A pleasant and an unpleasant visitor!

A few days later, Taylor and Ridge were back in San Francisco. Taylor was brunching with Susan, Stacy and Rosa on their terrace. She was just telling the others about her weekend in LA. She finished her report with how she had stood up to Brooke at the party and had told her off. Susan looked at her appreciatively.

"That certainly impressed her! I guess she'll have realized then that she can't do anything about Ridge being with you now." Taylor, however, shook her head skeptically.

"You all don't know Brooke, she never gives up when she wants something or someone! I'm sure she's sitting at home right now plotting up the next plan to win Ridge back. Stacy spoke in encouragement to her.

"Even if she does, she has no chance, I cannot imagine anything that could break up the two of you!"

"Well in the past she always managed to bring some major turbulence into our marriage. But she's not going to get away with it this time!" Taylor got a very defiant expression. Rosa put her hand on her shoulder.

"Don't you think you react a little bit over the top? I mean, at some point every woman realizes when she has no chance with a man."

"Not Brooke! She's convinced, Ridge is her destiny and she alone has the right to be with him and she won't rest until he's hers again! In her opinion, no other woman deserves him and certainly not me! And I can tell you one thing: when Brooke Logan wants something, nothing and no one can stop her." Rosa gave her a suspicious look.

"Come on, she can't be that bad! I'm sure there are some limits even for Brooke."

"Oh no! Believe me, I've known this woman for over 20 years now and during that time alone she's proven more than once, nothing is sacred to her. Back then when we met, she was in love with Ridge but couldn't have him, so she picked his father and had a child with him. Then Ridge was free and she wanted him back, even though she was married to his father. At the end Ridge married me, but that didn't impress her much. When she was pregnant with her second child, nobody knew if Ridge or his Dad was the father of her baby. Then years later, when Ridge and I already had our family with Thomas and the girls, not even that stopped her from making a pass at Ridge again. Then she started an affair with his brother, even though he was married, and when that relationship failed and she couldn't have Ridge back either, she had nothing better to do than hook up with her own daughter's husband and to have a baby with him. The whole scenario repeated itself a few years later and not so long ago her youngest daughter celebrated her graduation and there was a masked ball. At this party she managed to get involved with her daughter's boyfriend. Afterwards she claimed that she was so intoxicated and blown away, she didn't realize who she was doing it with." Taylor had really talked herself into this subject. Everyone stared at her with open mouths, horrified and stunned.

"Oh my God!" Susan finally found her voice again..

"Yeah! And that's just the tip of the Brooke Logan iceberg!" Stacy was shocked.

"Seriously? The husband of her own daughter? That's really gross. I mean, it may happen that you forget yourself once and that you get caught up in your emotions. We are all humans. But your daughter's husband, that's a No-go!" Everyone nodded in agreement. Taylor sighed.

"But the worst part for me over the last few years was, no matter what she's done and how much she humiliated and hurt him, Ridge has always forgiven and defended her. She was always able to convince him, some unfortunate circumstances led to this situation. He was completely devoted to her, he even put Thomas and Steffy aside and neglected them for her sake. I don't want that to happen again. Thomas and Steffy are so happy to have their father, their family back!" Rosa put an arm around her shoulder sympathetically.

"Your rejection of this woman is very understandable. But you shouldn't worry, Ridge only has eyes for you." Susan had been holding back. She smiled to herself. Taylor nudged her.

"I was just thinking about something. Back when Gideon and I got married, our siblings used to play these typical stupid wedding games with us. One of them was that we were blindfolded and with a little peek on the lips we had to recognize each other among several. I guess Brooke would fail miserably!" Everyone started laughing out loud.

"Oh yes! I can tell you what would happen. Brooke would fall in love with another man and afterwards she would claim it wasn't her fault, it was the power of the kiss!"

They chatted for a while, then headed for the tennis court. After several games, they sat exhausted in a café. That's when Taylor asked the others what they could do tomorrow. Everyone looked at her in great astonishment.

"What? Ridge gives you two days off in a row, that's new."

"I have more time off than I'd like for the next few days."

"Why?" asked Stacy, "Is Ridge out of town?"

"No, but his son RJ arrived yesterday. He's on summer vacation right now and is here for a few days and since the penthouse is too small, Ridge is staying with him in his old apartment. Besides, he wanted to spend the time with him undisturbed. Ridge has been looking forward to his visit for days. They don't see each other very often since RJ's been at the boarding school."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Yeah of course,okay I'm not excited, but I understand why Ridge wants to do it that way and that it is important to him!"

