Bold and Beautiful Recaps: The week of August 18, 2003 on B&B

Amber was relieved when Rick tore up the divorce papers and promised they would not lose Little Eric. Brooke tried to show family unity by giving two percent of her Forrester shares to Little Eric; however, Stephanie and Macy pressured Deacon to vote the boy's shares against Brooke to reinstate Eric as CEO.

Monday, August 18, 2003

by Mahogany

Amber was at Stephanie's, sipping coffee, when Bridget walked in. Bridget thought that Amber was still upset about Deacon and Macy's marriage and tried to cheer her up by saying that Little Eric would be home with her and Rick soon. Amber told Bridget about Rick asking for a divorce so he could have a better chance of adopting Little Eric. Bridget didn't believe that her brother would do such a thing. She tried to convince Amber that Rick had panicked, and he would probably change his mind. Amber wasn't so sure.

In Brooke's office, Stephanie, Brooke, Rick, and the lawyer discussed Rick's decision. Rick's justification for the divorce was that he was trying to keep his family together, and once the adoption was finalized, he and Amber would get remarried. Stephanie told Rick that he should not be so sure that Amber would take him back. Stephanie tried to get Rick to see that his reasoning was flawed and that he couldn't keep his family together if he and Amber were no longer married. The lawyer said that the judge would look on the Forresters with favor, since Brooke had given Little Eric two percent of the company. After hearing that, Stephanie looked very thoughtful.

Over at Marone industries, Ridge, Nick, and Massimo were meeting in Massimo's office. Massimo made it clear to his sons that he did not want Brooke within a zip code of his wedding. Sam walked in, reporting to work. Massimo explained that he had hired her to be the interior designer for the house that he had bought Jackie.

Rick went to see Amber. She thought that he had changed his mind about the divorce and rambled on about how they were a great family and that Little Eric needed both of them. Rick handed Amber the divorce papers and told her to sign them.

Alone in Massimo's office, Nick suggested to Sam that Ridge wanted to ask her to the wedding but was too shy to do it. When Massimo and Ridge returned, Sam ran over to Ridge, threw her arms around him, and told him that she would love to go to the wedding with him.

Alone in Brooke's office, Stephanie was thinking about the two percent that Brooke had signed over to Little Eric -- and what it could possibly mean for her family. Stephanie made a phone call to Deacon on his cell phone, but Deacon was on his honeymoon and did not want to be bothered, so he hung up on her. Stephanie then placed a call and had the jet refueled. She was on her way to talk to Deacon.

Tuesday, August 19, 2003

by Banavas

Rick gave Amber divorce papers, telling her the sooner they divorced, the sooner they could get Little Eric back. They had a terrible argument. Amber didn't think Rick had tried to find another way around their problem. Rick said he didn't want to lose against Deacon and Macy, and if Amber was the obstacle to him winning, then the divorce made sense.

Amber was really upset that Rick had not included her in his decision to divorce her and remove her from their child's life. Amber said Rick only saw her as a liability. He was not thinking clearly. Rick couldn't dispute Amber's claims.

Brooke and Eric disagreed over a new design direction that Eric wanted to take with the company. Brooke said what Eric wanted to do would be their most expensive collection. Eric accused Brooke of thinking like an accountant. She said she was thinking like a CEO, and she wouldn't approve his designs, so he would have to change his plans.

Stephanie was on a plane with her lawyer, en route to the location where Deacon and Macy were honeymooning. They discussed Brooke's latest faux pas. The attorney verified exactly what Stephanie had thought when she'd reserved the plane.

Brooke had given Little Eric two percent of her shares of Forrester stock. At the time, she had believed that Rick and Amber would be adopting the child, and since he was a minor, his parents would vote his shares. Brooke already had Rick and Amber's voting proxy, which gave her 51 percent of the voting power.

Since Deacon was back in his son's life and Rick and Amber had not completed the adoption, Deacon had the right to vote the child's two percent, and thus controlled the future of any voting decisions. By giving away the two percent to Little Eric, Brooke only had 49 percent. Stephanie's plan was to make a deal with Deacon so that he would give Little Eric's two percent to her, and the Forresters would then have control of the company back. Brooke would no longer control the company. Jonathan cautioned Stephanie that she shouldn't tell Deacon about the power he held. Stephanie realized the danger but said she had to take the chance in order to try to get the company back for Eric.

Nick tried to make a date between Sam and Ridge, but she was too clever to fall into his trap. She went so far as to say that Nick didn't strike her as the matchmaking type, and if he was trying to set her up with Ridge, there had to have be something in it for him. Sam and Brooke finally met when Brooke went to Ridge's office and Sam was there.

Wednesday, August 20, 2003

by Anna

Brooke informed Samantha that Stephanie was only using Samantha to get back at Brooke. Sam defended herself by saying she was only in town on business, redecorating a house for Massimo and his fiance. Brooke told her that Massimo and Stephanie were probably working together. Sam accused Brooke of being paranoid.

Ridge and Nick entered the office. Ridge confirmed Brooke's suspicion that Massimo and Stephanie were playing matchmaker. Sam wondered out loud whom Brooke would be going with to Massimo's wedding. Ridge agreed; he'd like to know, too. Nick said the hard part would be getting Brooke in, since she had been banned from attending the wedding.

