AN:
I DO NOT OWN A THING! This is written purely because of my wish to like the show again and Bradley Bell is making it so difficult, so here I am.
Things happen
Chapter thirteen
May 9th 2014
LA
Rick Forrester´s apartment.
He feels someone slowly making their way on to the bed and turns around, wraps his arm around their waist and brings them in close. "Someone is being extra cuddly today!"
"She sure is, she came and argued with me in the kitchen a few minutes ago!" Caroline walks through the door into the bedroom after getting them some breakfast in bed.
"Well, who won?" Rick has opened his eyes to look at his girlfriend.
Caroline puts the tray down on the bed in between them before giving the little tabby a stroke around her face. "Well, I didn't."
"That's my girl!"
"So, how are you feeling about the changes at the company?"
"I might not have been entirely positive about them before, but I can see how it's working out. They will be good for the company, it just took some time to adjust to them."
"That's good because I really think it was in the best interest of the company to do them."
Ridge had been named CEO, Rick was president, Thorne was co-CEO for Forrester International together with Ridge and Wyatt was vice-president because Bill owned part of the company. Steffy was named head of PR and it wasn't really a change, but it cemented her place in the company. Michala was still Steffy´s assistant and it was something everyone was happy with. Wyatt also had a part in handling the shipping department and he was thriving.
In his will, Eric had named Ridge CEO until the day he dies or chooses to leave the seat himself.
As his first act as CEO, Ridge had decided to stop focusing on one line at the time and bring all the lines forward, it would put an increased workload on the PR department, but Steffy had seen the changes coming and hired a few more people and divided her work force between the lines in the lineup.
He had brought back the Intimates line, as well as Brooke´s bedroom and made the lines focus on different forms of lingerie. The Intimates line focused more on lingerie to be worn under the clothes that Forrester brought out, Brooke´s bedroom focused on seductive lingerie for women to wear for their significant other. They also had brought out a sleepwear-line and a swimwear-line.
Couture was brought back and they created a line of clothes worn more every day, called exactly that and when they had announced the Everyday-line there had been an outcry for it from the stores that sell their lines.
Hope for the Future had received a revamp as well and had added a lighter form, a more youthful version, of the Intimates line as well as the Swimwear-line, making it more of a one stop shop.
The Men´s line had been brought back as well and it was such a big success that they wondered why they had removed it from the line up at all, then they remembered.
By the end of the year, they would know if the decision to do it like this had been a good one, but as it stood right now, their sales figures had increased by twenty five percent and they were steadily rising.
Caroline had been named head of design because Ridge would focus on the administrate parts of the running of the company for the next few years and wouldn't have time to do as much designing. They also realized that they needed to reinforce their design team now that Thomas had left, Ridge would be focused on the business part of Forrester Creations and Eric had passed away.
So, the next two weeks would be spent finding the new designers. They had decided that they would need at least four new designers and they had decided to divide their seasons up into six instead of the normal four, although the clothes from the previous seasons would still be available through a web-based shop.
"So, are you ready for the first interview today?" Caroline looks over at her boyfriend.
"I am, I'm looking forward to it actually. After reading through the applications I know which ones I feel should get the job and I'm thinking Ridge is in agreement with me. What about you?" He looks over at her and sees the confusion on her face. "You will be working with them and you will be their boss."
"Yeah, I look forward to meeting them all, it's exciting."
They had finished eating breakfast and given the kitten a cuddle and then went to get ready for the day ahead.
They walk through the doors of Forrester Creations together hand in hand and meet up with Ridge, Wyatt and Steffy in Ridge´s office. Caroline walks in and hugs everyone inside, Rick on the other hand just says hello and then they're all good.
"So, you all ready for this?" Steffy asks.
"Most definitely." Wyatt agrees.
"Well then." Ridge smiles. "Let's do this!"
