Recap by Kaydee B.

One Life to Live Recap for Thursday, February 14, 2002

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, ALL!

It’s been a day of heartbreaks, deceptions, surprises and reconciliations…Let’s go to Loonview and see who did what to whom…..

GRAND OPENING??

RJ is ready to open his new club, Capricorn, but he’s in for a long stretch of mishaps along the way. He checks his watch almost every minute, and after every check, he checks the door, in search of his daughter, who’s missing in action. In an attempt to keep from going over the edge with worry, he focuses on tackling the other long list of important last-minute details. He consults his list, then picks up the phone…

Where, oh where, oh WHERE is Keri?

She’s at the diner, trying to contain the overwhelming urge to grab Antonio and kiss him forever, that’s where. After recovering from the shock of their chance meeting, she quietly apologizes, as she didn’t expect Antonio to be there. She was looking for Carlotta so she could drop something off with her. Antonio tells her that he took on the chore of closing up the diner for his mom, and Keri teases, “You’re closing up by candlelight?”

Referring to the blanket of darkness that covered the diner.

“The power went out”, Antonio replies, in a quiet, “very funny” tone. So, what did she have for his mother?  Keri nervously looks down at the card she was holding, and Antonio does, too. What’s that? A card? He takes the card from Keri, and she nervously explains that she had prepared the card before she and Antonio had their last argument. She’s barely breathing as he takes the card from her and begins to read it.

(I don’t know about you guys, but MY heart was definitely pounding with Keri’s!…What will Antonio DO?)

He turns to her, and she immediately expects the worst. (Like, a repeat performance of, “Houston, we have a problem. RJ’s is the love of my life’s father, maybe?) Knowing that she wouldn’t be able to handle that, she apologizes and excuses herself. As she heads for the door, Antonio stops her. He doesn’t want her to leave. “Why?” she wants to know.

“Because,” he says slowly, “I think I love you.”  WOO-HOO! FINALLY! Grab your hankies and your champagne glasses, folks. The man FINALLY came to his senses!

Now, with his courage fully revved up, he lets his feelings flow. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was feeling until the very moment that he read her card.

I won’t waste your time today by printing out all of the little things that they said to each other. Instead I’d like to fast-forward and tell you that they shared the most amazing kiss, and then, they made love!! (Happy Valentine’s Day!)

  I’d give a small fortune to see how Christmas at the grandparents will turn out with Carlotta and RJ sitting around the Christmas tree sipping eggnog!

PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC!!

(Well, like, gag me with a spoon, dude! It’s a Retro party!)

Loonview University travels back in time with a Valentine’s Day celebration of the ‘70’s. The teens are dressed like their parents at that age, and even the music blares with the funky sounds of Donna Summer, Teena Marie, The Bee Gees, and many more of us “old timers’” favorites.

(I personally enjoyed a good boogie as I watched, as my children lovingly looked up at me with their innocent faces and said, “Mommy, what song is THAT?”)

Jen, donning the outfit of a disco dancer, wheels Al into the campus hall. He’s all glitter and sequins, with a pair of rust-tinted sunglasses to boot. Jen asks if he’s okay, he says he feels great. As they go inside, they bump into Shawna, (remember her?) who cruelly asks Al if he’s going to be “stuck in that wheelchair” forever, or is he ever going to walk again. Jen puts her in her place and they continue on their journey. Jen’s body is with Al, but her mind is on Cris, who, unbeknownst to her, is standing in a far-off corner uninterested in partying, but very interested in what’s going on between her and Al.

Al, (AGAIN!) flows words of happiness. He’s happy, she’s miserable, but he steady chatters on. “I feel great, this party is jumping, I can’t wait to get out of this wheelchair so that I can take you to lots of dances like this…” Yada, yada, yada.  A few seconds into settling down, Jen announces that she’s thirsty. She gets up and goes to the drink cooler. As she reaches for a soda, her hand touches someone else’s---Cristian’s!

LLANFAIR’S ATTIC OF LOVE:

Another tearjerker, folks!

