Nicole is just outside the Java Café with Pookie barking in her purse. She gently tells her pooch no barking, since no animals are allowed. She peeks inside the establishment and sees Evan working, then sits down. Evan approaches her and tells her she can’t bring dogs in there. Nicole tries to tell him that Pookie’s down the street at the beautician. She then asks for a sugar-free fat-free vanilla iced latte with two waters. Marlena soon walks in. Nicole then notices a young girl gushing on the phone how adorable a guy is. She has a brief flashback to her encounter with E.J. in the elevator. Marlena briefly chats with Evan before Trent walks in and cuts in front of the young girl, asking for his ususal while chatting on the phone. Marlena confronts him on his rude behavior, stating that the young woman was next in line. Trent and Marlena go to a table, where he claims he was busy and didn’t mean to be rude. Nicole listens nearby as Marlena lectures Trent about coffee house etiquette. Nicole notes how Marlena has some guts.
Marlena walks away from Trent as E.J. enters and spots Nicole. “Hey trouble,” he says and asks to join her. She declines, then asks him to sit down. He doesn’t want to cause any tension between her and “Professor Bulldog.” Nicole refers to herself and E.J. as two friends having a drink and doesn’t care what Trent thinks. “Is that all we are? Friends?” asks E.J. She asks how he’s been. E.J. explains how he’s taken on a few more clients and has been playing with Johnny quite a bit. Nicole brings up Sami. E.J. declares that he and Sami are through. Nicole says he can’t just turn off his feelings for Sami. “You mean, like you just turned off your feelings for me?” he retorts.
Marlena approaches Evan and asks who Trent is. Evan reveals his name to be Trent Robbins, who is a professor at the university and one of their regulars. Evan shares how he’s heard stories from his co-workers regarding Trent. Marlena notes that Trent has an inflated ego.
Meanwhile, E.J. wants to talk about Nicole’s feelings towards him, but Nicole doesn’t want to discuss it now as she sees Trent watching them across the room. E.J. offers to leave if he’s making her uncomfortable. Nick soon enters the Java Café needing to speak to Trent. E.J. asks Nicole why she keeps starting at Trent, but she denies doing this. Nicole admits she really likes him. E.J. interrupts her and admits that what happened in the elevator was really special and more than just sex. He asks her to give them a chance. “Not as long as Sami’s in the picture,” refuses Nicole. E.J. claims he’s not trying to be arrogant, but declares that he’s not someone who generally has to pursue women. He explains how he’s been in a relationship for two years that’s been going nowhere, and in that time, women came up to him but he didn’t notice any of them. “You come along, I can’t take my eyes off you,” he confesses. He invites her for dinner, with no expectations or no strings attached. Nicole glances over at Trent and turns him down. E.J. grins that he might ask her again, referring to himself as a glutton for punishment. She suggests that if the situation were different they could make it work.
Nearby, Marlena proceeds to find some privacy as she takes a phone call. Nick goes over a physics problem with Trent, who encourages him to take a break and lighten up a little. Nick says he enjoys the distraction. Trent asks him if he knows Professor Fergus from the foreign studies department, who is on his way to Ireland in a couple of weeks for the exchange program. Trent suggests giving the professor a going away party at the Brady Pub and asks Nick to put in a good word for him to Max. Nick advises him to talk to Max’s mom about renting the pub for a party.
Trent approaches E.J. and Nicole and remarks how they seem like an old married couple. Nicole points out that E.J. is her lawyer. Trent jeers how her “pesky legal problems” must be quite serious. E.J. excuses himself to attend to some pesky legal problems. Trent reminds Nicole how he told her to stay away from E.J. Nicole claims it was just a coincidence. “It’s more like a pattern,” notes Trent, who questions why E.J. was holding her hand.
Marlena approaches E.J. and confronts him about stepping way over the line. E.J. assumes she’s talking about the court case. “How dare you threaten to take my daughter’s son?” she accuses. “Your daughter threatened to take my son away from me,” he counters. Marlena doesn’t believe Sami would do that and surmises that E.J. hasn’t changed. She chastises him for using the DiMera influence to bribe or threaten a judge. E.J. reminds Marlena that Sami has done a lot worse, and predicts that Sami would do the exact same thing if she was in his position. She reveals that Sami told her all about him bribing a judge and influencing an immigration agent, thus lying to and manipulating Sami and the rest of them. They are interrupted by E.J.’s phone and he takes it outside.
Nicole tells Trent how tired she is of him spying on her. Trent jeers how it’s such a shame E.J. can’t have her. She tells him to go to hell and declares that she’s not afraid of him, recalling how she’s been used and abused by men her entire life. Trent believes she brings attention on herself with the way she dresses, flirts, and bats those beautiful eyes of hers. Nicole asserts that his attempts to make her feel weak and insecure aren’t going to work on her anymore. He warns her not to test him, taunting her how devastating it would be if her little secret got out. Nicole berates herself for ever getting involved with him. Trent recalls how she needed a father figure and he was more than happy to fill that void for her. Nicole sneers how he was just as bad as her father and wishes she had never met him. She goes up to the counter and Evan asks her if she’s okay. She says she’s fine. He hears Pookie growling in her purse and claims he didn’t hear a thing. Nicole smiles and thanks him, then walks out. Trent lurks nearby as Nick finds an article on Max, which reads, “Ex-Race Car Driver Max Brady Spotted in France!”
