Chelsea and Sally Rock Summer’s World — and Lauren Drops a Dire Warning On Michael
At Jabot, Kyle tells Diane that Claire won’t be moving in with them at home. It would be another slap in Victor’s face. Diane thinks he could use a metaphorical slap in his face… and Claire could be just the one to give it to him. Kyle doesn’t want the Mustache going after them. Diane complains that Claire should be full of joy, not constantly looking over her shoulder worrying that her grandfather will take that joy away. It’s so twisted. She rants about the Newmans bending over backward to please Victor. They debate the point, and Kyle says Claire is determined to live on her own terms. Diane warns Victor won’t stop. Kyle’s sure Claire will chip away at him one small victory at a time. Diane hopes she knows what she’s up against.
At the tack house, Victoria grabs Cole’s jacket to take him to the doctor. Claire tells her dad to take it easy. Victoria decides to call the doctor, let him know about the symptoms, and that they’re on their way. Getting Cole’s coat on, he tells Claire and Victoria to stop fussing over him. Undeterred, they help him up to get him to the car. Claire hangs back as they take off, with Victoria saying she’ll let her know.
Dropping Bombs on Summer
At Society, Summer asks Sally if she knows why Chelsea called this meeting. Sally’s not sure she’d be the first person she’d tell. Summer apologizes. Chelsea arrives and tells them this won’t take long. She wants to run something by them and asks that they keep an open mind. Summer gushes about how impressed and proud she’s been with their team. She then asks what Chelsea wants to run by them. Chelsea says she’s been given a job offer, which means she could be leaving Marchetti. Sally’s eyes widen. Summer asks if another fashion house is trying to poach her.
Chelsea doesn’t want to get into specifics right now. She insists she’s happy at Marchetti. Summer says she must be having some doubts, or she wouldn’t want to leave. Chelsea explains it’s a totally new direction. Sally has a feeling she knows what the job is… she knows how Adam’s mind work. “He’s asked you to work with him at Newman Media, hasn’t he?” Sally explains that Adam doesn’t trust a lot of people. He finds those he cares about to fill that role. Sally’s sure this is the next logical step for her ex.
Summer asks Chelsea point blank if she’s planning to leave Marchetti for Newman Media. Chelsea isn’t ready to divulge that yet and doesn’t think it makes a difference. Summer argues that it does. If she loses her, it’s a serious blow. Chelsea doesn’t want to leave her in the lurch. But if she does leave, she thought Sally might want to expand her role beyond Marchetti Z. She has full confidence she could handle it. She would never want to put Summer in a bad position. Summer asks Sally how she’d feel about adding Creative Director to her job description. Sally gawps at her.
Sally finally says it’s definitely something to think about. It could be a good fit. Summer thinks so too. She’d hate to lose Chelsea, but if that’s what’s going to happen, she’d be confident with Sally stepping in. Sally appreciates the vote of confidence, there are just some things she needs to work through first. “I have had an offer of my own.” Summer gawps. Is she being courted by a competitor? Sally says not at all. She marvels that she was thinking if she took the job, Chelsea could take over Marchetti Z. Summer can’t believe this: She could be losing both of her lead designers at the same time!
Lauren Puts Michael on the Spot
At the Club, Lauren tells Michael she’s happy to catch up; she feels like they haven’t spent time together in days. She learns he spoke to Jack and is sure he heard all about Diane’s renovations. Michael admits it wasn’t a purely personal visit. Victor’s amping up his war against Jabot and he gave Jack a heads-up. Lauren exclaims that he’s Victor’s sworn enemy. When he warns Jack, he crosses into enemy territory. Michael’s trying to navigate the situation to the best possible outcome. Lauren guarantees he just made it worse. When Victor finds out, this will bite him in the ass, “And then what?!”
Lauren can’t understand why her husband wants more trouble. Michael refuses to see this as crossing enemy lines. Lauren reminds him that Victor expects confidentiality, which means not going to Jack. Michael sees himself as a secret go-between. Left to their own devices, what would those two men be capable of? Think about the collateral damage! Lauren warns he’s in the middle, which is a dangerous place to be. If Victor finds out, he’ll be infuriated. The casualty of his war will be Michael. The lawyer is sure he’ll never find out. “Because I have a plan.”
