"It was really Eden?" Amber asked. She looked a bit shocked, then recovered and blew the foam off her cappuccino and onto the table. "That had to be weird. How did RJ take it?"
"I didn't tell him." Noah played with the rim of his cup and stared at the coffee company's logo. "We had enough problems when we first got together: he's got his hang-ups about his dad and Caroline, and there was that stuff with my mom and my grandfather. But we got over that for the most part. RJ still hates his dad and avoids him whenever possible, but Victor seems to have backed off."
"But Eden is Eden," Amber said, voicing the thought Noah didn't want to say aloud.
"Yeah. Nobody knows this, nobody but me and RJ, but that night at the airport when that Taylor woman recorded us and then leaked it to the press... I was just coming back from chasing him to Paris. He'd arrived a day ahead of me."
"This was right after you slept with Brooke, right?"
Even though she was just asking for the sake of clarification, Noah wanted to call Amber a bitch for bringing it up. Instead, he groaned.
"Yes. When RJ found out I slept with Brooke he took off for Paris and I chased after him. And he beat me back here to LA and while I was flying back he was with Eden.
"She had seen the headlines about me and Brooke. Everyone did, really. But she came to see if RJ was okay. When we all lived together in Paris, Eden knew RJ had a thing for me but she didn't know I was bi. Hell, I didn't know! But we knew RJ was gay and it was no big deal because I was with Eden and then she wasn't there."
"She had moved back to Genoa City and yada yada. Speed it along. What happened with you and RJ at the airport?" Amber twirled her hair between her fingers and took a sip of her drink.
"Eden never knew that RJ and I were involved. When she and I ran into each other again, after I had spent my year in Paris with RJ, I didn't tell her. I don't know why. But when she came here to visit him he didn't tell her, either. She found out just like everyone else. But..."
"But what?"
"But RJ was at the airport seeing Eden off. I saw her getting in line to get on the plane and all I wanted to do was scream at her to stop. I didn't even... I didn't see that she was with RJ until she'd turned her back, Amber. And when I asked him if that was her, he told me it was.
"And then he asked me if I would have ben talking to him if she hadn't gotten on her plane."
"Damn. That's fucked up, Noah." Amber sat her drink on the table and reached over to hold his hand. She and Noah didn't really care about the paparazzi guy across the street who was doing a terrible job of hiding. It wasn't like he could hear them. "What did you say?"
"I told him I didn't know. I told him that I didn't know and then I told him I still loved him and I kissed him and you know everything else." Noah closed his eyes and squeezed Amber's hand. After a deep breath, he opened them. "I love RJ, Amber. I wouldn't be here if I didn't. But when I heard Liam's dad say her name, I ran right to the Spencer Publishing offices just on the chance it was her.
"I completely forgot that I had a boyfriend who I live with because it's Eden. It's her and I don't want to leave RJ but it's Eden."
"Before you do something stupid, listen to someone who has done every stupid thing possible: tell RJ. He'll be mad and whiny but he'll appreciate it. Just don't tell him about the whole forgetting he existed thing. Because that's asking for trouble." Amber looked at her phone and jumped in her seat. "Oh shit! My lunch break was over ten minutes ago."
"Don't you own half the company? It's not like Brooke can fire you."
"No, but she can yell. A lot. And ever since she stopped drinking at the office she's been extra crabby."
Amber put the lid back on her coffee and ran off, leaving Noah alone at the table. He turned around and waved to the photographer. The guy waved back and Noah chuckled. It was a needed moment of levity because when he turned back around Amber's chair was no longer empty.
"What the hell do you want?"
"Noah, I know you aren't fond of me..." The woman didn't get to finish her sentence because Noah wouldn't let her.
"Taylor, you outed me to the press to get at Brooke. You outed RJ. And then you hit a man with your car and ran to RJ's daddy to help keep you out of jail. And while I don't hate Ridge, I do hate you."
Taylor tried to smile and Noah fought the urge to throw his coffee in her face. "Noah, I already apologized a million times for outing you and RJ. And Wyatt was an accident! He just came out of nowhere."
"I don't care. Go away." Noah drank his coffee so that he wouldn't cause a scene in front of the paparazzi.
"Noah, I never pressed charges against your mother. The least you can do is hear me out."
Noah snorted. "No court would've convicted her, but whatever you have two minutes."
"I can't tell you why, but I need to tell you stay away from Eden Baldwin. Noah, just trust me on this. Please."
"Go to hell, Taylor. You eavesdropped on my conversation with Amber? Really? And then you want to tell me how to live my life after you made a wreck of how many others? Fuck you."
Noah slammed his coffee down on the table, spilling it on himself. He shook his hand and blew on the burns, all while glaring at her. Then he stood up and walked away.
B&B
"Do you know the name Eden Baldwin?" Liam asked Brooke as they sat on her sofa, eating rice cakes he had picked up at the whole foods market and drinking sparkling peach cider she'd had flown in from Savannah.
"It sounds familiar. Why?" Brooke asked. She took a sip of the cider from her champagne flute and savoured it. She enjoyed the nights like this, where they just enjoyed each other with no thoughts of sex. It wasn't that Brooke hated the sex. In fact, she loved it, but she appreciated that there was more to her relationship with Liam than physicality.
"My dad made a big deal about introducing me to his new intern yesterday. Except he never cared about interns before. He never even bothered to learn their names. So I googled her."
"What is it, Liam?" Brooke sat up and put her free hand on the back of the sofa. "Who is this Eden and why does she matter?"