~Things happen~
Over the last few months since her husband died, Stephanie Forrester had been proud of the way the family had handled the changes within the family and she knew that the family was in great hands.
She loved the updated version of the mansion and looking at the way the family had magically come together at the hands of Ridge and Taylor had been amazing because no one had believed that the ax could be buried the way it had been.
But apparently, Brooke leaving was probably the best thing that could have happened.
At this particular moment, Stephanie was sitting on a chair in the guesthouse she currently lives in since leaving the Mansion to her son and his wife while reading a book. She knew there were interviews being held for the new designers at Forrester Creations and she didn't want to get in the way of those.
So, she was catching up on her reading. About halfway through the book, there's a knock on her door and so she walks over to the door and opens it. A smile breaks out on her face when she sees who's on the other side.
"Hi Stephanie!"
"Hi Bridget! Shouldn't you be working right now?" She brings her in for a hug.
"You would think, that right?" She sees Stephanie nod. "I have the day off because I have patients that are going to get induced this weekend so I have today and Monday off."
"Well, hopefully it works out well and those babies are healthy."
"I haven't been with them from the start, but we've formed a bond and they wanted me there, so I'll be there!"
"Well, a good doctor cares for their patients no matter what capacity that might be."
They walk over to the couch and sit down.
"How is Derek doing?"
"He's doing wonderfully, we made our relationship official this weekend and he and Thomas are working wonderfully together."
"That's good!" Stephanie winks her eye at Bridget. "I heard something about that from Nick while he was here."
"Yeah, I couldn't introduce my child to someone without having Nick give his opinion of him as well. I mean, they had to meet while the renovations were going on and Logan fell for him completely. After the renovations were done and Logan and I were sitting down to eat our supper, he asked me if I was going to marry Derek and I didn't know what to say, so he explained that he thought he would be an amazing stepfather. So, when Derek called me a week later, I took the chance and went on a date with him and here we are."
"He came and saw me a few days ago actually, he wanted to know if I liked the renovations of the Mansion and it gave me a chance to get to know him a little better and I have to say that I think that he's a wonderful man and he's so lucky to have you. It's a good match!"
"Thank you! Steffy really is a good match maker."
"She really is!" Stephanie then thinks about what Bridget just said. "What do you mean?"
"Well, apparently when Steffy first met Derek, she just knew he was for me the moment she saw him. I'm glad though, I met a wonderful man and he's such a good role model for my son."
"Yes, I agree. How do you think they're doing over at Forrester Creations?"
"I think they are doing good. I believe that they will find the people they are searching for soon."
"So, will you be staying for lunch? Taylor stopped by yesterday with some pasta and she came with quite a lot of food."
"I'd love to!"
~Things happen~
Forrester Creations
Ridge´s office.
They had talked to two people about the job as designer for Forrester´s, two of which had been Rick´s favorites on paper, but he could tell that they wouldn't work well with Caroline and so he agreed with Ridge that they weren't a good fit. They had also screwed up during the design test. Caroline had done a design yesterday and then Steffy described that same design to the applicants today and neither managed to get even close to the design made by Caroline.
Right now, it was almost lunch time and the next one they were going to meet hadn't been a favorite of Rick´s and he didn't think Ridge liked him very much either.
"So, next one?" Ridge sighs deeply.
"Yeah, let's get this one over with."
Ridge calls out to Pam via the intercom to let the next one in.
There's a knock on the door and Ridge calls out to enter.
The door opens and a man walked through the door. He was dressed in a black suit, a white dres shirt, black shoes and a dark red tie. He has his light blond hair in a ponytail in the back and he walk with confident steps over to the desk and holds his hands out.
"Hello!" All five present says Hello back. "My name is Nathan Evans and I'm thankful that you took the time to see me! I've always wanted to work at Forrester Creations and this is such a wonderful opportunity!"
After introducing himself, they talk back and forth for about an hour.
