As the visit between Victor and Michael progressed, Michael continued to express surprise at the offer. When he asked Victor for more information, he was turned down—Victor wasn't giving up any unnecessary details until they had a deal. All he would say was that because Michael was so ruthless and cunning, this would make him uniquely qualified for the job. He went on to say that the work he had in mind would be challenging and exciting, but also added that he only wanted Michael, not Christine. After Victor left, Michael spent time wondering who or what Victor was about to try to bring down.
Colleen paid a visit to her dad to cancel the evening's dinner. She made up an excuse that she wanted to spend time with Lily and Sierra, and Brad said he was pleased that she was getting on with her life. He went on to say how happy he was that she was no longer with J.T., and when he started bashing J.T., she was quick to try to change the subject. She asked if he had heard from Ashley, and he told her he had and that he really missed her. With that, she excused herself and he told her he was glad she was feeling better.
At the coffee house, Brittany walked in to see J.T. sitting alone and smiling. She sat down and they started talking about her recent visit with Colleen. After listening to what they talked about, he thanked her for encouraging Colleen to give him a second chance. He thanked her and told her that as a matter of fact, Colleen was on her way over for driving lessons. Before leaving, she told him she quit the boutique and that she had another job offer making a lot more money. When he asked her for more details, she was coy about it and left without giving any direct answers.
Once she got back to the loft, she discovered a very distraught Billy. He told her the whole sordid story and was surprised when she reacted with kindness and compassion. He told her both he and Mackenzie were leaving town separately, and he didn't know if he was coming back. She told him she understood the need to leave, but assured him he might find comfort in returning home at some point. He opened his wallet and gave her he and Mackenzie's share of the rent for the next two months. She only accepted the money when he told her it wasn't leaving him completely broke. He urged her to stay with Raul and continue to make him happy before taking his things and leaving.
Neil came home to see Dru getting all dolled up and asked her out to dinner. She told him she had a dinner appointment with someone at Jabot, and it didn't take him long to figure out who with. He asked if he could go with them, but she told him no way. He told her he was excited to meet the guy, considering the effect he had on Phyllis. Finally, she relented, telling him he could come for just five short minutes.
Angry about her confrontation with her dad, Vicki went to a restaurant/bar to have a drink. She noticed Damon Porter right away and began flirting with him. They started a long conversation, mostly about her, who she was and what she did for a living. After a while, she realized she had monopolized the entire conversation without so much as asking his name. He told her his friends called him "D," which was enough to satisfy her curiosity. After several minutes, she ended up having to leave, telling "D" she hoped to see him again one day.
Phyllis came home to find Jack a little bit angry with her about the Damon incident. She tried to play it off and act innocent, but he wasn't having it. He told her he didn't believe their conversation was just idle chit-chat, and furthermore, she had no business asking him about his contract or leaving out the fact that she was Mrs. Jack Abbott. She just smiled at him and told him it was just innocent flirting (or "business flirting"), and no harm came from it. He relented and told her because of her actions, he was getting heat not only from Dru, but also from Nikki. It was suggested they ban her from the office, but he said he would never do that. He did, he said, realize she had a big mouth before they got married. With that, she gave him a big hug and everything was back to normal.
Loft:
Brittany is alone practicing her singing. Raul surprises her and she claims the singing was a surprise for him (a lie). She fills him in on the Billy/Mac situation and he is blown away. He tells her he got her old job back at the Boutique but she doesn't want it back. She will find what she wants to do on her own.
Marsino's:
Britt returns to Bobby's club asking about the job. He tells her it was taken. She does her best to convince him she does want the job. Britt fantasizes about singing in the club. She then begs Bobby for a chance and he agrees.
Road:
J.T. takes Colleen out for her driving lessons. She has some trouble learning to work a standard car. She starts to get the hang of it and they have a good time together. She asks J.T. to call Lily for her but the battery dies before she can get much out. J.T. is very impressed with her and doesn't pay attention to the road. When playing with the radio she loses control of the car. They get stranded in a ditch.
Victoria's Office:
Phyllis tries to talk business with Victoria but sees she's smitten. Victoria describes the guy who has her eye and Phyllis puts 2+2 together. She has a thing for Damon Porter. Victoria can't believe it. She vows not to let him get away with it.
Eve's:
Neil and Dru wait for Damon to show up. When he does, Damon realizes that Neil is the one who first contacted him. Neil gladly fills him in on how Dru got to interview him in the first place. Neil leaves and Dru confirms that it is true. Damon seems miffed that Dru's scheme cost him the chance to entertain NE's offer and essentially work carte blanche on his original line. Dru tells him ho important working at Jabot has been for her and why she felt it was necessary. Damon laughs at the handful Neil has on his hands. Dru deserved the teasing she just got but he has no intention of messing things up for her. Victoria then bursts in both barrels blazing for Damon.
