At the Brady Pub, Ava poured a cup of coffee and greeted Roman. She asked him about her lease application. Roman informed her it had been denied. Ava accused Roman of holding a personal grudge, but he insisted the denial was because Ava didn't have a job or an income.

Ava challenged Roman to take the Help Wanted sign down. Roman was incredulous that Ava wanted him to hire her. She reminded him of what she had done with the Bistro and knew she could do the same thing for the pub. Besides, Ava added, Roman needed the help and needed competent employees. Roman relented and agreed to give Ava one week to prove herself. They shook on it.

Harris ran into Marlena outside the pub. She smiled and inquired how he had been doing with his recovery. Harris confirmed he was doing great and credited his "amazing doctors," who included Marlena. She assumed that meant he viewed his time at Bayview as a success. He assured her he did but was curious as to why Marlena was asking. He remembered how John had peppered him with questions about Bayview, as well, and asked Marlena if John was all right.

Marlena thought John would be okay with time. Ava came outside, and Marlena and she exchanged brief hellos before Marlena excused herself. When Ava told Harris she had been denied the room, he was upset. His mood changed after Ava updated him on the job. They agreed things were going well, so long as they did not get busted for breaking into the Bistro.

Roman noticed Marlena sitting alone at a table and asked how she was doing. She had been waiting for John to finish a meeting. Taking stock of her troubled look, Roman encouraged her to unload her problems on him, since he was her bartender, and that was part of the job description. Marlena claimed she had been worried about Eric and Sloan, but Roman believed there was something more.

Marlena opened up about her recent worries with John. She reminisced about how John had always told her his life had begun when he'd met her in the hospital and their hands had touched. She regretted not being able to help John uncover more of his past. Marlena got a text message and prepared to leave. Roman assured her he would watch out for Eric, and he said Marlena should put her focus on John. Marlena thanked him and left.

At the DiMera mansion, Kristen was working on getting Li's scholarship set up when Stefan stormed in. He demanded an update on Kristen's plan to get Gabi out of prison and reminded Kristen that Gabi needed to be out of jail before the DiMera board meeting. Kristen wondered exactly how Stefan planned to make Kristen CEO. Stefan was confident he could make it happen because he knew a secret.

Stefan shocked Kristen by confiding that E.J. had known about the drug operation at the Bistro. Stefan asked Kristen to consider how Nicole would react if she found out E.J. could have prevented Holly's overdose. Kristen guessed that Stefan wanted her to blackmail E.J., but she thought it wouldn't work because E.J. would prioritize the company over Nicole. Stefan, on the other hand, believed E.J. loved Nicole "devotedly and passionately" and would choose his marriage.

Stefan assured Kristen he wasn't putting "all my eggs in the blackmail basket" and mentioned he was also working his connections with the DiMera board. Kristen affirmed that she was doing the same and brought up the scholarship in Li's name. Stefan thought it was a good idea, and Kristen and he tossed around other ideas for ousting E.J., including shining a light on E.J.'s conflicts of interest. They were gleeful at the notion of E.J. being left "with nothing" after they were done with him.

Kristen warned Stefan that she would not be his puppet and would not let Gabi take her place at DiMera once Gabi was released. Stefan insisted that wasn't the plan, and he reminded Kristen that getting Gabi out of prison was his priority. He thought the evidence was stacked against a release, however. Kristen huffed that Stefan should trust her because, "I always have a card up my sleeve."

Rita entered E.J.'s office and told him she was leaving for a dinner date. She was less than enthused when E.J. said he needed her to stay late. E.J. tried to cajole her by promising she would not be too late. She sighed and called E.J. a "hard-ass." E.J. wanted his usual for dinner, which Rita cracked was "stuffed shirt" instead of "stuffed shells." She groused "son of a behind" to a grinning E.J. and left to get them dinner.

When Rita returned, E.J. updated her on the information he needed from Titan. She had one question for him: "What in God's name are you up to, young man?" E.J. acted offended at the "young man" crack, and Rita retorted that if she had known him when he'd been a young man, she would have taught him manners. She urged E.J. to check his "imperial ambitions," but E.J. believed he should strike at a weak Titan while "the iron is hot."

Rita wondered why E.J. should end his dreams at "dethroning the mayor" and taking over Titan. She suggested he buy a baseball team and colonize the moon, too, while he was at it. E.J. smiled but grew serious and thanked Rita for looking out for him as she had for his father. "I miss that old goat," Rita conceded as she grew wistful. "Don't we all," E.J. added.

Harris and Ava successfully broke into the Bistro. They agreed to divide searching duties, since Ava claimed they had a few hours before any employees arrived. They met back up some time later and reported no progress on any front. Suddenly, the room lit up, and the pair was shocked to see Stefan. He snarkily asked Harris if breaking and entering was part of Harris' academy training and guessed Harris and "the mafia princess" were up to something.

Harris reluctantly acquiesced while Ava updated Stefan about Clyde's latest threat. Stefan offered to help because he wanted the black book and "that son of a bitch" Clyde out of his restaurant and his life for good. As the trio searched, Harris theorized that Clyde's henchman had hidden the book "in plain sight." Ava had an epiphany about the reserve wine that no one had ever touched because it was expensive.

Ava retrieved a specific bottle that had not collected dust. She took off a false bottom and removed the black book.