"That's very noble of you. Does RJ actually know about you, I mean your relationship?" wanted Rosa to know.

"Yes, he had read the article and Ridge had a video chat with him and explained it to him. He says RJ will get used to the idea, but I'm not so sure."

"Why?"

"Well, RJ has accepted the separation of his parents and is quite happy with it, but I don't know how he'll react to me. After all, I was the woman who tried to steal his daddy away from him for years and I'm sure he picked up a few things about me from Brooke and I'm sure they weren't positive and last but not least, I'm his mother's biggest nemesis!" Susan tried to encourage her.

"Of course it's not easy for him, but once he gets to know you, it will all work out. After all, you're not that scary!".

"Oh thank you very much! I hope so, but Ridge and I don't want to force anything. If he's okay with it, we'll do something as a threesome sometime these days, but it's on him to decide.

"I think that's very reasonable!"

Indeed, it was a strange feeling for RJ to know his father was with Taylor now. He was happy for his father, that he had moved on and was living a content life. It also reassured him, gave him the certainty that there would definitely be no reunion for his parents. But nevertheless he also felt a little uncomfortable. He had heard quite a lot about Taylor over the years, but if he was honest, he had to admit, he hardly even knew her, it was the same with Steffy and Thomas. He only knew what he had heard from his mother and Hope. But Ridge went to great lengths to convince RJ that Taylor was a kind-hearted person and deserved a chance. More for his father's sake, he finally agreed to a trip for the three of them. So they all went to the zoo together. RJ wanted to take pictures there. He quickly realized Taylor was nowhere near as bad as his mother had always made her out to be. However, she seemed a little stiff and reserved to him, but maybe that was just due to the situation. RJ watched his father and Taylor very closely during the outing and even though they tried very hard to control themselves, it was obvious to him how smitten they were with each other. As they sat in the restaurant and Ridge left the table for a moment, the mood between RJ and Taylor got more relaxed. Taylor showed great interest in his life at the boarding school. Together they took a look at the pictures RJ had taken so far. Then, out of the blue, RJ asked Taylor boldly.

"Do you love my dad? I mean really?"

"What do you mean by really?"

"Well, like with everything. Getting married, being truly committed and happily ever after."

"If that's what you mean. Yes, I love your father, and as far as I can see, your father loves me too."

"I know that Dad loves you. He told me so himself." A smile flitted across Taylor's face.

"I just hope you are okay with it and you don't have any problems with us living together!"

"Well Dad's an adult, I can't very well tell him who he's allowed to live with and I'm not naive enough to want my parents back together. As much as I love each one of them, together they are pure hell!" Taylor was a little startled at how bluntly this came out of RJ's mouth.

"Sorry to be so direct."

"No, that's okay! I'm just a little surprised, most kids want their parents back together."

"Not me! I'm perfectly fine the way things are now. So please get happy with dad before he gets any stupid ideas again." Taylor chuckled.

"All right, I will do my best!"

"Oh, and there's one more thing. For the next school year could you maybe get him to stop pestering my principal every month about my grades. Because that's pretty annoying. You could earn a lot of credits for that." He grinned mischievously at her. Taylor couldn't help but laugh.

"You sure know how to push the button. I won't promise you anything, but I'll see what I can do. All right?" She held out her hand to him and the two chimed in. At that moment, Ridge came back to their table with three sundaes.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked curiously. He glanced at both first his son and then Taylor. The latter just shrugged.

"Nope, not at all!"

"Absolutely not Dad! I just gave her my okay, nothing more."

"Well I'm glad to hear that!" Still, Ridge couldn't shake off the feeling that the two of them were hiding something from him. But not a dying word could be gotten out of either one of them.

A few days later, RJ left. Taylor and Ridge took him to the airport together. Ridge was in a bit of a sad mood; he had really enjoyed the last few days with his son. Taylor gave him a sympathetic hug. Before heading home, they stopped by Ridge's apartment to pack up his things. When they arrived at the penthouse, Ridge happily flopped down on the couch.

"Oh, home at last! I've missed all of this, as much as I've enjoyed my time with RJ." Taylor snuggled up to him.

"I missed you too! It's been pretty lonely here without you, even if Susan, Stacy and Rosa were glad to be able to do more with me for a change."