J.T. and Colleen were stranded in the countryside after she drove his car off the road and it got stuck. She apologized for not watching where she was going, but J.T. assured her that it could have happened to anyone. She also was sorry that she'd used her cell phone to call Lily and caused the battery to run down. When it began to rain, they ran for a nearby house, but found it boarded up. They sat on the porch, watching the rain and talking about the past. J.T. finally went back to his car for some blankets, and they prepared to sleep on the porch swing.
Brad was surprised to see Lily at Crimson Lights, since Colleen had told him she was spending the evening with Lily and Sierra. After Lily tried to cover for her, Brad demanded answers, sure Colleen's lies had something to do with J.T. Lily was evasive, telling him she didn't know anything, and Neil came in and overheard them. Neil told Brad to let him talk to Lily alone. He'd call him with anything to report. After Brad left, Neil confronted Lily about her nose piercing and tattoo, then apologized for the amount of time he'd spent working and neglecting her. Lily assured him that he was a good father. Neil then said that on their way home, he hoped that Lily would remember something that he could tell Brad to stop him from worrying about Colleen.
Lauren went to the loft and talked to Raul about the situation at the boutique. With both Billy and Mac leaving, Raul, Britt, and J.T. would need to pull extra shifts until she could hire someone. Raul wondered why, with all of Fenmore's to worry about, she was so hands-on at the boutique, and Lauren said it was fun and kept her young. Raul had to tell her that he didn't think Brittany was coming back to work there, but he'd do his best to work extra shifts and maybe J.T. would be more responsible, too.
Brittany continued to make her case to Bobby about a job at his men's club. Although he'd agreed to let her sing, he wasn't going along with her idea of keeping her clothes on. Brittany assured him that she could offer his customers something better than a stripper. Just with her voice, she could make them feel special. Bobby finally agreed, and Brittany excitedly left. When Bobby's bartender asked if he was seriously going to give Brittany her way, Bobby laughed and said for the first five minutes.
Brittany ran into the loft, eager to share her good news with Raul. She was surprised to see Lauren there, too, but corroborated Lauren's guess that she'd gotten the job she wanted. While Lauren listened with skepticism, Brittany explained that she'd be singing in a club. When she hurried out to change clothes, Raul looked happy to finally see her in a better mood.
Diane was angry when Detective Weber listened to her suspicions about Christine and Isabella then began questioning her. His opinion was that Diane would go to great lengths when she wanted something, as he'd seen during the arson investigation. Diane said she'd never been charged with a crime, and her only concern was finding out what had happened to Isabella. She was sure that Michael had covered for Chris, but Christine was the one Isabella had expressed the most fear of. Furthermore, she had nothing to hide. She'd been with Michael in his office when he got the call from Isabella. Michael had gone straight to Isabella's apartment, so Diane couldn't have been responsible for Isabella's disappearance. Weber said he'd check out her story.
Michael showed up at Christine's apartment demanding that Paul let him see her. The two exchanged angry comments, then Paul finally had to admit that Chris wasn't there. In fact, she hadn't come home the night of Isabella's disappearance or throughout the entire day. Paul worried that maybe it wasn't Isabella's blood in the apartment, but Christine's. Michael said that was ridiculous, considering Isabella's tiny stature. Paul said if Isabella was angry enough, she could be dangerous. Their discussion was interrupted by Detective Weber, who'd come to talk to Christine. When they informed him that Chris wasn't there, he then questioned the two of them, wondering why they'd concealed Isabella's restraining order against Christine and Christine's former attempt to strangle Isabella. Both men strongly denied that Christine was capable of violence. Weber suggested that they have her call him as soon as she returned and warned them against obstructing justice.
Christine woke up looking disoriented and frightened in her car, which appeared to be parked somewhere in the countryside. After a few seconds she drove off. When she arrived home, a very relieved Paul tried to talk to her. She insisted that she was too tired to talk and needed to go to bed. She hurried past him to her room, where she sat on the bed, looking confused. She glanced down at her arm, which was covered with scratches, and saw blood on her hand.
When J.T. and Colleen returned home in the morning, they were read the riot act by Brad, of course. They apologized and insisted that nothing had happened between them and told him how the car went in the ditch and the cell phone was dead so they couldn't call. J.T. was brave and stood strong against Brad's accusations, respectfully asking for understanding. He never mentioned that Colleen had been driving the car. Brad went upstairs for a shower and told J.T. to be gone when he returned. The two spoke teasingly about him "quitting while he was ahead" and Colleen was surprised to find that he was open to trying the driving again soon. He tried to kiss her, but she stopped him first, and he said goodbye.