After Stefan left, Kristen called Alex about a repeat of their "strategy meeting." She ended the call when E.J. arrived. E.J. had heard all about Alex's recent stay from the gossiping staff. He wondered if Kristen was satisfied with her "life of leisure and mischief-making" or if she was interested in getting a job. Kristen implied she had "a few irons in the fire" and reminded E.J. that "like Father, I always rise from the ashes."

Leo was drowning his sorrows at a bar when Sloan approached him. They traded insults about looking terrible before Sloan asked why Leo was drinking. She assumed he was dejected because of the money cut-off, but he told her about the "Dear Leo" letter he had received from Dimitri. Sloan was surprised and wondered if the letter was really from Dimitri. Leo was certain Dimitri had written it, since Dimitri had used Leo's pet name for him in the letter.

Sloan told Leo she was sorry, and he fired back that she should be because it was her fault. Sloan was confused at the accusation, so Leo told her how "my Romeo left me for some big, stinky convict who probably makes license plates and eats paste." Leo believed it was Sloan's fault Dimitri had ended up in "super-max" to begin with. Leo lamented how his life was even worse because he had to subsist on a journalist's salary due to Sloan. He moaned that he would be relegated to "curling up in a ball" on his peacock-decorated chaise in gray sweatpants.

Sloan urged Leo to get his priorities straight and to stop obsessing about his wardrobe. He defended himself and claimed he was much more upset about losing Dimitri. He had stood by Dimitri through everything and had even remained faithful, to his own amazement. He should have predicted Dimitri would be "a cheating pile of scum," though, after Dimitri had cheated on Leo's best friend with Leo. As Leo continued his rant, Sloan rolled her eyes.

Sloan tossed a napkin to a weepy Leo and tried to tell him he was better off without Dimitri. Leo snapped for her to stop buttering him up and called Sloan foolish for allowing Eric to find out about her and Leo's arrangement. Sloan lost it and bit back at Leo that "the cash cow has run dry." She composed herself and put on a sympathetic face as she took Leo's hand. She claimed she genuinely wished she could help Leo and reminded him he had agreed not to say anything to Eric.

Sloan hoped Leo would honor that promise. He retorted that while "I wouldn't mind strangling you right now," he didn't want to hurt Eric and Jude. Sloan continued that as long as Leo kept the truth to himself, she wouldn't reveal his blackmail, and he could maintain his reputation as "a stand-up guy." Leo balked at the notion of preserving his reputation and further ruminated about his "miserable and loveless" existence, then he banged his head on the table.

Sloan again threatened Leo about possible prison time for blackmail, and Leo in turn wondered what the sentence would be for kidnapping a baby. Sloan insisted it was in both their interests to keep quiet. She expressed genuine condolences for the end of Leo and Dimitri's relationship and departed, leaving an olive-eating and martini-ordering Leo behind.

A drunken Leo mulled over his list to get quick money and settled on E.J.'s name. He reasoned that he wouldn't technically be breaking his promise to Sloan because he had only agreed not to tell Eric. Plus, he could work out a deal to avoid prison, since E.J. was the district attorney. Leo left the bar to see E.J. -- but not before leaving his bill on Sloan's tab.

At the newspaper office, Nicole marveled at what a coincidence it was that Eric and she would be working together again. He reminded her that Chad still needed to sign off on the paperwork. Eric left to meet up with Chad and asked Nicole to watch Jude while he was gone. Nicole beamed at the baby then fielded a phone call from E.J.

E.J. wanted to know how Nicole's first day was going, and she informed him that she already had an assignment. E.J. expressed reservations when Nicole revealed that she would be working on a story about the city's unhoused. Nicole assured E.J. she would not be alone late at night because she would be in the field with a photographer. She held back on mentioning that the photographer was Eric.

Later, Nicole overheard Eric imploring Sloan to call him back. When he reentered the office, Nicole asked him if everything was okay. Eric confessed that he'd had a fight with Sloan and that she had walked out on him. He admitted Sloan had accused him of acting like he was too good for Sloan, and he apologized to Nicole if he had ever made her feel the same way. Nicole didn't want to look back, but she had cherished Eric and her time together.

Nicole did wonder, though, if it was a good idea for Eric and her to work with each other. She mentioned that she had not told E.J. about Eric and her both working for the newspaper because she knew he would hate the idea. Eric knew Sloan would feel the same way but didn't know if he would have the chance to tell her, since they were fighting. Nicole was sure Sloan and he would work things out.

Nicole again offered to back out of working with Eric if it would present a problem. Eric believed it would be fine and admitted he needed the job. Nicole confessed that she did, as well. They started talking about ideas for the story on the unhoused, which prompted them to remember their previous experience working together at the Horton Center. Nicole believed Chad knew what he was doing because Eric and she made a good team.

Sloan strolled through the square as she updated Melinda about the situation with Leo. She was relieved that at least Leo didn't know about Eric being Jude's biological father. Just then, she spotted Eric and Nicole cooing over Jude in his stroller. She grew upset as she observed the familial interaction.

E.J. opened the door to Leo's loud knocking. Leo insisted he had something to tell E.J. -- for a price. E.J. impatiently took note of Leo's drunken state and tried to shoo him away. Leo stood his ground and declared E.J. was going to want to pay. "The dish I have for you is a doozy," he said.

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