"Then I hope they won't mind sparing you for a little while in the near future." He took her in his arms.

"Thanks Doc! Thanks for putting up with all this!"

"It was not a big deal. RJ is as much your child as Thomas and Steffy. But I'm glad you're back!" She pulled him to her and kissed him full of love.

A couple of days later, Friday afternoon Ridge was sitting in his office, his mind already on the weekend, when there was a knock on the door and a young saleswoman stuck her head in.

"There's a visitor for you Mr. Forrester!" Ridge could hardly believe who walked in the door.

"Hello Ridge, here I am! Are you happy to see me? Did my surprise work?"

"Brooke?!" What are you doing here in San Francisco?" Ridge was anything but pleased to see her.

"I figured it was time I pay you a visit. To see your store and maybe we could spend some time together. San Francisco is a very exciting city, after all!"

"You're welcome to explore the city if you like. There are excellent guided sightseeing tours."

"To be honest, I was hoping I could join you on a tour of the city?!"

"Brooke, you know as well as I do that's not possible! Besides, I already have other plans for this weekend."

"What about tonight? We could go out for dinner?! Just casually, just as friends?!"

"I already have a dinner date with Taylor tonight, and I'm quite sure she wouldn't approve of me having dinner with you."

"Well, she doesn't have to know!"

"Brooke! I'm not going to lie to Taylor about you! By the way, I'd like you to leave now. I'm about to get off work."

"Yeah? Well, that's wonderful!"

"And I'm going to go home and spend the night with the woman I'm involved with! Honestly Brooke, I don't know why you came here?! But if it was in the insane hope that it would bring us closer together again, then I can only advise you: Get on the next plane back to LA!" Brooke looked at him disappointed and angry. Ridge had jumped up and held the door open for her. Brooke stepped toward him and made one last attempt to change his mind.

"Ridge, can't you see why I'm doing this?! I love you! I don't want to give up on you!"

"Brooke, please let it go, you're just making things harder for both of us!" At that moment Rosa came out of her office.

"Oh Rosa wait a minute! Would you please escort my visitor out the door? Unfortunately, I have some urgent business to attend to!"

"Of course!" Sullenly, Brooke followed Rosa out of the store. Ridge was busy packing his things when Rosa came back into his office.

"Was that your ex, by any chance?"

"Yes! That was Brooke!"

"What is she doing here? What does she want?"

"To visit me, to spend time with me, to win me back. Take your pick!" Ridge was stressed about the situation.

"Taylor won't be thrilled when she finds out about this."

"I know!" He didn't feel like talking about it.

"You're going to tell her anyway, right?"

"I guess I'll have to. Even though I'd like to spare her that."

"Well, as long as you don't get involved in these games, the whole story is really only half as bad." Rosa took Ridge in her arms to cheer him up.

"I hope you're right! I'll see you tomorrow then!"

On the way home, Ridge frantically thought about how to break the news to Taylor as gently as possible. He hesitantly stepped into the apartment, loud music welcomed him, and when he got to the living room, he saw that the table was set. There came Taylor prancing toward him in high spirits.

"Hey, there you are finally!" She kissed him passionately.

"Hey, what's all the commotion here? I thought we were going out to dinner tonight?"

"I changed our plans. I made us 'Peppersteak'!" Ridge noticed that Taylor was very elated and seemingly in more than good spirits.

"What's the matter with you? You're so hyper."

"Well there's a good reason for that. We have something to celebrate. It has to do with my latest article I wrote for the Medical Journal."

"You mean the one that had you sitting at your desk all night, drinking tons of coffee and being a nervous wreck?"

"Well yeah but it was worth all the effort! Tadaa!" She proudly held the magazine out to him. On the cover was a picture of her and a reference to her article. They decided to use it as an editorial and not only that! Just now Stanford University called me and invited me to give a guest lecture!"

"Wow. I'm impressed and very proud of you!" He gave her a big kiss and twirled her around. "Congratulations! I always knew I not only have the most beautiful woman, but also the smartest one!"

As they sat down to eat, Taylor asked him.

"So, anything new with you?" Ridge knew that was the time to tell her about Brooke. But he just couldn't bring himself to spoil her good mood. He didn't want to ruin this night for her. So he just shook his head.

"No, nothing special, business as usual! Now let's celebrate!" While toasting with Taylor to her success, he pushed away his guilty conscience. There was still tomorrow!