Be careful what you wish for

Cane's plot of revenge put Billy's rear on the line but could also send Lily's career as the face of Brash & Sassy into a tailspin. Plus, Cane and Juliet's secret fell into the wrong hands -- and ears. Does Cane have a problem with his looks, since he seemed determined to cut off his nose to spite his face?

Surely, Cane has heard of the expression "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it." And if not, maybe he's familiar with "cutting off your nose to spite your face." I mean, how much thought does he put into his plans of revenge, before he acts on them? Sure, he may get a little satisfaction from watching Billy fall on his face in front of Victoria, but did he even consider that his vengeful plot could also tank Lily's career? Judging by Cane's facial reactions, he appeared regretful when he heard the hockey league was unsure of a future with Brash & Sassy due to Billy and the players' supposed bet. Cane hadn't even considered how much work everyone connected to the company had put into the commercial and into promoting their product -- work that eventually became wasted. Oh, yes, Cane, you got what you wished for...but was the price to pay really worth it?

Lily's future was ready to blast off as soon as the commercial launched, and she couldn't have been more excited. But maybe that was a subconscious reward for Cane's subterfuge. Maybe Cane secretly wished that Lily's spokesmodel career came to a grinding halt so she could go back to being the loving wife that he craved. Somehow, I don't see Lily being satisfied with just being barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, though. Lily is still young and has plenty of time to be a success and to shake things up in the corporate world.

The huge billboard was a symbol of all the triumphs that awaited Lily outside of Genoa City, and that may have scared Cne to death. Perhaps Cane wasn't ready to share Lily with the world. For someone who had bragged about how he was so very proud of Lily, Cane could just be an insecure and selfish boy who didn't want anyone else to play with his toys. If and when Lily learns of her husband's betrayal, Cane may end up playing in the sandbox by himself.

By making a few clips here and there to the wording of the "bet," Cane appeared to show that Billy, as Brash & Sassy's representative, was not above profiting for his own personal gain. Cane did not put the company's name and reputation first when he made those snips. His motives were all personal and not the least bit professional. For all his talk about how immature and unethical Billy is, Cane shone the spotlight on what he would do to get his way, no matter the outcome or the consequences. The commercial and the publicity resulting from it could have put Brash & Sassy on the map -- well, outside the boundaries of Genoa City, that is. If Cane was really as faithful and loyal to the company and to Victoria as he kept claiming, he never would have considered doing such a disreputable thing. But Billy Boy is the untrustworthy one. Right. Okay.

It seems to me that Cane's better ammunition was when he knew of Billy's reunion with Phyllis before anyone else got wind of the fact. He could have used that in a more productive way to get his revenge on Billy without risking the company's reputation or his wife's future as the face of Brash & Sassy. And honestly, Billy would have deserved whatever he got, since he was still being very inconsiderate to Victoria and uncaring about her feelings for him. I wouldn't be surprised if Victoria was regretting what she had wished for, which was to have her family back together, since that ended up putting her in the position of looking like a fool.

And you can't tell me that Billy didn't enjoy having the two beautiful women chasing after him, each one in her own delectable way. Shame on him for that! Oh, yes, Billy wanted to have his cake and eat it, too, so he grasped for any crumb he could get. Cane could have snatched the choice of desserts away from Billy and left him alone and deserted -- which would have been the way the cookie crumbles. Sorry to say, it didn't happen that way.

But as it turned out, the bet didn't cause Lily's career path to suddenly hit a roadblock, because Barry, the Los Angeles agent, had declared that Lily could be in pictures or on television -- or she could even be the host of her own show. While Cane beamed with pride over his wife possibly becoming a star, Hilary fumed that the pathetic upstart dared to even dream she could hold the same position as Hilary. So, apparently, Cane wasn't trying to sabotage his wife's chance at fame and fortune after all. He just didn't think far enough ahead to realize that demolishing the demo of the backstage footage could deprive the world of Lily's lovely face. However, Hilary had her own concerns, other than battling the cooties that were making her skin crawl from her interview with Lily. How would the blowback from Billy's bet affect The Hilary Hour? That's our Hilary -- always thinking of others.

