From: Marni Centor <marni@panix.com>

GUIDING LIGHT UPDATE -- THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 1997

                       SNOOZE ALERT

Directed by Jo Anne Sedwick

Highlights (if you can call them that):
* Reva's suspicions are pricked by Annie's cameo.
* Josh reports that HB is improving.
* Holly overhears Amanda reveal the truth to Alan, who is shaken.
* Phillip takes Fletcher into his confidence about Alex's disappearance.
* Dinah wants Matt to replace the architect on the Cedars wing project.

REVA'S HOUSE: Reva broods over the possibility of Annie being her sister 
& tries to convince herself it's not true. Marah & Shayne lug a trunk 
full of old clothes downstairs & want to play dress-up. Reva remembers 
doing the same thing with Rusty when they were kids. Rusty pinned her 
wrap closed with Sarah's cameo, which looks remarkably like the one 
Annie was just wearing, rhinestones & all. 

PROVENCE, FRANCE: Josh calls Annie from the hospital. He says HB is 
doing all right, being ornery as usual. They agree this is a good sign. 
Annie sends her love to HB. Josh asks if anything is new at home. "As a 
matter of fact, there is," replies Annie.

REGENCY SUITE: Holly slips into the suite unnoticed & eavesdrops from 
the hall. Roger tries unsuccessfully to stop Amanda from revealing to 
Alan that he's not her father. She tells Alan that they're still related 
because they have the same father -- Brandon. 

Alan thinks Amanda is being preposterous. Amanda insists it's true. 
Roger can barely get a word in edgewise. Alan thinks the strain of 
planning a wedding must be getting to Amanda. She repeats that despite 
how sordid it sounds, the truth is that he's her brother, not her 
father. Alan says it's impossible that Brandon would have slept with 
Jennifer. Amanda says it's the truth & shows Alan her birth certificate. 
Alan unfurls it & temporarily loses his powers of speech.

Holly pokes her head in & makes her presence known. She assumes this 
comes as a surprise to everyone involved. No one has any comment.

FRANCE/LEWIS HOUSE: Josh asks what's going on. Annie says the kids 
wanted to spend some time with Reva, but it's not her night to have 
them. Is Josh upset that they went? Josh doesn't mind. But shouldn't 
they be home by now? It's getting late. Annie says they should be home 
soon, but she's a little concerned because Reva doesn't seem quite 
herself today. After Annie gave her the news about HB, she just walked 
out without saying anything. Annie had no idea she would be so upset.

REVA'S HOUSE: Reva thinks Marah is a gorgeous queen. She hunts for 
something to make Shayne look like a king. She finds a crown, but Shayne 
doesn't seem to interested. Reva gives the crown to Marah & goes to make 
another one for Shayne. Shayne thinks it's not fair that Marah gets all 
the good stuff & tries to take the pin holding Marah's cape closed. Reva 
flashes back on a similar fight with Rusty.

SPAULDING ENTERPRISES: Fletcher follows Phillip into his office. Phillip 
asks why the hell Fletch is following him everywhere. Fletch knows 
something is going on. Phillip is tired of Fletch playing detective & is 
extremely annoyed. Fletch explains that he & Holly waited for Alexandra 
for hours. Phillip says maybe she forgot. It happens. Fletch knows Alex 
pretty well & doesn't think she would stand him up or forget. Phillip 
breaks down, but insists that anything he tells Fletch is off the 
record. He's only telling because he knows Fletch cares about Alex. 
Phillip doesn't know where Alex is.

REGENCY: Holly tries to get some comments for the press, but the only 
one talking is Amanda, and all she has to say is, "Get out!" Roger 
escorts Holly outside, leaving Amanda & Alan alone. Amanda says Wall 
Street will have a ball with this news. Alan says he didn't know. How 
could it be? Amanda realizes Alan is telling the truth. So why has he 
hated her & treated her like dirt all these years? Alan asks where 
Amanda got the birth certificate. Amanda says she got it from Alex, 
who's been hiding it for more than a year. Alan doesn't believe this, 
because Alex would have told him. Why wouldn't she tell him? Amanda 
thinks Alex was holding onto it as an insurance policy against him, in 
case he got out of line. "My own sister," wonders Alan. "She used to be 
your only sister," says Amanda, conveniently forgetting about Victoria. 
"Not anymore. Now you've got me."

Out in the hall, Roger tells Holly that she can't print what she heard. 
Holly says the birth certificate is a matter of public record. Rog says 
if she prints the information, she will destroy lives. Holly can't 
believe Roger cares what happens to the Spauldings. "Are you really in 
love with Amanda?" she asks.

