Thursday, September 3, 2015

FLASHBACK: 'Another World' The Story of Steven, Rachel & Alice (Part 14)

Victoria Wyndham and Stephen Bolster played
Rachel and Ted Clark.
ANOTHER WORLD: The Story of Steven, Rachel & Alice

The Soap Box
Vol. IV No. 7 July 1979
by Bryna Laub

(continued from Part 13)

One day Rachel called Steven at home, explaining a situation had arisen which required a parental judgment. Steven left Alice doing spring cleaning, saying only a business matter required his attention. While he was with Rachel, deciding whether Jamie should attend public or private school in September, Alice fell from a step stool while arranging a close and, in the hospital a few hours later, she lost the baby.

After the miscarriage her doctor warned her not to attempt another pregnancy for at least a year. This frightened Alice into suspecting she might never be able to have another child and she became depressed. Unaware of this underlying cause, Alice's doctor felt she was morbidly dwelling on her loss and she had too much time on her hands. He prescribed a return to work as a cure so she went back to nursing at the hospital.

As wary as Steven had previously been to tell Alice about his meetings with Rachel, he realized now they would be even more upsetting to her. So he continued to consult with Rachel in secret.

Rachel had no choice but to accept the new rules. However, when she learned Steven had been taking Jamie to his house, and that the boy was becoming friends with Alice, she was furious. Unable to to intrude on those weekly visits herself, she did the next best thing--she cancelled Steven's visits, knowing this would provoke Steven into demanding a discussion.

When Rachel finally returned Steven's angry calls, she refused, at Gerald's prompting, to discuss the situation over the phone. Reluctantly he agreed to see her at his office apartment at the close of the business day.

Gerald, who had been watching Rachel's battle of wills with great interest, had decided that if Rachel could somehow get Alice out of the picture and marry Steven, he, as her father, might benefit financially from Steven's great wealth. He knew that Alice had left Steven when she learned he'd been seeing Rachel and realized this was the way to get rid of her. He called the hospital right after Rachel left to meet Steven and left an anonymous message that Mrs. Frame was to meet her husband at his office apartment right after work.

Beverly Penberthy as Pat Matthews Randolph and
Jacqueline Courtney as Alice Matthews Frame.
Alice stepped off the elevator to overhear Rachel reminiscing to Steven about the wonderful times the three of them had had together. As Alice stood motionless in the doorway Rachel went on to say she never felt as close to him as she did when they were together the day Alice lost her baby.

In total shock, Alice turned and ran back into the elevator. The doors closed before she could hear Steven bitterly reply that if she hadn't coerced him into meeting her, he and Alice would have their baby now. He bitingly turned aside her attempts to persuade him to once again include her in his visits to Jamie and told her she was still out for what she wanted and what she could get. Concluding that if she wasn't satisfied with their agreement she could see a lawyer, Steven showed her out.

He went straight home, determined to tell Alice of this meeting to prevent anymore misunderstandings and recriminations but, when he arrived, she was gone.

To Steven's horror and amazement, Jim and Mary received a phone call from Alice who told them her marriage was a mistake and that Steven had been betraying her all along. She refused to even let them know where she was. Jim told Steven he could see Steven didn't know what this all meant and he believed he had done nothing, but Mary once more held Steven responsible.

Rachel, still unaware of the reason behind Alice's leaving, sensed that a chance was at hand but knew she had to proceed slowly. She briefly commiserated with Steven over Alice's sudden disappearance and made Jamie available to him whenever he wanted to see the boy. His son was his only consolation right now.

When Ted announced to Rachel he had decided to accept a job offer in Chicago and build a brand new life for the three of them away from Bay City, Rachel adamantly refused, saying she couldn't take Jamie away from his father right now and she didn't choose to move away either. Ted made it an ultimatum and Rachel unconcernedly let him move to Chicago alone. Gerald agreed to stay on at The Fireside Inn.

Continue reading Part 15 of a very detailed flashback series, Another World - The Story of Steven, Rachel & Alice...

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