Does Steffy really believe in life after Liam?

DAYS doubled up on the anticipation last week! Secrets and lies dangled -- ready to explode. With several storylines setups, which ones need to turn around and say goodbye and which ones are worth holding onto for one more day? Plus, let's talk returning characters, shall we!? You've got no one to blame for your unhappiness if you don't join the randomness in this week's DAYS Two Scoops!

Clap your hands everybody! Steffy doesn't need Liam anymore! Oh, she doesn't need Liam anymore! No, she doesn't need Liam anymore! Does Steffy believe in life after Liam? I can feel something inside me say I really don't think she's strong enough...

Do you?

It was a week of big developments on The Bold and the Beautiful. Bill gave Steffy his prized stock in Forrester Creations, even though she reneged on their agreement to marry each other. As usual, when someone gets stocks in their hands, they want to start changing things. One of Steffy's big decisions is to revive the lingerie line -- again, for like the third or fourth time.

In even bigger news: Ding-dong! The thirty-year triangle curse is dead! Steffy slayed the triangle dragon unleashed upon her and Hope by their mothers -- and Ridge -- by choosing a life with herself and her daughter over fighting for a cheating man as Brooke and Taylor did for decades.

As lead model for the lingerie line, Steffy might get her "cha-cha-cha" groove back on the runway. Nothing says relationship emancipation like flaunting your independence in a bra and thong -- something Steffy's daughter can be proud of and her grandma can spin in her grave about.

Steffy decided to be the spokeswoman for the lingerie line, but I suspect Xander might catch an eyeful of Zoe in a bustier backstage at Forrester. He already went eye zonkers when he saw her at her place, playing Baywatch in her white fishnet swimsuit. He'll be picking his eyes up off the floor if he walks in on Zoe supporting Steffy in a photo shoot or privately trying on the delicates.

Emma was relieved that Zoe was gone -- until, while peeping through some clothes racks, Emma saw that Zoe wasn't! Oh, Lord, somebody help poor, innocent Emma because that damn Thorne went and hired the cuckoo to model in the nest! Emma's all innocent now, but don't be surprised if, to compete with Zoe, Emma starts dancing to the old lingerie tune: "Use what you got to get what you want. Stop being a good girl..."

In the biggest of news, Steffy did what any good ex-wife would do for her ex-husband. She made Liam's mind up for him and proposed marriage to Hope on his behalf. That's sure as hell one way to burn a romance bridge. Steffy claimed to be doing it because she'd interfered with the couple's destiny years ago. Hope readily took Steffy's hand-me-down ring, but Liam seemed, to use Bill's word, a little "usurped" by Steffy's move.

Though Steffy is right that she interfered where she shouldn't have, does she have any business thinking she can just Humpty-Dumpty Lope back together again? And just how many pieces is Emma gonna break herself into in order to compete with Zoe? Let's get two scoops deep in how Steffy and Thorne's choices changed the musical relationship game this week on B&B.

Wanted: Model. Bunny-boiling experience preferred but not required

This week, Emma thought she was surfing on ex-free waves, but she got pulled into the Zoe undertow when Thorne hired Zoe to model at Forrester Creations. Emma took an additional gut punch when she saw Zoe hug Xander, but unbeknownst to Emma, it wasn't the first time Xander has seen Zoe since Ridge declined to hire her himself.

Zoe's risk to relocate halfway around the world for love might pay off because Xander's got the foggy, faraway look on his face whenever Emma mentions Zoe. I have news for Emma: Xander gets a stupid grin on his face when he looks at Zoe, and the meaning of that grin is crystal clear.

At first, Xander seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. I thought he'd escaped some seriously disturbing drama when he'd fled London to end his relationship with Zoe. What Zoe did to cause him to leave her is still a mystery, but come on, man. Who relocates to another country and disguises his accent merely because he was tired of his girlfriend snoring or hogging the pillows every night? For Xander to DIY himself into his own witness protection program, Zoe had to have done something quite serious.

Unfortunately, the "Liam" in Xander came out when he left Emma to do all their work while he secretly visited Zoe. The caramel-skinned Zoe was all, "Do you want to see my tan lines?" Xander was strong in the presence of others, but alone with Zoe, he had no chance against her charms. Under his anxious laughs, Xander was melting, and it only took a few Zoe pouts for Xander to go from "I missed you" to "I miss you."

