Previously…
– Travis and Rosie petitioned to legally adopt Gabrielle.
– As part of his and Loretta’s plan to take Objection Designs from Molly, Finn got himself promoted to the post of second assistant to Gia, the acting CCO.
– In order to bide time to escape from Zane, Tori faked memory loss.

In the anteroom of the Chief Creative Officer’s suite inside Objection Designs, Finn Campbell sits behind his desk, typing excitedly on his keyboard. Across from him, the other assistant’s desk sits empty; Gia’s primary assistant is out taking care of something for their boss.

If things go my way, I won’t be a second assistant for much longer, Finn thinks as he clicks the computer’s mouse.

Moments later, his boss comes stomping into the office in her precariously high heels. A cobalt blue Hermes bag hangs from her forearm, its logo displayed just so in case anyone were to miss it.

“Gia. Hi,” Finn says with enthusiasm. “How’d the meeting go?”

“I don’t know why I have to give the same people the same notes ten times before they sink in,” the blonde says, “but we made some good headway. Finally.”

“Oh, great. I actually have something to show you–” Finn shoots up from his swiveling desk chair. “It’s about the fabric on those A-line skirts.”

“Did someone get back to you with an explanation about why it’s bunching?”

“No, but…” He rotates his monitor so that she can see it. “I did a little research, and I found a different fabric — one that still has a stretch — that’ll work just as well, but it doesn’t bunch.”

Gia’s face contracts as she studies the monitor.

“I didn’t know you knew your way around a design program,” she says.

“I don’t exactly fancy myself the next Tom Ford,” Finn replies, “but I do know a thing or two about textiles and design. Fashion has always been in my blood, you could say.”

She takes the mouse and clicks through the slides. Her face remains pinched with intent.

“What do you think?” he asks.

“I think it’s great that you’re so solution-minded… but if you’d continued your research, you would’ve seen that we used this same fabric for one of the original prototypes of this skirt.”

Finn practically feels his body deflate.

“It might not bunch, but it drives the price point up significantly because of the way we have to cut it,” Gia explains. “And at that point, the skirt isn’t worth producing because our profit margin would be almost nonexistent.”

“Oh,” he says as she spins the monitor back around.

“I’m going to need my latté before my next meeting,” Gia says. “Would you make sure I have it? And then that package in my office needs a shipping label.”

Without awaiting his response, she sashays into the inner office. Finn drops back into his chair but waits until Gia has closed the door to let out a heavy sigh.

“One latté, coming up,” he mutters.

—–

Steam lingers in the bathroom of the cabin, where Tori Gray has just finished wrapping her hair in one of the white towels that has been provided with the rental. She has another towel cinched around her body, and she has to admit that she feels much more relaxed — or as relaxed as she could feel under these circumstances — after her shower. It might be the sensation of cleansing herself, or the fact that the fog in her mind is clearing, or simply having some space to herself away from Zane for a few minutes. 

Just keep playing it cool for a little while longer, she tells herself mentally. She steps through what she needs to do and in what order: leave the bathroom, get some clothes from her suitcase, see if there’s anything covert she could stash in her pocket as a weapon, and then get her phone back from Zane. 

After one last look in the fogged-up mirror and a deep, fortifying breath, she steps out of the bathroom. The cooler air comes at her like an ambush, and she shivers slightly as she goes to her suitcase. Normally she would spend an ample amount of time puzzling over the items packed in there to figure out exactly the right combination of pieces for today, but all she wants now is some clothing so that she can make a run for it. 

She grabs a pair of black yoga pants and a tie-dye hoodie, which she reasons will be warm enough if she needs to make a break for it outdoors. She peeks out the window and sees a light rain coming down; all she can make out is a nearby road and what looks like a forest. There is no other cabin visible, at least not from this angle, which she ascertains to be at the back of the home, and there are no signs or other indicators as to where Zane has brought her. 

One thing at a time, she thinks as her breathing quickens again.

Once dressed, she hangs the towels in the bathroom and goes out to the living room, where she finds Zane watching TV. He turns toward her, and Tori notices a jitteriness that she would not expect if they were merely two lovers running off to elope.

“How was the shower?” he asks.

“I feel so much better,” she says. “And, uh… sorry about this morning.” Apologizing to him for her fake behavior in his terrible, made-up story of how she assaulted him earlier almost turns her stomach, but she knows that buttering him up is the only way to play this.

“It’s okay. You’re here with me now, and you seem like yourself again.”

“That shower worked miracles.” She forces a smile. “Do you know where my phone is?”

She sees the nervous gulp that Zane mostly suppresses, as well as the hesitation before he stands up.

“Yeah. It’s over here.” 

