Y&R's Nick to Phyllis: "You're the one!"
The week starts off with Phyllis meeting with Lauren to make sure that she's still pressing charges against Sharon for all the stolen items from Fenmore's. "It's funny because all that was stolen from Phylis was that monkey statue," snickers Michelle Stafford. "She's making it a big deal and even Heather is going, 'I'm sure it meant a lot to you, but it's not a huge monetary value.' So Phyllis is trying everything she can to get Sharon behind bars, anything to get her away from Nick. In Phyllis's mind, Sharon is slutting around, stealing things and being a horrible mother."
Meanwhile, Sharon has decided that she wants to turn herself in and pay for what she's done to set a good example for Noah. She writes a confession and plans to take it to the police, but Nick tries talking her out of it. Sharon tells Nick to go back his family and leave her alone. "Every time Sharon thinks she and Nick are getting back together, he chooses Phyllis, so it's not helping Sharon at all. She wants him to just leave her alone if he's going to be with Phyllis."
Nick comes to the conclusion that it's time to make a decision between Sharon and Phyllis and stick to his choice. Easier said than done. Nick pops up at Newman Enterprises to see Phyllis. "He tells her, 'I know things are tough, but you didn't quit on me, so if you'll have me, I'm really ready to come home,'" smiles Morrow.
Phyllis is over the moon. "I would be like, 'You're an ***!'" chuckles Stafford. "But Phyllis is absolutely in love with him and she truly believes that the only reason this trouble is going on is because of the guilt on Nick's part toward Sharon because of the daughter, Cassie, who died. It's not anything else and Phyllis thinks Sharon is completely manipulating him. Phyllis feels like whenever Sharon is out of the picture, they're fine, but when Sharon comes in, Nick just has that soft spot and he can't let go of his own guilt for abandoning his first wife."
The happiness of Phyllis and Nick is short-lived when the police show up with handcuffs. Phyllis is arrested for breaking into Sharon's room, but "Phyllis doesn't think she did anything wrong. She's like, 'What did I do? I uncovered a thief.' She's sort of shocked that she's going to jail because all she did was break into a room and uncovered a thief. She did something good."
As Phyllis is escorted out, Nick is horrified and doesn't follow behind. Says Morrow, "He thinks of a way to take care of this." Nick heads to the GCAC where he runs into Sharon just as Heather pops in. Sharon is about to hand her letter of confession to Heather when Nick grabs it and throws it in the fireplace. "He puts an end to that nonsense right away. He refuses to allow her to do it. Heather isn't happy about it, but Nick doesn't care."
Frustrated, Heather storms off. Sharon appears to disapprove of Nick's actions, but "I think she kind of likes it," grins Sharon Case. "To her, this means that he loves her and wants to protect her. Anything he does for her, she holds on to as hope that this is because of his feelings for her."
Nick reminds Sharon that it's the anniversary of Cassie's car accident. He says, "We have enough going on with Cassie's death; let's not have all this other drama." Nick sees a confession of theft as adding to Sharon's problems while Sharon sees confession as a fix.
Meanwhile, Phyllis is alone at the police station when Jack arrives. He asks her where Nick is and she tells him that she doesn't have a clue. They begin talking and Jack tells her that she needs to take the high road with Sharon. Finally, it clicks with Phyllis and she realizes, "I guess I have to. I can't keep this fight going on." Lauren comes in and Phyllis tells her to drop the charges against Sharon and let it go. Phyllis wants to end all the drama.
By the time Nick shows up, Lauren has already dropped the charges and Nick relays the information to Sharon. "He tries to get Sharon to drop the charges against Phyllis," says Morrow. "He realizes that it's in everyone's best interests to let this all die down. It's a win/win for everybody."
Sharon isn't amused. "She suspects that Phyllis did that because she didn't want Sharon to press charges against her," scoffs Case. "So now Sharon will just look like a jerk if she still goes ahead with it. She knows this is Phyllis's whole bit and Sharon wonders why Nick doesn't see that. Everything Phyllis does has an angle."
Sharon tells Nick that she will drop the charges -- on one condition. "She tells Nick to stay out of her life, once and for all," says Case. "She thought he didn't want her to make the confession because he wanted to be with her but nope, it's for Phyllis. Sharon wants him to be mad at Phyllis, but that doesn't happen. Sharon realizes, 'Oh, he's not coming back to me.' So, enough! She wants him to stop coming back into her life and giving her false hopes, only to let her down again."
Can Nick stick to the deal? Says Morrow, "At this point, he convinces himself that he can do what Sharon asks because it will get Phyllis off the hook... but he doesn't truly believe he can stay away."