Open Words!
The mood was leisurely at the Belair mansion that morning. After breakfast, Steffy and Thomas left for work. Since it was a very warm beautiful summer day, Taylor and Ridge spent the morning at the pool. They enjoyed this luxury, which they sometimes missed in San Francisco. They enjoyed the refreshing water and relaxed on the patio. For lunch, Taylor prepared them some sandwiches. Soon it was time for Ridge to get ready for his appointment with Brooke. When he was ready to go, he looked for Taylor, who sat in the living room engrossed in a book she needed for her research. He cleared his throat.
"Well I'm leaving!" Taylor stepped toward him and hugged him.
"I'll keep my fingers crossed and think of you every minute!"
"Thanks! I can use that, after everything Dad told me yesterday, I don't think this is going to be an easy conversation and honestly, I wish it was already done! If I would just have an idea how to do it. I really don't wanna hurt her, but on the other hand, I know I have to tell her the truth!"
"Ridge, there is no right way for something like this, no matter how you do it, it will always be a shock to her. Especially if your father is right and she still loves you. The best way is to make it quick and easy, just like ripping off a Band-Aid!"
"Nice comparison! I just hope she takes it well and there's no drama. Taylor laughed derisively.
"You still realize, this is Brooke we're talking about! This is going to be a drama, especially when she finds out that I, of all people, have snagged you." He gave her a mocking look. "Well, that's certainly the way she sees it."
"Well, when I think about it, there might be something to that."
"Hey!" She punched him in the shoulder and he pulled her to him, laughing, and kissed her. Taylor returned his kisses and moved to his neck. He tried to pull away from her.
"Hey, what are you doing? I get the impression you don't want me to leave." She looked at him, unperturbed.
"What makes you think that?" She shoved him toward the door. "Go on, get out of here!" He turned to her once more and stroked her face.
"Don't forget, I love you Doc! There's no reason for you to worry at all. So just take it easy and don't freak out while I'm gone."
"I'll try my very best!" They gave each other one last kiss. As Taylor closed the door behind her, she took a deep breath. She tried to ignore the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach and delved back into her reading.
On the way to Brooke's estate, Ridge kept thinking about the best start to the conversation. He had no plan on how to convey the whole truth to Brooke as gently as possible, but also firmly. By the time he arrived at her house, he still hadn't come up with an idea and decided to just let the situation play out. He gave himself a jolt and rang the doorbell. Brooke opened the door immediately. She had been waiting for him impatiently. Ridge sighed heavily as he stepped into the house. Brooke had decorated the living area with flowers and candles and had obviously ordered food from their favorite Italian restaurant. She herself had styled herself up from head to toe and was in an elegant dress he had designed for her two years ago. She smiled at him
"Welcome home Ridge! I was so happy when you called and said you were coming home again. You can't imagine how much I missed you. I understand that you needed the time to get back to yourself. But that's all behind us now and we can start all over again!" She wanted to hug him and give him a kiss, but he blocked her. Irritated at his obvious rejection, she looked at him hurt.
"I'm afraid I need to get something straight here. I didn't come home for you or for us. I'm only here in LA because Mother and Dad invited me to their summer party. I'm going back to San Francisco on Sunday. I want to talk to you about something else."
"Is it about that tabloid? It's not important, I didn't take this trash seriously not for a minute, even more so when Eric told me Jarrett wrote it. It was obvious to me then that the whole thing was a fake. I mean, that's what it is Ridge, isn't it? The whole story is just a bluff, right?!" Ridge sat down on the couch and directed Brooke to sit with him.
"I know this is going to be a shock for you, but basically the article is telling the truth. I'm back together with Taylor. We reconnected in San Francisco and we've started a life together and we plan our future together." Brooke looked at him with shocked wide eyes. Tears showed up.
"No! You can't be serious, Ridge! How can you do this? You don't even love her. You can't be serious about any of this. Is this perhaps some kind of test to check my feelings for you? We love each other! We belong together. We're meant to be together..."
"Brooke, our marriage is over, and it was over long before I ever went to San Francisco. We broke up for good."
"I thought you just needed some space to figure out the situation. But Ridge, you can't just throw away everything we share, everything we've built up!"
"Brooke, just face it. This story with us is over. My feelings have changed and we just weren't good for each other anymore. Think back over the last few months. All we did was fight and give each other a hard time. We even drove RJ and Hope out of the house with our behavior. Remember why RJ wanted to go to this boarding school. He was tired of all our back and forth."
"That's why I think we should finally put it all behind us and start over and focus on what we have."
"No! I didn't come here to restart our relationship, I just came here to tell you the truth about Taylor and me. I thought it would be better if you heard it from me. Especially since Taylor and I will also be at the summer party tomorrow."
"Excuse me? Taylor is in LA with you and you're bringing her to this party tomorrow?! A party we've always been to together!" Tears of anger and rage ran down Brooke's face. Upset, she wandered around the room trying to process what Ridge had just told her. Then she stopped abruptly and looked at him fiercely.
"This is all Thomas and Steffy's doing, am I right? They were behind it. They knew for sure that Taylor lives in San Francisco and then, after they destroyed our marriage, they directed you to San Francisco as well, so you and Taylor could see each other again. And Taylor just waited until you were there and then threw herself at you. Admit it, that's what happened!"
"No Brooke, that's not what happened at all. Of course Thomas and Steffy knew where her mother lives, they visited her there themselves. But they didn't tell Taylor or me anything when I moved into the town. Taylor had no idea I was coming. I saw her again by pure coincidence."
