Category: Daytime

Young & The Restless Transcript

Transcript provided by Suzanne

[ Knock on door ]

Victor: Come in.

Nikki: I am taking a lunch break, and I’m hoping you can join me.

Victor: Hi, sweetheart. I wish I could, but I need to deal with something before, okay?

Nikki: What’s in the envelope? The way you’re handling it, could be gold or it could be a bomb. Which is it?

Victor: These are the documents I asked michael baldwin to send from peru. And I think they will show without a shadow of a doubt that ashland locke has been deceiving our daughter.

Nikki: [ Sighs ] The it’s definitely a bomb. What do you intend to do with it?

Victor: I think she deserves to find what’s in here.

Nikki: Victor, please handle this carefully. You know how upset she is already. Do you really want to risk alienating her further?

Victor: Sweetheart, this is the last thing I want to do, believe me, but he has pushed my hand. Victoria needs to know…what kind of a man she’s married to.

Jack: I’d like to talk to you about hao nguyen. I knew him as keemo. He was my son.

Allie: Look, you guys must be mistaken. Hao — hao is a common name, and as is nguyen. You guys have him confused with someone else.

Jack: No, I’m certain I’m right.

Allie: What is it that you guys want? He’s dead.

Jack: I came here in search of answers about my son.

Allie: Look, hao couldn’t possibly be your son. Because he’s my dad, and he never mentioned you.

Victor: We need to talk.

Victoria: Well, unless you’re here to apologize…and to take back those disgusting allegations about ashland, then we have nothing to discuss.

Victor: You don’t even know how much I wish I were wrong about ashland. You need to see this. And I won’t leave until you do.

Ashland: Nikki, no, wait, please, don’t leave. Can’t we just sit for a moment and talk? I need you to hear me out.

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Allie: You must be mistaken. My dad never knew his father. He was born after an affair that his mother, my grandmother, had in vietnam.

Jack: Her name was luan. He told you that he never knew his dad, he never even knew his name?

Allie: Yes. Are you claiming that you’re that man? And you’re here tracking down your son after all of these years? After he’s died?

Jack: I’m afraid your father didn’t tell you the complete truth. I did have a relationship with luan. Hao was our son. Keemo was his given name.

Allie: But my dad told me that he never knew anything about his father growing up.

Jack: Actually, that is true. I didn’t know of his existence for many years, until he was a young adult. That’s when luan and I were reunited, when I met him, but we were reunited.

Allie: Why should I believe anything that you’re saying to me?

Jack: Allie, I have no reason to lie about something like this.

Allie: Do you have any proof?

Jack: Um… have you ever seen this picture of your grandmother?

Allie: No, I never met her. She died before I was born. But I do recognize her from other photos that my dad had. This is you and my grandmother.

Jack: On our wedding day. And your father was our best man.

Nikki: I’m sorry, I don’t have a lot of time. I’m just picking up lunch.

Ashland: [ Sighs ] Well, please, I realize how all of this must look to you. I’m sure that victor has filled your head with all kinds of accusations about me.

Nikki: Nobody puts any thoughts or ideas in my head that I don’t think I deserve to be there.

Ashland: I’m sorry if it sounded that way, but, see, this is exactly the reason I was hoping for the opportunity to talk to you directly, alone, so I could tell you my side of things and you could decide for yourself. See, I have a sense that you are not as convinced as victor is by the word of one unscrupulous doctor.

Nikki: Alright. What do you have to say for yourself?

Ashland: Well, uh, you and i have been working together for a while now, and I think you know me pretty well. You — you see how profound my love is for victoria and how happy I have made her. Certainly that must be enough to at least give me the benefit of the doubt.

Nikki: What makes you think i haven’t done that already?

Ashland: Well, if you have, then you must realize that i would never, ever mastermind the kind of plot that victor is now accusing me of. I would never hurt victoria in that way. You must know that.

Victoria: I’ve seen everything that I need to see, dad. And I have already faced the truth. That you are so single-minded in your need for control and power that you would stoop to anything, including trying to destroy my marriage. All because you feel threatened because another man has a controlling say in the newman family business.

Victor: Sweetheart…I don’t want to hurt you. I really don’T. But this man has been lying to you about his illness this entire time.

Victoria: Did you really think that you could blackmail ashland with these outrageous lies and that he would just disappear into the night and leave me, with no questions asked?

Victor: I thought he would realize it would be the sensible thing to do.

Victoria: Dad, how could you plot to destroy my life like this, all for your own hubris?

Victor: I understand your anger at me. And I understand that you prefer to be angry at me rather than be enraged about what ashland has done to you.

Victoria: Oh, come on, please. I can’t stand being patronized this way. Maybe you’re forgetting — this is my office, so just go. Just — just leave, please.

Victor: Sweetheart, I’m not telling you this to hurt you. I’d rather be at the receiving end of your anger than not tell you what I know. I will not stand by and watch you be deceived by that man any longer. I can’t do it.

Victoria: I am really so sick and tired of all of the men in my life who proclaim that they love me so much, and then they cause me so much pain.

Victor: Sweetheart, I’m not trying to cause you any more pain. I’m really not. I just am trying to prevent you from suffering more pain, okay?

Victoria: [ Scoffs ]

Victor: It breaks my heart to tell you what I’ve learned about ashland.

Victoria: Yeah, you’ve learned lies, dad, spread by someone who has it in for my husband.

Victor: Who would come up with such a complex web of lies? Who and why?

Victoria: I don’t know. I don’t know, dad, and I don’t want to spend one minute of my time trying to figure it out.

Victor: There’s an overwhelming amount of evidence.

Victoria: Evidence, really? Really, what evidence? What evidence — some shady video of a disgruntled and angry doctor? That — that hardly proves anything. I even reached out to michael baldwin. He hasn’t called me back. You haven’t me shown me one shred of credible evidence.

Victor: Michael baldwin sent this to me this morning from peru. All the evidence is right in here.

Victoria: Why? Why would you go to such lengths to prove something so hurtful?

Victor: Sweetheart, I’m trying to protect you and protect the company. Do you understand that?

Victoria: Oh. I see. There you go. You’ve admitted it.

Victor: What?

Victoria: This is all about newman/locke, right? Well, I have to tell you something, dad. Ashland is now the co-ceo of the company. We’ve signed the contracts. So it looks like you’ve lost the game.

Nikki: You’re right about one thing. I don’t want to believe that you’re capable of coming up with a plot that could so callously hurt victoria.

Ashland: Then trust your instincts.

Nikki: Victoria desperately wants to believe that — that somebody is out to get you. But according to victor, there is too much evidence to the contrary — evidence that he does not believe could have been fabricated.

Ashland: Oh, and yet he’s willing to believe that i fabricated mounds of evidence to somehow fake an illness I don’t have? Do you not see the contradiction there?

Nikki: All I see is that someone concocted some very ugly lies, and nothing would make me happier than to find out that person is some disgruntled doctor at the clinic. But it’s becoming harder and harder for me not to think it’s you.

Ashland: Hold on, are you saying that victor has found more of this so-called evidence against me?

Allie: This — this doesn’t prove anything. If my dad knew who his father was, why didn’t he tell me? Why would he lie to me and my mother like that? This picture — this picture just shows that you married my grandmother. It does not mean that you’re my…

Jack: Your grandfather. Here, I want to show you something. This is a gift I gave your father the day of the wedding. It legally and personally acknowledges that I am his father.

Allie: Why would he — why would he keep this from us all these years?

Jack: Your father and I had a major falling out. When luan fell ill, she didn’t want anyone to know, even family. She never told me. I found out my accident, and i never let on that I knew. I thought I was being true to her wishes…by not telling keemo that his mother was dying.

Allie: You never told him?

Jack: I know now that was a mistake. When he found out he never would have a chance to say goodbye to his mother, he was devastated, and he was furious with me. And I tried to fix that, I — i worked hard at it. I thought I had bridged the gap between us, but then I started receiving very bitter e-mails from him, and it was clear I was wrong. He just could not forgive me. He cut himself off. He changed his name. He refused to communicate with me.

Allie: If this is all true, then clearly my father wanted nothing more to do with you. He denied your existence to me and my mother. So why have you come here? What are you after? Be ready for whatever life throws your way.

Victoria: Daddy, what is this? What is it supposed to prove?

Michael: These are records of the money sent to the doctor in peru, before he disappeared. He received much more money than he would have earned in years.

Victoria: Well, that’s because whoever this is that is trying to bring ashland down obviously paid the doctor to make those slanderous statements.

Victor: I didn’t want this to be true. If anything, I was hoping I was wrong about my presumptions about ashland locke. That’s why I sent michael baldwin down to peru to do a thorough and discreet investigation. And he traced the money back to an account of a shell company belonging to locke communications. The papers are in there. They were sent to me by michael baldwin this morning from peru just before he disappeared.

Victoria: Wait, what? What do you mean “disappeared”?

Nikki: What kind of proof do you think victor could have come up with?

Ashland: You know what? It doesn’t matter. I’m not gonna begin to try to out-guess what’s going on in the mind of victor newman. And I don’t want to spend another minute listening to the possible crimes I could be falsely accused of. I’m just trying to figure out a way to get past this.

Nikki: So you think we should just forget about them?

Ashland: [ Sighs ] I know it’s not that simple.

Nikki: What exactly do you expect from me?

Ashland: I need someone to be on my side. Nikki, I need you to be on my side. Victoria believes me now, but victor is gonna be relentless about this. You know that. He’s not gonna stop until he has poisoned my wife’s mind against me and destroyed our marriage.

Nikki: Why would victor do that if he was convinced that the evidence against is authentic?

Ashland: I don’t know.

[ Sighs ] Unless, uh — unless he’s being motivated by the threat level he feels now that I’m recovered.

Nikki: Oh, oh, please. Stop that right now. That theory is completely baseless. Victor is not easily threatened, certainly not by you. All he cares about is protecting victoria, period. He has no other agenda.

Ashland: All I care about is protecting victoria, period, and our marriage. Nikki, be honest. Have you ever seen your daughter happier or more in love?

Jack: Allie, when I came here, I had no idea what I was getting into. I had received a series of texts from someone who refused to identify themselves, giving me this address and telling me to get here quickly.

Allie: So you’ve been going through the house, searching through his private things?

Jack: I understand you’re upset. Believe me, I have been conflicted about this myself. I’ve been wandering in the dark. I didn’t know what the right thing to do was. I came here to try to find some closure. My son died. I wanted to know what kind of man he became. And I found some answers. Not always the answers I wanted. In fact, some were very painful.

Allie: What are those?

Jack: These are letters your father wrote.

Allie: How dare you read his private letters. What gives you the right?

Jack: They’re addressed to me. Go ahead, look. Go ahead.

Allie: [ Sobs ] No, sorry. I can’t do this. Just — just tell me what they say.

Jack: They reveal that your father was thinking of connecting with me again. He wasn’t quite there yet. He didn’t have a chance to reach out to me before he died, and…with his death, any chance of us reuniting…came to an end.

Allie: [ Sobs ] God, seeing his handwriting again…reading little snippets of what he wrote…hearing his voice in my head…

Jack: I know. It’s a lot to take in.

Allie: I can barely face the fact that he’s really gone. And now this is a side of him that I have no idea even existed.

Jack: Tell me something. Is there someone in your life, someone who you can turn to, someone who can give you the support you need to get through all of this?

Allie: Well, my parents divorced a few years ago. My mom, she moved to the east coast. We really haven’t been able to spend much time together since. But, you know, at least she came for the funeral. Of course, she couldn’t stay long. Claimed that she had to get back to work.

Jack: I realize I’m probably the last person you would turn to for comfort, but…it just kills me that you’re alone.

Allie: Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.

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Phyllis: Um, allie — allie, um…is it possible that your mom knew the truth and maybe she’s the one who’s sending the texts to jack?

Allie: I doubt my mother had anything to do with those texts. She believed my dad’s story about his parents.

Phyllis: When we arrived here, that box was here, and it has… well, it just has a lot of your father’s belongings. You helped clean up, so is it possible that you knew the box was here?

Allie: Are you suggesting that i was the one who sent those texts? Until today, I had no idea who jack abbott was. I mean, I d– I still — that name still has no meaning to me.

Jack: I believe you. But someone thought we should meet.

Allie: And I have no idea who that person could be.

[ Scoffs ] Look, I’m sorry, alright? Whoever sent those texts clearly wasted your time. I got — I got to go. I — I have grad school, I have a life I need to focus on. If my father couldn’t bring himself to reconcile with you, well, then I have no reason to either. I think you and your friend should just go back to where you came from, and please, please do me a favor and pretend that this encounter never happened.

Jack: Allie. Allie, I’m sorry, there’s just no way I can do that.

Victor: Michael baldwin has completely fallen off the radar.

Victoria: Since when?

Victor: We used to communicate at least two or three times a day, either by e-mail or text. Now nothing. Silence. I know that lauren is very worried about him, as well. She’s heard nothing from him.

Victoria: Well, surely he couldn’t have just disappeared off the face of the earth.

Victor: I should have found him by now.

Victoria: What are you implying?

Victor: Ashland locke knew that we were onto him. We were on his trail. He knows that the only way you would buy into this story is if I showed you hard and cold facts. Now, suddenly, the man that i sent down there to find those hard and cold facts disappeared.

Victoria: I think you’re making a lot of assumptions right now.

Victor: So what do you think happened?

Nikki: Ashland, you know how supportive victor and I have been of your marriage and of your happiness. Do you recall that beautiful wedding we planned at the tuscan villa that we gifted you and the lengths that victor and his sons went to to protect your past from destroying your reputation and your company?

Ashland: Yes, yes, I’m — I’m thankful for all of that, but it — it — it’s why it’s — this sudden turnaround is so puzzling.

Nikki: Don’t you see? After everything we have done for you, for you to then betray us, it just makes it that much more devastating. It is an unforgivable act.

Ashland: [ Sighs ] The most unforgivable thing about all of this to me is the precious I’m losing with victoria. I am not lying about my illness. The treatment has given me a reprieve, but no one is promising me that it’s some kind of magical cure.

Nikki: Well, what have your doctors been promising you? You’ve been a little bit vague about your condition.

Ashland: Only that, for the moment, my cancer is in remission, which makes it all the more horrible that instead of spending this time, this extra time that I have with victoria, working side-by-side as equal partners, I’m spending that time having to fight for her, having to fight for the love of my life. From the very first touch.

Nikki: Well, based on your argument, it is crucial that we get to the truth, isn’t it?

Ashland: My thoughts exactly.

Nikki: Good. If you’re being honest, you’ll have to prove it.

Ashland: I’m working on it.

Nikki: Ashland, you — you can’t just expect us to take you at your word. You’re going to show us your evidence to the contrary. If you can do that, I promise you victor will apologize and back off.

Ashland: [ Sighs ]

Victoria: It’s insane to think that ashland would harm michael in any way.

Victor: I don’t know that michael baldwin has been harmed. But he’s missing. Maybe ashland has him locked away so he can buy himself some time.

Victoria: No, dad, I won’t hear this anymore. This is just nothing but lies. I am telling you right now, my husband is innocent. And no matter what you say, I am sticking with him.

Victor: [ Sighs ] The proof is in here. Read it. Okay? But know that I have copies of this, hmm?

[ Sighs ] Sweetheart, I really am deeply sorry that I’m the bearer of such bad news. I really am. And I hate that this is happening to you. I want you to know that I adore you and I love you. You’re my daughter. And I only want what’s best for you.

