Previously…
– Tori lost out on the receptionist job at Objection Designs, but Molly later offered her a position as her second assistant. Tori eagerly accepted.
– Samantha and Jaq’s trip to Sun Valley uncovered the shocking truth that Diane was the biological child of Henry Bishop and Therese DeLuca.
– Loretta Ragan’s presence in town continued to unnerve everyone, and Tim was determined to find a way to neutralize her.

Beads of sweat pool on Tori Gray’s forehead. She lifts her bare forearm and wipes them away, but as soon as she does so, more sweat appears. She glances up anxiously at the numbers that light up one by one as the elevator rises through Winston Tower, until finally, mercifully, it stops at the eighteenth floor. With one more swipe of her arm against her damp forehead, she exits the elevator and strides toward the glass-enclosed lobby of Objection Designs.

She walks as quickly as she can without breaking into a jog — or twisting one of her ankles in her heels. It is difficult to believe that she is only halfway through her first day of work; she cannot imagine functioning at this pace all the time.

Tori pulls open the door to Objection’s lobby and smiles brightly at Finn Campbell, the new receptionist who beat her out for the position. Luckily, Molly made the decision to hire Tori as her second assistant when her doctor ordered her to limit her activity and stress for the duration of her pregnancy. 

When she reaches the door that adjoins the lobby to the rest of the Objection offices, however, she stops cold in her tracks. The black pad mounted beside the door instantly reminds her that she doesn’t have her I.D. badge on her.

“I’m so sorry,” she says as she turns back toward Finn, who is entering some information into a spreadsheet on his large computer monitor. “Could you buzz me in?”

He stops typing and regards her more seriously. His dark eyebrows lift and then fall, and Tori can practically hear the ominous ticking of a clock inside her head as he takes his time.

“Do you have I.D.?” he asks.

She stares at him blankly for a moment as she attempts to recalibrate.

“I’m Tori. Molly Taylor’s assistant. You’ve seen me come and go at least five times this morning. I was just dropping proofs off at her house.”

Finn chews his lower lip. “Honestly, I’m still getting the hang of things here. I’m sorry I don’t recognize you.”

“It’s my first day. I left my I.D. on my desk.”

“I can’t just let you back there. If something were to happen…”

“Please?” She cocks her head to one side and does her best to paper over her frustration with a winning smile. “I promise I can go grab it and bring it right back. It’s on my desk.”

Still, Finn hesitates, and finally he tells her, “I’m really sorry, but I can’t let you in if you don’t have an I.D. badge or someone to vouch for you.”

“I promise, I work here.”

“Still. I’ve got to…” He gestures at his desk, which looks more like a command station. “I’ll get in trouble.”

An idea strikes her, and Tori turns to her phone, which has been clutched in her hand this entire time since she fears that if she puts it into her purse for even a few seconds, she might miss something crucial.

“I’ll call the other assistant and have her come get me,” she says, but she only makes it through a few digits before uncertainty takes over and she has to pause. “What’s the full number for Aun– for Molly’s office?”

Finn’s mouth opens as if he’s going to answer, but Tori can sense his reluctance, and when no words come out, she adds, “I can look it up online if I try. So you might as well just give it to me.”

His eyes flare with what looks to Tori like annoyance, but finally he reads the number off a sheet on the desk. He is barely done reciting the digits when she places the call.

Unfortunately, it rings two… three… then four times. Tori is about to hang up when she hears a female voice.

“Molly Taylor’s office,” the voice says.

“Ashley, it’s Tori,” she says quickly.

“Hey, Tori. Can I put you on hold? I’m trying to put Molly through to a vendor. Thanks.”

Before Tori can even answer, she hears the hold music kick in.

“So?” Finn asks.

Tori lowers the phone away from her face, but she can still hear the tinny instrumental music playing.

“I’m on hold,” she tells him.

“Sorry,” he says, and then the sharp ring of the phone steals his attention away from her as he adjusts his headset and takes the latest call.

Diane Bishop blows on the steam rising from her paper coffee cup as she exits the kitchen inside KBAY’s studio. After wrapping this morning’s broadcast, she still has a few things to take care of, and given how poorly she has been sleeping lately, every drop of caffeine is crucial to her functioning.

She is nearly at the end of the corridor when Jaq Pearson turns the corner. 

“Hi,” Jaq says, more than a hint of awkwardness in their voice.

“Hi, Jaq.” Diane again blows on the hot coffee. “How are you?”

