Christine and Paul cuddled in their living room. Christine expressed how happy she was and how much she appreciated Paul and his faith in her. He surprised her by telling her that he had found a fabulous spa in California and had booked her there, and her flight was leaving at noon. She was very grateful, and they got up to get her packed for her trip.
Phyllis looked worried as she watched Jack get ready for his day. She knew he was on his way to go meet with Dru and hadn't yet had a chance to tell him about her and Damon before Dru had a chance to. He noticed and asked if everything was all right. Before she could answer, he told her he knew how upset she was about seeing him and Diane together at Yves and that he could hardly blame her if she had "found some hunk" to make him jealous. With that, he told her how much he loved her, and passion took over before she was able to tell him the truth.
Sharon and Nick spoke lovingly to each other about their previous romantic evening. Sharon mentioned Agnes was stopping by, and Nick asked if Nikki was going to be involved in the meeting as well. Sharon told him no, she wasn't, and that the gala was not going to be at the ranch. In fact, she and Agnes were going to the Colonnade Room to meet with Jacques to finalize the details. When he questioned whether or not Nikki knew all of that, she told him it had been Nikki's choice to change the location, and she would just have to live with the way things worked out.
Sharon tried to change the subject, but Nick was adamant when he told her the tension needed to stop. Sharon told him no, she was not willing to meet Nikki halfway and, furthermore, was not willing to let Nikki walk all over her. Regardless, he said, the tension was taking a toll on the entire family.
Upstairs at the breakfast table, Victor and Nikki were also talking about the gala. He chided her for her bad attitude toward the gala and Sharon, but she was not listening. Her stance was that the gala was going to be at the ranch and that Sharon would just have to get over it. After he left, she went down to Sharon's to "make sure they were on the same page." She told Sharon she wanted it at the ranch, but Sharon was quick to say that she and Agnes were finalizing things with Jacques in just a short while.
As Sharon and Nikki were arguing, Agnes arrived, and Nikki told her the new game plan: the gala would be at the ranch, Nikki would be hosting, and Sharon would simply assist. Agnes tried her best to argue back, but Nikki told her that since she was Mrs. Victor Newman, who, by the way, was the largest financial contributor to the Arts Council, she would be doing things the way she saw fit. Reluctantly, Agnes agreed, and Nikki left, triumphant. Agnes apologized to Sharon, who told her she completely understood what had just taken place. Agnes remembered the invitations still said the wrong location, and with a gleam in her eye, Sharon said she would totally take care of the invitations.
Dru was in rare form when telling Neil what she knew about Damon and Phyllis. Neil warned her that she shouldn't tell Jack what she knew. After all, there was a possibility that the situation was innocent. She didn't listen and went to Jack's office to wait for him. She was surprised when Damon walked into the room instead of Jack, and she immediately started in on him. She grilled him about where he had been and what he and Phyllis were up to, and she announced she was about to tell Jack. Seemingly both annoyed and amused, he told her she had an uncanny ability to stick her nose where it didn't belong.
Dru told Damon she knew all about Damon and Phyllis' evening together and that she had gotten into his apartment and listened to his answering machine. He told her that her imagination was running wild, that her nose was bigger than her brain, and that she should just leave everything alone. Finally, he went ahead and told her that he and Brad had cooked up the idea to spy on Phyllis to try to help Jabot. Dru asked if that was the only reason he was interested in her, and as soon as they started arguing about it, Jack walked in, demanding to know what they were yelling about. Damon more or less excused himself, saying he had a lot of work to do, but Dru was not quite so lucky. Jack demanded to know what they had been arguing about.
In Jack's office, Jack demanded to know why Dru had called to see him. Dru filled him in on how she had spied on Damon and knew that he was in contact with Newman Enterprises. Jack wasn't too concerned about it but also knew that Dru was hiding something.
Phyllis and Neil met in Phyllis' office. Phyllis told Neil about her meeting Damon and how it had all happened. She did tell Neil that it wasn't dirty or seedy like Dru would have him believe. She thought she could exploit Damon's supposed dislike for Jabot and called him to meet.
In the Jabot boardroom, Brad demanded information from Damon on where he had gone. Damon wasn't interested in corporate espionage, but Brad said Damon had no choice. He then encouraged Damon to meet with Phyllis when she called.
Cassie met Nick in his office and asked for an answer about whether she could invite her friend Adam to the gala. Nick ultimately told her no. He wasn't ready for her to date yet. Cassie pouted and walked off.
At the ranch, Victoria arrived looking for Cassie so they could go to lunch. She and Sharon argued over Cassie and the gala. Cassie arrived, and Sharon found out why Cassie was upset. She headed out to Nick's office. Sharon arrived, seduced Nick to relax him, and then asked about Cassie. He eventually relented, allowing the girl to take her date. Sharon said it was the best possible first date from their perspective.