Jack: I’m sorry, there’s no way I can walk away now and pretend we never met. I know this is hard for you. Learning of my existence, learning that your father misled you about his past. I’ve had a lot of trouble accepting a lot of things I’ve learned. And I’m sure that’s only a tenth of what you’ve dealt with. And I hope you take all the time you need to process it. But, allie, somebody wanted me to come here. And as painful as it has been to find out about all that I lost, I’m so glad I came. I got to meet you. No one knows better than I how difficult it is that you can’t go to your father now and ask for answers. I know that feeling. I can’t either. But I’m hoping, maybe in time, you and I can find those answers in each other. I know I’m a stranger to you right now, but I want very much to be a lot more than that.

Allie: I’m sorry. I’m not interested.

Jack: Okay, okay. You have my phone number. If you change your mind, please, please, don’t be afraid to pick up a phone and call —

Allie: Thank you for the offer.

Jack: Allie, there’s one other thing. I — I need to ask a favor. All of these things that were your father’s, I’d like to keep them if I may.

Allie: I don’t see anything in here that I would want. You’re welcome to it all.

Jack: There is something here that I’d like you to keep. This was your grandmother’S. I gave it to her as a gift.

Allie: No, thanks. I am so sorry for this waste of everyone’s time.

Jack: [ Sighs ] (Geri) I smoked, and I have copd.

Jack: Maybe that wasn’t goodbye, maybe allie just needs time to process.

Phyllis: Okay, you know what? Enough about allie. Let’s talk about you. Your mind must be racing. You just found out you have a granddaughter.

Jack: Yeah. Quite a surprise. I came here because my son died, and…I found a granddaughter.

Phyllis: Yeah. She doesn’t want a relationship with you yet.

Jack: No, not yet. She’s as stunned as I am. I can’t expect her to embrace me. She didn’t know I existed.

Phyllis: Right, because keemo kept your identity from her.

Jack: I can’t really blame him for that.

Phyllis: Alright, jack, it’s me. It’s me. Don’t suppress your emotions.

Jack: Red, I don’t want to dump all this on you.

Phyllis: That’s why I came here. That’s why I’m here, so you can dump all of this on me. I came here to help you.

Jack: It’s all pretty overwhelming.

Phyllis: I’ll bet. You know, she doesn’t want a relationship with you yet — not yet. Okay? But maybe that will change. I mean, it seems like keemo has passed along his bitter feelings to the next generation.

Jack: You know, I think she was just honoring her father’s wishes, and I admire that kind of loyalty. I’M…I’m glad they had a relationship. It sounded like they were close. And it gives me a lot of comfort to know that, in the end, keemo was loved. He wasn’t alone.

Phyllis: Well, that’s lovely and it’s very optimistic. But, you know, you can tell me how you really feel. Again, that’s why I came here.

Jack: You want the unvarnished truth? Yesterday, I learned that my son was thinking of…repairing our relationship. Today, I learned…that keemo didn’t even have a name for his father when he spoke to his daughter, a daughter he never wanted me to know, never wanted me to meet. And that’s heart-breaking.

Phyllis: I know. You can’t undo that, right?

Jack: No, I can’T. I got to focus on the here and now, and here and now is allie. That sweet young woman who’S… dealing with the loss of her father on her own. I could hear in her voice when she spoke about her mother that there was a lot more strain there than she wanted to reveal.

Nikki: I have the food.

Victor: Perfect timing.

[ Exhales sharply ] Just came back from seeing victoria.

Nikki: Did you present her with michael’s evidence?

Victor: [ Sighs ] She was furious with me, understandably so.

Nikki: I worry that this is causing irreparable damage to your relationship, after the two of you have come so far.

Victor: I know, and I also know that her anger wasn’t directed at me. I didn’t take it personally.

Nikki: You sure about that?

Victor: She may not believe it yet, what’s in those documents, but I think, slowly but surely, we’ll find out that she would be on my side of the issue. She’ll find out how devastatingly deceitful ashland locke has been to her. And it will be…very traumatic for her.

Nikki: And you have no doubts about this? None at all?

Victor: No.

Ashland: Hey. I’m back. Lunch time.

[ Clears throat ] What’s wrong?

Victoria: I had a very unpleasant visit from my father.

Ashland: Fantastic. What did he want?

Victoria: He wanted to let me know that michael baldwin has disappeared in peru.

Ashland: And, of course, he’s accusing me of somehow being responsible for that, too.

Victoria: That is his theory, yes.

Ashland: Okay, what’s he saying, that I kidnapped michael baldwin, killed him, hacked him up into tiny pieces, threw him in a river, something like that?

Victoria: He brought print-outs of bank statements. Ones that document money being sent to that peruvian doctor’s account. It was well camouflaged, but… ultimately, it traced back to a small and obscure radio division owned by locke communications. One that you would have to look really hard to find. Which is apparently what michael did.

Ashland: Is that so?

Victoria: Tell me something, ashland. Why would a small company that we own, that’s barely on anyone’s radar, be sending a steady stream of money to a doctor in peru who was connected with your treatment?

Next week on “the young and the restless”…

Jill: Why the hell are you throwing away the chance of a lifetime?

Victoria: I don’t know what to believe anymore, nicholas.

Nick: Sounds like you’re having doubts about ashland after all.

Ashland: I would suggest you think long and hard before you do anything rash.

Nate: Are you threatening me?

Phyllis: Is that the texter? Hey, what does it say? Don’t keep me in suspense.

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Young & The Restless Transcript

Transcript provided by Suzanne

[ Knock on door ]

Jack: Hello? Hello? Hello? Anyone here?

Phyllis: Hmm.

Jack: [ Sighs ]

Phyllis: Um…well, I feel really good about today. I think that we’re gonna get some answers about, you know, keemo’s life here and maybe some answers about who beckoned you to get here.

Jack: Oh, I wish I shared your optimism. My hopes are not so high.

Phyllis: Okay, well, no negativity. Let’s get to work. Come on. Let’s go.

Jack: I barely slept last night. My head was spinning with visions of keemo in this house, all that we lost, all that could’ve been.

Phyllis: Well, that’s natural. You’re processing everything. Uh, I just want you to know that, however this goes, jack, you know there are so many people who love you and want to help you out with this.

Jack: I’m gonna be honest with you. This was a lot more difficult than I ever thought it would be. I stood in this room weeping with regret yesterday over all the time I lost with my son. Only one thing got me through all this.

Phyllis: Mm. What is that?

Jack: You. I mean it. You’ve given me all the support I need, and I don’t want to forget to say thank you.

Phyllis: You don’t have to say thank you to me. I’m happy to do it.

[ Sniffs ] Seems like maybe somebody else has been here.

Jack: What do you mean?

Phyllis: That smell. I mean, you didn’t smell perfume when we walked in?

Jack: No, I was a little preoccupied, but [Sniffs] Kind of an orange blossom thing?

Phyllis: Yeah. Somebody has been here since we left.

Devon: Hey! This is a surprise.

Abby: Hey, devon.

Chance: Sorry to just show up like this.

Devon: No, it’s fine. You guys are always welcome. Come in.

Abby: Did you get my text?

Devon: Uh, your text? No, I didn’t get any texts. I haven’t had my phone nearby. I’ve just been playing with this, uh — this young man over here.

[ Light laughter ] It’s, uh — it’s crazy. We had a good game of patty-cake going. The older he gets, the more fun he is.

[ Abby and devon laugh ]

Chance: He’s really responding these days, isn’t he?

Devon: He is. He really is. It’s wild. What a difference a week makes. He’s, like, reacting to things now and smiling.

Abby: Aww. Hi, my love. Did you have a good time? It looks like you had a good time.

Devon: What brings you guys by? You just dropping something off for him or…

Chance: Well, actually, devon, we were hoping we could take him home now.

Rey: You have a customer.

Sharon: Oh, hey. How you doing?

Rey: I’m good. Not as busy as you, apparently. You look so focused and studious.

Sharon: I am focused and studious.

Rey: It’s very attractive.

Sharon: Oh, yeah?

Rey: Mm-hmm.

Sharon: Wait till I get back to my calculator and start adding everything up.

Rey: That is so hot.

Sharon: And don’t distract me.

Rey: [ Laughs ]

Sharon: I have to get this done. It’s my year-end inventory.

Rey: Year-end? It’s march.

Sharon: Yeah, I know. I’m a little bit behind. But I’m in this organizational mood, so I better take advantage of it.

Rey: Ah, I see. Does that urge to organize mean that you’re going to be busy all afternoon wedding planning?

Sharon: Nope. Both brides are working today.

Rey: So, basically, once you’re done with the inventory, your afternoon is free?

Sharon: That’s right.

Rey: Huh. Is noah at the house?

Sharon: No. He’s working today, too.

Rey: Mm.

Sharon: And faith is babysitting christian at nick’S.

Rey: Oh. That is interesting.

Sharon: You think faith babysitting her little brother is interesting?

Rey: Well, I think it’s fascinating that you volunteered that information without me having to ask. Sounds like you have something on your mind.

Sharon: No, I said that because I knew you were going to ask.

Rey: Oh.

Sharon: What’s going on, rey?

Rey: [ Chuckles ]

Phyllis: [ Sighs ]

Jack: Well, I didn’t find anything new.

Phyllis: Uh, neither did I. No further signs of disturbance. Just, you know, the perfume. That’s it.

Jack: I sensed there was someone outside last night.

Phyllis: Yeah. Do you feel like they were watching you?

Jack: I thought maybe my imagination was playing tricks on me. What if I was right, though? What if — what if they came back here after they knew we were gone?

Phyllis: Do you think that possibly they wanted us to know that they were here?

Jack: I don’t know. I want to think this is the person that’s been sending me all of these texts. Is that just wishful thinking? I’m trying to make sense out of the insensible?

Phyllis: It’s a possibility. Of course.

Jack: Why are we here? What am I supposed to learn? Why was I lured to california? Whoever’s behind all this never responded to my text asking if there was something else I was supposed to find.

Phyllis: [ Exhales sharply ] You know, yesterday was intense. Right? Let’s go through the box again. Maybe we’ll find other clues. I know, but we can — we can do this with fresh eyes, right?

Jack: I don’t know if this gonna do any good. I’ve looked through everything in —

Phyllis: Okay.

Jack: Wait.

Phyllis: What is it?

Jack: This was not here last time.

Phyllis: Can I see?

Jack: Yeah.

Phyllis: Hmm. It’s a picture of a young girl. It says “allie” with a phone number.

Jack: 301 — that’s a los angeles number. Whoever came in here after us wanted us to find this. Maybe this is the response to my text. Maybe this is… the next clue in this mystery. Hey! It’s me! Your dry skin!

Additional sponsorship

provided by…

Rey: Oh. Well, I don’t have to be back to the station till this evening.

Sharon: Hmm. So you have some free time.

Rey: I do.

Sharon: Hmm. What were you thinking?

Rey: You know, I just want to spend the afternoon with my wife.

Sharon: Aww. That’s sweet.

Rey: It is, isn’t it?

Sharon: Mm. Well, you know what? Um, let me just wrap up this inventory and a few small things, and then I’m free the rest of the afternoon. What should we do?

Rey: Something fun.

Sharon: Definitely.

Rey: Yeah, something we haven’t done in a while.

Sharon: Hmm, I like where this is going. What did you have in mind?

Rey: Bowling?

Sharon: Bowling! That’s fun. That’s an option, sure.

Rey: We could go to a dive bar and play pool.

Sharon: In the middle of the afternoon? Okay, okay.

Rey: Or — or we could go down to the lake, see if the ducks are back. Or we could go to that bookstore you like so much by campus.

Sharon: Well, all of these are very good ideas, and i appreciate the effort.

Rey: Mm-hmm.

Sharon: But…

Rey: But…you have something better in mind?

Sharon: And I’ll tell you what it is when the time is right.

Rey: Am I gonna like it?

Sharon: You’re gonna love it.

Rey: Mm-hmm.

Jack: She looks familiar.

Phyllis: Does she?

Jack: Yeah. Remem– remember that picture of keemo with those people in vietnam? And there was a girl there. Yeah. Could this be her, fully grown up? I mean, there’s a real similarity. I don’t know who she was to keemo.

Phyllis: Well, you know, there’s a phone number on the back. Is it the same phone number that the texts are coming from?

Jack: No, no, that’s the first thing I checked.

Phyllis: No? Okay. Well, why don’t you call her? I mean, why not? She can give you answers.

Jack: No more texts. I’m going to talk to an actual person. It’s going straight to voicemail.

Phyllis: Alright.

Jack: Allie, my name is jack abbott. Um, I would very much like to talk to you. Could you call me back as soon as you can? Uh, it’s regarding keemo nguyen.

Phyllis: Hao.

Jack: Hao nguyen.

[ Stammers ] I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you.

[ Exhales sharply ]

Chance: I’m sorry, man. I don’t mean to spring this on you.

Devon: It’s alright. I mean, I was planning on bringing him back your guys’ place tonight.

Chloe: I understand. Um, the thing is, I have another therapy session today, and we were hoping that we could spend a little family time beforehand, you know, see if it helps.

Devon: Right. Okay. Uh… yeah, I just wish I had got a little more of a heads-up, but…

Abby: Is everything okay?

Devon: Uh, yeah. Yeah, no, everything is fine. Everything’s fine. I know that things change, so we all have to be flexible. You know that he’s teething, so I put some of that pain reliever on his gums, and it seemed to do the trick, so…

Abby: Oh.

Devon: There’s more in this bag here.

Abby: Thank you.

Devon: Yeah.

Abby: We’ll give him some extra special care today.

Chance: Thank you again, sincerely. I think we would have understood if you would have kicked us to the curb.

Devon: No, no. Get out of here. I wouldn’t do that. That’s completely fine. I’ll be seeing him again really soon.

Amanda: You seemed happy letting dominic go. But now that they’re gone, do you want to tell me how you really feel?

Devon: Oh, I mean, I’ve — I’ve picked up dominic early before, so I think it’s only fair that they can do it sometimes.

Amanda: Okay, you know that i think it is impressive how the three of you work together, but I know that you are not okay with how things went down. So can you please — can you talk to me?& Can you tell me what’s bothering you?

Devon: I don’t have anything bothering me. I think something’s bothering chance. I don’t know if you noticed how tense he was.

Amanda: Yeah, he was a little frigid, anxious.

Devon: He said that he wanted to hang out with dominic today ’cause he has a therapy session later.

Amanda: Okay, well, that’s good, right?

Devon: Yeah. It’s great for chance ’cause he can, you know, have the calming effect of being around his baby, but what’s that tension doing to dominic?

Amanda: What do you mean?

Devon: It’s just the way that chance talked about therapy. I think that it’s been a lot more difficult for him than he anticipated.

Chance: You hungry? Hmm? Hungry? No? Patty-cake? Yeah, you like the patty-cake, right? That’s what I hear.

[ Breathes deeply ] I’m really glad we get to hang out before therapy. It’s not gonna be near as much fun as this, I’ll tell you.

Abby: It sounds like you’re nervous about therapy. I know your first session really wiped you out, but I thought you’d be more at ease now that you know dr. Huffman.

Chance: Well, it’s, um — it’s not him. I, uh — I just don’t really know where this is gonna lead me. You know, the deeper we get, the harder it’s gonna get, the more trauma arises. I, uh, just get worried.

Abby: I understand. But there’s no need to fear the worst. This process can take however long you need it to. There’s no rush. And dr. Huffman is gonna be there to help you through the whole journey, and I am gonna be here to support you, no matter what. You’re doing this for us and for dominic.

