Previously…
– Zane grew irritated when he saw a text from Matt on Tori’s phone and realized that she had resumed contact with her parents.
– Tim consoled Claire after he learned that she and Brent had broken up because Brent had gotten Molly pregnant.
– Jason and Sabrina went on an official first date, but Jason was confused when Sabrina brought the night to an abrupt end.

“It’s so good to see you,” Samantha Fisher says as she embraces her cousin. 

“You, too,” Tori Gray responds. She takes a step back and lets Samantha into the apartment. 

As Tori locks the door, Samantha takes in the apartment that Tori shares with Zane Tanaka. Its shabbiness cannot be concealed by the new throw pillows or fresh flowers that Tori has brought in to spruce it up; while there is nothing wrong with it, it is not the sort of place in which Samantha ever envisioned her cousin living. 

“Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? La Croix?” Tori asks as she moves to the small kitchen.

“La Croix sounds great.” Samantha follows her past the dining area, which is outfitted with Zane’s massive desk and multiple computer monitors. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” Tori says, though her voice takes on a biting edge as she holds up two different-colored cans. “Which one do you want?”

“I’ll take lime. Thanks.” 

Tori hands Samantha the green can, gets herself a water, and then leads the way toward the living area.

“Are you really?” Samantha asks as they seat themselves on opposite ends of the worn sofa. “I don’t mean to be nosy, it’s just — I know you’ve been through a lot.”

Tori puffs up her cheeks and then lets out the air in a big, loud rush. “To put it lightly. I won’t pretend it’s been easy, but it’s getting better.”

Samantha offers her a warm smile. “You’ve been seeing your mom and dad again?”

“Yeah. I kind of have my guard up, but they’re being respectful of… everything.” Tori waves a hand through the air, as if to indicate the apartment and the whole of her life with Zane. “When I found out my dad was donating his kidney to Uncle Jake, I couldn’t not be there. If something had happened…” 

Samantha nods with understanding. She pauses for a beat before gently asking, “And things with Zane are good?”

She is sure that she sees something catch inside Tori, a barely perceptible glitch that stops her from responding for a moment.

“Things are good,” Tori finally says. “He’s been on his best behavior, and he’s working and I’m job-hunting. Everything’s been really chill, which is…” She lets out a sigh. “…a nice change.”

“I’m sure.” Samantha’s La Croix can lets out a hiss as she pops the tab. “You’re due for some calm.”

“Overdue. The last few years…” Tori’s eyes drop as she sets her can down on the wooden coffee table. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to say to you for a while.”

Samantha sits up straighter. “Really?”

“Yeah. Sam, I was… back when we were in school, I know I was a huge bitch to you. I let those girls who I thought were my friends treat you like crap, and I should’ve stood up for you.”

“That’s all ancient history,” Samantha quickly says, though the very memory of finding her locker filled with trash — as well as the taunts of the popular girls — causes her to feel very hot and uncomfortable.

“Maybe, but it was still shitty,” Tori replies. “I’ve been thinking a lot while I try to get my life back to whatever normal is. The way that Fee C. and those other girls treated me… throwing all the stuff with Philip in my face… I understand how you must’ve felt in a totally different way now. I know I can’t go back and change it, as much as I wish I could, but I want you to know that I’m sorry. Like, really sorry.”

“Thanks.” Samantha smiles again, this time as reassuringly as she can. “It means a lot to hear you say that.”

“Maybe everything that’s happened to me has been karma in some weird way.”

“You aren’t being punished for anything. You’ve had some really bad things happen to you, but you didn’t deserve any of them.” 

“I don’t know about that… but I’m excited to get on with my life now. Zane and I are good, I’m getting things back on track with my parents, and with any luck, I’ll find a job I really like very soon.”

“That’s part of why I wanted to come see you,” Samantha says. “I might have exactly what you’re looking for.”

—–

A bright orange Nerf ball lands smack in the middle of Alex Marshall’s coffee table, precariously close to one of the very full mugs of coffee resting there.

“Sophie,” Jason Fisher says with frustration as he rises from his spot on one of the matching loveseats. “What did we tell you guys about playing baseball in the house?”

He addresses his daughter across the living room of the bungalow where Alex and Trevor Brooks live with their toddler son, who is currently holding a plastic bat and staring at Sophie.

“Chase wanted to!” the dark-haired girl cries out.

“Chase is a little boy,” Jason says. “He’ll follow whatever example you set. So if you start playing baseball in the house…” 

“Ugh.” Sophie lets out an exaggerated grunt, lifting her shoulders way up and then dropping them dramatically. “Can we go outside, then?”

“The yard is all yours,” Alex says.

“Okay! Come on, Chase,” Sophie says, perking up as she runs over, retrieves the ball, and then hurries to the back door. Chase follows after her, making his still-clumsy legs move as fast as they can.

Jason sits back down across from Alex. “I swear she does things just because I tell her not to.”

“Of course she does,” Alex agrees. “Don’t you remember being that age?”

“Like it was yesterday, sometimes. How did we get so old?”

Alex laughs and shakes his head. “I don’t know. Although maybe we aren’t, considering you came over here to tell me about going on a date…” 

“No, dating again definitely makes me feel old,” Jason says. “Or out-of-touch, at least.”

