From: Marni Centor <mccb@idt.net>

            GUIDING LIGHT UPDATE: THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1998

HIGHLIGHTS:

* Blake & Ross share their good news with Holly. 
* Blake worries about Ben's next move.
* Jesse wins at poker, despite Drew's scheming.
* Ben asks for Beth's help, and scares her.
* Matt revels in Vanessa's jealousy.
* Alan gets an unexpected message.

CEDARS: Ross comes to Blake's room to tell her about Kevin being his
son, but when he looks at her, he can tell that she already knows. He
said he learned from Rick; she says Ben told her. Ross wanted to be the
one to tell her. He can't wait until Ben is behind bars, convicted of
rape. Blake says he's managed to stay out of jail so far. Ross says
Ben's luck is about to run out & theirs has just begun. They hug, and
through her tears, Blake says she loves Ross.

Holly enters & gives Blake a kiss. She says she just saw Ben in the
hallway, and he's furious. Ross tells Holly that they just found out
that both Jason and Kevin are his biological sons. Holly is thrilled.

JESSE'S GARAGE: Jesse, Bill, and some other guys settle down to play
some poker. Jesse hands out cold drinks all around as the guys talk
about winning back the money that Jesse won at the beach. 

Outside, Drew meets with a guy who has promised to rig the game so Jesse
loses all the money Drew fronted him. This guy gets to keep half of the
money Drew hands him if he pulls it off. He asks why Drew is doing this
to her "main squeeze." Drew says Jesse isn't that yet, but he will be
soon. "You just make sure he loses, big-time."

SPAULDING MANSION: Matt spills wine and Beth helps him clean it up. As
she's dabbing at his tie, Alan and Vanessa arrive. Beth explains what's
going on. She says the drawings are wonderful. Vanessa says she owes
Matt an apology; she thought he had invented his business meeting to get
out of going to dinner, but she sees she was wrong. "You just forgot to
say who your client was."

Matt says he had to drop off some blueprints in the neighborhood, so he
brought the playhouse plans over to show Lizzie. Van says Matt's
instincts were right, because it was not a fun evening. She asks how
Lizzie liked the drawings. Beth explains that Lizzie is staying over at
the Coopers' tonight. Alan asks if this is a good idea. Beth says
Phillip said Lizzie was having a great time. She explains to Matt & Van
that Lizzie "isn't quite out of the woods." Van thinks it's wonderful
that she's on her way. Beth says you have to be so careful with kids,
but realizes Van knows this, having a daughter nearly Beth's own age,
"not that you look it." Realizing she's put her foot in it, Beth adds
that Van & Dinah could pass for sisters. Van lets this all pass very
gracefully. Matt, obviously uncomfortable, gathers his papers and heads
toward the door. He tells Beth he'll send some guys over tomorrow to
start on the playhouse. He apologizes for the spill on the couch, and
the Reardons leave.

"Just shoot me," says Beth, after they're gone. What was she thinking to
talk to Vanessa that way. "Vanessa must hate me." Alan says Van is very
secure in her relationship with Matt, and has probably already forgotten
it. 

There's a knock at the door & Beth answers. It's Ben, anxious to talk to
her. Alan angrily pushes him toward the door. "Get the hell out of here
& don't you ever come near her again!" he yells protectively.

CEDARS: Ross explains that Annie was responsible for changing the test
results, and gave the information to Ben as a bribe to let her escape.
Blake is not surprised that Annie would do it. Ross says Ben has known
for a long time & apparently thought that if he told them now, they
would be so thankful, they would help him out somehow. Ross says he
wants to talk to Rick before he & Abby leave with the boys for one last
night. In the doorway, Holly asks if Rick knows the truth. Ross says
Rick's taking it better than could be expected. He & Rick almost signed
a joint custody agreement, but then Rick told him the truth. Ross leaves
& Holly goes back to Blake.

Holly knows what Ben wants from Blake. She's glad Blake finally sees Ben
for what he really is. Blake says she sure does. "And I'm scared to
death of what he might do next."

MANSION: Alan tries to get rid of Ben, but he won't leave. Alan doesn't
want Ben anywhere near Beth. Beth says she wants to talk to Ben, but
Alan won't listen to her. Beth says she doesn't need Alan's permission,
and she can take care of herself. She reminds him that she agreed to
stay on in his house only because he agreed to stay out of her life. If
he interferes, she will pack up Lizzie & leave. Alan challenges Beth to
explain why she would want to be alone with a rapist. Beth says it's all
alleged & she refuses to discuss it any further. If Ben has to leave,
then Beth & Lizzie will leave tomorrow. "That would be a huge mistake,"
Alan warns. Beth won't back down, so Alan finally does. He goes to the
library.