Chance: Yeah, I just hope he’s not picking up on all these nerves.

Abby: No, of course not. All he feels is your love.

Chance: You’re so certain.

Abby: Because I know I’m right. I promise.

Phyllis: Well, this girl, allie, could still be the mystery texter. You know, she may be just texting from a different phone. People have a lot of phones. They have one for business, one for personal.

Jack: One for sending peculiar texts to strangers?

Phyllis: Well, I mean, it doesn’t have to be like that. Maybe she just wants to reach out to you.

Jack: To what end?

Phyllis: Well, that’s the mystery, isn’t it? Jack? I mean, you have no idea what this girl’s connection to keemo may be?

Jack: I am trying to keep an open mind. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions. Every time I do, it leads me in the wrong d–

[ Cellphone ringing ]

Phyllis: Is that her?

Jack: Yeah. This is jack. Thank you, allie, for calling me back. Yes, I — I would love to discuss hao nguyen with you, but — but not over the phone. Is — is there any chance that we could talk to each other in person? I’m at his house now with a friend. She and I would be happy to meet you outside, if that makes you more comfortable. I — yeah. Okay. I understand. Thank you.

Phyllis: Is she coming?

Jack: She’s tied up for the moment. She said if we can stay here, she’ll get here as soon as she can.

Phyllis: Oh! That’s great. Okay, so we’re staying here. That’s for sure. We didn’t come all this way to throw in the towel now.

Jack: No, we didn’T.

Phyllis: Hey, jack, this girl allie is gonna have all the answers that you’re looking for. Your dry skin story changes

Sharon: Hey, you two!

Devon: Hey.

Amanda: Hi.

Sharon: I know exactly what you want.

Amanda: Aww, thank you, sharon.

[ Laughter ]

Devon: Rey, what’s going on, man?

Rey: I’m good, man. It’s been a long time. Are things okay with you?

Devon: Things couldn’t be better. They couldn’t be better. How’s work going? Is there any word on when chance might be coming back to join you guys?

Rey: Well, paul’s giving him all the time he needs. When he’s ready, the gcpd will welcome him back.

Devon: That’s really good. Hey, sharon, I heard you recommended a really good therapist for chance.

Sharon: Yeah, I did — dr. Huffman.

Devon: Yeah. He said he started going already, so I’m hoping that goes well for him.

Sharon: Oh, good. I’m glad.

Devon: Yeah. Have you heard any updates on his progress at all?

Sharon: No, none at all, but then, if I had, I wouldn’t be able to talk about it.

Devon: Yeah, of course. Of course. I’ve just been real concerned about him, just knowing what he went through in spain, and been a little worried about how that lingering trauma might be affecting dominic.

Sharon: Yeah. I understand.

Rey: Yeah, I do, too, devon. But the good thing is a lot of people have chance’s back, not just his therapist, which means a lot of people have dominic’s back, too.

Sharon: I agree. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.

Devon: Well, good. Good. I’m glad that all you guys feel that way.

Abby: Ah, dominic finally went down for his nap. He’s fussy. It must be his teething.

Chloe: Devon was right.

Abby: So, how are you feeling about your appointment? Any better?

Chance: Yes and no.

Abby: What does that mean?

Chloe: Well, look, I — i know I have to go through this and that it’s gonna be hard and that I’m gonna come out of it a better person. I am just not the kind of person who wears their emotions on their sleeves. I don’t know how to talk about that. I don’t know how to do it, you know? And I’m afraid that, when a breakthrough does happen, everything is just gonna spill out, everything, and it’s gonna just — it’s gonna be really messy.

Abby: Well, it’s supposed to be. And, yes, it’s gonna be difficult, but what’s the worst that could happen? You learn something about yourself? Maybe talking about your experiences — maybe it’ll be cathartic in a positive way.

Chance: I love your optimism. It’s what I need right now.

Abby: Only right now?

Chance: Right now and forever.

Abby: Mm-hmm.

Phyllis: So, what are you gonna ask allie when she gets here?

Jack: Oh, I don’t know. I got a thousand questions. I don’t think we’re gonna run out of anything to talk about.

Phyllis: Okay, well, maybe have a plan because you don’t want to — want to throw a thousand questions at her.

Jack: Yeah, that’s probably sound reasoning.

Phyllis: Yeah.

Jack: Start with the beginning. These photos potentially show that she was close to keemo. Maybe she had a significant place in his life when I w– ugh, I hate sitting around waiting.

Phyllis: Okay, well, what do you want to do?- ‘Cause she may be on her way over.

Jack: You know, I’d like to take a walk, get some fresh air. I’d like to have a clear mind when she comes here.

Phyllis: Go do that. Go do that.

Jack: Yeah. Would you mind staying here in case she comes back?

Phyllis: Of course. I’ll be here when she arrives.

Jack: Thank you. I mean it. For everything. With so many nourishing shades,

“The young and the restless”

will continue.

Sharon: Okay, I’m all yours.

Rey: Excellent. What are we gonna do?

Sharon: Uh, well, since the window of private time is very small…

Rey: Mm-hmm.

Sharon: …I think that we should, um —

[ Cellphone ringing ] Oh. Hold on.

Rey: Yeah.

Sharon: Oh. Hi, faith. What’s going on? Okay. Oh, that’s so sweet. Um, but, uh, does it have — oh. Hello, christian. Yes, I’m very honored that you chose me. But does it have to be today? Oh, okay. I see. Alright, well, maybe, um, I can swing by quickly. Alright. I’ll see you soon.

Rey: [ Chuckles ] What was that about?

Sharon: Christian has a school project. He needs to ask one of his favorite adults five questions and then take a picture for a poster.

Rey: And he chose you. That’s — that’s sweet.

Sharon: I know. I think it is, too. But it has to be done today.

Rey: So no alone time for us. That’s okay.

Sharon: I’m sorry.

Rey: No. I understand. Obviously, you should go.

Sharon: Well, you know what? We’ll make a date for another day really soon. Thanks for understanding.

Rey: Of course.

Amanda: You know, when i said, “let’s get out of the house,” and you suggested crimson lights, I thought it was for the delicious coffee. But now I know it’s because you wanted to interrogate sharon.

Devon: That’s not what I did.

Amanda: Really? Because it is kind of what it looked like. And bonus — rey is here, too, so you were able to ask him about chance’s job.

Devon: Well, I didn’t plan to do that before we got here. When I saw them, I just thought I could ask how they felt about chance’s state of mind. That’s it.

Amanda: Yeah, well, now I’m a little worried about your state of mind.

Devon: Why?

Amanda: Because even though you, abby, and chance — you came to an amazing agreement for dominic, one that you guys are all happy with, and chance is getting the therapy that you hoped that he would — you are still trying to find things to worry about. And at first I thought that, you know, maybe you don’t even know that you’re doing it. Maybe it’s just subconscious. But now I don’t know. I’m — I’m not too sure.

Chance: You know, that first session really took it out of me. I was completely worn out. And I know we just scratched the surface, but that took a lot out of me. You know, fortunately I have a wife who is very supportive. Um…I draw a lot of strength from her. Her and my son. And I just want to be the man that they deserve. And that’s why I’m back. That’s why I’m gonna keep coming back.

Dr. Huffman: Good. I’d like to pick up where we left off — in spain. You said you failed your team there.

Chance: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Huffman: I’d like you to elaborate. Tell me about the last day of the mission.

Chance: Yeah, you know, i told you last time I was outside the building. My team was inside. Um…everything happened really fast —

Dr. Huffman: Chance. I want you to concentrate on what you were feeling right after the explosion.

Chance: Okay. Um… well, I could — I could hear my team inside. And they were yelling. And that hurt. That hurt much worse than the shrapnel in my leg, I’ll tell you. Some of the toughest people i know screaming for their lives. And I couldn’t do anything. I — I couldn’t move. I…

[ Sighs ] Felt pretty worthless.

Dr. Huffman: What happened next?

Chance: After that, there was just silence. And I knew what that meant. I got on my feet. I looked for survivors, you know, calling out names, digging through the rubble, but I got nothing.

Dr. Huffman: Is that when you decided to hide in the rubble?

Chance: Yeah. The bastards that did it showed up looking for survivors, as well. Oh, I… heart was pounding, but I stayed still. I played dead until they left… surrounded by my friends’ bodies, and I hid. I couldn’t save one of them. And why me, doc, hmm? Why did I survive when they didn’t? Why me? That’s the question that I keep asking myself every single day. Listen, I’m done settling. Because this is my secret.

Chelsea: Hi, rey.

Rey: Hey. Chelsea. I haven’t seen you in a while. Just been busy with work?

Chelsea: I have been. I actually just got back from new york. It was a very productive trip. I was able to secure a manufacturer for the new line.

Rey: Oh, that’s great. How are you doing?

Chelsea: Wonderful.

Rey: That’s good. You know, I’m glad everything’s going the right direction for you. You deserve it.

Chelsea: Well, thank you. I appreciate that. And, you know, I was thinking about you the other day ’cause — sorry. This might not be a good time for you. You’ve got a lot going on. I — [ Chuckles ]

Rey: You know, actually, I do have some time on my hands. You want to sit and join me?

Jack: Phyllis? Phyllis?

[ Exhales heavily ]

Phyllis: Hey!

Jack: Hey. Where were you?

Phyllis: Welcome back.

[ Chuckles ] I was back in the garden. So gorgeous. I mean, I wonder if keemo designed it himself. It’s so serene.

Jack: I probably should have gone there instead of going for a walk.

Phyllis: Yeah, probably, because you don’t seem any more relaxed.

Jack: No, I’m not.

Phyllis: Okay, well, maybe you should sit in the garden ’cause you — you want to be calm when you meet this girl.

Jack: Yeah, I couldn’t agree more.

Phyllis: Yeah. You know what? I’m gonna go get some food. You want some food?

Jack: No, no, no.

Phyllis: No?

Jack: No, thanks.

Phyllis: Okay.

Jack: [ Sighs ]

Phyllis: I mean, I was just thinking maybe I should not be here when she arrives, you know? Maybe you should just be alone.

Jack: No, no, no, no, no. If I’m sure of any one thing, it’s that I want you here with me.

Phyllis: Why?

Jack: I don’t know what to expect. I don’t know if this girl has the answer to our mystery. I’m unsure of my footing, and you are solid ground. And I know it would help if you were by my side.

Phyllis: Okay.

Devon: I’m not trying to cause any trouble or create problems for chance at all, okay? I know that he’s been through hell, and I just want what’s best for him.

Amanda: I know, and I don’t doubt that. I’m just talking about the current arrangement for dominic.

Devon: What about the current arrangement?

Amanda: I don’t think that you’re comfortable with it.

Devon: How? Do you figure that? I have everything that I’ve asked for. I have legal access to dominic whenever I want.

Amanda: But you always seem deflated when he leaves, and when theme and they picked him up a little earlier today, it crushed you.

Devon: Yeah. When have you ever seen me happy to say goodbye to that little boy?

Amanda: You know you can be honest with me, right?

Devon: That’s what I’m doing.

Amanda: Okay. Well, I’m gonna ask you something, and it may seem indelicate, but I want the real truth, not the nice truth, okay?

Devon: Yeah.

Amanda: Do you want to have more say in dominic’s life? Do you want sole custody?

Dr. Huffman: Survivor guilt is a powerful, specific trauma. How did you try to cope before starting therapy?

Chance: Um… well, not well. That’s for sure. I guess I just tried to, uh, atone for what I did.

Dr. Huffman: What you did? What did you do? You didn’t do anything wrong, chance. What are you atoning for? Surviving?

Chance: I know what you’re doing, man. Trying to make me realize it’s not my fault, but I’m just not there yet.

Dr. Huffman: [ Chuckles ] Okay. What form did this atonement take? What did you do?

Chance: Reached out to my team’s families. I tried to ease their pain. Told them that their son or daughter, wife or husband, was a hero. Paid for some of the funerals. Things like that.

Dr. Huffman: That’s very thoughtful and generous. How did those families react? Did any of them express resentment towards you?

Chance: No. No, they were thankful, you know, grateful. My buddy justin — his wife… a widow. And she’s down in florida. She wrote me a letter saying how thankful she was and that i shouldn’t blame myself… that I should find peace. How the hell am I supposed to do that? Hmm? How the hell am I supposed to find peace when I hid? I was surrounded by death, and I hid. I mean, how am I supposed to look my wife in the face after that? Or my son? How can I reconcile the man i was over there with this man who has this perfect life and a perfect family? How do I do that? Look, I want to move on. I do. I want to embrace the future that I am so lucky to have, a future that was ripped away from my team, but…how the hell am i supposed to do that?

Covid-19 moves fast,

Rey: That reminds me of the time we were in minnesota…

Chelsea: Ah.

Rey: …And I was pulling out of the parking lot and I heard something hit the back of the car.

Chelsea: And we were like, “what was that?”

Rey: And you said…

Chelsea: “It was our lunch.”

Rey: Oh, I can’t believe i left the food on top of the car!

Chelsea: I remember telling connor that story. He was cracking up. He was just picturing all the burgers and fries and shakes all over the ground.

Rey: Well, that’s great. I’m glad someone was entertained by the calamity.

Chelsea: [ Laughs ]

Rey: How’s he doing?

Chelsea: Mm. He’s great.

Rey: Yeah?

Chelsea: He’s so good. I just saw him when I got back from new york. It was the first thing I did.

Rey: Mm. Hockey season must be coming to an end. Is he still liking it?

Chelsea: He loves it.

Rey: Yeah?

Chelsea: He’s obsessed, actually, and he always wears that jersey you got him for christmas. So, thank you again.

Rey: I’m glad he likes it. You know, the blackhawks are playing home next weekend.

Chelsea: Mm.

Rey: Might be a cool road trip.

Chelsea: That’s a great idea. Are you planning on going?

Rey: Well, I’m working, but when I saw tickets on sale, i thought of you…and connor.

Chelsea: Oh. Well, if we go, I’m sure connor will want to give you a play-by-play of how the game went.

Rey: I’m sure he will. He has so much enthusiasm. He can just go on and on about everything that he loves.

Chelsea: He definitely can, but he’s shy. He only does that with people he likes and trusts.

Rey: Mm.

Chelsea: I’m glad you’re one of those people.

Devon: So, the answer’s no, okay? I don’t want full custody of dominic at all. Abby and chance are his parents, and this is just a new dynamic that we’re all trying to figure out how to navigate. That’s all this is.

Amanda: Okay.

Devon: Do you not believe me?

Amanda: I do. I just don’t know why you’re asking all of these questions about chance’s mental state.

Devon: Because this has been the thing I’ve been concerned about since he got back from spain. You know that. This isn’t new. And if I’m being really truthful, I don’t think that chance even realizes the depth of his trauma — ’cause I’ve been to therapy before. I know you don’t leave those emotions at the doctor’s office. They’re with you. You take them home. And in his case, you’re taking them home to your family. And I’m also aware, too, that it can be a very long and difficult journey before you see any progress or make a breakthrough.

Abby: Shh. It’s alright. Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.

[ Door closes ]

[ Dominic crying ]

Chance: [ Sighs ]

Abby: Shh. Hey. How’d it go?

Chance: It was good. Sounds like he’s been keeping you busy.

Abby: Oh, you know, teething is the worst. Poor little guy.

Chance: The medicine’s not working?

Abby: Not yet, but maybe if his dad held him.

