Pierre gets second thoughts!
The next day, Taylor met with Stephanie. Together, they planned a party for all of Forrester Creations employees and business partners. The party should be a fundraiser for the hospital. They discussed the guest list and were checking, they didn't forget anyone.
"I'm so grateful to you for helping me with the organization!" Stephanie reached for Taylor's hand. "I would have been completely overwhelmed with all this on my own."
"Now come on, Stephanie, you've thrown so many great parties in your life. But I'm more than happy to support you. After all, it's for a good cause. By the way, where is Eric? I was actually hoping to meet him." Stephanie gave a loud sigh.
"Oh, he's over at Forrester Creation. You know him! First, he grumbled quite a bit when Ridge asked him to fill in again for the duration of your honeymoon and now he can't pull himself away from the company. I'm afraid it will take a few days before I can pry him away from his work."
Taylor chuckled and smiled encouragingly at Stephanie.
"Don't take it so tragically! Forrester Creation is his baby, after all. I guess you'll just have to deal with it."
"Yeah, you're right about that! It's probably the same with Ridge. Both of our men are mostly committed to their work and the company. Every now and then, we just have to remind them that they're married to us, as well."
Taylor smiled dreamily.
"So far, Ridge has always remembered that on his own. But who knows, once he's fully immersed in his work again and wants to be all over the place. Anyway, so far I can't complain."
Stephanie beamed with satisfaction.
"It's so nice to have you guys back and that you're still so happy and in love. The honeymoon seems to have done you guys some real good."
"Oh yes, it was just a dream! It was an unforgettable trip, but now I'm also glad to be home again. After a while, you do get homesick."
They returned to their work. Both already had plans for the celebration. Taylor had heard of a magic duo who were famous for their 'Quick Change Show'. She suggested booking them as a show act. It would be an ideal gag.
Stephanie, on the other hand, was planning a big auction event. Over the decades, so many treasures had accumulated in their attic, and surely they would find some nice pieces to raise a lot of money with. Taylor was a little surprised that Stephanie was serious about giving away her memorabilia, but Stephanie felt it was time.
"Most of the stuff has been up there for ages, just collecting dust!" she said. She suggested going up there sometime in the days to get an overview.
Ridge was engrossed in his work. He fought with his fatigue. Taylor and he hadn't gotten home until very late last night and it got even later before they finally fell asleep. Yesterday, after their dinner, they had first gone for a walk. They wanted to make sure everything was quiet in the house when they got back. When they finally arrived home way after midnight, they nodded in satisfaction. Thomas had indeed kept his word and had already cleaned up his friends' mess.
Ridge smiled to himself as he thought back to last night. The only silly thing was that you had to pay for it the next day. Far too early this morning, the alarm clock had woke them up.
Ridge just stuffed another yawn when the door was yanked open and Brooke whirled in.
"Hi Ridge, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ridge just nodded. "What's wrong with you? Didn't you get a good night's rest, or why are you falling asleep in the middle of the day?!"
Ridge shook himself to wake up again.
"It's okay, Brooke! I just got to bed pretty late last night. Taylor and I were out."
"I see!" Brooke tried hard to suppress her disapproval. "Well, you're just not at the age anymore where you can put away a night of partying so easily!"
"Thank you, very charming! Why do you want to see me?"
"Oh, nothing in particular. I just wanted to give you the latest information for the press conference. You know, you asked me for them."
"Oh, yes, thank you!" Ridge reached for the papers.
"And how are you otherwise?" asked Brooke as impartially as possible.
"Everything's fine and with you? I guess the big event is getting closer!"
"You mean Hope and Liam's wedding? Yeah, Hope's getting pretty excited. It's not every day you get married. You're coming to the wedding, right?"
"To be honest, I haven't received an invitation yet."
"Oh, really?" Brooke acted puzzled. "Well, you know, Hope and I have a rather distant relationship since we broke up. She cut off all contact with me abruptly back then."
"Does this surprise you, Ridge? You hurt her very badly back then and you let her down!"
"You know very well that's not true. I tried to continue to have some contact with her in the beginning anyway and I would have always been there for her!"
"But still, she had to watch how you only took care of Thomas and Steffy. You even moved in with them at the time!"
"Brooke, please not again! Those two are my kids! So it was only natural that I moved in with them."
"I understand, and Hope is just your stepdaughter!"
