Date: 1997-1998
Eric and Lauren started seeing each other in early 1997. But it soon came to Lauren´s knowledge that her best friend Stephanie still had feelings for Eric. Lauren didn´t want to hurt Stephanie by starting a relationship with Eric, so she broke it off. But Clarke managed to make Lauren see that she had made a mistake. He told her Stephanie would only feel disgusted and betrayed if she found out later on that Lauren had feelings for Eric and would think she played Stephanie for a fool. So Lauren decided to come clean with Stephanie to resume her growing relationship with Eric. But she was too late.
One evening after visiting Taylor at the hospital, Eric took Stephanie home. She heard a noise from upstairs and they went up to check it out. He reminded her of the handgun she had in case something would happen. The mentioning of the handgun reminded Stephanie of Thorne shooting Ridge with it years before. They got to talking and Eric gave her a massage. They talked about their failed marriage and why it ended. Eric confided in her that he had been in a faze where everything looked greener on the other side of the fence – but of course it never is, he said. Stephanie wished their marriage would have survived and Eric said that the next woman who wins his heart would have an ageless inner beauty that supersedes everything. He continued saying that no matter what happened in their lives, their relationship will still be there. He found it amazing that after their years apart, those feeling they had was still there and had actually grown. Stephanie asked if he had ever wondered what if would be like if they still together, that maybe there was a reason why they were alone in the house. But she quickly took it back, saying it was silly to think it. “Let me be the judge of that”, Eric told her and one thing led to the other and they ended up making love.
The morning after, Lauren was determined to talk to Stephanie and headed over to the main house (she was living in the guesthouse at the time). Over there, Stephanie wanted to surprise Eric with breakfast. Ridge and Claudia were intrigued with the mystery person upstairs until Eric walked downstairs in a robe. Ridge wanted to know if Eric had spent the night – and in what room. In Kristen’s old room, he asked. “No”, Eric replied as he and Stephanie joked about getting such a nosy son, thinking it was because of all the times Ridge spent with Eric’s mother. Ridge asked if they were getting back together and they just cleared their throats. It was enough for Ridge to get the message and he intended to call his sisters with the good news. Just then, Lauren walked inside. Seeing Eric and Stephanie in their robes, she understood what had happened. She went on pretending that it didn’t hurt her. She acted happy for them. But Eric wasn´t too sure about her attitude. It was an uncomfortable moment for them both, as they still both had feelings for each other. Lauren wished Eric a good life with Stephanie. Eric wanted her to admit her true feelings, but she wouldn’t.
The time for the sneak preview of the Forrester fall collection came and Grant, as the new CEO decided it was to be held at his and Brooke´s house. It was to be a costume party with media and buyers as guests. Eric asked Stephanie to go there with him as his date. He needed her there to get through with the evening as they were both angry that Brooke had made Grant CEO. They dressed up as king and queen and went to the party. Lauren was there with Clarke, dressed as Romeo and Juliet. Sally convinced Lauren to come clean with Stephanie. But Lauren was again too late.
Eric took Stephanie out on the balcony and they talked about the company and Rick´s troubles with Grant. Eric was happy that Stephanie had talked to him, as she could easily resent him. Stephanie didn’t resent him at all as he was a part of Eric, which made him and Bridget apart of her too. Eric told her how happy he was that she was still such a big part of his life, even though he hadn´t always treated her good. He assured him it was in the past and she didn´t hold it against him. He knew and was thankful for it. He said he had something to tell her. Something from his heart. Then he asked her to marry him again. She was stunned, very surprised. She said he didn´t need to ask her to marry him. That he knew she would always be there for him. He said what he did knew was that he wanted her to be his wife again. Clarke spied on them from the window and realized they were falling back in love, which he told Lauren. Are you serious, you really want to do this, Stephanie asked Eric. He picked up a diamond ring from his pocked and asked again: Will you marry me? She said yes and they kissed.