Chance: Uh… no, I — I don’t think that’s gonna help. I don’t have the touch right now.

Abby: Of course you do.

Chance: Abby, I said no. I’m sorry. Um… uh, I’m sorry. That was rude.

Abby: No, um…I’m sorry.

Chance: No, you have nothing to apologize for. I’m — I’m sorry.

Abby: I should have realized that you needed a moment to decompress.

Chance: A moment would be nice. It was really intense today, and I was right. You know, it’s just gonna get worse before it gets better.

Abby: Hey, but you’re working on it, and that’s what matters.

Chance: I just don’t want to — I don’t know what it’s gonna do to him. I mean, being around all this negativity — it can’t be good. It’s not right.

Abby: Well, we’re gonna make it right, Chance, together.

Chance: [Sighs]

Phyllis: A watched pot never boils.

Jack: I don’t think she’s gonna come.

Phyllis: She’s coming. It hasn’t been that long.

Jack: You know what? I’m gonna give her another call.

Phyllis: That’s a good idea. Find out when she’ll be here.

Jack: Or if she changed her mind.

Phyllis: Well…

[Car door closes]

Phyllis: No, she hasn’t changed her mind. I think she’s here.

Allie: Hello.

Jack: Allie?

Allie: Yes.

Jack: Thank you so much for coming. This– this is my friend, Phyllis Summers.

Phyllis: Nice to meet you.

Allie: Hi. What are you doing here?

Jack: What do you mean?

Allie: Are you guys lawyers, or with the bank? I thought the estate was settled. Everything was closed down.

Jack: No, we’re– we’re not lawyers. We’re not bankers. I’m Jack Abbott.

Allie: Okay.

Jack: [Stammers] I would like to have a conversation with you about Hao Nguyen. Actually, I always knew him as Keemo. He was my son.

[ Knock on door ]

Jack: Hello? Hello? Hello? Anyone here?

Phyllis: Hmm.

Jack: [ Sighs ]

Phyllis: Um…well, I feel really good about today. I think that we’re gonna get some answers about, you know, keemo’s life here and maybe some answers about who beckoned you to get here.

Jack: Oh, I wish I shared your optimism. My hopes are not so high.

Phyllis: Okay, well, no negativity. Let’s get to work. Come on. Let’s go.

Jack: I barely slept last night. My head was spinning with visions of keemo in this house, all that we lost, all that could’ve been.

Phyllis: Well, that’s natural. You’re processing everything. Uh, I just want you to know that, however this goes, jack, you know there are so many people who love you and want to help you out with this.

Jack: I’m gonna be honest with you. This was a lot more difficult than I ever thought it would be. I stood in this room weeping with regret yesterday over all the time I lost with my son. Only one thing got me through all this.

Phyllis: Mm. What is that?

Jack: You. I mean it. You’ve given me all the support I need, and I don’t want to forget to say thank you.

Phyllis: You don’t have to say thank you to me. I’m happy to do it.

[ Sniffs ] Seems like maybe somebody else has been here.

Jack: What do you mean?

Phyllis: That smell. I mean, you didn’t smell perfume when we walked in?

Jack: No, I was a little preoccupied, but [Sniffs] Kind of an orange blossom thing?

Phyllis: Yeah. Somebody has been here since we left.

Devon: Hey! This is a surprise.

Abby: Hey, devon.

Chance: Sorry to just show up like this.

Devon: No, it’s fine. You guys are always welcome. Come in.

Abby: Did you get my text?

Devon: Uh, your text? No, I didn’t get any texts. I haven’t had my phone nearby. I’ve just been playing with this, uh — this young man over here.

[ Light laughter ] It’s, uh — it’s crazy. We had a good game of patty-cake going. The older he gets, the more fun he is.

[ Abby and devon laugh ]

Chance: He’s really responding these days, isn’t he?

Devon: He is. He really is. It’s wild. What a difference a week makes. He’s, like, reacting to things now and smiling.

Abby: Aww. Hi, my love. Did you have a good time? It looks like you had a good time.

Devon: What brings you guys by? You just dropping something off for him or…

Chance: Well, actually, devon, we were hoping we could take him home now.

Rey: You have a customer.

Sharon: Oh, hey. How you doing?

Rey: I’m good. Not as busy as you, apparently. You look so focused and studious.

Sharon: I am focused and studious.

Rey: It’s very attractive.

Sharon: Oh, yeah?

Rey: Mm-hmm.

Sharon: Wait till I get back to my calculator and start adding everything up.

Rey: That is so hot.

Sharon: And don’t distract me.

Rey: [ Laughs ]

Sharon: I have to get this done. It’s my year-end inventory.

Rey: Year-end? It’s march.

Sharon: Yeah, I know. I’m a little bit behind. But I’m in this organizational mood, so I better take advantage of it.

Rey: Ah, I see. Does that urge to organize mean that you’re going to be busy all afternoon wedding planning?

Sharon: Nope. Both brides are working today.

Rey: So, basically, once you’re done with the inventory, your afternoon is free?

Sharon: That’s right.

Rey: Huh. Is noah at the house?

Sharon: No. He’s working today, too.

Rey: Mm.

Sharon: And faith is babysitting christian at nick’S.

Rey: Oh. That is interesting.

Sharon: You think faith babysitting her little brother is interesting?

Rey: Well, I think it’s fascinating that you volunteered that information without me having to ask. Sounds like you have something on your mind.

Sharon: No, I said that because I knew you were going to ask.

Rey: Oh.

Sharon: What’s going on, rey?

Rey: [ Chuckles ]

Phyllis: [ Sighs ]

Jack: Well, I didn’t find anything new.

Phyllis: Uh, neither did I. No further signs of disturbance. Just, you know, the perfume. That’s it.

Jack: I sensed there was someone outside last night.

Phyllis: Yeah. Do you feel like they were watching you?

Jack: I thought maybe my imagination was playing tricks on me. What if I was right, though? What if — what if they came back here after they knew we were gone?

Phyllis: Do you think that possibly they wanted us to know that they were here?

Jack: I don’t know. I want to think this is the person that’s been sending me all of these texts. Is that just wishful thinking? I’m trying to make sense out of the insensible?

Phyllis: It’s a possibility. Of course.

Jack: Why are we here? What am I supposed to learn? Why was I lured to california? Whoever’s behind all this never responded to my text asking if there was something else I was supposed to find.

Phyllis: [ Exhales sharply ] You know, yesterday was intense. Right? Let’s go through the box again. Maybe we’ll find other clues. I know, but we can — we can do this with fresh eyes, right?

Jack: I don’t know if this gonna do any good. I’ve looked through everything in —

Phyllis: Okay.

Jack: Wait.

Phyllis: What is it?

Jack: This was not here last time.

Phyllis: Can I see?

Jack: Yeah.

Phyllis: Hmm. It’s a picture of a young girl. It says “allie” with a phone number.

Jack: 301 — that’s a los angeles number. Whoever came in here after us wanted us to find this. Maybe this is the response to my text. Maybe this is… the next clue in this mystery. Hey! It’s me! Your dry skin!

Additional sponsorship

provided by…

Rey: Oh. Well, I don’t have to be back to the station till this evening.

Sharon: Hmm. So you have some free time.

Rey: I do.

Sharon: Hmm. What were you thinking?

Rey: You know, I just want to spend the afternoon with my wife.

Sharon: Aww. That’s sweet.

Rey: It is, isn’t it?

Sharon: Mm. Well, you know what? Um, let me just wrap up this inventory and a few small things, and then I’m free the rest of the afternoon. What should we do?

Rey: Something fun.

Sharon: Definitely.

Rey: Yeah, something we haven’t done in a while.

Sharon: Hmm, I like where this is going. What did you have in mind?

Rey: Bowling?

Sharon: Bowling! That’s fun. That’s an option, sure.

Rey: We could go to a dive bar and play pool.

Sharon: In the middle of the afternoon? Okay, okay.

Rey: Or — or we could go down to the lake, see if the ducks are back. Or we could go to that bookstore you like so much by campus.

Sharon: Well, all of these are very good ideas, and i appreciate the effort.

Rey: Mm-hmm.

Sharon: But…

Rey: But…you have something better in mind?

Sharon: And I’ll tell you what it is when the time is right.

Rey: Am I gonna like it?

Sharon: You’re gonna love it.

Rey: Mm-hmm.

Jack: She looks familiar.

Phyllis: Does she?

Jack: Yeah. Remem– remember that picture of keemo with those people in vietnam? And there was a girl there. Yeah. Could this be her, fully grown up? I mean, there’s a real similarity. I don’t know who she was to keemo.

Phyllis: Well, you know, there’s a phone number on the back. Is it the same phone number that the texts are coming from?

Jack: No, no, that’s the first thing I checked.

Phyllis: No? Okay. Well, why don’t you call her? I mean, why not? She can give you answers.

Jack: No more texts. I’m going to talk to an actual person. It’s going straight to voicemail.

Phyllis: Alright.

Jack: Allie, my name is jack abbott. Um, I would very much like to talk to you. Could you call me back as soon as you can? Uh, it’s regarding keemo nguyen.

Phyllis: Hao.

Jack: Hao nguyen.

[ Stammers ] I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you.

[ Exhales sharply ]

Chance: I’m sorry, man. I don’t mean to spring this on you.

Devon: It’s alright. I mean, I was planning on bringing him back your guys’ place tonight.

Chloe: I understand. Um, the thing is, I have another therapy session today, and we were hoping that we could spend a little family time beforehand, you know, see if it helps.

Devon: Right. Okay. Uh… yeah, I just wish I had got a little more of a heads-up, but…

Abby: Is everything okay?

Devon: Uh, yeah. Yeah, no, everything is fine. Everything’s fine. I know that things change, so we all have to be flexible. You know that he’s teething, so I put some of that pain reliever on his gums, and it seemed to do the trick, so…

Abby: Oh.

Devon: There’s more in this bag here.

Abby: Thank you.

Devon: Yeah.

Abby: We’ll give him some extra special care today.

Chance: Thank you again, sincerely. I think we would have understood if you would have kicked us to the curb.

Devon: No, no. Get out of here. I wouldn’t do that. That’s completely fine. I’ll be seeing him again really soon.

Amanda: You seemed happy letting dominic go. But now that they’re gone, do you want to tell me how you really feel?

Devon: Oh, I mean, I’ve — I’ve picked up dominic early before, so I think it’s only fair that they can do it sometimes.

Amanda: Okay, you know that i think it is impressive how the three of you work together, but I know that you are not okay with how things went down. So can you please — can you talk to me?& Can you tell me what’s bothering you?

Devon: I don’t have anything bothering me. I think something’s bothering chance. I don’t know if you noticed how tense he was.

Amanda: Yeah, he was a little frigid, anxious.

Devon: He said that he wanted to hang out with dominic today ’cause he has a therapy session later.

Amanda: Okay, well, that’s good, right?

Devon: Yeah. It’s great for chance ’cause he can, you know, have the calming effect of being around his baby, but what’s that tension doing to dominic?

Amanda: What do you mean?

Devon: It’s just the way that chance talked about therapy. I think that it’s been a lot more difficult for him than he anticipated.

Chance: You hungry? Hmm? Hungry? No? Patty-cake? Yeah, you like the patty-cake, right? That’s what I hear.

[ Breathes deeply ] I’m really glad we get to hang out before therapy. It’s not gonna be near as much fun as this, I’ll tell you.

Abby: It sounds like you’re nervous about therapy. I know your first session really wiped you out, but I thought you’d be more at ease now that you know dr. Huffman.

Chance: Well, it’s, um — it’s not him. I, uh — I just don’t really know where this is gonna lead me. You know, the deeper we get, the harder it’s gonna get, the more trauma arises. I, uh, just get worried.

Abby: I understand. But there’s no need to fear the worst. This process can take however long you need it to. There’s no rush. And dr. Huffman is gonna be there to help you through the whole journey, and I am gonna be here to support you, no matter what. You’re doing this for us and for dominic.

Chance: Yeah, I just hope he’s not picking up on all these nerves.

Abby: No, of course not. All he feels is your love.

Chance: You’re so certain.

Abby: Because I know I’m right. I promise.

Phyllis: Well, this girl, allie, could still be the mystery texter. You know, she may be just texting from a different phone. People have a lot of phones. They have one for business, one for personal.

Jack: One for sending peculiar texts to strangers?

Phyllis: Well, I mean, it doesn’t have to be like that. Maybe she just wants to reach out to you.

Jack: To what end?

Phyllis: Well, that’s the mystery, isn’t it? Jack? I mean, you have no idea what this girl’s connection to keemo may be?

Jack: I am trying to keep an open mind. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions. Every time I do, it leads me in the wrong d–

[ Cellphone ringing ]

Phyllis: Is that her?

Jack: Yeah. This is jack. Thank you, allie, for calling me back. Yes, I — I would love to discuss hao nguyen with you, but — but not over the phone. Is — is there any chance that we could talk to each other in person? I’m at his house now with a friend. She and I would be happy to meet you outside, if that makes you more comfortable. I — yeah. Okay. I understand. Thank you.

Phyllis: Is she coming?

Jack: She’s tied up for the moment. She said if we can stay here, she’ll get here as soon as she can.

Phyllis: Oh! That’s great. Okay, so we’re staying here. That’s for sure. We didn’t come all this way to throw in the towel now.

Jack: No, we didn’T.

Phyllis: Hey, jack, this girl allie is gonna have all the answers that you’re looking for. Your dry skin story changes

Sharon: Hey, you two!

Devon: Hey.

Amanda: Hi.

Sharon: I know exactly what you want.

Amanda: Aww, thank you, sharon.

[ Laughter ]

Devon: Rey, what’s going on, man?

Rey: I’m good, man. It’s been a long time. Are things okay with you?

Devon: Things couldn’t be better. They couldn’t be better. How’s work going? Is there any word on when chance might be coming back to join you guys?

Rey: Well, paul’s giving him all the time he needs. When he’s ready, the gcpd will welcome him back.

Devon: That’s really good. Hey, sharon, I heard you recommended a really good therapist for chance.

Sharon: Yeah, I did — dr. Huffman.

Devon: Yeah. He said he started going already, so I’m hoping that goes well for him.

Sharon: Oh, good. I’m glad.

Devon: Yeah. Have you heard any updates on his progress at all?

Sharon: No, none at all, but then, if I had, I wouldn’t be able to talk about it.

Devon: Yeah, of course. Of course. I’ve just been real concerned about him, just knowing what he went through in spain, and been a little worried about how that lingering trauma might be affecting dominic.

Sharon: Yeah. I understand.

Rey: Yeah, I do, too, devon. But the good thing is a lot of people have chance’s back, not just his therapist, which means a lot of people have dominic’s back, too.

Sharon: I agree. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.

Devon: Well, good. Good. I’m glad that all you guys feel that way.

Abby: Ah, dominic finally went down for his nap. He’s fussy. It must be his teething.

Chloe: Devon was right.

Abby: So, how are you feeling about your appointment? Any better?

Chance: Yes and no.

Abby: What does that mean?

Chloe: Well, look, I — i know I have to go through this and that it’s gonna be hard and that I’m gonna come out of it a better person. I am just not the kind of person who wears their emotions on their sleeves. I don’t know how to talk about that. I don’t know how to do it, you know? And I’m afraid that, when a breakthrough does happen, everything is just gonna spill out, everything, and it’s gonna just — it’s gonna be really messy.

Abby: Well, it’s supposed to be. And, yes, it’s gonna be difficult, but what’s the worst that could happen? You learn something about yourself? Maybe talking about your experiences — maybe it’ll be cathartic in a positive way.