Xander at least had the sense to tell Zoe that she still has to go because, just when he thought things were okay between them, she pulled things like "that." By "that," I assume he meant creeping into town, tricking Wyatt, secretly using Sally's laptop to issue threats, befriending Emma for God knows what evil purposes, sneaking into Forrester, lurking in the shadows, lying about her modeling experience, and stealing the entire showing when she'd been told to stay away from it. Things like that. Typical Zoe.

Big deal. We've all done silly stuff to get an ex back, right? It's harmless. Zoe means well. At least that's what Xander told Thorne, who was thumb-scrolling through all the fanfare responses he was getting about Zoe. Well, Xander, Travis Alexander thought his ex, Jodi Arias, didn't mean any harm, either, when she moved herself from Yreka, California, all the way to Mesa, Arizona, and started insinuating herself into his life, work, religion, and new relationship.

Thorne decided that the fanfare about Zoe had gone on longer than models typically experienced after a show. This, folks, is why Thorne needs to go back to the basement. Though it feels like a month, it has been two, maybe three, in-show days since the HFTF fashion show. Who wouldn't expect buzz from a show finale to persist longer? Thorne. Who wouldn't already know it's bad news to hire lying show-jackers who stalked company employees? Also Thorne.

Without consulting anyone else, not even Zoe's victim, Thorne took it upon himself to hire Zoe to model at Forrester. Thorne said to leave Ridge to him. Ridge isn't going to like it, but most likely, Eric will overrule Ridge. From Quinn to Sally, Eric loves hiring women who commit crimes against Forrester, and he was already raving about Zoe the moment she hit the stage.

If there is ever a time for Maya to pop out from behind a clothes rack with some advice for Emma, it's now. Maya has been down ex-girlfriend lane with Rick, and she can save Emma a ton of heartache, "Room 8" skits, and holes in waterbeds with some guidance on keeping her cool when sharing work space with a boyfriend and his ex. Unlike Caroline, however, Zoe could be a bunny-boiler, which is a "hare" above Maya's pay grade. Emma might need advice from Quinn, who's been on both sides of the boiling pot.

We all knew Zoe and Harry weren't leaving town so easily, but what do you think about Thorne caving in and giving Zoe a job just because she's had three days of media buzz? Are the interns heating up the summer, or is this just another triangle with a virginal heroine and crotch rocket vixen the likes of which we've been seeing ever since Caroline the First met Brooke?

While the interns might waste the summer in Predictable Triangleville, we have signs that the Hope/Liam/Steffy triangle might finally be over once and for all -- until sweeps. Who thinks Liam will have married either Steffy or Hope -- or both -- by New Year's Eve? I'm betting he'll marry Hope first. He'll annul it for Christmas and be at the altar with Steffy on New Year's Eve.

Do you believe in life after Liam?

What was Steffy supposed to do? Sit around and wait for Liam? Well, she couldn't do that. She got engaged to Bill, and there was no turning back -- or so we thought.

Bill tries to pull off weddings in record time, usually to keep his brides from changing their minds. Had Steffy not had Kelly, he would have whisked Steffy off to his private island in the Pacific to keep anyone, namely Ridge, from talking her out of the marriage. Experienced at sabotaging Bill's weddings, Ridge moved even quicker than Bill. While Bill was picking out the softest, pinkest baby blanket, Ridge was saying everything he could to stop Steffy from marrying Bill.

I don't know what's more incredible -- that Bill actually went baby-room shopping or that Ridge actually succeeded in talking Steffy out of marrying Bill without crashing the wedding to drag her out of it. Maybe Ridge has matured and learned to use words instead of force. His words hadn't seemed to be working on Steffy, but that evening when Bill pressed her to marry him, she turned him down and cited many of the things Ridge had said to her as reasons for changing her mind.

When trying to get through to Steffy, Ridge implored her not to rush into marrying Bill just because she wanted to hurt Liam. Ridge reminded her of the kind of father Bill was and asked if she really wanted him raising Kelly. Ridge suggested that Steffy be alone for a while. He said she didn't need Bill because she had her family, friends, and work.

