Oh, the games people play

Did Nick's ''Outburst'' against Scott match the brilliance of the fireworks? Judging by Devon's glares at Hilary, was he just playing ''charades'' with Mariah and her heart? Did Kevin's car and his dreams of a life with Chloe go ''Kaboom'' on a deserted road? It's more than tiddlywinks in Two Scoops.

Even though Joe South sang "The Games People Play" back in 1968, you could almost have sworn he was singing about our very own beloved characters in Genoa City. Actually, Hilary alone, playing her own version of "truth or dare," could have belted out the lyrics of the song, "Never meaning what they say now, never saying what they mean," since she lives by those very words. I still get outraged when I see Devon being taken in by her phony-baloney words. Seriously, does she even know how to be honest and sincere? How can Devon trust anything Hilary ever says again after he has been so snowed by her in the past? Shoot, her lies have hit Devon like an avalanche with all the blizzardly blasts she has shot his way.

And Hilary's games continue to go on and on, even if the rules keep changing. Devon's head should be reeling with her new "spin the bottle" antics between Devon and Jordan. One minute, she's feeding Devon a pack of garbage to keep him entangled in her web, and the next, she's pursuing Jordan, who she suspects has more than just a mild interest in Lily. Shoot, Jordan's so-called friendship with Lily would be enough to make him desirable in Hilary's eyes. Hilary never met a game she didn't like to win, and what a challenge it would be for her to best her nemesis for the attention of a man Hilary believed she had designs on anyway. Even if Hilary didn't want Jordan, she would never let Lily have him, not as long as there was a breath in her body. How Scarlett O'Hara of her. But it may be Mariah who ends up playing Melanie to Hilary's Scarlett in trying to keep Ashley's (Devon's) love.

It really was pretty pitiful to watch Devon's longing looks at Hilary, everywhere she went, at the first annual Hamilton-Winters Independence Day celebration. And it was sadder to see Mariah catching Devon's glares directed in Hilary's direction. This was no cat-and-mouse game as far as Mariah was concerned, because she truly cares about Devon. But for Hilary, Devon was just a prized possession she felt she should have never lost, and she wanted Devon back.

Whether Hilary was using Jordan to accomplish her purpose or keeping both Jordan and Devon as her trophies to prove her self-worth, it didn't really matter. Mariah seemed destined to be the one hurt. But maybe she wasn't as much into Devon as we all believed. When Mariah asked Sharon if you could ever get over the love of your life, was she referring to Kevin? Was Mariah having trouble moving on with her love life due to lingering feelings over the best friend she had once given her heart (and body) to?

And Lily probably didn't know if she was coming or going once Juliet started playing her own childish prank of "tag, you're it" with Cane as her newly proclaimed baby daddy. Juliet seems to have absolutely no remorse for destroying the lives of two people she admitted to once thinking of as friends. Wow, who needs enemies, when you can have a friend like Juliet? Oh, yes, Juliet has proven to be nothing but "Trouble," as far as Lily and Cane are concerned. No matter how many times Cane can declare how "Sorry" he is, there is nothing he can do to make it up to Lily. How could there be? Did Cane really think that if he proved he was not the father of Juliet's baby, everything would be all hunky-dory again?

I loved how, once Juliet had finished signing the nondisclosure form, she dashed out of Brash & Sassy to fill Hilary in on as many of the gory details as she dared. Oh, by the way, Hilary, there was no sexual harassment. No! What a shock! Remember, Juliet, it was Hilary who created this whole scenario. You were just an actress in the fictional tale she penned to be played out on the Brash & Sassy stage. Juliet is stupid if she thinks Hilary is her friend. Even if Jordan was in the throes of passion when he called Hilary a predator, in this case, the shoe fits, and Juliet will eventually learn that the hard way. There will be no curtain calls for Juliet then.

Hilary only does what is advantageous to Hilary. She wouldn't know how to be a true and loyal friend. Jordan may see that, but he doesn't care. The sex is good, I guess. Plus, some guys like the alluring ladies, no matter how deceitful they can be. Hilary is like a snake in the grass that will bite him when he least expects it. However, I couldn't help but notice (and laugh at) how fast he ran to Lily after she placed the call to her "friend." Hilary must have been grinding and gnashing her fangs -- er, teeth in anger at his sudden departure.

But then it seemed as if Hilary were almost taunting Jordan to go after Lily when she claimed Lily would want payback for Cane's infidelity if "the right guy" were to come along. Was she testing Jordan? Or was she using him to ensure that Lily's marriage was pushed beyond the point of no return? Boy, Hilary must truly hate Lily, since her entire focus seems to be on ruining Lily's life. Mattie and Charlie had better take care, since no one associated with Lily appears to be safe from Hilary's venom.

