Nicole pours herself another drink at the DiMera mansion and looks in the mirror before returning to her film noir fantasy. She has just smothered Sami to death, or so she believes. Sami suddenly reaches up and tries to strangle her. A struggle ensues and Nicole comes back to reality and spills her drink, daunted by her fantasy.
During the film noir, we see a lonely Lucas in his PI office feeling jealous over seeing “Philly” and “Ms. Lane” kiss. He pours himself a drink as his inner voice describes Chloe as a “real hot tomato.” He expresses how Sami’s two-timing hurt him, but not as much as seeing that hot smooch between “Ms. Lane and Philly K.” Lucas remembers being at the club seeing them kiss. Chloe turns around and says, “Mr. Horton.”
“Let me go you crazy she-devil!” screams Sami. Nicole gets the upper hand and puts the pillow over Sami’s face. Nicole admits that she needs a drink and it appears that Sami is lying dead this time. “No-one, and I mean no-one, messes with my man and gets away with it,” asserts Nicole. She hears E.J. come home.
Back to reality, Nicole decides that she’ll figure out how to get away with murder during her fantasy. She returns to her film noir and hides Sami’s body before E.J. enters and says Samantha’s name. Nicole greets him and calls him Junior, who tells her not to call him that. She thought he was going out of town, but he claims he forgot something. “Your mistress?” she snarks. E.J. denies having another woman. Nicole confronts him over his affair with Sami Horton and he doesn’t deny it, but claims that he loves her. She demands to know why he was fooling around behind her back. He says that’s the way he is and that’s the way he’ll always be, which she should’ve known when she stole him from Mabel. “You told me I was the only girl for you,” she whines. E.J. declares that he just can’t stay faithful, which isn’t her fault. A desperate Nicole is willing to do anything he wants her to, claiming she’s a real fast learner. “Nicole, I’m a grifter! I’m a no-good lousy bum! You don’t deserve me!” he exclaims. Nicole insists that she’s the right woman for him, better than the tramp he was about to run away with. E.J. predicts he would’ve cheated on Sami too. Nicole says it was all for nothing, then.
E.J. questions what she did. She rants how she wasted the best years of her life on a two-timing loser. “She was here when you got here, wasn’t she Nikki?” assumes E.J. Nicole claims she didn’t do anything, but would’ve if she believed it would get him back. E.J. admits that she never should’ve married him. Nicole insists that she had to, since she couldn’t live without him. E.J. declares that he’s leaving, but she begs him not to. After he walks out, Nicole affirms that she may be down, but not out. Her next mission is to figure out how to get Lucas to do her dirty work.
Back to Club Marlowe, Lucas tells Chloe not to sweat it, stating that whatever she does on her own time is her business. Philip stands up and warns Lucas that he doesn’t want any trouble. Chloe insists that she doesn’t fool around with married men and tells Lucas that what he walked in on isn’t what he thinks. Lucas leaves and Chloe is about to go after him, but Philip stops her. “I thought you didn’t date married men,” he reminds her. Chloe confesses that she’s in love with Mr. Horton. Philip questions why she quit her job. Chloe insists it’s because she couldn’t stand to be that close to Lucas every day and keep her feelings to herself. Philip deduces that Lucas can tell how Chloe feels and vice versa. Chloe reveals that she stayed with Lucas without being paid, and now she realizes that leaving was a big mistake. A bitter Philip tells her to go ahead and run after him and make a fool of herself, but warns her that Lucas can’t give her the things which he can. Chloe states that she doesn’t care about money. Philip takes a shot of alcohol and warns her that if she leaves, she’s got nowhere to go. Chloe claims she’ll be okay. Philip dissuades her from leaving when he asks her if she really wants to eat soup and crackers down at the mission and sleep at the shelter. He tells her to go get changed into something tight and little for the next show.
Lucas is back at his office, where he says it’s been the longest day of his life. He puts a gun down on the desk beside Sami’s picture and decides that he needs a drink, since he’s been jilted by two dames in the same day. He ponders joining the French Foreign Legion, where there’s no dames, only sand and camels. The phone rings as he smokes a cigarette. He answers it to Nicole, who reveals that she took care of Sami and summons him over to her place.
Chloe sings the blues at the club as Philip listens to her singing about needing someone so badly. After she finishes the brief song, Philip notes how she really poured her heart into that one. He refers to her as pretty, but assures her that he won’t do anything she doesn’t want him to. “How do I know you’re not gonna bide your time, then fire me if I don’t play ball with you?” she questions. Philip guesses she’ll just have to take his word for it and gives her a scout’s honor. Chloe says she can’t go back to work for Mr. Horton, now that he knows how she feels. She deduces that he’ll never leave his wife. Philip assumes that she’ll need some way to forget about Lucas, then kisses her. He pulls away, which prompts Chloe to ask him if he wants her. Philip wants her to want him, and isn’t about to play second banana to her old boss. Chloe sighs and admits he’s a better lug than she gave him credit for. She insists that she needs to go to Lucas, then tears up the sheet music, declaring that Philly’s customers deserve someone better. Philip encourages Chloe to go get Lucas. Chloe tells him he’s a good egg, then kisses him on the cheek before leaving. E.J. then arrives and asks if they’re open. Philip says no, but invites him to stay and have a drink on the house. He questions what happened to Samantha. E.J. shares his suspicion that something happened to her.
