Episode 60, originally published 25-Aug-97

Living Color

"Jack, what brings you by?" Hope asks, as she lets him into the Newman apartment. "Well, to tell you the truth, I was feeling just a little bit lonely. I was looking for a sympathetic shoulder--and somehow I knew you'd be able to relate." She laughs. "Let me guess--it's about Victor," she says succinctly. "Bingo!" says Jack. Then he shudders, and says, "Oh, sorry--sore subject. Any word from Betty since she went back to Kansas to search for him?" "Well, Jack, Betty calls every couple of days but still no word from Bingo. Thanks for asking, though--hardly anyone in Genoa City seems to care. Anyway, I'm sure you didn't come to talk about that. Tell me. What's up with Victor this time?" "Well, I hate to be the bearer of ill tidings, but I think your ex has gone and taken himself another wife." "He's WHAT? Did he tell you that?" "No," says Jack. "But... I have a feeling... Diane and Victor are mysteriously out of town, and ..." "They've done that before, Jack. And it turned out to just be a shopping trip." "Perhaps. But this one's scheduled for more than a week. And he's not taking business calls." "Hmmm," Hope says. "I have to admit that looks suspicious."

"It's more than suspicious, Hope. I called the local airport to see if Victor had filed a flight plan--he had: to Las Vegas." "So maybe he has business in Las Vegas." "With Diane? She's designing a LOCAL building complex for him. And a few hours after he arrived there, he took off again--for Greece. It's a standard pattern for him when he wants to do things quickly--he's married, I'm sure of it. He's probably sitting around some pool, feeding her fruit and trying to convince her that she's happy and that he's a human being ..." "Now, Jack, ..." Hope says. "You're right, I'm sure he knows better than to bother trying to pretend to be human. I bet they haven't set foot out of their hotel--he probably flew her there just to prove he could and then spent the rest of the time talking about how great it is to have all that money... money she'll never have access to, except through him. Poor Diane." "Well, maybe she is happy, Jack." "As a captive of Victor Newman? I don't mean to be rude, but were YOU ever happy with it?" "Well, I waaasss... once. But things changed a lot when we returned to Genoa City." Jack hmms and pauses for a moment. "Hope, you don't deserve this here--and lord knows, I could use some time with a pleasant, intelligent, sane woman. How about you and I go out tonight? Join me at the Colonnade room for dinner?" "What about Victor Junior?" "Bring him along--I love kids," Jack says amiably. "Ok, Jack. If Victor Junior agrees--and I'm pretty sure he will--you have yourself a date."

It's the next day at Jabot. Jack and Jill are seated in Keith Dennison's office. He closes the door behind them and fiddles with the lock. Then he returns to his desk and says, "Hello, Jack. Jill. I've got some advance news that the next quarter is going to look much worse than it is. That UPS strike hit us pretty bad--and just when things were ready to take off. I think we can recover--even soar--but it's going to be rough for a while, and--" "Victor's not going to like this," Jack says. "Do you think he'll put us on notice?" Jill asks. "You damn well better believe it," Jack says. "I've been thinking about putting him on notice about Diane--the Great Man won't miss his opportunity to beat me to notice putting." "All right, you two," says Keith. "We have big decisions to make and not much time to make them in. I think we should be prepared to spin off Dennison Vanguard." "Spin it off? Really?" Jack asks, surprised. "Well, why not, Jack?" asks Jill. "If Victor doesn't think it's worth much--it's a prime time for us to buy him out." Keith nods, and adds, "So then when profits come back up, we're sitting pretty." Jack thinks for a moment, then laments. "Sounds like a good plan. Too bad I can't get the man to do the same with Jabot." "Well, he hasn't said yes to this one yet," Keith says. "But if we play our cards right and don't look too anxious, maybe we can get him to." "Ok, what do you need done?" Jack says. Keith responds, "Line up a team of people who we can trust--people who would leave Newman Enterprises for this new opportunity at Dennison." "Consider it done," Jack says.

Cole is with Ashley in bed in the Genoa City Hotel. "Getting away to this hotel was a great idea," Cole says. "We don't have cable at the Tack Estate." Ashley tugs at him, trying to get the remote control away from him. "Come on over here," she says. "Let me tell you some more about the fragrance industry." "Maybe you could put it on video tape," Cole says. "Then I could fast forward through the boring parts." "But I thought you said the perfume industry was full of excitement," Ashley says with a pout. "It ... uh, ... is--wait a minute--what's this?" He turns up the volume to hear Nancy Glass of American Journal say, "And now for this AJ exclusive. AJ has learned that the World Inquisitor will tomorrow be running exclusive photos of well-known Newman Enterprises Heiress Victoria Howard locking lips with none other than world-famous photographer Malcolm Winters. For a live report on this story, we go to--" Ashley grabs the remote and punches off the story. "See, your wife's being unfaithful, so you don't even have to feel guilty about being with me. Now come on, let's do it once more before we go to sleep." "Ashley, it's not that simple. I mean, it's one thing for a guy to go out and sleep with a woman, but for his wife to do the same--I'm stunned. I just can't believe it." Ashley veritably shrieks. "Ohhh! You men! I just don't understand you sometimes." She turns her back to him and clicks off the light.

