| Previously...
Brett
and Stormy told Lauren they wanted to produce a
record with her. Jordan proposed to Alex.
When Will found out, he proposed to her as
well. Following the news that Angel Assassin
wouldn't be released in time to repay investors,
James went to Jack Fallmont for an extension on
his loan but Jack turned him down. Brooke
agreed to go home with James but when they arrived
Philip Whitacre was waiting for them.
Episode
9
"Uncharted
Territory"
"Tell him,
Brooke," Philip said. "Tell
him that I’m your husband."
Brooke felt the room
spinning. She was standing in the parlor
at the Blackthorne mansion and everything was a blur. Philip and James both stared at her, their
eyes demanding an explanation. But all
she could do was stand and quietly wish she were dead.
“What is he talking
about?” James exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration. “Brooke, I’m
your husband! Tell him!”
“Apparently you’re
not, because Brooke never got our divorce finalized,” Philip Whitacre said
smugly. “We’re still married, aren’t we
Brooke?”
She tried to snap out
of it, realizing that she had to do some fast explaining or she was going to be
in a world of trouble. How could this be
happening? No sooner had she and James
reconciled than a mistake from her past showed up at her door.
“I did get the divorce,” she finally
said. “Or at least I thought I did.”
“You thought you did?” Philip asked with a
chuckle. “You surprise me, Brooke. I always thought you were a stickler for
details.”
“James, please-“ Brooke began, trying to ignore
Philip, wishing she could snap her fingers and make everything go away.
“Tell me what’s going
on, right now!” James insisted.
“Your wife is a
bigamist,” Philip remarked.
“You shut up!” James
yelled. “I ought to throw you out of my
house!”
“Why?” Philip asked
boldly. He wasn’t intimidated by the
legendary James Blackthorne. “It seems
that I’m the only one here who knows what’s going on.”
“Please, stop it,”
Brooke said, shaking her head in despair.
“Stop acting like
you’re so shocked by all of this,” Philip continued, walking across the room
and stopping inches from her. “How could
you have gone all these years knowing we were still married? Hell, do we have any kids that I don’t know
about?”
“No!” Brooke
lamented.
“Are you sure? Or do you just think so?”
“Knock it off!” James
yelled, grabbing Philip by the collar and shoving him back. He turned to Brooke, his eyes flaring
angrily. “Brooke, were you or were you
not married to this man?”
“No,”
Brooke replied, then shook her head in confusion. She felt like the walls were closing in on
her and she couldn’t think straight. “I
mean yes. Yes, I was married to
him. But it was for just a short
time. And it was so long ago.”
“Why
am I just finding out about this now?” James asked. “Don’t you think this is something you should
have told me before we got married?”
“I
didn’t think it was important,” Brooke insisted, her eyes pleading. “It was six years ago, James. I was twenty-one and I didn’t know what I was
doing. It lasted less than a year.”
“Yeah
but that was one hot year, wasn’t it?” Philip asked with a sly grin.
“I
told you to shut up!” James shouted. He
turned back to Brooke. “Is what he’s
saying the truth? Are you still married
to him?”
She
wiped a tear from her eyes. “I don’t know! I signed the divorce papers but I…”
“You
what?”
Brooke
took a deep breath, trying to remember.
It was a long time ago and her memory of that time in her life was fuzzy
at best. “I don’t know if I mailed them
back to the lawyer.”
“Oh
Jesus!” James hollered, turning around and kicking the cocktail table so hard
that it collapsed onto the floor. “How
could you be so stupid?”
“I
don’t know!” she replied in a fit of tears.
“I was young and I didn’t know what I was doing! I thought that if I signed the papers it was
enough!”
“You
thought the court system would magically sense that you signed the papers? My God, how hard would it have been to put a
stamp on it and mail it?” James asked bitterly.
He couldn’t believe how negligent she had been.
“I’m
sorry!” Brooke shouted back in tears. “I
messed up, okay?”
“You’re
right,” James replied. “You did.”
His
cold words hurt Brooke deeply and she buried her face in her hands. When she looked up James was storming out of
the parlor, leaving her alone in the room with Philip.
Philip didn’t waste a second. “Well Brooke, it’s been a long time,” he
began, starting back toward her. “You’re
looking boss as ever.”
She
looked up at him in disgust. “Shut up,”
she whispered. “What are you doing
here?”
He
shrugged. “I wasn’t going to come at
all, but after that nice lady came to tell me the news about us still being
married, what else would I do but fly up here?"
Brooke
frowned. “What lady?”
“That
movie star. Alex Reynolds.”
Brooke
immediately saw red. “Alex Reynolds came
to see you?” she asked in disbelief.
“When?”
“Yesterday. She’s every bit as sexy in real life. I was pleasantly surprised.”
Realization
finally dawning, Brooke began pacing the room.
Alex had always been out to get her.
She must have done enough digging until she found out about Philip, then
told him to come to L.A. to ruin her and James’s marriage. It was a typical Alex Reynolds stunt. Maybe if James knew the truth…
“I
have to go,” she said, rushing to the door.