He strides toward the small kitchen and picks up her iPhone from the white-tiled countertop; she can see now that it was sitting right by Zane’s phone. She tries not to seem too eager as he hands her the phone.

But when she presses the button on the side to wake it up, the screen remains dark. Tori feels panic rising within her as she holds down the button, hoping to reset the phone, only to have nothing at all happen. 

“What the hell?” she asks, hoping that her actual terror doesn’t show through. 

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, she thinks.

“It won’t turn on.” She holds up the phone as she once again tries to reset it, but nothing happens.

“Here. Lemme take a look.” Zane walks over and takes the phone from her. Within seconds, he is shrugging. “Maybe the battery’s just dead. I’ll plug it in.”

“Thanks.”

She watches as she attaches the phone to the charger on the kitchen counter, but nothing happens — not even the flashing of the battery icon to indicate that the device is building up a charge again. 

“Did something happen to it earlier?” she asks, desperate to keep her voice calm. All the while, she is thinking, You bastard. You did something to it.

“Not that I noticed. I’m sorry, babe. We’ll get you another one.”

“Today? Are there stores nearby?” she asks, in hopes that he will give some hint as to where they are.

“Not close enough to make it worth it,” Zane says, “if we do want to have this wedding today.”

“Ugh.” Her mind races to catch up with this unfortunate new reality. “Can I borrow yours for a sec?”

Zane’s eyes snap toward her. “What? Why?”

“Because my phone is dead,” she says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Is that a problem?”

His mouth opens to answer, then closes again without producing any speech.

“Zane, I don’t get what the big deal is,” Tori says. “Can I just borrow your phone for a minute?”

—–

“Any news?” Travis Fisher asks his wife as she returns to the living room of their apartment, where Travis is perched on the edge of the couch, watching as baby Gabrielle holds herself up on her small toy kitchen.

Rosie Jiminez pockets her phone and walks nearer to him.

“They have a safehouse for Sonja and TJ to go into,” she says. “They’ll move them tonight.”

Travis lets out a sigh of relief. “That’s great.”

“Better that they get it done before Loretta has any idea Sonja is back in King’s Bay,” Rosie says, before stooping down to Gabrielle, who has waddled over to her carrying a plastic banana. 

“Is this for me?” Rosie asks.

“Mmm,” Gabrielle responds. It is the type of vocalization that Rosie and Travis have come to recognize as her own rudimentary language. She proudly holds out the banana for Rosie to take.

“Well, thank you, sweet girl.” Rosie gives the child a peck on the cheek. “This looks yummy.”

“‘Nana,” Gabrielle says. “‘Nana!”

Travis’s eyes go wide. “Did she just say ‘banana’?”

“I think so!” Rosie’s smile grows. “Is this a ‘nana? For me?”

“Mama!” Gabrielle exclaims. 

Rosie and Travis look at one another in astonishment.

“Did she just–” Travis begins.

“I think–” Rosie runs a hand over Gabrielle’s dark brown hair, which is currently wild from her nap. “What’d you just say, sweetie?”

“Mama!” Gabrielle says again, beaming with pride.

Rosie can’t help but scoop her up into a hug. Travis slides from the sofa down to the floor.

“You said, ‘Mama,'” he tells the little girl. He points to Rosie. “Who’s that?”

“Mama!” she declares once more, before letting out a squeal and scurrying back to her play kitchen.

“How did that feel, Mama?” Travis asks, but when he turns back to his wife, he sees that her eyes are misty with tears.

“Whoa,” Rosie manages to say. “I can’t believe…”

“You are her mama,” he says as he takes his wife’s hand and squeezes it. 

“I guess. It’s really weird,” she says through happy tears.

“You are.” He leans in to kiss her. “It won’t be that long before the adoption is finalized. You are her mom.”

“Mama. Get it right,” Rosie says. 

“Hey, Gabrielle,” Travis says, and the child looks up from the toy kitchen, where she is mashing a set of plastic grapes with a plastic saucepan. “Who am I?”

She squeezes her eyes and crunches her nose. Then she shouts, “‘Nana!”

Travis and Rosie both burst out into laughter as they hold each other on the floor of the small apartment.

“Guess we need to work on that one,” he says as Gabrielle resumes hitting the grapes with the pan and Rosie presses herself into his side.

—–

After he delivers Gia’s latté to her, Finn tells her that he is going to the restroom. Instead, he walks out to the terrace that Objection employees use for warm-weather lunch breaks and year-round smoke breaks. It is thankfully empty, and he knows that Gia is headed to another meeting soon, so he takes out his cell and places a call. After three rings, he hears the faintest click as the call is answered. 

“Do you have an update for me?” Loretta Ragan coos on the other end.

“Far from it,” Finn says, keeping one eye on the entry to the terrace. “This woman…”

“Your new boss?”

