DavidEvanSmith

2008 - November 5th (Sweeps) - First Anniversary Episode -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <<< Beyond the Horizon's Anniversary episode is brought you with limited commercial interruption, thanks to sponsorship by DRtv! Previously on Beyond the Horizon... James traveled to Chicago to support Julia as she closed the chapter on her father's death, and Julia and James finally made love. Overwhelmed with conflicting emotions regarding Terrence and Rod, Christian ran to Dominic and proposed they blow out of town! Lauren found Eleanor at a low point and made her realize she needed to make a choice in her life. Eleanor chose Henry. Fiona finally confronted Leo about his lies regarding VSI. Jenna's manipulations were exposed to the Baldwins, and Theodore made the shocking decision to force Jenna to move out of the family brownstone. >>> ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Prologue - Present Day Eleanor (Catherine Hickland) wakes up to the morning sunlight streaming through the window of Henry’s (Sebastian Roché) bedroom in the Von Stadt penthouse. “Good morning,” Henry greets her, stroking her hair. “I haven’t slept that well in I don’t know how long,” Eleanor purrs, nestling into Henry’s chest. “You wore yourself out, or wore out both of us, rather,” Henry smiled. Eleanor got serious, "I’m sure you didn’t realize, but the anniversary of my husband’s death just passed. Things have been so heavy, with Terrence’s death, I didn’t even acknowledge it. I didn’t even know how to commemorate it. How do you honor a man you never knew for sure?” Henry’s demeanor shifted quickly, and seems hard-hit by the reminder of Charles Halperin’s death. “Eleanor, you mustn’t dwell on what you’ll never know,” Henry urges her, with sincere concern rich in his voice. “I know,” Eleanor agrees “I couldn’t sleep very well in the last year, with everything that’s been happening, but last night I felt in control again... I felt safe.” Eleanor’s confession should make Henry feel wonderful. Under normal circumstances, it would. “You didn’t get into any trouble asking for time off of work on zero notice?” Christian (David Evan Smith) asked Dominic (William Shew) as they carried their duffel bags to the rental car they just signed up for. “I can handle trouble, no problem, just hope I remember how to drive after so much time being ‘strictly subway’ in New York,” Dom winked. The boys get in the car and sit, and Dom hesitates before asking, “You sure you’re not going to get in trouble for disappearing on your life with zero notice?” Christian doesn’t know how to react to the question, “What life? Terrence is dead. There’s nothing keeping me here.” Dominic worries for his friend and foster brother, “Are you okay?” Christian rapidly responds, “I’m fine. Can we just go?” Dominic wonders where to, since they never decided. Christian told the rental company they were dropping the car off in L.A. Christian’s sure they can both find work there... in case they decide to stay. Dominic starts up the car. Evan Royale (Ian Buchanan) lets himself in to the Royale & Klein Law Offices, and is startled to find Fiona (Connie Fletcher-Staton) sleeping at her desk. Evan sets his briefcase down and walks quietly over to her. With one finger he attempts to brush her disheveled red hair behind her ear, but the motion startles Fiona, a notorious light sleeper. Evan wonders what Fiona’s doing there. “Sleeping, obviously,” Fiona tells him matter-of-factly. Evan inquires about her apartment. Fiona tells him it has a rodent infestation and is in dire need of fumigation. Evan asks about her father’s home, but Fiona doesn’t find comfort there anymore. Fiona sits on the front edge of her desk and Evan sits there next to her. “You don’t fool me, you know,” Evan shares with her, fully expecting this news to surprise her. Julia (Melissa Archer) returns home to find Carina (Natalia Livingston) sitting in the living room. Carina welcomes her back, asking about the trip. Julia shares that James followed her there and proved himself to be quite an amazing, supportive person. “Careful, your ice is melting,” Carina joked. Julia laughed, before noticing the bouquet of flowers on the coffee table. “Flowers, for whom?” Julia inquired. “For you,” Carina told her. Julia hurried over to them to read the card, impressed further by James. “From whom, should be the question,” Carina warned her, as Julia opened the card to read “Still Think of You... Love, Nathan” Carina is somewhat amused by Julia’s predicament, “What’s that saying? When it melts, it pours?” Carina smiles to herself, returning to the magazine she was reading. Julia is stricken to realize Nathan is still carrying a torch for her. Thomas (Bobby Steggert) and Rebecca (Lindze Letherman) were curled up together on the living room couch at the Baldwin brownstone, when Jenna (Kari Wuhrer) barged in, carrying a small suitcase. Jenna seems disgruntled, “Ugh, Elizabeth, would you give me a moment alone with my darling half-brother?” Rebecca looked around for someone named Elizabeth, and realized Jenna was addressing her, “I’m Rebecca,” she corrected Jenna, who really couldn’t be bothered with her, “Oh whatever. Beat it,” Jenna tells her. Thomas refuses to let Rebecca out of his embrace, “Isn’t it you who’s supposed to be leaving?” Thomas asked. Jenna resigns herself to Rebecca staying for this, “I just wanted to congratulate you, Thomas. It shouldn’t surprise me that you want an audience for this. But congrats, you’ve finally succeeded in ejecting me from the bosom of the family. It only took you a year. But I will tell you that I have Baldwin Enterprises, which is only growing, and you better believe I’m never down for long.” With that, Jenna leaves, head held high. Thomas doesn’t appear very happy to see her leave, prompting Rebecca’s question, “What’s going on in there?” Thomas thinks, and reveals, “Just thinking of how different my life was a year ago. Before Jenna, before James, before Eddie and Didi... before you, and my dad’s heart attack. So much has happened.” >>> Opening Sequence (Updated for the 1st Anniversary!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG3tRTUgcEc <<< ~Present Day~ “And?” Rebecca wondered, and Thomas went on, “I think it’s still been a good year. Starting with you...” Thomas smiled, holding her tighter as he recalled the day he asked her out. ~October 31st, 2007~ “Tutor you? In the same subject that your father also teaches a course on here?!” Rebecca asked, skeptical, in the hallway of Hunter College. Thomas surrenders, “Okay, I’ve just been trying to come up with a way to get you to spend some time with me.” Rebecca is disappointed that tutoring was the best he could come up with. Thomas defended himself, “I’m not good with ulterior motives!” Just then, two EMTs with a gurney rushed past them and made a sharp turn into a classroom, grabbing their attention. Thomas grew nervous immediately. “What is it?” Rebecca asked, sensing his fear. “That’s my dad’s classroom,” Thomas said, chasing after the gurney. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Present Day~ “Fool you?” Fiona claims not to understand. “You play such the strong woman. Fiercely independent. Career-oriented. Strong, moral beliefs. Determined to change the world with law and logic.” Fiona doesn’t see what’s so wrong with Evan’s assessment about her. Evan explains, “You were just given a whopping dose of life without logic. A senseless death. And you’re a bit of a mess now, because of it. It’s understandable, you just need to embrace it. I knew this day would come the moment I met you.” ~June 2007~ Evan is sitting with a 30something woman who’s very pregnant, and Evan’s consoling her. She’s obviously upset, though her face is skewed from view. Fiona sits in the waiting area, dressed for an interview. Evan reassures the woman, “You’re doing the right thing, dear. You know I would never steer you wrong... You’re just not prepared to become a mother. There are so many prospective parents out there just waiting to bring a child into their home to shower them with love, stability, and attention. I have a lot of connections through my work and I will make sure this child is placed in a very loving home. It’s for the best.” Wrapping up his conversation, Evan sends the very pregnant woman on her way. Fiona watches the woman leave, then grabs her briefcase and moves to leave as well. “Miss? We’re ready for you now.” Evan told Fiona. “Well I don’t think I am,” Fiona glares at Evan, obviously disgusted with him. Fiona turns to leave again, but Evan halts her, “Miss? I usually like to take a woman out to dinner before she decides that I’m a filthy swine. Care to give me at least that chance?” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Present Day~ Christian is staring out the car window as Dominic sings along to the radio, which is running show tunes from Dom’s iPod. Christian begins getting lost in thought, and remembers a frustrating rehearsal day from the show where Christian first worked with Terrence (Walt Willey). ~August 2007~ “That’s it! We obviously need to break for lunch because you all must be so hungry that you can’t connect with your characters. Go! Eat! Come back as real actors!” Terrence shooed them away, and they left, except for Christian. Terrence seemed to take comfort from the fact Christian stayed behind. “I’m sorry if it’s me,” Christian offered, “I’m probably a little distracted today.” Terrence was surprised, “If you are distracted, it didn’t show. I’d probably be just as frustrated regardless of who I was trying to direct. I’m having a rough day,” Terrence admits, sitting down. Christian joins him on the edge of the stage. “My wife had me served with divorce papers today,” Terrence tells him, though Christian didn’t even know that Terrence was married. “I am... I was,” Terrence shared, “I can’t say I’m surprised, I’ve put her through hell. I just hoped that she might take things better. I guess I mean to say, I came out of the closet to her. And being that she’s worked in theatre for most of her life, I convinced myself that she might be able to accept that her husband was gay. How the hell stupid am I?!” Terrence was practically beating himself up. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Present Day~ Julia leans against her window, staring out, tapping the card from Nathan on her chin. Suddenly, Julia remembers a day when Nathan brought her out that window onto the fire escape. ~Valentine’s Day, February 2007~ “Come on, I want you to see this,” Nathan (Jason Thompson) told Julia, pulling her out the window. Nathan’s shirtless, in his boxers, and Julia appears to be wearing his shirt. The light on their faces implies dawn, sunrise. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” Nathan says, romantically. “What?” Julia says, shocked that she didn’t remember what day it was. “It’s our first Valentine’s Day together,” Nathan explains, “And I wanted it to start at the crack of dawn so that I could share every minute with you.” Julia forces a smile and expresses that she’s touched by the sentiment, “But let’s go back to bed... we both worked so late last night, I’m tired, and I’ve never been big on greeting card holidays like this one.” Julia climbs back through the window and goes to bed, leaving Nathan to wonder where he went wrong. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Present Day~ Henry surprised Hattie (Kate Collins) by coming to the office. Hattie tried to give him his messages, but Henry waved them away. Henry instructed Hattie to act as though he wasn’t there. Henry walked into his office and shut the door. Walking around the desk, Henry obviously has a lot on his mind. Henry starts to hear familiar shouts, things he heard long ago, from Charles Halperin (John Schneider). ~Early October 2007~ “You’re a monster! This is how you make your money?! This is how you built your empire? Off of peoples’ weaknesses, their addictions? Their sickness and despair puts food on your table...” Charles railed at his boss in disgust. “And food on yours too, apparently,” Henry replied, unapologetically. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ All following events take place non-chronologically, in their respective times in 2007 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~June 2007~ Evan guides Fiona into a meeting room where Herbert Klein (Kin Shriner) has been preparing Fiona’s interview. Fiona’s caught off-guard by Klein, who is dressed like a stereotypical, oily, ambulance-chasing lawyer. Evan is significantly more sharply dressed, but it only implies Evan is more self-aware, potentially more deceptive than Klein, who wears his ineptitude on his sleeve. Evan introduces Fiona to Herbert, who politely stands to greet her and shake her hand, “So you’d like to intern with us here at Royale & Klein?” Herbert asked politely. “Actually, no. I wouldn’t,” Fiona revealed through a hostile expression that she was incapable of hiding. Klein was slightly scared of her. ~October 31st, 2007~ Thomas is sitting in the waiting room of the hospital while his father is in surgery. Rebecca runs up to him, having taken a subway to the hospital when she found out where Theodore was taken. “What are you doing here?” Thomas was surprised Rebecca showed up. “I was worried. Professor Baldwin has always been so nice,” she explained. Thomas was in a bit of a daze, “He’s been in surgery for like two hours... is it supposed to take this long?” Rebecca tried to ease his concerns, explaining that it can be many hours for surgery when it comes to heart attacks. Thomas is frustrated with the waiting, “I can’t do anything... I just have to sit here.” Rebecca asks if he should call someone, but Thomas says no, “I have two half-siblings, but I barely know them... they never come to visit, I don’t think they even really care about him. And my mother... they’re not together, haven’t been for years. The love is still there, and she’d come back in a heartbeat, but... I don’t want to worry her, I don’t even know anything yet.” Rebecca puts her arm around him and he rests his head on her shoulder. ~August 2007~ “You can’t fault yourself for being optimistic,” Christian tried to reassure Terrence. “I fathered two children with her, we’ve been married for over 30 years. I asked her to invest her heart and soul in me, build a family, forsake all others, the whole nine yards. I didn’t realize how good I had become at lying to her. God bless my children for sticking by me,” Terrence adds, “but Emma... she just up and left, didn’t tell me where she was going, or when she’d return. And now this. I guess I just hate having to accept that I have to let one life die in order to let another life survive. I’m just as selfish as my wife told me I was right before she left.” ~Early October 2007~ Charles Halperin storms into his office with a cardboard box, and begins loading it with items, “Consider this my resignation!” Henry follows behind, unmoved by the dramatics, “Charles, you’ve been a valued member of the team here, there isn’t a need for you to resign. I might be able to put together a retention bonus for you to stay on.” “Throw more of your drug money at me and hope I can buy my soul back later, is that pretty much what you’re getting at, Sir?” Charles wasn’t having it, “You valued me as a member of your team because, unbeknownst to me, I was keeping the books nicely cooked for you, covering your crimes and enabling you to keep reaping the benefits. But you’ve lost that now. And once this reaches the authorities and the media gets a hold of it, I may be collecting unemployment, but I sure won’t be relying on the taxpayers money the way you will be, pounding out license plates.” Henry slams Charles’s office door and urges him not to do anything he will regret, “Charles if you’ve done your research you know that my influence is powerful and far-reaching. You do not want to make an enemy of me.” Charles looks betrayed by Henry’s threat, “Wow. So it’s come to this? From getting Employee of the Month to getting a thinly-veiled death threat? Do what you will to me, Henry, but the pen is mightier than the sword, and my influence can be far-reaching as well.” Charles tries to shove past him, but Henry blocks his exit and shoves him back, “You aren’t leaving until this is settled!” Henry shouts, as Charles spins around and bashes his head against the corner of his desk. Crashing to the floor and taking a framed photo of his family down with him, Charles dies instantly. Henry is horrified by the turn of events, and the commotion catches the attention of Leo (Jeff Branson), who barges into the room to find his father standing over Charles Halperin’s body. ~May 2007~ Julia is filling out a chart at the Nurses Station, when Nathan comes off the elevator and greets her happily. “Hey,” Julia smiles to see him. Nathan takes a folded piece of paper out of his inside jacket pocket, places it on the counter and uses one finger to slide it towards Julia. She seems excited and already looks like she knows what it is before opening it. Julia picks it up and unfolds it, eager to read, “Officer Nathan Weber, we are pleased to inform you...” Julia reads, before Nathan jumps the gun and explodes, “I made Detective!” Nathan picks Julia up and spins her around, filled to the brim with excitement. Nathan continues, “All those long hours, all my hard work, the stakeouts, the busts... it’s all paid off! I had to come over right away to tell you. We need to celebrate! What do you say we go to the top of the Empire State Building and announce to the city that there’s a new Detective on the force with the NYPD that’s ready to protect the streets?” Julia’s excitement deflates as soon as Nathan mentions the top of the Empire State Building. Nathan instantly notices. “What? What is it? Whenever I share a happy moment with you, or try to, things coast for a little while, and then I say something and the air just gets sucked right out of the room.” Julia denies Nathan’s statement, telling him she hates it when he starts to question her like a suspect, or crack her like a tough case. “You are a tough case!” Nathan shouts, and then remembers to lower his voice in the hospital, “It’s like you won’t let yourself have any happiness, and it makes me wonder why you even bother to be with me?” Julia realizes Nathan’s right and she has been derailing their relationship. ~June 2007~ Evan explains Fiona’s stance for her. “Well Mr. Klein, it appears Ms....” Evan refers to Fiona’s application, “... Applewhite... has come to the conclusion that I am morally reprehensible and unfit to sign her bi-weekly check. Care to state your case Ms... Applewhite?” Evan puts her on the spot... Fiona seems engaged by Evan’s challenge. “Well... fine. I witnessed Mr. Royale telling a woman, convincing her, though she was obviously distraught, that she was incapable of being a mother, and advising her to give her baby up for adoption.” Evan waits for her to continue, but it seems she’s done. “Is that it? My my, you really do need this internship, you’ve so much to learn. Ms.... Applewhite, are you a mother?” Evan asks. Fiona concedes she’s not. “Exhibit A!” Evan exclaims, “Ms.... Applewhite is NOT a mother. Therefore she knows not the emotional, financial, and social challenges a new mother faces in her day-to-day life!” Herbert Klein seems to be enraptured by this mock trial. Evan continues, “Ms.... Applewhite, what is the extent of your personal history with the defendant?” Fiona’s confused, “The defendant?” Evan’s frustrated, “YES! The defendant, the woman whose honor you are determined to defend, the defendant!” Fiona concedes that she doesn’t know the woman. “Exhibit B!!” Evan exclaims, louder than before, “Ms... Applewhite bears no knowledge of, nor shares any personal history WITH the heretofore unnamed defendant. Therefore she has no grounds to make judgments to the contrary that said defendant is unprepared for the challenging task of motherhood.” Fiona protests, “Now wait a minute!” But Evan refuses to wait, “Ms... Applewhite, please state, for the record, the extent of your personal history with the accused.” “I have none!” Fiona concedes, infuriated. “Exhibit C!!!” Evan shouts, before Fiona interrupts him. “Shut up! Enough of your exhibits. Okay, I am not a mother. Okay, I don’t have all the facts. But aren’t you supposed to be civil servants? To carry out the wishes of your client, not tell them what those wishes are or should be? Who are you to tell her she’s not mothering material?! No, I’m not a mother, but I have one, and I know what one can endure and what one can’t. So don’t you DARE tell me that as a woman that I can’t stand up for someone who is being forced into a decision by someone who just wants to collect the legal fees!” “ORDER IN THE COURT!” Herbert Klein pipes up, caught up in the drama of the argument... “... sorry,” Klein apologized a bit more timidly. Evan steps up to defend himself, “Ms... Applewhite. Royale & Klein are highly regarded legal COUNSEL. People, usually in distress, turn to us for legal advice because they consider us knowledgeable about the law, about life... For you to come in here, and pass judgment on me so quickly, tells me I would never select you for any jury in my court cases. But for a woman who is such a spitfire that she would challenge me fearlessly... It tells me you have much to learn, but possibly much to teach me. Perhaps over dinner... and breakfast the following morning?” ~August 2007~ “I’m sorry,” Christian rubbed Terrence on the back, bringing about a tense, close moment between them, “And I know that there’s a lot of raw emotion for you right now. But I think once you get a little more perspective on this, you’ll see this was really the best thing you could have done.” Terrence wants to laugh at Christian’s reassurance, “you are so young,” Terrence reminds himself about Christian. “And age is just another political standard used to separate and polarize people,” Christian responds, surprising Terrence again. Christian continues, “You’re hurting. Emma must be too. But what’s done is done! The damage is the maximum it can be, you’re going to what, un-ring that bell and things will flip back to the way they were? The greatest disservice you could do is rob yourself of the life you fought so hard to live because of your guilt.” >>> Commercial Break <<< ~Early October 2007~ Henry explains the altercation to Leo, and that Halperin was planning to expose VSI. Leo thinks fast, and comes up with the idea to stage an accident to explain the blunt force head trauma. But they need to have a believable story. Noticing the family photo amidst the shattered glass of the frame, Henry supposes they stage a car wreck, as if Charles was abandoning his family and swerved off the road. Henry checks Halperin’s detailed date book, and sees that the family should all be out tonight. Leo calls Ford to send him to the Halperin home to take Charles’s clothing. Henry decides to transfer $1 million to Halperin’s account to make it look like he embezzled money to leave town. ~July 2007~ Nathan lets himself into Julia’s apartment, and he’s furious. He finds her sitting on the couch, zoned out. He slams the door, getting Julia’s attention. Nathan raises his arms as if to ask her what’s going on. “Where the hell were you?!” Nathan finally says. “Here,” Julia tells him. “Here. HERE. Tonight was the policeman’s ball. You promised me you’d be there. And what happened this time?!” Julia, still in her daze, told him, “My mother sent me an email.” Nathan shrugged, waiting for more. He grew impatient, “So what? You never talk about your mother. What, is she sick? Did someone die? WHAT!... TALK TO ME!” Julia’s shaken from her daze, and gets up to try to explain, “She found my email... I don’t talk about her because I don’t want her to know where I am. I’ve been hiding from her for years.” Nathan’s anger fades as he realizes she’s finally opening up to him about something. “Why? Is she dangerous? Did she do something? Did... you do something?” Nathan wonders. Julia’s eyes are watering. “When I was younger... I found my father... dead. Hanging. I was convinced my mother did it. But I had no proof. Just my gut feeling. This gnawing sickness I felt... like she knew more about it than she said. When she was giving her statement, the surprise she was expressing... it seemed so fake. So as soon as I could... I left. And now she has my email address. And it’s only a matter of time before she figures out where I am.” Nathan looks betrayed, completely gut-punched. “I don’t believe you,” he says, shocking her. ~October 31st, 2007~ Thomas lifts his head from Rebecca’s shoulder when he hears her crying, “What happened? Why are you crying?” Rebecca brushes off Thomas’s question, “It’s nothing. I’m sorry.” Thomas persists, and Rebecca finally admits, “The last time I was in this hospital, my mother came to identify my father.” Thomas realized Rebecca only recently lost her father in a car accident, and was instantly apologetic, “I’m so sorry, Rebecca, I haven’t even thought of what being here would mean for you.” Thomas quickly switches roles with her and takes Rebecca into his arms, putting things into perspective since his father very well could survive this. ~August 2007~ Christian tells Terrence that coming out was difficult for him too, “I’m sure it’s hard on everyone in different ways, but I was in foster care growing up. I didn’t know anything else, I didn’t believe the family that said they wanted me to stay forever because it had never been true. I always moved. Something different happened with the Fields, though. They really seemed to mean it. And the adoption went through! I was so happy, and I felt that I could really tell them anything. We were on our way to family dinner out because it was Saturday night. I mean, these people taught me what a tradition was supposed to be, gave me that sense of stability. So we’re in the car, and I just blurted it out. My father swerved, and we struck a car in the other lane and our car flipped over. I didn’t even get to hear any kind of reaction outside of the shock that made my father swerve. I couldn’t take it back, I couldn’t say I was joking. It was just done. Over, in one night. And I cried for weeks. These two people were dead, two people who wanted nothing more than to love me and give a lost, lonely child a home... and they had no reason to pick me. But they did. I used to think if I had just stayed in foster care, maybe they’d have gotten a different kid, and they’d still be alive. But after wrestling with the guilt for years, and landing back in foster care until I was eighteen, I just had to let it go because it was killing me too. And if they died and I lived... if I gave up after that it really would have been all for nothing, wouldn’t it? So I decided to be me again. Honest me, open me, fearless me. Live the life I was born to live. We can’t control the reactions and the pain we cause by being ourselves, we can only choose to hide who we are to not rock the boat and then suffer in a life filled with regret, or we can choose to embrace who we are and take every chance to help people become okay with it over time. And have no regrets.” Christian’s passionate speech impressed Terrence, who felt foolish that he dismissed Christian as ‘so young.’ Christian was obviously an old soul, and some voice within Terrence kept telling him to kiss him. Hoping to embrace a life without regret, Terrence ran his hand along Christian’s jaw and Christian’s eyes closed, affected by Terrence’s strong touch. Terrence took the lac k of resistance to be an invitation, and leaned in to kiss Christian passionately. Christian’s hands ran up Terrence’s chest and around the back of his neck to hold Terrence in their kiss. ~June 2007~ “I wouldn’t break bread with you if you were the last breathing entity in this solar system,” Fiona stressed. Herbert was amused by Fiona’s rejection of Evan, “You can start Monday morning,” Herbert smiled, shaking her hand with his sweaty palm. Fiona was trying to process how she landed this job, and whether she even wanted it, but she couldn’t help but feel drawn to... and needed by... these two amoral, maladjusted oddballs. ~July 2007~ “I can’t believe you!” Nathan is incredulous, “All these months, trying to get close to you, trying to know you, trying to find that light that I’d catch glimpses of flickering in your eyes, and THIS is what you’ve been holding back?! I’M A POLICE DETECTIVE FOR CHRIST’S SAKE! And this crime that you’ve been suspicious about since you were a kid is the wall you’ve put between us all this time? Why didn’t you come to me? Say something to me? Ask for help? Do you know how much I love you? How I would do anything for you? But all you do is push me away?! TRUST ME!” Julia’s tears are trailing down her cheeks, “You don’t understand,” Julia insisted. “No!” Nathan corrected her, “You won’t LET me understand!” Nathan stormed out, and Julia slumped down onto the couch, looking around at her empty apartment... her empty life. ~October 31st, 2007~ Thomas enters Theodore’s (John Ingle) hospital room a while after his surgery. Thomas puts his hand on his father’s arm and accidentally wakes Theodore up. Thomas apologizes, and urges him to go back to sleep. “Is it true? I had a heart attack?” Theodore asked. Thomas confirmed it, and asked what happened, what brought it on? Theodore thought for a second and then realized, “I won the lottery!” Thomas thought his father was suffering from being heavily medicated. But Theodore kept on, talking about how he buys a ticket from the same newsstand outside Hunter every morning, just as a novelty, but when he read the numbers in the paper, he realized he won the $350 million jackpot! Thomas urged him to stay calm, not to repeat his earlier incident. Theodore asked if he called his sister and brother. “Half-siblings,” Thomas corrected him. Theodore wants to make sure his children know that he’s okay. ~August 2007~ “Wow,” Christian laughed, as he and Terrence broke from their kiss. “I’m sorry,” Terrence quickly apologized. Christian was perplexed, “Why?! It was a pretty damn good kiss,” he smiled, leaning into Terrence, only for Terrence to stand and step away from him. “Why?” Terrence thought it was obvious, “I was caught up in the moment, but you’re younger than both my children, I’m directing you in a show, it’s all sorts of inappropriate.” “Terrence...” Christian tries to calm him, “There were two of us in that kiss just then. It’s still not socially ‘appropriate’ for two men to be married under the law in most states. Do you really think I care that you’re older, if you also happen to be talented, handsome, charming, intelligent, funny, passionate, I could go on and on. If the only reason you want to ignore this attraction between us, is because of my age, I’m sorry, last I checked I was old enough to smoke, drink, drive and vote for President. They don’t even card me at the gay bars anymore, as hard as that is to get used to. Terrence, you’ve never caught me looking at you?” Christian asks, drawing Terrence slowly closer until they engaged in another soft, passionate kiss. ~November 1st, 2007~ Thomas looks through his father’s address book and dials a number for his half-brother James (Alec Musser). We see James, in bed, with a gorgeous brunette, having too good of a time. James’s cell phone vibrates on his bedside table, and James reaches to look at the screen, and the number registers as ‘unknown’. Ignoring the call and tossing the phone back on the table, James turns over in bed and we see he’s got a gorgeous blonde in bed with him too! Thomas leaves a voicemail for James, “Hey... this is Thomas... Baldwin... your half-brother. Give me a call back... dad had a heart attack... He’s okay, but he wanted me to catch you up.... Um... so call me back.” Thomas then finds a number for “Jenna Work” and dials that, and a man answers “Shenanigans!” Thomas asks to speak to Jenna, and hears the man hand the phone over to her, telling her to keep it short and sweet. Jenna, in pigtails and a VERY short German barmaid’s uniform, takes the phone. “Jenna?” Thomas asks. “Yeah, what? I’m workin’.” Jenna says rudely. “It’s Thomas” “Who?” “Your half-brother...” “Oh... right. What the hell are you calling for? You in jail or something?” “No, nothing like that... It’s dad... he had a heart attack.” “... Is he okay?” “Yeah. He just wanted me to let you know.” “Well he’s old. I guess it happens. What brought it on?” “... He won the lottery.” “Is he that weak, that some $20 scratch-off sends him into a coronary?!” “Believe it or not... he won $350 million.” Jenna’s side of the line went dead for a moment... “Are you serious?” She asked, breathing a little heavier. A patron at the table behind her pinches her nearly-exposed rear end to get her attention and waves his empty beer mug at her, silently demanding a refill. Jenna hangs up, gets down in the patron’s face and roars “I QUITTTT!!!!” ~Early October 2007~ Having set the chain of events in motion regarding the cover-up of Charles Halperin’s death, Leo and Henry met to discuss their next step. Henry believes Charles hid the evidence he had against them, and it most likely was counted among the belongings his wife will inherit. We see Ford Collins (David Chisum) in an already-crashed car with Charles Halperin in the driver’s seat. The smashed framed family portrait from his desk at VSI is mixed in with his various other belongings in the backseat. Ford is wearing gloves and trying to position Charles in the right spot for Ford to smash his head into the steering wheel. Ford mentally prepares himself for the gruesome task, and takes a deep breath in before whacking Charles Halperin’s head into the wheel. Back at VSI, Leo shares, “Hopefully the secrets Halperin had over us will die with him, and we’ve created an elaborate enough scene to keep his wife on edge, so we can work to cover our asses. If only we knew what we were looking for...” Leo’s cold, detached words replayed in Henry’s head in the present day as he realized how many other people were broken by the day Charles Halperin died. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Epilogue - Present Day Thomas Baldwin sits staring at a thick, detailed pen in his living room, when Theodore enters. “What’ve you got there?” Theodore is intrigued by the pen. “Oh, Rebecca gave this to me for my birthday... it belonged to her father and she said it was very important to him,” Thomas explains, “I was just thinking about how little Rebecca has left of him, and how lucky I am to still have you here, after the scare you gave me last year. I mean, mom’s back, I have Eddie and Didi... even Jenna and James keep it interesting if nothing else. I’ve made a good impression in my little role at VSI. I’m just really lucky... and I’m really grateful I didn’t lose you last year.” Thomas hugs his father tightly. Eleanor is home, sitting in a man’s robe. She curls up in a chair that looks like it holds memories for her, and she has a flash of Charles, wearing the robe she has on right now, giving her a warm hug from behind. Remembering something else, suddenly, she gets up and goes to the bottom drawer in the writing desk, opens it, and pulls out the broken framed picture of the Halperin family from Charles’s desk at VSI. The glass is still shattered and it looks exactly the way it did when it broke. Eleanor looks at it and a wave of deep sorrow washes over her. “You said ‘forever’. I know that you meant it. I just know you did. I still don’t understand,” she told her husband in the photo. He looked like the husband that she knew. Growing angry, Eleanor beats the framed photo against the desk violently, breaking the frame further, until the picture slips out and floats to the floor. There’s writing on the back that Eleanor never knew was there. Picking it up, the handwriting is instantly recognizable as her husband’s. Written simply, it reads “The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword”. Even more confused and frustrated by the phrase’s significance, Eleanor throws the photo in the trash. “Did you thank him for the flowers?” Carina asks, shaking Julia from her daze. “No...” Julia says, “I don’t know if I should. All this time, my father’s death was what stood between me really being with Nathan. Really opening up to him. And now I have my answers about my father... but James is the one who broke through my wall. I’m not even sure when it happened, how it happened. James was there every step of the way. Nathan would’ve been, if I’d let him. What do I do?” Julia seems truly torn. Carina doesn’t really have an answer for her. Fiona and Evan still sit at the edge of her desk. “I was pretty naive,” Fiona conceded. “Exhibit D,” Evan smirked, nudging her with his shoulder. “But to think of something like my father’s death... I can’t imagine why he needed to die. He was such a good man. In a world full of selfish, lying bastards, he was SUCH a good man. He just finally established the life he always wanted. Why did it all have to be snatched out from under him?” Fiona struggles to see the logic, the law of the world, that would make sense of it. Evan sympathizes, “Some things just are. The law is so much about assigning blame, pointing fingers, accountability. But if we look deeply enough, we’re all partly to blame for the state of things, the world we find ourselves in. The life we make for ourselves. And if everyone’s to blame, then no one’s any more to blame than anyone else. Some things just are. I’m sorry about your father.” Fiona’s surprised and somewhat comforted by the permission to not fully understand something. “Shall we discuss this further over breakfast in bed?” Evan couldn’t help but ask. “No,” Fiona said, without missing a beat. She’d had so much practice telling him no. But it was nice to have Evan listen to her for once... like her father used to. Christian wakes up with a start, and looks around, disappointed to remember he’s in a car, leaving New York behind. Dominic noticed Christian’s startled awakening, “Where’d you go? You were out for a while,” Dom smiles. Christian wasn’t sure of his answer, “...I was just dreaming of better days.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ On the November installment of Beyond the Horizon: Christian and Dominic take a nostalgia-filled trip cross-country. Rod tries to put Christian out of his mind and refocus on Crystal. Fiona finds herself the keeper of Rod and Crystal’s secrets. Trevor’s interest in Crystal turns personal. Leo makes an effort to start a new phase with Fiona. Christian and Dominic’s lives are put in danger when they try to uncover their roots. Ramon probes for information about Aviva’s childhood from Lucia. Hattie discovers Shawn’s rise to power was hastened by some leverage Shawn had. Dana pursues her agenda, which comes to include Trevor... and Rolo. Shocking test results raise the stakes at Shady Glen Sanitarium. Thomas sympathizes with an anguished Tiffany. Rebecca develops a new concept for Sapphyre Cosmetics. Ford directs his anger toward innocent victims. Ava shows Dr. West a different side.

