around Abigail, Chad began to think about cuddling with Will in his bed. Chad tried to psych himself out by focusing on the positives of being with Abigail. He thought to himself, "I want Abigail. She is beautiful, and with her I can have kids." Chad began to think about Grace and how he lost his chance on getting to know her. He did not want to lose out on being able to have any more kids.

Nathan arrived and immediately spotted Abigail and Chad on the couch. "Hey guys."

Chad and Abigail stopped cuddling and turned to face Nathan. "Hey Nathan. Getting home from work?" Chad asked.

Nathan walked into the living room. "Yeah. It was slow today, which is good news I guess." Nathan wondered if Chad and Will were still talking. "How is Will? Do you know?"

Annoyed that Nathan brought up Will, Abigail sat up to answer for Chad. "Chad and Will aren't really talking anymore."

Nathan looked at Chad to see what he had to say, but Chad did not respond. Nathan frowned as he continued, "That's too bad, Chad. It's a shame that you and Will are not talking because you two seemed really close."

Abigail wondered what Nathan was doing. "Could we please have some privacy?"

Nathan took the hint and put his hands up. "I'm going. Sorry for interrupting."

After Nathan left, Abigail tried to cuddle with Chad, but Chad stood up. Looking up at Chad, Abigail wondered if Nathan upset the mood. "Are you thirsty?"

Chad turned to face Abigail. "Nah. I think I should head home. I have to get up super early to make up for my mistake. Hopefully my dad will forgive me."

Abigail stood up and kissed Chad trying to push back her frustration. "Okay. I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow. Sleep well."

Chad gave Abigail a hug. "Goodnight."