Hilary has the uncanny ability to always make everything about Hilary. I'm surprised she hadn't already run to Billy, demanding to know how he didn't consider what his so-called bet would do to discredit her show. After all, everyone else's priority should be all about Hilary too. She'd better play nice with Billy, though, if she wants him on her show to appeal to her viewers and to the hockey league. But that should be no problem for her. After her failed marriages to both Neil and Devon, Hilary knows how to pretend she cares about a man's feelings better than anyone.

Is Cane crazy? He and Juliet were talking about their little one-night stand, out in the open at Brash & Sassy, just like they were discussing the weather. They might as well have used a megaphone and announced it to the entire building or had it written across the sky. Seriously, anybody could easily have walked by and overheard their discussion -- and by golly, someone did. Hilary, of all people. So, she got ammunition on Cane and even more importantly, on Lily. Oh, I can picture Hilary licking her chops with such juicy tidbits to feed to her archenemy. Hilary's been waiting a long time to knock Lily down a few hundred pegs, and in an instant, she had her chance.

Yes, Hilary could smell the blood in the water, and she was ready to chomp on it and to spread the gore all around. She even made sure to film Juliet admitting to her drunken one-night stand with Cane. So, would Hilary make a wild dash to Lily and show her this disastrous behind the scenes footage? Or would Hilary use the taping as leverage against Cane to force him to confess to making a few creative adjustments to Billy's bet? Of course, Hilary would have to know that Cane did a few cuts and snips to the footage in the first place, wouldn't she? Patience has never been one of Hilary's virtues, so I doubted she would sit on the secret for too long.

And, of course, Hilary wanted to deliver the proof of Cane's adultery on a flash drive straight into Lily's hands. I'm just astonished that Hilary didn't want to personally witness the big reveal. Thank goodness Cane had enough sense to realize there was something very suspicious about Hilary's delivery. Cane needs to "fess up" pronto, before Lily finds out about Juliet and Tokyo in another way. Even if Cane can stop Lily from watching the flash drive, Hilary still knows the truth. Hilary is a ticking bomb about to explode, and there's no way Cane can defuse her.

As soon as she learned the coast was clear and that Victoria was out of town, trying to save the hockey league account, Phyllis ran over to Victoria's house to see Billy because she couldn't wait another second to make sure that things were okay between them. Why am I not surprised? Even though Billy made a promise to Victoria to keep his sex toy away from their family, Phyllis had no intention of that happening. In fact, I'm shocked that Phyllis didn't drag Billy up to Victoria's room to make love in Victoria's bed. Phyllis respects no one else's boundaries, and she makes sure to let the guys she's in a relationship with know who's calling all the shots. While I really liked the "Red" Phyllis, I'm not so crazy about the blonde one. She's just selfish to the core.

Apparently, I was the only one outraged that Phyllis had bombarded into Victoria's home, because Victoria never batted an eyelash at the news. Really, there was no reaction from Victoria after Reed announced that he had caught Billy and Phyllis making out in front of the stairs. Nothing. Victoria just smiled and admitted that she should have warned Billy. What? Has Victoria gotten so desperate that she's willing to let Billy come and go with his lover in her own house? Oh, my gosh, maybe Victor needs to come to her aid so Victoria can get her self-worth and self-esteem back. Wow, I never thought I would ever say that. But Victoria is so much better than this.

Victoria announced to her employees that the hockey league wanted someone's head to roll, and since it couldn't be Billy's, it had to be Juliet's. It would certainly solve all of Cane's problems if Juliet would just go quietly into the night, never to return. But that still wouldn't silence Hilary. Anyway, Juliet was canned, and she probably wouldn't take that lying down either -- which was what caused her original problem to begin with.

Juliet has proven to be not-so-trustworthy in her personal life and careless in her professional life. She really deserved to go. However, I doubt that's the last we will hear from her. But at least Cane could squash the threatening flash drive like a little bug, all in the name of Brash & Sassy's reputation. Now, would he do the same with Juliet, all in the name of love?

In the meantime, Victor was pulling out all the stops to regain his hold over Nikki. Finally, the Mustache has learned to use honey instead of vinegar to try to entice his wife back into his supposedly loving arms. For a smart guy, it sure took him long enough to learn that lesson. Victor's idea of Nikki performing in a concert for charity was indeed a grand gesture that would win any piano playing lady's heart. And to give credit where credit is due, at least Nikki knew she was being manipulated. But in this case, she was very willing and able to play to his tune.

