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In the park, Jack gives Harrison a lesson on baseball’s greatest players. He’s about to tell him the name of his favorite player when Phyllis appears and says it’s Mickey Mantle. Harrison runs over to hug her as Jack looks irked. They sit and Harrison tells Phyllis about the old baseball players with funny hair. Jack and Phyllis grin. Talk turns to Harrison’s bout of illness. Harrison says he’s feeling better and Claire made him soup. She couldn’t come with them today because she’s with her mom. Phyllis is glad to hear she’s spending time with her actual family. She announces the circus is coming back to town. Harrison worries that his mom will be busy working, but Phyllis says she’d rather spend time with him than do anything else. Jack sends Harrison off to play and then chastises for lobbying her grandson. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Phyllis says Harrison is perfect and the trauma he’s gone through already is too much. How much does he have to go through before he stops bouncing back. Jack agrees. He’s determined to shield him from more upset. Phyllis thinks it’s kind of a do-over since he wasn’t there for a lot of Kyle’s childhood, just as she wasn’t for Daniel’s. Jack laments that they can’t convince the boy’s parents to lay down their weapons. Phyllis complains that Kyle is off the rails and partnering with Audra Charles. Worse, he’s talking about taking Harrison from the home he loves. Jack says if all she wants to do is blame Kyle, the conversation is over. Phyllis thinks he knows she’s right. Jack knows she has too much free time on her hands and is spending it butting in where she’s not wanted.
Claire visits Victoria at work, where she admits she missed the place. Claire told her so. She asks if they can go get something to eat. Nikki appears and asks to join them at Society for lunch. She has something to discuss with Claire.
At Abbott-Chancellor, Lily tells Billy the new logo certainly makes a statement. She hopes there’s no backlash with the name change. Billy thinks it will be easy, but then he’s not the one looking for an excuse to bail. “Would you feel more comfortable if we added ‘Lily’ to the company name?” Lily learns that he spoke to Jill and isn’t on board with using her illness as a reason for him to step back… or on board with him stepping back at all. He thinks they should proceed with running the company together, Victor be damned. Lily asks, “Are you kidding me?” Billy’s sure they have no reason to be afraid. He drafted a press release and just needs her to sign off on it. Lily accuses him of lying to her. Billy argues there was a moment where she convinced him he was a problem, but that moment is gone.
Lily complains that everything they agreed upon is out the window. Billy invites her to call Jill, who said they shouldn’t fear Victor. Lily’s trying to give them the best chance to succeed. Billy argues they aren’t some start-up, they’re a powerhouse. They can be great, and he is in charge. He had to remind himself of that since his partner painted him as a screw-up. She knew he brought baggage with him, but she signed on anyway. Lily isn’t impressed with his “my way or the highway” stance. Billy got to thinking that she can’t be more afraid of Victor than he is, so what is it? “What’s your real agenda?”
Lily tells Billy to stop looking for conspiracy theories. Billy says she and Devon ran with Victor being the corporate boogie man, which was her opportunity to kick him out and take back her power. Lily insists that wasn’t her motivation. She complains that he went along with her and then changed his mind, that’s what Billy Abbott does. It must be why his companies are so successful. Billy thinks she stayed on with him just waiting for an opportunity to kick him out and take over. Lily denies it. He challenges her to prove him wrong by signing off on the press release. “Let’s tell the world that Abbott-Chancellor is open for business.”
At Society, Nikki asks Claire how her job’s going. She says taking care of Harrison is great, but the rest is far from peaceful. She explains Kyle and Summer’s custody fight has gotten ugly. She’s tried to stay neutral, but it hasn’t been easy. Nikki asks, “Do you regret taking that job?” Claire admits that it’s not exactly her dream job anymore. Nikki recalls that she was an excellent assistant when she came to Genoa City. She’s making the move to a big, new job and would love to have her working by her side again, “This time for all the right reasons.”
Claire tells Nikki it’s quite an offer. Nikki says her grandfather would be thrilled if she were to join the family business. Claire never thought there would be a place there for her. Nikki can see her moving quickly up the ladder and the sky would be the limit. Claire asks if her mother knew about this. Victoria didn’t, but she’s not surprised. She thinks Claire should think about whether this is a career she wants to pursue. She points out that her mother’s job isn’t even a job yet. Nikki just wanted Claire to know she wanted to work with her again.
Claire would love to work with Nikki again, the right way, her only hesitation would be Harrison. Victoria can think of another reason she might leave, “That employer, employee connection we talked about.” Claire tells Nikki her mother thinks she’s developed a crush on Kyle. Victoria is just suggesting that if she leaves her position as Harrison’s nanny, she might have a chance to untangle all of that. Claire is touched and honored that Nikki would want to work with her again. The family’s forgiveness and generosity overwhelms her sometimes, “It’s a miracle.” Nikki senses there’s a no coming. Claire can’t leave Harrison right now as she has to shield him from the custody battle. Nikki’s disappointed but proud of her choice. “We are so lucky to have found you.”