Steffy acted like she knew what she was doing, but Ridge was worried that she'd disconnected herself from life and feeling. We've all been there, and we've all talked ourselves into doing things we really weren't passionate about or didn't care to do just to protect ourselves from pain or poverty. It's like a breath of fresh, cool air when we wake up at the wheel and swerve onto the right course, even if there's a lonely road ahead.

Steffy swerved and avoided living a life under Bill's control. Bill claimed not to want to control her, but his actions screamed otherwise. First, he branded her with the sword necklace. Next, he leashed her with the stock as a condition of their marriage. She wanted to tell Liam about her and Bill on her own, but Bill showed up at the cliff house a couple hours later anyway.

The next morning, Bill went baby-room shopping and picked out Steffy's wedding dress, two tasks Steffy would probably want to do herself or share in the doing. That evening, Bill didn't call Steffy to invite her over to "their" home. He sent a driver to deliver her to him like a pizza. Yes, the same Steffy whom he admires for not caving in to his demands.

Someone needs to tell Bill that softly uttering his demands or sending a driver to fulfill them didn't make them any less demands. Bill claimed he hadn't wanted to change Steffy, but he was busily telling her who she was and who he'd nurture her into being -- if she let him. When she turned him down, he said it was okay, and they'd just be together. Steffy turned that down, too.

It was unattractive and pathetic for Bill. I love Dollar Bill, but this fantasy that he's had about Steffy needs to stop. It has almost destroyed the Spencer family, and it's on the border of destroying who Bill is. Bill really enjoyed a morning of baby shopping? Bill and Justin really spent the afternoon decorating that baby room? Really? Sorry, I like my Bill Spencer well done. This bleeding heart of his makes me lose my appetite.

When Bill couldn't get Steffy to marry him, he still signed the Forrester stocks over to her. He claimed that it was to prove his love is real. Why does he need to prove that if he has accepted that she never wants to be with him?

Liam thinks Bill believes he still has a chance with Steffy, and I agree. There is no reason on the face of the planet for Bill to give Steffy those stocks unless he is playing the long game. Maybe he thinks Steffy will come around when he's Eric's age and she's Quinn's age.

If you ask me, there have to be strings all over those stocks, even if we can't see them. If not, it might be that Bill technically still owns the stocks. When Bill and Steffy signed the first agreement, Justin emphasized the importance of him witnessing signatures and taking fingerprints before he notarized anything. Justin didn't notarize the stock contract Bill signed when he set Steffy free, and there is no marriage certificate to fulfill the obligations of the first contract.

It's possible that Bill and Steffy might at some point realize the stocks do not belong to Steffy because she never married Bill. Depending upon whether Bill feels like honoring his word that particular day, it could cause a huge kink in Steffy's plans for Forrester. But, for now, the mother with the "I dream of Diaper Genies" hairstyle is ready to prove that she can bring home the formula and give it to the nanny to heat up in a pan.

The Forrester crew is happy that the stocks are back in the family, and no one argued over who has a right to them -- yet. Probably because Rick wasn't there. I do miss handsome Rick and his flamboyant ties, don't you?

Eric wants to have a Steffy-Grandpa chat later, and we can guess what that's all about. He probably wants to remind her that his thirty-seven and a half percent is equal to hers, something for her to consider while she's unilaterally makes changes around Forrester.

Stock fights won't be the same. With the new shift in power, Thomas' five percent barely means anything because Ridge can just throw his twenty percent in with Eric or Steffy to settle disagreements. Ridge is out of luck if he ever disagrees with Eric and Steffy. If the stock remains as it is, the important question becomes who Eric will leave his stocks to upon his death.

Steffy's new attitude has afforded her a Zen-like calm that Hope found unnerving. Brooke thought for sure Steffy's stock announcement meant that HFTF was done for, but Steffy wanted to keep it and even wished Hope success. I figured Steffy's placid demeanor was just an act, and she'd erupt the moment she told Liam how things were going to be.

I went into Friday, hoping for a Liam smackdown, but the show left me feeling as if I had been reprogrammed at Bill's meditation retreat. I wanted Steffy to give Liam the dressing-down he deserved for his eight-year-long Ping-Pong tournament between the women. Instead, Steffy was like Galadriel the Elven Queen, handing out wisdom and trinkets before sending the Fellowship to its death. Slipping her own engagement ring on Hope's finger, Steffy was like, "And to you, Hope, I give you the one ring to rule Liam. May it give you a marriage that lasts at least a year."