“You’d better leave now.”
“Wait
a minute,” Philip replied, grabbing her arm and pulling her back. “Don’t I even get a hug and a kiss? It’s been six years. I thought you might have missed me.”
“Get
out,” Brooke hissed, heading back to the door.
“But
what are we going to do about us still being married?”
“I’ll
fix it,” she replied. “Just go back to Phoenix and don’t ever come back here
again.”
She
rushed out of the parlor and up the stairs to her and James’s bedroom. She found him sitting on the edge of the bed with
a drink in his hand, a menacing scowl on his tanned face.
“James,
you have to let me explain,” she began.
“Explain
what?” he replied bitterly. “That you
were too ignorant to do what was necessary?
It’s a little late for that, Brooke.
Do you realize what you’ve done?”
“Wait,
listen to me,” she pleaded with him.
“Alex is the one who brought Philip here. She’s trying to drive us apart, James. Don’t you see that? She’s trying to get revenge for the way you
an I came together.”
“Alex
has nothing to do with this!” James said, his voice full of hostility. “It’s your fault that this happened,
Brooke! Because of you, our marriage
isn’t legal!"
“We
can fix it,” Brooke insisted. “I can get
the divorce from Philip and then we can get remarried. It’ll be just like it never happened.”
James
shook his head, pacing the room anxiously.
“And what about the lies?” he asked.
“What about the fact that you never told me you’d been married? How am I ever supposed to trust you again,
Brooke? How do I know you’re not keeping
anything else from me?”
“I’m
not!”
“So
was Philip right?” James continued. “Do
you have kids that you haven’t told anyone about?”
“Of
course not!
“Are
you sure?” James took her by the
shoulders and shook her forcefully. “Or
is that just another lie?”
“Stop
it!” she cried. “I told you we can fix
it!”
James shoved her away and turned his back to her. “I’m not sure that I want to fix it. I’m not sure that this all didn’t happen for
the best.”
“You
don’t mean that.”
James
turned and glared at her, hurt and angry that he’d been in the dark about
something so important. He felt like he
didn’t even know who he’d married.
The
look in his eyes sent chills down her spine and she backed up a step. She turned and raced out of the bedroom in
tears. As she tore down the staircase,
Miranda peered from around the corner, a devilish smile on her face as she
watched Brooke run out of the house.
She
knew Brooke was bad news all along but nobody believed her. Maybe now they would start listening to her
more often.

Ethan
laid alone on his bed flipping through channels on the television when he heard
a car screech into his driveway, then a door slam and then footsteps. Sitting up, he waited a beat and then heard
frantic knocking at his door. He
wondered if it was Winter. They’d spent all
day together until she had to go on duty at the hospital for an overnight
shift. Maybe she got off early and came
by to surprise him.
He
got up and walked out into the front room in a pair of pajama pants. Running his fingers through his hair, he
pulled open the door and found Brooke standing on the porch, tears flowing down
her cheeks.
They
stood silently for what seemed like an eternity. Finally Ethan pulled her inside and led her
to the sofa. He knew something awful had
happened, and he had a feeling it had to do with James.
“I’m
sorry, I didn’t know where else to go,” she said, sobbing as he held her
tightly.
“Shhhh,”
he soothed her, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head. He loved the way her hair smelled.
Brooke
looked up at him, drying her tears and staring into his eyes. She felt safer with him than anyone in her
life. When she was with Ethan nothing
else mattered and all of her troubles floated away.
Ethan
put his hand under her chin and lifted her face to his. Seconds later they were kissing passionately,
wrapping their arms around one another in a heated embrace. They stopped for a minute as if considering
the reality of what they were doing. But
the look of desire in Brooke’s eyes made Ethan forget about morals and
values. All he wanted was to be with
her, even for just one time. He kissed
her again.
Lifting
her up into his arms, Ethan carried her into the bedroom and laid her down on his bed. The warm glow of the bedside lamp reflected
off of her tan, flawless skin and he yearned for her with every bone in his
body. Staring down at her for a minute
or two, he soaked in every inch of her, relishing every second.
He
turned off the lamp and Brooke pulled him down on top of her. He slowly undressed her and they made love in
the moonlit room.

The
next morning Stormy and Brett went down to Good
Times Records for their meeting with Lauren Spencer. They checked with Eddie and asked if she’d made
it in yet.
“Haven’t
seen her,” Eddie replied, chomping on a stick of gum. “Who is this chic?”
“She’s
the chic who you’re going to be hearing on the radio soon,” Stormy said with
confidence. “Wait till you hear her,
Eddie. She’s friggin’ far out.”
Impressed,
Eddie raised an eyebrow. “Is she hot?”
Stormy
rolled his eyes and turned to Brett.
“Didn’t we say eight o’clock?”
Brett
nodded. “Maybe she’s not a morning
person. She’ll be here, don’t
worry. She probably just overslept.”
Stormy
sighed and took a seat behind his desk.
