Reflections by Jill - A Weekly Commentary for OLTL for July 28, 2008

Unfortunately, Ben had to tell Viki that she couldn’t stay with him and like I expected, she said she was never leaving. That’s when it started getting sad and yes, I cried a river of tears. It was obvious that everything about Viki’s visit to Heaven was centered on getting her to give Charlie a second chance and trying to find happiness again. Ben brought the first tears to my eyes when he said, “You can’t stay Blondie. We had our time and it ran out. My life is over but yours is not. You and Charlie still have a few ticks left on that clock.” Okay, how wrong did it feel to have Ben telling Viki to go back and have another chance at love with another man? Okay, I know that was Ben’s reason for being there, to have Viki make peace with her past and move on, but I don’t care what you say; Charlie is no Ben and if I didn’t think it before (which I did) I sure do now. Ben tells her, “Don’t be alone. You love Charlie and he loves you.” Viki had every argument for why she has been through enough and doesn’t think she can deal with the hassle of Charlie’s problems and his lies, but eventually Ben convinces her to go back. DARN IT! Hey, not that I want her dead, but I think Charlie has some tough shoes to fill and he’s going to have to do a lot to impress me.

I felt so sad when Ben said, “Leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.” I couldn’t stop the tears when Viki finally agreed to go back to her life, looked him in the eyes and said, “When my life is over, I’m coming back here and you better be waiting for me, Ben Davidson.” Of course Ben said he’d be right there behind the bar and Crossroads could always use a new lounge singer. Obviously, no matter where the rest of Viki’s life takes her, this is where she wants to be in the end. I sure don’t blame her. The real flood in my living room started when Viki and Ben stood with his arms around her and they watched the montage of some of the most wonderful scenes of their life together while we heard Ben’s wedding vows in the background. That was just a small sample of the wonderful times they had been through together. When it was all over but the good-bye, they stood together and each said, “Until next time.” That final kiss and hug just put me away and when Viki was transported back to the elevator, I couldn’t have agreed with her more when she said, “I miss him so much already; all over again.” Yeah, so do I Viki. So do I. Oh, woe is me. Will I ever see Ben again?

It’s not surprise that Viki made it to the hospital and Michael assured her that she would be okay. And Dorian sure didn’t waste any time in getting her lawyer to the hospital with annulment papers to dissolve David and Addie’s marriage. Of course David doesn’t want to sign and I was disappointed that he did, but then to David’s surprise, Clint offers him $10 million to divorce Addie so he can use it as leverage to get B.E. back from Dorian. Clint doesn’t know that David already signed the annulment papers and David can’t resist $10 million again, so he’s got to get those annulment papers away from Dorian.

So Dorian decides to come clean and tells Viki that she lied about getting drunk with Charlie and sleeping with him. Viki is so grateful that Dorian saved her life and she doesn’t push Dorian for more information. Of course Dorian couldn’t spill her guts completely about what she did to Charlie. Viki would make her glad she was in the Emergency Room. It was pretty funny watching Viki and Dorian reminisce about when they weren’t enemies. The flashbacks were a nice touch. And don’t let that handshake fool you, Dorian will probably wait until Viki is strong enough to get out of the hospital before she pulls her next stunt, but she won’t be able to resist for long. David said it all when he looked Dorian in the face and said, “None of your triumphs are ever enough to fill that empty little space inside you.” No one could have said it better.

Okay, what would a week be without Todd Manning proving that he’s a sorry excuse for a human being? He’s having such a grand old time using Marty as a sounding board for all his delusional thoughts about how he sees the world, while he keeps her away from her loved ones. Now he tells her that his 16-year old daughter is pregnant by “some young moron who wasn’t even smart enough to use protection.” Todd is enjoying talking about Cole when Marty doesn’t know who he is and that’s pretty sick. I really got nauseous when he told her that they went to college together, had slept together and that she said he wasn’t very good in bed. That made my skin crawl. He actually got a chuckle out of that. OMG, just when I thought Todd couldn’t go any lower, he tells Marty that she was raped, that she knew the guy and that she didn’t need to know any details. He has all the power in his relationship with Marty and he feeds off that like a man in the desert being given a gallon of water. He even has her feeling sorry for him to the point where she said, “If I hurt you all those years ago, I am truly sorry.” He is enjoying his sick little fabricated life so much that he offers to put Marty up somewhere out of town so that she won’t have to face her past. Sure, if he keeps her away from everyone, he can continue to toy with her like a cat toys with a cornered mouse. I hear that Marty is going to regain her memory very soon and when she does she is going to make Todd’s life miserable. Do you think I can wait for that? Barely!

Todd finally did tell Marty the gory details of her gang rape and that was just awful to listen to. I guess Todd figured the only way he’d ever get to confess and get the guilt off his chest was to do it when he had control of the situation. It’s too bad he didn’t care that he was taking total advantage of Marty yet again, while he assuaged his conscience. That was a cowardly thing to do.