In Victor's office, Victor told Michael that his services were no longer needed. He had done his job, and Saphra would have premium shelf space the next day. Michael realized that because Christine wasn't guilty, Victor had no hold over Michael for hiding the evidence. Michael also pointed out how having Michael around only reminded Victor that he had to play dirty. Victor agreed and told Michael to expect a check.
Michael said he wasn't going anywhere. He wanted to continue to work for Victor, and it was in Victor's best interests to keep Michael on board. Victor saw Michael's offer as extortion but agreed to Michael's terms with a stern warning not to screw up, or else Victor would squash him.
Larry spotted Cassie at Crimson Lights and sat down to have a talk with her. When she explained how upset she was with her parents for their refusal to let Adam attend the gala with her, Larry explained how Nick would always feel like she was his little girl. He was only trying to protect her. Cassie insisted that it wasn't a real date, her entire family would be around her at the ranch, and she was no longer a kid.
As Larry was comforting Cassie, Sharon walked in. Delighted to see her daughter, Sharon stopped Cassie from leaving after Larry went back to work. She said that she'd gone to talk to Nick on Cassie's behalf. Since the gala was back on at the ranch, Sharon had been able to persuade him to change his mind. Cassie was thrilled about that but warned her mother it didn't entirely change things between them. Sharon understood and said at least it was a baby step. She looked happy as Cassie left the coffeehouse.
Dru confirmed with Brad that he really did know what Damon was up to with Phyllis. Still, she had plenty of reservations about the whole thing. Not only were they playing with fire because of Jack, but she was concerned that Phyllis was more than capable of not only handling Damon, but getting information about Jabot out of him. Brad still felt like Damon could hold his own and was their only shot at finding out what Victor was up to with Michael Baldwin. Dru asked to be kept in the loop and left his office.
Brad called Ashley, who said she was doing fine. She asked a lot of questions about the upcoming Tuvia launch, and Brad assured her that everything was fine. When Ashley said she and Abby were returning home, because Ashley wanted to see the launch of her new baby, Brad reminded her that the only baby she should be concerned about was the one inside her. A reluctant Ashley finally agreed not to go home, and Brad promised to call her the next day and update her on things. After they hung up, Ashley looked thoughtful.
At Damon's apartment, Damon and Phyllis talked over what had happened. He explained how Dru had discovered her information about their night together. Phyllis was shocked that Dru had managed to get inside his apartment. She worried that Dru was even then telling Jack the whole story. Damon said that had been Dru's intention. He, however, had assured her that he was only plying Phyllis for information about Safra. Phyllis wondered if that was true.
Damon asked if she thought he could have simulated his reaction to her. Phyllis trusted him. Damon said for all he knew, she could be playing him. Both of them assured each other that neither was just with the other for information. Phyllis insisted that she could be friends with him without it getting out of hand. Damon said he wasn't sure he could say the same. Before Phyllis could leave, Victoria called and asked to see Damon, who invited her to his apartment. Feeling a little jealous, Phyllis once against kissed Damon before she left him alone.
Victoria was defying her father's orders where Damon was concerned. Once Neil and Victoria filled in Victor about Phyllis' suspicion that all was not well with Damon at Jabot, Victoria said she didn't think Phyllis was the right person to handle it -- Victoria herself was. Victor said that he had the utmost respect for Phyllis as their webmaster, but he agreed that she needed to step back from Damon. However, he also didn't think Victoria should get involved. In fact, he assured them he would handle Damon himself.
Furious, Victoria said that once again, Victor was shutting her out of the boys' club, just as he had while mentoring Nick. Victor said Victoria had too much to do to get involved in the Damon plan. Victoria stomped out as her father told her that he didn't appreciate her attitude -- and that her becoming miraculously pregnant with his baby was no reason to be a bitch. "Incest is no excuse for insolence," he told her.
At the loft, Brittany accused J.T. of telling Raul about her job at Marsino's. J.T. denied it, saying maybe Raul had followed her. In any case, he hadn't said anything. Brittany wasn't sure what Raul would do, since he had never returned home the night before. J.T. said she needed to quit her job, but not necessarily because of the trouble it was causing with Raul. Bobby was playing her, getting her to do everything he wanted her to do.
If Brittany wanted to sing, she should go for it. But J.T. doubted that any celebrity successes had started out in a strip club. He cared about Brittany and what happened to her. She needed to move on to a place that not only gave her the chance to use her talent but a place where she wouldn't feel bad about what she was doing. Brittany insisted that she was only doing it for the money. J.T. wondered if that money was worth everything she could lose.
When Lauren sensed that something was bothering Raul at the boutique, he told her the story of Bobby buying the necklace and how it had led to his discovery that Brittany was stripping in Bobby's club. Lauren tried to get him to calm down enough to talk to Brittany. Maybe she would offer some explanation about what she'd been doing. Raul said he didn't even want to see Brittany, much less talk to her. As far as he was concerned, she could do whatever she wanted, including taking off her clothes for money. But she was going to do it without him. After Lauren left for an appointment, Raul was surprised to see Brittany walk inside the boutique.