“Yeah, what happened?” Alex asks. “Your texts didn’t sound too promising.”

Jason shrugs. “I have no idea. Our dinner was great. Then I suggested that we keep hanging out, and Sabrina got all weird. She turned like–” He snaps his fingers. “She was out of there so fast, it made my head spin.”

“That kind of sounds like what happened when you guys went to the Wild Lady opening.”

“Yeah. Except we were on the same page this time. At least I thought so. This was so clearly a date. We called it that, we got dressed up and went to a nice restaurant…” 

“And you had a good time.”

“That’s how it seemed,” Jason says. “Dinner was great. Even Helen showing up wasn’t the disaster it could’ve been. But maybe it wasn’t so great for Sabrina. Maybe she realized she wasn’t into it after all.”

“I don’t doubt that she enjoyed dinner,” Alex says. “It was only once you suggested that you go to one of your places that she shut down, right?”

“Right. I hope I didn’t come off like a creep. I thought I was reading the situation right–”

“Jason. You were. It sounds like the two of you had a great date. But I get the sense that Sabrina isn’t that… experienced.”

Jason nods. “I know. And that’s fine. We can take things at her pace.”

“I’m not the one you need to reassure about that. But Sabrina… she could just be really intimidated by all of this,” Alex says. “Has it occurred to you that she might be…”

Jason gets it and, with surprise, finishes the thought for his friend: “A virgin?”

—–

Tim Fisher stands in the doorway of his sister’s house, taking in the now-unmistakable sight of her rounded belly.

“So it’s true,” he says. “I guess congratulations are in order.”

Molly Taylor looks back at him with tired eyes; despite her full face of make-up, Tim can see her exhaustion showing through.

“Thanks,” she says quietly. “Come on in.”

He follows her through the kitchen, where she opens the sliding glass door.

“Can I get you something to drink?” she asks. “Or a snack?”

“I’m fine. Thanks. I wanted to talk to you.”

They step out onto the deck. The sun-dappled green of the back lawn stretches out before them. Molly adjusts the umbrella that covers the outdoor dining table and then lowers herself into one of the chairs.

“How are you feeling?” Tim asks as he takes a seat himself.

“I’m okay. It turns out this is a lot more draining at this age than it was when I had the twins. And that’s without all the stress of…” She gestures broadly around them but seems too weary to complete the thought.

“Mom said the twins didn’t take the news too well.”

“They might have if we’d gotten to tell them ourselves,” Molly says. “But of course Sarah had to go and run her mouth.”

“She didn’t know Christian was in the house, let alone that he’d wind up hearing her.”

“Still.” She shakes her head with annoyance. “It’s made this entire thing much more complicated.”

“Not to pile on,” Tim says, “but you and Brent did a pretty good job of that yourselves.”

“Do you think I don’t know that, Tim? Do you think I wanted things to go this way?”

He hesitates before responding, “I don’t know. Clearly you and Brent wanted to be together. What I don’t understand is why you couldn’t wait until he’d had a chance to be honest with Claire.”

“It’s sounding an awful lot like you did come here to pile on,” she says. “And if that’s the case, you can go ahead and show yourself out.” 

—–

Tori looks up sharply at Samantha. “What do you mean?”

Samantha sets down her own sparkling water. “Well, the receptionist at Objection is about to go on maternity leave.”

“Oh, wow. Do you think I’d even have a chance?”

“A chance? Tori, it’s a reception job. You’re more than capable of that.”

“I’ve never done it before,” Tori says. “It must be a lot of phones and coordinating stuff.”

“You have a college degree! Plus you’re so outgoing and smart. You’d be a great fit for it.”

Tori chews her bottom lip in thought for a few seconds.

“What?” Samantha asks. “I think you’d really like working at Objection. If I can fit in there…” 

“It isn’t that. I’m just not sure it’s the right choice for me.”

“Why not? It’s a paying job with benefits at a great company.”

“I don’t know,” Tori says, shrinking back into the sofa. “I probably wouldn’t get it anyway.”

“Don’t be silly. On top of everything else, your aunt runs the company. Aunt Molly would definitely give you a chance!”

But when she looks over, Tori is tight-lipped and stone-faced.

“Is that what this is about, Tori? You don’t want to work with family?”

“I didn’t say that,” Tori replies, though the expression on her face belie the sentiment.

Then it dawns on Samantha, as she recalls what Jaq told her about their own conversation with Zane. “You can be honest with me: are you worried Zane won’t like you going to work for Aunt Molly?”

—–

Jason stares straight ahead for a long moment, contemplating what Alex has said.

“You think?” Jason asks at last.

“She was in a coma for a long time,” Alex says. “A really long time.”

“A vegetative state. It’s a miracle that she’s alive and as healthy as she is.”

“And she missed a lot of time. A lot of important years.”

“Yeah.” Jason nods along as it begins to make more sense of him. “So I scared her off. I wasn’t even suggesting we had to– I mean—”

“Even the possibility could’ve made her nervous, though,” Alex tells him.