"Well, I know you know Lauren Fenmore. Eden is her sister-in-law. But in addition to that... Well, she's Noah's ex-girlfriend."
Brooke drained her glass and wished for a moment it was something stronger. "Noah, as in RJ's boyfriend?"
"Yeah. I don't know how serious they were, since it was back when they were all in high school, but I found her Myspace page and it was covered with pictures of the two of them all over Paris. RJ was in a bunch of them, too." Liam put his arm around Brooke's shoulders. "I guess she won some journalism internship thing at her college. Or that's what they told me, but I don't remember anything about it. I just thought you'd want to know in case RJ says something. I mean, god, you know how he acts whenever he thinks some woman is hitting on Noah."
Nodding, Brooke leaned forward and grabbed the bottle of cider and refilled her flute. "I know he loves Noah, and Noah loves him, but my son is very insecure underneath all of his bluster."
"He gets it from his mother." Liam began massaging Brooke's shoulders and she found herself involuntarily whimpering with delight. Then she groaned when the doorbell rang.
"I'll answer it. You go hide in the kitchen," Brooke said, handing Liam the plate of rice cakes. Again, she downed her glass of cider and sat it on the table. "Coming. I'm coming. Who is it?"
"It's Thad, Ms. Logan. Sorry for stopping by so late and unannounced, but you weren't answering your phone. I took your tablet home by mistake, which means you probably have mine."
Sighing, Brooke opened her door. "This couldn't have waited until the morning?"
"Again, I'm really sorry considering it's still my first week, but I didn't think you would want me walking around with digital copies of the company's new designs. My apartment isn't as secure as your, uh, mansion." Thad stopped talking long enough to marvel at Brooke's foyer. She took her tablet from his hand and told him to wait while she fetched his.
"Ms. Logan, there is one other thing," Thad said as Brooke started up the stairs. She stopped and looked back to him. "I'm very good at being discreet. I won't say a word to anybody."
"About what, Thad?"
He leaned back and looked out the window. "The car in your driveway, the license plate says 'Spencer'. I know Mr. Spencer is here. I won't tell your sister or anybody else a thing."
"You think I'm sleeping with Bill?" Brooke started back down the stairs. Was her new assistant really going to try to blackmail her?
"I don't mean to assume anything, but there's the car and two glasses and I did research your company before I applied for the job." Thad didn't smile. In fact, he looked as if he regretted saying anything at all.
"What I do in my personal life is none of your business, but for the record I am not sleeping with my sister's husband." Brooke sat her tablet down on a nearby table and looked Thad over.
"Brooke, that's enough," Liam said as he entered the room. She groaned and grabbed the side of her head. "The guy wasn't trying to insult you. He was assuring you he wouldn't say anything. He just had the wrong Spencer man. Hi, I'm Liam."
"I'm Thad Pasado." He reached out and grabbed Liam's hand, shaking it nervously. "I'm Ms. Logan's assistant. I hope."
Liam smiled and clapped a hand on Thad's chest. "She won't fire you for this. Don't worry. Just go home. You'll get your tablet back tomorrow and Brooke will be in a better mood. I promise."
Sensing it was time to leave, Thad excused himself, gave an awkward nod to Brooke, and closed the door behind him when he left.
"Were you really that bothered by what he said?" Liam asked. He started rubbing Brooke's arms and kissed her forehead. "He's my age, Brooke. Even people in their twenties think like dumb teenagers. He made a not unreasonable assumption and wanted you to know you didn't have to worry."
"I know," Brooke sighed. She wrapped her arms around Liam's waist and pulled him close. "I'll apologize to him in the morning. It's just... I don't know. I'm getting sick of sneaking around, but I don't want to hurt Hope or your father."
"Hope is still married to Wyatt, and my dad is married to Katie. They've moved on. Why can't you and I?"
Brooke kissed Liam. "Can you stay over tonight? We don't need to have sex, but I think I want to wake up in your arms."
"For you?" Liam pulled Brooke even closer and she inhaled his scent. "I would do just about anything."
B&B
When Taylor returned home, she found that she wasn't alone.
"How are you doing, Dr. Hayes?" A man was sitting in a chair in her living room, staring at his phone. He looked up at her but his face was unreadable. She didn't recognize him.
"Why are you in my house?" Taylor closed her door even though she was scared.
"Do you already know who I am? That would be the first question most people would ask."
"It doesn't matter who you are. I know Victor Newman sent you. He needs to leave those boys alone." Taylor slid her keys between her fingers in case she had to defend herself. "Just deliver whatever threat he sent and get out of my house."
"He knows you snooped through Dr. Fascinella's files the last time you visited his clinic. You came across information that you shouldn't possess. We just want to make sure you keep it to yourself. We have people watching."
The man threw a photo on Taylor's table. It was of her and Noah Newman, sitting outside of the cafe earlier that afternoon.
"What did you say to him?"
"Nothing." Taylor gripped her key ring so hard she could feel the thin metal start to bend. "He didn't give me a chance to say a word. I wouldn't anyway."
"Good. We all have our secrets, Dr. Hayes. And if you divulge ours, then we would have no choice but to share yours. And you wouldn't want anyone to know about your secret patient. Or would you?"
"You know about her?" Taylor gasped, holding her free hand to her chest. "But how?"
"Not everyone is like you, Dr. Hayes. We don't go through confidential files out of boredom or curiosity. Mr. Newman purposely keeps tabs on everyone he's come into contact with, especially the ones that could be a danger to his family. And there is nobody more dangerous than her." The man stood up and checked the time on his phone. "Now, it's getting late. Remember what we talked about."