Chance: I love your optimism. It’s what I need right now.

Abby: Only right now?

Chance: Right now and forever.

Abby: Mm-hmm.

Phyllis: So, what are you gonna ask allie when she gets here?

Jack: Oh, I don’t know. I got a thousand questions. I don’t think we’re gonna run out of anything to talk about.

Phyllis: Okay, well, maybe have a plan because you don’t want to — want to throw a thousand questions at her.

Jack: Yeah, that’s probably sound reasoning.

Phyllis: Yeah.

Jack: Start with the beginning. These photos potentially show that she was close to keemo. Maybe she had a significant place in his life when I w– ugh, I hate sitting around waiting.

Phyllis: Okay, well, what do you want to do?- ‘Cause she may be on her way over.

Jack: You know, I’d like to take a walk, get some fresh air. I’d like to have a clear mind when she comes here.

Phyllis: Go do that. Go do that.

Jack: Yeah. Would you mind staying here in case she comes back?

Phyllis: Of course. I’ll be here when she arrives.

Jack: Thank you. I mean it. For everything. With so many nourishing shades,

“The young and the restless”

will continue.

Sharon: Okay, I’m all yours.

Rey: Excellent. What are we gonna do?

Sharon: Uh, well, since the window of private time is very small…

Rey: Mm-hmm.

Sharon: …I think that we should, um —

[ Cellphone ringing ] Oh. Hold on.

Rey: Yeah.

Sharon: Oh. Hi, faith. What’s going on? Okay. Oh, that’s so sweet. Um, but, uh, does it have — oh. Hello, christian. Yes, I’m very honored that you chose me. But does it have to be today? Oh, okay. I see. Alright, well, maybe, um, I can swing by quickly. Alright. I’ll see you soon.

Rey: [ Chuckles ] What was that about?

Sharon: Christian has a school project. He needs to ask one of his favorite adults five questions and then take a picture for a poster.

Rey: And he chose you. That’s — that’s sweet.

Sharon: I know. I think it is, too. But it has to be done today.

Rey: So no alone time for us. That’s okay.

Sharon: I’m sorry.

Rey: No. I understand. Obviously, you should go.

Sharon: Well, you know what? We’ll make a date for another day really soon. Thanks for understanding.

Rey: Of course.

Amanda: You know, when i said, “let’s get out of the house,” and you suggested crimson lights, I thought it was for the delicious coffee. But now I know it’s because you wanted to interrogate sharon.

Devon: That’s not what I did.

Amanda: Really? Because it is kind of what it looked like. And bonus — rey is here, too, so you were able to ask him about chance’s job.

Devon: Well, I didn’t plan to do that before we got here. When I saw them, I just thought I could ask how they felt about chance’s state of mind. That’s it.

Amanda: Yeah, well, now I’m a little worried about your state of mind.

Devon: Why?

Amanda: Because even though you, abby, and chance — you came to an amazing agreement for dominic, one that you guys are all happy with, and chance is getting the therapy that you hoped that he would — you are still trying to find things to worry about. And at first I thought that, you know, maybe you don’t even know that you’re doing it. Maybe it’s just subconscious. But now I don’t know. I’m — I’m not too sure.

Chance: You know, that first session really took it out of me. I was completely worn out. And I know we just scratched the surface, but that took a lot out of me. You know, fortunately I have a wife who is very supportive. Um…I draw a lot of strength from her. Her and my son. And I just want to be the man that they deserve. And that’s why I’m back. That’s why I’m gonna keep coming back.

Dr. Huffman: Good. I’d like to pick up where we left off — in spain. You said you failed your team there.

Chance: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Huffman: I’d like you to elaborate. Tell me about the last day of the mission.

Chance: Yeah, you know, i told you last time I was outside the building. My team was inside. Um…everything happened really fast —

Dr. Huffman: Chance. I want you to concentrate on what you were feeling right after the explosion.

Chance: Okay. Um… well, I could — I could hear my team inside. And they were yelling. And that hurt. That hurt much worse than the shrapnel in my leg, I’ll tell you. Some of the toughest people i know screaming for their lives. And I couldn’t do anything. I — I couldn’t move. I…

[ Sighs ] Felt pretty worthless.

Dr. Huffman: What happened next?

Chance: After that, there was just silence. And I knew what that meant. I got on my feet. I looked for survivors, you know, calling out names, digging through the rubble, but I got nothing.

Dr. Huffman: Is that when you decided to hide in the rubble?

Chance: Yeah. The bastards that did it showed up looking for survivors, as well. Oh, I… heart was pounding, but I stayed still. I played dead until they left… surrounded by my friends’ bodies, and I hid. I couldn’t save one of them. And why me, doc, hmm? Why did I survive when they didn’t? Why me? That’s the question that I keep asking myself every single day. Listen, I’m done settling. Because this is my secret.

Chelsea: Hi, rey.

Rey: Hey. Chelsea. I haven’t seen you in a while. Just been busy with work?

Chelsea: I have been. I actually just got back from new york. It was a very productive trip. I was able to secure a manufacturer for the new line.

Rey: Oh, that’s great. How are you doing?

Chelsea: Wonderful.

Rey: That’s good. You know, I’m glad everything’s going the right direction for you. You deserve it.

Chelsea: Well, thank you. I appreciate that. And, you know, I was thinking about you the other day ’cause — sorry. This might not be a good time for you. You’ve got a lot going on. I — [ Chuckles ]

Rey: You know, actually, I do have some time on my hands. You want to sit and join me?

Jack: Phyllis? Phyllis?

[ Exhales heavily ]

Phyllis: Hey!

Jack: Hey. Where were you?

Phyllis: Welcome back.

[ Chuckles ] I was back in the garden. So gorgeous. I mean, I wonder if keemo designed it himself. It’s so serene.

Jack: I probably should have gone there instead of going for a walk.

Phyllis: Yeah, probably, because you don’t seem any more relaxed.

Jack: No, I’m not.

Phyllis: Okay, well, maybe you should sit in the garden ’cause you — you want to be calm when you meet this girl.

Jack: Yeah, I couldn’t agree more.

Phyllis: Yeah. You know what? I’m gonna go get some food. You want some food?

Jack: No, no, no.

Phyllis: No?

Jack: No, thanks.

Phyllis: Okay.

Jack: [ Sighs ]

Phyllis: I mean, I was just thinking maybe I should not be here when she arrives, you know? Maybe you should just be alone.

Jack: No, no, no, no, no. If I’m sure of any one thing, it’s that I want you here with me.

Phyllis: Why?

Jack: I don’t know what to expect. I don’t know if this girl has the answer to our mystery. I’m unsure of my footing, and you are solid ground. And I know it would help if you were by my side.

Phyllis: Okay.

Devon: I’m not trying to cause any trouble or create problems for chance at all, okay? I know that he’s been through hell, and I just want what’s best for him.

Amanda: I know, and I don’t doubt that. I’m just talking about the current arrangement for dominic.

Devon: What about the current arrangement?

Amanda: I don’t think that you’re comfortable with it.

Devon: How? Do you figure that? I have everything that I’ve asked for. I have legal access to dominic whenever I want.

Amanda: But you always seem deflated when he leaves, and when theme and they picked him up a little earlier today, it crushed you.

Devon: Yeah. When have you ever seen me happy to say goodbye to that little boy?

Amanda: You know you can be honest with me, right?

Devon: That’s what I’m doing.

Amanda: Okay. Well, I’m gonna ask you something, and it may seem indelicate, but I want the real truth, not the nice truth, okay?

Devon: Yeah.

Amanda: Do you want to have more say in dominic’s life? Do you want sole custody?

Dr. Huffman: Survivor guilt is a powerful, specific trauma. How did you try to cope before starting therapy?

Chance: Um… well, not well. That’s for sure. I guess I just tried to, uh, atone for what I did.

Dr. Huffman: What you did? What did you do? You didn’t do anything wrong, chance. What are you atoning for? Surviving?

Chance: I know what you’re doing, man. Trying to make me realize it’s not my fault, but I’m just not there yet.

Dr. Huffman: [ Chuckles ] Okay. What form did this atonement take? What did you do?

Chance: Reached out to my team’s families. I tried to ease their pain. Told them that their son or daughter, wife or husband, was a hero. Paid for some of the funerals. Things like that.

Dr. Huffman: That’s very thoughtful and generous. How did those families react? Did any of them express resentment towards you?

Chance: No. No, they were thankful, you know, grateful. My buddy justin — his wife… a widow. And she’s down in florida. She wrote me a letter saying how thankful she was and that i shouldn’t blame myself… that I should find peace. How the hell am I supposed to do that? Hmm? How the hell am I supposed to find peace when I hid? I was surrounded by death, and I hid. I mean, how am I supposed to look my wife in the face after that? Or my son? How can I reconcile the man i was over there with this man who has this perfect life and a perfect family? How do I do that? Look, I want to move on. I do. I want to embrace the future that I am so lucky to have, a future that was ripped away from my team, but…how the hell am i supposed to do that?

Covid-19 moves fast,

Rey: That reminds me of the time we were in minnesota…

Chelsea: Ah.

Rey: …And I was pulling out of the parking lot and I heard something hit the back of the car.

Chelsea: And we were like, “what was that?”

Rey: And you said…

Chelsea: “It was our lunch.”

Rey: Oh, I can’t believe i left the food on top of the car!

Chelsea: I remember telling connor that story. He was cracking up. He was just picturing all the burgers and fries and shakes all over the ground.

Rey: Well, that’s great. I’m glad someone was entertained by the calamity.

Chelsea: [ Laughs ]

Rey: How’s he doing?

Chelsea: Mm. He’s great.

Rey: Yeah?

Chelsea: He’s so good. I just saw him when I got back from new york. It was the first thing I did.

Rey: Mm. Hockey season must be coming to an end. Is he still liking it?

Chelsea: He loves it.

Rey: Yeah?

Chelsea: He’s obsessed, actually, and he always wears that jersey you got him for christmas. So, thank you again.

Rey: I’m glad he likes it. You know, the blackhawks are playing home next weekend.

Chelsea: Mm.

Rey: Might be a cool road trip.

Chelsea: That’s a great idea. Are you planning on going?

Rey: Well, I’m working, but when I saw tickets on sale, i thought of you…and connor.

Chelsea: Oh. Well, if we go, I’m sure connor will want to give you a play-by-play of how the game went.

Rey: I’m sure he will. He has so much enthusiasm. He can just go on and on about everything that he loves.

Chelsea: He definitely can, but he’s shy. He only does that with people he likes and trusts.

Rey: Mm.

Chelsea: I’m glad you’re one of those people.

Devon: So, the answer’s no, okay? I don’t want full custody of dominic at all. Abby and chance are his parents, and this is just a new dynamic that we’re all trying to figure out how to navigate. That’s all this is.

Amanda: Okay.

Devon: Do you not believe me?

Amanda: I do. I just don’t know why you’re asking all of these questions about chance’s mental state.

Devon: Because this has been the thing I’ve been concerned about since he got back from spain. You know that. This isn’t new. And if I’m being really truthful, I don’t think that chance even realizes the depth of his trauma — ’cause I’ve been to therapy before. I know you don’t leave those emotions at the doctor’s office. They’re with you. You take them home. And in his case, you’re taking them home to your family. And I’m also aware, too, that it can be a very long and difficult journey before you see any progress or make a breakthrough.

Abby: Shh. It’s alright. Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.

[ Door closes ]

[ Dominic crying ]

Chance: [ Sighs ]

Abby: Shh. Hey. How’d it go?

Chance: It was good. Sounds like he’s been keeping you busy.

Abby: Oh, you know, teething is the worst. Poor little guy.

Chance: The medicine’s not working?

Abby: Not yet, but maybe if his dad held him.

Chance: Uh… no, I — I don’t think that’s gonna help. I don’t have the touch right now.

Abby: Of course you do.

Chance: Abby, I said no. I’m sorry. Um… uh, I’m sorry. That was rude.

Abby: No, um…I’m sorry.

Chance: No, you have nothing to apologize for. I’m — I’m sorry.

Abby: I should have realized that you needed a moment to decompress.

Chance: A moment would be nice. It was really intense today, and I was right. You know, it’s just gonna get worse before it gets better.

Abby: Hey, but you’re working on it, and that’s what matters.

Chance: I just don’t want to — I don’t know what it’s gonna do to him. I mean, being around all this negativity — it can’t be good. It’s not right.

Abby: Well, we’re gonna make it right, Chance, together.

Chance: [Sighs]

Phyllis: A watched pot never boils.

Jack: I don’t think she’s gonna come.

Phyllis: She’s coming. It hasn’t been that long.

Jack: You know what? I’m gonna give her another call.

Phyllis: That’s a good idea. Find out when she’ll be here.

Jack: Or if she changed her mind.

Phyllis: Well…

[Car door closes]

Phyllis: No, she hasn’t changed her mind. I think she’s here.

Allie: Hello.

Jack: Allie?

Allie: Yes.

Jack: Thank you so much for coming. This– this is my friend, Phyllis Summers.

Phyllis: Nice to meet you.

Allie: Hi. What are you doing here?

Jack: What do you mean?

Allie: Are you guys lawyers, or with the bank? I thought the estate was settled. Everything was closed down.

Jack: No, we’re– we’re not lawyers. We’re not bankers. I’m Jack Abbott.

Allie: Okay.

Jack: [Stammers] I would like to have a conversation with you about Hao Nguyen. Actually, I always knew him as Keemo. He was my son.

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Young & The Restless Transcript

Transcript provided by Suzanne

Nikki: I already ordered for you.

Victoria: If I want something, I’ll order it for myself.

Nikki: Okay. I’m not the enemy.

Victoria: No, but you are half of the reason why I’m so furious right now — because you and my father refuse to admit that I am an adult who has a right to live my own life without any interference.

Nikki: I know you’re looking for someone to blame.

Victoria: Are you telling me that you knew nothing about dad poking around in ashland’s medical records? And now he’s claiming that my husband has been lying about his illness.

Nikki: I found out shortly before you did.

Victoria: And yet you didn’t warn me?

Nikki: [ Scoffs ] I was in shock. I-I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted to think it was a mistake.

Victoria: [ Sighs ] It shouldn’t even be in question, mother. I’m sure that dad told you what I said when I confronted him yesterday, so now I need to know. I need to know where you stand. And please tell me you don’t believe these hateful and disgusting insinuations about ashland.

Ashland: Yeah, everything seems to be under control finally. Well, yes, you’re damn right I’m upset. Things should have never gotten this far. No more surprises. You hear me? No, no, no, no. You disappoint me again, it’ll be your last time.

[ Knock on door ]

[ Sighs ]

Nate: Got a minute?

Ashland: You’ve spoken to victor.

Nate: Tell me he’s wrong. Tell me you haven’t been lying to me and the entire newman family this whole time.

Lauren: When was the last time you heard from your brother?

Kevin: Uh, good morning to you, too.

Lauren: I’m sorry. I just haven’t been in contact with michael for a while.

Kevin: Yeah, chloe mentioned you were a little concerned. Isn’t he doing some kind of work for victor?

Lauren: Yeah. That’s precisely why I’m worried. He hasn’t called or texted in almost two days.

Kevin: You know, I’ve done my share of work for victor, mostly off the books. He keeps his employees very busy.

Lauren: Which is why I had my reservations about this job in the first place. But victor persuaded him, “oh, it’s only going to be part-time,” only to ship him out of the country. I mean, who knows what kind of shady business victor has him involved in?