Beth closes the door. "Now you have something to thank me for," she
tells Ben. He takes her in his arms & holds her close. "You don't know
wrong you are," he says.

JESSE'S: Jesse is getting impatient waiting for the last guy to show up,
but he finally does. It's the guy Drew was talking to outside, and he is
introduced as Mick. They sit down to play. Mick starts out asking for
$100 in chips. Jesse sets the ante at $20, with a $10 minimum raise. As
the cards are dealt, Mick looks around & says the place is interesting.
He asks how long Jesse's been living there. "Too long," answers Jesse.
Bill thought Jesse liked it there. "Would you like it?" he asks. Jesse
says he's planning to move out when he has enough money.

Drew shows up with sandwiches & tells Jesse she has a feeling that
tonight's his lucky night. Jesse tells her not to mention the game to
Michelle. Drew jokes that she called Michelle right before she came
over, but Jesse says it's not funny. He rejoins the game & Drew stands
in a corner to watch. 

REARDON HOUSE: Van enters & kicks off her shoes. Matt says she was
awfully quiet on the ride home. Van says she's all talked out from the
horrid dinner party full of people who hate each other. Matt apologizes
again for losing track of time. He just meant to drop off the plans &
leave. Van says it's really fine. She knows this is important for
Lizzie. Matt says he really had a good time. The wine was great. They
must have had one too many & got a little silly. Van asks why he's doing
this. Matt smiles & says she's jealous & he likes it.

MANSION: Ben says he was an idiot. Beth was right about Blake. She's
only out for herself. Beth warned him & he didn't listen. Now that she's
been proven right, Beth can afford to be understanding. She says Ben
thought he was in love. Ben says he now realizes it was just an
obsessive fantasy. He asks if she remembers when he told Beth how he
felt about her--how strong and smart she was, and how he wished he'd
fallen for her? She was there all along, right in front of him, and he
didn't see it. Beth makes little protesting noises, but Ben kisses her.
She pushes him away gently & says he doesn't want this. He keeps
nuzzling her, so she finally pushes him away harder. "I said no!" she
exclaims. He looks at her questioningly & she looks at him with a
mixture of confusion & disappointment.

Ben asks if Beth is afraid of her. He swears he would never hurt her.
They're friends. They've been together before. Beth says that was
different. Ben says she defended him. And before, when he held her...
Beth says she just wanted to comfort him. She's sorry that she yelled,
but he didn't stop when she asked & she suddenly had a feeling of being
forced. Ben says he would never do that. Beth asks what that was all
about then? "That wasn't about me. That was about Blake. That was Blake
you were kissing." Ben denies this, but Beth insists it's true. For a
moment, it made Beth wonder if... Ben knows what Ben is thinking. She's
wondering if maybe Ben did rape Blake.

CEDARS: Holly says Ben is trying to frighten Blake. Blake says it's
working. Holly says Blake should be angry at Ben for keeping the
information about Kevin from her. Blake says she was furious at him. She
told him how despicable he was and that she hopes he rots in jail for
raping her, even though he didn't. He told her she was his enemy now,
and it sent chills up her spine.

Ross returns & Holly announces that she has some good new of her own.
She went to her first AA meeting this evening. She's going to take
things one day at a time & think positive thoughts. Ross & Blake are
proud of her. Holly leaves. Blake is very happy. Ross says there's more
to come.

Out in the hall, Holly leans against the wall & takes a drink from her
flask, calling it her friend. "I am not an alcoholic," she tells
herself.

REARDON HOUSE: Van says she's not jealous & tells Matt to wipe the silly
grin off his face. Matt laughs. He never thought he'd see the day that
the unflappable Vanessa would lose her cool. Van says she's not jealous
just because Matt was drinking wine with a beautiful blonde young enough
to be her daughter & got so tipsy that he spilled his wine & they had to
sponge each other off. Matt states for the record that Beth sponged him
off, but he didn't sponge back. [Just substitute "Monica" for "Beth" and
any word of your choice for "sponge" and read this sentence again...
ROTFL!] Van asks if that's supposed to make a difference. Matt says they
were talking about kids. Besides, beautiful blonde Beth doesn't turn him
on the way Vanessa does. "Especially when your jealous," he sings. Van
doesn't want Matt to touch her & continues to act wounded. Matt keeps
after her & finally gets her to laugh as he kisses her. They kiss again
& again, as Van forgets her peevishness.

JESSE'S: Drew passes out sandwiches and sits next to Jesse. She can see
his cards. He's got 2 aces & 2 jacks. He tells Drew to stop bumping him.
Drew makes eye contact with Mick. Jesse takes one card & gets the ace he
needs for a full house. Everyone folds but Jesse & Mick. They keep
raising each other. Mick finally calls with his remaining chips.

