Previously…
– Rosie made an impulsive run for the Canadian border, but Travis caught up with her, and shortly thereafter, so did Brent and Molly. Faced with the cold reality of the situation, Rosie and Travis made the painful decision to relinquish custody to Molly and Brent.
– Desperate to get her life back on track, Tori took a job in the kitchen at Bill’s on the Pier.
– Unable to communicate with Loretta following her arrest, Finn decided it was time to take action and convinced Gia that they should call an emergency board meeting to vote Molly out of Objection Designs for good.

As a midday TV news broadcast drones on in her mother’s living room, Rosie Jimenez sits on the well-worn sofa, consumed by her thoughts. The January gloom outside is a match for her mood; all she can think about is Gabrielle. She wants to know if her daughter – it pains her to think of the little girl as anything else – is happy, if she is scared at having been thrust into Molly and Brent’s home, if she feels abandoned by Rosie and Travis. Or if she has already forgotten them and is happily living with her biological family. That last option is the most frightening of all, even as Rosie knows that it might be the best thing for Gabrielle.

She attempts to focus on the news, but the coverage of a warehouse fire on the north side of town is not especially compelling. She wonders if it was a mistake not to take the extra shift that was offered today. Travis has been advising her that she needs to rest, and although she understands that on a logical level, sitting around the house is only forcing her to dwell on her fears, regrets, and pain. With Travis off to work at the restaurant and her mother out doing errands, Rosie is at loose ends in search of a distraction.

Finally, she decides that she needs a project. And since her mother’s Christmas lights and decorations were taken down right after the holiday – another time Rosie needed a project to busy herself – she will have to get creative. She decides that she will make dinner for herself, Travis, and her mother, something elaborate. Certain that she can come up with an idea of what to make during the drive to the store, she slips on a coat and grabs her purse and keys. But when she pulls open the front door, there is a figure standing there.

Rosie sucks in a breath, forcing down the instinct to shriek, and then her vision focuses and she realizes who it is.

“What are you doing here?” she asks with shock.

Inside his office at Objection Designs, Trevor Brooks is stationed behind his desk, reviewing some marketing proofs, when he senses a presence lingering in the doorway. The former model glances up and sees Samantha Fisher standing there, cradling her opened laptop in the crook of one arm.

“What’s up?” Trevor greets her.

“I’ve been trying to set up that meeting with Jasper Zinzival that you asked for,” she says, somewhat hesitantly.

Trevor cocks his head to one side, then motions for her to come in. Samantha carefully closes the door behind herself with a soft click.

“Is he giving you trouble?” Trevor asks. “He’s the one who insisted he had to sit in on all conversations about the new photoshoot for the website. Since being a big photographer in the 90s means we need his input now.” Trevor rolls his eyes. “Part of dealing with powerful board members, I guess.”

“I was wondering why we needed him to be in this meeting,” Samantha says. “But no, I gave him a bunch of times later this week, and he said we should ‘put a pin in it’ for the time being. No explanation why.”

Trevor slaps his hands along the edge of his desk in annoyance. “He doesn’t get to tell my department what to put a pin in, or when.”

“I agree, that’s really annoying. But this is what confused me most.” She uses her forefinger to push up her brown-rimmed glasses, then turns the laptop around to show him the screen. On it is the company’s internal scheduling system. “Why is the big conference room booked for after work hours tonight?”

“That’s weird,” Trevor says, squinting at the blue-covered block on the calendar to be sure he isn’t seeing things. “And it’s reserved by…”

“Finn. So either he’s using it for some non-company purpose, or Gia asked him to reserve it.”

“For an after-hours meeting that has no description and that none of us know anything about.” Trevor shakes his head in disbelief. “Thanks for pointing this out to me. Something is definitely up. And I’m going to find out what it is.”

In the kitchen of Bill’s on the Pier, Tori Gray stands in front of the industrial dishwasher, steam rising from the stacks of freshly washed plates. The clatter of dishes and the sizzle of grills throughout the kitchen create a chaotic symphony all around her. With the back of her hand, she wipes a few beads of sweat from her forehead and glances anxiously at the imposing stack of dirty dishes and utensils on the stainless countertop nearby.

“Tori, right?”

Tori looks up to see one of the line cooks, a woman who is perhaps a little older than her, wearing a standard-issue hairnet covering reddish-brown hair. The woman sets down a tray of chopped vegetables.

“I’m Lucy,” she tells the overwhelmed new dishwasher. “We’ve all been there, I promise.”

“Do I look that pathetic?” Tori asks, tacking on a tepid laugh to mitigate how distressed she feels.

“No more than anyone who’s in their first week as a dishwasher,” Lucy says good-naturedly. “Here’s a tip: you need a system.”

“A system? How?”

“You’ve got to organize. Plates on the left, glasses on the right, utensils in the middle. I know it seems faster to just get everything in there, but it makes it a lot tougher to unload and reload quickly.” 

With Lucy’s advice ringing in her ears, Tori begins unloading the clean dishware.

“It just never slows down here,” Tori says. “At least, that’s how it feels.”

“It’s not just how it feels.” Lucy flashes a knowing grin. “But come up with a system and force yourself to practice over and over. Even if you feel a little robotic –  you’ll get a lot faster.”