Victor: Ashland locke called my bluff. Told victoria everything and proclaimed his innocence.

Adam: And she believed him?

Victor: Every word of it. Now she’s furious with me.

Adam: [ Inhales deeply ] Well, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised he would make a move like this, considering how much time and effort he put into setting up this con, convincing everyone that he was dying of cancer.

Victor: I gave him a way out. I said continue lying and get the hell out of town.

Adam: So, what is your next step?

Victor: [ Breathes deeply ] I’m amber, I’ve lost 128 pounds with golo,

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provided by…

Victor: I’ve been forced into the untenable position of telling my beloved daughter that she’s married to a fraud.

Adam: Well, we were aware of his reputation before he even proposed.

Victor: Yeah, but what pisses me off is that I allowed him to come into our family, into our circle. I allowed him to spin his web of lies and deception right under my nose.

Adam: Alright. It’s not your fault.

Victor: It will be if we allow him to sign the contract that makes him co-ceo of newman/locke.

Adam: Okay, so, how do we stop him?

Victor: I don’t know yet.

Adam: Well, he must be awfully confident that you can’t produce anything to convince victoria that he’s lying. You think he’s got someone helping him?

Victor: Oh, yeah. No doubt. As soon as he found out that i was onto him, he began to cover his behind.

Adam: Have you talked to michael?

Victor: To be frank with you, that’s another thing that bothers me terribly. I have not hear from michael ever since he left that hotel in lima. Hopefully he’s gone into hiding and is protecting himself.

Adam: Okay, then we need to seriously consider the possibility that ashland countered our move and he had his people stop michael from doing his investigation. So, either he has ice in his veins, or he knows something that we don’t, which would explain why he felt so confident in calling your bluff.

Victor: Well, whatever the case, the burden of proof is on my shoulders, you know? In order to convince my daughter to listen to me and not to her husband, I need irrefutable proof. And I ain’t got any right now. Which makes ashland locke be in the driver’s seat. And I don’t like that.

Ashland: Look, I swear to you, this is the work of someone who is out for revenge. It’s payback by some enemy i must have made along the way.

Nate: Do you really think someone would do something so awful to you? Who hates you that much?

Ashland: Well, it would certainly be a lot easier for me to name the number of people who don’t want to see my head on a platter. Look, they — you were with me during the worst parts of my illness. You stood beside me when i married the woman who’s changed my life. It’s surreal to me that we’re even having this conversation. You really believe that I would create this ruse, that I’ve been lying to victoria this entire time, the woman I love? I mean, I — [ Sighs ] I can understand why victor might think this way. He’s protecting his daughter. I get that. I mean, assuming that’s all it is.

Nate: Meaning what?

Ashland: Meaning it was one thing when I was getting involved in his company and he thought I was on death’s doorstep, but now it’s a whole other thing. Look, I-I-I — I can’t make sense of this. I just can’T. What I need from you now is to know that you believe me.

Nate: Why?

Ashland: Because I value our friendship. It’s one of the reasons that i offered you the job. I just hate to think that you’re buying into this.

Nate: [ Sighs ] Of course I want to believe that you’re telling me the truth… because you would have to be a pretty awful person to lie about having a fatal illness just to get what you wanted.

Ashland: I couldn’t agree with you more.

Nikki: [ Sighs ] To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure what to believe. I mean, I keep asking myself if — if ashland is capable of doing something so repugnant.

Victoria: And your answer?

Nikki: I don’t know. I mean, I can’t ignore his past. And he did lie about his history, and it seems like the lies keep coming. After he swore to you that he would never keep anything from you again, then he pretended that he just happened upon this clinic in peru. Then we find out that he’s been funding it for years.

Victoria: Well, perhaps i find it easier to forgive his transgressions because I’ve had to do the same thing for dad so many times.

Nikki: Darling, all your father has done his entire life is try to protect you. Now, his methods may not have been perfect, but the only thing that’s important to him is your happiness, and that’s why he’s doing this. Even if he is wrong, he is just trying to protect you.

Victoria: By going after my husband, he’s already lost me. Goal!

Kevin: There are a million logical reasons to explain why michael’s been out of touch.

Lauren: I’m all ears.

Kevin: His phone died. Or it’s — he dropped it and it’s broken. Or he’s off the grid and there’s no cell service. Or maybe he got on a plane, turned it off, forget to turn it back on.

Lauren: Yeah, I’ve thought about all those excuses, too, and chloe tried to convince me that any one of them could be true.

Kevin: So, what’s stopping you from believing?

Lauren: Two days? My husband, who knows me better than anyone, who knows how I’m gonna react in any given situation, would know how scared I would be not to hear from him. He would find a way to let me know that he is okay. Something’s not right.

Kevin: What did michael tell you about his plans?

Lauren: Not much. He’s been playing it pretty close to the vest. Just that it was going to be a very short trip. But [Sighs ] I can’t shake this feeling that victor has gotten him involved in something bad.

Kevin: Well, he’s victor’s lawyer. Maybe this is something victor wants kept quiet.

Lauren: Right. This is precisely why he hired michael. You don’t need a keen legal mind to do estate planning or to set up a charity. He needed him on retainer. He needed someone he could trust with his secret dealings and then he could absolutely claim attorney-client privilege.

Kevin: Victor is a complicated man.

Lauren: And michael loved the idea of handling his special projects. It invigorated him. He was inspired by it. He was hungry for it. And now I’m worried he’s paying the price for it.

Nikki: Victoria, it breaks my heart to hear you talk about your situation with your father as irreparable.

Victoria: I just don’t see how we move past this.

Nikki: Do you really think that victor could make something like this up?

Victoria: My father has been known to use underhanded maneuvers in the name of business. Perhaps you recall how he got ashland to close the deal on what is now newman media. My husband was having a heart attack, and he refused to call for medical help until he signed the contract. Or was my husband supposed to be faking that, as well? Is dad claiming that that was part of this elaborate plan?

Nikki: I don’t know. But what if these accusations are true?

Victoria: How dare you, mother? How dare you? Of course I don’t think they’re true. Has ashland been a ruthless businessman his entire career? Absolutely. Just like my father has. But this, what you’re suggesting — it’s a different level of deception. It means he would have had to have been lying to me since the minute he met me.

Nikki: All I’m saying is —

Victoria: You’re saying that the man that I adore doesn’t love me. You’re saying that he’s evil and conniving and that I have been a fool all along. That’s what you’re saying.

Nikki: Darling, nobody wants to see you hurt. But what if this was a plan that ashland set in motion before he ever met you? I mean, he could have had this charade all set up before he came to genoa city. All I am asking is for you to please talk to michael and listen to what he says because he is the one who found the evidence of ashland’s guilt.

Victoria: I’ve heard enough. I’ve heard enough! I thought that you of all people would be on our side.

Nikki: I am on your side, as your mother, your coo, and your friend.

Ashland: I’m not gonna spend any more time trying to figure out victor’s motives. You are my primary concern right now. You came in here. You asked me about a story you’ve heard. You — you — you’re asking me if I’ve been playing you.

Nate: And I’m still waiting for an answer.

Ashland: Oh, come on. Nate, I… I have very few friends in this world. The more money I’ve made, the more power I’ve gained, the more isolated I’ve become. There are very few people i trust. You — aside from victoria, you have become one of my most trusted friends. You are someone I can confide in and be honest with, and i haven’t had that kind of friendship in a very long time. It’s also part of the reason that I made the impulsive decision to ask you to be my best man, even though we had not known each other for a very long time. Look, I’m — I’m — I’m not gonna try to convince you of anything, okay? I just want to know if you truly believe that I could be as cunning and calculating, so much so that I would make up some kind of a story like this one.

Nate: It’s, uh — it’s difficult to imagine.

Ashland: People have been coming after me my entire life in a hundred different ways. It comes with the territory.

Nate: This seems a bit extreme.

Ashland: I agree. This is a carefully calculated plot that victor has bought into, I think because he has never really trusted me in the first place.

Nate: [ Sighs ] I’ve known victor for a long time. And while he’s done some things that I’ve hated, that I’ve questioned, he’s a smart and careful man, thorough.

Ashland: I agree.

Nate: And he would never make an accusation like this if he didn’t have proof to back it up.

Ashland: And that’s exactly what my enemies expected. This trap has been carefully laid. But I am not going to stand idly by and allow these people to dismantle all the accomplishments I have made with the newmans.

Nate: Is that how you see your marriage to victoria? As an accomplishment? Kids can change minds,

Lauren: I think the reason that michael has been so cagey about this trip to peru is that he’s doing the type of job that should be done by a private investigator.

Kevin: You know he can take care of himself.

Lauren: I do, and that’s why I’m so worried. What if something has gone wrong?

Kevin: I’m gonna do some digging around.

Lauren: [ Sighs ] Thank you. Will you find out what may have happened to him?

Kevin: Yeah, I’ll look into it.

Lauren: Alright. Thank you so much. Look, I got to go. I can’t just sit around and hope for the best.

Kevin: What are you gonna do?

Lauren: Well —

Chloe: Hi, guys! Lauren, I’m so glad that you’re here. Um, I can update you on chelsea’s trip to new york.

Lauren: Uh, yeah. I got to go, uh, but I do want to hear about it. Just later.

Chloe: Sure. Okay.

Lauren: Kevin?

Kevin: I’ll be in touch.

Lauren: Thanks. Bye.

Chloe: Um…what did I just walk in on?

Kevin: She still hasn’t heard from michael. I’m worried. I knew him going back to work for victor would only lead to trouble.

Chloe: Hold on. You don’t know that he’s in trouble.

Victoria: Michael. It’s victoria. Call me as soon as you can. It’s important.

Ashland: Oh, my god. I do not consider my marriage to victoria an accomplishment.

Nate: Then feel free to clarify.

Ashland: Marrying victoria was the best thing that ever happened to me in my entire life. You know that. She is the true love of my life. She stood by me through so many tribulations.

Nate: And the accomplishment?

Ashland: I was talking about the merger, obviously, which, by the way, is the crowning achievement in victoria’s career. She’s the one who imagined it. She’s the one who made it happen. I couldn’t be happier for her and more proud of her for that. Marrying her was a gift. She gave me the kind of happiness that I never believed I deserved in my own life, and I’ve made her happy, too, happier, she says, than she’s ever been. Nate, I — I don’t know how much time i have left with her in this life. But I am not gonna let anyone take away one single second of that time.

Adam: Victoria will only see these accusations as an unwarranted attack unless we have something solid to back them up.

Victor: Yep. And time is running out. Ashland locke is about to sign a contract that will make him co-ceo of the company.

Adam: Yeah, and if he does, he’s gonna be as equally powerful as victoria.

Victor: I got a text from michael baldwin just before he went missing. He told me that he was gathering all the dirt he could find on ashland locke and send it to me.

Adam: And you still haven’t gotten it?

Victor: Nothing.

Adam: Well, until you do, there’s no way that you’re gonna be able to convince victoria.

Victor: [ Exhales heavily ] And victoria tells me that I’ve crossed a line from which it is very difficult to come back.

Adam: Well, that had to hurt.

Victor: Yeah. That really hurts, to think that I would lose her love and trust.

[ Knock on door ]

Nikki: I’ve just come from seeing victoria.

Victor: How’s she doing?

Nikki: Furious. And, underneath the anger, heartbroken.

Victor: Boy, do i wish i could make all this stuff go away.

Nikki: I’m worried about how all of this will end. What if you’re wrong, victor? How will you and victoria ever recover from this?

Adam: Look, there’s only one way that’s gonna happen. We need that evidence. It’s clear we can’t count on michael to save the day, so what we need to —

Lauren: Oh. Go on. If you have something to say about my husband, I’d like to hear it, too.

“The young and the restless”

will continue. I have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

Chloe: Do not let yourself get pulled into lauren’s fears about michael.

Kevin: What if she’s right? What if he really is in trouble?

Chloe: What if the sky is falling? What if there is a zombie apocalypse?

Kevin: Oh, come on. Just because there’s no proof?

Chloe: There are a zillion reasons why michael could be out of touch. He’s busy. He lost his phone. He likes being off the grid. His phone’s dead.

Kevin: Yeah, I went through the same list with lauren, but she insists something about this feels off, and she’s right. If victor just needed a couple of contracts red-lined, there’s a million other attorneys he could have gone to. But he chose michael.

Chloe: Because he is the best.

Kevin: [ Sighs ] Chances are victor needed help with something top-secret, something private and delicate. But what if something has gone wrong? What if my brother is in trouble? He’s got nobody there, nobody to help get him out. I think we owe it to him to at least investigate.

Victor: Lauren. My goodness. How nice to see you. How can I help you?

Lauren: I need answers about michael. And we can do this with an audience, but I need to talk to you now.

Victor: Alright. Sweetheart, we can pick this up later, okay?

Nikki: Are you sure?

Victor: Yeah. I’ll let you know when I’m done.

Lauren: When was the last time you heard from michael?

Victor: I don’t recall exactly.

Lauren: Well, I can, down to the minute. It has been the longest two days of my life.

Victor: Lauren, I understand, but he’s on a very delicate mission, you know? And I’m sure he is wrapping things up and will come home as soon as he can.

Lauren: Don’t give me these vague reassurances.

Victor: I have no more answers.

Lauren: You know something? Either you’re covering something up or you don’t want to admit that you’ve lost contact with michael. Now tell me the truth now.

Ashland: So, now you’ve gotten a window into how rough and tumble the business world can be when you operate at the level I do. But I want to reassure you this kind of thing does not happen every day, and I intend to expose this sham for what it is and put an end to it so we can all focus on the future, a future that includes you in a new position at newman/locke.

[ Door opens ]

Victoria: Nate. I wasn’t expecting to find you here. Is everything alright?

Ashland: Just an unexpected conversation between friends.

Victoria: Are you talking about nate’s new position?

Nate: Not yet.

Ashland: Nate has heard about all the accusations made against me, and he understandably has questions.

Victoria: From my family. It’s humiliating that they’re spreading this rumor. I mean, I can’t imagine how they would think that ashland could possibly be lying about his cancer diagnosis.

Nate: It was the last thing I expected to hear.

Victoria: You don’t actually believe them, do you? I mean, you’ve — you’ve seen ashland’s medical records. You’ve — you’ve witnessed the toll that this has taken on him. It’s absurd, the idea that he’s never had cancer.

Nate: Everything I’ve seen supports his diagnosis, yes.

Victoria: Will you go to my father? He trusts you. Tell him how insane this is and the only thing that he is going to accomplish by pursuing this ridiculous accusation is it’s just gonna cause irreparable damage. And when the truth does come out and we find out who’s really behind it and why, his embarrassing claims that he’s doing this to protect me — it’s just not gonna amount to anything. It’s hurting ashland and it’s hurting me and it needs to stop.

Nate: I hope for all your sakes that the truth comes out sooner than later.

Victoria: Thank you, nate. Thank you so much.

Ashland: We’re lucky to have you as a friend, nate. And I appreciate that you’ve come here to hear my side of the story.

Nate: Of course.

Ashland: Nate. I’m looking forward to sitting with you and talking about your future at newman/locke.

Nate: Take care.

Victoria: [ Exhales sharply ] It is such a relief that he is not buying into this nonsense. You have the chief of surgery in your corner. Why don’t you look happier? I just heard something amazing!

Nate: Hey, you. I am sorry I am late.

[ Smooches ] I hope I didn’t have you waiting too long.