Roger says he doesn't want his fiancee's pain splattered across the 
front page. Amanda needs a chance to adjust. Holly argues that the 
Journal's readers are seriously affected by what happens at Spaulding & 
they have a right to know. Rog urges her to let Amanda break the news to 
the public. Holly asks if Amanda will give her an exclusive if she 
agrees to hold off. Roger guarantees it. It's a deal.

In the suite, Alan broods over the betrayal by his father & Alex. Amanda 
points out that Jennifer betrayed him too, by sleeping with his father. 
Alan says he loved Jennifer. Amanda guesses it didn't go both ways. Alan 
remembers that when Amanda was born, Brandon sent Jennifer away & gave 
Amanda up for adoption to "that madwoman." Amanda guesses that now they 
know why. Alan calls Brandon a bastard. Amanda allows as to how the term 
really applies to her. She gloats a bit at the poetic justice: "What 
you've done to me all my life, now your father's doing to you." 

SPAULDING: Phillip says Alex didn't take the Spaulding jet & she never 
flies commercial. He checked the flights anyway & she wasn't on any 
flight in the last 24 hours. He has no idea where she is. Fletch is 
appalled that Alex has been missing for 24 hours. Have they called the 
police? No, says Phillip. Dinah enters, wanting to talk to Alex right 
away. Phillip says it won't be possible. Dinah won't be put off--it's 
very important. 

REVA'S HOUSE: Marah sees that Reva seems sad & asks what's wrong. Reva 
says she's just tired. Marah complains that Shayne almost broke her pin. 
Reva remembers telling her mom that Rusty busted the clasp on her pin. 
[The flashback is so fuzzy that it's hard to tell the actress playing 
Sarah isn't Audrey Peters until she talks. Then it's perfectly obvious, 
so why bother fuzzing up the flashback scene so much, anyway?] Sarah 
tells Rusty that it's OK, she can have it fixed. She mentions that she 
hates the photo of her that's in the back, but it's one of Hawk's 
favorites, so she doesn't want to lose it. The kids can't play with her 
jewelry anymore. Sarah says the cameo is probably her most valuable 
piece of jewelry. It's very special to her.

Reva's memories are interrupted when Annie knocks on the door. Reva 
opens the door & stares at Annie like a frightened rabbit.

Annie asks if Reva's all right. She says she's fine. Annie comes in & 
takes off her coat, revealing that she's still wearing the cameo. She 
chats with the kids. Josh calls & tells Reva that HB is doing better. 
Reva says it's not a good time to talk because she has company. Josh 
guesses that Annie's there. Reva suggests he call back later. In the 
background, Marah asks Annie if she used to play dress-up. Josh says 
he'll call later & Reva hangs up. Annie says when she was little, she 
used to pretend to be other people, like princesses & movie stars. She 
hopes Reva didn't end her call early on her account.

SPAULDING: Dinah says she had an appointment earlier with Alex, but Alex 
didn't show up, so she wants to see her now. She notices Phillip & 
Fletch making eye contact & asks what's up. Phillip says it's nothing & 
asks what Dinah needed to talk to Alex about. After all, he is the 
president of the company. But he's not on the Spaulding Foundation 
board, says Dinah. She needed to talk to Alex about the wing Cedars is 
building in Vanessa's name. But Dinah can't believe that Alex approved 
the plans. She shows them to Phillip & says there's no way she's putting 
her mother's name on the wing because Vanessa deserves a lot better.

REGENCY: Alan doesn't know what to say. He can't believe it. Maybe it's 
a forgery or a hoax. Amanda says Rog had the birth certificate authen-
ticated. Alan says even if it's true, they're still family & they should 
keep it inside the family. He suggests going away together to talk 
things out & unravel the mess. "Please say that you will come with me."

Amanda can't quite believe her ears. Alan says they can go anywhere 
Amanda wants. She wonders why he's doing this now. Is he afraid of 
public reaction? Is it a scheme to try to get her to dump Roger? None of 
the above, says Alan. Why should Amanda trust him now? All the lies have 
been revealed, says Alan. He knows he's hurt her terribly. His father 
hated him. Alex tried to shield him. She said Brandon was cruel to Alan 
because he reminded Brandon of himself. "I think we will believe 
anything except that our own parents hate us." 

Alan knows Brandon hated him. It hurt him so much that Brandon thought 
he was weak. All these years, Alex kept up the charade that she was the 
vulnerable one & he the strong one. He wanted to believe it, but it's 
all a lie. If he were truly strong, he'd have rejected Brandon's mis-
takes rather than perpetuating the poison. He vented his anger, pain & 
loneliness onto Amanda. She did nothing to deserve it. Her only misfor-
tune was having him as a father. Maybe together they can make sense of 
the lies & salvage their relationship. Amanda could be the sister that 
Alan could trust. The sister that wouldn't betray him. The sister who 
would help him to really be strong. "Please say that you'll give me one 
more chance," he asks. He wants her to help him put the family back 
together. Amanda seems touched & on the verge of accepting, when Alan 
says too much: "Spaulding must never be taken over by Roger Thorpe."