October 2008 CONTINUED... Back at Julia’s hotel room, Julia and James arrive and Julia asks him to sit on the bed. “I just want to thank you for proving me wrong. I had a lot of ideas about the kind of man you were, and in the last year you’ve really been there. You’ve been supportive, attentive, considerate, understanding... you’ve been more than I thought you were capable of being. I’m sorry I judged you harshly, and kept you at arms length for so long,” Julia said, leaning into him and pushing him back on the bed. Julia kissed him, and it wasn’t more than a few minutes before they were starting to make love. In Texas, Ramon arrives on a doorstep and looks around at the house. It looks pleasant, complete with a white picket fence, but the housepaint is slightly weathered. On the porch is a swinging porch bench that swings back and forth slightly in the humid breeze. Ramon rings the doorbell. Shortly, the door opens to reveal a beautiful older woman, who bears close resemblance to Aviva and Carina. “Lucia Reynoso?” Ramon asked, just to confirm. “Yes,” she responded, furrowing her brow at the unfamiliar guest. “I’m here about your daughter,” he says. Lucia’s face suddenly looks stricken, panicked, and she clutches his arm, “What’s happened, is it Aviva?! Has something happened?” Lucia’s sudden panic over Aviva surprises Ramon, almost as though Lucia’s been through this before. Eleanor gets off the elevator on the Penthouse floor at The Dorilton. She heads up to Henry’s door, and thinks for a second, before pushing the thoughts away and using her key to let herself in. Eleanor heads to the study, where she finds Henry reading a book. “Eleanor darling, where have you been?” Henry asks, marking his page with the bookmark. “Standing still,” Eleanor says, laying a passionate kiss on Henry’s lips. Their kisses grow more aggressive, and Eleanor starts undoing the buttons on Henry’s shirt and liberating him from his suitjacket. Christian runs over to Dominic at Large Bar and proposes that they run away together! On the 1st Anniversary Episode of Beyond the Horizon: Thomas recalls the day his father won the lottery... and had a heart attack. Christian remembers the day he and Terrence admitted their feelings. Nathan wants another chance with Julia, who remembers their mutually reluctant end to their relationship. Fiona remembers the day she interviewed with Evan Royale and Herbert Klein for her internship. Henry is haunted by the memory of Charles Halperin’s death. On the November installment of Beyond the Horizon: Christian and Dominic take a nostalgia-filled trip cross-country. Rod tries to put Christian out of his mind and refocus on Crystal. Fiona finds herself the keeper of Rod and Crystal’s secrets. Trevor’s interest in Crystal turns personal. Leo makes an effort to start a new phase with Fiona. Christian and Dominic’s lives are put in danger when they try to uncover their roots. Ramon probes for information about Aviva’s childhood from Lucia. Hattie discovers Shawn’s rise to power was hastened by some leverage Shawn had. Dana pursues her agenda, which comes to include Trevor... and Rolo. Shocking test results raise the stakes at Shady Glen Sanitarium. Thomas sympathizes with an anguished Tiffany. Rebecca develops a new concept for Sapphyre Cosmetics. Ford directs his anger toward innocent victims. Ava shows Dr. West a different side.

October 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <<< Previously on Beyond the Horizon, secrets agendas were in full force, people were forced to make tough choices about who to trust, and a good man lost a tough battle in September... Jenna (Kari Wuhrer) scrambled to convince Lauren Sapphyre (Lynn Herring) to invest in startup company Baldwin Enterprises. Ava (Christina Chambers) and Ford (David Chisum) were arrested for burglary, but stood to be charged with more crimes. Julia (Melissa Archer) treated Rolo (Ignacio Serricchio) for a stabbing, and later was shocked by how grandmother Esther (Kathleen Widdoes) turned up on her doorstep. Henry (Sebastian Roché) wasn’t pleased when he realized Leo (Jeff Branson) had gone against his wishes to drop the search for the evidence in Eleanor’s (Catherine Hickland) possession. Henry kicked Leo out of the penthouse and froze his assets! Tiffany (Ambyr Childers) accused Hattie (Kate Collins) of Rolo’s stabbing when Tiffany found her mother with a bloody kitchen knife. Hattie prepared Tiffany for the possibility that Esther was guilty. Thomas (Bobby Steggert) promised to keep Eddie’s (Jeffrey Carlson) affair with Shawn (Tobias Truvillion) a secret from Jenna, in order to keep his brother’s life and his own work situation copasetic. Trevor Allen (Tuc Watkins) had big plans for transforming Crystal (Kerry Butler) into a star, but also seemed to be eager to bring Ava’s/Aviva’s story to the small screen. Ramon (Kamar de los Reyes) sought out answers from Carina (Natalia Livingston) about the Reynosos’ childhood, hoping to learn about the source of Aviva’s identity crisis. Edina (Ilene Kristen) was sympathetic to a young woman named Dana (Brittany Underwood), who’d been living on the street. Dana was soon after hit by Jenna’s car and snagged a monetary “settlement” from Jenna. Evan (Ian Buchanan) was on hand to revise Terrence’s (Walt Willey) will, as it became harder for Terrence to deny that death was near. Carina admitted to Julia that she was drawn to Lauren Sapphyre. Lauren established a board of directors for Baldwin Enterprises, consisting of herself, Evan, James (Alec Musser), Jenna, and Theodore (John Ingle). Jenna’s surprise run-in with old flame Trevor inspired her to concoct an elaborate scheme to pass off Dana as a daughter Jenna gave up in college. Dana agreed to Jenna’s scam, which included becoming dorm roommate and friend to Rebecca (Lindze Letherman), and letting Thomas be the one to “uncover the truth”. Leo turned to Fiona (Connie Fletcher-Staton) for a place to stay. Rachel (Sherri Saum) found evidence that Dominic (William Shew) and Ford were behind Rod Applewhite’s (Forbes March) shooting, which gave Shawn just the leverage he needed to gain a foothold in the chain of command at VSI. The Baldwins were shocked when Didi Dawson (Kelli Giddish), the final sibling, decides to relocate to New York City. Jenna takes that as a sign to step up her plan to pass Dana off as her daughter. The Applewhites and Christian (David Evan Smith) spent all their time together, while Terrence neared death. Ava swore to Ramon that Aviva was never coming back. After the press party for the “Artemis” fragrance, Carina gave in to her developing feelings for Lauren and they both gave in to passion. Thomas made a connection between Dana and Jenna. Terrence passed away. >>> Opening Sequence <<< Week 1: Stay and Face It “Come and sit down,” Julia guided Esther to the couch. James watched in amazement at Julia’s crazy old grandmother. “What is my mother going to be so mad about?” Julia asked. “I just wanted to protect Tiffany, like I wanted to protect your mother! It was that little horny bastard, he broke her heart, and she was so mad...” Esther trailed off, and Julia couldn’t tell if Esther was talking about Tiffany’s broken heart or Hattie’s. Esther continued, “Julia, I wasn’t around you enough to teach you this, but when a man has been cruel to you, you need to do whatever necessary to get past that pain, and just vanquish them from your life.” Esther turned to glare at James, “Have you been good to my granddaughter?!” Esther asked suspiciously, and James became instantly nervous and stuttered back, “Yes, absolutely, very good to her... wouldn’t dream of hurting her or breaking her heart.” James excused himself after Julia said she wanted to be alone with her grandmother. With just the two women there now, Julia had to ask, “Grandmother... tell me what you did.” “I did it, so deal with it,” Ava told Ramon flippantly. Ramon insists Ava can’t just ‘get rid of’ Aviva. “And what do you know of it?” Aviva challenged him, “You think you know a damn thing about me? What I’m capable of? The very fact I exist means that Aviva wants me around, to take on the things she can’t handle, to fix whatever’s broken, to protect her. It’s really your fault, Ramon... you made this a world Aviva doesn’t want to come back to. So she doesn’t have to. She’s safely tucked away. And I will get out of here to live the life I’ve wanted to live for years now.” Ramon realizes he really doesn’t know how this whole split personality thing works. Ramon backs away to leave, and Ava throws out one more jab, “Tell Rolo he was a great student. She’d grade him an A+ and he can visit her any time for extra credit.” Ava winked at him, and Ramon realizes Rolo did get mixed up with Ava somehow. “I stabbed him,” Esther said, as if that’s that. “So many men, so many generations of bad choices... Eventually we’ll all find some good men, Julia... don’t you settle or forgive some man who thinks with his nether regions, you wait for the best.” Julia is horrified that Esther stabbed Rolo, but can’t miss the opportunity to ask, “What about my father? He was a good man, he was always good to us.” Julia’s mention of her father garnered a hearty laugh from Esther, “He was a weasel! A two-timing weasel! I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead, honey, but he hurt your mother terribly. He cheated on her countless times. You never saw his endless string of floozy secretaries?! He was shameless. Hattie used to complain to me all the time, but finally, I’d just had it. I mean how DARE he! So I gave him a few extra sleeping pills one night. It was better than he deserved because he didn’t even feel that noose around his neck. I knew it was the only way to protect you girls, you were so little... you had to think it was a suicide. But you’re all grown up now, you must understand I had to do what I had to do, to protect my daughter. All my girls...” Hearing the words after all these years, Julia needed a moment to take it all in. Years of suspecting her mother killed her father, only to find out it was her grandmother, emotionally fragile as she may be... Julia pulled it together quickly and decided to deal with the feelings later. “Grandmother, you’re right. We need to protect you. My mother might get very mad over what you’ve done, so let’s hide you,” Julia tried to sound excited, as if they were plotting together, “Let’s readmit you to Shady Glen. I still have power of attorney, we can check you back in, and we’ll never even have to tell my mother that I saw you, we can just say you disappeared, never to be heard from again. When things quiet down, we can get you out, and my mother will have had time to come to terms with what you did.” Esther’s eyes darted back and forth, thinking about Julia’s proposal, then realizes, “But that’s where Hattie would put me! Why would you put me there?!” Julia insists Hattie would never expect Esther to go willingly, it’s the perfect cover. Esther agrees, it’s the smartest plan. Julia’s relieved, and gathers her purse and coat to drive Esther to Shady Glen. Crystal raced to Rod's side when he called to tell her his father was gone. Rod remained distant. Crystal was trying to sympathize by sharing her own feelings from her father's passing, but Rod didn't feel it was the same. Crystal tried to respect his grief and keep her distance. Carina awoke the next morning in Lauren’s bed, alone, with a note on the pillow next to her. “I pushed the photo shoot back to 4pm... sleep in!” the note from Lauren read. So Carina did. When Carina made it to work later that day, she found a private moment to tell Lauren how much she enjoyed the previous night. Lauren couldn’t deny how much she enjoyed it as well. Leo was furious to return to work only to find notes from Shawn Marks about a different direction that Leo should take his pitch when meeting with a prospective client. Leo, still bitter about constantly being undermined and ordered around by his father, and now his underling, Leo decided to forward Shawn’s pitch anonymously... to fledgling Baldwin Enterprises. Thomas ran to Rebecca with his suspicions about Dana being Jenna’s daughter, and Rebecca thought it sounded too random to be possible. The more Thomas thinks about it, however, the more plausible it seems to him! Leo comforted Fiona over her loss. Fiona felt guilty that she couldn't bring her mother home, as it was her father's dying request of her. She feels she failed her father. Leo assured her that Terrence didn't seem like a man who measured worth in actions, but rather in emotions. Thomas told Dana he wanted to help her find her biological family, and Dana was touched. Privately, Rebecca warned Thomas that he could be opening Pandora’s Box and this might create more problems for his family than already exist. Thomas saw this as correcting a mistake from Jenna’s past. Jenna Baldwin does the unimaginable and steals a prospective client from VSI, while Henry is busy consoling Eleanor over Terrence’s death and Leo is busy consoling Fiona. At VSI, Shawn insisted that if Henry and Leo had listened to his approach, they would have landed the client. Shawn accuses Leo of being out of touch with what clients want. Leo accuses Shawn of sabotaging behind the scenes, and coaching the rival, Jenna, Shawn’s girlfriend. Dominic tries to take Christian's mind off things, but Christian explodes that he doesn't want to run from this, he has to stay and feel it, face it. Christian kicks Dominic out. Jenna was growing frustrated and vented to James that Thomas hasn’t picked up on the Cal State/1988 groundwork that she laid. James warned her to play it subtle, or Thomas will think it’s a scam. When the tech department researches Shawn’s computer, they see that his pitch was emailed through a dummy account to Baldwin Enterprises the day before their meeting with the client. Shawn insists he was framed, but Leo won’t hear of it, and fires Shawn for no longer being trustworthy. Shawn is furious and swears it’s the stupidest move Leo could have made. “If not for my rewriting your middle school-level reports, the board of directors would know just how unqualified you are for your position!” Shawn lashed out. Leo was enraged by Shawn’s statement and had security escort Shawn out of the VSI building. Shawn decides he needs to take action with the information he has on Henry and Leo. Shawn’s put too much time and effort into VSI to lose out now. Carina heads for Lauren’s office, but hears that Evan Royale is already in with Lauren. Carina doesn’t want to interrupt, but lingers by the door when the conversation she caught intrigued her. Evan had just delivered a blue file folder to Lauren that she didn’t want to see. “It’s not going to change anything, I’m not planning to be any more involved than I have been for all these years. I closed the door on it ages ago,” Lauren insisted. “That door is never quite closed. You don’t need to read it Lauren, just have it. Save it,” Evan encouraged her. Outside the room, Carina wondered what the contents of this file were. Hattie and Tiffany continue to fret about the missing Esther, when Julia arrives at the apartment, with news about Esther. Hattie braces herself, terrified that she’s done something else. Julia explains how Esther showed up on Julia’s doorstep admitting to stabbing Rolo. Hattie tries to cover and explain, Julia stops her, with news that Esther admitted to something else. “She told me about Dad.” Tiffany leaned in, eyes growing wide, for news about their father. Julia explained, “She told me how Dad cheated on you, for years... and that she slipped him some sleeping pills... and made it look like a suicide hanging. She said she did it for us. That it was the only way to protect us, to make it look like he killed himself.” Julia’s tears spill down her cheeks, and Hattie tries to wipe one away for Julia, despite crying herself. “She’s not well,” Hattie said about Esther, “She just doesn’t know how to stop herself. I thought it was best to have her committed and let you think she’d passed away. I didn’t want you thinking... knowing these things about your grandmother. I wanted you to have the happy memories, the baking and the shopping memories. It wouldn’t have been fair for you to lose those.” Julia and Tiffany’s heads hang low. “But mother,” Julia adds, “All these years, I thought it was you, I thought you did that to Dad. You must have known I thought that, you must have known that’s why I left,” Julia feels guilty for thinking it for so long. Hattie brushes it off, “Come on... every little girl hates their mother at some point or another, sometimes for entirely made up reasons, sometimes... for very real reasons.” Julia sees that her mother’s been as much a victim of Esther as any of them. “I’m sorry,” Julia says, and Hattie embraces her, “Oh that’s alright, honey! That is alright...” Thomas has Rachel Marks do some research on Jenna’s Cal State history and Rachel digs up that Jenna disappeared for about 8 months during her time enrolled at the university. Rachel speculates that’s just enough time from when Jenna might have started showing during her pregnancy, to giving birth, and arranging the adoption and getting her body back in shape. The news is music to Thomas’s ears, but he needs proof. Thomas decides to get a DNA test run. Fiona tries to pull Rod and Christian together to plan Terrence's funeral. Christian's touched to be included. Christian and Rod butt heads planning the funeral, but end up compromising on several issues. Week 2: Grief Sex Thomas nabs a hair sample from Dana and DNA from Jenna’s toothbrush, and travels to the hospital to get a DNA test run. While visiting Julia at the hospital, James catches Thomas’s request and quickly alerts Jenna to Thomas’s plans. Ramon visits Rolo’s hospital room and asks him if he knows what’s going on with Aviva. Rolo’s gathered that she’s having a bit of an identity crisis lately. Ramon asks if Rolo slept with her. Rolo admits that he did... but claims he was seduced, it wasn’t planned. Ramon stifles his emotions about his brother sleeping with Aviva and focuses on the question at hand, “Do you think Aviva’s alternate personality might have been who stabbed you?” Rolo doesn’t think so. He didn’t see who it was, they came up from behind, but the hand on his shoulder felt older, a bit more plump than Aviva’s. Ramon is thrown by that description. Julia enters the room, “I might be able to shed some light on this,” she says, reluctantly. Carina found herself left alone in Lauren’s office and spotted the blue file Lauren and Evan had been talking about. The curiosity ate away at Carina, and she peeked in the file. Lauren returned to the office to find Carina reading the file, and Lauren became furious. “Who’s Linda?” Carina asked, wanting to know more. Lauren hadn’t heard the name out loud in years. “It doesn’t matter who she is because you’re fired. Get out. Leave the building, or I won’t hesitate to call security.” Carina was blown away by the change she saw in Lauren. This Lauren was raw, cold, hard. There was a defensive wall up, that Carina had never seen before. Carina could tell she crossed a line, “Lauren, I’m sorry... I guess I overstepped... but I just thought--” Carina couldn’t finish before Lauren cut her off “I don’t care what you thought, get the hell out.” Carina took her cue and left the room. Julia explains that Rolo’s cheating broke Tiffany’s heart and Tiffany confided her feelings to Hattie and Esther, and it was Esther who took things too far and made the violent attempt on Rolo. “And it turns out, it’s not her first time... she actually was responsible for my father’s death. She made it look like a suicide.” Ramon wants to know where Julia’s grandmother is now. Julia explains that she had her re-committed to Shady Glen Sanitarium. Julia offers papers to back up the claim and offers to arrange a visit for Ramon if he’d like. Julia doesn’t believe she’s mentally fit to stand a trial, if Ramon or Rolo wanted to pursue one. Ramon doesn’t know what they will want to do about this. Julia excuses herself, but Rolo asks, “Dr. Lawless... how is Tiffany?” Julia’s comforted that Rolo cared to ask, “She’s... having a hard time. It’s a lot for her to process. Maybe you should call her and ask her yourself. Might help her to hear from you.” Evan Royale was present at Ava’s jail cell when Dr. Lynn West (Minae Noji) came from Shady Glen Sanitarium to evaluate Aviva’s competency to stand trial. From all the conversation and information Dr. West could gather, Aviva wasn’t fit to stand trial, but privately Dr. West told Evan and the D.A. that it’s not uncommon for criminals to fake an illness as extreme as a multiple personality to escape criminal charges. But regardless, Dr. West advises that Aviva be transferred to Shady Glen for two weeks of observation and therapy to make a fairer diagnosis. The lawyers agree. Evan chases Dr. West down the hall to ask the fetching beauty to dinner to discuss Aviva’s case, as well as other, more pleasurable topics, but Dr. West looks him up and down and smirks that Evan thought he even had a shot. Jenna races to the hospital to try to manipulate the DNA test in her favor, and demands James’s help. James reluctantly asks Julia for her help in gaining access to the test, and Julia refuses, disgusted at the lengths James was going to go to deceive his own family. Jenna wouldn’t be deterred and distracted a nerdy lab technician (is there any other kind?) to gain access to the test. Jenna went to alter the results, but found that she and Dana were a 99% match! Dana must really be Jenna’s daughter! Jenna and James were stunned at the news. Jenna had no idea how to process this life-altering information. Jenna still couldn’t believe Dana was really her daughter “What are you gonna do?” James asked his big sister. “Nothing,” Jenna says, still in a daze. Jenna realizes it changes nothing about her plan, and actually works out better. Instead of having to lie that Dana is her daughter, she actually is, so she can’t be caught or exposed when it comes to this. Most of the town turns out for Terrence's funeral. Christian refuses to give a eulogy, encouraging Fiona and Rod to share the eulogy. Rod doesn’t want to speak and so Fiona does. “We were lucky kids, my brother and I... Our father was creative, talented, loving, handsome, funny, brilliant... He was the one I could stay up late with when I was little, and eat ice cream and tell him about the boy I had a crush on at school. He wanted me to wait until I was thirty-five to start dating, because by thirty-five I should know what I want. It might be true because I’m not thirty-five yet, and am still figuring out what I want. But I guess some of us need that time. My father lived a very... complicated life. He wasn’t perfect, I came to realize he didn’t have all the answers. In the last few years I came to know my father as a different man. I think it’s really special, that time that you can get to know your parent when you’re an adult. They’re less concerned with teaching you lessons and it’s when my father started living for himself that I really started learning about life. No matter what mistakes he made, he owned them, he didn’t deny his mistakes. I think if my mother were here, she’d forgive him for the way their marriage ended. But no matter what, my father was fortunate to find love twice in his life. With my mother and with Christian. And I’m grateful that Christian came into my father’s life to make his final year the most fulfilling it could have been. My father just glowed around Christian and loved everything about him, about the life they were able to put together this year. It’s a great comfort to me to know that if my father had to die, he was happy. Eleanor: I was very close friends with Emma, and Terrence was always just ‘her husband’ to me. When Emma came to me to tell me everything that happened, that she was leaving... she was hurt. But the one thing she kept saying was, ‘I love him so much, dammit!’ She was hurt, but anyone with as much pride and personality as Emma had was going to be hurt. She just needed time. After she left, Terrence came over to my place and offered to take me to brunch. I didn’t know how to feel, but I went. And the thing he said that I remember most from that brunch is, ‘We both lost our best friend this week... so maybe we can try to fill the void until Emma comes home.’ I thought that was really sweet, and it showed me how much he really didn’t mean to hurt her and hoped for some kind of forgiveness. I know that in her heart of hearts, Emma would forgive Terrence. If she hasn’t already. Aurora: I was stunned when I heard Terrence was gay. I’d auditioned for him before, and always found him so dashing. I would flirt with him shamelessly, and we’d laugh. But he never reciprocated. I guess he likes his men a little younger... But while we never did have our passionate love affair that I’m SURE we would have both enjoyed immensely... he became one of my closest friends and greatest supporters. And no matter how much of a ham I was, he still kept auditioning me for roles in his plays. Bless his heart. I’m going to miss the hell out of that dashing man. Christian: It was so easy to love Terrence. He had such a passion for everything, this... undeniable zest for life. It wasn’t possible to be around him and not discover some beautiful perspective he had on some subject or another. So many people go through life never admitting who they are or what they want. And I never knew Terrence before he was ‘out,’ but the Terrence I knew was completely comfortable in his skin, just reveling in the life he had. Every single day. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted. Not a minute goes by that I don’t feel blessed for having gotten the time with him that I did. It should have been longer. I wish it had been longer. Thomas receives the lab results back and it’s confirmed, his suspicions were right! Rebecca is surprised but worried what Thomas will do now. Thomas thinks he should leave it up to Dana. The Applewhites host a gathering afterward at the brownstone and everyone shares warm memories of Terrence. Rod becomes upset and takes a bottle of whiskey up to his room. Crystal goes up to Rod's room to try to convince him that everything will be okay. Rod won't hear of it and throws Crystal out. Crystal, upset that Rod is pushing her away, runs out in tears and gets sick outside the brownstone. Thomas and Rebecca sit with Dana to tell her that Jenna is her mother. Dana cries at the news and then confesses that Jenna roped her into a plan weeks ago and this was what she wanted Thomas to believe. Dana suspected Jenna was her mother when the details Jenna wanted her to feed Thomas actually coincided with what Dana knew of her mother, but Dana hoped a DNA test would disprove Jenna’s claim so that Dana could keep searching and expose Jenna’s lies. Dana claims that she can’t believe she’s been saddled with evil Jenna for a mother, but at least she gets a great new uncle in Thomas! Thomas wants to know what Dana wants to do in regards to Jenna. “I want to confront her! And I want all the Baldwins to know what she’s capable of!” Rolo calls Tiffany and asks how she’s doing. Tiffany’s surprised Rolo would even bother, Tiffany knows that Julia told him Esther was the one who stabbed him. Rolo thinks he probably deserved worse. Rolo apologizes for not considering Tiffany more before doing the stupid thing he did with Professor Reynoso. Tiffany appreciates his apology. Not knowing how to proceed, Tiffany offers to buy him lunch, “sort of like a ‘Sorry my grandmother stabbed you’ kinda lunch?” Best cafeteria day, Friday, at Hunter is on Tiffany. Rolo laughs. Tiffany’s glad they came to a civil semi-resolution. Dominic stops in to visit Ford in jail. Dom can’t help but gloat over the fact Ford got busted for burglary after all the things he’s done that he should go up the river for. Ford warns Dominic not to get too cocky. And not to forget Dominic was just as wrapped up in that shooting as he was. “But you pulled the trigger,” Dom reminded him, “I can always be the scared kid who got in over his head and didn’t know the gun was even loaded, but you’ll always be the man that shot Rodney Applewhite.” Dom was glad Ford got nabbed for something, so that Dom doesn’t need to worry about being hassled by him anymore. Ford swears that one day Dominic will have something to lose, something big, and Ford will be the one to make sure he loses it. Dom claims not to be afraid, but Ford lunges at him through the bars, startling him. Ford laughs, as Dominic walks away. Lauren sits at her desk, looking at her life around her. The desk without picture frames. The wall where art from 7 different countries now hangs. And the door through which Carina just left. Her eyes fix on the blue file folder. She stared at it, and her eyes started to well with tears, but she fought them back. She wouldn’t cry. She’d worked too hard for too many years to make sure she wouldn’t. Her finger traces the edge of the file and her lip trembles. Lauren takes a deep breath and pushes her doubts away, opening the file. She adjusts herself in her seat and starts to read it. Her eyes dry as she starts to absorb the information inside. After she’s done, Lauren grabs the metal trash can next to her desk, drops the file into it, and burns it to ashes. James visits Julia at the hospital to see how she’s doing. “Not going to help you trick your family, if that’s what you’re here for,” Julia coldly tells him, going over her charts at the nurses station. James tells her it all worked out and Dana is his biological niece anyway. James explains that he’s there to see how Julia is, with finally getting answers about her father’s death. “It’s nothing like I thought,” Julia exhales, “I didn’t even know my grandmother was alive up until a few months ago, but to find out she killed my father, and my mother sent her away and has been just letting me believe all these things about her for all these years, to protect her mother, and protect me and my sister... I mean, my mother is no angel, but I guess I can kind of understand how she can be so screwed up if that’s the woman that raised her. How can I hate her for that?” James takes her in his arms and Julia breaks down in tears, “My father... Oh God... why did it all have to be this way?” Christian goes up to Rod's room and offers to do shots with Rod. “No tequila?” Christian judges. Rod looks at his bottle again, “Writers drink whiskey. All the great writers drank whiskey,” Rod replied, refilling his glass. Christian doesn't say anything, just waits for Rod to start talking. Rod releases his anger. “I’m still pissed at you,” pointing his finger at Christian, whiskey sloshing around in his glass, “And I’m pissed at my mother... for leaving. She could have stayed and tried to be his friend, or... She doesn't even know that he’s dead, or even that he was sick! It’s not right, after everything they shared, that she wasn’t here for him.” Christian challenges Rod that he's not stating who he's the most angry with -- Terrence. Lauren’s at her penthouse on Central Park West when there was a knock at the door. Lauren opens it to Carina, but just as soon wants to slam it in her face. Carina forces her way in. “You haven’t returned my calls, your secretary says you’ve been out of the office, but YOU told me the way she phrases that lie to people you don’t want to see,” Carina tells her, intent to prove she knows Lauren well. “Take the hint,” Lauren shuts her down. “No! I don’t know how the hell I got here. I was a complete peon. A nobody. Some orderly changing bedpans at a hospital because it seemed like the easiest place to live my life going unnoticed because it was too embarrassing to be recognized for the worthless, untrained girl who barely snagged her high school diploma. And you looked at me and saw more... potential. I didn’t know what it felt like for someone to believe in me. My sister always just expected me to catch up to her, but it was always carrying that undertone of ‘what’s taking you so long to live up to my standards?’