EPISODE: 10,398
DIRECTOR: Phil Sogard
TAPE DATE: 8/11/06
HEADWRITER: James E. Reilly

Kayla’s attempt to help Steve’s memory has a negative turnout; EJ finds Chelsea after he had some Ectasy; Max tells Billie it’s over with him and Chelsea; Steve and Billie turn to each other.



ON THE WATERFRONT
EJ explores the pier for Will and finds Chelsea lying on the stairs. Worried, he makes sure she’s okay and helps her up. He knows it wasn’t alcohol that made her spaced out and checks her purse. He finds Ectasy in her purse and she says, oh yeah. He tells her it’s dangerous and asks where she got it. He says it can ruin her life and is dangerous. She tells him it was her first time and it’s amazing. EJ says he’s going to call her parents and it’s her probation officers business and starts dialing a number on his cellphone. She takes it and throws it into the water (just as he did the Ectasy) and she runs. EJ follows.

Chelsea staggers into a bar and asks for whatever’s on tap. EJ tells him to give her a root beer and Chelsea is ready to party with another race car driver. She turns on the juke box and asks someone to dance with her, pulling him onto the floor. The guys oblige and she does a little dirty dancing with them as EJ watches, concerned. He finally walks over and the guys object at first, but Chelsea tells them it’s okay, jumps up and kisses EJ. Chelsea tells him she’s apparently responsible for everything bad happening in Salem, including Will’s disappearance. EJ tells her he knows she’s not and was with her when Sami got that first threatening phone call at the church. Chelsea is thinking pretty clearly despite the drugs and knows why Sami left Austin at the altar now. He puts his coat on her and says he’ll take her home. He suggests she call Max the next day.

AT THE PUB
Billie finds Max having a few beers at the pub, asking if he can’t give Chelsea the benefit of the doubt. He’s had enough of Chelsea’s lies and tells Billie that Chelsea isn’t his problem anymore. Stephanie overhears nearby and smiles. She joins them and asks if she heard right and Billie asks her to help her convince Max not to desert Chelsea. Max stands firm that Chelsea won’t change. Now sitting in a booth, Billie assures Max that Chelsea isn’t the same girl that did everything before, including sending those fake emails to Hope. Max hadn’t heard about them and wants to know more. Stephanie pipes up afterward how Chelsea probably wanted to keep Hope and Bo apart. Billie finally tells him how Chelsea forged Bo’s emails to Hope saying he wanted a divorce. Max says there’s no excuse for what she did as Billie tries to rationalize why Chelsea did it. Max says had that email not happened, Hope might not have slept with Patrick and gotten pregnant. Billie finally realizes that Max is serious about not changing his mind and wishes him the best..he was always good to Chelsea and she appreciated it. She tells him to find someone who will make him happy. Stephanie watches silently and gives puppy dog looks to Max as she lets Billie out of the booth. Max tells Stephanie about the switched embryos and file, certain Chelsea did it. He knew she had problems, but thought she had a good heart. Stephanie tells him she was looking for him, figuring he needed someone after the press conference. He appreciates a girl that doesn’t play games. Stephanie got some “heart attack in the basket” fries (as her mom calls them) for her and Max. She tells him she’d give up racing to have had a day with her dad when she was a kid. They talk and she compares him to her dad. Kayla walks in, looking for Steve. Stephanie asks if something’s wrong and Kayla hopes not. She tells them what happened and how Steve bolted. Kayla excuses herself to find Steve and to make things right.

SALEM INN
Earlier, Kayla ordered room service up for her and Steve, saying they needed some alone time being the apartment above the pub gets a bit cozy. He helps her get seated and worries about the 3 forks on the place setting, LOL. She says the first course is a fish that’s been marinated in citrus juice, so isn’t really “raw” and was one of his favorites before. He tries it, commenting on the texture and it being “chewy”. She tells him she loves to cook, which surprises him being she’s a busy doctor. She’d love to cook and he mentions a motel with kitchettes down by the pier. She suggests a house, something a little more permanent with Stephanie being in Salem too. She asks if he’d be interested in looking for a house with her after dinner. He tells her he’s not into a place in the suburbs and it’s not like they’re going to be living together. She tears up and he says he didn’t mean they wouldn’t ever live together..he just needs some space and time to get to know her again. He apologizes for ruining the meal and she suggests they move on to the main course, steak. He loves it and she toasts to their future. We join them sitting on the couch as she tells him pie is for dessert. He asks if it’s apple and she tells him no, peach, his favorite. He comments things are looking up. She reminds him she grew up over a fish market and on a fishing boat..she’s as blue collar as you can get. All that’s important is who they are and she’s convinced in time he’ll realize they belong together again. He asks what her family thought of him when she first met him. She talks about how he wouldn’t let anyone get close to him back then, not even her. He finally trusted her and let her take his patch off (cue a flashback of that when he’s lying in bed bleeding and she asks him to trust her and let her take the patch off). He lets her and she doesn’t freak out, saying he needs some antibiotic cream and goes to the drug store for it..take a gulp once outside the door. Back to present, she said she realized she loved him inside and out at that moment. He has tears in his eye and she bends down and kisses him. She could tell he felt something and when she asks him, he answers by initiating a deeper kiss with feeling. He pulls back and says this is wrong. He’s not the same person she used to know. He tells her the Steve Johnson she knew and loved is not him. He asks her to stay clear of him and it’s just not going to work. She throws something on the floor, frustrated, after he leaves.

ON THE PIER
Billie finds Steve playing his harmonica, which she compliments him on his playing of. They both find the pier relaxing. She tells him she just saw his daughter at the pub. He tells her he and Kayla aren’t going to get together and he has to run solo for a while. He has things to do and when she asks what, he says beating her at darts. She tells him she’s good at other things other than darts and smiles at him. She tells him she’s good at target shooting, pinball and parchessi. He asks if that’s all? She tells him she’s flying solo also. She’s all about romance and living in the moment. He says they think a lot alike and she agrees as he leans in for a kiss. She returns it and they lock into each others arms and kiss hungrily…as the previews roll...

Patrick to Hope: "You all right?"
Hope: "Yeah, I’m fine"…as they kiss…

Bo to Kayla: "He loves you, eventually he’ll remember that."
Kayla: "But what if he doesn’t?"

Billie to Steve: "What do you say we go somewhere and get to know each other better?"
Steve: "Just lead the way"…and she does…

As the credits roll…
Linda