Amanda refuses to go anywhere with Alan. "If you want to bond with a 
sister so badly, go find that viper Alex." Amanda doesn't want to talk 
about it anymore. She wants nothing to do with Alan & tells him to get 
out. He comes face-to-face with Roger at the door, but they exchange 
only glances before Alan leaves. Rog shuts the door behind him. Angrily, 
Amanda demands to know what Holly wanted.

SPAULDING: Dinah hates the architect's work. Phillip says he's the best 
money can buy. Dinah says he's designed a block of cement with no heart 
or soul or character. Phillip asks what would make Dinah happy--should 
they send the architect back to the drawing board? Dinah wants a new 
architect, someone with a vision who understands her mother's life & the 
way she saw things. Dinah is very angry & upset. Phillip thinks she 
shouldn't make such an important decision when she's feeling so 
emotional. He promises to talk to Alex about the situation & get back to 
Dinah. Dinah is about to walk out the door, then suggests hiring Matt. 
Phillip points out that Matt's a contractor, not an architect. Dinah 
still thinks he could do a better job than what she's seen so far. 
Phillip says this is fine, as long as Dinah talks to Alex first. Dinah 
refuses, and then leaves.

Fletch says Dinah is just like her mom (except for the blue eyes). She 
builds up a big head of steam, then blows it off, and only after that 
does she think things through. He thinks she'll come around. Phillip 
doubts it, because he agrees that the plans stink, but it's not his 
project. Alex has to deal with it, but she's not there. Phillip is 
worried now. He has a bad feeling. He's watching what little family he 
has left fall apart before his eyes. Fletch asks Phillip to let him know 
if he hears anything about Alex. Phillip promises. Fletch leaves. Phil 
calls the police to file a missing persons report.

REVA'S HOUSE: Reva says she didn't end her phone call because of Annie. 
She just wanted to spend more time with the kids. The kids & Annie 
continue their conversation about dress-up. Annie says she used to dress 
up as Elizabeth Taylor. She never dressed up as king & queen because she 
didn't have anyone to dress up with. But she thinks the kids look very 
regal. Reva says if they're going to be royal, they need crown jewels. 
Maybe Annie will let them borrow her cameo. Marah says Annie already 
said she couldn't borrow it. Annie says she's had the cameo as long as 
she can remember & wouldn't want anything to happen to it.

REGENCY: Rog asks what happened with Alan. Amanda says it doesn't 
matter. Rog wishes she hadn't told Alan. Amanda tells him to stop 
picking on her; she couldn't help it. Rog is concerned that Alan will 
try to block Amanda from her share of Spaulding. Amanda doesn't think 
that's where Alan's head is right now. She relates some of their 
conversation. Rog thinks Alan is nothing but self-serving when it comes 
to Spaulding. Amanda hopes Roger is wrong & that she didn't make a 
horrible mistake. Rog promises to help Amanda fight back. She asks if 
they still have a chance. Rog hugs her & promises to make sure of it.

SPAULDING: Phillip explains to the police that Alex didn't tell anyone 
where she was going & has been gone more than 24 hours. Alan enters just 
as Phillip hangs up. Phillip asks where Alan's been. He thinks Alan 
looks pale & asks if something is wrong. Alan asks if Phillip has heard 
from Alex. No, says Phil. Has Alan? Alan testily replies that he 
wouldn't have asked Phillip if he had. Phillip worries that Alex is in 
some kind of danger. Alan says she's not, at least not from anyone 
outside the family.

REVA'S HOUSE: The kids put on their coats & get ready to go. Shayne 
wants to dress up as baseball players next time. Reva gives Marah a big 
hug good-bye. Shayne hangs back, but goes to Reva for a hug when urged. 
Annie hustles the kids out the door. Annie tells Reva not to worry about 
Shayne--he's just going through a phase. Reva's face hardens. Annie 
leaves. Josh calls back immediately, as if he could see the door 
closing. He reports that HB's doctors are cautiously optimistic. Reva is 
very glad to hear this. Josh says HB is already trying to get the 
nurse's phone number.

Josh asks about the rest of Reva's trip to Chicago. She says it was 
pretty much a dead end. Josh wishes he could be there to help Reva, but 
she thinks he needs to be with his dad. He asks what she plans to do 
next. Reva's not sure. She'll think about it tomorrow. Reva sends her 
love to HB, and they hang up. Reva says Bud can't help her with this 
one. She takes out her box of photos, looking for one of Annie. She 
finds one with Annie & the kids & says she's going to find out who her 
sister is, once and for all, as the screen fades to black.


--Marni (marni@panix.com)