While Victoria insisted she had to clean house of her untrustworthy executive because Cane had not come clean with her about the one-night stand, Jordan stressed to Lily that she did not have to clean up Cane's mess. Well, there's certainly enough dirt to go around for everyone, thanks to Juliet. However, Juliet didn't feel like she needed to cleanse her soul after dragging Cane and his family through the mud. Yet she wanted to add her baby as a new child of the man she had just tainted and soiled in court? It's no wonder Cane was demanding a paternity test -- pronto. Even if Juliet has more feelings for Cane than what she was willing to admit to Hilary, I am sure Cane will not share her feelings, especially if he is stripped of the family he already cherishes. After all, Cane already lost his job due to her lawsuit, even if he didn't see that his own cover-up was also the cause.

Victoria has been playing her own version of "red Rover, red Rover" ever since she let Billy come over, and there seems to be no end in sight. Brash & Sassy may be Victoria's playground, but Billy lets it be very well known that he rules the sandbox. Some of Victoria's decisions have no rhyme or reason, and at times, she seems to be flying by the seat of her pants. That sounds more like Billy than Victoria, which proves he has more influence on her business than he should. If Victoria wants to stake her ownership of the company, she needs to be the one calling all the shots, not just voicing the choices made because of her ex-husband.

And Victoria sure was fast to defend Billy as soon as Cane mentioned his name. Why, it was almost sacrilege for Cane to even say Billy's name in vain. Victoria is so busy glorifying everything Billy does that she wears blinders to what's actually right in front of her face. First, Victoria fired Juliet instead of Billy, and then she fired Cane because of Billy. Remember, Billy vowed all along that he would find a way to oust Cane, so Cane's future with Brash & Sassy was always in jeopardy. And it never mattered how unprofessional Billy acted around the office -- it's never professional to yell at a fellow employee in the workplace. Victoria's decisions have all been based on her hopes for a future with her ex-husband, who is "playing house" with his new lady. Seriously, does Victoria have no pride?

I still have to snicker at Jill's little visit with her son. I didn't blame Jill for wanting to skedaddle out of Billy's new digs with Phyllis after they practically performed their own little "Twister" right in front of her. Phyllis had better watch out, though, if Victoria ever chooses to get her dignity back and to quit listening to Billy. Victoria may be playing nice now, but if she ever decides she truly wants Billy back, she could take a lesson from her father. Newmans play to win, and Victoria could make sure she becomes numero "Uno" in Billy's universe.

At the July Fourth party, Sharon may have felt like she was in the middle of a "tug-of-war" between her new fella and her ex. Nick made it perfectly clear just how much he liked Scott, which was not at all, and he actually asked Chelsea for her help in keeping Scott and Sharon apart. What?! Really, that was just over the top. Nick had his lovely lady who wanted to snuggle with him, and all Nick could think of was Scott and Sharon being together? Insane. Even if Nick's "Outburst" that Scott was either "too stubborn or too proud to admit it" was true, he had no right to interfere in his ex-wife's love life. Sharon, however, had the right attitude when she declared, "All work and no play is not fun." It was too bad that Nick didn't share her sentiment about the festive day.

Nick's protective streak was set on high as he insisted that his father would "Rook" Scott, since Sharon's latest interest was playing on Victor's personal chessboard. It was just so strange that Nick would suddenly become concerned about his dad when he has done everything to stay off of Victor's radar for months. Nick should know better than anyone that Victor is perfectly capable of taking care of himself. And Sharon has proven to her ex-husband that she's more mentally stable now and has been making more rational decisions for herself and her children. The last time I checked, Sharon hadn't been trying to get Mariah involved in any more of her wacko schemes. That in itself is a vast improvement. Nick is aware of that, but somehow, he just can't help forever being the chivalrous white knight out to rescue the damsel in distress. And he always sees Sharon as that fair and helpless maiden.

Because we are so used to watching Victor play "Monopoly" with Newman Enterprises versus Jabot and now Brash & Sassy, it's been rather bizarre to see him more focused on regaining his "Life" with his loving wife, Nikki, who vanished without a trace to possibly avoid the "Risk" of bombing at her piano concert. Victor sure has caused Nikki enough "Aggravation" in their marriage, but it's crazy that he can't see the stress he is putting on her with his brilliant brainstorm of a concert for charity, in order to regain her love or devotion or whatever the heck he wants from her. I'm not sure you could ever call what Victor desires from Nikki love. He would actually want to put her first, above everything else, for that, and I don't see that ever happening.

When Nikki returned from the "spa," Nick was very leery about Nikki performing just so Victor could prove he was a noble benefactor. However, Nikki was determined to prove she could do it, so she could spread her "wings and fly." Unfortunately, her "wings" kept shaking from flare-ups, which she continued to hide from everyone. If Nikki is unable to control her shaking and actually get through one song, no amount of bling that Victor bought her for the concert would be able to cover it up. In fact, if anything, the movement would accentuate the sparkle from the diamonds, which would attract the eyes of her audience. And there would be nothing Victor could do to control that.