Elena: I won’t hold it against you…too much.

Nate: [ Chuckles ]

Elena: What held you up? Something exciting happen at memorial?

Nate: Uh, if there’s anything exciting about doing paperwork, I wish someone would share the secret.

[ Chuckles ] No. Uh, some newman family drama.

Elena: Shocking.

Nate: Yeah. It’s not just your garden-variety business intrigue or sibling rivalry. This is some next-level stuff.

Elena: Interesting. Go on.

Nate: Hmm. All I can say is ashland’s at the center of it, which is why i got dragged into it. Someone’s making some pretty scandalous accusations about him.

Elena: Well, ashland’s no angel. Everyone knows that. But I guess I’ve been a hopeless romantic because I thought falling in love with victoria would have changed him.

Nate: You really think love can change someone?

Elena: I think love from the right person, sure. But I don’t know ashland like you do. Do you think the allegations are true?

Nate: [ Sighs ] I don’t want to believe them.

Elena: But you’re not sure.

Nate: It’d be one thing if victor was the one who approached me about all of this, but it was nick.

Elena: Oh, boy. The newman with a heart of gold.

Nate: He knows ashland and i are close friends. He wants my help in confirming his suspicions.

Elena: So he’s basically asking you to betray your friend.

Nate: I told him and victor that I didn’t want any part of it. But when I left, I had a ton of questions. So I went to see ashland, heard his side of the story.

Elena: What did he say?

Nate: He claims it was all lies, that someone’s setting him up. He was very convincing.

Elena: Yeah. I know how persuasive ashland can be.

Nate: I was ready to leave memorial to go work for him.

Elena: Wait, you “were” ready?

Nate: I told ashland I was leaning towards accepting his offer. But I’m having doubts now about taking that leap… and about locke himself.

Ashland: Victor’s protecting his daughter. I can understand that. But why he felt the need to go to my friend, poison him against me, I, uh…

Victor: I’m so sorry.

Ashland: Yeah. Well, maybe it’s better that everything’s out in the open with nate. I’m just glad he had the chance to hear the truth from me. But, victoria, I’m gonna find out who’s behind these attacks, prove these disgusting allegations are just lies.

Victoria: That is the fastest way to get my father to back off.

Ashland: No, I want more than that, though. I want to remove any shred of doubt from victor’s mind… or anyone else’S.

Victor: I don’t like seeing you this upset.

Lauren: What have you gotten michael involved in?

Victor: Sweetheart, it was a delicate mission that I knew he could handle.

Lauren: It was supposed to be a short fact-finding mission! The secrecy, the intrigue. You made it sound like an adventure, and michael ate it up. He was eager to go. The one thing you forgot to tell him is how dangerous it was.

Victor: I would never put him in a dangerous situation.

Lauren: This trip to peru has dragged on, and michael is now off the radar. My gut is telling me that something is very wrong.

Victor: Michael is not only a great lawyer. He’s a good friend of mine. If anything goes wrong, I will move heaven and earth to get him back here, alright?

Lauren: Right. And we need to do that now. We need to find him.

Victor: We don’t even know if anything is amiss. We don’T. I don’t want you to have your imagination run amuck with you.

Lauren: What if you had lost contact with nikki and she was out of the country? What would you do?

Victor: I would do the same thing you’re doing now. And if she walked back in and she was alright, she would tell me, “listen, why were you so worried?”

Lauren: I really hope you’re telling me the truth. Because if anything happens to michael, I will never forgive you.

[ Door slams ]

Victor: [ Breathes deeply ]

Stouffer’s makes you happyfull

Kevin: Hi. Thanks for meeting us.

Lauren: Well, I’m glad you’re taking my concerns about michael seriously.

Chloe: Well, when you left society, we talked about it, and kevin persuaded me that this is more than just his phone running out of power.

Lauren: [ Sighs ]

Kevin: I’ve hacked into his devices, tried tracking him.

Lauren: And what did you find?

Kevin: [ Sighs ] Dead ends and brick walls.

Lauren: [ Sighs ] Sounds like my meeting with victor.

Chloe: That’s who you rushed to go see when you left society?

Lauren: Yeah, I thought it would be important to go see the man that sent michael to peru in the first place to see what was going on. But all he said is that he would move mountains to keep michael safe.

Chloe: Well, that’s not much of an explanation.

Lauren: Exactly. I think he’s as much in the dark as we are and doesn’t want to admit that he doesn’t know what happened to michael and why he’s been out of contact.

Kevin: I’m gonna keep digging around to see what I can find, but if we don’t hear from our brother by morning, I’m gonna get my cop buddies involved.

Nate: [ Sighs ]

Elena: Okay. Here’s what we’re gonna do. We are gonna have brunch, where the only thing you have to decide is whether you want coffee or tea.

Nate: Coffee.

Elena: You don’t have to make a decision about newman/locke just yet.

Nate: I’m loving this already.

Elena: And you’re gonna love me more for not demanding details about what’s going on with ashland. I understand why you want to be discreet.

Nate: This could affect a lot of people.

Elena: But it’s all gonna work out in the end — because I know you’re gonna be fair and you’re not gonna jump to any conclusions. I trust your instincts. Your gut reactions have saved so many lives.

Nate: [ Sighs ]

Elena: So you should trust them, too. And if something feels wrong, it probably is.

Nate: And that’s what I’m afraid of.

[ Sighs ] But I’m not sure who’s behind this. I need to find out.

Victor: Look, he’s not only a good friend, but he has the evidence I desperately need, alright? So, whenever you hear anything bout him or from him, you let me know, alright? Get to work.

[ Sighs ]

Adam: Michael baldwin still awol?

Victor: Yeah.

Adam: Well, he’s a smart guy. He’s got himself out of some tight spots before.

Victor: [ Breathes deeply ] You know, I never thought that ashland locke would get the upper hand.

Adam: Well, how far do you think he’d go to keep him quiet?

Victor: He will do whatever he can. He’s a desperate man. Especially now that he knows his entire back story is about to come to light and we expose him for the fraud he is. So he’s back against the wall. I expect anything from him.

Ashland: I am going to put all my energy into finding out who’s trying to destroy my life and put a stop to it.

Victoria: I just want this to be over.

Ashland: First I need something from you.

Victoria: Anything. You know that.

Ashland: Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you believe I’m telling the truth?

Victoria: Of course I can. I will always support you.

Ashland: That’s all I needed to heaR.

Victoria: We should celebrate that.

Ashland: [ Chuckles ] What do you have in mind?

Victoria: This.

Ashland: The contract.

Victoria: Yes. Making you my full partner, my co-ceo of newman/locke.

Ashland: [ Exhales sharply ] I can’t tell you what this means to me.

[ Chuckles ]

[ Stylus clatters ]

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Young & The Restless Transcript

Transcript provided by Suzanne

Lily: Well, that was delicious. What a fabulous dinner.

Billy: I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.

Lily: I did. Thank you. And thank you for pulling me away from my desk. I didn’t even realize how hungry I was till you suggested coming here.

Billy: Well, you, my darling, are amazing at many, many things, but taking a break is not one of them.

Lily: I know. That’s only gotten worse since we’ve been working from home. It’s like we’re just surrounded by our jobs 24/7.

Billy: Yeah. That is the drawback.

Lily: Yeah. I feel like it’s worse for you, given the fact that you’ve been waking up in the middle of the night the past couple of weeks to work.

Billy: Well, that’s why it’s important that we take a break to recharge for the next morning — or in my case, the wee hours of the morning.

Lily: Look, I really know that you feel like your last recording session didn’t go the way that you hoped.

Billy: That would be an understatement.

Lily: But you’re still being too hard on yourself. There’s no firm start date to this thing. You can launch it when it’s ready. Just relax, you know? You’ll get in the zone again.

Billy: Yeah, I was thinking I’m gonna go see traci. She’s talked about writer’s block in the past. I’m sure she has tips for me.

Lily: Yeah, that’s a great idea.

Billy: And maybe I can get an update on jack because, since he and phyllis got to la, he has not answered any of my texts.

Lily: Are you worried?

Billy: I’m not worried. It’d just be nice to hear from him. You want to come with?

Lily: Uh, I would, but I told devon that I was gonna stop by and see dom, get my baby fix.

Billy: Mm, and just maybe try and hit him up about the merger again?

Lily: I mean, if the subject comes up, maybe.

Billy: Yeah, I was just kidding. I don’t think that’s a great idea.

Lily: What’s not a great idea? Convincing devon or the merger itself?

Billy: No, I’ve already told you, I think the merger itself is a brilliant idea. I’m behind it 100%.

Lily: Yeah, I know what you said, but I feel like there’s something that you’re not telling me. And now you told me not to talk to devon about it? I mean, what’s that about?

Traci: Come on, jack. Jack.

[ Line ringing ] No answer, okay. Phyllis.

[ Cellphone rings ]

Phyllis: Hey, traci.

Traci: Phyllis, hello. Um, listen, I’ve been trying jack and he hasn’t picked up his phone. Does he happen to be there with you right now?

Phyllis: Um, no, no, he’s not. Um…we, uh…we got to la, and then, you know, we had dinner and he went up to his room. It’s been a long day.

Traci: Oh, well, maybe it’s better that I didn’t get through to him and I got you first. I wouldn’t want him to have to relive anything. Um…were you able to get to keemo’s house?

Phyllis: Yeah, right from the airport.

Traci: Was anyone there?

Phyllis: No, no one was there. It was just a few pieces of furniture. Looked like somebody was getting the house ready to sell. And then there was a box left there, obviously meant for jack to see.

Traci: Really? How do you know? Was there a note or something?

Phyllis: No. Just a bunch of handwritten letters to jack from his son.

Jack: Oh, keemo, what i wouldn’t give for one more day with you. One more hour…to set things right.

[ Sighs ] If only we had more time. Perhaps your heart would’ve softened toward me. Maybe you’d have even changed your mind and sent these letters. Or some other way of reaching out to me. I understand now. You weren’t afraid of my reaction. You were worried what my getting these letters would do to you, worried that the rage that you held for so long…that had faded…would flare up again. I understand that. I would never have let that happen. It would’ve brought so much joy to my life to have you back in my life, to introduce you to your brother kyle. I would have done anything to heal that rift. If only you’d given me just a clue that you were open to that. Oh, god. I think that’s the part that hurts the most. That we came so close. I’m steve.

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Traci: [ Sighs ] I’m really grateful that keemo’s last letter to jack was at least kind. I mean, if it had been full of rage and bitterness, that would’ve been so much harder for jack to take.

Phyllis: For sure.

Traci: But to find out that — that his son was in the states this whole time, carrying on his life and never reached out to any of us, even after he’d forgiven jack. This is just heartbreaking. Things could’ve been so different.

Phyllis: Yeah, jack is having a tough time with that.

Traci: I almost wish that whoever sent these messages would’ve just left well enough alone.

Phyllis: Yeah, I’m not going to push an investigation. Not right now, definitely. Even though someone obviously wanted him to find that box of keepsakes in the house, but I’m not pushing anything, you know? Just too much loss for jack.

Traci: Well, I appreciate that, phyllis. And I’m very glad that jack has someone with him who knows him as well as you do. I have a question.

Phyllis: Yeah, what is it?

Traci: You said that there was a box of belongings. Were there things besides the bundle of letters?

Phyllis: Uh, no, not just letters. A scarf, some postcards, a necklace that he had given to luan on christmas, and then he gave it to keemo after luan died. And then, um…oh, proof of paternity that he had given to keemo on — on his wedding day with luan.

Traci: Wow. To have found all these things now…I just can’t imagine all the memories that these are bringing up for him.

Jack: Who are these people in this photo? I recognize mai, your sister. The rest of these people, i don’t have a clue. Are they neighbors? Friends, maybe? Family? And why would the person who left me this box leave this photo in it? Maybe just to drive home how little I knew about my own son. I know you let go of your rage at me. Your letters made that very clear. Maybe someone was in your life that…would be angry on your behalf. I… no, no. I…I can’t look at this as someone who’s lashing out at me. It — it was meant to be a gift. This person knew I would want to know as much about you as possible. And for whatever reason, they — they need to be anonymous. I suppose I have to accept that. I… maybe this has to be enough. Of course it was enough. Enough to know that you no longer despised me, enough to know that you accepted our history. Enough to know that…you considered reaching out to me. That it might’ve actually happened…if your life hadn’t ended so unexpectedly. I think this is all the information I’m gonna get. So maybe it…has to be enough.

Billy: I think what i should’ve said was that I don’t think pressuring devon is really a great idea. He was very clear that he wants to focus on dom right now.

Lily: Yeah, I know what he said.

Billy: Okay, but you don’t buy it?

Lily: I just know my brother, and I think that he was thrown off by the scale of what I was proposing. I think I just, you know, threw too much at him too soon. I was very excited and i couldn’t hold back.

Billy: That’s one thing, yeah. The other thing could be he really likes his position at hamilton-winters and he’s not interested in sharing it, not even with you.

Lily: [ Scoffs ] I mean, maybe.

Billy: Look, I know that you and my mom were really disappointed that the pitch didn’t go the way that you hoped, and that’s hard. I get it. It’s also hard when not everyone is as excited about your idea as you are.

Lily: What is that supposed to mean?

Billy: What do you mean?

Lily: You just said that jill and I were disappointed. Does that mean that you weren’t?

Billy: No, that’s not what I’m saying. I…

[ Sighs ] I hope devon comes around, i really do, ’cause it is a brilliant idea. I just don’t think he’s — you know, putting pressure on him is gonna make him do it any sooner. He knows where to find you when he wants to change his mind.

Lily: Okay, you would tell me if you didn’t like the idea of this merger, right? Like, I hope that you would be transparent with me the way i was transparent with you about me having reservations about your podcast idea.

Billy: Okay, um…in the interest of transparency, I love the idea. I really do think it is genius. And I love you, and I really hope that this works out exactly the way that you envision it. We hit the bike trails every weekend

Dominic: [ Fussing ]

Devon: It’s okay, buddy. Why are you not happy?

Lily: How long has he been like this?

Devon: For like 20 minutes.

Lily: Oh, dom. Let me try. Are you okay, honey? It’s alright. Shh. It’s okay, give me a little smile. That’s — sorry, I guess my soothing skills are rusty.

Devon: That’s okay. I don’t know if this is just, like, his normal fussiness or if it’s more than that. It might be teething.

Lily: Actually, that’s true. I saw a teething ring in his diaper bag. Hold on.

Devon: I just don’t know. And he’s still recovering, so i can’t be too careful. It might be something serious.

Lily: Well, look, why don’t you just call his doctor and see if she thinks anything is wrong?

Devon: Yeah, that’s actually a good idea.

[ Sighs ] Hi. Could I get dr. Alston, please? This is — it’s very serious.

Traci: Two visits from my very favorite younger brother — it must be my lucky day.

Billy: I’m your only younger brother.

Traci: [ Laughs ]

Billy: Trust me, I’m the lucky one.

Traci: Alright, I’ll take that. Hey, you want something to drink?

Billy: No, I’m okay. I just left dinner with lily. She sends her love, by the way.

Traci: Oh, how nice. So what brings you by? Must be something.

Billy: It is something, but first I want to know if you talked to jack.

Traci: Of course. Not directly, but I did talk to phyllis.

Billy: And?

Traci: Well, they were able to go over to keemo’s house and they found a box of his belongings and a bunch of letters that keemo had been writing to jack for years and just never sent.

Billy: That’s very strange.