... I just wanted to give you the same kind of support. You plucked me out of obscurity, but yet you have practically exiled yourself to obscurity. How does that make any sense?” Carina implores her. “It’s not for you to understand. I took pity on you,” Lauren’s words cut into Carina, “You chose obscurity. You decided somewhere along the line that your sister was worth more, a better person, smarter, prettier, whatever. You bought into the hype and you hid from every opportunity because you assumed you’d fail. You started to grow frustrated with yourself, restless, and I opened a door for you, only for you to move to the next phase – sabotaging yourself – and blowing your opportunity. Caring about each other is not in the contract, and you have no place in my life.” Carina couldn’t help but notice Lauren said they “care about each other,” and took that as a sign... Carina grabbed Lauren’s face and kissed her passionately. Lauren tried to resist this time, but couldn’t, and their lips battled for control. Evan arrives with a guard at Ford’s cell, and Ford’s surprised, “to what do I owe this pleasure?” Ford asked. “You’re a lucky man,” Evan informed him, “Leo Von Stadt has dropped the charges. It’s obvious to him that you’re a lowly thug who wouldn’t benefit from jail time... you obviously never did before. But take this as a free pass, Mr. Collins... and make the most of it. If you have any kind of rateable I.Q., you’ll disappear, never to be heard from again.” Evan’s suggestions seem to fall on deaf ears, because Ford insists, “But, I still have just so much to say...” Shawn called Henry and insisted on a meeting with him at Henry’s penthouse at The Dorilton. Shawn told Henry what a mistake he’s making – because Shawn knows all about VSI’s shady dealings, from armed robbery to the international drug trade! Shawn offers up the details, names, places, prices, that Henry would need to know that Shawn was telling the truth, not bluffing. Henry was curious as to what Shawn wanted. “A seat... on VSI’s Board of Directors, and for Leo to report to me!” Henry turned the tables on Shawn, who found himself sealed up in a secret room behind a wall at Henry’s place! “Don’t analyze me!” Rod shouts at Christian, refilling his whiskey again, “But yeah, so what if I am mad at him?! He shouldn’t have gotten sick... he damn sure shouldn’t have died! He shouldn’t have even been gay!” Rod gets emotional, sorry for lashing out at his dead father. Rod downs another shot of whiskey, as does Christian, who works a little harder to choke the whiskey down as quickly as Rod can. Rod tells Christian, “I didn't understand at first, how my father could have walked through a fog most of his life and still appeared so happy. So many years, I wanted to grow up to be just like him... It felt like he had lived a lie... but... I know now that it wasn't. I got a new understanding after transferring to Large Bar. I guess I... I realized I’ve been living in a fog of my own.” Rod's gaze lingers on Christian for a few seconds too long, and Christian didn't quite understand what Rod meant. Rod breaks down that he misses his father so much. No matter what, he had the best father anyone could have asked for. Christian comforts him and holds his face, realizing Rod looks so much like his father. Especially his sad eyes. There's a tense, sad moment between them. Tear-stained faces, they're staring into each other's eyes, looking for any last piece of Terrence that he left behind. Rod kisses Christian, surprising him. But it felt so good. For Christian, it almost felt like Terrence. Christian gave into it, the comfort of the kiss. The kissing turned more passionate, more aggressive. They were soon taking refuge from their overwhelming grief by getting lost in the beginnings of sex. Growing more aggressive still, Rod presses Christian against the wall, biting at his lip while Christian is giving as good as he gets. Rod rips Christian's shirt off, sending buttons flying in all directions. Christian yanks Rod by his hair and bites at his neck. Meanwhile, Crystal has gone to the drug store to buy some Pepto Bismol and a few other necessities. In Rod's room, they're now both in their underwear, and Rod shoves Christian down on the bed. Rod reaches in the nightstand drawer and produces a condom, tearing the wrapper open with his teeth as Christian bites at Rod's chest. Crystal arrives in her own bathroom, drinking the pepto bismol directly from the bottle and looking at herself in the mirror. Christian is kissing/licking down Rod's body as Rod tightly grips the headboard behind his head. At Crystal's, a timer goes off, and she looks at two blue lines on a stick. Looking at herself in the mirror again, she confirms to herself -- "Pregnant." Week 3: The Morning After the First Day of the Rest of Your Life The next morning, Crystal stands in her bedroom, in front of a full-length mirror. She doesn’t have a very expressive look on her face. Just pensive. Crystal rolls up the bottom of her shirt to reveal her stomach to the mirror. With one hand holding up the shirt, the other runs across her stomach. Crystal turns to show more of her profile to the mirror. Crystal arches her back and sticks her stomach out as far as she can, simulating as best she can a full term pregnancy. Crystal picks up her cell phone and calls Rod. At the Applewhite brownstone, Rod is sleeping with an arm around Christian when the cell phone wakes them both up. The loud ringing of the phone is highly disturbing, since both Rod and Christian have killer hangovers. Rod looks at the screen of his phone, and seeing it’s Crystal calling him brings a dose of reality back to Rod the minute he’s been awakened. Rod selects ‘ignore’ for Crystal’s call. Christian immediately remembers and regrets his actions from last night, and gets up to get dressed. Rod asks Christian where he's going, since they need to discuss last night. Christian doesn't see why... denying anything happened last night outside of getting too drunk. It's clear Christian wants to forget the night ever happened. Obviously that’ll be much easier said than done... Carina woke up to an empty bed, and feared Lauren left again. But Lauren returned with hot coffee. Lauren had been up for a while, watching Carina sleep. She crawls back into bed, under the covers with her and looks at her matter-of-factly. “You scare me,” Lauren confesses. Carina’s shocked. “Carina, you are so much like me. You just have no idea. You’re the girl my parents always wanted me to be. I bet your family had very traditional ideas for you... a good education, a good, strong, handsome husband, just like all the boys Aviva brought around... and maybe you didn’t know what you wanted to do, but you know you didn’t want to be a sequel to Aviva. But where I cut myself off from my family and pursued success, you cut yourself off from your family and just floated along, content to do nothing... be nothing. And you’re proving all of them right about you, when you should be proving to them that you could be so much more than their tired little plans for you. Be more.” Carina knows now that she can. Lauren retracts Carina’s termination. Eddie sympathizes with Didi’s rough time landing a job in New York, with the economy in a tailspin. Eddie puts a good word in with Eleanor, recommending his sister, and Eleanor agrees to take a chance on Didi. Rod’s been taking time off grieving for Terrence, so her staff has been spread thin between her two establishments. Eddie’s eternally grateful for the help, and Didi is thrilled at the idea of all the fascinating people she will meet waiting tables in New York. Lauren and Carina are still in bed. Lauren’s stroking Carina’s hair. “I’m Linda,” Lauren admits, answering Carina’s question from weeks ago, “Well... I was. Linda from Bay Ridge Brooklyn, from a big Italian-American family. The biggest cliche you can find in Brooklyn. Mom and Pop argued every day and ate pasta every night. My father was a union worker, and my mother a begrudging, but dutiful housewife. Two sisters and one brother, who went off to serve in Vietnam. He died the year he was deployed. He didn’t even want to go... he didn’t even believe in war, but my parents encouraged him to serve our country honorably. I guess I didn’t want to just follow blindly and have regrets. So as soon as I was old enough, I left my family to get a degree in business... I never looked back. I don’t know if my family is alive or dead, if my little sisters got married, had children. I changed my name at 21, and the business world has only known me as Lauren Sapphyre. The file you read is about a child I had. I gave it my birth name because it was a product of a life I didn’t want. I married a man in my 20s, Andros... for business. He had power and I thought I wanted to acquire that power, but I realized it wasn’t the way. I wanted to leave him, but he was very strong-willed... very European. I became pregnant... against my will. Andros died soon after that... through some business connection, some deal that went bad. I can’t say that I mourned him. But I couldn’t love his child, so I gave it up. Evan was the attorney that brokered the adoption, he had a lot of experience in the field. But whatever life my child had is none of my business, so I don’t want to discuss it again. Can you respect that?” Lauren asked her. Carina could sense this was a deal-breaker, it seemed this affected Lauren more than she was willing to discuss. But Carina was touched that Lauren had shared so much personal information, and agreed to let the subject rest. “Do you know why you’re here?” Dr. Lynn West asked Ava, who sat across from her at Shady Glen in sweatpants. “Yes, so you can make me all better so I will disappear and Aviva will come back,” Ava mocked her. “Actually right now we’re just trying to determine why you exist,” Dr. West corrects her. Ava looks at her like she’s a moron, “To handle the tough stuff, make the hard choices.” Dr. West asks if the hard choices mean kidnapping an NYPD detective and Aviva’s boyfriend, giving a woman a skull fracture, burglary... “Well... they weren’t such tough decisions,” Ava laughs to herself. Dr. West asks to speak to Aviva. Ava tells her it’s not possible... Aviva’s gone for good. Fiona returns to her apartment looking exhausted. Leo is glad to see her and asks how the cleanup of the brownstone went after the gathering. “Oh the caterers took care of everything. Earned every penny of their fee,” she said, half-caring, and collapsing on her couch. Leo sits next to her and puts his arm around her to comfort her. She stares straight ahead, “I thought it would be a relief coming here,” Fiona shares, “but it’s not. I’m never going to see my father again. I can never ask his advice, I can’t call him to complain about my boss, I can’t grab a late night bowl of ice cream with him and talk about the everyday contradictions in life. He’s really gone. And that’s it. My father’s dead and I don’t know if I’ll ever see my mother again.” Leo isn’t used to Fiona sharing her feelings with him, “Fiona, I’m here for you... you can complain about your boss to me... we can wake up at 2am for ice cream,” Leo suggests, thinking he’s helping. Fiona laughs, then turns deadly serious, “Don’t. Don’t even try to offer to fill the void my father left because that’s just laughable. Knee-slapping hysterical.” Leo is caught off-guard by Fiona’s hostility, and wonders where it’s coming from. “How am I supposed to turn to you,” Fiona asks seriously, “when I don’t even know who the hell you are.” Leo swears he’s an open book. Fiona challenges him, “Then tell me... how long has VSI been in the drug business?” Jenna couldn’t reach Shawn for days, and starts to worry, since Shawn usually tells her when he travels for business. Eddie starts to worry too, and shares his concerns with Thomas. Thomas didn’t know of any scheduled trip Shawn was supposed to be taking. “Lose track of your latest squeeze?” Trevor Allen whispered in Jenna’s ear, stepping around her after she hung up from her latest phone call to Shawn. Jenna seems flustered to see him. “What business is it of yours?” Jenna wondered. “Well I never like to see a beautiful woman without sufficient company,” Trevor winked. Jenna resisted his attempts to flirt with her, “What the hell have you been doing in New York all these weeks anyway?” Trevor smiled at her change of subject, “L.A. has gotten so tiresome. And what’s a talent manager to do when the talent pool goes stagnant? Find a new pool...” Jenna translates that to mean he’s run out of people to squeeze money out of on the west coast, so he hoped to find new, fat wallets in the east. Trevor claims innocence, “There are so many talented people out there in the world, just waiting to have their stories told, their voices heard... if I can make that happen, don’t I deserve a percentage of their realized dreams?” Jenna laughs, “You definitely found the perfect line of work for the textbook opportunist that you are.” Trevor laughs back, “Nice work if you can get it!” Trevor insists Jenna have dinner with him. Jenna says she’s with an amazing man named Shawn Marks now. Trevor reminds her that she seems to have misplaced this Shawn person. Jenna’s sure that he’ll turn up. Christian is haunted by memories of his night with Rod, while Rod has marks on his body that Christian left behind. Christian decides to leave town and researches a plane ticket. Rod finds Christian's research and confronts Christian about deciding to leave. “Rod, come on, there's nothing left for me here... I look around this room, every room, and... everything reminds me of Terrence, what we had, what we’re never going to have,” Christian admits. Rod thought that being in the place he spent the most time with Terrence would be a comfort to Christian. Rod thinks Christian is running away because of what happened between them the other night. Christian refuses to talk about it. “Well I refuse to ignore it,” Rod shouts, “because I’ve never done anything like that before and now I’m avoiding Crystal's calls, I’m wearing turtlenecks to cover the marks you left on my body... Christian, this happened for a reason. We need to figure out what got us here,” Rod is determined. “WE... don’t need to do anything,” Christian remains firm. Leo’s shocked at Fiona’s question. She keeps on, “Come on Leo... let’s have it! Was VSI always a front for drug trafficking or is this something the company branched out into later on, after it established itself as one of the fortune 500?” Leo doesn’t know what to say. Fiona just smiles to herself, “You must think I’m just a complete fool. I’ve known for months, Leo! Putting your head together with Dominic Soletti in corners of crowded rooms, right around the time my friend Eddie overdosed. Pretending to ‘meet’ Dominic in front of me? That’s what I was talking about so intensely with your father back at the bachelor auction. I offered my help if some of your company’s illegal drugs could prolong my father’s life. I admit, THAT was naive of me, but I’ve been blinded by grief for months anyway. But hey, your father actually paid for all my father’s hospital bills, drug treatments, pretty much his entire wedding... But I guess he didn’t tell you about any of this? You look a little shocked.” Fiona says, understating things a bit. “Do you want me to leave?” Leo asks her, not sure what else to say. It doesn’t even seem like Fiona wants an explanation, she just seems content to lash out. “I really couldn’t give a damn what you do, Leo, honestly,” Fiona admits, getting up and leaving almost as quickly as she sat down. James arrives at the hospital with flowers for Julia, but a nurse tells him she took a few personal days off to leave town. James is surprised Julia did so without telling him, and wondered if he did something to upset her. Dr. West tells Ava that by all accounts, Aviva can’t disappear forever. Ava begs to differ. Dr. West wants to go back to Ava’s earliest memory. Ava refuses. Dr. West insists that alternate personalities exist to help the original personality cope. That’s what Dr. West wants as well. Ava remains quiet. Dr. West tries another angle, “Ava, it must be tiring... frustrating... to exist as the keeper of secrets, the bodyguard. Wouldn’t unburdening yourself free you to live more of the life you want to live for yourself? If Aviva’s really gone?” Ava seems intrigued by the doctor’s theory. Thomas arranges another family dinner for the Baldwins and Jenna realizes upon arrival at The Redeye, seeing Dana and Rebecca in attendance, that this is Jenna’s opportunity to do the tapdance of her life to get a much bigger chunk of her father’s money. Theodore is surprised that Edina recognizes Dana as a troubled girl from the hospital. Dana explains that she was having a hard time until recently. Theodore wondered what the turnaround was. Thomas interjects that Dana had help. Jenna is blindsided by Thomas’s awareness of Jenna’s “help” for Dana. Jenna fears Thomas knows about her original plan to deceive the family, but Jenna clings to the confidence that Dana really IS her daughter in case Thomas accuses it of being a lie. Christian makes it as far as the airport, but Rod follows him there. “Okay, so maybe you aren’t willing to stay for me,” Rod says, startling Christian. Christian’s furious Rod won’t leave him alone. Rod is persistent, “You should at least stay for the reading of my father’s will. I’m sure there’s something that he must have wanted you to have, you were everything to him.” Christian agrees to stay for the will reading, “But Rod, my plans haven’t changed... I’m planning to leave directly after.” Ramon visits Shady Glen Sanitarium, and checks to ensure Esther Wilson is admitted. She is, which is a relief to Ramon because of Rolo’s stabbing. While there, Ramon asks to speak with Dr. West, who is assigned to Aviva’s case. “How is she? Has Aviva... ‘resurfaced’?” Ramon asks, concern heavy in his voice. Dr. West tells him she can’t discuss Aviva’s case with anyone but her family members or her legal team. Ramon tells her that Aviva’s sister doesn’t care about her and her parents are nowhere to be found. He insists he’s the closest thing to family she has. Dr. West says from all indications, he’s also the latest trigger to Aviva’s illness, so he needs to find a different way to deal with his guilt because his presence could be harmful to Aviva’s recovery. Ramon’s upset by this, and it strikes a nerve with him. At The Redeye, Dana confesses to the Baldwins that Jenna helped her, gave her money, enrolled her at Hunter College, found her housing in the dorms. Theodore’s face lit up at the notion that Jenna actually had a selfless bone in her body. Dana bursts his bubble quickly, explaining there was a price for Jenna’s favors: Dana had to defraud the Baldwins and make believe she was Jenna’s daughter! Theodore couldn’t understand why. Dana continued, “to get her hands deeper into the family vault!” Theodore is disappointed, but not surprised, as he’s not wanted to believe Thomas’s warnings for nearly a year now. Thomas interjects that Jenna’s plan didn’t account for the possibility that it was true. “What?!” Jenna explodes off her seat, gasping and clutching her chest at the “news”, making efforts to embrace Dana. Dana shoves Jenna away. Dana explains that the first red flag was that the details Jenna wanted Dana to feed to Thomas were oddly consistent with what Dana knew of her birth mother. Dana drops her head in shame, “I didn’t want it to be true,” her eyes tearing up, “I didn’t want to think my real birth mother would be so selfish and deceptive. I am SO sorry for the money that she used in this scam and of course I will leave Hunter College and that will be that. Obviously, I didn’t find the mother I was hoping to find.” Looking around the table, Jenna realizes that Dana has completely turned Jenna’s deception to Dana’s own advantage, and turned the entire family against Jenna. Henry finally visits Shawn after keeping him locked in the secret room for days. “How long do you plan to keep me here?! People are going to wonder what happened to me! What, are you planning to kill me?” Shawn worried. “If I was planning to kill you, you’d be dead,” Henry says candidly. “I’m releasing you,” Henry surprises him, “And I’m agreeing to your terms.” Henry wants to remind Shawn that Henry holds the true power. Henry warns Shawn, “The deeper within the company you choose to go, Mr. Marks, the higher the risk that if VSI were to ever fall, you would fall along with it. Are you certain you want to take that risk?” Shawn is pleased Henry is willing to make the investment in him, and is committed to doing his part to make sure VSI will never fall. “Good...” Henry says, “and don’t ever attempt to blackmail me again, Mr. Marks.” Ramon visits Carina at her apartment and Carina groans at the sight of him. “Listen, Ramon, I’m really over all this. Aviva obviously needed help, she’s getting it, I can’t help her, so leave me the hell alone!” Ramon refuses to accept that, and lets himself in. “I know you’re a lost cause,” Ramon regrets, “but you do have one bit of information that can still help me... I want to know where your parents are.” Crystal continues to try to get in touch with Rod, who continues to avoid her. She shares her concerns with Fiona that Rod is self-destructing after his father's death. Fiona tracks down her brother and sees he is in deep turmoil and tries to get him to open up. Rod finally asks Fiona if she ever questioned her sexuality after their dad came out of the closet. Fiona never really did, but wants to know why Rod's asking. Rod admits that something happened -- he and Christian kissed (Rod doesn't reveal that they went a lot further than kissing!) Fiona is shocked! Week 4: Last Will and Testament Fiona assumes Christian made a pass at Rod and is furious that their father isn't even cold in the ground before Christian tried to move down the family tree. Rod tells her that's not the way it happened -- Rod kissed Christian. Fiona is shocked all over again! Fiona asked Rod what possessed him! Rod wasn't sure. Rod admits to Fiona that ever since he met Christian, he's been so consumed with everything about him. Fiona thought it was concern for Dad. Rod thought so too... at first. But now... Rod isn't so sure. Fiona wonders if Rod has kissed any other men, and Rod confirms no. Fiona asks about Crystal. Rod hasn't even thought about what it means for them. Rod then admits that he called out Christian's name one night when he was having sex with Crystal! Fiona urges Rod to sort out his feelings quickly before things go any further. Rod doesn't know if it's possible to explore things quickly. Rod knows he doesn't want Christian to leave, and that's all Rod DID want when Terrence was alive. Fiona expresses her support whichever way Rod goes, and hopes that if he needs to sort things out further, he will trust her with it. Julia sat at her father’s gravesite in Chicago, staring at his headstone. “I didn’t know that you cheated on mom,” Julia told him, “I’m not surprised, I could always tell you were sad. But I didn’t come here to judge you. I’m not sure why I came here... for closure I guess? I never thought I’d get it. No matter what you did, no one has the right to decide who dies before their time. I became a doctor to give everybody every opportunity to live the longest they could... even though you never had that option. And while the person that killed you isn’t in jail... they are locked away, where they can’t hurt anyone anymore, and they don’t have much to their life... they’re sort of locked away in their own head. I don’t think any resolution could have made me happy... but this is one that I can at least live with. And I hope it will let you rest in peace. I miss you, Dad,” Julia cries, placing a kiss with her fingers on her father’s headstone. Julia’s slightly startled by a hand on her shoulder, but comforted to find that it’s James. Theodore won’t hear of his granddaughter sacrificing her education and offers to pull some strings as faculty to get the “family discount” on tuition. Jenna decides to switch gears and play remorseful. She admits to her wrongdoing, but claims that once she started thinking about her long, lost daughter again, the maternal feelings that she hadn’t felt since her pregnancy started to creep back in. Dana scoffed at Jenna’s claim, demanding to know, if there were all these “maternal feelings” why Jenna even gave her up for adoption, then? Jenna pulled the youth and poverty card, not being able to provide for a child and just wanting to give her a good life. Theodore couldn’t believe Jenna would endure an entire pregnancy and not even tell him so he could help her. Jenna claimed she didn’t want to burden him, he’d just had Thomas, started a brand new family with Edina, and was getting used to having a baby in the house all over again. Jenna wouldn’t have wanted to complicate things at the time, and was ashamed about her situation. Jenna hopes to have a fresh start with Dana and promises Theodore he will not need to be bothered with any of Dana’s financial needs, Jenna will handle everything. “Actually, my dear, I will handle everything,” Theodore corrected her, taking the wind out of Jenna’s sails. Carina urges Ramon, “You’ve gotta learn to let go, Ramon. This is getting obsessive.” Ramon doesn’t want anything from Carina but phone numbers and addresses. Carina surrenders, “Fine, I can get you in contact with my mother, but I have no idea where my father is.” Ramon accepts that, “It’s a start, thank you,” Ramon says. Carina looks through a small notebook and copies some info down onto a piece of paper, and rips it out for him. Evan holds the will reading, and Fiona notices things are chilly between Christian and Rod. Fiona privately tells Christian that Rod told her what happened between them after the memorial service. Christian is shocked and denies all, then Fiona reveals that Rod said they kissed (only). Christian is relieved and admits it was a surprise, but obviously something Rod needs to work out himself. Fiona asks Christian to stay, regardless of the will reading, and Christian isn't sure why. Fiona admits it's selfish... Christian knew Terrence in his truest form, and Fiona and Rod aren't ready to let go of that yet. Fiona believes they all need to grieve together, at least for the time being, because they all knew Terrence best. Christian will think about it. Theodore informs Jenna that she will have her hands full keeping Baldwin Enterprises afloat, so Theodore will oversee Dana’s expenses and tuition. Theodore also wants Jenna to find a new place to live. Jenna is stunned, “You’re kicking me out?! But... I... My new Jacuzzi was just delivered!” Jenna exclaims. Dana can’t help but let out a laugh at the shallowness of Jenna’s priority list. Theodore continues somberly, “Your secret agendas have been in play for far too long and I’ve not been able to admit that the trust between us has been eroded. You have a week to find a new place,” Theodore’s voice cracks, betraying the fact that he’s not happy to make this decision. Jenna is speechless to see her father do what she thought he never would. Thomas is also surprised that this was Theodore’s breaking point. And no one even raised their voice. Julia and James sit down at a Chicago diner. “How did you even find me?” Julia asked. “Well I know you’ve been struggling with this and I figured the one place you could go to close the book on it would be here. I wasn’t sure if I should have come, I mean, you didn’t even tell me you were leaving NY,” James admitted. “No, I thought I should do this by myself, I mean I’ve lived with this hanging over me all these years with no one to go to about it, so I figured I’d see it through to the end on my own. But... I’m glad you came. I think I’m starting to like not having to handle everything on my own,” Julia smiles, fitting her hand into James’s. Jenna puts on a brave face as she comes to terms with being kicked out of the Baldwin home. But she can’t even be mad at Thomas. Dana did this. Jenna tracks Dana down at her dormroom. Dana opens the door to Jenna and without a word Jenna steps in and slaps her – HARD – across the face! Dana seems almost satisfied to have inspired such a reaction from her biological mother. Jenna rails at Dana, accusing this of being Dana’s plan all along, throwing herself into Jenna’s life and deliberately dismantling it, all the while playing the poor, abandoned baby card, “but let me tell you something kiddo, anything you can dream up, I’ve already done it, and two times better.” Jenna informs her. Dana goes on the defensive, “You don’t even have any right to be mad at me for this. You started this, you are the one who decided after all these years that acknowledging the daughter you tossed aside was finally going to get you something. And it turned around and bit you on the ass... cost you pretty much everything,” Dana said smugly, as if she’d been waiting to say this to Jenna her whole life. Jenna starts to leave. “Where are you going?” Dana asks, not ready to end the confrontation. Jenna tells her, “I think I’ll invest some of what little money I have left in a family planning center. Maybe help save some other poor soul from their biggest mistake coming back to haunt them in 20 years or so,” Jenna smirks, leaving. Lauren finds Eleanor late at night at The Redeye, sitting alone at a table, staring at a glass of vodka. “Eleanor?” Lauren approaches her, trying to break her out of her trance, “Trying to move it with your mind?” Eleanor is shaken and smiles to Lauren, “If only I could,” Eleanor gestures at the empty seat across from her, inviting Lauren to join her. Lauren sits. “I came here to have dinner with my friend Terrence Applewhite,” Eleanor told her. Lauren recognizes the name, “Didn’t he recently pass away?” Eleanor confirms that he did, but shared that it was their usual night to have dinner together. “I thought I’d come and see if I could still feel him here with me. I... don’t. You always hear about these people who feel the presence of those that they’ve lost, around them all the time... But I never do. I never felt my father’s presence, my husband... Maybe I just don’t know how to recognize it. Or maybe there really isn’t anything after death. Maybe that’s just... it... Done... Fade to black, curtain call.” Lauren realizes she stumbled upon a heavy night for Eleanor. “Why the drink?” Lauren inquires. Eleanor refocuses her gaze upon the glass in front of her, “I told myself it was for Terrence. I... I’m not supposed to drink. It’s a crutch, I’ve found, since my husband died. I haven’t touched the drink, since they put it here. Just stared at it.” Lauren’s watching her, “Eleanor are you alright?” Eleanor looks back up at Lauren, looking truly perplexed at the question. “I don’t know.” Lauren asks if she should call someone for her, “Henry perhaps?” Eleanor tells her no, “He’s been a crutch too. Which is so unfair to him. He’s such a good man, I mean... I even stabbed the man... and he still wants me around, in his life.” Eleanor realizes her statement surprised Lauren, and explained it was a medication mix-up and the stabbing was brought on by hallucinations. Lauren’s not particularly comforted by the clarification. Lauren tries to get to the heart of the matter, “Eleanor, I don’t know you very well, but... I get the impression that you think too much. And in my experience, those who spend so much time analyzing their situation, finally look up and find they no longer have a situation. You seem stuck. On hold. And no one is going to walk in here and give you a map and tell you what the next step is. You’re standing still, Eleanor, and no drink is going to take you in any direction. I know Henry, somewhat. He’s a shrewd man, clever, a little calculating. But if there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s making a choice. I’m pretty good at that myself. You are a beautiful woman, with decent income, two established businesses, two lovely daughters... you have a lot of things that can bring you joy. But you’re just stuck. Stuck in ‘what was’ with your late husband. And I know it’s easy when a close friend dies, to get drawn back into previous losses, but... in the last year of your life, has fixating on your husband’s death gotten you anywhere? Maybe now’s the time to choose to move forward. Think about it.” Lauren gets up, leaving Eleanor with her glass of vodka. Eleanor stares at it for a few seconds more before moving it away from her. Shawn leaves a message for Eddie to come over to Shawn’s place to celebrate his promotion. Eddie is thrilled to. But Shawn’s next visitor is Jenna, needing a place to live! Sha

