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Previously...

• Kayla realized the truth about her husband's relationship with Liz when she spotted Liz's car at Rick's office. Desperate to uncover the truth, she stood outside his office window and overheard his conversation with Liz. Speaking about divorce and their turbulent relationship, Kayla realized that Rick was calling it quits- and Liz supported him fully.
  
  
• Jason finally met with Lucas at a cafe in San Francisco to discuss their ties to Keith. In the awkward meeting, Lucas ran into his ex, Shane,  who started to flirt with Jason.  Soon thereafter, Lucas and Jason expressed their attraction for each other- but Jason realized he was no where ready for a relationship at this point. He was later told by Lucas that Keith and him did nothing sexual, although Jason was left unsure of whether Lucas was telling the truth.
  
  
  
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  Scene: An Unknown Motel in San Francisco.

A musty scent fills the room as the gentleman takes off his coat. Licking his lips, he stares at Valerie and shoots a sinful smile in her direction. Val looks back with a half-hearted smile at the man who must be nearing sixty. Certainly old enough to be her father, she wonders if that is what sparked her initial attraction to the man.

When she first received his call earlier this afternoon, his scraggly voice seemed to be somewhat of an attraction to her. She knew the type quite well; someone who held a secret obsession for younger women that he could never reveal to his wife and children. When she initially heard the word 'discrete' she became intrigued. Indeed, it was her whole lifestyle and occupation that had to be discrete. No one could ever know what she did each night before she returned home.

"You are far more attractive than I thought you would be...Jesus, you could easily model."

Valerie bashfully looks away and smiles. "Thank you. You are too kind."

"I'm just being honest. Your pictures online do you no justice."

"Again, I thank you very much, Mr. Jones."

She knew very well that Mr. Jones wasn't his real name. In fact, she knew that these men hardly ever used their real names. Always going by these silly aliases, she understood the reasons quite well. Most of these men were married and held very prominent positions in the community. It would be a true crime if it ever came out that one of them was sleeping with another woman- especially at the price each would pay.

The man slowly grows closer to Valerie and caresses her cheek with his wrinkled hand. The feeling is comforting to Val, trying her best to push out any feelings of disgust.

"Come here," the man commands her as he removes his hand from her cheek and motions for her to come closer. The two soon touch again as the man plants a series of small kisses on her neck. He then slowly begins to take off her jacket and then begins rubbing her back which sends a shiver down her spine.

For some reason, she begins to feel quite uncomfortable about the whole situation. She reminds herself that it will only be for one night- that's what she loves so much about her job. She is always in total control and she knows it...if she never wants to see a man again, she can easily ignore his next call. It was the true beauty of it all- Val hated being tied down to one man. It made her feel like she wanted to just shut down, perhaps those same feelings that began to arise after she went on a few dates with Terrence.

Suddenly her phone rings quite loudly as they both seem to simultaneously roll their eyes. She knew the importance of turning off her cell before she met each new 'client', perhaps she was distracted today for some reason.

She quickly breaks off the embrace and walks over to the nightstand where she picks up her phone. Ready to turn off her cell, she quickly glances at a message from Kayla that reads that there is an urgent situation and that she needs to come to the house immediately. She immediately begins to fear that something has happened to Haylie.

Without thinking twice, Valerie apologizes to Mr. Jones and grabs her jacket before shutting the door behind her. She takes a deep breath before continuing to her car and thanks God that she got out of an uncomfortable situation. She still feels dirty after being kissed by the man though- she is certainly in no state to see her family right now. Still, the text seemed urgent enough. She would soon be on her way to see what exactly Kayla wanted.

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Scene: The Preston Residence. College Oaks District. 

Kayla shuts off her cell phone and paces around the room with great feelings of remorse. While she hasn't set her current plan into action yet, she realizes there will be many hurt in the process. She tossed and turned all night while her husband slept well; she was living a nightmare he could never understand. She got up several times last night to simply stare at her beautiful daughter- for it was Haylie who had gotten her this far.

It was Haylie that kept Kayla going all this time.

But when would everything come crumbling down? When would Kayla draw her last breath of frustration? She mulled over these very questions all night and realized that there was no going back at this point- she knew what she had to do.

Sadness begins to flood her eyes now as she looks over at her precious daughter. With sparkling blue eyes and hair of gold, Haylie lies in her crib and stares back at her mother. Too young to ever understand the current predicament her mother is in, or to realize that Kayla simply wants the best for her, Haylie slowly begins to close her tired eyes.

A tear begins to trickle down the side of Kayla's cheek as a few more begin to follow. Could she really have the courage to leave everything behind- even her own flesh and blood? Perhaps it wasn't courage at all that she would need; maybe she was just being selfish. She begins to think to herself that leaving Haylie with Rick won't be the best scenario for the child. After all, God only knows if Rick will have the troublemaker Liz help rear the child. The thought of Liz even touching her baby made her sick to her stomach.

Of course this is the decision that Kayla had made. She would no longer have any say about her daughter's upbringing if she left tonight...and it was only a matter of minutes before Val would arrive.

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