Jason lifts his eyebrows. “How reassuring that the possibility of sex with me sends women running.”

Alex chuckles. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” Jason says, resuming a more serious demeanor. “So what do I do? Apologize?”

“That would be a good start. Not that you have anything major to apologize for–”

“–but I want her to know that I don’t expect anything from her.” 

“Yes. Totally.”

Jason opens his mouth to speak, then stops, his lips wide. 

“What?” Alex asks.

“What if she really wasn’t feeling the date?”

“Then she can tell you that. Which is awkward, but at least you’d know.” Alex studies his friend quietly for a few seconds. “You really like her, don’t you?”

Jason is unable to keep a grin from spreading over his face. “I do. She’s nothing like Natalie, that’s for sure. Or Court. But she’s so earnest. It’s refreshing. And she has this– this moral code that she sticks to, no matter what anyone else thinks. She isn’t ashamed of her values.”

“Okay, yeah,” Alex says with a smirk. “You like her.”

“Yeah, so I guess–”

Jason is interrupted by the loud thwack of a ball against the window. 

“My toddler cannot be that good at baseball,” Alex says.

“That was definitely a Sophie move,” Jason says as the two men fall into step and head to the backyard.

—–

Tim makes no move to rise from his chair. He leans forward, focusing on Molly over the backyard dining table.

“I promise, I’m not here to make you feel worse,” he says. “But I do want to understand. Claire thought Brent was going to propose to her, and then she finds out that he slept with you and you’re having his baby. I’m getting whiplash just talking about it.”

Molly softens, and again Tim can see how tired she is. 

“I don’t know that Brent and I ever stopped loving each other,” she explains. “When we got divorced, it was — it was all so tied up in him having lost his leg in that explosion, and the way he and Claire were obsessed with finding out who was responsible.”

“But you’d both moved on.”

“I know. I don’t doubt that he loved Claire. Maybe it’s possible to love two people at once. But after we were kidnapped — we thought we were going to die in that trunk, Tim — it became impossible to ignore how we felt.”

“Then why didn’t Brent tell Claire that?” he asks. “It would’ve hurt her, but it would’ve ultimately been a lot less painful than finding out the way that she did.”

Molly exhales loudly through her nostrils. “We didn’t handle it well. I fully admit that. I really am sorry that Claire had to get hurt in the process. But I can’t change the past.”

“No, and I guess we’ll all have to find our way through this somehow.”

The siblings sit in silence, save for the faint sound of birds chirping up above.

“I wish I could go back and do things differently,” Molly says. “I really do. Claire has been family for so long. I hate that she was caught in the middle of this.”

“Maybe you should have a talk with her.”

“I know. I’ve felt so overwhelmed, between the pregnancy and the twins and keeping up with work, and talking to Claire…”

“…is intimidating.”

She nods back at her older brother. “It is. Because I know I made a colossal mistake, and someone I care about got hurt in the process. And there’s nothing I can do to fix that.”

“I think it would mean a lot for Claire to hear that from you, though,” Tim says. 

“You’re right.” Molly places both hands on top of her pregnant stomach. “I can’t believe I’m having another baby at my age.”

“You’re becoming a mother again, and I’m a grandpa,” Tim says, still as awed by the idea as he was when he found out Spencer was Peter’s father. “Talk about crazy.”

“Have you gone to see Peter?”

“Spencer’s brought him to my house. I haven’t figured out how to go over there and face that lunatic Loretta yet.”

“Mom and I ran into her downtown,” Molly says. 

“Mom told me that.”

“It was eerie. The way she looked at us, the way she brought up Philip — I don’t trust her for a minute, Tim.”

“Neither do I,” he says. “I don’t like that my grandson is in a house with her. The question is: what are we going to do about it?”

—–

Tori springs up off the couch and fires an angry look in Samantha’s direction. “Why would you even say that?”

The force of the rebuttal stuns Samantha, and it takes her a few seconds to process it and construct her response.

“I know there’s been– that a lot has happened,” she says, stumbling over her words a little.

“Zane barely even knows Aunt Molly.”

“But she’s part of our family, and things haven’t exactly been smooth sailing between Zane and your parents. Plus he was blackmailing Aunt Molly, too.”

Tori folds her arms across her chest. “Zane doesn’t– no. He doesn’t decide who I see or don’t see.”

“Okay,” Samantha hastens to say, though Jaq’s warnings continue to ring in her head.

“I went to the hospital when my dad was having surgery,” Tori adds, “and I went back to see him once he was awake.”

“Okay.”

“Just — no. It’s not like that.” Tori taps her foot against the faded navy blue area rug. “You know what? Send me the link.”

Samantha reacts with clear surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah. Or I’ll go on the website and find it. I’ll apply for the job. Nothing to lose. Right?”

Samantha watches as Tori pulls out her phone and types in the address of Objection’s website.

“Right,” Samantha agrees, her fears not at all assuaged by her cousin’s quick turnaround. 

END OF EPISODE 1017

Is Tori making a mistake by applying for the job?
Should Jason pursue a relationship with Sabrina?
What did you think of Tim’s reaction to Molly’s pregnancy?
Talk about all this and more in the comments below!

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