The first big love never fades!

Ridge reveals his secret!

Ridge and Taylor hadn't heard from each other for several days now. Ridge had tried to call Taylor several times, but she had never been at home. Ridge assumed she was fully occupied with renovating her practice. Ridge was in an elated mood; since their last argument, Brooke and he were getting along much better. They both made an effort to find some harmony and peace in their relationship. They had spent some quiet, relaxing and cozy nights together. Ridge was now more hopeful about their future. Yet his mother was still on his heels. She kept bugging him how things were with him and Brooke. She also wanted to know if he was still seeing Taylor. Truthfully, he told his mother he hadn't seen Taylor since their last meeting, but he didn't mention the phone calls.

Ridge was on his way home from a business appointment; he passed Taylor's practice and saw her car parked in front of the building. Her office had a light on, so Taylor had to be inside. Spontaneously, Ridge parked his car and decided to pay her a quick visit. When Ridge entered the practice, Taylor was giving final instructions to the workmen. She reacted a little irritated when Ridge suddenly showed up in her office. She signaled him to wait. He took a look around curiously. A lot had happened in the last few days. While Taylor negotiated with the workmen, Ridge watched her unobtrusively, he was puzzled about her appearance. It was a warm day in LA and the rooms were quite hot, as the air conditioning hadn't yet been installed. Nevertheless, Taylor wore a high-necked long-sleeved blouse over her skirt and wore a jacket over it. He wondered how she could stand it in those clothes. He was already too hot with his short polo shirt. Furthermore, her heavy makeup irritated him even more. Back in college, she had been more of a natural girl. She was only wearing makeup, when they went out on a date. This kind of war paint didn't really suit her at all. Taylor was just saying goodbye to the two workmen and approached Ridge, she shook her head in annoyance.

"Craftsmen! You have to explain everything five times and then they don't do it your way at all and for that they take your last dollar!"

"Come on, it can't be that bad. I think so far the practice makes a very good impression." Taylor gave him a fleeting smile.

"Yeah, really? I hope the work continues to go so well so that I can open the practice soon. By the way, what are you doing here?"

"I just happened to be in the area and saw your car parked in front of the building, I thought I'd stop in. I was curious to see how things are progressing."

"Oh, okay!"

"And how are you? You seem pretty occupied, I tried to reach you a couple of times but you were never at home." Taylor was startled.

"Um...yeah I...I'm very busy at the moment. Actually, I don't have any time for you right now!" Ridge noticed Taylor seemed kind of nervous, like she was avoiding him.

"That's too bad, I thought we could have a drink together, we haven't even toasted to your new practice yet!"

"Yeah...but I can't, sorry! Blake is waiting for me at home and I promised him I would make it on time." 

"Well, he won't control you with a stopwatch, right?" quipped Ridge, Taylor stared at him with a frozen expression.

"What? No, of course not! It's just....we're expecting dinner guests for tonight and I have to prepare everything!" Hectically, she gathered her stuff. They left the office and Taylor locked up.

"Well, we'll just have our drink some other time. Actually I have to get home too, Brooke is probably waiting for me. You know, things have been better between us lately. We worked it out and things are going really well." Taylor gave him a quick smile.

"That's great, I'm happy for you!" They left the building, Ridge escorted Taylor to her car.

"Well, goodbye!" They hugged briefly. Ridge had the impression Taylor cringed during the hug and contorted her face as if she was in pain, yet they had barely touched. She hurried to get into her car and rushed away. Ridge was confused. During the drive home, he pondered about her strange behavior.