CEDARS: Ross brings Blake a rose & suggests getting a bottle of
champagne to celebrate. He stops when he sees Blake is upset. She says
she's scared of Ben. She's waiting for the other shoe to drop. "It
won't," assures Ross. Blake says she's had this feeling on & off for as
long as she could remember. It only got worse when she married him
because the stakes were higher. She's had more happiness than she ever
dared to imagine. Ross brought her respect & credibility, a reputation
in the community. All the things she wanted & couldn't get on her own.
She felt like she was cheating because she got it all through him. She
kept waiting for him to realize that she wasn't wife material and that
she was just a fraud. "That's what I am," she cries. "I'm a fraud." 

MANSION: Ben says Beth has to know he didn't rape Blake. She's the only
friend he has. Beth hesitantly says she does believe Ben. She asks what
happened today. Ben sighs & tells Beth about how he helped out Annie in
exchange for the information that Kevin & Jason are both Ross's sons.
When he told Blake, he thought she'd be happy, but instead, she nearly
spit at him. Beth absorbs all this. Ben knew this since Annie was in
jail? As much as Beth hates Blake, she sides with Blake on this. How
could Ben keep this from Blake all these months? What was he thinking?
Ben says when he learned the information, all he wanted to do was get
back at Ross. And the thing with Blake was all a game. Then he started
to have real feelings for her. Today, he gave Blake the information just
to make her happy, and she slapped him down. The hatred in her eyes made
him want to give her something she could really hate. But he needs
Beth's help.

REARDON HOUSE: Matt & Van make out on the couch & say sweet things to
each other. Matt loves Van's eyes, especially the way they flash when
she's mad. He remembers when they first met. Van says she's ready for
bed. So is Matt. Van says she's a sleepy old woman. They kid around some
more & kiss some more.

JESSE'S: Jesse shows his cards & Mick throws his down in disgust. He was
sure Jesse was bluffing. "With that kind of money?" asks Jesse. He
guesses Mick doesn't know too many poor folk. Bill says Jesse won't be
poor for long at this rate. Mick decides he'd better leave. Another guy
offers to lend him some money, but Mick declines & walks out. Drew makes
an excuse about moving her car & follows him out.

In the alley, Drew fumes at Mick. He wasn't supposed to lose. Didn't he
get her signals? Yeah, he said, and so did everyone else. She's not
exactly subtle. Drew says Mick screwed it up. Mick says he knew exactly
what he was doing. Jesse got a taste for winning; next time they play,
Mick will go in for the kill. 

Inside, Jesse notices a set of keys on the table & asks who they belong
to. All the guys deny ownership & figure they must be Mick's. Jesse says
he'll try to catch Mick.

MANSION: In the library, Alan starts to pour himself a drink, but stops
when he notices the laptop sitting open on the desk. The Spaulding logo
is displayed on the screen, and the message "You have mail" is flashing.
Alan checks the message. It says, "Dear Alan, What a surprise to learn
you still care. Forget about looking for me. You won't find me. That is,
until I want to be found. Annie."

REARDON HOUSE: Van stands outside in Matt's shirt. Shirtless Matt comes
outside & hugs her. Maureen starts crying. Matt says to wait; she'll
stop. After a few moments, she does. Van tells Matt he's both sexy &
smart. They kiss and hug some more. Van looks very satisfied.

ALLEY: Mick says when Jesse loses a large portion of Drew's money, he'll
really owe her, which is exactly what she wants, right? Jesse comes out
with Mick's keys. Jesse hopes there are no hard feelings. Mick agrees &
asks if he'll get a rematch. Jesse promises. Mick leaves.

Drew acts all excited that Jesse won so much money. He says it was all
thanks to her lending him the money to play. She says she has faith in
him & will always bet on him. She goes back inside & Jesse smiles over
his winnings.

MANSION: Alan remembers his last encounter with Annie in jail, when she
said that despite everything, she could still make a fortune off the
perfume, but Alan told her that he had the formula destroyed, and then
poured out the last bottle into her hand. Alan now says he was angry and
hurt, but now he would do anything to get Annie back.

CEDARS: Blake feels like everything is falling apart, and it's all her
fault. Ross says Blake was attacked & is not to blame for anything. Ben
will pay for his crime & won't bother them. Blake wishes she could
believe that. Ross also says Blake is wonderful beyond belief. He fell
in love with her because she is so unique. He gets into bed beside her &
puts his arm around her. He says the doctor told him that Blake will be
able to go home in the morning.

MANSION: Beth & Ben walk outside. Ben says he was attracted to Blake
because she was a free spirit. He's going to use that against her. He
will destroy her credibility. He didn't want to, but he has no choice.
He wants Beth to tell him every detail about Blake's checkered past,
every stop she made as she slept her way through Springfield. "And don't
leave one name out." Beth looks troubled as the screen fades to black.


