“Footprints”
Episode #494
Previously…
- Josh and Sabrina agreed to have a no-strings-attacked sexual relationship.
- Sarah moved out of the apartment she shared with Matt and Tori and began seeing a therapist.
- Sarah and Diane spotted Danielle and Ryan dining together.
- When Molly railed at Sarah for not having told the Fishers about Ryan’s book sooner, Sarah let her sister know about Danielle’s outing with Ryan.
JOSH TAYLOR’S HOUSE
The sound of water running in his bathroom sink awakens Josh Taylor. A glance at the alarm clock with heavy-lidded eyes reveals that it is not even eight o’clock yet, but the other side of his bed is empty. He lies there, debating whether to drift back to sleep or get out of bed, until Sabrina Gage emerges from the bathroom.
“Morning,” she says as she buttons the once-crisp, now-wrinkled white shirt that she was wearing when she came over last night.
“Why are you up so early?” he asks, his voice a raspy croak.
“I need to be at work early. What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m tired?” Josh watches her scuttling around the room, picking up her things. “Should I be offended that last night didn’t wear you out? Give me a minute to wake up and I can make amends.”
“Last night was fine,” she says, “but I have to get to work. It’s been crazy. The grand opening is Saturday night. There are a million things to finalize.”
“So there’s, like, a big party?”
“It’s going to be huge, yeah.”
Sabrina disappears back into the bathroom. Josh can see her through the open door, putting on her earrings in front of the mirror.
“What time’s it start?” he calls out.
No answer. A long, long moment later, Sabrina’s head pokes out of the bathroom. “Does it matter?”
“You do want me to go with you, right?”
“I hadn’t thought about it,” Sabrina says.
Their relationship has remained casual, but the sex-only dynamic has evolved to include quick meals out and watching movies at Josh’s place. He just assumed that if she needed a date for something, he would be the one to fill the role.
“Well, if you want a date, I’ll go,” he says.
She just stares back at him. He can’t tell if she is considering something or what it might be. In the months since they started hooking up, he has found it immensely difficult to get a read on Sabrina and what makes her tick, so this is not surprising.
Finally the silence gets to him. “Should I be taking a hint here? Do you not want to be seen in public with me or something?”
TAYLOR HOME
As Molly Taylor stares indecisively at the variety pack of breakfast bars and tries to choose a flavor, she realizes that she is stalling. It doesn’t really matter whether she has a blueberry or a strawberry bar. However, she has been hoping that Christian and Caleb would wake up before she leaves for work. She hates leaving in the morning without seeing them, not knowing whether she’ll make it home before they go to bed. Every day, she tells herself that she is doing this for them, to create opportunities and happy lives for them, but that doesn’t make it any easier to face an entire day without seeing her little boys.
Her hopes rise when she hears footsteps, but she can tell immediately that they do not belong to either of the twins.
“Good morning,” Danielle says as she enters the kitchen.
“Good morning,” Molly says, returning her sister-in-law’s smile with some effort. What Sarah told her yesterday--that she spotted Danielle having dinner with Ryan--has been weighing upon Molly, and she does not want to deal with secrets or unspoken resentment in her own home. She gets enough of that at work.
She checks that the coast is clear and then says, “I heard that you had dinner with Ryan the other night.”
Danielle takes a step backward, and that is all it takes to confirm it for Molly. A small part of her hoped that Sarah was lying out of spite, but she can tell that is not the case.
“It was just a dinner,” Danielle says. “I’m sorry for not telling you, but I thought… I don’t know what I thought.”
“Did you know about his book?”
“I just found out. If I had known earlier, I would have told you.”
Molly believes Danielle. She trusts her. “I know.”
“He needs someone to talk to,” Danielle adds.
“I know that. It’s just, with everything he’s done to my family--and to yours--it’s strange. It feels like… you’re condoning what he’s done. What he’s doing.”
Danielle simply nods, as if to say that she is aware of all this, is aware of how impossible it is to explain. Molly refocuses her attention on the breakfast bars and forces herself to make a decision. She grabs a strawberry one.
“I’m not choosing Ryan over you and Brent and your family, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Danielle finally says. “It was dinner. That’s it.”
“Dinner?” Brent asks as he rounds the corner into the kitchen. “You had dinner with Ryan?”
DR. RUTH GUZMAN’S OFFICE
“Dinner with Ryan! Can you believe that?” Sarah Gray rants. “Her sister-in-law had dinner with the guy who caused her husband’s leg to get blown off, but I’m the bad guy because I didn’t tell my family he was writing a book.”
Sarah pauses to breathe and notices her therapist, Dr. Ruth Guzman, watching her with wide, exasperated eyes.
“What?” Sarah asks. She can’t stand the way the doctor does that--staring at her like she might leap across the coffee table and eat her alive.
“Is it really Molly you’re upset with?” Dr. Guzman asks.
Sarah clamps her lips together. She hates, but admires, how this woman can see right through her and discover things that Sarah herself did not even realize.
“I’m always upset with Molly,” Sarah finally says. “She’s earned it.”
Dr. Guzman continues staring at her. Sarah wonders if there is some sort of invisible, hypnotic laser emanating from the doctor’s eyes, because after a few seconds of that intense gaze, she has no choice but to crack.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just frustrated,” Sarah admits.
“With…?”
“My whole life? What’s not to be frustrated about?” Realizing how obnoxiously that came out, Sarah hurriedly adds, “Sorry. Like I said: frustrated.”