September 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <<< Previously on Beyond the Horizon, people embraced their dark sides, while others opted for happiness in August... Eddie (Jeffrey Carlson) coldly shut out Edina (Ilene Kristen) until he returned from his trip to Canada. Ava (Christina Chambers), with nowhere to turn, became fast friends with Ford Collins (David Chisum), who roped her into a burglary job for Leo (Jeff Branson). Lauren Sapphyre (Lynn Herring) was impressed by Carina’s (Natalia Livingston) fiery passion, and chose Carina to be the face of “Artemis”! Eleanor (Catherine Hickland) came up empty when trying to get Esther (Kathleen Widdoes) to incriminate Hattie (Kate Collins) in her late husband Larry Lawless’s death. Henry (Sebastian Roché) offered to fly the entire wedding party to Canada on the VSI jet for Terrence’s (Walt Willey) wedding to Christian (David Evan Smith). Shawn (Tobias Truvillion) was caught in the middle of Jenna (Kari Wuhrer), his date for Terrence and Christian’s wedding, and Eddie, the man he wanted to be with, and right under the noses of his bosses Henry and Leo. Julia (Melissa Archer) and James (Alec Musser) rescued a malnourished and weak Ramon (Kamar de los Reyes) and Nathan (Jason Thompson), and saved the life of injured Rachel (Sherri Saum). Rolo (Ignacio Serricchio) realized that he slept with alternate personality Ava, and was threatened by Hattie for breaking Tiffany’s (Ambyr Childers) heart. Fashionista Valentina Gembressi (Vanessa Williams) descended upon New York when she learned her daughter Rachel had been attacked. Eddie reunited with sister Didi (Kelli Giddish) in Quebec and included her in Terrence and Christian’s wedding, where she had fun mingling. Henry appeared to be remorseful about his role in Charles Halperin’s death, and ordered Leo to abandon the quest for the evidence left to Eleanor. Thomas (Bobby Steggert) and Rebecca (Lindze Letherman) caught Eddie and Shawn in a compromising position, and struggled with whether to rock Jenna’s world with the news. Fear of losing Christian to his marriage to Terrence caused Dominic (William Shew) to drink too much and spill to Shawn about his and Ford’s roles in Rod’s shooting back in March, and that he was working for Henry and Leo. Shawn realized that this information could get him exactly where he wanted to be. Rod (Forbes March) put his reservations aside and went to participate in his father’s wedding to Christian. Crystal (Kerry Butler) got a surprise when talent manager Trevor Allen (Tuc Watkins) expressed professional interest in her after hearing her on karaoke night. Ramon returned home from the hospital to discover Rolo had been stabbed! Terrence collapsed after his return to New York and the Applewhites were devastated to hear this may be Terrence’s last month to live. Hattie interrupted Ford and Ava’s burglary attempt. Shawn was reunited with his mother Valentina, who pulled her gowns from Lauren Sapphyre’s "Artemis" campaign at the last minute. >>> Opening Sequence Watch the Opening Sequence on YouTube! <<< Terrence must face the truth that he will die soon. Christian and Fiona try to keep Terrence's spirits up, but Rod begins distancing himself again. Jenna wastes no time in making a beeline to Lauren Sapphyre to secure an investment. Lauren is hesitant and will only consider the investment if it involves Lauren reaping 50% of the profits. Jenna is incredulous, but Lauren insists that 50% capital should garner 50% profits. Jenna reluctantly agrees, and Lauren agrees to consider the request. Rachel Marks finally awoke, shocked to find her mother and brother at her bedside. “Wow, a girl’s got to get bludgeoned to make mommy’s calendar, huh?” Rachel cracked. Valentina swore she wasn’t going to lecture her about the danger of Rachel’s line of work, but it ended up sounding like a lecture anyway. “If you go getting yourself attacked because you stuck your nose into someone’s private business, who is going to be around to keep your little brother out of trouble?!” Valentina continued her non-lecture. Rachel brushed off her mother’s pleas, “Please, Shawn is so focused and driven he doesn’t have time for scandal.” “Well I’m glad you’re bouncing back, dear,” Valentina assured her daughter, “but I must be off or I’ll miss my plane,” she added, getting up and turning to Shawn, “Talk her into becoming a librarian or something?” Valentina suggested, garnering laughs. “No one has ever famously tried to kill a librarian!” Valentina hammered at her point, as she raced out the door. Rachel looked at her brother in shock, “What, was that two whole conscious minutes with my mother in... three years?” Shawn smiled, “Consider yourself lucky, I would have given anything for a hairline skull fracture about three minutes before you came to.” Detective Nathan Weber and some uniformed officers storm the Von Stadt penthouse at The Dorilton and capture the would-be thieves! Ford and Ava are caught, and Hattie is somewhat shaken. Nathan advises her to go home and have some tea to calm her nerves. Nathan will be by her place later, to take her statement. Nathan feels victorious to have recaptured Ava, who stands to be tried for many more crimes than just burglary! Within hours of Ramon leaving the hospital fully recovered, he returned with his wounded brother Rolo, who was clinging to life! Rolo had lost a lot of blood, according to Dr. Julia Lawless, and she’d see what she could do to save him. Ramon worried he would lose his brother, and couldn’t imagine who would do this to him. Ramon feared this was a sign that Ava wasn’t through with her quest for vengeance. Henry, Eleanor, and Leo return to the Von Stadt Penthouse to find a team of police there, taking photographs and collecting evidence. “What is going on here? What’s the meaning of this?” Henry demands to know. The officers tell Henry it was an attempted burglary, and immediately Henry is suspicious because there is high-tech security in the penthouse and the building. Burglars couldn’t have made it as far as they did without help... some kind of information. Eleanor realizes her belongings have been rifled through, and Henry realizes Leo may have ordered action to be taken outside of Henry’s direct orders to cancel their plans for Eleanor. Henry leaves, to find more details. Nathan knocked on Hattie’s door, to collect her official statement about walking in on the burglars at the Von Stadt penthouse, but inside Hattie’s apartment, she sat on her couch staring at the bloody kitchen knife in her hand! Hattie was frozen, speechless, transfixed, until Det. Nathan’s continual knocking shook her back to reality. Hattie looked around, unsure of what to do with this damning piece of evidence, until she spotted a roll of paper towels. She wrapped the knife heavily with the paper towels, and sat it outside on her fire escape. “Coming! Just a second!” Hattie called to Nathan, vigorously scrubbing the bloodstains from her hands. Realizing she couldn’t get them out of her skin so quickly, she threw on some rubber gloves and ran to answer the door. Thanks to the knife, she’d forgotten all about the burglary at the Von Stadt penthouse. “What a pleasant surprise, I was just washing some dishes,” Hattie smiled, throwing Nathan off, since she should have been expecting him. After giving Nathan her statement about the burglary, he left, and Hattie called Esther, ordering her to return to the apartment. Evan was notified that Ava had been apprehended. Evan went to visit her at lockup and wanted details of her crimes. Ava swore she’d been set up, blaming Ford, who had told her his boss wanted him to rob him. Meanwhile, at Ford’s cell, Henry Von Stadt turns up. Ford is surprised, “Well, well, well. The big cheese himself, paying the lowly thug a visit.” Henry has never been amused by Ford, “What possessed you to burgle my apartment?” Ford insists he was just working a job, a job Leo hired him for. Henry couldn’t decide if the news surprised him. Ultimately, it didn’t. Henry was able to extract from Ford that Leo told him to trash some expensive items and grab things like electronics that could store information, books, significant-looking keepsakes. It was obvious to Henry that Leo had no intention of giving up the search for Charles Halperin’s incriminating evidence. Ramon visited Rachel at her room while waiting to hear about his brother’s surgery. “How are you doing?” he asked her, a tone much less hostile than how he normally spoke to her. “I’ve got a bitch of a pounding headache,” Rachel attempted to joke. Ramon didn’t find it funny, but appreciated Rachel’s effort. Ramon apologized for his part in Rachel landing here. Ramon felt like a fool for not realizing Aviva was behind all the threats. Rachel didn’t blame him. Obviously Aviva had a lot of issues Ramon didn’t know about. It may mean Ramon’s a little dense and a little self-involved, but doesn’t mean he’s to blame. “Thanks... I think,” Ramon smirked briefly. Rachel sensed there was more hanging over Ramon’s head. Ramon told her of Rolo’s stabbing. Rachel was shocked, “Aviva wouldn’t...” Ramon didn’t know how to respond, and shrugged, “I don’t know what she would do. Especially when she’s Ava.” Unaware of the falling out between Tiffany and Rolo, Julia called Tiffany to tell her that she just treated Rolo for a stabbing. Tiffany was horrified for him, and raced to the hospital. Rolo was recuperating from surgery, heavily medicated, and lying face down in the hospital bed. Tiffany hesitantly crept into Rolo’s room. Walking slowly up to his bedside, she couldn’t tell if he was conscious or not. “For what it’s worth, even though you betrayed me, and basically stabbed me in the back, I’d never wish this on you,” Tiffany said, her eyes watering. Terrence wants to make everything right before he passes. Christian is shocked when he demands to see his ex-wife Emma. Fiona makes it her personal mission to try to track down her mother and retains Rachel Marks's services to find her. Rachel offers to do as much as she can with a phone and a laptop (and a head injury!) from her hospital bed. Lauren consults with Henry for his professional opinion about doing business with Jenna. Henry supports Jenna’s talent, just not her tactics. Lauren believes an iron-clad contract can cut out the possibility of any funny business. Lauren has Evan draw up the contracts, and makes Evan part of the package deal since he is the only lawyer Lauren trusts implicitly. Jenna accepts the deal since she really has no choice. Lauren decides she will find offices for Baldwin Enterprises, and Jenna’s assignment is to come up with a line of Grecian Goddess dresses that Lauren can use in her “Artemis” campaign. Eddie visits Thomas as he takes a lunch break from VSI. They go to the Redeye, where Eddie wants to explain. Thomas can obviously see the situation is complicated and decides he has no intention of getting involved. Thomas realizes that any spilled secrets could be damaging to Eddie’s happiness and wouldn’t want to hurt him. Furthermore, Shawn is Thomas’s supervisor, so it could have negative implications on his future with VSI as well. Eddie appreciates Thomas’s consideration and the trust forming between them. Crystal knocks on Trevor Allen’s door at Upstart Agency, and Trevor welcomes her warmly. Crystal has a hard time hiding her nervousness, and Trevor tries to put her at ease. “There is no need to be nervous, trust me,” Trevor flashes a comforting smile that seems like a smile someone could believe in, “We just want to test the waters with a couple of producers, maybe get you in a studio and see how you sound ‘in the box’ as they say, get you working with a vocal coach for a few hours a week, and maybe a stylist to give her opinions and make you a little more glamorous and marketable,” Trevor finishes without losing the trademark smile. Crystal seems equal parts overwhelmed and judged by all of Trevor’s plans for her. She scrambles to find a question to ask, “Well... where do you see me going in the business?” Trevor doesn’t seem to have an answer to that on the tip of his tongue, but quickly pulls one together, “Straight to the top, baby!” Trevor infuses a contagious enthusiasm, which pulls Crystal right along. Ramon visits Carina at Sapphyre Cosmetics. He just heard from Nathan Weber that Aviva was arrested. “How the mighty have fallen,” Carina smirks to herself. “How can you be so cavalier about your sister when she’s been nothing but devoted to you?” Ramon wondered. Carina laughed, “Please! Aviva has never done a thing for me. Maybe she had the best of intentions, but her priority has always been her own success. What the hell do you want from me anyway? Sounds like she needs a lawyer a hell of a lot more than she needs me,” Carina huffs. Ramon wants answers. Details. Something from Aviva and Carina’s childhood that might have brought Aviva to this point. “Everything with Aviva was always perfect,” Carina groaned, “She had the model upbringing, was in a cushy boarding school through most of our parents breakup so she didn’t have to watch them fall apart like I did. And she landed herself a great job and always was in some kind of relationship with a man. I can’t help you Ramon. And if I were you, I’d be glad she showed herself for the freak of nature she was, accept that it was probably the pressure of being so perfect all the time that finally got to her, and take the opportunity to walk the hell away.” Ramon can’t believe Carina could care so little for her sister’s troubles, and leaves. Lauren couldn’t help but notice the broken relationship Carina had with her sister Aviva, and Carina fully expected Lauren to urge her to appreciate her sister. “And why would I do that?” Lauren challenged Carina’s expectations of her. “Well, you turned your back on your family and don’t know if they’re alive or dead, so I was expecting some speech about not missing opportunities, and remembering where you come from, and all that,” Carina speculated. Lauren just scoffed, “I’m not about to tell you how to live your life. What kind of hypocrite would I be? I’m sure you know what’s best for yourself.” Carina didn’t know how to process Lauren’s surprising confidence in her. Tiffany returns home and catches her frantic mother Hattie trying to dispose of a bloody kitchen knife! Tiffany is rendered speechless and starts to hyperventilate at the thought that her own mother stabbed Rolo. “You... you did this?! You did this to Rolo?!!” Tiffany accused her mother in a fit of rage and feeling betrayed. “No, honey, of course not...” Hattie insisted, “... Rolo was stabbed?” Hattie grew nervous at this news. Tiffany refused to believe her, “No, it all makes sense... Rolo left me a voicemail! He said you threatened him with a rake and he sounded terrified! You tried to finish him off!” Hattie grew frustrated and ordered Tiffany to sit down, shut up, and listen. Edina is at the hospital, and is assigned to the case of Dana Worthy (Brittany Underwood), a brunette young woman who came to the ER looking roughed up. Edina suspects Dana’s been living on the streets. Dana downplays her injuries and dashes out before Edina can get much information out of her. But Edina’s heart definitely goes out to the girl. Henry calls Leo into his office at VSI. “I know, I’m behind on the Olin Publishing reports, but I’m catching up right now, the trip set me back,” Leo made excuses for himself. “Oh not to worry about that, son,” Henry assured him, “You’re off that project, I’ve given it to Shawn, he’s better at multi-tasking anyway. You’re taking a few days off.” Henry’s declaration worries Leo. Henry realizes he should explain, “You’re moving. You’re probably late with your reports because you were conspiring with that ridiculous cretin Ford Collins to burglarize our penthouse. You’ve proven that you are out of control and can’t be trusted. What’s left of your things will be packed up and moved to a location of your choosing as of 5pm tomorrow. Give your forwarding address to Hattie when she comes in, so she can update the records.” Leo is outraged, “You can’t do this!” Henry, unfazed, simply tells him, “It’s done. And your assets will be frozen until everything that was stolen, broken, or damaged in the burglary is replaced.” “I want answers, mom, or I swear, the next thing I will do is call the cops... unless you want to stab me too!” Tiffany swears. Hattie takes a deep breath, “I need you to listen to me. I came home not too long ago, and had just left the Von Stadt penthouse. I was there to prepare for Henry and Leo’s return from Canada. I interrupted some burglars and called the police. The police came, made arrests, I made a statement, there is proof. If Rolo was stabbed, I have been with the police, Detective Weber is my alibi!” Tiffany is slightly convinced by the story, but skeptical, “What the hell is this knife then, mother?!” “When I came home,” Hattie continued, “it was just lying here. At first I was afraid that you’d done something. Now, after your accusations, I don’t know what to think. One option could be your professor, that unhinged woman Aviva... She was involved in the burglary, but perhaps she was trying to establish a twisted alibi for the time that Rolo was stabbed and the time she needed to plant the knife here...” Hattie speculated. “And the other option?” Tiffany prodded. Hattie was hesitant to speak it out loud, “... The other option... might be your grandmother.” Tiffany’s mouth dropped in horror. Lauren calls a board of directors meeting, summoning Theodore, Evan, Jenna, and James to the table, and it becomes clear just how much work Lauren is planning to hold them accountable for in getting Baldwin Enterprises off the ground. Frustrated and distraught after the meeting, Jenna goes driving in her car and accidentally hits a young brunette woman! Shaken, Jenna calls James and says she needs a dent on her car repaired! The girls wakes up, and it turns out she is Dana, who was seen earlier at the hospital. Dana claims she has neck, back, and leg injuries, and jokes, “Don’t bother calling 911 or anything.” Something familiar about the girl inspires Jenna to ask if she knows her from somewhere. The girl is certain Jenna doesn’t, and threatens to sue her for every penny she’s worth. Jenna writes her a check for $2,000. The girl stubbornly asks if it’s a bribe, and Jenna says it’s a settlement, and orders Dana to get out of there. Dana leaves, but still appears to have the upper hand. “My grandmother could have stabbed Rolo?! I just can’t see that...” Tiffany said, shaking her head. Hattie explained, “I’ve seen a lot of what your grandmother is capable of doing when she’s not being properly monitored. This is one of the reasons I was so adamant about leaving her institutionalized and letting you believe she had passed away! I fought like hell to keep her contained. If she’s not staying on her medication, or being monitored by medical professionals, I don’t know what lengths she might go to. But I have no idea where she is right now, so if she’s out there somewhere, wandering around, we need to find her to determine whether she did this to Rolo!” Hattie and Tiffany go out looking for her, hiding the knife in the stove. Crystal bounces into The Redeye and Eleanor is thrilled to see Crystal so happy for a change, “Honey, what has you lit up so brightly?!” Crystal shares her news about all the plans Trevor Allen has for her. Eleanor’s demeanor changes to a worry, “You are going to be careful about this, aren’t you? There are all sorts of people in this city who like to dazzle people with notions of fame and fortune and their other hand has already cleaned out your purse.” Crystal shrugs off her mother’s suspicions, but appreciates her mother’s concern. “Have you told Rod about any of this yet?” Eleanor wonders. “He’s got so much on his plate right now with his dad, I’m just going to keep this my happy secret for now. Who knows, it may lead to nowhere anyway, so why get everyone else’s hopes up?” Ava is brought to the visitor’s window at the jail, and Trevor Allen is sitting there waiting to visit with her. “Who the hell are you?” Ava wants to know. “Your salvation,” Trevor smiles his patented smile, “Ms. Reynoso, I’ve been following your story in the papers and it’s a story that’s just begging to be told on the big screen... or at least on a movie-of-the-week sized-screen. It has everything, betrayal, lust, greed, sex, violence, multiple personalities – oh, is that the politically correct term? Alters? Is that preferred? What do you prefer?” Trevor’s rambling is met with stunned silence from Ava. So Trevor continues, “Who am I speaking with right now? Are you Ava? Do you speak? I’ve read about some ‘alters’ that don’t even have language skills, they’re just primitive, existing to act out aggression towards their oppressors... abusers...” Trevor’s rambling seems to bore Ava, and she stands up. The sudden response quiets Trevor. Ava gets close to the mesh grate that separates them. “I don’t know who let your slick, greased-up self in here, but if I ever see you in here trying to sell the importance of my own story to me... you’re gonna need an ‘alter’ or two to handle what I’m going to do to you. Ava walks out to return to her cell without looking back. Trevor shouts after her, “I’ll just leave my card, then! Call me! You, me, lunch meeting in the mess hall!” Terrence loses his eyesight completely. Terrence, terrified because he doesn't know if he's waking up every morning because he can't see, decides to hurry and calls Evan Royale to revise his will. Leo called Fiona, “Fiona, I know you’re handling a lot with your father right now... but I need your help. I had a disagreement with my father, and he’s put me out of the penthouse. He froze my assets. Call me back.” At the Sapphyre Cosmetics offices in the VSI building, Carina drops in on Lauren, who is weighing designs that Jenna submitted to her. Lauren asks Carina’s opinion and lays the designs out on the table. “Oh I don’t know about these things,” Carina dismisses the challenge. Lauren refuses to let her, “Just look at the sketches and tell me what embodies ‘Artemis’ to you?” Carina looks at Lauren, almost to confirm that she’s seriously requesting her opinion. Seeing that she is, Carina studies the sketches. She picks one out of them all, and Lauren wants to know why. Carina thinks on her answer, “Well, the wide, low-cut neckline almost broadens the shoulders, giving the body a more powerful, a stronger, more masculine aggression. But the color and the detailing suggests a gentle softness, more femininity. Aggressive beauty. Best of both worlds.” Carina looks up to gauge Lauren’s reaction, and Lauren seems quite impressed. “It’s settled then... that’s our gown,” Lauren confirms, taking it upon herself to brush Carina’s hair behind her ear. Carina was taken by surprise at the physical contact, and wasn’t sure of the significance, if any. Jenna brings her car into James’s garage for repairs and tells him the story of hitting the girl. James is shocked. Jenna considers the girl “an operator” and isn’t concerned since she paid her off. James repairs Jenna’s car. Theodore Baldwin has a private meeting with Lauren Sapphyre to discuss Jenna, and Theodore admits he’s always been lenient with her. He knows it’s contributed to her sense of entitlement and regrets it now, but plans to be more firm with her now. Lauren hopes to help him correct the problem. Dominic tries to get Christian to take a night off from "Terrence watch" (at Terrence's urging!) but Christian refuses, and spends every night at the hospital reaffirming that nothing is more important to him than Terrence. Jenna was shocked when she ran into Trevor Allen at The Redeye. Trevor was dining with Crystal Halperin, discussing ideas for the right audition songs for Crystal to use. Trevor was excited to see Jenna, and Crystal ended up feeling invisible. Trevor was an old college fling of Jenna’s. He seemed to bring up old feelings in Jenna, but she fought hard to play it cool. Seeing Trevor after all these years gave Jenna an idea. James met Jenna for drinks at The Redeye later that night. James wanted to explode when he learned from Jenna that Trevor was in town. James remembered Jenna’s struggle when she learned she was pregnant by him in college and gave the baby up for adoption. Jenna thought the baby could be of use to her now, and producing a daughter could give her more of a foothold on Theodore’s millions. James is shocked Jenna kept track of her daughter all this time, but Jenna admits she hasn’t. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t produce a daughter,” Jenna says, spotting the girl she hit with her car earlier. The girl is obviously not injured. Jenna approaches her, “You’re obviously feeling better.” Dana smirked, “The check cleared.” Jenna secretly admires the girl’s spunk. Jenna tells Dana there’s a lot more money where that came from... if Dana agrees to be Jenna’s daughter. At VSI, Thomas feels awkward working around Shawn and keeps having flashbacks to catching him with Eddie back in Canada. Meanwhile, Shawn asks Rachel to do some digging around VSI for anything connected to Dominic Soletti and Ford Collins. Rachel starts her digging and Shawn provided his passcodes to give Rachel full access. Fiona explodes at Rachel because she can't find Emma. A weak Terrence asks Dr. Julia if he can be at home for his final days. Julia agrees. Terrence relocates home. Christian finds it hard to take, waiting for Terrence to pass away. Christian saves his outbursts for Fiona and tries to hide his fear from Terrence, who knows Christian is a wreck. Attempting to be the voice of reason, James thinks it will look mighty convenient if Jenna suddenly produces an heir. Jenna’s already thought of that... Dana will befriend Thomas and it’s Thomas that will make the connection that she’s family! Thomas would be the perfect cover for Jenna’s scam. Using Shawn’s passcodes, Rachel unlocks a secret encrypted file that was deliberately mislabeled in the VSI database. Searching the file for names, she finds Dominic and Ford’s names! Shawn finally has proof to corroborate drunken Dominic’s claims. Dominic’s been on the payroll on a “freelance basis” for months, and he and Ford both collected checks right after the Large Bar hostage crisis, in which Rod was shot. Shawn calculated his next move... after copying the decrypted files. Continuing to work side by side with Lauren, Carina felt a bond forming. No one ever invested in Carina before, was interested in her opinion, was willing to hang an entire fragrance line on her beauty... Lauren seemed to be the first person to ever see something valuable in her... or even to simply see her. There was a pull there, a magnetism, unlike anything Carina had ever experienced. At her fitting for the gown Jenna designed, Carina noticed Lauren watching... and didn’t really mind. Fiona helped Leo move into her apartment, and get him settled, but just as quickly packed a bag for herself... she decided to stay back at the Applewhite brownstone while her father was going to be there for his final days. Leo wants to know if there’s anything he can do. Fiona, quite frustrated with her life right now, doesn’t have time for Leo, but tells him they will have to have a serious conversation when Fiona moves back to the apartment. Leo wonders if Fiona knows something more about Leo’s VSI troubles than she had previously let on. Rachel urges Shawn to cut ties with VSI for his own safety and freedom. Surely this kind of information can ruin lives and the Von Stadts might kill to protect it. Shawn realizes the magnitude, but this information could also give him all the power he could ever want. Eddie is shocked when Didi (Kelli Giddish) comes to NY, wanting to get to know her father and the rest of her family. Eddie thinks Didi will be overwhelmed by the city, but Didi seems excited by the pace. Didi realized she’d been in a shell and it’s finally time to break out. Jenna hears of Didi’s arrival and is furious at Didi’s change in plans. Jenna thinks this is the time, more than ever, to introduce her new “daughter” Dana! Jenna pulls strings at Hunter College and learns Rebecca is still single in her dorm room, and gets Dana into the room. Jenna gives her background information and instructions on how to use Rebecca to get to Thomas. Christian seeks out Rod to attack him for ignoring and neglecting his father in his time of need. They fight. Rod breaks down that he can't lose his father. Christian convinces Rod to come home. Rod takes off from work to stay home with his father. Terrence, Christian, Rod, and Fiona all stay up late every night watching old movies and joking with each other. Terrence calls attention to things Christian and Rod have in common through movies. Once again Rod sees Christian does love Terrence. Rod takes Christian aside to apologize for distrusting him and his motives ever since they met and acknowledges that he was wrong and that he believes Christian's love is the best thing Terrence could have had for his last year on this earth. That means the world to Christian. Julia begged Carina to tell her about the cosmetics world to distract her from her own messy life. Carina shares that she wonders if she can continue working with Lauren... and confesses that she thinks Lauren is attracted to her. Julia tells Carina she could have a sexual harassment case if Lauren is making unwelcome advances. Carina admits, “I just haven’t decided if they’re unwelcome...” Julia is surprised. Rebecca and Dana bond as roommates at the Hunter College dorms, and Thomas comes to visit. Dana quickly takes to Thomas and Rebecca and Thomas privately joke that Dana better not have designs on him. One night, Terrence sneaks out of his bed and hears Fiona consoling herself with a bowl of ice cream. Terrence remembers how he used to give Fiona ice cream whenever she hurt herself or was sad. Fiona recalls -- that's why she was such a chubby little girl! Terrence admits it was selfish. It was the only way he could indulge in ice cream, Emma never wanted it in the house because it tempted HER too much! Fiona never forgot how good their family was together, even in the hard times. Dana tags along when Thomas and Rebecca plan to go out, since she has no friends in the city and doesn’t know her way around. Dana shares that she hasn’t had a family, all she knows is her biological mother was from New York, had her during college at Cal State University, and gave her up for adoption. Dana was unable to narrow it down from the 1988 graduating class. Didi reunites with her mother Edina, and the reunion is luke warm. Edina is glad Didi plans to stay. Didi meets Theodore and finds him to be a fascinating man, much to Jenna’s suspicion and dismay. Jenna resents Didi’s interest in Theodore, and is ticked off when Didi expresses how much she’s looking forward to having a sister since she’s always wanted one. Jenna realizes this is the one half-sibling that actually likes her, so in spite of herself she must make the most of it and play excited to have a sister too. The next night, Terrence finds Rod writing furiously. Rod wondered why Dad wasn't getting his rest. Terrence is getting restless lately. Terrence remembers always having to go into Rod's room to get him to put down the pencil and go to sleep. Rod wanted to write down all his ideas before they went out of his head. Rod thinks he has too much inside sometimes, letting it out through his writing is better than holding it in and blowing up. Terrence admired his son's creativity. Terrence was always directing, producing, bringing to life someone else's big idea. Terrence is glad Rod got the creative gene. Fiona thinks from her head, Rod thinks from his heart and puts his emotions on the page. Terrence was never able to put his emotions out like Rod does. Rod wasn't aware Terrence was so proud of him. Terrence repeats -- never great at putting his emotions out. Terrence tells his son to never stop writing. Ramon goes to visit a jailed Aviva... or Ava, actually. “What do you need, a billboard in Times Square?! Be glad you got out alive, and STAY GONE!” Ava exploded at Ramon, her face wedged between the bars. “I heard you’ll be facing a lot of charges,” Ramon tells her calmly. “Which I’m sure you’re quite pleased about,” Ava snipes at him. Ramon begs to differ, “Actually, I don’t want you to go to prison... I want Aviva to get help. Given everything you’ve said and done, you probably won’t be declared fit to stand trial. And if this Evan Royale is really worth his price tag, you can be checked into Shady Glen and receive the kind of care you need so that Aviva can come back to her life.” Ava is amused at Ramon’s determination to ‘fix’ this situation, “You’re a real piece of work, Valdez. You don’t get it? Aviva’s gone. For good. She’s never coming back! I’ve made sure of it.” Ramon is scared by the certainty with which Ava’s speaking. Didi wants to spend time with Jenna, and Jenna suggests shopping or going to the stylist or the nail salon. Didi was thinking they could go to a book signing at Barnes & Noble and meet one of Didi’s favorite authors. Jenna is devastated by Didi’s idea of fun, and later vents to James, “Who knew they had country bumpkins in Canada, and just my luck to get the most boring, wallflower sister on the planet.” James suggests Jenna makes Didi over. Jenna scoffs, “As brilliant and talented as I am, I’m not that good. I at least need workable raw materials.” MEOW! The next night, in bed, Christian asks why Terrence hasn't snuck out of bed yet. Terrence would prefer to spend the night in the arms of the man he loves. They fall asleep. Eleanor agrees to close Large Bar to throw a private party for Terrence, something quiet, with all his friends. Everyone gathers at 6pm, and the hours fly by, sharing stories and laughs. Terrence wants to fire up the karaoke system. Eleanor complies. Terrence thinks it would be fun to assign everyone a song of his choice, and they have to sing it. Terrence shocks everyone by having all the numbers of his song choices memorized (since he's blind, he can't read the numbers from the karaoke book). Terrence picks the perfect songs for everyone to perform and everyone gets crazy with their performances and has a blast... especially Terrence. At the press party for the “Artemis” Fragrance, Carina was so excited, yet overwhelmed, that she clung to Lauren the whole night. But Carina handled the press with grace and poise. By the time the hard part of the night was over, Carina had consumed too much champagne, and Lauren let Carina stay in Lauren’s penthouse suite. Carina gave in to her developing feelings, and kissed Lauren passionately. Things grew more intense and Lauren and Carina let passion overtake them. Knowing Carina was going to be out late for the press party, Julia made plans to have James over. James was all too willing, but not for dinner... they’ve had so many dinners together, James wants dessert. Julia prepares three desserts for the over-exercised James, and James admits he had a different kind of dessert in mind. James and Julia start to get amorous, but are interrupted by a knock at the door. James urges her to ignore it, but Julia recognizes her grandmother’s voice calling from the other side of the door. Julia opens the door to Esther, since she knows Hattie and Tiffany hadn’t seen her for two weeks. Esther is disheveled and her face smeared with dirt. Her hands are covered in dried blood and Julia has no idea what to make of her. “Can I hide out with you, dear? I don’t want Hattie to be mad at me...” Julia can barely get her eyes back into her own head. “Why would my mother be mad at you?” Julia asked, realizing her grandmother was in a bit of a daze. Esther seems to instantly snap back into lucidity, “Well Julia, dear, I’ve done something bad again... and I’m afraid your mother’s gonna send me back to Shady Glen like last time.” Esther’s comments pique Julia’s curiosity and she thinks, given Esther’s scattered mental state, Julia might finally get some answers about their family’s past. The Baldwins go for a family dinner at The Redeye (without James since he had that date with Julia) and Didi tries to get to know the family. Didi seems oblivious to the subtle sniping between Thomas and Jenna, but perhaps Didi is too engrossed in the Baldwins’ interesting personalities to notice. In passing, Jenna mentions finishing late from Cal State because she took a few months off in ‘88 to “find herself.” Thomas was thrown by the mention of the college and year that Dana had mentioned a while back. Could Dana be a secret daughter that no one knew Jenna had??? After they closed the bar, Terrence has all his friends over to his home to see a movie. The crowd tapered off and went home after the movie, and Terrence and Christian have fallen asleep on the couch. Rod and Fiona stay up talking, content that their father is so happy. Christian dreams that he and Terrence have gone up to bed and that Terrence's eyesight came back. Christian was thrilled, and threw his arms around Terrence. Christian woke up from his dream, knowing that Terrence had just passed away. Christian panics, Fiona and Rod panic, and call and ambulance. Terrence is pronounced dead and his body is collected. Fiona, Rod, and Christian are all three left in the foyer, wondering how to face a world without Terrence. They all knew it was coming. It happened when they were told it would. Yet Terrence was the only one who seemed ready for it. ----- Coming in October on Beyond the Horizon: An embittered Leo sabotages his own company – and frames Shawn! Baldwin Enterprises enjoys its first win. Terrence’s passing has far-reaching implications on his loved ones. Rod’s shocking choice has a huge impact on his relationships with Crystal and Christian. Thomas vows to find Dana’s biological family, and privately thinks that family might be his. Lauren shows Eleanor that she’s just standing still. Eddie helps Didi land a job. Dominic gloats to Ford... which Ford might make Dominic regret. Shawn turns the tables on Henry and VSI... but gets the tables turned on him once again. Crystal finally gets what she’s wanted for months, but learns to be careful what she wishes for. Carina finds a file on a woman named Linda Soletti in Lauren’s office. Julia confronts Hattie about what she learned of her father’s death.

