Alex lets himself into Stephanie’s apartment and rifles through her drawers until she surprises him with his giant briefcase/bag. (Again,

that he was looking for in a drawer?) She mentions all the other stuff he’s left and Alex says that this two apartment thing is a problem. She should move in.

 

 

No thanks, Stephanie says. His place is gross, which is why they always make things awkward for Jada here. Also, she and Chad crashed and burned when they did it, so clearly, moving in together is always bad.

Xander’s furious that Legal hasn’t gotten the co-CEO document ready yet. But he and Philip still head out to Victoria’s birthday party, figuring they’ve got time before the you-know-what hits the fan. Famous last words…

As they finish setting up at the mansion, Sarah admits to Maggie that she’s nervous about Xander being there. But she doesn’t have much time to worry, as he shows up, arms full of presents — with Philip stunning the ladies by following right behind! (They keep calling this a birthday “party,” but if it’s just grandma, mom and dad, is that party? Shouldn’t there be other people like Philip?)

 

 

Xander explains they’re playing nice and Philip’s going to officially be his co-CEO. Sarah’s suspicious, but the brothers just say something about being family and it being time.

They blow through the presents (Hopefully that kid can keep all the toys they’re teasing her with!), then Xander asks how Maggie’s doing on the anniversary of Victor’s funeral. Touched, she says she’s doing OK, so she and Xander take Victoria up for a nap.

Sarah wastes no time alone with Philip to find out what’s really going on. Once they’re co-CEOs, she points out, Xander has no leverage to hold over his head, so Philip can tell everyone that Xander really did assault him. Philip, though, refuses to admit it, which Xander overhears as he comes back downstairs.

Is Holly Right About Tate?
It takes about half a second after Holly sees Tate and Sophia talking in the bookstore for her to rush over and ruin everything. And yes, those are Tate’s exact words after Sophia uses the interruption to run away.

 

He apologizes to Holly, but it sure doesn’t seem sincere. Then he snaps a bit more until she has enough and yells at him that, A) It’s not her fault, and B) Sophia still wants him, so wake the hell up. Sophia’s just stringing him along to keep her hooks in him, and even if Tate meets the baby for a few minutes, that won’t give him closure.

Tate insists she’s wrong and that seeing his daughter once, then never again is the healthiest thing to do. He then melts down over being told he’s “obsessing,” and storms out after Holly says she’s done. Definitely father material right there…

Ari Knows What She Wants
Kate and Ari have lunch at the pub where Ari works in how much she wants an internship somewhere. Within the first week of college? Take a breath! But Kate offers to find something at Titan/DiMera and Ari’s thrilled. (As if she didn’t plan this out by bringing it up to her corporate grandma to begin with.)

It gets awkward when Ari admits she liked reading the bestselling smut her grandma put out, so Kate runs away as fast as she can to the press conference. That’s Sophia’s cue to fly in, sit at Ari’s table and tell her everything is not OK.