He couldn’t help but be impatient.
Ever since he heard Lauren sing at the Fern Bar the night before she was all he could think about.

Alex
Reynolds walked down the hallway at the Sunset Strip Motel. She cringed at her frightening
surroundings. The run down, dilapidated
motel in West
Hollywood
wasn’t the type of establishment she was used to being seen in.
She
came to the end of the outside hallway and knocked on room 13. A minute later the door opened and Philip
Whitacre stood inside in a pair of tennis shorts. She smiled and looked over his firm, athletic
body.
“I
see you changed your mind,” she said, pushing her way past him and walking into
the shabby, mildew scented room.
Philip
grinned and closed the door behind him.
“How did you know I was here?”
Alex
turned to him with a shrug. “I have my
sources.”
“Are
those the same sources that brought you all the way to Phoenix?”
“Precisely.” She looked around the room. There was a lopsided old twin bed and a chest
of drawers and a nightstand. A small
refrigerator that sounded like a crippled airplane engine sat in the
corner. “Have you seen Brooke yet?”
He
nodded. “I went to see her last night.”
“And?”
“And let’s just say that her husband…or…the guy who thought he was her husband, wasn’t very
happy,” Philip explained, scratching his bare chest and mentally pawing Alex
with his eyes.
She
smiled with glee. “I can imagine his
reaction. He probably threw her out and
told her never to come back.”
Philip
shrugged. “I waited outside and saw her
speed off in her car. She looked pretty
upset.”
“I
have no doubt that she was,” Alex remarked.
“Why wouldn’t she be? One minute
she thought that she had a millionaire Hollywood producer as her husband, and the
next minute she was just the same piece of trash from Arizona that she’d always been.”
“Why
do I get the feeling you have some kind of grudge against her?”
Alex
smiled. “I just don’t want to see James
getting hurt,” she lied. “He’s a very
special person to me.”
Philip
rolled his eyes and sprawled out on the bed.
“Is that right?” he asked, his tone full of sarcasm. “You know, I picked up a few tabloids to read
on the plane up here. You never told me
that you were married to that guy. And
that he threw you out so that he could marry Brooke.”
Pursing
her lips, Alex looked down at him and glared.
“But you still came up here to help me, didn’t you?”
He
shook his head, putting his hands behind his head. “I didn’t come up here to help you. I came up here to see Brooke.”
“Don’t
tell me you still have a thing for that tramp.”
“She’s
got a hot little figure,” Philip said, then eyed Alex again. He couldn’t help but notice what great legs
she had. He decided he’d love to have
them wrapped around him sometime. “But
then again, so do you. For an older
woman.”
The
remark sent Alex into a tailspin. She
grabbed an ice bucket from the top of the refrigerator and turned it over on
top of Philip, sending ice and water splashing all over his bare skin.
“Holy-“
he shouted at the top of his lungs, jumping up off the bed and shivering from
the freezing water. “Jesus, lady! What’s with you?”
“I
may be an older woman,” Alex started, walking to the door. “But you’re all wet.”
After
she left, Philip stared in a daze at the door.
He didn’t know whether to be pissed off or turned on by the beautiful
Alex Reynolds.

Ethan
woke up to a ray of sunlight hitting his face through the window. He stirred slowly, stretching and coming to
life with a broad smile on his face. He
couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so well. Even after spending most of the night awake,
staring at Brooke as she slept, he still felt rested.
After
they’d made love, Brooke had confided in him about the events that led her to
his doorstep. She told him about
Philip, the divorce that never was, and James flying off the handle. It made him sick with anger at the way his
uncle treated her. He refused to give an
inch. In his eyes, if you crossed him
once you were never to be trusted again.
Life wasn’t always that simple to Ethan.
Especially when you had someone as wonderful as Brooke to spend it with.
He
rolled over, stretching his arm out expecting to find Brooke’s warm body lying
next to him. To his surprise, she was
gone. Frowning, he jumped up and
looked in the bathroom, thinking she might have gotten up before him. When he didn’t find her there, he searched
the rest of the house, still finding no trace of her.
He
rushed back to the bedroom to get dressed, realizing that she must have gotten
up and left without him knowing. But
where would she have gone? Last night
she talked about going to see about finalizing the divorce from Philip first
thing in the morning. But where?
His
questions were answered when he found a notepad by the phone on the bedside
table. On it was written the name of an
attorney and an address. Beneath that
was flight information to Santo Domingo.
He
rubbed his face and took a minute to take everything in. She must have been in such a hurry to end her
marriage to Philip that she booked a flight to the Dominican Republic to get a quick divorce. But why wouldn’t she have told him? He would have gone with her and not let her
go through the ordeal alone. Not to
mention the fact that that there was a revolt happening on the small
island. Tank assaults and bombings
between liberals and conservatives were not uncommon in the last several
months.
He
went to the kitchen and got out the phone book. Searching for an airline, he dialed the
number and waited for an answer.
“I’d
like to book a flight to Santo Domingo |