At The Shadow Room, Daniel tells Christine that his dad had a few stops to make on his way to meet her for lunch. She notices his mood, and he admits he’s worried about his mother, who’s contemplating a big decision.
At the Abbott mansion, Jack calls Nick, who agrees to meet him for lunch in an hour. As he disconnects, Diane appears and worries that being a sponsor will be triggering. Jack reassures her, but she wonders how Victor will feel about this.
At the Club, Phyllis is awaiting Cane’s answer to her proposal to buy his properties. Amused that she feels entitled to them, he asks, “What is your endgame?” She’s vague, so he surmises that she’s adopting his old scheme to takeover the town. They bicker and banter about a potential sale as Nick walks in.
Phyllis asks Cane if he’ll agree to sell. He smirks that he’ll get back to her and walks off. Nick comes over and asks Phyllis, “What was that all about?” Phyllis claims she’s a businesswoman doing business, and there’s no craven scheme. Nick muses, “Craven scheme. Your words, not mine.”
Nick reveals that Matt Clark was out at the ranch, and that he told them to give Phyllis a second chance. He’s willing if she’ll be up front about Arabesque. Phyllis asks why he cares. He reminds her she’s Summer’s mother and he doesn’t want her in trouble. Phyllis still feels judged and assures him she’s good. “I’m going to make Arabesque phenomenal.”
Nick’s still whining about her mixing with Cane when Jack arrives. Phyllis tells Nick to be happy she’s doing well, and swans off. Jack and Nick agree that she’s never easy… but when she’s on your side, there’s no one like her.
Sitting at the bar, Jack asks how Nick’s doing. He admits there are good days and bad days. They chuckle about all of the sugared coffee and donuts at rehab. Jack’s glad to hear Nick’s doing well at work and offers to become his sponsor despite Victor not being receptive to the idea.
Nick thanks Jack and tells him he’ll be coming to him for guidance if that’s cool. Jack says it’s more than cool. “You can count on it.”
Surprise
At the ranch, Nikki asks Victor who he was on the phone with… he’s up to something. “What is it?” Victor will only admit he’s planning a surprise. As she’s leaving, he tells her Matt Clark was there, but he’s left town. Nikki’s skeptical. Victor says he’s leaving with Patty. If he returns, they’ll deal with him once and for all.
At Society, Nikki crosses paths with Diane, who challenges her on running to Jack for advice about her new company. Nikki thinks Diane senses how successful she’s going to be and feels threatened. Diane crows about Jabot being the gold standard, and then accuses the blonde of trying to undermine her marriage. “You’ve never thought I was good enough for your good friend, Jack.”
Nikki fumes that she’s been nothing but civil to Diane and urges her to stop worrying about imaginary threats and focus on the upcoming competition. Diane is more than ready. Nikki insists this is just business. Diane warns she’s more than capable of defending what’s hers. Nikki lifts her eyebrow, “Are we still talking about the company?” Guessing not, she muses, “This is going to be a battle.”
Nikki returns to the ranch, where Victor informs her that her surprise has arrived. It’s a beautiful charm bracelet with a crown symbolizing the queen of cosmetics. They embrace. His support means more to her than he knows. She’s more motivated than ever to make Vibrante a success.
Back at the Abbott mansion, Jack asks Diane, “Did something happen?” She says Nikki happened. She’s so smug and sure she can top them. Diane rails that she’s trying to wage war against Jabot. Jack asks if she wants to escalate the battle against Nikki and Vibrante.
Christine’s Digs
Still at The Shadow Room, Daniel confides in Christine that Phyllis was contemplating leaving town with Matt Clark. Christine rather gleefully admits she’d do cartwheels if she didn’t have to deal with either of them again. Catching herself, she remembers that Phyllis is Daniel’s mom. He assures her that he knows their history.
Daniel explains to Cricket that he and Summer love Phyllis and miss her, but they can’t give her a free pass for her behavior. He’s glad to be working with his dad, but wishes to be close with his mother again. Christine knows nothing is more important to Phyllis than her kids and grandkids. Daniel trots off to get a delivery and Phyllis walks in.
The redhead starts in on Christine sitting alone at the bar in the middle of the day. Cricket rubs it in that she was having a fascinating conversation with Daniel. Realizing that Phyllis doesn’t know that Danny co-owns the club, she drops that nugget as Daniel reappears.
The Final Scenes
Still at The Shadow Room, Phyllis is upset that Daniel didn’t tell her that he was working with his dad. Christine needles that he accepted a job from Danny but won’t work with Phyllis no matter how much she begged.
Phyllis wants to speak to Daniel alone. Christine gets a text from Danny to meet at the restaurant and gushes over his heart emojis before teasing that they might have time to… ahem. Once alone, Phyllis complains that Daniel didn’t defend her. He pulls her into an embrace. “I am really glad you’re here.”
At the ranch, Nikki lets Victor know about her run-in with Diane Jenkins and declares her a nuisance. “I’ve practically forgotten all about it,” she claims. But it’s clear she hasn’t.
At the Abbott mansion, Diane admits she’d like nothing better than to watch Nikki’s pet project go down in flames. Jack flails that he wants to foster peace between the two families. Diane claims she’ll ignore the noise that is Nikki and Vibrante, but her expression says otherwise.
Cane returns to the Club, where Nick grills him about his conversation with Phyllis earlier. Ashby declines to give him information, so Nick warns him to stay away from her. Getting involved with him is the last thing she needs. Cane tells Nick to lay off with the threats… Phyllis is the predator, not him.
Back at The Shadow Room, Daniel tells Phyllis she’s glad she didn’t skip town with that Clark guy. She assures him she’s staying and took his words to heart. She’ll reconnect with the people that love her. “I am going to prove that I belong here and I’m going to make this city mine. I’m here to stay.”