Believe it or not, Jack approved of Victor's choice for a command performance, which was nothing short of a miracle. Jack saw it as a chance for Nikki to shine while she got her mojo back. What was interesting was that Phyllis seemed bothered to see Jack and Nikki hugging. Why? Phyllis knew they were friends, and besides, she had supposedly moved on. Could Phyllis want the best of both worlds -- the secure world with the man she loved and trusted and the guy she shared her passion with?

Just as Billy liked stringing both women along, Phyllis seemed torn between two lovers. Too bad she wasn't feeling like a fool enough to stop her from blowing up any kind of civil relationship that Billy can still have with Victoria. Because you know Phyllis will make sure there's nothing left of them once she is done. But wait...Phyllis used her glimpse of Nikki in Jack's arms as a way to needle Victor and to get under his skin. Man, Phyllis sure has turned into such a troublemaker for a so-called happily-in-love gal.

While Ashley is holding onto her righteous anger, Jack had the healthier attitude in being civil to his long-lost mother. Even though Ashley felt like Dina had gotten to Jack, she's the one who is having problems in dealing with her mother's return. I don't blame Ashley for building a wall around her feelings after her mother deserted her all those years ago, and in fact, I understand it. But Ashley is letting Dina and her "dog-and-pony show" affect her life. A better defense for Ashley would be to show Dina that she didn't care at all. After all, didn't we all learn several weeks ago that indifference -- not hate -- is the opposite of love? If she really wanted Dina to pay, Ashley should show that she didn't give a holy ding-dong about what happened to her mother. But if it wasn't genuine and was only done to get back at Dina, that probably wouldn't be indifference, would it?

However, Ashley is nothing like her mother, and she didn't want Abby to also be scarred by the grandmother who had never cared about her kids and grandkids before. I certainly get that. However, Abby is old enough to live her own life and to make her own decisions. If Abby makes a mistake in giving Dina a chance, it's her mistake to make. It will do Ashley no good to coddle her now. As both a Newman and an Abbott, Abby needs to roll with the punches in both her personal and professional life if she ever wants to be taken seriously in the corporate world.

Needless to say, Ashley wasn't exactly thrilled to learn that her daughter considered having a relationship with her newly found grandmother. Thank goodness Ravi was there with his figurative umbrella to protect Ashley from the dark cloud hovering over her head, which threatened to soak her with rain. Hey, I expected the two of them to break out in song and dance to "Singing in the Rain" or even to "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head." That would have washed Ashley's blues away. Shoot, after meeting Ravi, Dina could have started belting out, "It's Raining Men," since she saw the man she assumed was Ashley's young stud. It looks like Ravi will need a bigger umbrella.

Okay, let's see...Ravi has college friends, so we can presume he's around their age. And Mattie and Charlie are now sophomores in high school, so they can't be that much younger than Ravi. Neil is the twins' grandfather, and Ashley once dated him. Wow, the generation gap seems to be getting wider and wider between Ashley and Ravi.

And look at Lily and her kids. Christel Khalil is 29 years old right now, so Lily must have given birth to the twins when she was 14! It's funny that I don't remember that. I do remember that the fans thought Cane had robbed the cradle when he first started dating Lily, but I don't recall that there was anything illegal about it. Shoot, he would have practically taken Lily from the womb, judging by their children's ages now.

While I understand that soaps SORAS children all the time, it still must be somewhat believable when it is done. And Lily, Charlie, and Mattie are just too close in age now to make it totally believable. Somewhere along the line, Lily must have snuck in quite a few years without the fans knowing it to be old enough to be the teens' mother now. She's looking pretty good, though, for one so advanced in age. We will need to get Lily's beauty tips on how to remain so young looking. She'd really be an asset to Brash & Sassy then.

It's just a shame that Lily and Cane lost so many of the formative years of the twins, as they grew and developed into the fine, young, practically adults that they are today. But now that the siblings are miraculously the same age as Reed, maybe his storyline will be worth watching. We can only hope.

