Eric Asks for R.J.’s Help — But Also His Secrecy
Thomas shows up at Spencer’s offices and surprises Liam. Thomas says he’s here to talk about Hope. Liam tells him that he really should go. Thomas knows Liam can’t forgive him, but he needs to try and forgive Hope. Liam says Thomas isn’t the person who should be pitching this to him, and his conversations with Hope are none of his business.
Liam admits he and Hope talked, and says he and Hope do love each other still. However, it’s not that simple. Thomas reminds Liam that he has messed up on Hope multiple times and she always forgave him. Liam says Hope knew there was only one thing he couldn’t forgive, and she chose it. Thomas calls Liam a fool and he will regret this, on that he’s certain.
At Forrester Creations, Brooke tells Hope that she can’t believe Liam won’t forgive her. Hope cries she tried to give her marriage one last shot, but Liam can’t get past what happened with Thomas. Brooke says Liam’s hurt her enough times, and he only knows about the kiss. Hope confirms that yes, he only knows about the kiss, and he can’t even forgive her for that.
Brooke can see she’s hurting, and angry at Liam. Hope is angry at herself too, as she brought this on herself. Brooke says she made a mistake and now must move on, and she has her family’s support. Hope isn’t sure she deserves that, but Brooke says she’ll always be deserving of her mother’s love. However, she warns Hope not to go back to Thomas. Hope says she has feelings for Thomas, and she told him she was going to try and repair her marriage. She says Thomas stepped aside because he does love her that much. Brooke reminds her that Thomas’ love has caused a great deal of pain.
In another office, Steffy embraces her dad and says she needed that. She misses Finn and her home, but Ridge says she’s at Grandad’s because it’s safe. He says Eric loves her, but he’s not sure how he feels about him at the moment. Ridge thinks he offended him by throwing out his stapler. Ridge notes Eric doesn’t want anyone to use his office, and he wants to design again.
Ridge shifts the conversation to Thomas, and wants to know where he stands with Hope. She doesn’t know but is rooting for Liam and Hope. Ridge doesn’t want Thomas back with Hope, because he tends to become obsessed with her. Steffy says they need Hope and Liam to reconcile, but that might not happen.
Brooke arrives and fills them both in that Hope asked Liam for forgiveness, and he said no. Brooke is worried that Hope is in a vulnerable place.
Thomas arrives at Hope’s office and apologizes in advance. He confesses that he went to see Liam to try and get him to see what he was going to lose, but it turns out Liam is an even bigger fool than he thought. He swears he only wanted to convince him that she really wants to put their family back together, but he refuses.
Thomas doesn’t understand, as Liam doesn’t know what else happened between them. He says he’d never tell Liam about that, that’s just between them. Thomas knows he’s made mistakes, but he loves her, and that kiss they shared in Rome lit a fire inside of him. He wants to love her, to create for her, to make love to her. He says this is their time and they shouldn’t throw it away. They passionately kiss, and then Hope looks into his eyes.
At the Forrester mansion, Eric tries to sketch but his hand cramps and he has tremors. He ends up dropping his pencil R.J. arrives to get his charger and can see something is up with Eric. He asks if everything is okay, and Eric says it’s not. Eric assures him it’s nothing for him to be concerned about, which only concerns R.J. even more. Eric says he has a bad day, and it’s about his father.
Eric explains he’s been inspired and wants to come up with a whole new collection, but Ridge thinks he should be playing golf or pickleball. R.J. thinks it’s insane that his dad would ask him to retire. Eric says this will be the biggest collection he’s ever done, and he is going to help him. R.J. doesn’t think he needs his help, but Eric says he does. Eric says he can’t hold a pencil for long, and it hurts after a while. R.J. asks if he’s seen a doctor. Eric says he has and claims it’s arthritis. He says he asked his father for help, but he’s too busy with other things. Eric is determined to make this the best collection he’s ever done. He asks R.J. to help him, but not to tell his father.