Well, you can't have everything. I can settle for at least one of the three maturing and making decisions. As usual, that person isn't Liam. The women have given Liam up to each other before, but this time, Steffy went a step further and actually proposed to Hope for Liam.

Steffy has every right to leave Liam. She has every right to think it's inevitable for Hope and Liam to get together, and a right to blame herself for coming between them in the past; however, can Steffy just slap a ring on it and call eight years of heartache mended?

Steffy claims things had to happen the way they did so that Kelly could be born. I guess that means Ivy had to be heartbroken. Quinn had to abduct Liam, and Steffy had to marry and divorce Liam's brother. Otherwise, there would be no Kelly. Steffy also believed her one night with Bill had to happen, or else Hope wouldn't have her child.

It all sounds so kismet, and it's a great way to sweep everyone's misdeeds under the catwalk; however, if Steffy really believes it, she has to also believe that her and Hope's first babies had to die so that these new babies could be born. Steffy also must retract what she said about Taylor and Brooke being wrong to fight over Ridge because the women's suffering was necessary for Hope and Steffy to be born.

Do you believe Steffy is really resolved to go it alone in life? I'm having a hard time buying it. If she means what she says about these things being meant to be, she should be able to forgive Liam, but she can't. Steffy also would know better than trying to control Liam marrying Hope, but Steffy proposed to Hope for Liam to try to get control over the one thing that always hurt her but she never could control. Maybe Steffy thinks Hope and Liam finally getting married, something they'd never sustained for more than a plane ride home, will help Steffy let Liam go for good.

Liam was speechless when Steffy paused and looked at him before putting her ring on Hope's finger. I took it as his tacit permission for Steffy to go ahead and do it, but it would be nice to see Liam choose to be alone for a while. For an added bonus, it would be refreshing to see this new, pathetic version of Hope reject the ring and tell Steffy to mind her own future, not Hope's. After all, Liam has things to work on before he's good enough to be a husband -- things like faithfulness, gainful employment, and a home to live in.

Why is a new and expectant father worried about who he will marry when he has no house or job? When Steffy announced that she wanted Bill, Liam crashed with Wyatt instead of at a hotel or in Brooke's cabin. Liam stayed with Wyatt two days, and Wyatt and Liam surfed and hung out as if Wyatt didn't get rehired at Spencer. The brothers constantly bad-mouth Bill while living the privileged Spencer lifestyle.

By the way, there was no Sally in sight at the beach house, and not a word about her was spoken. She wasn't at Forrester, either, and I didn't see her in next week's preview video. Liam needs to find that redhead and thank her because if she hadn't kissed Liam, he wouldn't be a father right now, according to Steffy's logic.

In a look ahead: Revenge on the Rebound

According to next week's preview, Steffy tells Liam that she will always love him, but she has to get on with her life. Liam asks if she's really ready for that. Yes, Liam. We are all ready for that! For goodness sake, you don't have to marry Hope, but you have to get the hell up out of Steffy's life, okay? Go on; get! Don't make her drag you like she does Bill.

Speaking of Bill, Liam warns him away from Steffy and orders him to find someone his own age. Liam is a few days late and one spine short with that defense. Funny how Fifty-Cent Liam finds the courage to fight for Steffy after she tells him that she didn't marry Dollar Bill; however, Liam didn't have the courage to fight for her when Bill was in Liam's face, taking her from him.

Hope gleefully tells Brooke that Steffy proposed to Hope for Liam, and everything has magically fallen into place. At the same time, Liam tells Steffy that "that decision" should have been his. Brooke better not rush out and buy her daughter wedding dress number twelve just yet.

Emma isn't taking Zoe's presence at Forrester too well, and she demands to know if getting Xander back is part of Zoe's plan. Emma orders Zoe to leave Forrester. "Or what?" Zoe asks. Well, as my grandma would say, "Or else I'm gonna stomp a mud hole in you." That's the "or what," Zoe.

I hate to break it to Emma, but from the clips of Xander and Zoe kissing, it seems that getting Xander back is definitely part of Zoe's plan. Zoe's new modeling gig has got Emma caught between a rack and a hard place, and if Emma wants to stop Zoe from getting between her and Xander, her plan had better be bold and beautiful, baby!

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