It's early the next morning. Victor and Diane stand at the door of their apartment. A doorman carrying their bags opens the door for them and Diane starts to walk in. Victor stops her. "You must be carried across the threshold." "Victor, I don't think you should exert yourself--" "It is no trouble." He snaps his fingers and the doorman drops the bags and picks up Diane. "Just carry her into the room there, by the couch." As he carries her, Jack comes out of Hope's room. "Jack!" Diane says. "Well, this is a surprise. I thought it'd have been Victor you were marrying." Victor steps in. "And so she did. What are you doing here, Jack Abbott?" Hope enters. "He's here with me, Victor. And please keep your voice down--I don't think I want Victor Junior to see this scene. We didn't expect you home for days--in fact, I'd planned to be moved out before then." "Moved out?" Victor says, confused. "Why?" Hope says, "Victor, you have a new wife--don't you think it's a little tacky to still have your ex-wife living here?" Victor looks honestly confused. "Well, I ..." Jack blurts in, "And her lover?" Diane glares at Jack. "Sorry, sugar," Jack says to Diane. "Life moves on." Victor says, "Jack, no one said you could live here." "I did, Victor. But I suppose you think I'm no one," Hope says. "It's a moot point anyway. I'm sorry you came back early enough that I was still here, but I'll be moved out very soon," she adds.

Olivia leafs through the morning's mail and finds a copy of the World Inquisitor. She thumbs through it as she eats a bowl of cereal. Suddenly, she stops and spits up a mouthful. "Malcolm! There's a picture of you in the World Inquisitor." "They is?" he asks. "Am I devilishly handsome?" "I can't tell," she says with continued irritation. "The picture of Victoria Newman's face affixed to yours makes it hard to see." "Victoria Newman?" Malcolm asks nervously. "What's that you say?" "You and Victoria--kissing. The headline says ``Famous photographer latest playtoy for Newman Heiress?''" "Famous? What a boring word. You'd think they'd say something more descriptive, like `Studly'..." "Malcolm!" Olivia snaps. "Is this true?" "These photos? You think I'd be posin' for some sort of pictures like that? No way." "But Malcolm, it doesn't look faked... how can you account for this?" "I dunno. But I ain't been out in public kissing no Victoria Newman, so it's gotta be a fake, don't it? You know how these magazines are. They just thrive on rumor. And you gotta admit, with a man as attractive as me, you're pretty much always gonna hear rumors. Folks just can't help themselves." "Look here, Malcolm. I'm not sure what to believe. But until this is sorted out, I'm putting you on notice." "Damn, girl. You sure don't give a guy much leash. Ok, I'll look into it."

Later, Malcolm is at the Studio and the phone rings. "Studio," Malcolm says. "Malcolm?" says Victoria. "Yo, that's me. That sounds like Victoria." "It is. Malcolm--how did anyone get pictures of us? We've been so discreet." "You tellin' me. I mean--we both know it'd violate several Genoa City ordinances for us to be seen together in public. Surprised the hell out of me when I saw those pictures. I'm gonna do some checkin' around---maybe I can find out and put them on notice." "Thanks Malcolm," Victoria says, "If this thing blows up, who knows how it could affect my divorce from Cole. The last thing I need is for him to get wind of these pictures and put ME on notice." "I gotcha. I'll be in touch." He hangs up.

Jack, Jill, and Keith are together again. "Well, it sounds like you've got just about the whole team rounded up there, Jack. But I don't know about Neil Winters... I just don't think we can use him." Jill looks surprised. "But he's one of the best--why wouldn't you want him?" Keith looks her straight in the eye. "Just business intuition. Gotta leave some of the `good guys' behind at Newman--can't take 'em all." Jill looks to Jack. Both are confused but neither says anything.

A short while later, Trisha is with her dad at home. "I'm glad you told me about your new company, but don't you think Ryan should get to be Vice President, Daddy?" "You're really fixated on Ryan, aren't you honey?" "Not really, Dad--I HAVE been seeing this new guy, Alec, you know. So you can trust my judgment about Ryan. He really is a good guy, Dad, I promise." "Well, it doesn't matter anyway because Victoria Howard is probably going to be Vice Preisdent." "Earth to Dad! Have you SEEN the World Inquisitor today?" "No, I have not seen the World Inquisitor--I did see the Wall Street Journal, does that count?" "Dad, you really need someone to keep you up on current events. Victoria Howard's been sleeping with the lead Jabot photographer, Malcolm Winters." "The black guy?" "Yeah. He's pretty studly, don't you think? But she's married, and..." Keith looks alarmed. "Studly? You think a black man is attractive? Trisha, you need to keep your eyes on nice cleancut guys like Ryan McNeil. He's first in line to be Vice President at my new company, you know."

Malcolm and Olivia watch as Nate comes in with an armload of presents. "Whoa, littleman!" Malcolm says. "What's with all the boxes? Did I forget someone's birthday?" he asks. "Nope!" says Nate proudly. "Anniversary?" asks Olivia. "Nope!" "Special holiday?" asks Malcolm. "Nope!" "Ok, ahright, I give up. What's the occasion?" Malcolm asks. "My first paycheck." "But honey, you don't have a job." "That's what I'm trying to tell you. I asked the guy at the Inquisitor what they wanted pictures of and he said `stuff you never see' and I said `but if you never see it, how can you take a picture' and he said `use your imagination'. So I did." Malcolm looks mildly relieved. "So you didn't actually see us kissing..." Malcolm asks. "'course not!" Nate says. Then he adds, "You and Victoria always close the door when you go into those private meetings at her office. How could I have taken any real pictures?" Olivia starts to get upset at Malcolm, "I'm sorry, Mommy--don't be mad at Malcolm. I tried to get them to take the pictures of you and Neil, too. But they said you were boring nobodies and no one would want them. So I sold them to Aunt Drucilla instead. Wow, being a photographer is really neat. It seems like there's always someone that wants to buy your pictures!"

That's all for this episode. Hope you learned something. Don't miss Episode 61!
If you missed any older episodes, see the index.

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