Chris awoke and told Paul the story of how she woke up in her car near Lake Michigan. She was surprised to hear that Isabella was missing. Paul was worried about her because she couldn't remember how she got there. He suggested that she make an appointment to see Olivia.
Paul called Olivia and interrupted a hot love session between her and Wesley in her office. Wes agreed to come back for more doctor appointments and left her to her job. When Chris came in, they did a physical examination and everything looked fine. It would take a couple of hours for the blood work results to come back, so Chris had some time on her hands. Olivia offered to call her cell phone when the tests were done, so Chris looked for it in her purse. She freaked out when she couldn't find it.
Back at the apartment, the detective on the case was back looking for Christine again. Paul was in trouble for not calling him right away when she came home. He decided to sit and wait until she returned.
Michael gave Diane a piece of his mind about sicking the cops on Chris. As they were talking, his cell phone rang. Caller ID told him that it was Chris, so he was all excited. Instead of Chris, it was an old man. He was walking outside near Lake Michigan, telling Michael that the woman who owned the phone owed him big time. He had found his boat down the shoreline from where it belonged and wanted it cleaned up. She must have borrowed it to go fishing and cleaned her fish inside the boat -- it was covered with blood!
At the Independence Day party at the Newmans' house, Sharon and Nikki traded insults then agreed to call a truce for the day. Nikki, however, could not stand watching Nick stare at his wife in her tiny bikini. She and Victoria were having a hard time enjoying the party, although Cody had come as Victoria's date, because they were so disgusted with Sharon's happiness over being part of a family celebration.
Cassie was feeling smothered by her mother's presence and suggested to Vicki that she spend the night with her in the tack house sometime. Victoria said she'd have to run that by Sharon. When she did, Sharon said it was her call as Cassie's mother, and considering how Victoria felt about her, she wasn't sure it was a good idea for Cassie to spend a lot of time with her. A huffy Victoria told Sharon that SHE could tell Cassie that news.
Cody was glad to see that Nick was starting to regard his wife with more affection. Although Nick wouldn't admit it, he couldn't take his eyes off of Sharon. Later he told her that he'd talk to his mother if she was being too hard on Sharon. Sharon assured him that it wasn't necessary. She wasn't going to be walked over. She then planted a kiss on Nick and walked away, giving Nikki a self-satisfied look while Nikki watched with a sour expression.
Dru seemed pleased to see her sister and Wes getting along so well when she and Neil celebrated the Fourth with them at Gina's. She wasn't as pleased when Olivia admitted to Wes that she was wearing a sample from the Satine line. She suggested that Liv wash it off and wait for the better fragrances that would be released by Jabot. Later, when Dru was at the ice cream bar, Phyllis taunted her about Wes, suggesting that although Dru didn't want him, she didn't want anyone else to have him, either.
Noah was with his grandfather at the Genoa City parade. They came into Gina's, where they ran into Jack, Phyllis, and Kyle. Jack and Victor agreed to put aside their differences for a while in the spirit of the holiday. Some friends of Victor's of Middle Eastern descent came in. Victor brought them to his table and introduced them to Jack. Jack was sorry to hear that the group had encountered prejudice because of their backgrounds. Victor talked about how the United States had always welcomed immigrants. When Neil joined them, he talked about understanding how it felt to be viewed through the eyes of prejudice instead of as an individual. Phyllis, Dru, Olivia, and Wes joined them to listen to Gina sing "America the Beautiful" and join in with her.
Jill was distressed to see that Esther was decking Katherine out like she was a float in a parade. Lauren had sent over a beautiful suit for Katherine to wear, and Brock had sent a red, white, and blue corsage, but Esther had attached patriotic balloons to her wheelchair and put spokes on the wheels of the chair to make noise. As Liz, who'd changed her mind about returning to Europe, looked on, Jill became agitated when Esther took a glass of water away from Katherine. Jill insisted that Katherine was still thirsty. Esther argued, saying she and Mrs. Chancellor communicated perfectly. When Katherine appeared to be trying to speak and ask for the water, Jill snatched it from Esther's hand, knelt down, and helped Katherine drink it.
After Esther left with Katherine, Liz praised Jill for standing up for Katherine's needs. Jill dismissed it, saying that she'd have been as nice to any dog in the street. She had no intention of turning her life over to the woman who'd abandoned her when she was born. They were interrupted by Larry, who came in dressed as Uncle Sam after being part of the Jabot picnic. Liz begged him to go with her, Katherine, and Esther to the downtown festivities; she was sure he'd be a big hit. After she left the room, Jill and Larry began flirting with each other. Larry wondered if they were left alone, how long it would be before he could have her yelling "Uncle Sam." Jill, in a much better mood, shared a hot kiss with him.