"So, we've got a challenge for you..." Steffy hands over a design sheet as well as the pencils that are most commonly used at Forrester Creations. "..yesterday, Caroline here drew a design that we'd love to see you do and I will describe it to you and we'll see how you do."
Steffy starts describing and half an hour later, Nathan hands his design over.
"Thank you! We will let you know within the next two weeks!" Steffy reaches out to shake his hand and sends him a small smile.
The rest of them shakes his hand as well and then they watch him leave.
"Well, that's one down, three to go." Ridge exclaims looking at the design sheet in front of him.
The dress was almost identical to Caroline´s, in fact, it was even better than Caroline´s.
"I agree!" Rick says.
Caroline, Wyatt and Steffy nod their heads.
"So, lunch everyone?"
Just as everyone is about to leave, Taylor pokes her head through the door. Ridge´s eyes light up and he invites her in.
"So, I heard you were busy all day today interviewing for the designer positions and I thought I'd come by with a little bit of lunch!" Taylor comes into the room carrying a picnic basket and a plastic bag.
"I knew there was a reason I married you!"
She opens the basket and pulls out sliced chicken breast, potato salad, cut up vegetables, a sliced-up watermelon and some bottles of iced tea. Then she starts pulling cutlery and plates out of the bags.
"I borrowed these from the dining hall here at Forrester, but I'll put it back before I leave!" Taylor hands out the plates and cutlery to each of the other five in the room. "Go ahead, eat!"
She watches them all put food on their plates and then puts some on her own and then they talk about stuff while eating.
"This was delicious, thank you for bringing food Taylor!" Rick sends a smile her way.
"It sure was!" Wyatt agrees.
"This was really good mom! Thank you for bringing lunch!"
Caroline walks over and gives Taylor a hug while thanking her for lunch and then Ridge comes over and gives her a kiss.
"Well, you got to feed the troops when they need it!" Taylor smiles with a sparkle in her eyes. "Now, I need to go so you can continue speaking to the potentials!"
Taylor backs all the containers back into the picnic basket and the cutlery and plates into the plastic bag and then she leaves.
~Things happen~
When the day is over five hours later, they had met with four more and out of the four, only one stood out and so two of the four places were filled. However, two out of seven were a really bad number, but they had another eight to see the beginning of next week.
"Well, that was productive." Steffy says with a sigh.
"Yeah! But I thought we had narrowed it down to the best of the bunch, what if the people we are seeing on Monday are equally bad as the five we've rejected?"
"Well, if they are, we'll go through the applications we've rejected again and see which ones we could entertain the idea of. I know that the four we want have applied, we just need to find them." Ridge groans. "If only they wouldn't be so hard to find."
"Well, sometimes it's just bad luck that you don't find who you're looking for!" Steffy runs her hand over her father´s shoulders. "At least we found two!"
"Yeah, I guess. So, are you two going home now?" Ridge looks over at Wyatt and Steffy.
"I have a date with my beautiful daughter over at her father´s house in about an hour, so I better get going." Steffy explains. "Are you coming with me or are you going home?"
Steffy looks at Wyatt for his answer.
"Well, I thought I'd go home and start on dinner so it'll be finished when you get there."
"Good! You'll ride home with dad then?"
Wyatt looks over at Ridge and sees him nod. "Yes, that I'll do! I'll see you in a little bit!"
"See yah!" Steffy packs up her things and leaves for her ex´s house.
The other four sees her leave.
"Well, we'll see you all on Monday if not sooner." Rick says as good bye.
"Yes! We will!" Ridge sends a smile their way.
"Tell Taylor that lunch was delicious!"
"Will do!" Wyatt and Ridge watch Caroline and Rick leave. "Should we go then?"
"Yes, I'm hungry!"
So, they pack up their things, walk out to the car and sets off towards home. Ridge drops Wyatt off at the house and then proceeds to go home. He parks the car and walks over to the guesthouse to say hello to his mother. He knows that Taylor will start dinner when she hears the car coming and it should be done when he has talked to his mother.