August 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <<< Previously on Beyond the Horizon, people worked their agendas and made bold and daring life-altering choices in July... Henry (Sebastian Roché) and Leo (Jeff Branson) Von Stadt forced Shawn (Tobias Truvillion) to fire Jenna (Kari Wuhrer) from VSI after Rachel (Sherri Saum) left an anonymous tape of Jenna admitting to sabotaging the Sapphyre project. Aviva’s alter, Ava (Christina Chambers) ran amok, sleeping with Evan (Ian Buchanan) to distract him, sleeping with Rolo (Ignacio Serricchio) for revenge, pushing Theodore (John Ingle) down the Hunter College staircase and attacking Rachel. Lauren Sapphyre (Lynn Herring) finally signed on with VSI, thanks to Thomas (Bobby Steggert) and Rebecca’s (Lindze Letherman) hard work. Fiona (Connie Fletcher-Staton) was convinced that Leo and Dominic (William Shew) were hiding a deeper connection. Eleanor (Catherine Hickland) learned that Esther (Kathleen Widdoes) was Hattie’s (Kate Collins) mother! Rod (Forbes March) and Fiona continued to clash over their father Terrence’s (Walt Willey) fate. Rebecca landed an internship at Sapphyre Cosmetics, while Eleanor was intrigued by Lauren’s take on life and past connections to Henry and Evan. Aurora/Eddie (Jeffrey Carlson) caught Jenna trying to get a disoriented, hospitalized Theodore to sign a new will, leaving everything to her. Christian (David Evan Smith) struggled with Terrence's condition and it caused him to return to his partying roots to try to escape. It proved to Rod that Terrence’s AIDS status and uncertain future is deeply affecting Christian. Jenna tried to “out” Thomas to the Baldwins, but it forced Eddie to step up and reveal he was gay and a drag performer, to the accepting Baldwins. Crystal (Kerry Butler) made another attempt to bridge the gap between her and Rod, but they remained as strained as ever when a comment from Rod crossed the line. Christian and Terrence decided to plan the wedding. Julia (Melissa Archer) worried for Nathan (Jason Thompson) when his partner said he’s been missing. Julia suspected Hattie, until James (Alec Musser) brought news of Aviva’s strange behavior. Carina (Natalia Livingston) was mesmerized by Lauren Sapphyre. Tiffany (Ambyr Childers) witnessed Rolo’s betrayal with “Aviva”. Eleanor decided that Esther might be the key to Hattie’s downfall. Ava took flight since she felt the walls were closing in, and her path crossed with Ford (David Chisum). Jenna roped in James to launch a company to eventually compete with VSI... But Theodore was only willing to invest half of the money they needed. >>> Opening Sequence Watch the Opening Sequence on YouTube! <<< Eddie resents the offer from Edina that he views as emotional blackmail, and won’t bargain to get acceptance that he should have just for being her son. Edina insists she was misinterpreted. Edina just wants a fresh start. “You’re far too beautiful to be lingering around the waterfront at this time of night by yourself. It can be dangerous out here,” Ford tells her, not quite intimidating her, but not really wanting to. “For all you know, I’m the dangerous one,” Ava smirked, not about to back down. Ford was intrigued by her, “Why don’t I take you away from here... to dinner, perhaps?” Ava laughed at Ford’s suggestion, “Yeah, and then we can go to the drive-in and you can ask me to wear your varsity jacket.” Fortunately Ford loved a challenge. Ava was unfazed by his attempts at flirting. The sound of distant sirens obviously rattled Ava, which Ford couldn’t help but notice, despite Ava’s attempts to remain inscrutable. “Look, obviously you have some desires to stay hidden. Why don’t you hide with me?” Ford’s offer seemed like her best possible option right now, and Ava swore she’d take her chances if he tried anything funny with her. Ford was charmed by her spunk. “It’s Professor Reynoso!” Tiffany cried, at the doorstep of Hattie’s apartment. Hattie immediately wondered if Tiffany learned of Hattie’s plot with Rolo to frame Aviva for drugging Eleanor. It soon became clear that Tiffany had no idea when she went into detail about catching Rolo having sex with Aviva on her desk at Hunter! Hattie consoled a devastated Tiffany, and looked over Tiffany’s shoulder to Esther, both of them thrilled Tiffany has returned to the family fold... but furious with Rolo for breaking her daughters heart. Terrence and Christian plan to marry in Canada, and consult with Terrence's doctors about how able he will be to travel in his condition. Terrence is cleared for one week's trip to Canada. Hoping to land a job as Lauren Sapphyre’s personal assistant, Carina finds it difficult to get an appointment with Lauren, and wonders if it’s a hopeless effort since she has no experience in Lauren’s world. Julia tells Carina that this is the first time she’s seen Carina actually invest in something, so how could that devotion not make her a committed participant? Thanks to Julia’s reinforcing comments, Carina remains determined to catch Lauren Sapphyre’s attention. Theodore showed up at Eddie’s doorstep to plead Edina’s case. Eddie admits how offended he was that Theodore so easily forgave Edina for keeping two children from him. Theodore admitted that he’s still furious. But still loves Edina. In his late years, after a heart attack and a fall down the stairs, he needs to do all he can to make his life the best, the happiest it can be. James didn’t think the police would be able to do much about Aviva, and wanted to handle the situation personally. After all, the police released Aviva in the first place, and that allowed her to assault his father Theodore, and not to mention Det. Nathan Weber that was working her case, quickly disappeared. Julia isn’t sure, since Aviva has possibly overpowered a police officer, who’s to say she can’t take on Julia and James if they showed up at her doorstep. James decided he was going, regardless, and Julia was welcome to join him if she wanted. Though hesitant, Julia followed after James to confront Aviva personally. Ford lets Aviva in to his humble studio apartment that barely looks to have room for Ford, much less her. Ford tells her his bathroom is in the back, if she wants to shower. “I’ll keep my distance, I promise.” Ava doesn’t know whether she can take his word for that, but is pretty confident in her ability to defend herself, so she heads for his bathroom. Entering the bathroom, she looks at the cramped quarters and less-than-clean bathtub and then fixes her gaze on the reflection in the mirror. “Where did this start?” she asked herself, acknowledging the mess she’s in. Eleanor waited until Hattie was at work at VSI answering phones before showing up at Hattie’s apartment to talk to Esther. Esther was surprised to see Eleanor and threw Eleanor for a loop by acting like they were old sorority sisters, as if the institution they spent time in together was college. Eleanor played into Esther’s friendly disposition and expressed concern for Esther staying with Hattie, after everything Eleanor’s heard. Eleanor heard that Esther believed Hattie killed her own husband! “Nonsense, dear,” Esther dismissed, “You understand more than anyone what things we girls have to do for our freedom, don’t you?” Eleanor is confused, “I’m sorry, didn’t Hattie put you in Shady Glen? Isn’t she the reason you wanted to get out?” Esther got a little flustered, “I won’t say that I never had my share of stresses and problems, dear, and perhaps there was a time when being at Shady Glen would have benefitted me. But I got all better, and Hattie was just being overly cautious and overprotective of me. Wouldn’t your daughters do the same for you?” Esther’s answer didn’t quite satisfy Eleanor, who realized Esther might not be the best way to get the goods on Hattie. Invitations are sent out for Terrence Applewhite’s wedding to Christian Avery Field. Terrence wants his wedding to Christian to be a real party and invites Eddie to perform as Aurora Borealis at the reception. Eddie is touched, given his part in ruining Terrence's last production. Eddie is also excited because he hails from Quebec. Eddie puts his feelings about Edina on hold for his return trip to Canada. Christian invites Jenna, who invites Shawn. The Halperin women are invited, and Eleanor invites Henry, so Henry offers to bring the whole wedding party to Canada and back on his private jet. Rebecca invites Thomas as her date, but he isn’t sure he can get time off from VSI.. When Thomas inquires about getting the time off, he learns Henry is flying the entire wedding party to Canada on the VSI corporate jet. Eddie is thrilled to have a chance to go back home to Canada and see his old life through the new eyes of someone at peace with who he is. Eddie went out on a limb to invite Shawn as his date. “I know, you will probably tell me no, but... I would love to share this with you. Shawn breaks it to him that he’s already attending the wedding – with Jenna. Eddie is crushed, but Shawn promises to try to make time for them to spend together away from everyone. Julia and James arrive at Aviva’s apartment and James’s pounding on the door yields a shouting response from Nathan. Julia recognizes his voice instantly. James crashes through the door and they inspect the apartment to find Rachel unconscious and a very weak Ramon and Nathan chained up. Julia races to Nathan, which James immediately notices, but Nathan tells Julia that Rachel is bleeding pretty badly. Julia takes charge of the situation, determining that Ramon and Nathan appear to be malnourished, and Rachel might have a hairline skull fracture. James tries to find the sharpest blade to try to break through Ramon and Nathan’s chains. Julia tends to Rachel’s head injury while calling 911 for help. Ava comes out of the bathroom drying her hair and wrapped in an oversized bathrobe. She looks around and doesn’t see Ford. Relieved he didn’t try to join her in the bathroom, she starts to wonder where he went. Ford returns with two bags. One holds microwave TV dinners, the other a tank top and a pair of women’s jeans. Ford checked her size when she changed out of her clothes for the shower. “I’m not sleeping with you,” Ava told him defensively. Ford won’t pretend that he wouldn’t enjoy it, but that’s not why he’s doing what he’s doing. Ava demands to know why he is, then. “No one did it for me. Maybe if someone had I wouldn’t have made at least some of the bad choices that brought me to this palatial estate,” he said, his voice heavy with irony. Ava continues down the defensive path, “Look, you don’t know me and I’m no one’s charity case, you won’t redeem your soul by trying to redeem mine, so if that’s it, screw you, you’re outta luck.” Ford continues to be amused by her, “My motives aren’t selfless. Lady, I’m just... I’m pretty used to staring at these four walls. Whoever is in my life now, it’s by circumstance, and most of them aren’t too happy about it. So when I ran into you and you didn’t seem to have a lot of options... You kinda remind me of myself. Look, can we eat this stuff? I’m starving.” For some reason, Ava let go of the desire to fight with someone, at least for long enough to eat the frozen pizzas Ford brought them. Carina happens upon Lauren having lunch at The Redeye, and takes the chance to introduce herself and explain her need to start fresh. Lauren cuts her down, “Carla, do you know that I’m constantly being interrupted during my meals by aimless young women who somehow latched on to the idea of Lauren Sapphyre. But they all have no idea who I am or what I’ve done to get to where I am today. Can you guess how broke I would be if I took a chance on all of them?” Carina is crushed with disappointment at Lauren’s reaction, and lashes out at her, “It’s Carina! And how dare you look down your nose at me! I guess you’ve forgotten what your life was like before finding direction.” Lauren was surprised by Carina’s fire and determination... and fiercely aggressive beauty... but didn’t hire Carina as a personal assistant... she hired Carina as the face of ‘Artemis’! Ford woke up in his chair and saw Ava was no longer in the pull-out couch that he left her sleeping in. Feeling the breeze on his back, he saw his window was open and investigated, finding Ava on the fire escape. She was staring into the night. Ford wondered what she was doing out there. “I don’t sleep well. I end up thinking about all the... failures,” Ava says. Ford didn’t understand. “The people you’re supposed to be able to count on who fail you over and over again and prove they never really cared about you at all. They’re not even real people in three dimensions when you look at them long enough. They’re just... shadows. All of them.” Ford understands more, after that clarification. “The world’s full of hypocrites,” Ford adds his philosophy, “No matter how nice they seem, how wealthy they are, everyone is just out for themselves. Some just have the means to cover it up better than others. That’s why I prefer to keep company with the people who can just be open and honest about the kind of bastards they are. You know where they stand, at least. As long as I know where I stand...” Eddie finds Dominic “mourning” Christian, who Dom is certain is about to “march off to his Canadian doom” by getting married. Dominic confesses he has done a lot since coming to New York that he’s not proud of and thought that would be how he’d lose Christian, not through a marriage. Dom apologizes to Eddie for his part in Eddie’s dependency on pills. Eddie owns his choices and makes it clear he doesn’t blame Dom for his drug use. Eddie won’t share Dom’s mistakes with Christian and Dom only needs to lose Christian to this marriage if he chooses to. Fiona is prepping for the trip to Quebec, and finds that Rod hasn’t started yet. Rod has a hard time coming to terms with going to a wedding between his father and Christian, but Fiona thinks Rod has spent enough of this time thinking about what he can come to terms with. “Our father,” Fiona already can’t stop the tears, “he may not see Christmas. Or even Halloween. Do you have any idea how hard that is for him? To look down the road and see the end of it? He wants to grab any bit of happiness he can in the time that he has left. And if you make this about how hard this is for you... our father is going to take those missed opportunities and regrets to his grave. Dad has always put us first. ALWAYS. You can’t do the same for him? This one time? When it matters most? The last happy milestone he may ever make for himself? I hope to see you there.” Fiona leaves Rod with further confirmation of the finality of his father’s illness. Thomas wants to meet his sister Didi and asks Eddie to introduce them when they get to Quebec. Eddie isn’t sure how his sister is doing or where she is in her life, whether she’s ready to meet the family she never knew. The wedding party boards the VSI jet and travels to Quebec, Canada. On the flight over, Eddie has a tough time staying silent as he watches Shawn with Jenna and sees Shawn's "other life" in progress. Nathan, Ramon, and Rachel are all being treated at the hospital, and family is being notified of the injuries and ailments. Rolo arrives at the hospital to see Ramon, who’s being nourished via the I.V. drip. Rolo is shocked to hear Ramon talking about Aviva’s apparent other personality “Ava” and Rolo acknowledges that Aviva was acting strangely during the classes she was teaching recently, but doesn’t share with Ramon the fact that he believes it was “Ava” that seduced him. Rolo keeps it to himself that he slept with Ava/Aviva. Ava circles Ford’s sparsely decorated apartment, bored. Ford comes back after being out for the day. “You don’t own any books or anything,” Ava says. “I don’t really read,” Ford responds, unsure whether or not Ava was judging him. “So what are you, like, a dog-walker? Bus driver?” Ava speculates, “It’s just that you never seem to leave here with a briefcase when you leave for the day and don’t seem to have any dress code to uphold, so either you’ve got a really laid back job, or you wear a uniform that you keep in a locker every day... or you’re independently wealthy and just love to hide it,” Ava says, looking around again at the sub-standard living arrangement. Ford quickly dismisses the idea that he’s independently wealthy. But he’s working on it. “I’m self-employed,” Ford says, vaguely. “Meaning unemployed,” Ava translates, getting a laugh from Ford. “What’s your name?” Ford asks, finally. “... Ava,” she shares. Upon arrival in Canada, Christian asks Jenna to plan his bachelor party. Jenna leaps on the project and starts scouting locations. With Jenna busy, Shawn separates himself from the crowd and asks Eddie to show him the sights. Eddie is hesitant, but thinks it might be good for Shawn to see the life Eddie came from. Eleanor plans a more low key bachelor party for Terrence, consisting of dinner and drinks. Rebecca asks Thomas which bachelor party he wants to go to, and Thomas avoids the one Jenna’s planning because it’ll be a little more gay than he cares to experience. With Shawn in Canada, he couldn’t be reached to be told about Rachel’s condition, but Julia did manage to get in touch with Shawn and Rachel’s mother, Valentina Gembressi (guest Vanessa Williams)! Julia was a fan of Valentina’s designs, but remained focused on Rachel’s condition... which Valentina didn’t seem to be able to do. “Will I need to cancel my press tour? I mean, is this a life-threatening thing going on here?” Julia doesn’t address the stupidity of the question, and answers honestly that yes, Rachel’s seriously injured. Valentina dismisses Julia, wanting her to send in a doctor that didn’t get their degree off the back of a matchbook right out of high school. Julia’s insulted, but respects Valentina’s emotions and excuses herself. Eddie takes Shawn out to see the sights and it teaches Shawn more about Eddie and brings them closer together. Eddie is thrilled to be able to have that time alone with Shawn, and takes it to mean Shawn really does care. Eddie and Shawn happen upon his sister Didi (Kelli Giddish) working at a coffeehouse in downtown Quebec. Quiet and shy, Didi isn’t forthcoming on conversation and wouldn’t even know where to start. Eddie and Didi are shocked to see each other and Eddie introduces Shawn as his friend. Didi isn’t sure if “friend” is a softened term for something deeper. Eddie invites Didi to Terrence and Christian’s wedding to meet his friends and their new family. Didi is apprehensive, but will think about it. Crystal finds Rod working at Large Bar deep in thought, and hugs him and asks how he’s doing. Rod says he’s okay. Crystal said she understands why it was difficult for Rod to go to the wedding, and it’s probably better that Rod wasn’t there to voice disapproval on Terrence’s big day. “But that’s the thing... I don’t think I disapprove anymore...” Rod said, surprising Crystal. Rod continues, “All this time, I’ve put Christian through hell, challenging him every step of the way and he has stayed loyal and devoted to my father. Yeah, there’s a huge age gap, but who am I to say what love is really supposed to look like... Come with me to the wedding. I need to support my father.” Crystal was surprised by the turn of events, but felt it was encouraging that Rod was ready to witness Christian making a commitment to Terrence... perhaps it was a reassurance to Crystal that Rod didn’t want Christian for himself. Crystal’s disappointment crept in when she realized she had to stay behind and keep an eye on the businesses while Eleanor was in Canada for the wedding. What wasn’t comforting was the thought of Rod in another country with Christian, when she couldn’t be there to see what was going on. Rolo was shirtless, doing his landscaping work out on the terrace at the Von Stadt penthouse while Henry and Leo were in Canada, when Hattie let herself into the apartment. Rolo was surprised to see her. “Are you the reason Tiffany won’t take my calls? It’s been weeks since she’s seen me,” Rolo accused her. “I wish I could take the credit, happy pants, but the credit lies solely with you,” Hattie fired back, “I wanted you to send my daughter back to me, and I’m glad you did, but I have serious issues with your methods. Tiffany has always been such a sensitive girl, so you think that cheating on her, breaking her poor defenseless heart, is the way to give her back to me?! How DARE you! Cheating has been known to get men killed,” Hattie said chillingly, picking up a rake that was leaning against the wall. Slowly approaching him, backing him up against the terrace wall with the rake inching closer to his neck, “Rolo, my boy, let that be the last time you hurt my daughter,” Hattie warned. “Listen lady, I didn’t plan to hurt Tiffany, Professor Reynoso was as much a surprise to me as it was to Tiffany. I didn’t even know she saw us. Tiffany and I weren’t even really dating, we were just having a casual thing!” Rolo’s defense was of no comfort to Hattie, “Don’t you EVER talk about my daughter that way! Any woman that shares her body with you is being vulnerable with you, letting her guard down, and this is how you repay her?! You let her just go right out of your head as soon as some little tart bats her eyes at you? Every last one of you men are all alike. Every last one.” Hattie stops herself and drops the rake, leaving Rolo a little unnerved by a situation that could have just gone terribly wrong... Carina reported to Lauren at Sapphyre Cosmetics, but didn’t think she had what it took to model, and it wasn’t really what she was looking to do. “Only fools pass up opportunities,” Lauren warned her, “and I have a knack for seeing what people are capable of and helping them realize their potential. Besides... if I take a leap, it’s my money I lose. Being a failed model isn’t the worst thing in the world to be.” Without allowing herself too much time to think, Carina took her own leap and accepted the offer. At Terrence’s bachelor party, Henry and Terrence get into a discussion about life being short, and whatever happens to Terrence, he wants Henry to look out for Eleanor and take care of her. Charles Halperin was a good man, and Terrence believes that Henry’s been a stabilizing force in Eleanor’s life since Charles’s death. Henry has an unexpected flashback of placing Charles Halperin’s body in a car and telling him goodbye. Eleanor jars him out of his flashback. Later, Rebecca seems sad and confides in Thomas that she always thought her father would be there to give her away on her wedding day. Henry overhears Rebecca’s comment and appears to be remorseful. At Christian’s bachelor party, a stripper in a loincloth and angel wings commemorated the play that Terrence and Christian last worked on together. The stripper reminded Dominic of the movie “Party Monster” and how it’s always been symbolic of their friendship, and thought again of how he’s “losing” Christian. Dominic drowned his sorrows in liquor. Eddie slips away from the bachelor party to meet secretly with Shawn at a bar. Jenna commends Christian on landing a man who will keep him in a comfortable life. Christian insists it’s not about that. Jenna admits she’s at a crossroads about how to achieve her goals, and admits she’s better about her VSI firing. Christian is sure Jenna will bounce back and maybe she’ll end up showing VSI what they lost. Jenna still needs another major investor. Christian tells Jenna about symmetry, and how hit makes so much theatre brilliant. Lauren Sapphyre was part of the reason Jenna was dismissed, so it would be very symmetrical if Lauren made an investment that got Jenna back on top. Jenna loves the idea! Thomas and Rebecca run into a drunken Dominic and try to get him to return to the hotel. Dom refuses, determined to drink more, and so Thomas and Rebecca follow him to the next bar to make sure he will be safe. Dominic heads to a gay bar and Thomas and Rebecca follow him in, shocked to find Shawn in a passionate (and compromising) kiss with Eddie! Eddie spies his little brother and realizes Thomas saw the kiss. Thomas and Rebecca slip out. Dominic interrupts Eddie and Shawn, bitter because Dom hasn’t found that kind of connection yet. Eddie leaves Dom with Shawn, and goes after Thomas to contain the situation. Unfortunately Eddie can’t catch up with Thomas and is worried that his relationship with Shawn will be exposed. Shawn tries to console and reassure Dominic that it will all work out and Dom will be happy someday. Dominic is sure that Christian won’t have time for him anymore once he’s married and once Christian finds out Dom’s secret, he won’t want anything to do with him. Shawn is shocked when the loose-lipped Dominic spills the truth that he and Ford Collins were involved in the hold-up at Large Bar where Rod was shot, and that they were working for Leo! Shawn realizes VSI could be involved in shady dealings, and thinks about how he might use this to his advantage. A guilt-ridden Henry Von Stadt pulls Leo aside at Terrence’s bachelor party and tells him he has decided to abandon the quest for whatever evidence against them that Charles Halperin left to Eleanor in his will. Leo is amazed at what he’s hearing. “Father, you’ve never had much of a sense of humor, so what is this? Are you drunk? You can’t be serious.” Henry is outraged at being second-guessed by his son, “There is no proof Eleanor is even aware of any evidence that her husband left her. But the biggest overture we made to get our hands on it ended up in disaster with an innocent man being shot because YOU hired incompetence! Every step we make for this evidence risks further builds a case against us. It’s over. We’re letting it go.” Henry’s decree doesn’t satisfy Leo, who wonders if his father is losing his edge out of guilt over Charles Halperin’s death and possibly growing affection for Eleanor. Leo refuses to be deterred and places a call, to Ford Collins. “This is your chance to earn your stripes back,” Leo offered Ford, “all you have to do... is burglarize my home.” Ford’s face lit up at the thought. Thomas’s mind reels at the revelation of Shawn and Eddie’s connection and how it would finally knock Jenna off her high horse. Rebecca acknowledges how tempting it would be to use this to rattle Jenna, but couldn’t it also do damage to Thomas’s new brother Eddie? Back in New York, Valentina Gembressi has turned Rachel’s ICU room into Valentina’s second office. Valentina is frustrated on her phone and making demands, “Put me through to Lauren Sapphyre, or I will have your job, and your mother’s job!” When it seems the secretary is still hesitant, Valentina fumes, “Please, darling, I was designing gowns for Sophia Loren back when Lauren was mixing Armani with Polo and calling it her own scent. Put. Her. On. The. Phone.” Valentina obviously gets her way, “Listen Lauren dear, I see you have a few orders in for some gowns of mine from the Grecian Goddess line to be used in your cute little Artemis campaign. Best of luck to you dear, but you know that with me, bygones are certainly not bygone and we simply aren’t destined to be in business together? Capice? Pull them. Immediately. Smooches!” Valentina groans some “air kisses” into the phone, and hanging up without waiting for Lauren’s response. Rolo calls Tiffany in a fury, and leaves her a voicemail because she still doesn’t answer his calls, “Listen, Tiffany, I just got a visit from your mother, and she told me that you saw me with Professor Reynoso... And I’m really sorry about that... but your mother’s a total whackjob and her picking up a rake and threatening me with it just isn’t freaking cool! I didn’t even know you wanted anything more than a casual thing, I thought we were having fun... If I knew you wanted more, maybe things woulda been different... But either way, keep your crazy mother, and all her sharp objects, AWAY from me!” Ava seems to be gearing up to ask Ford something, and Ford implores her to say it. “Okay,” Ava says, “I know that I’ve been staying here for a little while, laying low, and despite the accommodations, it hasn’t been that bad. But the fact that I don’t really have anywhere else to go, and I can’t stay here forever... I need to disappear. I’m sure you don’t have enough money, but if you could give me enough for a plane ticket, something to get me out of the country, once I’m somewhere safe that they can’t get me, I will pay you back and I’ll figure out the rest of my life from there, I’ll be out of your hair.” Ford seems, at first, disappointed Ava wants to leave. But then curious, “What have you done? Why are ‘they’ trying to get you? I’m not exactly law abiding, and if you don’t know by now, I’m not planning to call the cops on you or anything.” Ava doesn’t seem reassured and doesn’t want to tell him. “Well you’re out of luck,” Ford warns her, “I’m out of money anyway.” Ford then gets an idea, “But I can change that tonight. I just got a job from a guy... really well-to-do poor little rich kid, and he wants me to rob his place while he’s out of town. Long story. You help me, we split the spoils, 50/50.” Ava seems skeptical about this “job” and yet... is compelled to trust him. Ava agrees. Terrence is nervous before the ceremony and Fiona is amused to see her very mature father reduced to sweaty palms and a case of the jitters. “I just don’t want to ruin this,” Terrence worries. “How could you ruin this?!” Fiona is continually surprised. “It’s still hard for me to believe that Christian, at his age, in this society, could look at me and not just see some dirty old man. And I had my doubts and fears about him before, we’ve talked about it, you and I, but I’m past that, and I trust him, but... I just feel so lucky. In the last few arguments with your mother... she used to tell me, ‘what do you think you’re going to find out there?! What superficial gay is going to want you now, at your age, with your baggage?!’ and it used to get to me. Anyway, I’m just lucky beyond words that I can have this day, with this beautiful, amazing man that wants me, flaws and all. I just don’t want to ruin this, I want this to be a charming, romantic day for him.” Fiona is touched by her father’s love for Christian, which is a long way from how she first felt about it when she first met Christian. “You’re going to be fine,” Rod said, surprising both his father and sister with his arrival. Terrence got a little emotional that Rod showed up, “Just when I thought I couldn’t feel more lucky... I get to have both of you here, in my corner. Thanks for coming, son, it means the world to me.” Terrence and Rod share a hug. Fiona chimes in, “I’m just glad you can take over the ‘Best Man’ duties!” she jokes, “I was just all wrong for the part.” Christian and Terrence’s wedding commences. The officiant comes to the point in the ceremony for vows, and Christian and Terrence have written their own. Terrence starts with his, "It's been a relatively short time... a relatively very, very short time... since I've known you. And it's been utterly terrifying getting to know you. I was scared of our age difference, for so many reasons. First, what you would think of me. But that was quickly put to rest when I discovered what an old soul you were. You are so mature, so grounded, and so certain of yourself, and at an age that I could have only hoped to find such self-assuredness, and despite all the hardships you've faced and conquered. I've been so many things to so many people, succeeded in many ways, failed in many others. But all you ask of me... or have ever asked of me... was to be myself, and just be there for you. Which you make so easy to do. And once I found such comfort with you, I was scared of what everyone here would think of me," Terrence says, looking to Rod, then to Fiona, "And there were skeptics... they told me I was crazy, I was too old, too naive... but I think my trust in you and love for you is contagious. At least I hope it is. And I think it says a lot that so many people we care about have come to support us today, in one of the happiest days in my life. The road ahead... may not be very long..." Terrence says, eyes welling with tears, "but I thank God that it's brought me here and it's the only place I want to be. With you. Fully. Completely... and legally! I love you." Christian is emotional, but choosing his happy tears, over his sad ones, and forges ahead with his vows. "I never like to plan ahead... it never did anything for me, and growing up, everything in my life was always changing. And it does things to you, it makes you question yourself, who you are, what really shapes you. Being self-assured was a choice, because I knew that, no matter what, the one constant I'd always be guaranteed... was me. It was a comforting choice, for what it was, but it wasn't always a happy choice. I felt so good when I met you. You saw everything in me that I liked about myself, and didn't judge me for the things I hated about myself. Yes, I've been through a lot, I've lost a lot, there's so much more that I will go through, but the really good side to the turmoil and the hardships is that you learn to appreciate the small things, the moments, the simple pleasures. A lazy night in bed, watching an old movie, an unexpected deep conversation over ice cream at 2:37 in the morning. Those are what I treasure. Every moment I am fortunate enough to share with you is joyous and memorable. You are everything I needed, at just the right time in my life. I love you." Shortly after the vows, Terrence and Christian were pronounced husband and husband! Didi Dawson was in attendance for Terrence and Christian’s wedding, obviously having accepted Eddie’s invitation. Christian and Terrence graciously embraced her. Thomas was excited to meet her. Didi seemed a bit overwhelmed to be surrounded by the boisterous and ultra-liberal crowd. Jenna learns Didi is her half-sister and feels her out on Didi’s future plans. Didi says she’s comfortable in her life and it didn’t occur to her to change anything. Jenna is relieved, and feeling as though Didi isn’t a threat, plays remorseful that they won’t have more time to get to know each other. Back in NY, Crystal was hosting at Large Bar on Karaoke night, in place of Aurora Borealis. Crystal was obviously feeling very down, but tried to perk herself up with a karaoke performance of “Xanadu”, which got the crowd amped up. After the performance, a bashful Crystal was taken aback when a man named Trevor Allen (Tuc Watkins) approached her to tell her he was thoroughly impressed and wondered if she’d ever done any professional singing. “As professional as singing in the shower,” Crystal laughed. Trevor said he was a talent manager from Upstart Agency and would love to have a meeting with her sometime. Crystal was blown away by her own fortune (for once!) and convinced herself that this was supposed to happen, this was the reason she was the only one that didn’t make it to Terrence and Christian’s wedding. Terrence and Christian have a romantic wedding reception, and Aurora performs, which is a lot for Didi to witness. The wedding reception is loud and raucous and Didi ends up having a great time with such a diverse crowd of people. Didi thinks that Eddie has found an amazing life in NY. Eddie is so occupied with Didi that he doesn’t have an opportunity to talk to Thomas about what he saw. The secret hangs over Eddie for the rest of the reception. Didi thanks Eddie for inviting her to the wedding, and is delighted to have had the experience. Eddie bids her farewell and tells her to visit sometime. Didi seems open to the idea. On the ride back to New York on the VSI jet, Thomas and Eddie have the tension of their secret between them. Thomas studies Eddie’s every reaction to any display of affection between Shawn and Jenna. Ramon went home when he was released from the hospital, and the minute he was in the door he was shouting to Rolo, yelling at him for not picking up the phone and telling him that he wants Rolo’s help in finding Aviva. They need to search the city for her... if Ramon lets her disappear after he was the cause of her losing her grip... Ramon would never forgive himself. Ramon opens to the door to Rolo’s room after not getting a verbal response and is horrified to find Rolo in bed, face down, with what looks like a stab wound in his back! A masked Ava and Ford arrive at The Dorilton building and enter the back entrance that Leo tipped Ford off about. Ava is still skeptical and wants to know why Ford’s boss wants him to rob him. Ava thinks Ford’s lying or trying to set her up. Ford gets angry and lashes out at her that if he wanted her gone, he would have turned her in long ago. “Unless,” Ava countered, “you were as much of a fugitive and couldn’t run the risk of letting them know where you were either!” Ford ordered Ava to shut up and stay focused. Ford and Ava arrive at the penthouse and Ford punches in a “scrambling code” on the access panel that Leo gave him to get into the apartment (a detail Leo learned about from the electronics division at VSI). Ava and Ford start tossing the place and snagging valuables for themselves. Shawn raced to the hospital after finally receiving a message about his sister Rachel’s head injury. Panicked, Shawn finds Rachel’s room and is surprised to see their mother Valentina there! “Darling, finally! I couldn’t get a hold of you!” Valentina was exasperated, “Your office said you were out of the country at some wedding. Who was getting married and why wasn’t I invited?!” Shawn quickly tries to refocus his mother, “A friend of a friend, it wasn’t anything that would have made your social calendar. What the hell happened here?!” Valentina continues on, “Oh you know your sister. Getting into everyone’s business apparently finally caught up to her, and someone savagely attacked the poor dear. She had some swelling of the brain, it’s gone down, but there’s a few blood clots they’re concerned about. She needs to quit that nosy line of work she’s in, that’s what caused this!” Once the trip is over, everyone returns home to NY on the jet and Terrence is exhausted. Shortly after, Terrence collapses! Rushed to the hospital, Terrence continued to slowly deteriorate. Rod lashed out at Christian for pushing the Canada trip on them all, Christian felt guilty, and Fiona ordered them both to stop their selfish fighting. Dr. Julia Lawless adjusts Terrence's prescription dosages. Lauren began grooming Carina for her role in the “Artemis” launch and Carina was dazzled by the lifestyle she was being pulled into. Lauren set up a test shoot, which was awkward for Carina at first, but she ended up loosening up and having fun. Hattie arrives at the Von Stadt Penthouse to check on things and prepare for Henry and Leo’s return, only to find the door open and the place ransacked. Hearing a noise down the other end of the floor, Hattie realizes the burglars are still there, and gets on her cell phone to dial the police about the burglary. While hospitalized, Terrence's eyesight begins to go. Julia admits to the Applewhites that this is probably Terrence's last month to live. Coming in September on Beyond the Horizon: Hattie disrupts Leo’s plan by getting Ford and Ava caught. Rachel wakes up, while Rolo’s life hangs in the balance. Jenna has a proposition for Lauren, who’s at loose ends after Valentina Gembressi nixes use of her gowns. Hattie finds herself right in the middle of the case of Rolo’s stabbing. Eddie and Thomas discuss what Thomas saw in Canada between Eddie and Shawn. Henry suspects Leo has gone against his wishes and seeks answers from Ford. Terrence’s condition worsens, and he wants to see his ex-wife Emma. Ava swears Aviva is never coming back. Carina learns about Lauren’s family. Evan is on hand to revise Terrence’s will. Startup company Baldwin Enterprises launches. Jenna’s past comes back to haunt her. Rebecca’s new dorm roommate hits it off with Thomas.

