The Business Of Pleasure

Anna saunters into Chez Rouge and sees Tony. She thinks, "Of all the gin joints in all the world he had to be in mine. Great. All I need to see is Tony falling all over Kate." She turns and surveys the room, "And look. His needy neophyte Morgan is here as well. Lovely."

Tony hears her order a gin martini and tells her he's surprised to see her there. He asks if she is there on business or pleasure. She wonders the same thing about him.

Meanwhile, John the mindless misanthrope sits with Marlena. He is surprised she accepted his invitation. She is surprised he asked.

Max brings carrot cake to Stephanie. She's stuffed, so she declines. Max dives in. She talks about Kayla's cramps and Patch missing. She's starting to worry. Max thinks there must be a logical explanation.

Nurse Maxine orders Bo to relax and leaves. Bo immediately gets up to go find Hope. Kayla rolls in front of him with a block that makes Dick Butkis look like a weenie. Bo protests, "I don't want to sit around on my butt doing nothing," says Bo, "What do you think – I'm at work? " Kayla decides Bo is completely out of his mind to do something like this so there is only one thing she can do – join him in his whacked out plan and go with him.

Patch and Hope are shoved into a room. Ava waits with Angelo dressed in her slinky thingie. Ava tells Patch, "We're gonna have an intimate evening together, and luckily for Kayla, she gets to watch." "Yeah," says Patch, "With me, watching is usually preferable to participating." Ava moves in.


Tony tells Anna he's there with Kate to go over her marketing plan. "Well," smiles Anna, "you might get lucky. I hear she used to be in the business of pleasure. You two could end your evening in bed." Anna walks off. Tony considers the possibilities.

Paul and Morgan sit at their table. Paul is celebrating. He has it on good authority this whole mess is going to work out in his favor. Morgan wonders who told him that.

John wants a fresh start. Marlena vows never to give up on her husband.

Eventually," he says, "You may like the new John. The audience seems to."

Anna walks up to their table, "I know I do."

Ava plants one on Patch and asks if it brings back memories. "Maybe," says Patch. Hope/Kayla rages and lunges. Angelo restrains her and Ava tells her to behave. She has Patch sit at the table and Angelo handcuffs Hope/Kayla to a front row seat, then leaves. Ava toasts, "To us... to our past and most importantly to our future."

We pan to a computer in back of Ava, where she and Patch stand in a Mr. & Mrs. Smith pose. Patch remembers, "That was right after the Pullman job." Ava says she loves him just as much now as she did back then.

Bo and Kayla argue about who should be the biggest idiot and go off on a wild goose chase. Kayla says, "You know what, maybe we should call the police."

Bo disagrees, "No, Steve was adamant that would make things worse."

But Bo knows someone who can help. He makes a call.

More pictures roll across the computer screen in the background. Patch and Ava pose like Bonnie and Clyde. Ava says one picture is of a day at the lake, "We didn't catch any fish, but you made love to me six times that night. We had to carry you out in a basket."

Paul will only tell Morgan the person who got him into the mess is trying to get him out of it.

John invites Anna to sit down. Marlena asks if she is there with Tony. "Tony and I aren't really together any more," says Anna, "except for when I smash him with a painting, which triggers hot sex." She turns to John, "Fortunately some men are more perceptive about women. I'll bet you know exactly what a woman like me wants."

"You got that right," says John, "I'll order you two desserts." We pan up to Tony.

Patch calls things off. He says he doesn't appreciate the little slide show or her wanting to make Hope/Kayla jealous, "All that and having Stephanie followed aren't the way back into my heart. Threats kill any chance of reconciliation." Ava doesn't want that. She backpedals and decides she's going about things the wrong way. She calms down and has him sit so they can talk about the good old days when they were in love.

Max tries to comfort Stephanie. She isn't so sure everything will be OK. Max says he knows someone who might help, "Trust me."

Victor is in Bo's room telling him how nasty the Vitalis are, "They are powerful, dangerous and deadly. People who leave the family wind up dead."

The slide show continues. Somehow they've captured their first kiss. Angelo wanted to show Daddy that picture, but Ava wouldn't let him. She knew from the first kiss she loved him. Back then, they couldn't keep their hands off each other.

Patch flashes back to a hot scene in a motel room. They maul each other as they stumble across the room to the bed. Suddenly, Patch gets cold feet. He thinks if Daddy finds out there will be trouble. Ava is hot to go. Ava rages about her father scaring off everyone she likes. Patch says if the old man weren't in the picture he wouldn't hesitate. He straightens himself up and walks to the door. As he leaves he turns and says, "If it's supposed to work out, it will work out." Can't argue with logic like that.

Patch snaps out of it. "You're remembering," says Ava.

