Chapter 13!

Meanwhile Ridge and Taylor still sit together at the guest house. Ridge is quite restless. He knows that Zende and the others are with Carter and Hope right now. From time to time he keeps staring at his phone. Zende promised to call him immediately after they were out of this office. Taylor puts her hand on his.

"Hey, calm down. I'm sure everything will be alright. Well, not for Carter and Hope, I guess."

"Please don't say you feel sorry for them."

"No, of course not. they brought all of this on themselves. But still it's a bitter pill to swallow. It had to be bad enough for them, to realize they lost the three of you and now they are confronted with the fact that they will also lose all the other Forresters. With Zende and RJ they are about to lose their last two designers and with Ivy and Electra the jewelry line is gone."

Ridge can't help it. He has a triumphant and vicious smile on his face.

"Well, they should have thought about this before they started this madness. They could have known that we would all stick together and that we would all show our respect and loyalty towards Dad. I know it's very important for him to see the entire family standing behind him and not only family but also most of our staff. I would say right now Carter and Hope are not the most respected and beloved people in the building. When Steffy and I were there, so many of our coworkers approached us and reassured us of their support. And they all feel for my father. Carter will soon realize it takes more being the boss of a successful company than standing behind the desk and claiming the power. I bet today he and his little sneaky girlfriend are not in the mood for a roll on my chair."

"Ridge!" Taylor pulls her face, but can't also hide her grin.

"You know what I don't get? Carter is an intelligent, smart man. He has been in this business for so many years. He should have known it doesn't work this way."

"Well, what can I say? Hope turned him completely upside down. I guess being involved with Hope Logan kills your brain cells."

"Ridge!" Taylor gives him a definite stare. He shrugs his shoulders.

"I know what you're gonna say. That was unnecessary, but I can't help it. I only pray that after everything that happened today, Carter will regain some of his intelligence and will do the right thing."

"You mean he should back down and give you guys the company back. That would indeed be the best for everyone, especially for your father."

"You're right. I mean, you saw him last night. How devastated and brokenhearted he was. He shouldn't go through this. It's a shame. I'm deeply concerned about him and his health. It wasn't that long ago that he fought his way back to life and now he has to cope with one of the biggest tragedies for our family. I'm afraid he is not strong enough for all this. What when he has a breakdown or worse.."

Ridge doesn't even dare to speak it out. Taylor shares his concerns.

"I agree with you. I was truly shocked when I saw him yesterday. He was always such a strong, powerful man, and yesterday he looked so crushed and lost. It almost made me cry."

"Yeah, and the worst thing is there's nothing I can do to take his pain away. It's a shame that I can do anything to help him."

Tears of black despair make his eyes wet. He jumps up and starts roaming around. Taylor takes him in her arms.

"That's not true, Ridge. We all can show him that we are there for him, that we support him and that we stand beside him. He needs that now."

"You know what? You're right! What about if we go over to the main house and speak to Dad right now? I didn't even have a chance yet to tell him about this morning."

"That sounds like a good idea, but actually he's not there." "What do you mean he's not there?"

"Well, when I was over there earlier, I wanted to see him. But Donna mentioned he just left."

"Did she say where he went?"

Taylor hesitates with her answer for a moment.

"Yeah. He is on his way over to Forrester Creations to speak with Hope and Carter."

"What? And you're only telling me this now? It's going to be a disaster. I know that he wants to talk with them and give them a piece of his mind. He already wanted to do it yesterday, but then he couldn't find the strength. I have to go over there right now."

Ridge opens the door and wants to leave the house but Taylor holds him back.

"Wait Ridge, stay here! It seems this is very important for your father, not only for his self-respect and his legacy. And obviously he wants to do it alone. So let him handle this matter his way. And who knows, maybe he will accomplish something. Eric always had a very diplomatic and sensitive manner. Maybe he can get through to Carter."

"You mean better than me?"

"No offense, Ridge. But if you show up there, the tension will increase and the situation will only escalate once more."

She shows at his face where the results of his last confrontation with Carter could still be seen. She looks him deep into his eyes.

"Trust me! Listen to your Doc!"

Ridge gives up and shuts the door again. Deep inside he knows that Taylor is right, but still he has a bad feeling about this. He wishes he could be a fly on this wall to witness the confrontation.

After the group left their office, Carter and Hope are still in a daze. Both try to process what just happened. Carter is just on the phone with the security to tell them they should send everybody home and shut down the doors. Carter thinks at the moment it was for the best to avoid the press. First they need to come up with a strategy. Katie and Brooke storm into the office, both with confused and irritated faces.

"Can you please tell us what is going on? We just saw Zende and RJ cleaning their workplaces, and Pam is outside emptying her desk, too."

"And just right now, Ivy and Electra popped their heads into my office and told us their goodbyes. So what the hell is going on here?"

Carter signals them to take a seat, and with a few short words, he explains what just happened in the office. Katie and Brooke are shocked. They can't believe it. Hope, therewhile, is quite furious.

"I can't believe Steffy managed it to turn them all against us. But this is typical for her. Always pushing her hatred against us, on others and getting everyone mixed in."

Carter tries to console her.

"I really don't know if we can blame Steffy for all of this. I mean, they were all pretty determined and didn't seem like they were influenced."

"And by the way…." Brooke speaks up. "...It doesn't matter why they left the company, if it was due to Steffy and Ridge or for whatever. The fact is, they are all gone and now we have to deal with it. I mean, do you understand the enormous consequences? Zende and RJ were our last main designers and the Spring Collection is coming up. And I don't even want to start with the damage of losing the jewelry line."

"You're right, Brooke.." Katie nods to her sister. "This is a disaster. So the question is, is there anything we can do to change their mind? Carter, do you think there's any chance we can convince them all to come back or better, that they don't leave?"

Carter thinks for a while.

"Well, as I said, they were all pretty adamant and we tried to talk to them, but they didn't listen to us. I think there's probably only one way. They all said the main reason why they're leaving is because of their loyalty towards Eric. They don't want to turn their backs on him. So the only way to get them all back on the ship is we need to talk with Eric. We need to convince him of our good intentions and the positive aspects for the company."

They all get his point but Brooke has her doubts.

"Well, I agree with you, Carter. Having Eric on our side would surely impress all of them. But that's going to be tough. He feels pretty hurt and betrayed."

Just then the door opens again and the man of the hour steps inside the office. Everyone is more than surprised to see Eric standing there in the door. Without any words, he marches straight to the desk and takes his stand behind it. Carter wants to approach him, but Eric silences him with a hand signal before he can say anything.

"Now it's my time to speak. And if it's the last thing I will ever do. Katie and Brooke, out of the office right now. I want to speak to Carter and Hope alone."

The Logan sisters exchange quick glances and make sure that they get out of the office as fast as possible. Carter and Hope stare at each other and both await quite anxiously what Eric has to say to them. The situation reminds of two High school students who were called into the principal's office.