~Things happen~
When the workday was over on Monday, they had found one more that they were still interested in.
"This just isn't going to be good enough." Ridge exclaims after the last applicant has left the office.
"Yeah, well, Wyatt and I took the liberty of checking the applications again over the weekend and we think we have found four that could possibly work well with us out of the ones we rejected the first time around." Steffy places four files on the table for the other three to read. "I want to see how they do with the design challenge because they all do wonderful designing."
"Okay, we'll call these four, have them meet in Steffy´s office all four of them at the same time and they will have to do the challenge and after that we'll talk to them?" Ridge offers.
"Sounds good to me!" Wyatt agrees.
"Let´s take one each and Steffy can go prepare for tomorrow."
Steffy agrees and leaves for her office, sets up four stations with a design sheet and a set of pencils and when she's back, the other four have finished talking to the four suggested.
"You all ready for tomorrow?" Steffy says.
"Yes!" Ridge says.
"Okay then, let's go home! Are you riding home with me?" She directs the question at Wyatt.
"Yes, I rode in with you and I believe Ridge has plan with your mom!" She turns her head over at her father who nods his head with a big smile on his lips.
"Well then, let's go. We just need to pick Kelleigh up over at Spencer Publications." She walks over to get her bag and then they leave.
Ridge leaves to meet up with Taylor and Caroline and Rick heads on home.
~Things happen~
The next day finds Steffy standing behind her desk looking out at four very different people.
On the left side of the couch, there's a man in his early thirties with dark brown, almost black hair, looking like he was a part of the movie Grease with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
To the left of the couch, there's another man sitting, he's a blonde guy in his late twenties and he's dressed in a pair of black jeans, a white t-shirt and a red flannel shirt with a pair of black converse.
In the group there is only one woman and she appear to be about Steffy´s age, with red hair and a style that's very unique.
The last male of the group is a man in his late thirties and a typical blond surfer dude, he actually reminds her very much of a character from Veronica Mars called Dick Casablanca, but more well-mannered.
"Okay, so. David, Austin, Sally and Jacob, were you told yesterday what we would be doing today?" All four shake their heads. "Well, okay, Caroline Spencer drew a design for a challenge for these interviews, I regret to tell you that you four were not chosen for the first round of interviews and after interviewing the ones chosen, they didn't match up to what we wanted so we looked at your applications again."
Steffy sees the hurt and then joy in their eyes as she's talking.
"Now, some of you might not get to the interview stage of today, it all depends on how you do with the challenge. What's going to happen is that I'll describe what's on this design sheet and you will have to replicate it to the best of your abilities."
She looks at each of them and sees them nod their head in understanding.
"Good, let's begin!"
So, she describes the dress leaving out that it'll be for a girl in her early teens. It's a light-yellow fabric with gold stars scattered on it all over and a yellow ribbon around the waist.
Half an hour after she started describing the dress, she tells them to write their names on the design sheet and then hand them to her.
She tells them to sit in the lobby and wait for her to call them back in and then she walks through the door into her father´s office that's connecting to hers.
"Well, three of them did a good enough job figuring out that it was a dress for a young girl."
She places all four on her father´s design table.
"Well then, take forth one away." And Steffy takes away Austin´s design, leaving Sally, Jacob and David still on the table.
She then places Caroline and Nathan´s above the three designs from this morning.
"Who do we choose?"
"Let's call Caroline and Rick in here."
As it happens, Caroline and Wyatt are about to walk through the door having had a hunch that they were needed.
"Hey! Did they do well?"
"They did, we were about to call you and Rick just now Caroline, but you and Wyatt will do!" Steffy explains. "So, which one do you think should be the one?"
Steffy goes to sit down while waiting for Wyatt and Caroline to choose and as they're contemplating, Rick walks through the door from Steffy´s office as he has the office across the hall from Steffy´s.