Since Nick's advice to Victoria didn't exactly pan out, maybe he should stick to dealing with his own love life, which could use some help right now. As long as he sticks to the secret about his father being Chloe's accomplice, his relationship with Chelsea will remain in jeopardy, no matter what he tells her. Chelsea is aware that Nick is not giving her his full and complete support, but since he continues to say he will stand behind her, she accepts it for what it is -- which is that Nick is standing way, way behind her -- almost in another universe. But as least Nick is realistic enough to know that Chelsea will not stop until she finds Chloe. I don't know if he has thought far enough ahead to think about what he will do when Chelsea eventually discovers that Nick knew his father was Chloe's accomplice. But Nick has given himself some time, which may just be borrowed time when all is said and done.

Nick may very well be aware of that, since his eyes seem to be lingering back over in Sharon's direction. Sharon, who knows Nick better than anyone and who realizes he is hiding something from Chelsea. Nick certainly didn't seem to be happy for Sharon as he watched Scott kiss his ex-wife. Sharon has been doing a great job of standing on her own two feet lately and hasn't seemed to need a hero to ride to her rescue, which has always been Nick's strong suit. But maybe that's what is making Sharon more appealing to Nick these days. Could she be more of a challenge to Nick now? Or is it a case of wanting what he can't have? Or maybe it's just friendly concern on Nick's part that Scott treat Sharon right. No matter what, Nick seems to be just a little too interested in Sharon once again.

You know, Nick has always been a stand-up guy who would do what he could to protect the woman in his life. He was the dashing knight on a white charger, out to rescue his gorgeous damsel in distress. Each time Nick backpedals from Chelsea, he just looks insincere and phony. How can Chelsea even imagine that Nick is in her corner when all he ever does is to put up walls to stop Chelsea in her pursuit of justice for Adam? Only his walls are probably more concrete and solid than the ones at the secure Louisiana mental facility that once housed Chloe. Nick may think he's saving Chelsea by preventing her from learning that his dad was indirectly responsible for his own son's death -- and maybe he is. After all, Chelsea really doesn't want to be on the bad side of Victor.

But life can be complicated, and Nick must have had a sudden change of heart, because he joined Chelsea in Louisiana in her search for Chloe, which led them to a young Dr. Harris. And Nick seemed sincere in wanting Chelsea to find her "sister." After he denied knowing where Chloe was and shooed them out of the house, the doctor called Victor, as Chloe crept out. I knew she was there, and I doubt if Nick and Chelsea were fooled either.

It's not too surprising to see Chloe again, especially after hearing the news that Kevin will be leaving G.C. It's just possible that Chloe will now be the reason for Kevin's exit. It would make sense. The guy never could move on with another girl after Chloe, and it even appeared that he wanted a life with her, no matter how warped or damaged. Well, one thing's for sure. Living with Chloe will never be dull or boring. Good luck, Kevin!

I am glad Mariah has found a new girlfriend in Tessa, who can sure use another friend. I tend to forget Mariah once belonged to "a thrill-kill cult" that would roast a few people in a towering inferno at a moment's notice. Mariah has certainly come a long way. Okay, since Tessa knows Zach, just who is he and what are his intentions when it comes to Abby? Will Scott need to be Abby's hero? More details have been slowly trickling in, as we learned that Tessa had thought Zach was a nice guy until she'd realized he wasn't. How long before this mystery kicks into gear?

I love the blasts from the past -- the clips of Ashley with Victor, Ashley with her mother, and Jack with his mother. They go far in explaining the reasons for the resentment that has built up between mother and daughter, and we get a glimpse what is was like for Jack as a lonely young boy also. But while Jack has decided to move past the anger for his peace of mind, Ashley can't bury the past, especially since she regretted keeping Victor from Abby for quite a few years of her daughter's life. Strangely enough, Victor gave Ashley the best advice: "There's no worse poison in your life than regret." Ashley will probably eventually regret that she didn't heed his advice.

Jack either thinks very highly of Cane or so poorly of Billy (or both) that he refused to even consider that Cane might have gotten his hands just a teensy-weensy bit dirty in the whole sordid Billy/hockey team bet. No amount of soap could get the grime out of the crevices of Cane's paws in that farce.

Isn't it interesting that for someone who wants so desperately to put her family back together again, Dina would refuse to let Abby call her "Grandma"?

Reed had once thought of Billy like another dad, and now he's glad Billy is his siblings' father and not his. That should really tell Billy something -- but sadly, it probably didn't.

Until next time, please stay tuned.Teddi

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