Viki, kneeling on the attic floor, rummages through a trunk of old items. Natalie enters and asks her what she’s doing. Viki comes up with an old-fashioned, sleeveless dress and puts it up to Natalie, saying with pride, “AH! I was right. This will fit you perfectly.” Natalie is shocked. The dress is for her? For what? Viki tells her, it’s for the campus party ,of course!  Natalie’s eyes soften with emotion as her mother busily sizes the dress up to her body and begins to give her beauty tips and share jokes about her own teenage dance years. When Natalie voices her shock, Viki begins to tell her that Natalie has to get used to the fact that Natalie is very much a part of the family now, and she should learn to accept that. She understands how Natalie might still have lingering feelings of being the “other daughter”, but it’s time for her to let those feelings go. Then she asks Natalie if she’ll be around tomorrow to celebrate Jessica’s formal adoption. Natalie replies, “You mean am I going to show up in a red dress and act like a fool?” No, she promises, she’ll be there and she’ll behave herself. Viki says that she believes her and then tells her that she has a gift for her. She pulls out a velvet jewelry box and Natalie open it to be dazzled by a beautiful necklace and broach. She can’t control her tears now, and before Viki can finish explaining the history behind the necklace, Natalie grabs her into a hug that’s accompanied with a million excited “thank you’s”. She tells Viki that every time she wears the necklace, she’ll think of her. Then her mother tells her to go get ready for the party. She scurries away under her mother’s happy glance, just as Viki’s cell phone rings. It’s Ben, calling his Valentine and setting up a love rendezvous in the attic.

The Mannings: Blood, sweat, no tears…yet!

NOTE: In yesterday’s recap, I forgot to mention that while visiting the Mannings, Rae spots a baby photo on the desk and asks Blair when did she find the time to take a picture of Jack in the midst of all that was going on. Blair replies that the photo is of Starr, not Jack, and Todd sweats with dread as Rae points out that the two children look almost exactly the same, are you sure that Jack is adopted? Blair notices the resemblance as well and a conversation erupts. There, now we’re up to this….

Todd, desperate to bring the conversation to an end before Blair wises up and gets suspicious, resorts to typical Todd behavior and rudely announces that Hank and Rae have to get out. He finalizes his demand by letting the door slam resoundingly behind them. He returns to the living room where his wife is still dwelling on the uncanny resemblance between their natural daughter and their “adopted” son. Think about it, Todd, Blair says, this has to be more than just a coincidence. Todd’s super-powered web of deception gets to spinning and he drops a tale that says it’s not a coincidence. He specifically chose Jack as the baby he wanted to adopt because of the resemblance to Starr. Blair melts, telling him that he’s so considerate, and the phone rings. It’s RJ, asking Blair if she’ll perform at his opening tonight.

GABRIELLE: FLOOZY FOR HIRE:

 Okay, folks, WHAT was Scabby Gagby wearing? As I watched the show, I had to blink twice to remember that I was watching the scene of RJ’s club opening and not the campus party scene!

As the guests pour in to RJ’s club, he grants them a polite, “thank you for coming” between watch-checking. Enter Gabrielle with the police commissioner…(Call the ASPCA, people! Gagby murdered a fox and used it as a hairpiece!) She happily saunters in to mingle with Llanview’s elite, feeling as if she now fits in. (Because of her new outfit, maybe?)

She’s like a hunter on the prowl as she scans the crowd, and her radar first lands on Max. She steers Bo in Max’s direction, boastfully making “I’ve got another man” implications to Max, who has to walk away to keep from gagging in his drink. Bo tells her that he doesn’t appreciate being used to make Max jealous, and he leaves her to her own devices. Her radar is still blipping folks, and she spots Todd walking in. Blip, blip, blip! She sways across the room and gets Todd alone in a corner. She reels off a list of complaints and demands: She complains that The Sun’s style section is too short and demands that he expand it to at least five to six pages.

Todd replies that when he hears expansion, he hears spend more money, and since he doesn’t like to spend money the answer is NO!  Shouldn’t he reconsider? After all, she can drop that little bombshell on Blair at any time. Todd walks away, and Bo walks up. What bombshell is that, Gabrielle? She weasels out of that with a lame cover story about having chosen Blair’s Valentine’s Day present and…oh, she has to call and check in on Al. Excuse her?

She gets away from Bo but crashes into Max, who roughly drags her off to a corner and demands to know how she got the job at The Sun. She says, Why, Max, I was hired for my impeccable sense of fashion. He scoffs at the notion. Todd wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot-pole. She smugly sets out to prove Max wrong asking him to watch and see what Todd says. She finds Todd sitting at a table, now joined by his wife, and in an attempt to make a spectacle, she loudly tells Todd that she was thinking of doing a spread of Llanview’s best and worst dressed at the function. She herself would be the best-dressed, (uh-huh, right) and well..she finds Renee, who cuts her eyes at Gabby and walks away.