"That's not fair, Brooke! You know very well I never felt or saw it that way. It was Hope's decision alone to avoid any contact with me. I guess she found another father!"
"Are you talking about Deacon? You can't blame Hope for looking for a father figure in her life!"
"Whether this man can represent an ideal father figure, I dare to doubt! But I'm staying out of it. If you think it's okay for the two of them to be so close, please!"
"What am I supposed to do? After all, I can't forbid Hope to see her father. She's an adult! But what do you say, you and I go to the wedding together?! I mean, just as friends and parents, of course."
She looked at him with an innocent look in her eyes. Ridge rolled his eyes slightly.
"I don't think that's such a good idea. You know why!"
"You mean because Taylor would object?" said Brooke belligerently.
"This has nothing to do with Taylor. I just don't want the public to get the wrong impression."
"But Ridge, there's nothing to it. It's completely harmless!"
"I've said everything I have to say on this subject. As far as I'm concerned, that's the end of the discussion!"
At that moment, there was a knock on the door and Pierre entered the office.
"Hello Ridge, you wanted to...Oh, sorry, I must be interrupting something. I'll come back later."
But Ridge waved him over.
"No, come on in Pierre. You're not interrupting anything at all. Brooke and I have discussed everything so far, right Brooke?!"
"Just as you say, Ridge!" She gave him one last venomous stare and stormed past Pierre out of the office.
Pierre felt a little uncomfortable in his skin.
"I hope I'm not intruding."
"No, rather the opposite! That was a rescue in dire need!"
"If you say so, you want to see me?!"
"Yes, I would like to talk to you about the designs you gave me yesterday."
Ridge dug out the folder and the two sat down together.
After the meeting with Ridge, Pierre felt the need for a break. So he made his way to the Sky Lounge. He was completely satisfied with himself and the world. His designs were highly approved by Ridge and he had been enthusiastic about his ideas. Together, they had worked on a few more finishing touches and Ridge had already tasked him with some new concepts. Pierre was electrified. The job at Forrester Creation was the jackpot for him. Finally, he could show all his talent and his work was appreciated.
In the Sky Lounge, he spotted Brooke sitting lonely at a table. Spontaneously, he went up to her.
"Excuse me, may I join you?"
"Of course, I'd love to!" Brooke smiled kindly at him. "I think I owe you an apology. I guess I walked into a bit of an awkward situation earlier. I certainly didn't mean to disturb you and Ridge!" Brooke sighed.
"Obviously, for Ridge the conversation was over and I guess I owe you more of an apology. You must have gotten a nice impression of us."
"Oh, that's okay. It's only natural that you can't always see eye to eye at work."
"Well, our argument was more of a private nature."
"I see. It's certainly not easy to still work together after a divorce. I admire that. I don't know if I could do it. I imagine it's quite a burden sometimes?!"
"Yes!" muttered Brooke. "Especially when someone is still running away from his true feelings!"
She had only whispered those words softly to herself. But Pierre had picked them up nonetheless.
"But actually, it works quite well between us! Ridge and I have always been a good team and nothing will ever change that!"
Pierre noticed her determined expression. Brooke looked at her watch.
"Oh, it's quite late already. I really have to go, see you around!"
She waved goodbye to Pierre. He looked after her thoughtfully. Clearly, Brooke still had very strong feelings for Ridge and was far from being done with her marriage. Thorne had also told him of the great love between Brooke and Ridge. Pierre wondered if Ridge might also still have feelings for Brooke. True, he was always very harsh and distant with her, but maybe it was just all a facade.
A few days later, Taylor and Stephanie put their plan into action. Taylor curiously followed her mother-in-law up to the attic. There was a wild hodgepodge of miscellaneous items and piles of boxes. Taylor groaned in resignation.
"I'm afraid it's going to take us ages to dig through this place."
She wandered around the room, looking skeptically. Stephanie, however, glanced at some individual items pensively, reminiscing in memories. In one of the corners, Taylor discovered a box with Ridge's name on it. Excited, she opened the box. Inside were some childhood mementos from her sweetheart. She found some awards and trophies. Curious, she pulled out a folder. Stephanie came up to her and peeked over her shoulder.
"Oh my God! I can't believe it! These are Ridge's very first designs. He was just attending High School then. Even then, you could already see his great talent!"
Taylor glanced at the sketches with fascination. All were labeled with his name and a date. Taylor bristled; the drawings were exactly 50 years old. She smiled mischievously; a great idea crossed her mind.