July 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <<< Previously on Beyond the Horizon, tensions escalated and people revealed new sides of themselves in June... Fiona (Connie Fletcher-Staton) hired Rachel (Sherri Saum) to investigate her new officemates, Henry (Sebastian Roché) and Leo (Jeff Branson) Von Stadt to get proof they were in the drug business. Edina (Ilene Kristen) was forced to spill about her secret double life to Eddie (Jeffrey Carlson), Theodore (John Ingle) and the entire Baldwin family, when her separate worlds collided. Eddie discovered that Shawn's (Tobias Truvillion) "other woman" wasn't just any woman, but that Jenna (Kari Wuhrer) was his half-sister! Terrence (Walt Willey) revealed to Rod (Forbes March) and Fiona that he had AIDS, which sent the Applewhite children reeling. Det. Nathan (Jason Thompson) grew increasingly suspicious of Aviva (Christina Chambers) over Eleanor's drugging, due to Aviva's erratic behavior. Rod blamed Christian (David Evan Smith) for Terrence's AIDS status, but Christian's test came back negative. Esther (Kathleen Widdoes) forced her way back into Hattie's (Kate Collins) life and vowed to get Hattie her daughter's back and help Hattie land Henry. Aurora/Eddie turned to Dominic (William Shew) for drugs, but Dominic refused to sell to him and compromise his sobriety, which angered Ford (David Chisum). Eddie accused Shawn of being just like Edina, living a double life and never being fully present in either life. Crystal's (Kerry Butler) hopes for a pregnancy with Rod to offset the news about Terrence's health were dashed when the test came back negative. Nathan arrested Aviva when he found the medication that Rolo (Ignacio Serricchio) had planted in her purse on Hattie's orders. Eleanor (Catherine Hickland) reluctantly agrees to stay at Henry's penthouse after his stabbing, but puts an end to their romantic entanglement. Aviva's personality shifts became more obvious to Ramon (Kamar de los Reyes). Julia (Melissa Archer) and Tiffany (Ambyr Childers) were frustrated at Esther's change in her story about Hattie's guilt in their father's murder. Thomas (Bobby Steggert) reached out to his newfound brother and discovered Eddie's sexual orientation and career as a drag queen! Father's Day brought James (Alec Musser) and Julia closer together, made Eddie feel like more of a Baldwin, showed Jenna's true colors, brought Dominic and Christian back to their fatherless roots, and made Fiona and Rod aware of what they were losing. Evan (Ian Buchanan) secured Aviva's bail, but she returned home to discover Nathan had found proof that Aviva had been stalking Rachel and Ramon! Aviva took Nathan hostage in her apartment! Carina (Natalia Livingston) moved in with Julia, while trying to get her life back on track. Eleanor organized a Charity Bachelor Auction for the AIDS Day of Compassion, after she learned of Terrence's fate. The auction created surprising pairings and revealed hidden truths. Aviva revealed that she was "Ava" to a captive Nathan, who wasn't sure if she was an impostor or an alternate personality. Tensions continued to escalate between Rod and Crystal. Rachel found a lead on the mysterious Lauren Sapphyre and poised Thomas and Rebecca (Lindze Letherman) for a trip. >>> Opening Sequence (UPDATED to include Lynn Herring as Lauren Sapphyre!) Watch the Opening Sequence on YouTube! <<< Thomas and Rebecca fly to a remote Southwestern location and find Lauren Sapphyre (Lynn Herring) working a ranch! Thomas reveals that he knows Sapphyre Cosmetics is in trouble and believes VSI can save it. At VSI, during her surveillance on the Von Stadts, Rachel snags Jenna on tape, confessing to tampering with Thomas's investigation on the Sapphyre Project. Leaving the tape anonymously, Henry and Leo call a meeting with Shawn Marks and order him to shut down and fire Jenna! Shawn is hesitant, but is told that if he can't separate the personal from the business and do what needs to be done, he will have to go too! Esther advises Hattie about her choice in work attire, telling her that the blouse is entirely outdated and something ripped directly from late 70s fashion. Esther tells Hattie that even lowly secretaries dress like CEOs. Hattie bristles at her mother’s unwelcome advice and tells her to keep her opinions to herself. All of Esther’s concepts of current fashion comes from whatever television that the Shady Glen staff allowed her to watch. Esther insists that her time unfairly incarcerated hasn’t kept her out of touch with the world, and she’s determined to prove mother does indeed know best. Ramon regains consciousness and realizes what happened. "She's lost her way, Mr. Valdez," Nathan informed him, as if Ramon didn't already know. "Aviva" entered, frustrated that Ramon is awake already. "Aviva, what is this?! You have to let us go, this is insane," Ramon implored her. "Aviva" got down in his face, "You want to know what's insane? Is trying to live a nice little white picket fence kind of life when your parents never gave a damn, when your sister always hated you, and when your supposedly devoted man sleeps with the first dirty little slut that comes along. That's insane. I'm surprised Aviva held it together as long as she did, considering. But when she was willing to brush it off, toss her hair and flash a goofy smile while the world walked all over her and conspired behind her back, I decided that enough was enough and it was time to take back control. It only gets worse, Ramon. The more Aviva stands by with her fingers in her ears going "LA LA LA...", the more the vultures start to circle. Because she's weak. She'd rather stick her head in the sand than confront those who don't appreciate her, who've betrayed her. But that's why I'm here, darling. To do what needs to be done. To claim an eye for an eye." Ramon is chilled by this woman's calm... this woman who is not the Aviva he knew. "Who are you?" Ramon asked, to which Nathan jumped in, "Ava. And she needs help." Ava laughs, "I am help! And thanks for ruining my chance to announce my own debut!" Ava is startled by the doorbell and is frustrated all over again. Evan Royale was waiting at Aviva's door to discuss their strategy for her defense, and heard a moaning coming from Aviva's bedroom. Intrigued, Evan tried to find out who her guest was, but "Aviva" lied that she had put on some music for Evan's arrival. Aviva excused herself to her room and chloroformed her two captives Nathan and Ramon to keep them quiet, and then switched on some seductive music. When Evan nearly followed her into her bedroom, Aviva stalled and distracted him by seducing her lecherous lawyer on her living room couch! Fiona offers to take a personal leave from Royale & Klein to take her father on a cruise around the world. Terrence refuses and tells Fiona to focus on her own life. Spending time with her is enough, they don't need to travel the world. Fiona is outraged, she wants to do something with her father and he rejects her. Terrence doesn't want her to put her life on hold. He did that too much in his life and won't cause anyone else to do it. Fiona breaks down that she just... wants to fix it. More than anything, to make it go away. Terrence tells her she can't. Fiona doesn't have enough memories with her father. Terrence says they'll never have enough memories. At least not for him. Terrence tells Fiona she's just like him, putting everyone else first, and herself last. Ultimately, it will break her. Focus on her life. Fiona will miss him so much. In the Southwest, Lauren is furious to have been intruded upon on her private ranch, but Rebecca puts the issue into perspective. Lauren admits she's lost focus and is scrambling, that she goes to the ranch to clear her mind. Lauren is impressed by the kids seriousness, professionalism, and dedication, and all they ask is that she come to New York and meet with Henry and Leo at VSI. Lauren agrees to hear VSI's pitch and offers to fly them all back on her private jet. Rolo and Tiffany are enrolled in a summer course to make up for their failing grades, and are surprised that Aviva Reynoso is teaching again. Tiffany feels guilty because of Hattie's role in causing Carina Reynoso's coma on New Years Eve. Rolo, meanwhile, keeps wondering about Aviva's state of mind, acting like everything is okay, when the impression Rolo got from his brother was that Aviva was tense and behaving strangely. But where Aviva was once a very manic, involved-in-the-subject-matter kind of teacher, this version of Aviva seemed abnormally laid back, almost non-chalant about the subject matter. After class, Rolo stays behind to ask how she's been. "Aviva" claims she's been fine, and gets a little too close to Rolo as she thanks him for his concern. Somewhat attracted, somewhat intimidated, Rolo asks if Aviva's heard from his brother, whom Rolo hasn't seen in days. "Haven't seen him," Aviva pouts her lip, trailing her fingers along Rolo's jaw as she grabs her things and slinks out of the room. Rolo seems quite impressed with himself and his apparent irresistability, if Aviva was just flirting with him. Shawn confides his dilemma to Rachel, who feels responsible for leaving the anonymous tape. Rachel then suggests Shawn quit, and insists his hard work was never appreciated anyway. Rachel secretly hopes to get Shawn away from VSI in case they are implicated in the drug business. Shawn refuses to leave a company that he's worked so hard for, and it was never really a question about firing Jenna, he just hasn't figured out how to do it. Leo visits Fiona at home, surprised she had taken a personal day to be at home with Terrence. Leo wants to make sure Fiona’s taking care of herself, too, since it will help her take better care of Terrence. Fiona vents a little about how there are good days and bad, the medication having its side effects on her father, and the bitter knowledge that the medicine can’t cure him and is only prolonging the inevitable. Dominic comes in and gets edgy to see Leo, Fiona is intrigued about what Leo will do. Fiona asks Leo if they’ve ever been introduced. “I don’t believe so,” Leo lies, introducing himself to Dominic. Dom plays along so as not to alert suspicion. Unfortunately for both of them, Fiona’s already seen them in an intense conversation together, so this is further proof that something is terribly wrong. Hattie turns up at Hunter College to pressure Rolo into convincing Tiffany to return home to Hattie. Rolo tells her that Tiffany's better off without her. Hattie warns Rolo not to forget who paid for his chance to walk the Hunter College halls again, and since Hattie has so little to lose at this point, she wouldn't mind telling Tiffany that Rolo planted the drugs on Aviva to frame her for Eleanor's drug-induced behavior. Rolo backs off, agreeing to make efforts to reunite Tiffany with Hattie. But Rolo didn't know that Ava was lurking around the corner and heard the truth about Hattie and Rolo's frame-up! Hattie and Rolo's names just made Ava's ever-growing hit list. Ava was stunned in the faculty lounge to find Aviva's face looking back at her in the mirror. Aviva is perplexed, "Who are you? I can see the things you're doing, but... I don't understand what's happening!" Ava assures Aviva in the mirror that everything will be fine and Aviva will have a much simpler life to return to... eventually. When she's done taking out everyone that's wronged her. When Ava looked back at the mirror, Aviva's concerned face was gone, but now Ava spotted colleague Theodore Baldwin behind her, who had just overheard Ava's conversation with "herself". "Revenge? That's not like you, my dear," Theodore assured "Aviva". "Then you mustn't know me very well," Ava mouthed off. Theodore assured her that he knew her quite well, and the Aviva he knows has too much self-respect to become obsessed with vengeance. "The Aviva you know isn't in right now... come back during normal business hours," Ava taunted him, suddenly having no worries about exposing the dark side of her personality, perhaps not taking the elderly Theodore too seriously. Theodore could tell his colleague was troubled. Backing out of the doorway, Theodore promised to find her the help that she needs. Ava chases Theodore to the stairwell, which isn't difficult, since the old man can't run very fast, and a swift push sends Theodore tumbling down the stairs and landing in a heap at the bottom. "I strongly believe in helping myself, old man." Ava laughs to herself, leaving Theodore crumpled at the foot of the staircase. Hattie was hard at work typing a mile-a-minute at the computer at VSI, peering down through her reading glasses at the screen. Hattie was alarmed by Esther’s arrival, with a picnic basket, no less! Hattie demanded Esther leave before anyone catch sight of her, and Esther giggled at Hattie’s order, proceeding past her, intent on meeting Hattie’s boss. Hattie couldn’t stop Esther before the woman burst into Henry’s office, forcing Henry to cut his conference call short. Esther cheerily offered fresh baked muffins to her daughter’s boss, and Henry was highly frustrated at the interruption. Hattie apologized profusely, ushering Esther out of the office, and swearing if she ever embarrasses her again, Esther will be made to long for comforts like electro-shock therapy when Hattie’s through with her. Hattie’s plans are further compromised when Eleanor has arrived to see Henry and finds Hattie with Esther, a fellow patient from Shady Glen Sanitarium! Jenna was busy seducing Shawn (while he was trying to find the right way to fire her) at VSI when word started to spread of Theodore's tumble down the stairs late at night at Hunter College. Learning of the violence that befell her father, Jenna races to the hospital while Thomas is still out of town. Jenna tries to force a disoriented Theodore to sign a new will turning everything over to her, but Eddie (who got a phone call from Shawn alerting him to his father's fall) interrupts her in the nick of time. Jenna is furious. Eleanor was certain that Hattie’s been out to get her since they first met, and the fact Esther is her mother is further proof of how far Hattie would go to ruin her. “Oh come now, Eleanor, aren’t we mining new depths of paranoia this afternoon?” Hattie smirked. Eleanor insisted that she would prove to Henry, and anyone else who would listen, that Hattie was a crazed, destructive criminal and not worthy to shine a shoe in this city. Esther excused herself, congratulating Eleanor (and herself) on their looking so refreshed since their releases from Shady Glen. Hattie isn’t intimidated by Eleanor, “You know Ms. Halperin... I’ve seen a hundred versions of you in my lifetime. Cheerleaders. Sorority sisters. Small business owners. Socialites. Housewives. Soccer moms. So... together. So perfectly groomed by life, for life. But the minute one part of their perfect little life is shaken, ever so slightly, all the nuts start to fall out of their tree. And it proves you are no better than the people you look down upon to make yourself feel better. You are no more sane, classy, or worthy than you would assume I am. You’ve just been lucky. Funny thing is, all that’s changed is your luck, and you’re so bitter about it that you want to blame it all on me. The more you refuse to take responsibility for the state of your life, honey, the more you prove how right I am about you. Now get the hell out of here, Mr. Von Stadt has a full schedule today.” Hattie dismisses her, not realizing Henry has come out of his office to hear the tail-end of Hattie’s dismissal. Henry informs his secretary he will be taking a long lunch with Ms. Halperin and to push his after-lunch meeting to tomorrow. Eleanor takes pleasure in how quickly and effortlessly Hattie was put in her place by her boss. Fiona told Rod of her plans to travel with Terrence and Rod is furious with Fiona for constantly reminding their father of his impending death. Fiona accuses Rod of not caring at all, and distancing himself. Rod claims he has been busy. Fiona calls him cold and unfeeling, and Rod explodes that she should excuse him if he's not prepared to sit and watch their father die! Fiona says he's wasting what little time he has left with Terrence by wallowing in denial. Thomas and Rebecca return with Lauren to VSI and Henry is impressed with their results when he learns from Hattie that Lauren made an appointment for a meeting! Henry tells Thomas of Jenna's deception and commends him on getting the job done, even with Jenna secretly working against him. He also tells Thomas about Theodore in the hospital. Edina sat vigil at Theodore's bedside while Theodore floated in and out of consciousness at the hospital, unable to reveal what had happened to cause his fall. Back at Hunter College, the students collectively missed Professor Baldwin. "Aviva" expressed her concerns about her colleague Theodore to her class, and directed them on where to send their flowers and best wishes. After class, "Aviva" played vulnerable after the suspected attack on Theodore, and Rolo was there to comfort her, certain that the police would uncover whoever attacked him, if it was an attack. Aviva worries that things won't ever be right again, with Ramon missing. "Aviva" confesses she can't get in touch with Ramon and wonders if the person sending her letters has targeted him now. Rolo consoles her, promising to help find his brother. "Aviva" says Rolo reminds her a lot of his big brother. In a staged vulnerable moment, Ava kisses Rolo, and pulls back, apologizing. Rolo is immediately intoxicated by the forbidden moment, and as his hormones take control, "Aviva" allows another kiss, and soon she is claiming Rolo on her desk! At Tiffany's locker, she finds a note slipped in from Professor Reynoso, asking Tiffany to meet her back at the classroom to discuss her latest test scores, and when Tiffany returns to the room, Rolo and "Aviva" are in the middle of their tryst, naked, biting, scratching, passionate. Tiffany is horrified at Rolo's cheating and runs off. Lauren arrives for her meeting with Henry Von Stadt at VSI. It's clear that they have a history, when Henry mentions that he always respected her, and felt she was the real brains and business sense during her marriage to Andros Gembressi. Henry figured Lauren's marriage to Andros was just a means to an end to realizing the many dreams she had. Even his death didn't stop Lauren from becoming an amazing cosmetics mogul in America and Europe. Lauren doesn't seem to be affected by mentions of Andros, and cuts through the casual banter, "I'm intrigued by your approach this time, Henry," Lauren smirks, "Sending two kids barely out of Junior High to invade my private ranch in Colorado, my retreat, to lure me to New York to hear another trite pitch from your company? Has it come to that?" Henry counters that for Lauren it has come to that, and Henry obviously didn't have much to lose as Lauren hasn't given VSI the time of day since Andros died. "I was a foolish young girl to hitch my wagon to some man's star and I never make the same mistake twice," Lauren promised, her feet planted firmly. Henry offers Lauren full control, and only wants to hitch his wagon to her star. Lauren wonders what Henry even wants to get in bed with her company for, since even Thomas Baldwin and Rebecca Halperin can tell Sapphyre Cosmetics is in trouble. Henry has always been able to recognize a visionary when he sees one, and he believes in her. Lauren will have her lawyers contact Henry with her decision. Henry's heard that line several times before, and it was a signal to him to expect another refusal. Days later, Evan Royale arrived (acting as Lauren's lawyer at the moment, not Henry's) with a contract that Lauren would find acceptable. Henry was incredulous at Lauren's proposal, since it was leaving Henry close to LOSING money on the deal than turning any profit. But admiring Lauren's nerve, Henry signed the contract, and finally, after years of dancing back and forth, Henry and Lauren were "affiliated". While Rolo plans to bask in the afterglow on Aviva's desk at Hunter, "Aviva" has other places to be and asks for Rolo's discretion about their... indiscretion. Ava returns back to the apartment where she's holding Ramon and Nathan captive. Jenna returns to VSI to complain about Eddie to Shawn, and Shawn fires her! The shock exposes a slight crack in her exterior, Jenna seems hurt, but covers quickly, establishing that she still wants to continue seeing Shawn. Jenna brushes it off, not wanting a petty job affect their relationship. Shawn isn't sure how he feels about Jenna's reaction, only sure that he wasn't expecting that reaction to be it. Eddie tells Thomas what he caught Jenna trying to do to their father, and the battle lines are drawn. James is appalled at Jenna's actions, but she breaks down to James that she needs her brother's continued support, he's all she has after Shawn's betrayal. Having never seen that side of Jenna before, James sticks by her. Theodore returned home with Thomas doting on his every need, and Theodore's memory is still spotty when it comes to how he fell down the stairs at Hunter College. Jenna is further infuriated when Thomas doesn't expose her for what she did while Theodore was hospitalized! James advises Jenna to be grateful that Theodore doesn't know how she tried to trick him into signing a new will, but Jenna's sure Thomas is just saving the ammunition for a rainy day. Jenna firmly resolves to get dirt on Thomas. Searching the pockets in some clothes Thomas recently wore, Jenna finds a cocktail napkin from Large Bar, and thinks Thomas is secretly gay! Lauren Sapphyre began setting roots down in New York as she conceptualized her next fragrance, Artemis. Lauren approves of the expansive office space Henry allocated for her in the VSI building, with a lovely view of Broadway. Evan Royale appears to be acting as her right hand man, and it seems they go back a long way, but the nature of their connection isn't as obvious. Thomas and Rebecca go back to Large Bar for another Aurora Borealis show, and this time Jenna follows them. She takes some camera phone pictures of Thomas standing near a male stranger which could appear as though they were at the bar together. Rod notices Christian drinking more at Large Bar than he ever did before, and by himself. Believing this was proof Christian didn't care about taking care of his father, Rod encouraged Christian to drink more. Dominic offered Christian more effective ways to numb the feelings, offering hard core drugs. Christian accepted the drugs and has a bad reaction mixing them with the alcohol. Rod nearly leaves him at Large Bar, but ends up bringing him home and promises not to tell Terrence about his experimentation with the designer drugs. Rod wonders why Christian is such a mess. Christian, drunk and high, apologized, feeling responsible for the destruction of the Applewhite family. Christian gets emotional, blaming himself for being poison. Who knows what happened to his birth parents, the Fields are dead, and now Terrence is being taken from him. Rod finally realized that Terrence meant the world to Christian and Christian feared what will happen when Terrence is no longer in his world. Rod surprises himself by trying to keep Christian calm and trying to reassure Christian that he won't go floating lost in the world after... (Rod can't bear to say "after Terrence dies"). Rod cares about Christian after all. Jenna shared her camera phone pictures with James, who thought it made sense if Thomas was gay, since he's so thoughtful, sensitive, neat, and well-dressed. But James thought it might backfire on her if she were to "out" Thomas to Theodore. Jenna was sure she'd figure out some way to come out of it smelling like a rose. Fiona finds Christian the next day, recovering from his hangover. Christian confesses he's not handling well. Christian opens up about his fears over Terrence and Fiona admits to many of the same fears. Christian and Fiona make a pact to confide in each other in case they freak out again. Jenna called a family dinner, and invited Shawn, Rebecca, Edina, and Eddie. Shawn's sister Rachel was sitting at the nearby bar. Thomas knew there was a self-serving motive behind it, but thought Jenna was trying to redeem herself from the "new will" fiasco. Jenna played it as though she wanted to properly welcome Eddie into the family, but when they gathered, it seemed like Jenna had a trick up her sleeve. When Jenna finally tried to expose Thomas as gay, urging him to come clean about where he's been going at night, waving the cocktail napkin around and assuring him the family would be "accepting and understanding", Eddie came forward and outed himself, revealing that Thomas was at Large Bar to support him! Eddie came out to the Baldwins as gay AND as a drag queen! Shawn continued to feel the heat of his double life and Theodore welcomed his gay son Eddie with open arms, then commending Thomas on supporting his new brother! Jenna was foiled again. Jenna tried explaining how relieved she was that everyone was now open about who they really were. "Most of us anyway," Thomas added, looking squarely at Jenna. Something about "knowing who you really are" triggered a memory for Theodore about Aviva being the one to push him down the stairs at Hunter College! Thomas and Rebecca couldn't believe one of their professors would attack Theodore that way! Rachel couldn't help but overhear from the bar, and immediately leapt up to be sure of who Theodore was talking about. Rachel called Ramon, and his phone went straight to voicemail. Nervous about exactly how far over the edge Aviva might have gone, Rachel decided to go straight to Aviva's door to confront her secret rival over her secret actions. Lauren Sapphyre continued to settle in at her office at VSI, and called Thomas Baldwin in to see her. Lauren was impressed with Thomas's innocence and earnestness, and wanted Thomas to intern with her, but while Thomas was flattered, he was also happy with what he started to develop at VSI, and planned to continue there. However, he nominated Rebecca in his place, and after Lauren extended an offer to her, Rebecca accepted! Rebecca staggered her internship days at Sapphyre Cosmetics with her summer courses at Hunter College. Rebecca's new internship with Lauren Sapphyre piqued Eleanor's interest in Lauren and Eleanor was even more curious about Henry and Lauren's past. Despite Eleanor's claim that she no longer wanted to pursue a romance with Henry, Eleanor couldn't shake the curiosity about whether Lauren had designs on him. Realizing Evan knows Lauren well also, Eleanor probes for information. Evan claims to only know Lauren as well as anyone is allowed to, and elaborates on the "myth of Lauren Sapphyre". Evan says Lauren's long been rumored to be a lesbian, and that's not only because she's often rejected his advances. Lauren based her professional identity on the Greek poet Sappho, a voice of feminism, and, arguably, lesbians. Evan explains that Lauren's always been a distant mystery, private and elusive when it came to the press. Lauren was only involved in one relationship in the public eye, with Andros Gembressi, but their strong wills led to many clashes and power struggles. Some unknown blowup was the final straw for Lauren and she filed for divorce, moving her base across country. Andros died, and Lauren was the sole beneficiary, despite the divorce. Eleanor immediately wondered if Lauren was involved in his death. Evan doubts it, as it's not in Lauren's nature to feel deeply enough for anyone to be moved to murder. Jenna was at wit's end about what her next move should be. Shawn gives her a talking-to and tells her she's been so focused on Thomas that she hasn't been able to fully commit to her own goals. Shawn advises her to draw up a proposal and try to launch a startup company of her own with some of Theodore's money. Jenna thinks it's a brilliant idea. She just needs James on board with her. James tells Jenna he's content with his garage. Jenna thinks James always settles for the bare minimum and dazzles him with the notion of a chain of garages and staff so that James wouldn't have to get his hands dirty. James is on board. Henry invites Lauren over for dinner, and Eleanor takes the opportunity to try to get a firmer grasp on the new woman in town. Lauren and Eleanor seem to size each other up. Eleanor seems impressed with Lauren, a straight shooter with ample charm and charisma, and a sharp sense of humor. Eleanor is awed that Lauren seems supremely confident, unshaken by life's twists and turns. Lauren learned long ago not to be surprised by life. Despite hardships there is beauty in everything, and to quote Sappho, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Eleanor didn't know that was a Sappho quote. Lauren continues, "Every tragedy, every challenge... everything is a learning and growing experience." Eleanor has spent so much time feeling beaten down by life, she hasn't been able to feel empowered. "Sometimes one needs more distance before perspective is gained," Lauren believes, "You might have learned more from your experiences than you realize right now. But the most obvious victory is... you're still here." Eleanor definitely appreciates Lauren's food for thought over their dinner. Rachel pounded on Aviva's door and "Aviva" was unable to mask her disgust at Rachel's arrival. Rachel confronted Aviva with what Theodore Baldwin claimed and wanted an admittance of guilt. Instead, "Aviva" defended herself, wondering if proving Aviva did something bad would make Rachel feel less guilty about seducing Ramon and pretending to be Aviva's friend while carrying on with Aviva's lover behind her back. Rachel was thrown by Aviva's referring to herself in the third person, and didn't realize Aviva knew about Rachel and Ramon's betrayal. "Aviva" claimed Rachel deserved a lot worse than a doll hanging from the ceiling of her apartment. Rachel was horrified to realize Aviva was behind the threatening messages and wondered how twisted Aviva was. "As twisted as I needed to be to keep up with you," Ava lashed out. Rachel swore she was going to the police to report Aviva, and Ava just threw her head back and laughed. "What are the police going to do to me, when New York's finest can't even conduct a proper search?" Ava boasted. Rachel didn't understand what she meant, until Ava opened her bedroom door to reveal and unconscious Nathan and Ramon. Before Rachel could register a reaction, Ava whacked Rachel over the head with a fireplace poker and dragged her lifeless body into the room with the others. "And, growing up, I never even wanted a puppy," Ava groaned. Crystal turns up at Large Bar while Rod is setting up for Happy Hour. Rod is busy at work. Crystal proposes that they take a vacation from New York, to get away from the stresses in their life and get back to basics, back to who they are, the couple they’ve been in the past. Rod has a lot of responsibilities at Large Bar and feels he’s still too new in his role managing the place to take a week off for a vacation. Crystal promises that she has an “in” with the boss and might be able to swing the time off for him. Rod gets flustered and snaps at her that he can’t go anywhere right now. Crystal tries to appeal to him, talking about how they really haven’t made time for each other since Valentine’s Day. “Well Crystal, I’ve had a lot going on since then...” Rod argues, “I was shot in March, so that kinda kept me busy, then my father learned he was dying of AIDS, and it’s kinda been downhill since then. Sorry if we haven’t made time to sit by a fire and cuddle, but my father is DYING! And I guess since you lost yours a while ago, you’ve forgotten how terrifying that is. Crystal slaps Rod, letting him know he crossed a line. “It feels like yesterday that we got the call my father was dead. Thank you VERY much. Maybe I haven’t considered your feelings about your father enough, but it’s been an uphill battle getting you to open up to me about ANYTHING, or even just for you to look at me! I’m trying to be here for you in any way I can, but all you can do is take cheap shots at me about my dead father?! Go to hell, Rod.” Crystal leaves in tears. Rod realizes he was wrong for what he said. Christian puts on a brave face for Terrence and continues to care for him. Terrence is on doctors' orders to stay home as much as possible. Christian wants to start planning the wedding to keep Terrence's spirits up. Terrence offers to release Christian from the engagement. Christian won't hear of it. Terrence knows Christian didn't want this from a relationship. Christian wanted to love Terrence forever, and whatever comes with that. Terrence breaks down that he doesn't want things to go on this way. Christian tells him they need to choose happiness, then! They decide to plan the wedding. Jenna and James get their ducks in a row and make a professional presentation to Theodore. Theodore only agrees to give half of what Jenna needs. "Half to me, and half to James?" Jenna hopes. Theodore laughs at the question. He has sunk more than enough money into Jenna's dreams and schemes, and will only invest half of what she needs. Jenna realizes she needs to find another investor. Meanwhile, Thomas and Eddie continue to bond, and Thomas wants to know about Eddie's love life. Eddie isn't ready to open up about that. Thomas then asks what they should do about their mother. Thomas wants to forgive her. Eddie thinks it's got to be easier for Thomas since he had both parents through his formative years. Eddie wasn't so lucky. Eddie doesn't think he can forgive Edina for her lies. Edina arrived and proposed that Eddie make an effort to get to know his mother again if she and Theodore get to know Aurora Borealis. At the hospital, Julia is surprised when Nathan’s partner from the force stops by to ask if Julia’s seen Nathan in the last few weeks. Julia hasn’t and assumed he was working an assignment. Nathan hasn’t checked in for weeks, and the NYPD is starting to get worried. Julia remembers asking him to look into her mother Hattie for her, and that it was the last she saw of him. Julia fears that Hattie did something to Nathan. James visits Julia, who shares her fears about Nathan. James is concerned, especially since strange things have been happening. Julia asks James about whether his father remembered anything more about his fall, and James shares that it’s actually why he came because Theodore remembered that it was Aviva Reynoso who pushed him down the stairs. Julia’s flabbergasted, thinking that sounds so out of character for Aviva. James agrees. Julia calls Carina to run this claim by her. Carina is skeptical that Aviva would have reason or the guts to do such a thing. Julia and James think they need to go to the police about Aviva. Not about to get too concerned with her sister, Carina flips the TV back on and sees a news piece about the resurgence of Sapphyre Cosmetics and its new base in New York in the VSI building. Carina is transfixed as a clip shows Lauren Sapphyre talking about her business and how it has empowered her and always was her driving force and guiding star. Carina finally found what she’d needed for months – inspiration. Inspired by Lauren, Carina decided she needed to meet Lauren and become involved with Sapphyre in some way. Christian goes to Dominic at Large Bar, and Dominic wanted to know if Christian had ended things with Terrence. Christian is shocked at Dominic’s question. “Well, I figured the way you have been handling all this was a sign that you weren’t ready to deal with someone in Terrence’s situation,” Dom tried to explain. “I’m committed to Terrence,” Christian reaffirmed, “Of course, it’s hard, nothing about Terrence having an expiration date on his life is easy. But I love him. We’ve decided to get married.” Dominic is speechless. Christian hopes that Dom can be happy for him and will be supportive and attend the wedding. After Christian leaves, Ford Collins, who was eavesdropping nearby, couldn’t help but notice how disappointed Dom was with Christian’s choice to stay with Terrence. “Imagine how much more of a rift there would be if Christian and the Applewhites found out about our little target practice here a few months ago?” Ford teased Dominic, saying just enough to keep Dominic in line. A weak Ramon and Nathan come to, only to see Rachel lying on the floor before them, with a badly bleeding head wound. Ramon gets scared that Rachel is in danger and he needs to give her medical attention. Ava/Aviva is nowhere to be found. Ramon can’t believe that she would leave an injured woman on the floor to die. Eleanor was distracted, with recent interactions with Hattie Wilson and Lauren Sapphyre circling in her head. Eleanor realized she was frozen in place, afraid to move in any direction with her life, and had been struggling to get her life back to the way it was before her husband’s death, and the truth was... life would never be that way again. Eleanor needed to move forward, but to do so, she needed to tie up some loose ends – specifically Hattie Wilson. Eleanor decided to pay a visit to her former fellow patient, Esther, to try to get to the bottom of what makes Hattie tick. Ava has gone to the waterfront to get away. Ava flashes back to her argument with Rachel and the bludgeoning Ava gave her, and her realization that Rachel’s head wound was bad. Panicking, and knowing that it was a matter of time before the Baldwins, or more police, were beating down her door, Ava knew she needed to disappear. “You lost, beautiful?” a man’s voice startled her. It was Ford Collins, wondering what a beautiful woman like Ava was doing wringing her hands at the waterfront. Coming in August on Beyond the Horizon: Rolo’s betrayal of Tiffany sends her back into the waiting arms of her mother and grandmother. “Ava” is forced to go on the run when her nefarious deeds finally catch up to her, bringing her into contact with reclusive Ford Collins. Eleanor buddies up to Esther, who may be craftier than Eleanor realizes. The Applewhites gear up for a wedding in Canada. Crystal decides to pursue a long-dormant dream. Terrence and Christian’s wedding is the occasion for a few secrets to be revealed and lives changed. Carina is drawn to Lauren Sapphyre’s lifestyle. Jenna hopes to land Lauren Sapphyre as an investor in her new venture. Ramon is determined to find Aviva and help her as a way of redeeming himself. Eddie is reunited with someone from his past.

June 2008: Week 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <<< Previously on Beyond the Horizon, devastating life truths shook up several people's worlds at the start of June... Esther (Kathleen Widdoes) strong-armed Hattie (Kate Collins) into allowing her to move in and plot all of Hattie's future moves. Dominic (William Shew) refused Eddie's (Jeffrey Carlson) demand for drugs, earning Dominic more anger and threats from Ford (David Chisum). Thomas (Bobby Steggert) turned to Rebecca (Lindze Letherman) when he felt like his whole life turned out to be a lie. Edina (Ilene Kristen) wanted to run back to Canada when her deception about her life and Eddie's father was finally revealed, but Theodore (John Ingle) convinced Edina to stay and fight for everyone's happiness. Jenna (Kari Wuhrer) and James (Alec Musser) hoped to use Edina's revelations to drive a wedge between Thomas and Theodore. Shawn (Tobias Truvillion) tried to reach out to Eddie to help him through the truth about his conception, but Eddie accused Shawn of being as bad as Eddie's mother. Rod (Forbes March) couldn't handle the notion of his father Terrence (Walt Willey) dying within the year, and lashed out at Fiona (Connie Fletcher-Staton), Crystal (Kerry Butler), Christian (David Evan Smith), anyone he could. Crystal bought a pregnancy test, hoping to find good news to offset the devastating news about Terrence's AIDS. Det. Nathan Weber (Jason Thompson) found drugs in Aviva's (Christina Chambers) purse -- the same drugs that were responsible for Eleanor (Catherine Hickland) stabbing Henry Von Stadt (Sebastian Roché). Eleanor agreed to remain at the Von Stadt penthouse, but broke off her romantic relationship with Henry. Aviva hires Evan Royale (Ian Buchanan) as her defense attorney, and later talks about herself in the third person while pacing her jail cell. >>> Opening Sequence Watch the Opening Sequence on YouTube! <<< "Why Ava?" Nathan inquires about the name, struggling in his handcuffs that are wrapped around the pipe protruding from her bedroom wall. "It's shorter, more 'to the point', simpler... It's time to start distinguishing myself if I'm going to be handling things my way from now on," Ava explains. Nathan really doesn't care for the way she's handling things. Ava supposes that's too bad, and urges him to stop struggling with the pipe... it's a gas line. All the lit candles around her room might have a bad reaction if Nathan created a gas leak. Ramon asks what Evan Royale is doing at a bachelor auction when he should be working on Aviva's defense. Evan could ask Ramon the same about being at a bachelor auction while the woman he supposedly loves is facing serious charges. Ramon reminds Evan that visiting hours are limited, but Evan is surprised Aviva didn't call Ramon to tell him that she got out on bail already. Ramon is surprised at this news, and leaves the auction to go find Aviva. Eleanor takes a glass of champagne off of a tray and makes her way to Hattie's table. Hattie compliments "Ms. Halperin" (keeping things rather formal, since they supposedly don't know each other well) on throwing the auction together so suddenly. Knowing how much money and work Henry put into it, Hattie wonders how close he and Eleanor must be getting. Eleanor is sure that Hattie will be glad to know Eleanor and Henry's relationship is strictly platonic. Hattie isn't sure what Eleanor is implying, since Hattie is Henry's secretary and anything further would be unprofessional. Eleanor is almost amused by how easily Hattie hides her true self. Hattie is concerned, however, that Eleanor is holding a glass of champagne. "Wasn't a drinking problem the reason you were brought up on charges this year?" Hattie smugly notes. "Oh, this isn't for me," Eleanor explains, "it's for you." Hattie is flattered and graciously reaches for the glass, but Eleanor dumps the drink on Hattie, ruining her dress and hair. Hattie is horrified and humiliated, while Rolo can't stifle his laughter. The patrons around the room giggle, and all Eleanor can muster is an "oops" as Hattie scurries off. Henry quietly appreciates Eleanor's petty form of revenge. Nathan tries to convince Ava to let him go. She obviously needs help, and Nathan is willing to get it for her, but that's going to be harder for Ava to get if she has a dead officer on her hands. Ava is certain that she could come up with a plausible explanation. Ava, waving a small handgun, supposes could say she saw someone had entered her apartment and she defended herself by shooting the mysterious assailant, only to discover it was Nathan. Nathan warns her that it's a capital crime to murder an officer of the law. And it wouldn't explain the handcuff wounds on his wrists. Ava gets flustered but admits she really only has to worry about the consequences if she allows anyone to catch up with her when she's done with her plans. Leo sneaks up behind Fiona, as dancing begins in the ballroom, "Should I be jealous?" Leo asks, "You were looking very intense with my father over at your table, all evening." Fiona begins dancing with Leo, shrugging off his inquiry. "I was just gaining better insight into the man behind the image the media paints of him," Fiona says, studying Leo's face. "I definitely see more of a resemblance between the two of you," Fiona says seriously. Leo seems more nervous with the way Fiona is looking at him. "What is it?" Leo wonders. "Nothing," Fiona says... "Nothing I can't handle." Fiona rests her chin on Leo's shoulder, and Leo feels a different vibe coming from Fiona than he's ever felt before. At the Applewhite home, a tired Terrence discards his shoes and plops onto the couch. Christian sits at the other end of the couch and puts Terrence's feet in his lap. "Should I even ask what Dominic said about me tonight?" Christian wonders, "I need to start deciding what I want to confirm or deny," Christian smirks, getting a smirk in response from Terrence. "It was all good..." Terrence confirms, "he cares about you more than anyone and worries that you're wasting yourself on an old, dying man. And he's right." Christian is offended, and assures Terrence that he loves him. Terrence admits that when the impossible happened and Christian felt as strongly for Terrence as Terrence felt for him, all Terrence could do was think of all the things he wanted to do with Christian. Quiet, intimate nights at home, dinners by candlelight, scrabble games, sky diving, a cruise to the Bahamas, two weeks in Greece... And now Terrence gets worn out from a night out on the town. "If I can't handle a night out, twenty blocks from home, and a cab ride, how can he make Christian's dreams come true?" Christian lays down on top of Terrence on the couch, "Lemme tell you something about Dominic," Christian confides, "He was in LOVE with Ken. Barbie's Ken. Dom was obsessed with meeting his own Ken someday. On my 15th birthday, I told Dominic that I hated Ken. Because Ken doesn't exist. He's not anatomically correct. He has no personality. No wit. No flaws. No fears. No dreams. No class. I don't want frills. Or trips. Or some illusion of a perfect life. I gave up on that when I realized I didn't have the family that all the kids at school had. Life isn't perfect. I don't want some Ken to give me dinner by candlelight or a trip around the world. I want a man. A real man. Who's made mistakes. Who's anatomically correct. Who holds me to show me he loves me. Who looks me in the eye and sees my mistakes and my fears and loves me anyway. You're everything. You're my dream. That's all I want or need." Rod and Crystal sit quietly in a cab, on their way back to Crystal's place. Crystal breaks the silence and asks how Rod's night was. Rod says he got the answers he needed. "I'm mad at you," Crystal responds, her statement feeling very out of context with the conversation. Rod inquires why. Crystal didn't like Rod making a spectacle of her by engaging in a bidding war with her and over Christian, of all people. Rod didn't want to see good money go to waste just to ease Crystal's petty insecurities. Crystal didn't realize Rod thought her feelings were 'petty'. Rod says that his father's terminal diagnosis has put a lot of things in perspective. Crystal sympathizes, and if she is going to come second to Terrence, she can understand that, but if she's going to come second to Christian, Crystal is damn well going to want to talk to Christian and find out what's so special about him. Rod gets furious, "I just wanted to make sure that the man my father wants to spend his final months with has his best interests at heart, which I think is a little more relevant and important than you hoping to disprove the ridiculous notion that I have more of an interest in Christian than you! It is NOT about you! AT ALL." Crystal's eyes well with tears. Rod amends his statement, "I love you... I have loved you for years, and this crazy idea you have that I want my father's lover... it's a waste of your time." Crystal stares at Rod, tears slowly leaving trails down her cheeks, while Rod, who claims to love her, just stares out the window. If only he would look at her, Crystal thought to herself. If only he'd just look at her. The cab arrives at Crystal's place and Rod pays the driver and gets out, slamming the door. Crystal takes a moment to wipe her tears and gets out the other door. Thomas wants to take Rebecca out on a date... "Where to?" Rebecca wonders. "To the gay bar!" Thomas suggests. Immediately, Rebecca is thrown, reminded of her sister's concerns about her own boyfriend Rod. But Rebecca is relieved when Thomas explains he wants to go to Large Bar to support his brother Eddie's "Aurora Borealis" act. Thomas also wants to make sure Rebecca is very affectionate with him when they go... so no one there thinks he's gay. "I won't let anyone near you, handsome," Rebecca winks. Carina gets restless as she's unable to find a job to help Julia with the rent. "I understand the economy is in trouble, but I can't be the only person who's been fired this month! Someone must have been sucking at their job! Someone must need someone, somewhere!" Julia reassured Carina there was no hurry, and to find the right career for herself. Julia was living on her own all this time, she can pay the rent fine by herself. Carina is no moocher, and won't freeload off of Julia for much longer. Shawn was back in Aurora's audience for the next performance at Large Bar, and Eddie hoped things were getting back to the way they were in the beginning. Eddie was surprised when Thomas and Rebecca came to support him! Eddie was touched and told Thomas after the performance that he's glad Thomas is with Rebecca (whom he has watched grow up for years while working with her mother Eleanor). Rebecca still can't believe the weird coincidence that her boyfriend and Eddie turned out to be brothers. Spotting his VSI intern Thomas at the bar with Eddie, Shawn slipped out of Large Bar unseen by Thomas. Eddie couldn't help but notice Shawn leave at the site of Thomas, and Eddie wondered if there would ever be a point when everyone could know about the feelings Eddie and Shawn have for each other. A furious Ramon arrived on Aviva's doorstep and she didn't want to let him in. Ramon insisted that they work out whatever problems were making Aviva keep him at arms' length. "Aviva" (Ava) insisted they had nothing to discuss and she needs this time to herself to evaluate how she got to this point in her life. Ramon heard a deep moaning coming from Aviva's apartment and thought she might have another man inside! Forcing his way inside, believing Aviva might be distancing herself and behaving strangely because she found someone else, Ramon follows the sounds to her bedroom and finds Det. Nathan handcuffed to the pipe! "What the hell is going on her--" Ramon uttered before Ava struck him over the head with a vase, rendering him unconscious. "NOW all these men want to make Aviva their sole focus... Go figure," Ava sighs to herself, having to tie Ramon up now. Terrence had started to grow bitter over his condition, but Christian made him see how everyone rallied around him out of love by holding the Charity Bachelor Auction. Christian surprised Terrence with a marriage proposal, and Terrence accepted! Thomas was surprised by a file Rachel dropped at his desk in his little cubicle at VSI. It contained all the contact information to get in touch with Lauren Sapphyre! Thomas was thrilled with Rachel's results, and immediately called Rebecca to share his excitement. Thomas told her he was going to get on a plane to Lauren's southwestern cattle ranch, and would love it if Rebecca would join him. They had a little time before summer courses at Hunter were starting, and Thomas hates travelling alone. Rebecca wondered what they would say to Lauren when they got there, and Thomas said he could tell from the financial reports that Sapphyre Cosmetics was struggling. In the Coming Weeks on Beyond the Horizon: "Ava" continues scrambling to cover her tracks, with two sexual conquests, and by claiming another victim. The mysterious Lauren Sapphyre debuts. Carina finally finds a new direction for her life. James makes progress with Julia. "Ava" needs tranquilizers. Shawn is put in an awkward position at VSI. Esther still has influence over Hattie. Julia suspects Hattie when she learns Det. Nathan is missing. The Applewhites continue to grapple with Terrence's condition. Jenna's selfish plotting may ruin everything... but for whom? Dominic's past sins are discovered by someone close.