“I’m good. The more important question is… how are you?” 

“I’m just fine. Great, even.”

Jaq’s eyes narrow as they scan Diane for some further insight, but none comes.

“Are you sure?” they ask. “I don’t want to intrude, but after what Sam and I found in Sun Valley…”

Diane glances both ways up and down the hallway before responding. “I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine.”

“Okay.”

She can tell that Jaq has more on their mind, but they don’t press the issue.

“Thanks again for giving me the time off so that I could go with Sam,” they say instead. “It meant a lot to be there for her while she was dealing with… all that.”

Diane finally exhibits some softness, her full lips curling at the edges. “Happy to do it. The two of you are good together. You deserve a fighting chance without Tempest interfering.”

“You don’t think it meant anything that Sam was going to bring her, do you?”

“I thiiiink,” Diane says, dragging out the syllable as she contemplates her next words, “that Samantha has a tendency to try and believe the absolute best about people and their intentions. She probably turned a blind eye to the fact that Tempest was hoping that they’d be traveling as a lot more than friends.” 

Jaq’s face darkens with concern. “That’s what I was worried about. But I really appreciated being able to go, so thank you. I owe you. If there’s anything I can do…”

“Actually,” Diane tells them, “there is something I need from you.”

—–

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Tim Fisher asks as his index finger hovers over the doorbell.

Claire Fisher looks over at him and folds her arms. “I don’t know about ready… but what did we used to tell the kids when they were little? The monsters that you think are under the bed are–” 

“–a lot less scary if you pull up the bedskirt and look right at them,” Tim finishes for her, grinning at the memory. “Although the imaginary monsters under Travis and Samantha’s beds didn’t have half the repertoire of Loretta Ragan.”

“True,” Claire admits with a sigh. “But it’s time we face her. The fact that we’ve avoided her for this long is a miracle.”

With that, Tim pushes the doorbell. A muffled ring sounds from within their grown son’s house. Moments later, Natalie Bishop opens the door.

“Hi,” she says. “Come on in. Peter is watching YouTube on his iPad in the family room.”

“I hope he’s excited for the beach,” Tim says. “We have to get some serious sandcastle-building in before summer’s over.”

Natalie widens her eyes. “Very excited. He’s been running around reminding me about it all morning. Hence the iPad.” 

As if on cue, a voice trills out from the top of the stairs:

“Where, pray tell, are you taking my grandson?”

Tim, Claire, and Natalie all look up to see Loretta, in a blue-and-gold satin caftan, descending the staircase.

“Loretta,” Claire says flatly. “What a pleasure.”

“I wish I could say the same,” Loretta replies with a pronounced grimace.

“Peter’s our grandson, too,” Tim says. “Actually, he’s just our grandson — or he would be if you had actually let us raise our son.” 

Loretta reaches the bottom of the stairs. “There’s no point in wasting energy dwelling on the past, is there?”

“All we want to do is spend the day with Peter,” Claire says. 

“I’ll go get him,” Natalie announces. “His bag is all packed.” She slips out of the foyer and down the short hallway that leads to the main living area.

“So, Loretta,” Tim says. “How are you enjoying King’s Bay?”

The older redhead flicks a hand through the air. “A bit provincial, as expected… but it’s lovely to have so much time with Spencer and Peter.”

“That’s all we want, too,” Claire responds. “If you have any designs on messing that up–“

“Oh, that’s rich,” Loretta interrupts. “The woman who killed my husband — her own father — lecturing me on family harmony.”

Tim and Claire’s exasperated gazes meet.

“Let me make one thing clear,” Loretta adds. “If you have any designs on staking some ridiculous claim to Peter or Spencer… be forewarned that I won’t allow it — and I’m not afraid to be proactive to keep you people from ripping yet another loved one away from me.” 

—–

Tori’s entire being thrums anxiously as she holds her phone to her face. The hold music continues to rattle on in a maddening loop. Behind the imposing reception desk, Finn is busy directing another call.

“Tori. Hi,” says Ashley, Molly’s first assistant, over the line. “What’s up?”

“I’m in the lobby,” Tori says, “and–”

“Is this an emergency? The other line is ringing.”

“No, but–” Tori stops herself and scrambles to add, “I mean, yes–”

But the hold music kicks in against before she even finishes the correction. 

“Any luck?” Finn asks as he swivels his chair back toward her.

Tori scowls at him as she hangs up on Ashley. 

“No,” she says, but then a thought hits her. “Hang on.” She scrolls through her contacts and dials another number.

