Chapter 10!
Both Carter and Hope start to sweat and an uncomfortable nervousness crawls up inside of them as the group takes their stand right in front of them. All with the same grim and hard expression on their face. Hope stares anxious at Carter. He also feels the bad vibes coming from them, but he sends a welcoming smile to the group and tries to enlighten the atmosphere.
"Hey to all of you. Actually, it's great to see you all together. I would love to take the opportunity to explain some things. I assume you are all very confused with all the changes and new developments going around here. But I'm sure things will settle down very quickly. And I can reassure all of you, nothing will change for you personally. Every one of you is still a big and important member of the Forrester team. And I hope we will all work together to make Forrester Creation even bigger and more successful as it already is. I know how things went was a little bit unorthodox, but I want to express everything I did and what happened was for the benefit of the company and in the best interest of all of us. Pam snorts disdainfully.
"You truly believe we buy this crap? You honestly want to say, it's the best for the company to trick both people out who gave the company all their love, passion and all their hard work to make it the successful business it is?"
Hope rolls with her eyes.
"Nobody tricked Steffy and Ridge to leave the company. It was their own decision. Carter welcomed them more than once to work together with us. But they rather chose to abandon Forrester Creation."
"Oh now I get it. So first Steffy and Ridge shall be fine with Carter snatching the company away from them and then of course they are the bad guys because they refuse to work with you. I tell you something my dear. This is the typical Logan logic. Always blaming others and seeing yourself as the victim. You must have fallen on your head or something if you think we all will go along with it. As a matter of fact I only came here today to say, I will no longer work for this company. I owe it to my sister and Eric to stand behind them. They built this company out of nothing and my sister paid a very high price for it. I could never face Eric again or justify myself to Stephanie if I would go along with your actions. And I really don't understand how you two are able to do it. Stephanie and Eric showed both of you nothing else but respect and love. Especially to you, Hope. Eric and Stephanie were there for you and your mother when you were born and she was completely alone. And they always treated you like family. And the same goes for you Carter. It breaks my heart that you can stand behind this desk and think your behavior is justified. And as long as you sit in this chair I will never enter this building again. But before I go I want to give you two one last warning. As I know my sister, she must be furious right now and I can only imagine the tantrums she is throwing right now wherever she might be. And I suggest you two should not go outside when the next weather blows up. Because my dear sister will fire the next lightning straight into your lovely tushies.
Everyone except Hope and Carter giggle and chuckle over Pam's last comment. She thereby turns away from the both of them. Talking about her sister got her really emotional and she backs away before they can see her tears. Charlie comes forward and takes her in his arms. He turns to Carter and Hope.
"I guess it's needless to say that I will follow Pam, so I'm leaving the company as well."
He takes the envelope Pam still holds in her hands and another one out of his pocket and puts them both on the desk. "I don't have to explain my reasons any further because I would just say the same as Pam and I guess also what Zende had to say to you. I only want to say one last thing. You know Hope, when Steffy fired you and asked me to guide you out of the building, I truly felt sorry for you and my heart broke for you. I felt miserable since there was nothing I could do to help you. But now after everything Carter pulled up with your support, I see things differently. I don't feel sorry for you anymore, I rather look at both of you with disgust and disrespect. And I can't wait for the day when things will turn back to normal and Ridge and Steffy will be in charge of the company again. And this day will come and then it will be my biggest pleasure and glory to be here and to kick you both out of the building."
He hugs Pam even tighter and they both step aside next to Zende. Before Carter and Hope have any chance to react, Ivy thinks it's her turn now to speak.
While Carter and Hope are forced to deal with the Forrester gang, Katie and Brooke sit together in Katie's office, discussing the delicate current situation. Brooke just tells Katie about her big blow-up with Ridge and their nasty fight. Katie shows great compassion and sympathy for her sister's sorrow.
"So Ridge moved out of the house because he doesn't want to live with Hope on the same property and he is upset with you because you refused to forbid your own daughter entering your house."
"Kind of, he is disappointed and he feels betrayed by me because I tried to defend Hope and her actions. In his eyes, Hope alone is responsible for all this mess. He blames her that she manipulated Carter to get control over the company. He doesn't even see her as a part of his family anymore. He declared her as the enemy."
"Oh my god. That's awful. And it puts you in a very tough spot. You are standing in the middle."
"Exactly! Ridge is still the love of my life and the man I want to share my future with. But Hope is my daughter, my own flesh and blood. I can't turn my back on her, even if she does something I don't agree with."
"So, may I ask you…..how do you really feel about this takeover?"
"Well, from a professional point of view, I understand Hope and Carter's motivation. They both felt frustrated and miserable due the way they were treated here. I mean, the way Steffy fired Hope and canceled her line. Hope claims Steffy and Ridge never respected and valued her effort for the company and only because she is a Logan. And on that point, I agree with her a hundred percent. I feel kind the same way. I mean, even though Ridge gave me a seat at the executive table and reactivated the bedroom line, I didn't have a say in anything. They didn't console me when they fired Hope and canceled Hope for the Future. And they didn't involve me in the discussion if they should go along with Carter's idea."
Katie sees what her sister is getting at.
"Yeah, that's right. I mean, Hope and you, you were always under the attack of Steffy and Ridge never said much against it. Lately the only one who spoke on Hopes and your behalf was Carter."
"Precisely, but they also mistreated Carter. He didn't even get a true chance to explain his idea to Ridge and Eric in detail. They shut him down nearly immediately and didn't even give it a second thought. I mean they should have listened to him. He was our respective COO and he worked on this project for so many years and he knows the business. He has this great vision and I think it's really worth it to give it a shot. I truly believe it could bring Forrester Creation to a new level. And Hope supports and believes in him. She only wants to stand by his side."
"She obviously is very much in love with him."
"Yes, she is. And honestly, I think Carter is a good man for her. He supports her and gives her the appreciation and attention she needs. And Carter and Hope are not these mean, vindictive persons Eric and Rich see in them. They have a good heart, they didn't feel comfortable by going behind their backs. They were very much conflicted and until the very end they hoped it wasn't necessary, but then Carter saw it as the only way to make things here better for everybody. He wanted to turn this company into a workplace where everyone is respected and he hoped that with him in control, these fighting battles between us the Logans and them the Forresters would stop for good."
"Well that didn't work out, now the situation is even worse, I mean, Ridge and Steffy are gone so is Eric and our families are more at war as ever."
"Yeah, you're absolutely right. And that is the reason why I can't consent to Hope and Carter's actions and why I tried to convince them not to go through with this. Because I saw the huge personal consequences this could have. Look what already happened. Carter and Ridge lost their friendship and Ridge and I are separated and there are so many more people who are involved and will be dragged into this mess."
"Yeah, Donna for example. She is in the exact same horrible situation as you. On the one hand she loves Eric and I'm sure she wants to support him but we are her family."
"Right and I also think about the kids and how it could affect them. I mean Beth and Kelly are sisters and they adore each other. How shall we explain to them that maybe they can't see each other anymore just because their mothers are at odds. What this takeover is doing to both of our families is so tragic that I really have to ask myself if it is all worth it?!"
"Yeah that's a good question and honestly I don't know the answer but speaking of kids have you talked to RJ. How does he see all of this?"
"I don't know. I haven't had a chance to get in touch with him yet but I guess this must be really painful for him. We are all his family and he loves us all."
Brooke has no idea that RJ already made his decision.