However, Victor may need to keep brushing up on his strategy, since Kevin and Chloe, who have been playing their own game of "hide-and-seek," have not left our screens yet. Kevin wanted their darling daughter in his life with Chloe and was determined to make that happen, even at the chance that Nick and Chelsea might become tipped off and resume their search for any "Clue" they could find of Chloe. Kevin revealed to Chloe his secret "Operation" in retrieving Bella, so they could flee to a land unknown. First, he needed to get out of dear Dr. Harris' house, since he found all of the windows and doors were locked from the outside. Man, with his claustrophobia, Kevin must have felt like he was in a "Mousetrap" until the doc finally agreed to set him free.

Once Kevin left, Chloe and the entire viewing audience got to see that having Dr. Harris help Chloe emotionally was like the blind leading the blind, since the doctor appeared to have a few loose screws himself. Actually, Chloe looked pretty stable compared to him, because Dr. Harris was totally "Bonkers." He actually believed that Chloe was his dearly departed daughter, Maggie, who was killed due to a drunk driver. Not only did she resemble his daughter, but Chloe and the doctor also had kids who had been killed in the same way. It's no wonder the doc was wandering around, lost in la-la land. Chloe was not exactly the best medicine for Dr. Harris due to all the reminders of his beloved deceased girl.

But Dr. Harris felt that Chloe was all the medicine he needed, and he wanted it to be just him and Chloe together forever. No Kevin. No Bella. Boy, the guy was scary, especially when he revealed that Kevin would never get to where he was going. And sure enough, Kevin didn't, and he lay unconscious after his car went "Kaboom" out on a lonely and deserted road. Chloe spied a gun in the doctor's safe, but would she be able to find Kevin in time to save him? Come on, you know how soaps are. They have to drag out the drama to keep us all in suspense.

But actually, it was the ever-resourceful Kevin who practically crawled on his hands and knees to get back to Chloe. Apparently, he survived the explosion. Okay, I may be exaggerating just a tad about the hands and knees part. But Kevin burst through the door to wrestle the gun away from Dr. Harris and to save Chloe from a doctor who had never had a chance of saving her, since he was in the deep end himself. I mean, this guy couldn't even tread water or do the dog paddle, he was so far out of it. Dr. Harris even commented to Chloe, "Sometimes our brains trick us into believing our fantasies are real." Okay then, Doc, heal thyself!

But Kevin was still determined to get his daughter so the three of them could disappear into the night, and he knew he had to be the one to take action. Kevin was probably smart to come out of hiding before Paul got the police dogs on his trail. When Kevin announced, to Esther's dismay, that he was moving to Oregon with Bella, I knew he was trying to throw them off his real destination with Chloe. Esther loves Bella, so he had to tell her a believable story to stop her from trying to track him down. I feel for Esther though. She believes Bella is the last part of Chloe that she has, and now she will lose that too. Saying it hasn't been Esther's year would be an understatement.

But even Michael had to agree that Genoa City held too many bad memories for Kevin, as we witnessed another goodbye between the brothers. Okay, guys, I only have so many tears to shed over this. I hate goodbyes. They are so sad, especially since this one is for real. Man, Kevin and Michael have sure come a long way from when Kevin first arrived in town, as the flashbacks showed us. Kevin was so young then. The brothers and their flashy mother, Gloria, were never the "All-American, apple pie-eating family," but they sure loved each other. And that's what it's all about, right? I will truly miss Kevin. Please come back one day. You are welcome anytime.

To me, Jack is really going overboard in insulting Graham when he really doesn't know that much about him. Who knows? Maybe Graham is as honest and forthright as he claims to be. Jack has no proof otherwise. It would just "Boggle" the mind, especially since Jack's mother was just a distant memory only a few short months ago. Jack seems to be playing his own game of "Battleship" with all the different strategies he has come up with to blow Graham right out of the water. However, Graham may be playing his own version of "Trivial Pursuit" with baiting Jack about his unknown past. But just how trivial is Graham's former trivia?

I just found it a little weird that Mariah would accuse Noah of almost stringing Tessa along, even though Mariah knew that Noah's past with women has not had good results. Actually, he's probably been jinxed in love more than anyone else on the show. Does the name Marisa ring a bell? She alone should have made him want to remain a bachelor and on his own for the rest of his life.

The curly fries that Kevin took to Chloe looked delicious, and I was starved at the time. I just wanted to reach into the TV and grab one. I love curly fries!

Victoria couldn't have been that close a friend with Lily and Cane through the years for their children to not even know about each other. Even if Mattie and Charlie had been born after J.T. left town with Reed, the three youngsters have all been SORAS'd now to be around the same age. That means they should have at least heard of each other when they were growing up. Hey, live by the SORAS, die by the SORAS.

Until next time, please stay tuned.Teddi

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