“Hi,” Tori says into the phone. “Sorry, but could you come out to the lobby and get me? My I.D. is on my desk.”

Finn watches her dubiously until the company’s main line rings again. He adjusts his headset and presses a button.

“Objection Designs,” he says, casting one more skeptical look Tori’s way. Thankfully, mere moments later, she sees her cousin approaching from the other side of the glass door.

“Thank you!” Tori tells Samantha. “I had to go make a delivery, and I left my I.D. on my desk, and he wouldn’t let me back in.”

Samantha holds up her own I.D. badge for Finn to see. 

“I can vouch for her,” she says, and although Finn appears as if he wants to protest, he simply waves them along.

“What a dick,” Tori says as the door closes behind them. “I can’t believe he somehow got that job over me.”

“He’s only doing his job so that he doesn’t get in trouble,” Samantha counters.

Tori rolls her eyes. “I guess. Anyway, thank you. You’re a life-saver.”

“You’re welcome. How’s your first day going otherwise?”

Tori is about to answer when her phone lights up in her hand; the display shows that the call is coming from Ashley.

“I’ll fill you in later,” she says, giving Samantha a final wave before scurrying through the maze of workstations back to the executive suite.

—–

“What do you need?” Jaq asks Diane eagerly.

Diane waits until two KBAY employees pass them before speaking again. 

“Keep an eye on Samantha for me,” she says.

Jaq tilts their head, confused. “What do you mean?”

“I’m going away for a little while. I know she has her dad and her brothers and everyone else, but it would mean a lot to know that you’re looking out for her.”

“Of course,” Jaq says. “But where are you going? Does this have anything to do with…?” They trail off, not needing to mention aloud the recent upheaval in Diane’s personal life.

“I’m going on an Alaskan cruise,” Diane says. “Just for a week.”

“I didn’t know you were into cruises.”

“I’m not. But the station had an extra ticket, and…” Diane shakes her head, clearly at a loss. “I could use a little time away, in a place where I don’t know anyone.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Jaq offers as cheerily as they can.

“I hope so. And please, do me a favor and don’t tell anyone around here what’s going on.”

“That you’re going on a cruise?”

“The other thing,” Diane says. “My mother, or whatever I’m supposed to call her, went back to Idaho in a huff, and Sam told her father and aunt–”

“She doesn’t want you to be going through this alone.”

“I’m not.” Diane pauses to compose herself. “I know she had the best of intentions. Samantha doesn’t have a malicious bone in her body. But that has to be as far as this goes. I don’t need people breathing down my neck about it — and I especially don’t need my pain-in-the-ass sister or people around here or anyone else finding out.”

“It doesn’t reflect badly on you,” Jaq says. 

“Maybe not, but you never know. The last thing I want is a bunch of people inserting themselves into my personal business. So please, keep it to yourself, and encourage Samantha to do the same.”

“You’ve got it. And, um, have fun on your cruise?”

“I don’t know about fun,” Diane says, finally braving a sip of her hot coffee. “But some peace, quiet, and time away are exactly what I need right now.”

—–

“Was that a threat?” Tim asks Loretta.

Loretta stands at the foot of the staircase in her caftan, hands on her hips. 

“A threat?” A caustic laugh escapes her throat. “I’m only saying that if you were to threaten my access to my son and grandson… you’d regret it.” 

“We’ve left you in peace for months, Loretta,” Claire says. “But we can’t all avoid each other forever.”

“Unfortunately, no,” Loretta says, half-under her breath although she fully intends for them to hear it. “Please be careful at the beach. If anything happens to Peter, there will be hell to pay.”

With a final swoosh of her flowing caftan, Loretta turns and exits toward the kitchen.

Claire turns to Tim. “She’s definitely got something up those sleeves of hers, doesn’t she?”

Tim nods slowly and then, in a quiet voice, responds, “Absolutely. I just wish we had a better idea of what it is so we could be prepared.”

They listen to the faint sounds of Loretta addressing Peter and Natalie toward the back of the house.

“I’m more convinced than ever that we can’t wait around for her to clue us in,” Claire says. “Whatever it takes to put that woman back behind bars, we need to do it, as soon as possible.”

Tim thinks about that for a few seconds before lighting up. “I think I know exactly how to get to her.”

END OF EPISODE 1034

What strategy does Tim have in mind?
Is going on a cruise a good idea for Diane?
Will Tori and Finn find a way to get along?
Discuss it all in the comments below!

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