John thinks Anna is an interesting woman. Anna smiles, "I like to think so."

"I didn't necessarily mean that as a compliment," says John, "Coming on to me in front of Marlena is inappropriate." Anna's smile fades as she goes down in flames. John thinks she just wanted to make Tony jealous. Anna pouts and leaves. John gets up and stops Tony from following. He asks for a word with him. Marlena goes to check on Anna.

John advises Tony not to ignore Anna much longer. Tony says that's not what he is doing. John says, "If I weren't married I just might... who would stop me?"

"I would," says Tony.

Anna tells Marlena she knows she was acting like a fool. "It seemed to come so naturally," says Marlena. She thinks Anna was flirting with John to get Tony, but she doesn't have to do that. Anna wonders why the man she loves doesn't treat her like a human being. She thinks Marlena is lucky to have John. Marlena thinks John isn't the man she fell in love with. Anna thinks it's clear the man is crazy about her. Marlena doesn't see it that way. Anna thinks Marlena is as blind as Tony – maybe more so.

Victor counsels Bo to stay away from the Vitalis and concentrate on getting out of the hospital. He leaves. Bo tells Kayla if the Vitalis have someone in the force they will know their every move, "We can only handle this on our own."

Patch flashes back to another hotel room scene. Ava tells him she talked to Daddy, who appreciates what Patch has done for them. Daddy didn't give his blessing but didn't forbid it either. She told Daddy she loves Patch, "You love me too, don't you?"

"I do," says Patch, "More than anything." He dives in.

Back to (I use the term loosely ) reality, Patch slowly rises. He moves in on Ava. Hot kisses are the order of the day as tongues fly.

In the audience, Maude Henderson, a lifelong Patch and Kayla fan stands, reaches into her purse, pulls out a dagger and buries it into her heart.

Hope/Kayla begs, "Steve, don't do this. Steve, please!"

Stephanie and Max are back from visiting OMB. "I've never seen a grave littered with so many beer bottles," says Stephanie. She feels better. She thinks Grandpa Shawn is her guardian angel. Max thinks she has someone on earth watching over her, too.

John tells Tony, "Anna only has eyes for you. Fortunately for the rest of us guys, love is blind." He asks Tony if he will help Paul Hollingsworth by having his advertising company come up with something to spin the issue.

Morgan stands behind Tony, "That's my father, Mr. DiMera."

Anna tells Marlena the new John is enamored with her. "I find this all so confusing," says Marlena, "I wonder where I could find a good shrink to help me work through it." Anna advises her to sort it out before some silly woman comes and takes him away. The silly woman walks off.

Bo and Kayla spiral further into the black hole of lunacy. Kayla says she will let Bo go on his snipe hunt under one condition, "If I go with you."

Hope/Kayla asks Patch to look in his back pocket. Patch thanks her for reminding him and pulls protection out of his wallet. "No," says Hope/Kayla, "the other pocket."

Patch digs in and pulls out a crumpled ultrasound picture. Hope/Kayla tells him to think about what he is doing. Stephanie didn't know him as a father, "Do you want the same thing for this child? Think Steve." Smoke pours out of Patch's ears.

Paul appreciates John's help. John will be in touch. Paul leaves. Marlena steps up. John doesn't want a lecture. Marlena thinks that was nice of him. The music starts and Marlena asks him to dance.

Morgan thanks Tony for helping her father. Tony tells her once his advertising agency works its magic, everyone will forget about the tawdry headlines. She gives him a little smoochie cheekie, "I'll see you at the office." Anna walks up. "Nice kid," says Tony, "Really."

Anna sneers, "I'll bet."

Tony thinks her performance with John was sublime. He says all she has to do is let him in. "Why," snorts Anna, "so I can take a number behind the rest of the women in Salem? Have a nice evening with Kate."

John and Marlena dance. John wonders how the date is going so far, in her professional opinion. Marlena thinks it's good, "Believe it or not I'm into the new John."

"The new me is getting under your skin in a good way isn't it," asks John.

Maxine comes in and says both their doctors are coming in to give them the once over. If they OK it, they can both leave, "But you can't go home. We're sending you both to the psych ward."

Kayla leaves. Outside, she says to herself, "I know what you are thinking, Bo, but we will find Hope and Steve together. Misery loves company and so do dumbbells.

Maxine sends Kayla off as Bo starts to get up, "Hang on, Fancy Face wherever you are I will find you, dragging my pancreas and my pregnant sister behind me."

Patch considers his situation. He turns to Hope/Kayla, "I'm sorry Kayla, this is where I belong."

Hope/Kayla begs, "No, don't do this, Steve."

Ava moves in, "I knew you'd come around."


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