"How is it going?"
"Well, we're down to three now."
Wyatt, Caroline and Rick take a look at the three remaining designs.
"Well, I think we should talk to all of them, maybe we could hire all three, I mean they are really good all of them." Rick makes a suggestion.
"Yeah, I agree with that." Steffy says and then the other three agrees. She walks back into her office, opens the door and calls out for David, Sally and Jacob to come on through, she then turns to Austin and tells him that he's not what they're looking for at the moment.
Over the next two hours, they talk about why the three want the job and so much else. About midway through, they decide to do an impromptu challenge again and all three designs look almost identical.
"Okay." Ridge looks over to the others and sees all of them looking at all three. "We're going to give all three of you a chance. You each have a year to prove yourself and if we feel like it's not a good fit, the contract automatically expires. However, if you reach the end of the year and we feel like it's a good fit, you'll get another contract to sign where you'll be hired until further notice."
They all give small smiles and thanks them for the opportunity.
"I'll see you all Monday! Have a good week!" Caroline sends them off and they see them leave.
"Well, that was stressful." Steffy leans back after sitting down on the couch. "I'm going to go to Spencer Publications and pick up my daughter. I'll see you all right here on Thursday next time. Wyatt, I'll see you at home!"
"We'll see you back at work then!" Rick and the rest wave her off. "I agree with Steffy though. That was stressful!"
"Well, although stressful, we've got the new designers we wanted and that's what matter." Ridge points out.
"Yeah, but it's time to get back to work." Caroline starts packing up her stuff.
The rest of the day is pretty uneventful.
~Things happen~
August 1st 2014
Banks, Andrews and Joly Law firm
Joy Andrews office
It had finally happened. Steffy had been told to go to Paris for a week by her father to gather some numbers from Forrester International and so Kelleigh had been brought to her father and stepmother and although Steffy missed her daughter like crazy, she knew she was safe.
Steffy had come back the night before and was currently spending time with her lawyer working on something that would change many lives.
"Well then. I guess we're done here? Everything is in order and we just need some signatures."
Steffy smiles at the young woman sitting across from her. "Good! I'll let you know when I have them!"
"Yeah, I'll see you when it's time to file the papers."
Steffy gathers her things as well as the legal documents and then she says good bye to her lawyer and makes her way to her ex-husbands home to collect her daughter.
She rings the doorbell and hears her daughter saying "Mama, mama, mama!" through the door which puts a smile on her face. In her hands, she's holding the legal documents.
Hope opens the door and lets her in. Kelleigh had started walking just after the interviews in May and seeing her mother in person, Kelleigh races towards the door.
"Hello Baby girl! Have you been a good girl for daddy this week?" She picks her daughter up and Kelleigh grabs a hold of her cheeks and gives her a big kiss on her lips. "I guess so!"
Steffy throws a glance over at Hope to get confirmation, which she gets as well as a smile.
"Where is Liam?"
"He should be getting back from a quick trip to the office any minute now!"
"Okay, I have some papers I need him to look at when he gets back, could you give them to him and the two of you could read them over together? They concern both of you!"
"Okay, I'll make sure he gets them!"
Then they hear a car coming up the driveway and Hope laughs a little. "Well, now you can give them to him yourself!"
They hear the door handle turn and Liam comes walking through the door. "Well, look who's home from Paris!"
"Well, I've been home for a while already. I dropped off the papers to dad and then went and saw my lawyer about something. Here you go!" She hands the papers over and watches him read what they say.
Both Hope and Steffy sees the moment it clicks in his mind what the papers mean.
"Don't you think it's too soon?"
"No, I've been planning this since the house was ready, I just needed to see what would happen if you were to have to care for her longer then a weekend and according to the great reviews you got from our daughter. It's time! Take the papers to your lawyer and see what he says, we'll have a meeting with both our lawyers and make a schedule for when she's going to be here and when she'll be with me."