Todd, after watching Gabby’s ridiculous display of idiocy, turns to his wife and said,

“Why, Blair do you hear something?” And Blair, sending a darting glance in Gabby’s direction, says “NO!” before joining her husband on a journey to any other part of the club except that one.

LOONVIEW PSYCH WARD:
What goes around, comes around!!

Ben delivers the news to Roxy that her blood test came back positive for hypoglycemia, a blood sugar disorder that can lead to very serious conditions. Roxy is thrilled that Allison pulled off the blood-sample-switch-crusade, and now relaxes. That’s right, she tells Ben, I told you I’m sick. Jess and Ben are shocked that she was on the level, and Ben instructs her to come back tomorrow to begin treatment and run some tests. She panics again, asking Ben if she really needs to take more tests. He says yes she does, and Roxy again steers in the direction of finances. Jessica finally gives her some hope by saying that Roxy won’t have to worry about the bills; she’ll take care of everything. Roxy beams with victory and tells Jess not to worry about her. Go to her campus party and have a good time.

She finds Allison beaming with glee and they sit with their backs to each other to appear as strangers, and celebrate together. Roxy tells Allison that she did a brilliant job finding someone who had a blood sugar disorder. The test results fit right into the plan. Allison delivers Roxy her own shock…it really was Roxy’s blood that Ben tested!

LLANVIEW’S “SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER”:

Cris and Jen share a heated, tense meeting as Al jealously observes the encounter. They exchange some small, which leads back the redundant, “It’s-my-fault-he’s-paralyzed” conversation. Cris tells her that he’s not staying for the party, he just dropped in to get a soda. He turns to leave, then tells her she looks good, and turns to leave.

Jessica enters about twenty minutes after Seth, dressed like John Travolta in “Saturday Night Fever” arrives. They meet on the dance floor and Seth asks how her meeting with Roxy had to go. As she relates the details to Seth, Natalie walks in, looking great in the gifts her mother gave her, and immediately spots her sister and her ex. She watches painfully as Seth pulls out a jewelry box and hand Jessica a diamond and onyx drop necklace, and then they share a passionate kiss. At that moment, a fleeing Cris bumps into her and she grabs him, pleading for him not to leave her to face the party alone. She points to Seth and Jessica and he looks over at Jen and Al.

Al, who informs Jen that he was asked to DJ for the party, announces to the crowd that the first song he’s going to play is dedicated to Jen. It’s the Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love”, and Cris feels the knife go deeper into his wounds while Al smirks.

He rushes out and ends up at the quarry, tormented by every memory of Jen and him at the quarry.

Jen sits through the song, and her mind goes to Cris, filling her with sadness. Al notices the expression on her face, and tells her that she looks sick and feels warm. Why doesn’t she go home, drink some tea and lie down, and he’ll be home soon. She accepts the suggestion and leaves. She makes a detour and winds up at the quarry, face-to-face with Cristian.

CLUB CAPRICORN: OPEN FOR BUSINESS!!

Hank & Rae arrive and RJ greets them. He tells his brother that he’s surprised he made it. Hank replies that he was invited, but if RJ is uncomfortable with his presence, he’ll leave.

RJ says no. As a matter of fact, Hank might just be proud of what he sees tonight, and besides, it would be nice to have Hank there, as it could be the beginning of a chance for them to be brothers again. They share an emotional hug and RJ excuses himself.

RJ takes the stage and formally opens the club. His opening act is Blair Manning, giving the guests an angelic version of “My Funny Valentine”.

 Meanwhile, as her beautiful voice serenades the guests and us viewers…

I’d like to take you through a town love tour on our way out. We start at the club, where Blair sings lovingly to her husband. Flash to the university, where Seth and Jessica are still kissing. Let’s run over to Llanfair, Ben and Viki are kissing in the attic. Over to Keri and Antonio…HUBBA, HUBBA, HUBBA!! Once again, Happy Valentine’s Day!!

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Recap written by Kimberley Barnett, © Copyright by Katherine Thurston & 2002.