At Abbott-Chancellor, Lily tells Billy she’s not signing off on the press release because they can’t realistically deliver on the things he put in it. Billy wants a little positive smoke. Lily doesn’t approve. Billy asks what they need to fix. Lily sighs that they’re supposed to talk before they need to fix things. “You want to talk about Devon being a one-man band, you’re a one-man orchestra! You want to everyone to do exactly what you want them to do, and if they don’t, you just make it so damn hard and wear them down.” She thinks maybe he just wants her there until he’s ready to cut her loose. Billy thinks that’s what she’s doing to him. He knows she wants this company to be successful just as much as he does, but she doesn’t want to share. Lily says she doesn’t want to risk the company’s future on his gut instincts or because he has something to prove… to his brother, to Jill, and most of all, to himself! With that, she walks out.
At the Club bar, Lily stews over a glass of wine. Phyllis spots her and approaches. They chit-chat and Lily asks what she can for her. Phyllis offers to buy her a drink and sits. She wants to have a talk with her woman-to-woman. “We have a lot to chat about.” Lily’s agitated, so the redhead says she’ll cut to the chase Phyllis thanks Lily for working everything out with Daniel. It’s a good thing that Princess Luisa will go on, untouched, and that Lucy’s college is paid for. Lily’s glad her son is happy. Phyllis says he didn’t mean to hurt her and tells Lily she’s amazing. “Women like us persevere.” Phyllis promises she’s not angling to get her old job back. Lily says Devon has the gaming division anyway. Phyllis gathers Lily has stayed behind with Billy, and asks if she’s regretting it already.
At the Abbott mansion, Jack and Harrison are playing Go Fish when Claire comes in. Jack complains the kid is a card shark. Harrison talks about his great afternoon and mentions Phyllis joining them. Jack sends Harrison to wash his hands and asks Claire if something is wrong. She’s afraid there is, and she doesn’t know what to do about it.
Claire says the fighting between Kyle and Summer has gotten worse and she’s worried about Harrison, who has noticed they’re not getting along. He thinks they don’t like each other anymore. She can tell he’s trying to be happy and funny to distract them from yelling at each other. Jack wishes they’d come to their senses. Claire thinks this is a lot to throw at a kid. Jack says it doesn’t excuse anything, but Kyle had his own share of trauma. He can’t make him see the parallels; in that he could rob his own child of his carefree childhood. Jack suggests she talk to Kyle, who’s not listening to them. “Maybe he’ll listen to you.”
Back at Newman, Nikki asks Victoria why she didn’t tell her about Claire and Kyle. Victoria says there is no Claire and Kyle, she just senses a growing connection. Nikki muses that it would complicate things. She’s surprised that Victoria’s not opposed to it. Victoria says part of her is happy that she’s got to the point where it might be possible, but they agree Kyle brings a lot of baggage to the table. Nikki clucks about his insubordinate and belligerent behavior lately. She asks what Victoria will do. Victoria says Claire’s a competent adult, but she’ll have to make sure she doesn’t get heartbroken. They go over Claire’s lack of childhood and trauma. They agree Kyle’s not a good match for her right now. Victoria doesn’t think they’ll have a say in it. She never listened to her parents. Victoria doesn’t think Claire knows if Kyle is right for her, but she’s been deprived of affection most of her life, if she’s able to open her heart to someone, who is she to tell her who that should be?
At the Abbott house, Harrison joins Claire and tells her she has a weird look on her face. He asks if she’s thinking about his mom and dad. He knows they’re mad, “Probably because of me.” Claire says they’re not mad at him. Sometimes adults have disagreements, but they love him very much. “You’re not to blame for anything, do you understand that?” Harrison guesses so. He asks what she’s thinking about if it’s not that. Claire just wants to play. They head upstairs.
At the Club, Lily doesn’t want to discuss Billy with Phyllis, but the redhead says she’s known him for a long time. He’s charming and will do whatever it takes to convince her that up is down and down is up. “Watch out. Because behind all those smoke and mirrors and all of that wit and charm, is a guy who is only out for himself. So, don’t let all of that blind you to who he is.” She asks Lily, “Wouldn’t you be more comfortable working with your family?”
At Society’s bar, Jack finds Billy, who says he’s there to do some thinking. He’s glad they ran into each other because he wanted to give him a heads-up. “I’m adding the Abbott name to Chancellor Industries.” Jack had assumed he’d come to his senses. Billy says the new logo is locked and loaded and looks fantastic. Jack complains that it’s the family name, but not the family company. Billy says it’s just not his company. Jack says it’s Katherine’s company and he doesn’t approve of the name change. “We need to respect her legacy.” Billy’s forging a new one and thinks Jack should start respecting that.