June 2008: Week 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <<< Previously on Beyond the Horizon, devastating life truths shook up several people's worlds at the start of June... Esther (Kathleen Widdoes) strong-armed Hattie (Kate Collins) into allowing her to move in and plot all of Hattie's future moves. Dominic (William Shew) refused Eddie's (Jeffrey Carlson) demand for drugs, earning Dominic more anger and threats from Ford (David Chisum). Thomas (Bobby Steggert) turned to Rebecca (Lindze Letherman) when he felt like his whole life turned out to be a lie. Edina (Ilene Kristen) wanted to run back to Canada when her deception about her life and Eddie's father was finally revealed, but Theodore (John Ingle) convinced Edina to stay and fight for everyone's happiness. Jenna (Kari Wuhrer) and James (Alec Musser) hoped to use Edina's revelations to drive a wedge between Thomas and Theodore. Shawn (Tobias Truvillion) tried to reach out to Eddie to help him through the truth about his conception, but Eddie accused Shawn of being as bad as Eddie's mother. Rod (Forbes March) couldn't handle the notion of his father Terrence (Walt Willey) dying within the year, and lashed out at Fiona (Connie Fletcher-Staton), Crystal (Kerry Butler), Christian (David Evan Smith), anyone he could. Crystal bought a pregnancy test, hoping to find good news to offset the devastating news about Terrence's AIDS. Det. Nathan Weber (Jason Thompson) found drugs in Aviva's (Christina Chambers) purse -- the same drugs that were responsible for Eleanor (Catherine Hickland) stabbing Henry Von Stadt (Sebastian Roché). Eleanor agreed to remain at the Von Stadt penthouse, but broke off her romantic relationship with Henry. Aviva hires Evan Royale (Ian Buchanan) as her defense attorney, and later talks about herself in the third person while pacing her jail cell. >>> Opening Sequence Watch the Opening Sequence on YouTube! <<< Thomas can't help but smile at the scene he just apparently interrupted. "Bad time?" Thomas asked innocently. Eddie, embarrassed and surprised, scrambles to shut off his blasting music and invites Thomas in, and Eddie quickly discards the feather boa behind the couch. Thomas picks it up from the floor and offers it back to his new brother and tells him it's a good color for him. Eddie sits down with Thomas and apologizes... Eddie was still trying to figure out how he was going to go about sharing his identity with his newfound family. Thomas feels he's the one who should apologize... showing up unexpectedly at Eddie's doorstep and trying to force a family bonding moment, while not giving a moment's thought to whether Eddie needed his own amount of time to adjust to the news of his sudden family. Eddie doesn't hold Thomas responsible for any awkwardness. Thomas inquires about the feather boa and the makeup, "Fashion choice? Hobby? Lifestyle?"... Eddie thinks on the answer, "All of the above, I guess," he laughs. Eddie explains that he works as a drag queen, Aurora Borealis. Thomas likes the name Eddie came up with for his character. Eddie is surprised Thomas is so accepting and not "weirded out" by it. "It's New York," Thomas explained, pretty much summing it up. Eddie inquired about how old Thomas was to be so open-minded and mature, and Thomas shared that he just celebrated a birthday. Eddie awkwardly offered his new brother a happy birthday, and Thomas thanked him. Thomas explained that he came over to sort of extend an olive branch, and hoped they could have a good relationship. Eddie appreciated it, and was thrown for a loop when Thomas invited him to their planned Father's Day dinner at the Baldwin home. Thomas said he could even bring the feather boa if he wanted. Eddie accepted the invitation but decided against bringing the feather boa. Eddie asked that Thomas let him tell the rest of the family about himself in his own time, in his own way. Thomas understood and respected Eddie's request. Eleanor called Crystal and Rebecca together to celebrate Father's day and the mood was uncomfortable. Crystal admitted that she was surprised her mother wanted to celebrate Father's Day, given all the uncertainty and grief that has surrounded their connection with Charles Halperin before and after his death. Eleanor thought, and Rebecca agreed, that regardless of how they knew Charles in death, there were years upon years of great memories and love shared with him. James was surprised to come upon Julia on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. "Wasn't there some cheesy chick flick that ended like this?" James quipped. "A few, actually," Julia replied. Julia shared that she decided to honor Father's Day from there because it reminded her of a time her father took her to the observation deck of the Sears Tower back home in Chicago. James forgot it was Father's Day. Julia asked if James had any happy memories with his father like she did. James admitted he really didn't spend a lot of time with his father when he was little. James was always out in the neighborhood playing with his friends, and James didn't think he and his father were compatible. Julia didn't understand. James said he was always the athletic, active type, and his father was always trying to talk to him about some boring article that he'd read in National Geographic. Julia reminds James that he only gets one father and he nearly lost him last year. Julia admits she didn't care about the view from the Sears Tower, and doesn't really care about the view from the Empire State Building... but she loved seeing her father's face light up and his eyes come alive when he was looking at the vast world before him. She loved that he wanted to share that with her and let her believe in limitless possibilities that he never explored in his own life. Julia is sorry that her father had a lot of regrets in his life, but it never made him bitter, at least in Julia's presence. It made him want to ensure Julia lived better than he had chosen to. Julia tells James to call his dad... or better yet, go see him. Edina gave Theodore a photo album for Father's Day, filled with pictures of Eddie and Didi from their early childhood up through high school. Theodore is overwhelmed with emotion, and he and Thomas look through the album. Theodore notes that Didi is very beautiful, but always seems to have a sadness in her eyes. Theodore feels responsible, that she's sad because she never knew him. Edina assures him Didi was sad, but because of her own reasons, not because she ever made it known that she longed for a father. Growing up, Didi was always very accepting of the circumstances that life had given her, and took everything for what it was, refusing to get caught up in what might have been. Theodore notes that Eddie always seemed to keep his hair long. Edina shared that Eddie never liked getting haircuts when he was young. Eddie arrives and Thomas lets him in. Theodore is thrilled that Eddie chose to accept Thomas's invitation. Eddie is embarrassed to see the old pictures that Edina gave to Theodore. Eddie had ordered his mother to burn the photos from that dance class he took, and that photo of a 4 year old Eddie walking in his mother's high heels! Theodore is grateful that Edina captured those moments for him to see, even all these years later. Jenna arrives late and gives her father a box full of scratch-off lottery tickets as a Father's Day present, claiming it's a token of what brought the family back together. Edina finds the gift tacky. Thomas is furious and privately shares with Eddie that Jenna found the most selfish and self-involved gift she could have possibly given their father... and she most likely used THEODORE'S money to buy the lottery tickets, and probably bought them in order for Theodore to win MORE money that she could use to further herself in the future. Eddie is shocked, but not necessarily surprised by Jenna's nerve. Eddie doesn't believe Thomas's opinion is anything less than an accurate view of his half-sister. Christian spends Father's Day evening over cocktails at Large Bar with Dominic. Dominic wondered why Christian wasn't spending the night with his "father figure", teasing Christian by singing the George Michaels song, and Christian admitted that he wanted to give Rod and Fiona their own time with their father, just so Terrence can be their father, not the "man who's in love with some boy half his age." Dominic corrects him, "uh... LESS than half his age," continuing to tease. Christian and Dominic commisserate over their apple martinis and regret that they never had a good father in the homes that they fostered in together. Christian wished Dominic could have been taken in by the Fields. Christian admits that he tried repeatedly to convince the Fields to adopt Dominic, but they couldn't afford two children. Dominic is surprised, and touched, that Christian did that. Dominic always felt in the back of his mind that Christian forgot all about him once he was finally adopted. Christian still considers Dominic his brother, no family situation would ever change that. Father's Day at the Applewhite home is somber, as Terrence tries to keep things upbeat despite the fact that this is most likely the last Father's Day they will ever have together. Rod admits that Terrence's AIDS status is still so new to them, that as much as they'd like to put it aside for a night, it's very much in the forefront of all their minds. Terrence tells them to leave if all they see when they look at him is a man dying of AIDS. Fiona is horrified by her father's demand, and apologizes for Rod. Rod explains that wasn't what he meant. Terrence challenges his children to treat him like their father, like they always have. Terrence reminds them of when they were teenagers and they all went bowling together for the first time (except Emma, who refused because she hated the sport). Fiona swore she could still beat them both, so the Applewhites went out bowling again for Father's Day........... And Fiona still beat them both. Julia takes on a roommate when Carina is evicted because she couldn't come up with the rent money after losing her job at the hospital. Carina job hunts but all the places she knows of are connected to either her sister (who she hates) or Eleanor, her alleged assailant in the hit-and-run accident that put her in a coma (which would be uncomfortable to say the least!). Going through the classifieds in the newspaper proves fruitless and frustrating to Carina, who no longer wants to settle for just any job to pay the bills. There's a reason that everything Carina knew and had gotten used to had been ripped away from her... there's a reason she lost her security blanket. Carina wants to make a career choice, a life choice, something that will take her in a direction that finally brings her some joy. Julia tells her to choose carefully, and really make the most of it. All Carina really needs now... is inspiration. Eleanor turned to Henry, who had been recovering well from his stab wound, and Henry was encouraged that Eleanor needed him. Eleanor explained that she needed his business advice and connections, to put a charity fundraiser together in a matter of days! Eleanor wanted to have the event by June 21st, since it has for years been the Day of Compassion in the entertainment industry for furthering AIDS awareness. Henry put some calls in to his publicity people who confirmed a banquet hall location for Friday, and ordered engraved invitations by the end of that day! Of course it would help if Eleanor had a concept. Eleanor finally decided on a bachelor auction, hoping the spirit of the night would be educational, and hoping that mixed partners would open peoples' minds to hearing new voices and taking in new knowledge. Henry believed in Eleanor's idea and started whipping the night together! Realizing Thomas invited Eddie over for Father's Day and saw them talking together (most certainly about Jenna!), Jenna views it as Thomas rallying the troops against her! Not about to go down without a fight, Jenna thinks she needs to start cultivating a relationship of her own with her newfound half-brother, before Thomas completely turns him against her! Jenna hopes that she'll be able to find some common ground that can bring them together (if only Jenna knew how common their ground is!). Evan secures Aviva's bail, which thrills her. Flirtatiously, she nearly kisses him. Aviva tells Evan she has a lot of catching up to do for the time she's been unfairly incarcerated. Julia was overwrought after Father's Day, thinking about all that she lost when she found her father dead. Fed up with Hattie's (and now Esther's) games and lies, Julia went to her old flame Det. Nathan Weber at his NYPD precinct and shared concerns about Hattie's possible role in her father's death! Nathan promised to look into the case for her. Working on his other case, Det. Nathan Weber returned to Aviva Reynoso's apartment feeling like there might have been more evidence that they had missed. Searching again, hoping to find more linking Aviva to the drugs in Eleanor's system at the time of the stabbing, notices a weak panel in the back of Aviva's coat closet wall. Investigating, Nathan knocks the panel loose and finds that there's a whole fixture behind the closet. Upon further inspection, Nathan realizes it's a shrine to Ramon/Rachel's torture! There's numerous photographs of Ramon and Rachel, separately, with the eyeballs cut out of each one, there's a receipt for a sample of pig's blood dabbed with the blood itself, which reminds Nathan of the note in blood on Rachel's bed that had her so shaken. As Nathan puts the pieces together that Aviva was the one behind Rachel's stalking, a freshly-returned Aviva knocks Nathan unconscious with a paperweight and takes him prisoner in her apartment, so she can continue to exact her revenge on Ramon and Rachel! Invitations traveled all over town for the Day of Compassion Charity Bachelor Auction, and there were mixed reactions. Rod refused to go, not wanting to be surrounded by reminders of his father's impending death. Fiona was appalled at her brother's reaction, and urged him to think about the pain he's in knowing their father is going to die from this disease. Fiona wants Rod to think about how all this money going to research is in the hopes that other people won't need to lose a father, a child, a lover to AIDS. "Stop being so selfishly wrapped up in your own pain and start thinking about preventing someone else from going through what you've been these last few weeks," Fiona said. The Day of Compassion Charity Bachelor Auction gets underway and Eleanor begins her hosting duties to the sold-out event. First, Eleanor recognizes Henry Von Stadt for not only underwriting the entire event, but for donating a staggering $2 million in Terrence Applewhite's name. Terrence joined Eleanor on stage to thank Henry for his generous donation. Terrence makes a speech about the importance of AIDS research. Eleanor then relays that Henry is also going to be matching every final bid, $2 for every $1. Eleanor explains that the tickets for the Auction were purposely inexpensive so that more of the guests' money could go toward bidding on their crop of bachelors! Eleanor acknowledges that while she can't enforce it, she requests that anyone who has a significant other up for bid NOT bid on them. The purpose is to meet someone you don't know, or don't know very well, and sit down for an evening of open communication, to learn something new. Eleanor reinforces that knowledge is power, and if there was more tolerance and open communication, they could potentially slow, and maybe even stop, the spread of HIV and AIDS. The bachelor auction begins, and the results are shocking! Eleanor announces Nathan Weber, whom Eleanor is dismayed to discover is a no-show for the event (since he's being held hostage by Aviva!). Eleanor's sure he was called away on police business. Julia is disappointed he couldn't attend. Fiona bids on her boyfriend's father, Henry Von Stadt. Dominic bids on his foster brother's lover, Terrence Applewhite. Edina bids on the object of son Eddie's affection, Shawn Marks. Jenna bids on new half-brother Eddie Dawson. Rachel goes against rules to bid on her sometimes-lover Ramon Valdez. Rebecca bids on her boyfriend's big brother James Baldwin. Tiffany bids on her school rival's boyfriend Thomas Baldwin. Hattie bids on her partner-in-crime Rolo Valdez. Julia bids on her former patient, Theodore Baldwin. No one bids on Evan Royale, so Eleanor takes pity on him and snags him for $5! Crystal had secured the bidding on Christian, until Rod crashed the party and bid on him too! Crystal was stunned. Crystal and Rod engaged in a bidding war over Christian, and Rod won. Crystal was so furious and somewhat hurt over Rod bidding (and winning) Christian, that she bid on last option Leo Von Stadt. Fiona & Henry: Fiona and Henry sit down to dinner, where Fiona ends up questioning him about his business practices. Fiona insinuates that whatever legal issues his company may face in the future, Fiona will do everything in her power to help (insinuating that she knows VSI is in the drug business) if some of VSI's pharmaceuticals work to prolong her father's life. Henry is impressed with Fiona's upfront handling of her situation, and despite her essentially blackmailing him, he remains sympathetic to her plight... so he agrees to give Fiona what she wants. Dominic & Terrence: "I have to say I'm surprised," Terrence admitted, going on to explain he didn't think Dom would spend his hard-earned tip money on the old, useless man that Christian's been wasting his time with. Dominic admits that he doesn't fully "get" Christian and Terrence's relationship, but Christian's made it clear that it's the real deal, at least for Christian. Terrence wants to know why Dom bothered to bid on him, then. Dominic wants to be sure it's the real deal for Terrence too. "Is it a fling? Some mid or late-life crisis? Catching up for all the time he lost pretending he was straight and happily married?" Terrence clarifies that he was happily married, just not happy with himself. Terrence hoped that Emma would accept Terrence for who he really was and form a new, even stronger bond. Dom casually lets it slip that he doesn't care about how Terrence felt for some wife who didn't raise the flag for him anymore... Dom cares about Christian. "Christian is really all I've EVER had," Dom shared, "foster home to foster home, shelter to shelter, Christian was the only person who ever felt like real family, and they became invested in each others' happiness." Dominic wants a promise from Terrence that no matter what happens with his illness, Christian's heart is a priority for him. Terrence has no hesitation about making that promise. Edina & Shawn: "Do you practice safe sex?" Edina asks with a terrified seriousness. Shawn is so shocked by the question he can't even register whether it offends him or not. Shawn tells her that he does practice safe sex. Edina tells him that she knows Eddie cares about Shawn very much... and given what she knows now about Shawn's lifestyle and his relationship with Jenna, Edina doesn't think it's a very smart thing for Eddie to care so much for Shawn. Shawn can't really disagree with her. Edina also knows that the heart is never known for being a "smart" organ. Edina has lived in a glass house for as long as she can remember, so she doesn't throw stones about peoples' choices in life, but Edina does encourage Shawn to think long and hard about whether he's really pleasing anyone in the situation in which he finds himself. Edina makes no secret of the fact that she finds Shawn deplorable for trying to have his cake and eat it too, and he may even think he's found the perfect system to a fulfilling life... but when he lays his head down to sleep at night, he knows in his heart of hearts that he hasn't lived a truly honest day in his entire life. "Maybe the heart knows more than it lets on, after all," Edina says, leaving him with that thought and abandoning her untouched dinner. Jenna & Eddie: Jenna notices Edina has left Shawn at the table. "Maybe your mom's not into black guys," Jenna speculates. "I doubt that's the reason... some people just aren't intended to get along," Eddie says, though possibly talking about his present situation, not his mother's. Jenna tries to probe Eddie and asks about his type. Eddie sidesteps the small-talk, asking why Jenna really bid on him. "Just want to get to know my new brother!" Jenna gushed, unconvincingly. Jenna's certain there's a way they can all co-exist as one big happy family. Jenna asks what Eddie does for a living, and Eddie scrambles to answer that he's an entertainer. Jenna isn't surprised, New York is just brimming with actors, it seems. Jenna jokes that Shawn likes to role-play with her, if Eddie can catch her meaning... Eddie certainly could, he replied. Eddie asked about the nature of Jenna and Shawn's relationship, wondering if it was love. Jenna's still waiting to hear a satisfactory definition for a word like "Love". Jenna describes her relationship with Shawn as them being the perfect power couple. Driven, Ambitious, Attractive, Successful... all those things only magnified by being together, running parallel through life, straight to the top. Eddie decides that Jenna and Shawn are only using each other to advance professionally... but isn't sure if that makes him feel better or worse about Jenna and Shawn's relationship. Rachel & Ramon: Ramon reminds Rachel that the point was to bid on someone you don't know that well. "I've come to realize you don't know me at all, you only think you do," Rachel reveals. "Are you ever going to stop thinking of me as some slut in a bar?" Rachel's question exposes some of her insecurities to a surprised Ramon. Ramon asserts that people show you who they are through actions. Every move Rachel makes proves she's a hateful person, hating Aviva because Aviva's life is everything she ever wanted. Ramon's analysis is like a knife in Rachel's heart... only because of how accurate it is. "I hate Aviva," Rachel admits, "but don't you think it was an act of hostility on your part to cheat on her with me in the first place?! What do you think that says about how much you care for Aviva?" Rachel sees Ramon pretty accurately too. "I'm amazed," Rachel continues, "that people like Aviva and you can walk around with your head in the clouds thinking life is meant to be perfect and unfold the way mommy and daddy tell you it's supposed to, and nothing should ever be complicated or surprising or unexpected. Sometimes you meet your match when you're already with someone that you THOUGHT was your match. Sometimes a person unlocks a part of you that you didn't know was there," Rachel insists. "And sometimes it's a part of you that you wish WASN'T there," Ramon fights back, "I'm trying to be a better man, and all you want to do is pull me down in the mud with you." Ramon leaves the table, and Rachel feels one more knife in her heart. Rebecca & James: 'You're sweet and all, kid, but aren't you like, jailbait?" James asked. Rebecca laughed, "I'm 20. And I'm happy with Thomas, so I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not looking for a hookup James." James wouldn't blame her for wanting to trade up from his kid brother. Rebecca wondered how James developed such a negative opinion of his little brother without spending more than a family dinner with him before coming back to town last year. James tells her they're just not the same. Rebecca wonders if James and Jenna are the same, since they get along so well. James insists Jenna's different... they're very much not the same, but he knows what Jenna's capable of. "And you don't know what to expect from Thomas, so you don't like him?" Rebecca struggles to understand. James can't put it into words, "It's like... It's... Look. I grew up knowing how to function in every situation. Instinct. What pass to make when I was a Quarterback. Which tests I really had to study for, and which I could coast through. Which girl likes to be romanced, and which girl is just out for a good time. I'm good like that. I'm never wrong. Thomas... he's an anomaly," James declares, impressing Rebecca with his vocabulary, considering she didn't think he had it in him. James continues, "Thomas is smart. Too smart at his age. He could do a lot more at Von Stadt International than what he's doing. But he's had everything handed to him. He's never left the nest, he's never had to work to earn a living, he's never had to pay for an education while still trying to get an education. He's never had to watch his mother slowly die. He's unreal, because reality hasn't happened to him yet... I mean I might be further along in my life if I'd had it as easy as... Look, whatever happens with Jenna and Thomas, that's their business. Anything she does to him was going to happen to him eventually. I'm staying out of it. Thomas thinks I just want my dad's money and that I don't care that he almost died. You think I don't know him, or I haven't tried? Maybe you're right. But take a look at your boyfriend because he hasn't made one effort to really learn about me either. If someone's dumb enough to take me at face value, then they deserve a dose of reality eventually." Rebecca is surprised by James's outpouring, and that there are all those layers to James beneath the quiet, glib, shallow exterior. Julia & Theodore: "How have you been Mr. Baldwin?" Julia asks, as his doctor. Theodore reports a strong recovery, due to Julia's expert care, of course. Theodore had been hoping that he'd be seeing her more around his home as things progressed with her and James. Julia admits that she has cooled things off with James. "We just don't look at life the same way," Julia explains. "Life would be terribly boring if we all did," Theodore counters. Julia continued that her work is difficult, takes her to some dark places sometimes, and James just doesn't take life seriously enough to understand that about her. "My son is many things, but he's not too naive to understand the harsh truths about life and death," Theodore defends his son, continuing, "I've come to believe that for whatever reason we are put on this earth, ultimately all we ever do is learn... from our own experiences... from each other. It's all we can do, is listen and learn. So maybe you're supposed to rub off on my son a little bit. And maybe he's supposed to rub off a little bit on you. You know what he told me when you came back from your date to the baseball game? That you two really connected," he shared with Julia, who was taken aback. "He said that?" Julia asked, in disbelief. Theodore confirmed to her again, adding, "Does that sound like someone looking for a cheap thrill? Don't fear change, my dear, it comes in its own time, when it's supposed to." Hattie & Rolo: "Aren't you supposed to be some brilliant puppet master?" Rolo condescends to Hattie, "It's hardly 'below the radar' to buy your accomplice at a public bachelor auction, when he's like one-fourth your age..." Hattie is offended at Rolo's math, "Listen Chico, for all anyone knows I could be interrogating you about your carnal interest in my innocent, young daughter," Hattie defends herself. "Your daughter's as innocent as you are, lady. But you didn't buy me tonight to talk about my carnal interests, you just want to make sure your little plans are shaping up the way you want." "You mean our little plans, don't you?" Hattie reminds Rolo of his willing participation. Rolo reassures her that Aviva's guilt is solid and her bizarre behavior lately is only making her look more suspicious. Hattie is optimistic that one of her plans may finally be working after all. Tiffany & Thomas: Thomas is surprised Tiffany bid on him. Tiffany seems distracted by her mother's conversation with Rolo. "What could they have to talk about?!" Tiffany wondered aloud. Thomas suggests she go find out, in Thomas's attempt to extricate himself from Tiffany. Tiffany realizes she's ignoring her date, and refocuses. Tiffany doesn't see why Thomas is surprised she bid on him. Thomas tells her she's barely said two words to him in the time they've been attending Hunter College together. Tiffany has been a social butterfly but Thomas figured he hardly rated as one of the popular crowd, that Tiffany would deem "worth knowing." Tiffany's stunned that's the way Thomas views her. Tiffany noticed Thomas first, because he wasn't a jock or a nerd or fell into any cliché category. Tiffany talked with Rebecca about him early on when she transferred to Hunter. Tiffany figured she wasn't the type Thomas would associate with. Tiffany figured Thomas wanted to associate with a girl like Rebecca; beautiful, intelligent, gracious, stable... Tiffany doesn't see herself falling into many categories with Rebecca. Thomas wonders how Tiffany sees herself. "I don't know... not stable... I don't know what I am. I'm too new to be popular. Too insecure to be self-involved. I've been lied to too many times to know who I am and where I really come from. And too scared to admit that whatever security I ever believed I had, never really existed at all." Thomas realizes Tiffany may be an innocent victim of her mother's manipulations. Eleanor & Evan: "A lovely event you've thrown together," Evan compliments host Eleanor. Eleanor's flattered and proud that it all came together so quickly. Evan continues, "So what do you say we continue to celebrate your success back at my suite?" Eleanor is offended by Evan's overtures. "Mr. Royale," Eleanor starts, until Evan interrupts her, "Call me Sir Evan..." he smirks. "You've been knighted?" Eleanor is surprised, but Evan clarifies, "No, I just like women to call me by certain titles... gets me in the mood," Evan smirks with a dirty glint in his eye. Eleanor is further disgusted. "Mr. Royale, you got me out of some very messy legal situations, and I'm grateful... but I'm definitely not looking to start anything with someone right now." Evan is fine with Eleanor's stance, "Smashing, darling, I'm not looking to start anything either, just looking to finish something off." Evan's increasing crass talk earns him a slap across the face from Eleanor before she leaves the table in a huff. Evan seemed to enjoy the rough slap even more than their conversation and watches her leave with more lust than ever. Christian & Rod: "I don't think Crystal was too happy with that little bidding war," Christian warns Rod, "I think she's got a little issue with our relationship." Rod makes it clear that his concern at the moment isn't Crystal, it's his father, and Christian's relationship with his father. "What else is new?" Christian snarks. "This is all a game to you, isn't it," Rod marvels, "well okay, let's play games. What do you like? How about... Truth or Dare?" Christian agrees to play. In the first round, Christian chooses truth. "Okay... Was my father's status and his line of work what made you get involved with him?" Christian says yes, and Rod feels vindicated, until Christian clarifies, "I was drawn to Terrence because he's passionate about Theatre like I am, and obviously driven enough to make a name for himself. Did I want to use Terrence as a stepping-stone, not at all. I fell in love with him because we share many passions, and he understands me and what drives me more than any other man ever has." Rod sees that Christian means what he says, but still poses another 'truth or dare' challenge. Again, Christian chooses truth. "When you walked in on me in the bathroom last year, was that planned?" Christian is amazed at how many straight guys really think gay guys are after them. "No, Rod, I wasn't trying to sneak a peek." Christian quickly challenges Rod to a 'truth or dare'. Rod chooses truth, so Christian asks, "Were you honest with Crystal about why someone else's name was on your lips at the cabin on Valentine's Day? Or do you even know why?" Rod is shocked by the question, not having thought about that moment for months. Christian smiles at Rod's intense, silent, brooding reaction. "See, Rod... I'm not the one here who is unsure about his feelings... I'm going to take your father home, he looks tired," Christian says, leaving the table. Crystal & Leo: "It's kinda funny, we're connected in a few ways, yet we've never really talked. My father used to work for you, until he died... my mother's living with you and your father, and dating him, depending on what day you ask... and we're both dating the Applewhite siblings," Crystal and Leo share a laugh of amazement at their circumstances. Leo asks how Crystal has been since her father's death. "Lost, alone," Crystal admits with an honesty that surprises them both. Crystal goes on to explain that she took for granted the family that she had, didn't appreciate it, and relied too heavily on it for her whole life. She got comfortable, complacent. Leo didn't understand why that's a bad thing, he's never felt comfortable or complacent with his father, before or after his mother's death. Crystal explains, "Because I never had to think about who I was, what I was going to do with my life when I didn't have this family, my parents, my sister to fall back on. I never left the nest, I never focused on my own goals or aspirations, discovered what I loved to do." Crystal was content to be the good daughter, and reliable big sister... now that she's not Charles Halperin's daughter anymore, Crystal doesn't quite know who she is. Leo sometimes thinks he'd prefer to not know, than to have it planned for him from birth that he would be his father's successor in life and carry on the Von Stadt family reputation. Crystal thinks they both have had the same expectations laid on their shoulders, just Leo's were on more grand of a scale. Crystal wonders if maybe Leo has to start thinking about what he wants his life to be, out from under his own father's shadow. Nathan wakes up disoriented. Looking around, he realizes his head hurts, and reaching to touch the lump he discovers he's handcuffed (with his own cuffs) to a pipe in Aviva Reynoso's bedroom. Aviva returns, surprised to see Nathan awake. "I was starting to wonder if you were dead," Aviva says off-handedly. Nathan asks what Aviva's doing. "I'm containing a problem. There I was, feeling good about myself because I made bail, and I come home to find you rifling through my apartment? I can't have that, Detective. I can't have that at all..." Nathan assures Aviva she's only making things worse by doing this. Aviva tells him to stop calling her that. "Call me Ava... I've grown to resent being mistaken for Aviva." Nathan is perplexed by the alternate name. Is she insane, or is this a case of mistaken identity? In the Coming Weeks on Beyond the Horizon: "Ava" takes another prisoner. Eleanor starts to get back to normal. Evan nearly discovers "Ava's" captives. Rachel makes progress in her investigation of VSI. "Ava" needs tranquilizers. Julia suspects Hattie when she learns Det. Nathan is missing. Thomas gets closer to securing a meeting with Lauren Sapphyre for VSI. Jenna's selfish plotting may ruin everything... but for whom? A shocking proposal may be the cure for Terrence's bitterness.