Phyllis discovered that Dru had not told Jack about her meetings with Damon. However, Dru still did not buy Phyllis' story about her relationship with Damon being strictly business. Victoria vented to Neil about Victor's chauvinistic attitude forbidding her to pursue Damon. Later, she decided to pay Damon a visit and invited him to go horseback riding with her at the ranch.
Brittany tried to rationalize keeping her secret from Raul, but Raul stressed to Brittany that stripping was immoral, if not illegal. Brittany insisted that she wouldn't stop, since the job paid so well. Raul once more encouraged Brittany to quit, but she stormed out, refusing to let Raul run her life. Bobby barged into the loft, looking for Brittany. He forced it out of J.T. that Brittany was with Raul, which made Bobby a bit jealous.
Sierra and Colleen discussed Lily's tainted view of what she saw in Kevin. Lily explained to Wes what she saw in Kevin, portraying his controlling nature as romantic. Wes offered to take her to the movies, but Lily was not interested and wanted to be alone. Kevin broke into J.T.'s loft and smashed all the windows. He overheard Colleen leaving a phone message for J.T. to meet her in the park. He deleted the message and thought of a plan.
Victoria and Phyllis had another confrontation at the office about Damon Porter, with Phyllis insisting that she was a happily married woman who had no personal interest in Damon. She urged Victoria to go for it if Victoria was interested in a personal relationship with him. However, she felt like any business dealings with Damon should be handled by Victor. Victoria said that she didn't always do what her father wanted, and she felt like she was the right person to handle the Damon situation. She warned Phyllis to stay out of her personal life, or there could be repercussions at work. Phyllis countered by saying Victoria might want to reconsider getting rid of Phyllis just as they were launching the Safra line.
Dru told Brad about her meeting with Phyllis, including Phyllis' confession that she had only been trying to pump Damon for information. Neither Brad nor Dru bought it. They felt like Damon had managed to really get under Phyllis' skin. Brad just hoped there would be a way for Jabot to use that to get information about what Victor was up to. Meanwhile, he had somewhere to be. He left, telling Dru he'd see her in a few hours.
Ashley was surprised by a visit from Victor and wondered how he'd found out where she was. Victor sidestepped, saying he was only there out of concern for her. Ashley was sure he had some other agenda and demanded that he be honest with her. Victor said he just wanted her out of the middle of the battle between their two companies. He always worried about her and wanted her pregnancy to be untouched by stress over work.
Ashley reminded Victor that he was the one who was turning it into a battle. He could stop that any time he chose. Victor said that he never made business decisions based on his personal relationships. Ashley was sure that was going to hurt him at some point. As she began to seem more stressed out, there was a knock on her door. She opened it, expecting to see her midwife, but instead, Brad walked in and gave her a hug. His happy expression vanished when he saw Victor standing there.
Sierra tried to make peace between Lily and Colleen, but when Colleen acted friendly, Lily let her have it. Colleen and J.T. had not only ruined her evening with Kevin, but he was obviously finished with her. He wouldn't respond to her instant messages. Colleen insisted that Kevin was too old for Lily and was acting like a predator. Lily hotly defended him then stomped off. Colleen left with the hope of meeting J.T. in the park. Sierra again tried to reason with Lily, but Lily insisted that she would never be friends with Colleen again.
As Detective Weber was questioning J.T. about the vandalism to the loft, Brittany walked in. She was furious when J.T. said the only person who might have done it was Bobby Marsino. Weber knew who Bobby was, and he listened as Brittany defended her boss. J.T. insisted that when Bobby had been there earlier, looking for her, he'd threatened J.T. Detective Weber left to question Bobby, while Brittany and J.T. continued to argue about Bobby.
At the club, Bobby found Kevin doing paperwork in his office. He said he'd had a meeting earlier and suggested that Kevin take a break and catch the show. When Kevin declined, Bobby made a comment about how his bookkeeper wasn't interested in girls. Kevin said that he was, but not the girls who worked at the club. As the two bickered about the strippers, Detective Weber entered to question Bobby about the vandalism to J.T. and Brittany's apartment.
Kevin listened, then failed to back up Bobby's story that he'd been at the club for over an hour. After Weber left, Bobby turned on Kevin, wondering why he'd said Bobby had only been there five or ten minutes before Weber arrived. Kevin said he was bad with time. Bobby kicked him out of the office, and Kevin went to the park. He was thinking of all the things Colleen had done to upset him while he remembered wrecking J.T.'s apartment. Since he'd heard Colleen's message that she was going to meet J.T. at the park, he grew impatient when she didn't show up. When Colleen finally arrived, he loomed in front of her menacingly, and Colleen began backing away from him.