Traci: Yeah. Phyllis says it really shook him up. I think that he’s turned his phone off for the rest of the evening. He’s probably trying to process what he’s found.

Billy: I still think that one of us should’ve gone with him instead of phyllis, the queen of hidden agendas.

Traci: Well, to be fair, you know, so far, she has been protective and she’s been considerate of his feelings.

Billy: Yeah, yeah, all part of her mo.

Traci: Oh, cynic.

Billy: Yeah, and proud of it. Look, maybe you’re right, maybe this time she has his best interests at heart, but that does not mean that trouble won’t be ahead.

Jack: Seems like the place is cleared out. Everything I was supposed to find…is right here. I guess my search has come to an end. Unless, of course, I got a text from my anonymous tipster. Forgot to turn the phone back on after dinner. Okay. God, here they are. Everyone’s worried about me.

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Billy: Mmm! Oh, my goodness, great call on the hot cocoa. It’s perfect.

Traci: Wow, I am two for two tonight.

[ Chuckles ]

Billy: I mean, you’re right 99% of the time, so…you’re right.

Traci: [ Laughs ]

Billy: It’s another reason why I wanted to talk to you.

Traci: Ah, see? I knew if I waited long enough, we’d get there.

Billy: Yeah, um…so I’m working on this project for chancellor — at least I was before I hit a wall, creatively speaking.

[ Sighs ] Long story short, I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night every night — well, roughly around 2:45 in the morning — with all these thoughts and ideas swirling around my head.

Traci: Hmm, well, you know, some of those midnight brainstorm sessions, they can be gold. I hope you’re writing everything down.

Billy: Well, I started that, and then I started recording them in a free-association kind of way.

Traci: Is there any theme developing?

Billy: Yeah, I guess. Turning your life around, you know, finding your purpose, letting go of old coping mechanisms that don’t serve you anymore, that are holding you back — that type of thing.

Traci: Wow, billy. I think you’ve got a book in you.

Billy: Oh, I don’t know. I mean, devon thought it was a good idea — in a different format, though. He mentioned podcast.

Traci: That’s an amazing idea.

Billy: Yeah, well, we’ll see. I built a makeshift recording studio in the apartment and i sat down for my first session, and…it was bad.

Traci: [ Laughs ]

Billy: Like, nothing really good came out at all. It was really quite horrendous.

Traci: Oh. Well, I hope you’re not giving up.

Billy: No, I’m not gonna give up, but I’m hoping maybe you have some pointers, you know? Maybe a suggestion in order to loosen up a little bit.

Traci: Well, have you ever tried meditation?

Billy: Meditation. That’s what I did wrong. I shouldn’t have built a recording studio — I should have built a zen den.

Traci: Oh, very funny. Come on, it’s not nearly as strange or mystical as it sounds. It’s really just — just putting your body in a state of relaxed awareness. You know, it’s calming your mind so that all your thoughts and your ideas can flow.

Billy: Yeah, I’m aware of the theory, but, honestly, sitting still for any moment of time makes me twitch.

Traci: [ Chuckles ] Well, it’s up to you, of course, but it sounds like exactly what you need to do to get over this hurdle you’ve described. And, billy, what have you got to lose?

Billy: Yeah, no, you’re right. Of course you’re right. You’re always right. 99% of the time, you’re right.

Traci: [ Laughs ]

Devon: Oh, that was a really great idea to call the doctor. I feel a whole lot better.

Lily: Oh, good. So she thinks it’s fine, the fussing doesn’t mean anything?

Devon: No, she actually thinks that it could be a sign that he’s getting his energy back, which is a huge relief.

Lily: Okay, good, I’m glad it’s nothing serious.

Devon: Yeah.

Lily: Although I do think it’s gonna take you a little bit longer to calm down than it did dom.

Devon: Well, I mean, yeah, I’ve been on high alert with everything that he’s been through.

Lily: Well, look, you did great, okay? You were very calm. I’m proud of you.

Devon: Thanks to your advice. I’m glad that you stopped by.

Lily: Yeah, you know, they say timing is everything.

Devon: Mm. Was there a particular reason that you did come over?

Lily: Um, no, I just wanted to, you know, see dom, get my baby fix.

Devon: Oh, yeah? You don’t want to — you don’t want to talk about work? ‘Cause I was thinking of discussing the merger.

Lily: Really?

Devon: [ Chuckles ] You’re such a liar. I knew you came by to talk work.

Lily: [ Laughs ]

Devon: See?

Jack: Red?

Phyllis: Hey.

Jack: Did you maybe see someone on foot, maybe running away, just now when you pulled in?

Phyllis: Uh…no, I didn’T. I mean, I was talking to the driver. I wasn’t really looking. Was someone here?

Jack: I thought I heard someone out here, and, you know, maybe I was wrong.

Phyllis: Is everything okay?

Jack: Yeah. Yeah, I — you didn’t have to come.

Phyllis: No, hey, listen, you weren’t at the hotel. I figured you might be here. Um, I tried to call —

Jack: Yeah, I know, my phone wasn’t on. I’m sorry, that wasn’t intentional.

Phyllis: Don’t apologize.

Jack: I think I just needed a little time with my thoughts, and before I knew it, I was here.

Phyllis: Yeah, of course. Well, hey, just go back in there and be with your thoughts, and the driver’s waiting for me, so I’ll just tell him to — to, you know, go back to the hotel, no problem.

Jack: Okay, okay.

Phyllis: Okay?

Jack: Wait, stay. Stay. Most of your immune system lives right in your gut.

“The young and the restless”

will continue.

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plaque psoriasis.

Phyllis: When I mentioned before that maybe someone was watching us, I was kidding, you know.

Jack: Well, I don’t think i imagined it, but it’s possible.

Phyllis: Could it have been coyotes? There are a lot of coyotes in la, right? What did it sound like? Footsteps?

Jack: No, no, more like a thump. I don’t know what caused it. Maybe my texter is as curious about me as I am about them.

Phyllis: Well, they know why you’re here and what you’re doing. What’s motivating them is still a mystery to us.

Jack: Well, I’ve ruled out anything malicious. I don’t think this is a scam. Everything in this box was keemo’S. You think it’s possible somebody read these letters, was touched by them, and sad that I would never see them?

Phyllis: No. No.

Jack: You don’t buy it.

Phyllis: Nope, if that were the case, they would’ve boxed this whole thing up, along with the obituary, and would have sent it to you. They wanted you to come to california for some reason.

Jack: Yeah, they would’ve had my phone number. You’re probably right.

Phyllis: They wanted you here, and we still don’t know why.

Jack: Okay, if that’s the case, they should let me know. I don’t have enough information here to put it together. “I have been through everything in this house. Is there anything else to find?”

Lily: See, this is how you know I’m a good person, okay? I don’t have a poker face.

Devon: No, just means you’re a horrible liar.

[ Both laugh ]

Lily: Ugh, I know. Even when I told billy that i was coming over here, he knew right away that I wanted to talk to you about the merger. But, look, I get it, you know? You’re not ready. It’s fine. I’m not gonna push it.

Devon: It’s okay, and i really don’t mind you bringing it up, ’cause I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I saw you.

Lily: Okay, that’s a positive sign.

Devon: [ Chuckles ] I haven’t changed my mind about it, but I had a good conversation with amanda.

Lily: And?

Devon: And she — you know, she laid out scenarios where we could have the best of both worlds. We could take advantage of our companies coming together without having to surrender control over what matters to us, you know?

Lily: Yeah, of course. I mean, look, I really think that we could work something out here.

Devon: Well, I mean, you might think that, but I’m not very sure, just ’cause I know this would be a huge, huge undertaking.

Lily: No, it would be, it’s true.

Devon: Yeah. I’m not against it, though.

Lily: Okay, well, that’s promising.

Devon: I do, however, think that we should do what I said and just focus on this podcast project that we have and see how that goes first.

Lily: Whatever you want. We can table this until you’re ready to discuss it. It’s fine.

Devon: Thank you. When dom went down for his nap earlier, I took one, too, and i had a — had a dream with neil in it.

Lily: Really?

Devon: Yeah. Yeah, he didn’t say anything, he was just standing there and smiling at me.

Lily: I miss his smile so much.

Devon: Yeah. So do I. And I can’t help but feel like that might be a sign that he approves of your idea and i shouldn’t say no to it.

Lily: I know, that’s what i keep thinking about, you know? I just — I — I keep thinking about all of the amazing opportunities that we could capitalize on. You know? But…look, I get it. I know this is a lot right now, so it’s fine, we can take our time, let you get comfortable before we take any further steps.

Devon: Appreciate that. I appreciate your patience.

Lily: Of course.

Traci: So tell me how everything is going for you and lily over at chancellor. I mean, it’s a big step up from chanccomm, and I imagine the pressure is a nightmare.

Billy: Well, yes and no. I mean, it’s great. You know lily, she decides to do something and she goes for it, and she is fantastic in this role. She really is. I’m very, very proud of her.

Traci: I can see that.

Billy: A couple days ago, she came up with an idea that is genius. My mom loves it. And if it works out, it’s gonna transform the company.

Traci: Well, I love hearing that.

Billy: Yeah.

Traci: That’s gonna be great for both of you.

Billy: [ Sighs ] Yeah.

Traci: Um, it is gonna be great for you, too, right?

Billy: That remains to be seen. But what’s important is lily. This is her time.

Traci: Well, I doubt that lily’s thinking of it in those terms.

Billy: Well, she should be. She really should. And to be honest, we haven’t discussed my involvement in this deal yet, and we don’t need to. My job is to advise her on what’s best for the company, not what’s best for me personally.

Traci: Well, it sounds like you’re talking about your obligations as her colleague, but what about as her partner?

Billy: Yeah, but that’s moot if the plan doesn’t fly.

Traci: What if it does fly? And lily doesn’t find out about it until it’s over with and it’s too late for her to do anything about it, that you had some issue? I think that’s not really fair.

Billy: No, I see your point.

Traci: Kind of puts her in a no-win situation, and I would consider telling her — sooner than later — and then just trust that she’ll want to know the truth. Hey! It’s me! Your dry skin!

Phyllis: Still nothing?

Jack: No, I think I have all the information I’m going to get.

Phyllis: Maybe. Maybe not. I mean, if you want to find out about this house and more about all of these things that are in that box, I’ll do that for you. I’ll research it. And I know that might sound aggressive to you. Maybe you want to let it go, you want to leave it alone, that’s your prerogative.

Jack: I think it’s just been a long day. I’m beat, I’m confused. I don’t know where to take this next.

Phyllis: Are you happy you came here?

Jack: I am shocked you would even ask that question.

Phyllis: Why?

Jack: Before you arrived, i was thinking about how close i am to not knowing anything about what happened to keemo. I got those texts, thought they were a scam. I decided to ignore them. You took it upon yourself to do all of the investigating. It is the only reason I am here. It is the thing that gave me the opportunity to read these letters from my son, and I am so grateful for this small connection to him.

Phyllis: That’s very painful for you.

Jack: Yeah, but, you know, it’s so much better than being in the dark about what happened to keemo. About his death, about…how he felt about me. Thank you for making this happen.

Phyllis: You don’t need to thank me. You know, overstepping — it’s sort of who I am.

Jack: I’m deeply grateful to you for being exactly who you are.

Lily: Hello.

Billy: Hi.

Lily: How’d it go with traci?

Billy: It was good. She filled me in on jack. Apparently, they found a bunch of unsent letters from keemo, where he forgave jack, and unfortunately, it’s too late for them to reconnect.

Lily: Oh, my god, the whole thing is honestly so sad. I know how much family means to jack, so I’m sure he was really hoping to have a chance to reconcile.

Billy: It’s just so typical, you know? My nephew holds a grudge for decades, and where does that get you?

Lily: True.

Billy: Feels like a cautionary tale, doesn’t it?

Lily: Yep. Meditation courses? What’s that?

Billy: [ Laughs ] Traci’s idea. Apparently it’s highly effective for tapping into your inner voice.

Lily: Oh, really?

Billy: Mm-hmm.

Lily: Well, you know, never hurts to try it.

Billy: Yeah, that’s what i was thinking.

Lily: [ Chuckles ]

Billy: How was your get-together with devon?

Lily: Um, it was good, actually. Went better than I could’ve hoped.

Billy: Yeah?

Lily: Mm-hmm.

Billy: Tell me.

Lily: Well, you know, he was very open to talking about the merger. Actually, he was the one who brought it up, so…

Billy: You’re not kidding.

Lily: Mm-hmm. Yeah, he told me that he had a dream about our dad, which made him willing to reconsider it. Which makes me really happy, ’cause the one thing I keep thinking about over and over is how much my dad would love this idea. So…I’m glad that devon is realizing that, too.

Billy: Does it sound like he’s gonna say yes?

Lily: I think I got him to a maybe.

[ Chuckles ] Oh, my god, it’s late.

Billy: Yeah, it is.

Lily: Yeah, and if you were planning on waking up at 2:48 again, we should probably get to bed.

Billy: Hey.

[ Clears throat ] Before you go…I need to talk to you about something.

Lily: So what’s wrong?

Billy: No, it’s not a huge deal.

Lily: Well, just tell me.

Billy: Okay, um…I’m feeling a little guilty because I wasn’t totally honest with you at the restaurant when we were talking about the merger.

Lily: Okay, so I was right. You were holding back.

Billy: Well, yeah, I mean, i was answering you as your coo, from a business perspective, and from a business perspective, i love this idea, honestly. I think it’s fantastic. It’s a great concept.

Lily: But you’re not in favor of it for some reason?

Billy: I’m really embarrassed, actually. I feel silly even saying this out loud, let alone to you.

Lily: It’s fine, just tell me.

Billy: It’s hard for me to be objective because I’m sitting here and I’m wondering what this means for me. Where do I fit in in all of this? I mean, you and devon are obviously gonna run this company together, and he’s gonna bring his own people, so what does that mean, you know? I mean, you might not even need a coo. I might be a redundancy, on the outside, looking in.

Lily: I hear you. Well, look, first, thank you for telling me that. I really appreciate it. And I get it. It’s a very valid concern.

Billy: Because that’s what’s gonna happen?

Lily: No, it’s valid because it’s normal to, you know, wonder how a change is going to impact you.

Billy: Right.

Lily: Listen, I want you to know, no matter what happens with chancellor, you will always be the person that I depend on the most. Okay? You’re my right-hand man.

Billy: [ Chuckles ]

Lily: Alright? And don’t you forget it.

Billy: Such a good answer.

Lily: I know, right?

[ Laughs ]

Billy: Thank you. I appreciate it.

Lily: Well, are you feeling reassured?

Billy: Yes, very.

Lily: Okay, good. ‘Cause there’s more where that came from.

[ Both chuckle ]

Jack: Ugh, I’m beat. I’m beat. We’re not gonna get anything more done tonight. If the texter were going to respond, he or she would have written to us by now.

Phyllis: Yeah, you’re right, you’re right.

Jack: Go back to the hotel, get some sleep.

Phyllis: Yeah, and in the morning, you’ll have a new perspective, right?

Jack: Yeah.

Phyllis: Jack?

Jack: Keemo lived here. I know nothing about his life here. Did friends come and go? Did he have celebrations? Was he alone and lonely? I don’t know. I don’t know. He was one short plane ride away from an extended family in genoa city. And I didn’t have a clue. Days, weeks, years go by… and I know nothing about them. I didn’t know him. I didn’t know his thoughts. I didn’t what he felt about anything. Now I’ll never know. My own son. My own son. [ Crying ]

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