Lauren tells Michael he’s a brilliant attorney, but when it comes to Victor and plans she’s not confident. She points out he stayed the night Victor was shot by Ian Ward and has felt Victor’s wrath many times. “Have you not learned your lesson yet?” She asks what he’s up to. He won’t tells her; she’ll shoot it down. He announces he’s over it. Lauren suggests he then listen to her plan. “Remove yourself altogether, and you tell Victor you quit.” Michael will honor his allegiance to Victor. Lauren rants that people he cares about will get hurt. Michael maintains he knows what he’s doing. He’ll stick around, partly, to prevent a disaster. Lauren gawps that he thinks he’s the hero in this. Diane walks up and Lauren urges her husband to tell her what they were talking about.
Diane’s curious. Why would she be interested in what they’re talking about unless it has to do with her or Jack. She guesses it has to do with Jack and Michael’s evil master. Michael declares the discussion over. Diane says it’s not and asks where his allegiance lies… with his friends or the man who signs his checks? She trots off and Michael asks Lauren why she’d put him in a spot like that. Lauren had to light a fire under him to do the right thing. She doesn’t like what working for Victor is doing to him! Tearing up, she says this scares her. Michael asks, “Why are you doing this?” Lauren’s starting to wonder if Diane is right. “Is your allegiance really with Victor and not your friends who you say are so important to you?” Michael is trying to protect them all. Either she doesn’t understand, or she refuses to.
Audra’s Encounters
At Crimson Lights, Audra tells Victor she needs her funding. He complains that she hasn’t made a single move against Kyle Abbott yet. She lets him know how much she wants this deal and swears she’ll never flip to Kyle’s side… not after the way he betrayed her. She needs to start building her company and get office space and employees. Victor says it will come in time. Audra stresses that it’s part of her plan to get to Kyle. Victor doesn’t want to know the details. She repeats that funding is critical if she’s going to see this true. Victor will deposit part of the seed money everything she makes progress. The sooner she makes it clear Kyle is hurting his granddaughter, the more funding she’ll get. Audra muses, “You don’t trust me at all, do you?” Victor says, “Not at all.”
Audra asks what she has to do to show him he can trust her. He tells her she must get results. Audra tells him the new company will be called Vibrante. Victor likes it. He asks for the number of her corporate account. She asks if he’ll be putting up some money as a sign of good faith. Victor tells her when she takes Kyle down a peg, she’ll get her first deposit. “I suggest you get busy.” As he walks out, Kyle arrives, noting they were talking. He asks Audra why she isn’t busy working on her new venture. She calls him a Nepo Baby and claims she’s just there for a caffeine boost. She needles him a little more and then tells him his time’s up. “Jabot’s going to be in trouble.” He’s amused. Audra tells him Vibrante will launch firing on all cylinders. They’ll out-do his old potions and lotions. They continue to banter until Kyle tells her many companies have tried to best Jabot. She’d be wise to learn from history… her project doesn’t stand a chance.
Audra’s excited about the future and won’t share with “the competition” where she’s at in the process. He’s sure it’s all in her imagination and taunts, “You don’t know what you’re doing.” Audra says she does, and reminds him he knows what she’s capable of “on every level”. They banter some more, and she assures him she’ll invite him to the launch party. He tells her every woman there will be wearing Jabot’s lotions and potions.
Claire arrives and Audra coos, “Aw, someone needs to turn that frown upside-down.” Claire asks why she’s always so rude. Audra exits and Claire tells Kyle about her father being sick. She’s worried it could be serious. Kyle assures her Cole will be fine. They kiss. Claire tells him he always knows how to make her feel better. From the patio, Audra watches them embrace.
Sitting, Kyle tells Claire that Audra is moving forward with her cosmetics company and can’t get over herself. She pretends to herself that Jabot should be worried. He suspects this isn’t all coming from her. Someone’s backing her. Claire asks if he suspects her grandfather is involved. Kyle admits that he does, but he has no proof. Claire tells him there’s reason to worry. She just found out that her grandfather is back in business with Audra. This seems like a direct move against Kyle.
Kyle arrives at Jabot and calls someone. “I need your help.” He asks the person to find out everything they can about a start-up called Vibrante and get back to him. After disconnecting, he gets on the laptop to look into it, mumbling that he has a pretty good idea who’s behind it.
Victor arrives at the ranch and calls out for Nikki. Getting no answer, he pulls out his phone and sends a text.
At the Club, Michael receives Victor’s text asking to see him immediately. Lauren pulls the phone out of his hand. She tells her husband, “You know where I stand. You need to get out of this fight… immediately. You’re in the middle of something that’s going to blow up, and you need to get out now. Before it’s too late.” Michael exchanges a look with Diane, who’s leaving with her take-out bag.
