Not so lonely at the top

Out with the old and in with the new as Phyllis' sexual escapades went from Billy to Nick in record time. Were Phyllis and Nick really that shallow, or were they just comforting each other after their breakups? But shouldn't Phyllis be more concerned about J.T.'s murder investigation? It's all about R-E-S-P-E-C-T in Two Scoops.

Have you noticed that no matter what Phyllis does, she always lands on top? She can cheat, lie, and make the worst possible decisions ever, but she always seems to win in the long run. Phyllis was the reason the four ladies covered up Nikki's bashing J.T. on the head in the first place. She also was the one to convince Nick to keep his lips sealed to Sharon about the one-night fling with his ex-wife. And just look at how Phyllis was "punished" -- with a CEO position of a highly prestigious company. Most people get slammed for making mistakes and even end up having to make amends for them, but not Phyllis. She just gets recognition and a glamorous title. Somehow, it all just seems so unfair.

And it's not like Phyllis has done anything to prove her worth as a top executive of a corporation in the past. On the contrary, her speech that swayed the votes of the Jabot Board members said just that. Phyllis was aware that she had no prior record as a successful business mogul, but she was a change from the Abbotts, which was why the board picked her as CEO. So, Phyllis was awarded control of Jabot, and she immediately started throwing her weight around. Some people just can't lose, and Phyllis appeared to be one of those fortunate people. Oh, well, at least her hair color is red again. Red is much more suitable for Phyllis, since it's closer to her true, fiery nature.

By golly, Phyllis had no intention of being lonely at the top, either, even though Billy refused to touch her with a ten-foot pole. Hey, who needed Billy? She would just take her lust to the one person who had never been able to resist her sultry charms. Nick. Even though Phyllis was the one who had wrecked his chances for a new life with Sharon, Nick had no qualms about jumping back into the sack with his ex. Were they both trying to cover up the pain of their breakups by doing the horizontal tango on the desk? Or could they both be so shallow that all it took was sex to make them forget about their so-called true loves? If Phyllis found the need to label just what type of sex she had just experienced with Nick, it couldn't have been too substantial.

This is getting to be a habit of theirs. Forget about what happened when Cassie died. Not all that long ago, Sharon took her ring off, and Nick made a wild dash to Phyllis for her own special brand of comfort. And once he faced it was truly over with Sharon, he ran to "the wrecking ball" in record time and dragged her back for more. Did Phyllis even have time to miss Billy? She was pursuing Nick again the first minute she had a chance. I guess Billy wasn't the big love she had always claimed he was. Phyllis appears to cherish the chase and the excitement of a forbidden tryst rather than to desire what most women want, which is a true and honest love with that one very special person. In a way, that's sad for her, although it would keep her heart from ever being broken.

So, Phyllis came out ahead, both professionally and personally, by losing the so-called love of her life, Billy. As she pointed out, she and Nick were at the top of their game now. He was calling all the shots at Dark Horse and she was at Jabot. It couldn't get much better than that. But what about the situation concerning J.T. that she had created? While Nikki, Victoria, and Sharon still worried over the consequences, Phyllis distanced herself from their foursome and even indicated that individual targets were harder to hit. Really? I guess they would be if they all kept running in different directions. What a life.

After her cameo appearance at J.T.'s impromptu gravesite to dig him up, where they didn't find his body, Phyllis decided every girl for herself and declared that there would be no more charity meetings. It would be business as usual -- for her, anyway. Phyllis was too busy with Jabot to spend another second pulling any more of her red hair out, worrying about J.T. She no longer had time for theories and speculation. Plus, Billy was out, and Nick was in. But if Phyllis was truly independent, she wouldn't need a man to help her move on.

Yet Phyllis seemed to really enjoy pulling the strings and being the master manipulator over all, as Victor was so fond of doing. Could she be gunning for his title as the ruler of Genoa City? Phyllis was definitely calling all the shots at Jabot with Kyle and Billy and was playing favorites with Lauren and Summer, who had done nothing to earn their promotions. Shoot, they might as well change the name from Jabot to Fenmore's, since Fenmore's entire staff was put in charge of Jabot. So, just who was left to run Fenmore's? That's not important, I guess.

Phyllis did her best Aretha Franklin impersonation and demanded R-E-S-P-E-C-T from Jack, even though he had stood by her as a friend through thick and thin. In fact, she pretty much made that a stipulation of employment for Kyle and Billy, also. Phyllis desired respect, but she seemed to forget that respect has to be earned, and she sure wasn't scoring any points with the guys for that. In fact, she even seemed to dismiss Nick with a telephone call after he returned her badge to her. Hmmm...so, Phyllis was nice and rewarded Lauren, Summer, and the new female chemist, Kerry, and practically made Billy, Kyle, Jack, and even Nick jump through hoops? What could possibly be the pattern here? Had Billy ruined all men in Phyllis' eyes for good?

Even if he hadn't, Phyllis was totally forgetting that there is no "I" in team, as she went all around, declaring that Jabot was all about her. Jabot's profits depended on her. Jabot's employees depended on her for their jobs. Phyllis was angry, and she refused to let the men with experience contribute anything of significance to rebrand Jabot, which was especially funny, since one of Kerry's ideas was to build a whole new men's line. The company is still reeling from the blows Ashley dealt it when she took her patents to Paris, and if Phyllis continues to let her emotions determine her professional decisions, it will end up backfiring on her.