“I can see that.”
Dr. Guzman unfolds and refolds her hands, drawing out the moment so that Sarah has no option but to think. And again, as though there is some sort of behavior-altering laser being fired at her, she has no choice but to blurt it all out.
“I thought moving out would help,” Sarah says. “All I have now is a new crappy situation. I miss Tori. I miss Matt. I feel like I’m abandoning them.”
“You aren’t,” Dr. Guzman says. It is one of the few times that she will give anything resembling an answer. Usually it’s just questions, always more questions.
“It’s just… if this was supposed to be good for me and good for my family, why is it not helping? Why is nothing happening?”
“Well, why don’t you move back into the apartment, then?”
The idea sounds, at once, fantastic and absolutely horrible to Sarah. To be with Tori again--terrific. And with Matt--if there were just a way to make things how they were before…
“Because none of us are ready,” Sarah answers. She cannot resist adding a defiant, “Yet.”
“You need to schedule some time with them,” Dr. Guzman says. “Family time, in a low-pressure environment. All three of you. Go to a movie, for example. Spend time with them in a setting where you feel comfortable with the expectations.”
Sarah nods along. It sounds like a logical step. But this is her family, and here she is plotting out a trip to the movies like they’re all going on some warped first date. All she can think is, Is this how the rest of my life is going to be?
JOSH TAYLOR’S HOUSE
Josh feels like an idiot. He shouldn’t have presumed that his relationship--or whatever it is--with Sabrina is anything more than no-strings-attached sex. Hell, that’s what he wanted it to be.
“I just thought this was… a fling,” Sabrina says. “An arrangement. A convenient one, a fun one, but not anything bigger.”
“I’m not saying it is. But if you want a date--or someone to hang out with all night, whatever--I’m game. That’s all.”
“Thanks,” she says, without giving him an actual answer.
Then it dawns on Josh. “You’re, like, seeing someone else, huh?”
Sabrina shakes her head adamantly. “Not even close.”
“What about that ex you were getting back together with? Anything ever happen there?”
“Kind of. It hasn’t gone the way I thought it would…” She seems to get lost in thought for a moment, and when she comes out of it, she appears surprised to see Josh in front of her. “But no. Not seeing anyone else. This is about all I have the time or energy for right now.” She checks her cell phone. “Crap. I have to get going if I’m going to go home, change, and make it to the office.”
“Go, go.” Josh drops his head back onto his pillow. “If you want me to go with you on Saturday, let me know.”
Sabrina starts to leave, but she turns back before she even reaches the bedroom door.
“You know what? It might be nice to have someone there.”
“I clean up pretty well,” Josh says.
“You’d better, because you look like hell right now.”
Sabrina slips out of the bedroom and, seconds later, Josh hears the front door open and close. He isn’t sure what they are doing or why it would bother him if she didn’t want him to be her date on Saturday. This is exactly what he wanted--what he needed--after that mess with Lauren. All that emotional crap is way too complicated. This way, he gets what he needs and that’s that.
It’s all too complicated to dwell on this early in the day, though. He decides to close his eyes and wait for the alarm to go off.
TAYLOR HOME
Both Molly and Danielle freeze as Brent moves closer to them. There is no doubt that he overheard enough of their conversation that it would be impossible to cover.
“Have you been seeing him this whole time?” Brent asks his sister.
“No! It was only once, I swear.”
The intensity in Brent’s eyes shocks Molly. She has seen him worked up plenty of times--especially over the Morianis--but there has been a change in recent months. Now he looks like a man possessed.
“One time has to be it,” Brent says.
Danielle, for her part, remains calm and collected. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean this as some kind of betrayal. But Ryan needs help.”
“I’m not disagreeing, but why is that your responsibility?” Brent asks.
“Because I was like that once, too.”
Brent softens visibly: his shoulders lower, his hands unclench. “Okay. I get why you feel that way--even if you never did anything near as awful as Ryan has done.”
“I was as lost as he is.”
Molly offers her sister-in-law a reassuring look.
“And it’s noble of you. But that man is a menace. No good is going to come of this for you.”
“Helping Ryan is good for me,” Danielle says. When Brent says nothing further, she adds, “I’m a grown woman, Brent. I have every right--”
“I’m not mad at you,” he says. “I’m worried about you.”
Danielle seems reluctant to believe that.
Brent places an arm around Molly. “This has been going on forever. Molly put her trust in him and brought him in to work at Objection. What did he do? Set up that drug bust at the store. Yeah, it helped us arrest Nick, but it was a nightmare for Camille. Right, Mol?”
“Yeah,” she has to agree. “Just be careful, Danielle.”
“Being careful means staying away from Ryan,” Brent says. “It’s the only way.”
“I can take care of myself.” Danielle’s tone makes it clear that, as far as she is concerned, this is the end of the discussion. “Now, I have to go get the boys up for school.”
“I can do it,” Molly says, checking the clock. She doesn’t really have time, but being a few minutes late is worth it.
Danielle steps in front of her. “No. I’ve got it.” She doesn’t waste another second in getting out of the kitchen and away from Brent.
After Danielle has gone, Molly says, “She means well.”
Brent exhibits little comfort from this knowledge. “That’s what worries me.”
END OF EPISODE #494
Will Danielle heed Brent’s advice about Ryan?
Is Josh beginning to care about Sabrina?
Is there anything Sarah can do to improve her situation?
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