June 2008: Week 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <<< Previously on Beyond the Horizon, devastating life truths shook up several people's worlds at the start of June... Esther (Kathleen Widdoes) strong-armed Hattie (Kate Collins) into allowing her to move in and plot all of Hattie's future moves. Dominic (William Shew) refused Eddie's (Jeffrey Carlson) demand for drugs, earning Dominic more anger and threats from Ford (David Chisum). Thomas (Bobby Steggert) turned to Rebecca (Lindze Letherman) when he felt like his whole life turned out to be a lie. Edina (Ilene Kristen) wanted to run back to Canada when her deception about her life and Eddie's father was finally revealed, but Theodore (John Ingle) convinced Edina to stay and fight for everyone's happiness. Jenna (Kari Wuhrer) and James (Alec Musser) hoped to use Edina's revelations to drive a wedge between Thomas and Theodore. Shawn (Tobias Truvillion) tried to reach out to Eddie to help him through the truth about his conception, but Eddie accused Shawn of being as bad as Eddie's mother. Rod (Forbes March) couldn't handle the notion of his father Terrence (Walt Willey) dying within the year, and lashed out at Fiona (Connie Fletcher-Staton), Crystal (Kerry Butler), Christian (David Evan Smith), anyone he could. Crystal bought a pregnancy test, hoping to find good news to offset the devastating news about Terrence's AIDS. Det. Nathan Weber (Jason Thompson) found drugs in Aviva's (Christina Chambers) purse -- the same drugs that were responsible for Eleanor (Catherine Hickland) stabbing Henry Von Stadt (Sebastian Roché). Eleanor agreed to remain at the Von Stadt penthouse, but broke off her romantic relationship with Henry. Aviva hires Evan Royale (Ian Buchanan) as her defense attorney, and later talks about herself in the third person while pacing her jail cell. >>> Opening Sequence Watch the Opening Sequence on YouTube! <<< After making love, Rebecca consoled Thomas about feeling betrayed by his parents. Thomas was furious with his mother, for keeping two full siblings a secret from him, and upset with his father for "stringing" Edina along for years before finally settling down with her. Thomas feels as though he's lost nearly everything he could count on. Except Rebecca, of course. Rebecca encouraged him to look at the bright side, the gift that this news was. He should consider his life bigger, brighter, even more full because of all the additional history behind the love story of Thomas's parents. Rebecca points out how "at odds" Thomas was with Jenna and James, and now Thomas has been given two new siblings, to build completely fresh, strong relationships with... if Thomas decides to make the best out of the life he has now... since the choice is his. Thomas realizes Rebecca is right. Crystal waits impatiently, checking her watch repeatedly and looking off in the distance towards the bathroom sink, waiting for her pregnancy test to be ready. A timer rings, and Crystal braces herself before getting up to check the pregnancy test. Approaching it carefully, she peeks and immediately her face falls and her shoulders slump. Crystal's eyes well with tears, and she runs her hand through her hair before picking up the test and tossing it angrily in the trash. One more chance to build a future for herself... shot to hell. A shocked Ramon rushes to visit Aviva when he learns she's been arrested for drugging Eleanor. Ramon asks her to be honest about whether she did it, and assures her after what happened between Eleanor and Carina in the accident on New Years, Ramon would understand. Aviva is offended and tells Ramon to leave. She didn't do this and doesn't want to see Ramon if he thinks she's capable of it. Unlike him, Aviva can make the moral distinction between right and wrong. Ramon worries what she means about right and wrong. Aviva orders him gone, and he leaves. Aviva promises Ramon is lucky she's locked up because it's slowed down her plans for him and Rachel. Eddie recounts to Terrence and Christian the story of learning the truth about his family, and Christian is envious. Christian wishes that a father and some siblings would drop out of the sky one day, some new people to get to know, find things in common with, compare notes with about their differences. "You want mine?" Eddie jokes. Eddie admits it almost drove him back to drugs, but luckily, his dealer refused to sell to him. Eddie neglects to mention his dealer is Christian's foster brother Dominic. Christian and Terrence are relieved, and proud that Eddie faced the demon and ultimately didn't slip in his recovery from his addiction. They want to know if Eddie is going to make an effort to get to know his new family. Eddie finds it odd... It was always so easy to be "out and proud" in New York, he never had to care what people thought of him here, there were no expectations or pre-conceived notions about him. But now... Eddie's afraid for his new family to learn he's gay... and especially that he's a drag queen. Eddie knows it shouldn't matter, and if they don't understand then he'll know whether it's worth knowing his new family or not. But as much as he knows in his head... his heart is afraid for what the Baldwins will think of him. Rebecca had just finished guiding Thomas through his emotional crisis when her sister called her sobbing. Since it was obvious Crystal was despondent, Rebecca rushed to meet Crystal back at home. Crystal was heartbroken that she did as Rebecca suggested in fighting for Rod and it all fell apart. Rebecca pressed her for details and Crystal goes on about how she tried to get pregnant and it would have been just the news to help Rod bounce back from the truth about his father... Rebecca tells Crystal to slow down. Crystal reveals that Rod learned his father had AIDS. "Mr. Applewhite?!" Rebecca is horrified at the news. Crystal goes on that she had tampered with a condom to try to get pregnant with Rod a little while ago. Rebecca is horrified at that too! Rebecca explains that when she said to fight for Rod she didn't mean to put them both at risk and jump into a pre-marital pregnancy that neither of them is really ready to handle. Especially when lack of protection is most likely what is going to cost Terrence his life! Rebecca is appalled at her sister's actions, and Crystal can barely handle Rebecca's disappointment in her. Julia and Tiffany were summoned to The Redeye by grandma Esther, and were surprised to find Esther was sitting with Hattie! Unsure of what they had just walked into, Julia and Tiffany cautiously sat down and Esther proceeded to tell her granddaughters that everything about Hattie being involved in Larry's murder had been a misunderstanding and Esther swears Hattie was innocent of any wrong-doing! Julia and Tiffany instantly feel they've been played, and demand answers. Esther doesn't know what they mean. Julia accuses Hattie of manipulating Esther, Tiffany accuses Esther of manipulating them to get sprung from Shady Glen, and the Lawless girls can't figure out who was manipulating and who was the target! Infuriated, Julia and Tiffany leave, and Hattie laughs that Esther's lost her touch, "You didn't think you could sway your granddaughters that easily, did you? How much medication did they have you on at Shady Glen?" Esther assures her doubting daughter that she always gets her way, and Hattie should never forget it. Ramon admits to Rolo that Aviva is acting strangely toward him. Rolo points out that she's been jailed for a crime she didn't commit and he's worried about how she's treating him?! Ramon goes on the defensive and asks Rolo how he can be so sure Aviva is innocent if she's not acting like herself, and Rolo never seemed to like Aviva that much anyway to have faith in her innocence. Rolo quickly goes on the defensive himself and accuses Ramon of wanting Aviva to be guilty so that the path will be clear for him to resume sleeping with Rachel. Julia nearly breaks down the door of Evan Royale's office to demand that he get her grandmother Esther sent back to Shady Glen Sanitarium. Evan laughs, asking if she also wants him to put her toothpaste back into its tube. Evan reminds Julia that she and an accredited doctor declared Esther sane enough to be sprung, so short of proving Esther is crazy again, Esther's free as a bird. Besides, Evan's docket is full with the Aviva Reynoso case. Shocked to learn Aviva's been arrested for drugging Eleanor Halperin, Julia immediately calls Carina to tell her about her sister... and Carina seems hardly moved by the news at all! Ramon goes to Carina and asks if she thinks Aviva's acting strangely. Carina wouldn't know, she hasn't seen her sister. Ramon tells her Aviva's been arrested. Carina knows that, she just hasn't seen her. Ramon wonders what kind of sister Carina is. "Oh now Ramon," Carina smiles, "do we really want to start throwing stones in this glass house we all live in?" Ramon leaves, furious. Christian goes with Terrence to all his doctors' appointments and asks desperately for some news that will give them hope that Terrence can survive this. Dr. Julia says they have caught it too late. The cocktails will prolong Terrence's life to a point, but they are only quick band-aids on a rapidly accelerating problem. Christian grows angry, not wanting to accept that Terrence will die either. Terrence doesn't want to either, but he starts to believe he needs to accept it to make the most of the time he has left. Terrence and Eleanor meet to resume a semi-regular brunch that they haven't had in a long time (what with Eleanor's legal and mental issues, and all), and Eleanor shares with her friend that she ended the sexual relationship with Henry Von Stadt because of what she did to him while under the influence of the swapped medication. Eleanor admits it's the right choice, despite her attraction to the man, and she needs to work on getting back to the woman she used to be, apart from a relationship. Terrence is glad she's found some clarity. Eleanor asks what's been going on in Terrence's life, and he becomes emotional. It's obvious that something is terribly wrong. Terrence breaks down and admits to Eleanor that he has AIDS and only a few months to live. Eleanor is stunned at the news. On the subway ride back uptown to the Von Stadt penthouse, Eleanor can't stop thinking about Terrence's admission and her involvement in the gay community through Large Bar. Eleanor decides to do some good with some of the money she inherited after her husband's death and turns to Henry, asking for his help in organizing a benefit to raise money for AIDS research for the Day of Compassion. Eddie is home in his small messy apartment and drowning his sorrows in a tub of Rocky Road ice cream while the song "Iris" from The Goo Goo Dolls plays on the stereo system. Apparently Eddie had stopped in mid-transition from Aurora to Eddie because he's still got smeared lipstick on his mouth and a feather boa around his neck, but doesn't have his "Aurora" wig on, or any "Aurora" clothes. Using his ice cream spoon as a microphone, Eddie climbs all over his couch, lip-synching the chorus to "Iris" when there's a knock at the door. It's Thomas Baldwin, but the music is blaring, and Thomas hears it through the door. Knocking louder until Eddie hears it over the stereo, Eddie dismounts the couch and delicately traipses across the room and swings the door open, not expecting his new little brother to be on the other side of the door to witness the self-pitying solo performance, not to mention the remains of "Aurora Borealis" all over Eddie! In the Coming Weeks on Beyond the Horizon: Thomas and Eddie find much in common. Carina job hunts. Julia takes on a roommate. The NYPD finds surprising new evidence that doesn't look good for Aviva. Jenna thinks Thomas is recruiting Eddie to work against her. Eleanor and Henry work overtime to pull a fundraiser together by the Day of Compassion. The fundraising bachelor auction brings together many odd pairings, some unexpected, some unavoidable. Fiona makes a bold move with Henry Von Stadt. Christian is at the center of a surprising bidding war.

June 2008: Week 1: Wednesday-Friday -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <<< Previously on Beyond the Horizon, long-kept secrets threatened to destroy many lives at the start of June... Rachel (Sherri Saum) agreed to take Fiona's (Connie Fletcher-Staton) case investigating Henry (Sebastian Roché) and Leo (Jeff Branson) Von Stadt's possible ties to the designer drug industry. Leo and Henry butted heads over Eleanor's (Catherine Hickland) usefulness after Eleanor's stabbing of Henry landed him in the hospital. Terrence (Walt Willey) and Christian (David Evan Smith) delivered the devastating news to Rod (Forbes March) and Fiona that Terrence had Stage 2 AIDS. Detective Nathan Weber (Jason Thompson) suspected Aviva (Christina Chambers) of tampering with Eleanor's medication. A guilt-ridden Eleanor offered to leave Henry's penthouse, even if it meant returning to Shady Glen Sanitarium, but Henry convinced her to stay. Edina Dawson (Ilene Kristen) shattered the worlds of Thomas (Bobby Steggert), Theodore (John Ingle) and Eddie (Jeffrey Carlson) when she revealed that Eddie was Theodore's son and Thomas's brother. The Baldwins, including Jenna (Kari Wuhrer) and Shawn (Tobias Truvillion) learned the sordid past romance of Theodore and Edina, which began during Theodore's marriage to Jenna and James's (Alec Musser) mother, Veronica. Rod accused Christian of infecting his father, but Christian revealed his HIV test came back negative. Terrence admitted he engaged in unsafe, often anonymous sex during the last years of his marriage to Emma, which must have been where he contracted the AIDS virus. >>> Opening Sequence Watch the Opening Sequence on YouTube! <<< Hattie ushers Esther into her apartment before anyone sees her or hears her accusation. "I can't believe it, you really did it," Hattie seemed equal parts disbelieving and impressed. "What I had to? Yes... I did." Esther said matter-of-factly. Hattie demanded to know what Esther wanted. Esther claimed she had everything she wanted... her freedom. But it's Hattie who stands to lose a whole lot more, Esther couldn't help but notice. Esther reminds her daughter that Hattie needed her long ago... and needs her now, even if she won't admit it. Hattie is certain she has everything under control, and thinks Esther needs the care that Shady Glen can provide her. "Alright, I'm done with all this yadda yadda back and forth. I'm moving in. I'm going to help you get your daughters back. Then I'm going to help you with this Henry Von Whoever. And if you don't want to accept my help... I'll just have to send you to jail for your poor departed husband Larry's murder." Hattie was stuck, but her mind was racing about how to regain control of this situation. Eddie couldn't handle his overwhelming emotions and ran to Large Bar, where he finds Dominic. Dominic can tell something's wrong with Eddie, but Eddie doesn't want to discuss it. Dom wants to help, but Eddie quickly snaps at him, but then pulls back and approaches Dominic more softly, telling him if he wants to help... he can sell him some of the pills. Dominic refuses, and Eddie gets angry and calls Dominic worthless, and threatens him, telling him if he doesn't want to sell then Eddie might as well call the cops on him. Dominic calls Eddie's bluff, willing to face the wrath of the cops, but Dom refuses to put Eddie back in the hospital with those drugs. Eddie, disappointed in his quick backslide about wanting the drugs, breaks down. Dominic offers to call someone for him, but Eddie screams for Dom to just leave him alone, and Eddie swipes a group of freshly-washed glasses off the bar, shattering them. Dom realizes how much Eddie is suffering, but goes to get some materials to clean up the broken glass, and runs into Ford, who was eavesdropping "Haven't you heard? The economy's in a sharp decline," Ford informed Dominic, "You really think you can afford to turn down a hungry customer?" Ford grips the back of Dominic's neck roughly and brings Dom's ear to Ford's mouth. "That's bad business, Soletti. I hope I never see that again. You've healed so well from our last business disagreement, I'd hate to see some of that healing undone." Letting his neck go and leaving, Ford sneaks out the back exit. Dominic tries to massage his neck to relieve the tension from Ford's hostile grip. Theodore, Thomas, and Jenna take Edina home to the Baldwin brownstone in Theodore's car. The ride is silent. Edina asks Thomas to sit down and talk with her. Thomas is cold to her, and heads downstairs to his own space. Rebecca calls him and Thomas answers, unable to hide the emotion in his voice. Rebecca wants to know what's wrong. Thomas tells her that everything he ever thought he knew about his parents was a lie. Edina heads up to Theodore's room and starts throwing her belongings into a suitcase. Theodore gently but firmly takes her hands from what she's doing and tries to get her to meet his gaze. Edina can't look at him, and tears are rolling down her face. "I've wrecked it! Like I knew! I knew it would all come crashing down! I knew the more I waited the more damage it would do to all of you, to all of us!" Theodore quietly took her into his arms. "It's going to be alright," Theodore assured her, "The truth is out now. Everyone knows everything. Now is the time to put all these pieces together. And we can all be whole again." Edina is breathless at Theodore's suggestion... amazed that he wasn't through with her at all... he was still there, willing to fight for their life together. James was amazed when Jenna told him all the dirty details about the family dinner at The Redeye which served to make the family about two people too large. James wanted to know what it seemed these Dawsons wanted from Theodore, but Jenna didn't really care, as long as they didn't get it. Jenna thought this might be a blessing in disguise. Thomas seemed devastated that his mother had lied to him and that their father hadn't been honest with him about his past with Thomas's mother. Jenna and James wonder how they can use the divide to edge Thomas and Theodore out of each others' trust. Shawn finds Eddie at Large Bar and sees Dominic cleaning up the broken glass, obvious that Eddie had an emotional outburst. Eddie agrees to let Shawn take him home. At Eddie's apartment, Eddie breaks down about his past being ripped out from under him. Eddie confesses he thought his mother never even knew who his father was. Eddie thought she was too ashamed about being promiscuous or even if it wasn't her choice to sleep with the man and get pregnant. Eddie had all these ugly ideas about how he was conceived, but it turns out he was born from love and a modern day star-crossed lovers story, and that his father is actually a sweet old man who obviously loves his children. Eddie sees his mother even built a life with the man for years, had another child with him, and STILL excluded Eddie from knowing his father. Shawn tried to defend Edina's choices, certain that Eddie wasn't seeing the difficult position Edina was in, but Eddie fired back, "The difficult position my mother put HERSELF in! HER lies! HER choices! She created that hell for me, and for Didi and for herself. She decided to keep those two lives separate and leave us hungry for a father... for a mother! What the hell kind of person does that to children she claims to love?!" Rod and Fiona can't cope with Terrence's information and can't even get in touch with Emma to tell her/warn her about Terrence's status. Rod visits Crystal and tells her of his father's condition. Crystal can't do anything but apologize for how devastated Rod must be. Crystal wished there was something she could do. She knows how hard it's been to lose a father, and to know it's coming... the notion of it sends Rod out of Crystal's home. Heartbroken, Rod continues to lash out at his father, Christian, Crystal, Fiona... anyone. At the root of it, Rod doesn't know who to be mad at, he just doesn't want his father to die. Shawn didn't know what to tell Eddie. Eddie didn't want Shawn's comfort. Eddie swore Shawn is just as bad as Edina, telling lies, keeping secrets, dividing his life into pieces tucked away in little drawers, afraid of anyone knowing who he really, truly, completely is. Eddie said Shawn is just as much a coward as his mother is. Eddie tells him to go give his new sister Jenna Baldwin a shoulder to cry on. Shawn decides they will talk more when Eddie calms down. Right now he obviously doesn't want to be helped. Crystal buys a pregnancy test, hoping to have good news to offset the news about Terrence. Det. Weber returns with the search warrant while Aviva's home. Looking around the apartment with a few uniformed officers, Aviva reassures the police there is nothing to find. Nathan's sure that she won't mind if they take their time, then. Nathan gets to Aviva's purse, and hits paydirt. Nathan pulls a prescription bottle from her bag and confirms it's the same drug that was found in Eleanor's bloodstream. Aviva is shocked and insists it's some kind of mistake. Nathan tells her to settle it with her lawyer, and arrests Aviva. Henry returns home to his penthouse to find Eleanor has cooked for him to welcome him home. Henry, still not 100% recovered, voices how glad he is that Eleanor agreed to stay in his life. Over dinner, Eleanor tells him she will stay at the penthouse until the terms of her sentence are met, but they can no longer carry on a romantic relationship. Henry appears upset and confused by Eleanor's decision. Aviva looks to Evan Royale, who is surprised she'd want him to represent her. Aviva tells him he did a great job defending of defending someone guilty, so he should try his hand at defending someone innocent. Evan is enthralled with Aviva's "fetching" beauty, and agrees to look into the case the police have against her. Later, in her cell, Aviva grows increasingly nervous and her eyes flutter again. Aviva's voice shifts a little deeper and more aggressive. She paces with hostility around the cramped cell and insists "There's no way she could have done what they're saying. She wouldn't have the guts... not without me." Aviva's references to "she" sounds like she's talking about herself in the third person... Next Week on Beyond the Horizon: Thomas seeks out his newfound brother Eddie. Carina learns of her sister's arrest. Crystal gets her pregnancy test results. Terrence tells Eleanor of his fate. Carina job hunts. Eleanor decides to organize a fundraiser. Julia takes on a roommate. The Lawless girls are eager for Esther to speak with the NYPD about Hattie. Eddie grapples with his feelings towards and fears about his new family. The NYPD finds surprising new evidence that doesn't look good for Aviva.

June 2008: Week 1: Monday & Tuesday -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <<< Previously on Beyond the Horizon, shocking revelations set the tone for May Sweeps... Tiffany (Ambyr Childers) was shocked by grandmother Esther's (Kathleen Widdoes) claim that her mother Hattie (Kate Collins) killed her father. Hattie used Rolo's (Ignacio Serricchio) financial aid issues to turn him into her personal lapdog, forcing him to switch Eleanor's (Catherine Hickland) medication with anti-psychotics, try to convince Tiffany to give her another chance, and framing Aviva (Christina Chambers) for switching Eleanor's meds. Henry (Sebastian Roché) convinced Eleanor to have all of Charles Halperin's belongings moved into storage at Henry's penthouse, rather than throwing it all away. Thomas (Bobby Steggert) celebrated his 21st birthday, and Rebecca (Lindze Letherman) gifted him with a lucky pen that belonged to her deceased father. Catching Leo (Jeff Branson) and Dominic (William Shew) together, Fiona (Connie Fletcher-Staton) started to wonder if either or both were connected to Aurora's (Jeffrey Carlson) designer drug overdose. Crystal (Kerry Butler) grew nervous when she caught her boyfriend Rod (Forbes March) shirtless at the gay bar singing Tina Turner's "Private Dancer". Aurora/Eddie swore off the designer drugs, and agreed with Shawn (Tobias Truvillion) to try to make it work again. Edina Dawson (Ilene Kristen) visited son Eddie after his overdose, but also ran into her ex-husband Theodore Baldwin (John Ingle) and their son Thomas. Tiffany confronted her mother Hattie about Esther on Mother's Day, and moved out when Hattie wouldn't give her any straight answers. Rod and Fiona were unable to get in touch with their missing-in-action mother Emma for Mother's Day. Julia (Melissa Archer) gave Terrence (Walt Willey) the devastating news that he had Stage 2 AIDS, and likely had approximately 4 months to live. Julia and James (Alec Musser) faced friction with each other because of their own personal problems. Hattie transferred Esther to another institution across the country, but Julia decided she wanted to know her grandmother, and pulled strings with Evan Royale (Ian Buchanan) to nab legal guardianship of Esther and bring her back. Tiffany staying at the Valdez apartment led to tension between Ramon (Kamar de los Reyes) and Rolo, and gave Aviva the wrong idea. Carina (Natalia Livingston) learned she lost her job while in her coma, and lashed out at Aviva, resulting in a full-on catfight! Rachel (Sherri Saum) first suspected Shawn, and then Jenna (Kari Wuhrer) of being behind her harrassment. Crystal seduced Rod and pierced a condom with a pin before they made love. Christian (David Evan Smith) confronts Terrence and learns that Terrence has AIDS. Difficult to continue in a play where AIDS is a theme, Christian quits Terrence's show, and the production folds shortly thereafter. Aviva and Eleanor had a public confrontation when Aviva learned Eleanor was back to work. Eleanor's substituted medication made her delusional, and she stabbed Henry, while having a hallucination that he was a hostile haunting from Charles Halperin. Dominic advised Christian to bail on his relationship with Terrence, but Christian couldn't even imagine leaving Terrence now. Eddie was released from the hospital and took mother Edina to lunch, only to catch Shawn with "the other woman", Jenna. Edina thought Shawn was unhealthy for Eddie, while Shawn realized Edina was a link between the two halves of his double life. Ramon is perplexed by Aviva's bizarre behavior. Fiona wanted to hire Rachel to uncover Von Stadt International's drug connection. Aviva was behind the anonymous notes and threatening messages left to herself and to Rachel! Christian reaffirmed his commitment to Terrence, despite his health status. >>> Opening Sequence Watch the Opening Sequence on YouTube! <<< "Will you take on the investigation?" Fiona wants a final answer from Rachel. Rachel weighs it out in her head... investigate the powerful and potentially dangerous Von Stadts who have just put her on retainer and given her an office, or refuse the case and let them continue as possible criminals under the radar? Rachel takes Fiona's case, deciding to very discreetly investigate the Von Stadts. "Her son?!" Thomas looks to his mother, not really able to process this information. Edina is rendered speechless, looking back and forth, from Eddie, to Thomas, to Theodore, back to Eddie. All three men expecting some kind of explanation, but only receiving the tearful stares of a woman they all thought they knew. "Edina, what's going on?" Theodore places a comforting hand on Edina's shoulder, seeing she's having a rough time. Edina grabs Theodore's hand with her own tightly, taking what may be the last bit of comfort he ever offers her when he hears the truth. "Mother, what's happening? Why are you answering to these men?" Eddie asks his mother. "I have something very important to say," Edina mutters, after clearing the lump from her throat, "I've lied to all of you." As the three men still wait for their answers, Jenna and Shawn return to the table to find the very tense scene. Eddie locks eyes with Shawn, and realizes he and his "other woman" were occupying the two empty seats at the table. Leo hunts Dr. Julia down in the hallway of the hospital, wanting the status on his father. Julia tells him he's healing well and was awake a minute ago if Leo wants to go see him. Leo goes to visit Henry and Julia privately hopes Hattie didn't make Eleanor do this to Henry somehow. Leo enters Henry's room to find him sitting up in his bed watching television. "Nothing but cheesy soap operas on this bloody television," Henry remarked, shutting off the TV. Leo would think Henry's had enough of his share of drama thanks to Eleanor Halperin. Henry is tired of the conversation and reminds Leo that Eleanor is extremely crucial to the future of VSI and their freedom as well. Leo thinks it's best if whatever Eleanor has or knows just dies with her. "Unnecessary casualties are just reckless and will always trip you up," Henry warned his son. Henry ordered Leo to stop questioning him and to bring Eleanor to see him. Terrence calls his kids to dinner, and Rod jokes to Fiona that he expects Terrence and Christian to announce they are adopting a child. Rod admits he's really hoping that they'll hear the real story about what happened to shut down Angels in America. Fiona doesn't know what to expect. Terrence joins them and it's clear Terrence is struggling with what he plans to tell them. Christian's reassuring glances and the firm grip he places on Terrence's tense, fidgeting hands starts to give way to the notion that this latest announcement is going to be serious. A nod from Christian, and Terrence reveals to his children that he's been diagnosed with AIDS. Rod and Fiona are sent reeling by the news. Det. Nathan Weber tracks down Aviva at her apartment and can't help notice her bruises from her catfight with her sister. Aviva blows it off like it was nothing. Nathan announces he was there to question Aviva about her interaction with Eleanor Halperin at The Redeye. The mention of Eleanor makes Aviva's eyes flutter and Aviva's disposition shifts from cold and dismissive to somewhat sweeter, more accommodating, and vulnerable. Aviva seems to struggle to get her bearings and asks the Detective to repeat himself. Nathan asks about the argument Aviva had with Eleanor at The Redeye. Aviva wasn't sure what he wanted to know. Eleanor was involved in Carina's car accident, that led to her coma, and Eleanor seemed to evade punishment of any kind, so Aviva isn't fond of Eleanor lately, no. Nathan asks if Aviva knows that Eleanor stabbed Henry Von Stadt shortly after her argument with Aviva. Aviva was surprised, but not at Eleanor's apparent instability and violent streak. "I know she's been a bit of a mess since her husband's death," Aviva told him, with not much sympathy left in her voice for Eleanor. "But this time she had help," Nathan replied. Nathan told Aviva that Eleanor had been taking an anti-psychotic medication that she didn't know she was taking, and Nathan wondered if Aviva knew anything about it. Aviva is offended at the suggestion that she was seeking some kind of vengeance by drugging Eleanor. Nathan asks to look around her apartment, and Aviva tells him to get a search warrant and slams the door in his face. Aviva seems incredulous that someone could think she'd do such a thing. Eleanor comes to visit Henry and gets emotional seeing him lying there. Eleanor tearfully apologizes to Henry for everything, she swears she didn't know what she was doing. Henry knows, he heard that there were some drugs in her system that were not prescribed. Eleanor tells Henry she's been packing her things. Eleanor will go back to Shady Glen, or jail, or wherever she needs to, since it's not safe for Henry to be around her. Henry tells Eleanor she's being too hard on herself and if he can look past the situation and see she wasn't in her right state of mind, then Eleanor should be able to forgive herself. Eleanor doesn't think she deserves a man so generous and forgiving. Eleanor agrees to stay at the Penthouse. "Why are these men so shocked that you have a son?" Eddie asked plainly, not getting what the big deal was, why it seemed like their opinion mattered to her so much. "Because I never told them," Edina admitted, her head hanging low and not looking at anyone in the eye. "Eddie," Edina took a deep breath, "Thomas... he's your brother. And Theodore, he's... he's my ex-husband... and your father." Edina exhaled a sentence so simple, but one that took over 30 years to utter. "What? How? Why would you keep something like this from us?" Thomas was outraged, feeling like one of the few things he could count on all his life suddenly wasn't so dependable. Eddie was transfixed by Thomas, realizing that someone else, this young stranger, was entirely invested in this woman as his mother. Eddie was amazed that he and Shawn weren't the only ones at the table who lived two lives. "You don't understand," Edina said... Edina revealed she met Theodore in 1974, when Theodore was travelling, getting his graduate school education. They met in Canada on Theodore's spring break, and surprisingly fell in love. Edina was younger, infatuated with this educated, tender man. But she knew he was married with children (7 year old Jenna and 1 year old James) and despite his marital problems, loved his wife and wanted his marriage to work. Edina knew their time together would be brief, but they did make love, and Edina never told Theodore she was pregnant, not wanting to complicate his life or ruin his marriage. Years passed, Theodore kept in touch, and Edina kept him informed on her life, but said nothing of their son, Eddie. In the summer of 1979, when Eddie was 5, Edina was coming to New York for a conference and didn't plan to tell Theodore she was coming... but she ran into him at a bar. Theodore had just learned his wife Veronica was dying, from Hodgkins Disease. Theodore was devastated, that much was obvious to Edina. Edina tried to console him, but one thing led to another, and they spent a night together. Edina ordered Theodore to forget her and return to his wife, help her fight the Hodgkins. But within a year, Veronica had died... and Edina gave birth to a daughter, Didi. "Well aren't you just a fertile Myrtle!!!" Jenna shouted, outraged to learn in mere minutes that she now has TWO new half-siblings and TWO more obstacles to her ultimate goal, her inheritance. "Shut. Up. Jenna." Theodore said sternly and simply. And Jenna did, having never heard that chilling tone from her father before a day in her life. Thomas is speechless to know he has two full siblings he never knew about. Eddie had been watching Theodore, until Theodore started studying Eddie's face and Eddie couldn't put his eyes anywhere comfortably. Edina continued her story, explaining that it was 1986 when Edina could finally face Theodore. She left Eddie and Didi with her sister Trina, and went to New York to tell Theodore the truth about their children, but she couldn't. Too much time had passed. Theodore would never forgive her, he'd never look at her the same way. Theodore offered her a fresh start, Veronica had been gone for years, Jenna and James had left for school and their own lives, and selfishly, Edina took that fresh start. Theodore was free to be completely hers. It was the easiest... and the hardest... thing she had ever done. Edina stayed in New York, Trina agreed to take care of Eddie and Didi, and Edina was pregnant again, this time with Thomas. Raising a child with Theodore was heavenly... until Didi started having her problems at school back in Canada, and Edina's highwire balancing act between her two lives became too much for her to bear. She realized she couldn't be a half of a person in her own life, and felt that Thomas was young but still mature enough to be on his own with his father. Edina knew Theodore would raise Thomas well. Shawn is hit hard by Edina's talk of her dual life and being a half a person, but Shawn is an expert at not showing it. Edina continued, she returned to Canada and Eddie and Didi, and tried to be there for them 100%, but Edina always felt there was a... disconnection between them because of her years away. Eddie is emotional, and at this point can't hide it any longer. Eyes welling up with tears, Eddie dashes out of the restaurant and Edina shouts after him, but realizes she needs to let him go. For now. The table sits in silence. Shawn gets up to excuse himself, sure that the Baldwins have a lot to discuss. Jenna's mind is racing too much to think to stop Shawn, and Shawn leaves. Rod lashes out in blind anger, accusing Christian of infecting his father, but Christian informs him his HIV test came back negative. Terrence reveals that he had engaged in some anonymous activity during the last few years of his marriage and only had himself to blame. Rod was furious with his father, and asked if he might have infected their mother too. Terrence revealed that he and Emma had stopped being intimate long before Terrence started accepting his true desires. This Week on Beyond the Horizon: Eddie wants Dominic's drugs again to escape the pain of his mother's lies. Ford issues Dominic a warning. Edina realizes she's shattered everyone's world. Jenna and James hope to turn Edina's secrets to their advantage. Shawn reaches out to Eddie. Rod and Fiona struggle with their father's diagnosis. Crystal hopes she can deliver good news to offset Rod's devastation. Det. Weber obtains a search warrant for Aviva's apartment. Eleanor's decision about Henry upsets him. Evan Royale takes on a new client.