And Kerry sure wasn't helping the matter any by insinuating that both Kyle and Jack had only been trying to use the new chemist to get the goods on Phyllis to be used against her later. Apparently, the trust issues go much farther than Phyllis. What a horrible company to work for these days with each one constantly looking over his or her shoulder, waiting for the thrust of a knife in the back. I honestly can't see Jack sabotaging his beloved father's business, and Phyllis should know him better than that.

So, while Phyllis had pretty much erased J.T. from her existence (he was also a man, after all), Arturo found an item in the dirt during the dig that could send her entire world topsy-turvy. A watch with the inscription, "Love Mac." And Rey determined that might be a clue as to what happened to J.T. But the real mystery was why did Rey say that "the commissioner" called off J.T.'s investigation? It's as if the chief of police had suddenly vanished from Genoa City. Did the writers think, since Y&R cut ties with Doug Davidson after 40 years, that the fans would just forget about Paul? He's just always out, busy on a case, whenever the inside of the police station is shown, right?

At least with Christine still around, we can pretend that Paul is still lurking around somewhere in Genoa City. How could she possibly explain his disappearance otherwise? Christine was there, however, to push Rey into solving the J.T. mystery, and what fortunate timing. Watch, timing...get it? Anyway, Arturo showed Rey the watch he had found at Chancellor Park, and Rey later saw J.T. wearing the watch in a picture. Aha! That watch could be the hero that finally cuts the time short on this never-ending saga.

And with the return of Kelly Kruger as Mac and later Tristan Lake Leabu as Reed, there's hope that there might, one day, be a resolution to a storyline that had gotten somewhat tossed aside and buried -- just like J.T. It's only appropriate. Rey was finally able to seal off the burial site as a crime scene for a murder investigation, after Mac identified the watch as belonging to J.T. Ooh, Victoria had to feel the teeth of a trap clamping down on her once Abby told her where Arturo had found the watch. And with Mariah making the discovery of the watch public, our ladies had to be spooked -- even without J.T.'s ghostly presence lurking over them.

Although I do remember that Billy and Sharon had an illicit but brief affair, they could still make a cute couple, especially since they both were members of the broken hearts' society. If only the writers weren't so darned determined for Sharon's next love interest to be Rey. I just hope Billy doesn't use Sharon for sex to get back at Nick. But still, after Phyllis, it would be interesting to see how Billy would interact with a more stable companion like Sharon. I can remember that it wasn't all that long ago when you couldn't say that about Sharon. My, how things have changed.

But, no, the writers are determined to put her with Rey, so any chance of pairing up Billy and Sharon won't happen. That's too bad. The fact that Sharon would even entertain the idea of being with "another woman's man" has disappointed me. She should know, more than anyone, how much playing with a married man can hurt the injured spouse, and the way Nick zipped over to Phyllis practically ten seconds after Sharon broke up with him pretty much indicated the sincerity of his love. But to Sharon's credit, she did try to resign from her job, claiming she and Rey were too good together. Yeah, okay, she was really trying to put distance between herself and the investigation, but she ended up staying, so it didn't really matter. Thank goodness Rey's wife appears to be arriving in town soon, so there may still be hope for Billy.

Okay, I will admit that Kyle and Lola are cute together. And hurray to any girl who can stand up to the self-centered and egotistical Summer. Oh, yeah, like mother, like daughter. It was so sweet that Kyle gave Lola the black apron with the sparkly words "Kiss the Cook," although that was rather hard to read. Since Lola's passion is food, that was a very thoughtful gift. There may be more to Kyle than meets the eye. And he held up very well under Rey's third-degree routine. Yes, Kyle and his "fiery hot lips" have an excellent chance with lovely Lola.

But never count out Summer, who's smart, savvy, and as sneaky as they come. Since Summer was one of the few people Phyllis trusted, the blonde used that to her advantage by getting Kyle assigned to a worthwhile project -- one that meant he had to work with Summer, of course. Oh, yeah, as much as Summer may protest she has no feelings for Kyle, her actions speak much louder than words, and in this case, they are yelling. You can be sure that Summer will make good use of Kyle's gratitude, also. But bravo to the feisty Lola for not giving up.

I'm sorry, as much as I like Mariah, I'm not feeling the love for her with Tessa, who has already hurt her enough in the past. I don't care about any epic love songs Tessa may be writing to honor them as a couple. However, living together will only shine a light on any secrets in Tessa's closet -- figuratively and literally. What's with the bags full of lots and lots of money? If Tessa was paying off the creeps, why was the money still in her bag? And more importantly, just what kind of money is she making at Crimson Lights, anyway? Hey, I want that job!

Okay, I have seen Ted acting in the place of Gloria as Jabot's executive assistant the last several weeks. So, where has Gloria gone? I just saw Judith Chapman on the Halloween episode of Days of our Lives, but she would have taped that many months ago. Oh, well, there's another mystery for the books.

Cane sure had a bonehead idea to disrupt his children's lives by moving closer to Lily, but luckily, Devon made him see the error of his ways. The kids already had it bad enough missing their mom, and the last thing they needed was to lose their precious senior year at high school with all their friends. Devon was right. It was a grand gesture that Lily would not want, but Cane was hurting and desperate, so it was understandable.

As Mariah said to Nikki and Sharon about J.T., "One violent creep getting offed by another violent creep" was karmic justice. Nikki must have appreciated being referred to as a "violent creep."

Until next time, please stay tuned -- and keep on buzzing.Teddi

What are your thoughts on ? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.