“Thanks for the tip. I could use all the help I can get.”

“You’ll be great. You just have to learn the ropes.” Lucy tilts her head to the right. “Now I’d better get back to the line before I get behind.”

“Thanks again,” Tori says to her coworker, who returns to the tray of vegetables. As she does, Lucy quickly pushes up the sleeve of her white chef’s coat to scratch her arm. Tori cannot help but notice a nasty, purple-and-yellow bruise on the woman’s forearm. The sheer size and painful look of it give her pause.

“Occupational hazard,” Lucy says, and Tori realizes that Lucy has caught her eyeing the bruise.

“I’m sure I’ll wind up with plenty of my own in no time,” Tori replies uneasily, and then Lucy spirits the tray of vegetables away. Tori gets back to unloading the dishwasher, grateful for the guidance but disconcerted by that terrible bruise on Lucy.

—–

“What, you aren’t happy to see me?” Sebastian Jimenez asks.

Rosie lunges forward to wrap her brother in a hug. 

“Happy doesn’t begin to describe it,” she says, once she takes a step back and marvels at the sight of him. “Why didn’t you say you were coming?”

“Thought you could use a surprise.” He gazes up at the dismal sky. “Wanna get inside? It’s cold as hell out here.”

Rosie leads him into the modest green house in which they both grew up. Sebastian pulls a rolling suitcase behind himself and parks it in the entry, right beside the staircase. 

“How long can you stay?” she asks.

“I arranged things with my boss so I’m cleared to work remotely for a few weeks. Wanted to be here for my sis. And Travis. How are you guys holding up?”

After closing the door, Rosie’s hand lingers on the knob, as if delaying turning around.

“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want,” Sebastian hastens to add.

“No, it’s fine,” she says, pivoting to face him. “And it sucks. I don’t know. Travis has gotten little updates through his parents, and obviously Gabrielle is okay – she’s safe, she’s healthy – but it’s so weird to suddenly have your kid being raised by other people and you don’t know anything about her day-to-day or little things that happen.”

“I can’t imagine.”

The anguish is plain on Rosie’s face as she continues, “I feel like there’s this hole inside of me, and it’s just eating me alive from the inside, and no matter how busy I stay, I can’t ignore it.”

“Sis. I am so sorry this is happening.” Now Sebastian is the one to pull her into his outstretched arms and hold her close. 

“I just want to wake up and find out this was all a nightmare,” she says, her head on his shoulder. “But sometimes I see her in my dreams, and then I wake up, and I remember that real life is the nightmare.”

Uncertain what to say, Sebastian simply holds his sister, her body trembling from the stress and pain of losing Gabrielle.

—–

With a full head of steam, Trevor exits his office and crosses the busy bullpen area inside Objection. He arrives at the Chief Creative Officer’s suite – the office that used to be inhabited by Molly – and steps into the anteroom, where Finn Campbell is behind his desk.

“Hey,” Finn says, with a softly curling smile that makes it clear he is happy to see Trevor. Their contact has been more limited since their one-off kiss earlier in the year, but they have maintained a friendly working relationship, and thankfully the family home that Trevor and Alex have been renting to Finn hasn’t required much upkeep on the landlords’ parts.

“Hey. Listen…” Trevor scans the desk and steals a glance at Finn’s computer monitor, but he doesn’t spot anything that could serve as a clue as to what’s going on. 

Finn swivels his chair so that he is facing Trevor more fully. He wears a chunky gray cardigan over a black t-shirt, and when he folds his arms, the sweater hugs his biceps. Trevor gulps, annoyed at himself for noticing, and presses on:

“Question for you…”

“I hope it’s something I can answer,” Finn says playfully.

“I bet it is. I was–” But Trevor stops, noticing that Gia Vincent is inside the main office beyond the anteroom. She is on the phone, barking orders at some poor unseen employee.

“What’s up with her?” Trevor asks. “She seems… intense.”

“Oh, yeah. Business as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Mm-hmm.” Trevor nods, taking note of Finn’s nonchalance. Something about it feels fake, or at least forced, as if he is pretending that there is absolutely nothing going on. 

“So what was your question?” Finn asks after an awkwardly long pause.

“Oh, um…” Trevor does his best to act casual. “Do you have a phone charger I could borrow? I’m a moron and left mine at home again.”

“Of course. Here you go.” Finn opens his top desk drawer and pulls out the white charging cable. “Bring it back whenever.”

“What time do you think you’ll be heading out tonight?”

Finn shrugs. “Not sure. Gia kind of hinted it might be a late night. Don’t worry about the charger.”

“Okay. Well… thanks.” Trevor grins and moves for the door. “I’ll see you later.”

“I hope so,” Finn says before Trevor disappears from the office.

With the charger clutched in his hand, Trevor hurries back to his own office. Once inside, he closes the door and pulls his iPhone from the pocket of his gray trousers. He dials and waits nervously for the person on the other end to pick up.

“Molly. Hi,” he says with urgency. “I know you have a lot going on right now – but there’s something happening at Objection that I think you should know about.”

END OF EPISODE 1210

Will Molly and Trevor figure out what’s going on?
Can Rosie recover from her devastating loss?
Is Tori right to be concerned about Lucy’s bruise?
Discuss it all in the comments section below!

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