“Yeah. I can’t make any headway with her. I thought moving from reception to the CCO’s desk was a big leap, but all I’m doing is rolling calls and fetching lattés.”

“Patience, Finn,” Loretta says. “We knew this was going to be a long-term process.” 

“How much longer-term can it be? This has basically been my entire life!”

“There’s no need to get worked up. We both know that working for this Gia person is a mere stopgap. On that note: have you seen the news today?”

“What? No. What happened?” he asks as he steps up to the waist-high barrier. The view from the eighteenth floor of Winston Tower overlooks downtown King’s Bay in the direction of the water; he can see a few of the wooden piers sticking out into the restless bay from this angle.

“That doctor who accused Molly Taylor of assault has unfortunately passed on to the big hospital in the sky,” she says. “A shame, isn’t it?”

“What?!” Finn feels his head spinning. “And why do you sound so happy? I thought you were–” He casts another wary glance toward the door to be certain that he is alone, then lowers his voice. “I thought you wanted her to have trouble over that.”

“It’s what we wanted, yes,” Loretta replies, “but sometimes circumstances evolve.”

“What’s evolved? Does that mean she’s coming back here?”

“It’s nothing we won’t be capable of handling. As for your situation at work: please be patient. This is all temporary.”

“It doesn’t feel temporary.” He continues to look out over the town, wondering if this was all a mistake. “Part of me just wants to get out of here and find another way.”

“You don’t want to waste all this effort you’ve put into our plan — and this is temporary. All of this will pay ample dividends,” Loretta says over the phone line. “Do you know who was also this impulsive?”

“Who?”

“Your father.”

Simply hearing her speak those words sends a rush of adrenaline through Finn. 

“Really?” he asks.

“He was a reactive man,” she says. “Sometimes that’s a positive trait, and sometimes it’s a negative. For now, I would advise you to sit tight. This is all going to work out.”

He wishes that he could believe that blindly, but it feels like it’s been so long. All this effort, and he still has so little to show for it.

“If you really think it will work out,” he says. 

“It will. I need to go attend to some matters. I’ll speak with you soon.”

Without waiting for a goodbye, Loretta ends the call. Finn stands there, the phone in his hand, still observing the view of King’s Bay and processing the idea that someone who knew his father so well would see some of that man in him.

“Finn?” a voice asks, jolting Finn out of his thoughts and back to reality. He spins around to see Trevor Brooks standing there.

“Trevor. Hey,” he says uneasily, eyeing the tall, handsome marketing exec. “What’s up?”

“I was just coming out here for air,” Trevor tells him. “Everything okay? That phone call looked pretty intense. Who were you talking to?”

Finn freezes, wondering what exactly Trevor might have overheard.

—–

Tori watches carefully as Zane stares back at her. She hopes she has not overplayed her hand by pushing for this and is scrambling to think of a backup plan when he finally responds.

“What do you need?” he asks, picking up the phone himself. “I’ll do it for you.”

“I was, uh, thinking we could send my parents a selfie,” Tori says  breezily. “Let them see what they’re missing out on.”

He presses his lips together. “I don’t know if that’s a great idea.”

“Why not?”

“Do you really want them charging out here to try and stop us?”

“They know better than to try and stop us at this point,” she says. “Besides, they wouldn’t even know where to find us, right?”

“Right,” he says, although frustratingly, he does not offer any follow-up clues.

“Just snap a selfie with me. You can send it to my mom. I want them to know that they’re the ones who screwed up — if they had supported us being together, they’d be sharing this day with us.”

A tense, quiet moment passes, but then Zane’s face lights up. “Okay. Yeah. Good call.”

I should’ve known that your soft spot would be wanting to stick it to my parents, she thinks, eyeing him with disgust as he sidles up next to her and places an arm around her.

He holds up the phone, displaying the front-facing camera. “Ready?”

“Ready,” she says, cringing inwardly as Zane pulls her closer. She holds up her hand, engagement ring facing the camera, as Zane snaps a few shots.

“Here,” he says. “One more.” 

He leans in and plants his lips on hers. Tori hears the phone’s fake shutter taking another photo and does everything in her control to make it through the kiss without retching. 

How did I fall for this for so long? she thinks as he finally — after seconds that feel like eons — moves his lips away.

“I think I’ll send that one,” he says.

“Can I see?”

He holds up the phone again. Even though the sight of herself kissing Zane is revolting, she sees that her hand is still held up and visible.

“That one’s great,” she says. “They’re gonna be pissed.”

Please let this work, she thinks as she watches him send the photo.

END OF EPISODE 1125

Will Tori be able to get herself away from Zane?
What does Loretta know about Finn’s origins?
Are Travis and Rosie headed for heartbreak?
Talk about it all in the comments below!

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