Thorne entered Eric's office and found him upset. Eric told his son that Brooke had vetoed the entire collection Eric had been working on for months. Thorne wondered what Stephanie had said about Brooke's decision. Eric told him that Stephanie had said it would all be over soon. Thorne told Eric that he would talk to Brooke, and Eric should call Stephanie. Eric didn't want to talk to Stephanie.

In Mexico, Macy let Stephanie in. Stephanie informed Deacon that he had votes on the Forrester board. She begged him to help her get Brooke removed as CEO. Deacon was very upset that she had asked for his help when he knew that she didn't care about him, only about helping herself. Stephanie told him that it was not about her; it was about Eric, who had suffered for many years under Brooke's control. Deacon was concerned that helping to throw Brooke out of command would make him look greedy and selfish, which could make him lose his son in court.

Macy told Deacon that the two of them had been so lucky that they could afford to be generous and help Stephanie. Macy told him that she remembered how upset Eric had been when Brooke had taken over the company he had built. Stephanie asked them to go back with her on the plane. Deacon asked Stephanie to leave while he spoke with Macy alone. When Stephanie left to wait for them on the plane, Deacon told Macy that he didn't want anything to do with the Forresters. Macy insisted that it was not about revenge but about justice.

Stephanie spoke with lawyer Jonathon on the plane. Macy, Deacon, and Little Eric arrived. Macy told Stephanie that they would go to her board meeting. It was time that Brooke finally got what she deserved.

Thursday, August 21, 2003

by Sugarloafer

At Forrester Creations, Stephanie informed Ridge and Thorne that they had the potential to regain control of Forrester Creations. Ridge and Thorne were surprised that Deacon, not Rick, had Little Eric's voting rights on the Forrester board. Initially, Ridge was reluctant to go along with Stephanie's plan. Ridge's reason for the reluctance was that he planned to marry Brooke. Stephanie pointed out that she could never make Ridge be Eric's son again, however, she could return control of Forrester Creations to Eric. Thorne was skeptical that Deacon would actually vote against Brooke. Stephanie reminded Thorne that Macy had given Deacon motivation to vote against Brooke.

At the Insomnia Caf, Macy had a chance encounter with Brooke. Macy confronted Brooke about all the marriages she had ruined, including Macy and Thorne's. Macy berated Brooke for the threat she had laid on Macy on Macy's wedding day. Brooke had threatened to ruin Macy and Deacon's marriage. Brooke arrogantly boasted that she was a winner, and Macy was a loser. Macy warned Brooke that it would not take much to take her down. Brooke was curious about what Macy had said, but had no idea Macy was referring to the fact that Deacon had voting rights on the Forrester board.

At home, Deacon was so angry with Brooke for having insulted Macy that he did not want to vote in favor of the Forresters regaining control of Forrester Creations. Deacon observed that Macy had replaced her addiction to alcohol with that of getting revenge against Brooke. Macy managed to convince Deacon that his voting in favor of the Forresters would be the right thing for him to do.

At Forrester Creations, Brooke told Stephanie that she was justified to not approve Eric's new designs because they would not make money for the company. Stephanie warned that Brooke would never deny Eric again. Brooke told Stephanie the point was moot anyway, because she had won the battle between them. Brooke bragged to Stephanie that she had Ridge, she had children with Eric, and she controlled Forrester Creations. When Brooke left, Stephanie just wished for the board meeting sooner so she could take Forrester Creations away from Brooke once and for all.

Friday, August 22, 2003

by Banavas

On the day of the board meeting, Deacon and Ridge had mixed emotions about how they should vote. Ridge was worried about how Brooke would react if he voted against her, but for his father to be reinstated as the CEO of Forrester Creations. Deacon also was nervous about Brooke's reaction. He said he didn't want to do anything that would create more problems between him and Brooke, as far as his daughter Hope was concerned. He did still have feelings for Brooke as he flashed back to before the baby was born.

As badly as Macy wanted to see the look on Brooke's face when she was stripped of her power at Forrester, Macy told Deacon that ultimately, he was the one who has to vote Little Eric's stock, and he needed to do what he thought was right. Even Sally agreed that the best thing for the company would be to see Eric back in charge.

Brooke was furious with Stephanie for calling a meeting that she said was a waste of everyone's time. She defended the position she had taken when she had originally denied Eric the right to go ahead with his newest designs. Brooke said she had always done right by the company, and it was her job to watch the bottom line. For the sake of speeding things up and terminating the unnecessary meeting, Brooke retracted her earlier denial and agreed to let Eric move ahead with production of the new line. Brooke thought that was the reason Stephanie had called the meeting and believed they could all get back to work.

Stephanie said that she wanted a vote to reinstate Eric. Brooke asked why Stephanie would call for a vote that Stephanie couldn't win. Stephanie demanded the vote, citing her rights according to the board by-laws. Everyone cast their votes. Stephanie said that she had learned that Brooke had disbursed stock to Hope and Little Eric. Brooke said she could do whatever she wanted to do with her stock. Stephanie wanted the minor children's votes to be counted into the record.

In frustration, Brooke voted for Hope. Rick said he would vote for Little Eric. Stephanie said Rick could not vote for Little Eric -- only his legal guardian could. Having said that, Stephanie opened the door to the boardroom, and in walked Macy and Deacon. Macy and Deacon took a good look at the expressions of total shock on Rick and Brooke's faces.