His face lights up and he looks at his wife to see how she feels. Hope just nods her head.
"I trust you both with my daughter and I would hope that you feel secure enough in caring for her that you'll jump at this chance. The two of you should talk this over and then call me when you've decided what to do! It's time, Liam!" Steffy starts looking around. "Now, we need to go home. I got to have my daughter cuddles!"
Steffy finds the diaper bag as well as the pack n' play that she had brought with her when she left her daughter before leaving for Paris.
She looks over at Hope. "Will you help me get all of this to the car?"
"Yeah, Liam can look the papers over while we pack Kelleigh´s things into the car." Hope goes and gathers some things that had been scattered.
When she gets back, Steffy has already put Kelleigh in her car seat and was on her way back to pick up some stuff. Both women stop when they see Liam sitting on the couch with a silly grin on his face reading the papers through one more time, Steffy catches Hope´s eyes and winks at her. Hope chuckles and then winks right back.
Both of them walk out to the car and put the stuff in the trunk. Steffy then turns to Hope and gives her a hug and Hope hugs her back.
"Remember, you two need to talk about the choice you'll be making. The end result will impact both of you. I also need both of your signatures on the papers."
"Why? I mean, she's your and Liam´s daughter."
"Well, she'll be your daughter too if we share custody and you need to be able to make choices for her medically if Liam nor I can be there. Thomas, Michala and Wyatt will sign the papers as well because I live with them and if neither of us three will be able to care for Kelleigh due to one reason or another, they will have the legal right to do so." Steffy smiles. "It takes a village to raise a baby, I'm just creating my village."
"Okay, we'll look the papers over and then talk to our lawyer about setting up that meeting."
"Good. Thomas, Michala and Wyatt will be signing even if the two of you don't whatever the reason. Maybe you're just not ready yet, but I believe you are. I certainly am!" Steffy walks over to the passenger side to check on her daughter. "Take the weekend to think about it, then let me know!"
"We will!" Hope nods her head. "Are we still on for freezer meals next weekend?"
"Absolutely. Bridget is joining us tomorrow to go over the plan for shopping and time management and all that. She felt it worked out wonderful last time. So, we'll be planning all weekend. Logan has apparently been shipped off to Nicks and they'll be doing all sorts of fun things."
"Good! I'll let you know when we've decided!"
"Good! I'll look forward to your call!"
Steffy then walks over to the driver's side and waves good bye as Hope walk up to the door and waves back.
Hope then opens the door and walks inside to sit down next to her husband.
"So, what do you think?" She asks him gently.
"I don't know if I'm ready for it. I mean, when Steffy agreed to add that we'd revisit the custody agreement in the future, I thought it was years down the line, not before Kelleigh is even one year old!"
"I think she was waiting for me to accept that Kelleigh would be a part of your life. I don't think she saw any reason to wait as long as you thought it should take and like she said, she needed to see that we could take care of Kelleigh longer than just a weekend and we just did. It's been a long time coming. We could choose to not do half with her and half with us. But maybe seventy-five at Steffy´s and twenty-five with us or whatever percentage that you would prefer. But I do think that we're ready for this." She brings him in for a reassuring hug. "We have the weekend to decide, let's sleep on it and we'll talk more in the morning."
"Yeah, okay. Did you talk to Steffy about next weekend?"
"I did, she, Thomas, Michala, Wyatt and Bridget will be planning their food this weekend, so I think we should do that tomorrow, then they'll be doing the shopping all weekend. If we do it like last time, it's going to be prep work on Saturday with vegetable chopping, bread making and pasta boiling, then assembly on Sunday."
"Good, do you want to go out to dinner tonight? I don't feel like eating in the house tonight."
"Yes, I'd love to!" Hope smiles at him. "Let me go get ready!"
~Things happen~
AN:
Well, there we go. Good chapter!
On January 15th I started going to school again and therefore, there will be longer between posts from now on.