"Pure coincidence, yeah for sure! You can't seriously tell me that. The whole thing was planned by the three of them. They always wanted this. You and I separated and you all reunited; the glorious Forrester family!"
"Brooke, stop it already! Thomas and Steffy had nothing to do with our break up and they had nothing to do with Taylor and I getting back together. They didn't even know about us until we told them and by then we had been a couple for a while." Brooke covered her ears and shook her head vigorously.
"No! No, none of this can be true. I don't want to hear it!" She stepped toward him and took his face in her hands. "Tell me that none of this is true. That you still love me and that you're coming home." Ridge took her hands away and looked at her urgently.
"You know I don't want to hurt you Brooke, but you leave me no choice. I'm going to make this very clear to you. I broke up with you because I don't love you anymore. My feelings for you aren't the same anymore. A lot has happened in the last few months and yes I have fallen in love with Taylor and I want to be with her not because anyone is pushing me or I feel obligated or anything, but simply because I truly love her. All I wish for you is that one day we can get back to a normal interaction. You are still a part of my family, you always will be and because of RJ we will always be connected. But I don't want to be with you."
"You can say whatever you want, Ridge. I know not a word of it is true. I don't know why you're doing this, but this isn't really you and one day you'll realize that and you will come back to me. I will never give up on you!" Ridge looked at her with a desperate expression on his face. Her statement made him very apprehensive.
"Brooke, you'd better focus on your own life and not waste your time waiting for me, because I'm not coming back. I think it's better if I leave now. Everything has been said. Oh one more thing: I expect you to leave Thomas and Steffy alone. Don't you dare take your anger out on them, they don't deserve that" With these words Ridge closed the door behind him.
As Ridge sat back in his car, he took a deep breath. The conversation had taken quite a toll on him. Even though he didn't love Brooke anymore, it had hurt him to see how distraught she had looked because of him. Relieved that it was over, he just drove around a little while to clear his head. While Ridge whizzed through the streets of LA, Taylor sat tensely at home, trying to focus on her research. However, not a word of what she was reading was going into her head. Her thoughts kept circling around Ridge and Brooke. Just then, the doorbell rang.
"Stephanie, what a surprise!"
"Yeah, I thought I'd stop by, just have a little chat."
"It's not still about that wedding? I hope you don't hold his little charade against Ridge, but what else was he supposed to do!"
"No, that subject is off the table. Eric made it very clear to me yesterday that I overshot the mark again. I was just so euphoric that Ridge and you are finally back together."
"Well you have every reason to be, but please stay out of our business. I mean Ridge and I have really proven now that we can handle things just fine on our own, without you meddling in."
"I'll do my best, by the way, where is Ridge? I didn't see his car in the driveway. Did he go to Forrester Creation?" Taylor hesitated with her answer, knowing what was about to come.
"No, he went to Brooke's."
"To Brooke's? Why would he do that?"
"Well, he wanted to talk to her. About us being a couple again. He wanted to tell her the news in person."
"I see, and why didn't you go with him?"
"Because it wouldn't have been a good idea. I'm certainly the last person Brooke would want to see in that situation. Besides, Ridge doesn't need a chaperone when he's talking to his ex-wife." Stephanie looked at her suspiciously.
"So you're telling me you have no problem with this at all? I mean we both know Brooke, she still wants him for herself and she will never respect a relationship between you two." Taylor groaned, annoyed.
"Stephanie, please not all the same old stories again. Not the same old thing. Yes, I know Brooke and yes, she will probably try to win him back over. And for sure, she will never show any consideration for me or anyone else. But Ridge doesn't want her anymore. He broke up with her, for good! We're together now, and that's all that matters!"
"Of course, I don't doubt his love for you, but you know him when he meets Brooke. It's never ended well before."
"Stephanie, this time the situation is very different. No matter what happened in the past, Ridge always chose Brooke then because he loved her very much. But that's over now. He doesn't love her anymore, he told me, and this time no one talked him into it and there was no particular incident. Ridge has just realized for himself that he doesn't want to live with her anymore. He sees her with different eyes now."
"So why did he go back to her anyway?"
"Because he wants to be fair. He wants her to hear the truth about us from him. Even though he's separated from Brooke, they need to be able to reason with each other in the future, alone for RJ's sake."
"And he doesn't care how you feel about it?"
"Of course he does! We discussed this! Okay, I admit it, it's not easy for me, but I also think it's right for him to meet her and work things out, and I trust Ridge, completely!"
"You seem absolutely sure of yourself this time?!"
"Yes, I am. You know, when we had our heart to heart back then, Ridge explained to me very forcefully how he views Brooke and their whole marriage by now and he was very honest about his feelings and that's when I realized that he's really serious this time. The story with Brooke is done for him, for good. And they had been separated for a long time before we got together."
"So what did he tell you?" Stephanie was very curious, because Ridge had given her vaguely answers at the time.
"I can't tell you that, Stephanie. That was very personal and very intimate. I think Ridge should tell you that himself, if he wants to." Stephanie was disappointed. She hadn't expected such a reaction from Taylor. Her changed personality confused her.
"I just hope you know what you're doing and you don't regret it!" Taylor was getting really angry now.
"Stephanie please, stop it! I don't want to hear anymore. I don't want to get dragged back into all these old feuds. So either we change the subject now or I ask you to leave." She pointed with her finger towards the door.
After an extended jaunt, Ridge stopped at Forrester Creation. He wanted to get some papers from his office that his father had left there for him. He had no idea what would await him there.