They went back inside to celebrate. They told Thorne who went up on the stairs to get everyone´s attention. He started by saying the collection was done by HIS family, which angered Grant. Then he spilled the beans about Eric and Stephanie´s engagement and everyone applauded, except for Lauren, Sally and Clarke. Lauren stood there devastated as Eric and Stephanie answered questions from the media. Lauren decided it was time to move on. She congratulated Eric and Stephanie and even helped with wedding preparations. But Stephanie found out about Eric and Lauren´s relationship and was angry with Lauren for keeping it quiet. They argued and Stephanie asked Lauren to move out of the guesthouse. Eric didn´t like that Lauren and Stephanie´s friendship had ended. Sally started pushing Lauren to go after Eric, thinking Eric could never be happy with Queen Stephanie. The wedding started getting closer and Lauren decided to get Eric back. Eric wanted to stay friends with Lauren no matter Stephanie´s objections. She asked Eric how he would feel if a male friend of Stephanie´s were trying to get her. Eric supposed he wouldn´t be too thrilled about that (which he a few years later would find out…) So Eric agreed to tell Lauren to stop it by going over to her and talk about it. Lauren had prepared a special dinner for them and was very upset to learn that she couldn´t see Eric anymore. She asked him to leave and went crying into her bedroom. After a while, Eric went inside and they made love.
The morning after, he regretted it and told Lauren it could never happen again. Stephanie could never find out. He was still planning on marrying Stephanie no matter how much Lauren protested. No matter how hard she tried, Eric wouldn´t give in. Lauren went as far as to kidnap Eric and drive him up to the cabin. But it didn´t work. Eric told her it wasn´t going to happen and that he wanted Lauren to keep quiet about their night. Eric left the cabin and soon after that, Stephanie got there. She and Lauren argued again and Lauren slipped and fell into the mud… Stephanie told her that Eric would never leave her for Lauren and left.
Lauren had many chances of telling Stephanie about her night with Eric, but because of his objections she didn´t which he was thankful for. Eric had some fantasies about Lauren, but pushed it out of his mind and was set to marry Stephanie. Lauren couldn´t talk him out of it. Sally found out about Lauren and Eric´s night and that Lauren had taped it all with a camera she had in her bedroom. Sally stole the video and had a capture taken of it as a photograph. The wedding came closer and there were no hints of it getting cancelled. So Sally took the matter into her own hands. She had Darla in disguise dressed as a waitress, to place the photo in the minister’s bible. Stephanie had invited Lauren to the wedding and she had decided to go as a last attempt to stop Eric from going through with it.
The wedding started and Eric had absolutely no doubts about marrying Stephanie. Eric and Stephanie stood in front of the minister, their family and friends and pledged their love for one another, but as the minister read the Corinthians 13 and turned the page, he saw the photo and halted the wedding himself. He asked to speak to Eric and Stephanie in private. Stephanie saw the photo and Eric had to confess. Stephanie was very hurt and devastated. Eric begged her to forgive him. He couldn´t lose the most important person in his life, he told her. But she said he just had. (Read more about that here) She wouldn´t marry him, no matter how much he begged her. (Susan and John were named Stars of the week for these episodes, read that article here).
Stephanie left Eric and found Lauren outside by the pool. The women got into a fight, AGAIN, and Lauren ended up in the pool…
With the wedding off, Lauren got back hopes for a reunion with Eric, but her dreams were halted as Eric told her it wasn’t going to happen for them as he was set on winning Stephanie back. He took Stephanie out for a romantic dinner at Café Russe where Sally also happened to be dining that night. Sally called Lauren to tell her who were there and Lauren decided to go over there and surprise Eric… Lauren went up on stage and performed “Sooner or later” for all the guests, especially to Eric. (Buddy Bregman, Tracey Bregman´s father, accompanied her on the piano). She sang in her most sexual voice as she wrapped her arms around Eric.
Stephanie looked angrily on. After the song ended, Eric thanked Lauren for the turn-on. Stephanie had had enough and stood up, ready to leave. Lauren thought she had finally won him over – until Eric reached out and stopped Stephanie from leaving and gave her a passionate kiss right there at the restaurant. The morning after, Stephanie woke up finding Eric sitting on a chair by the bed, watching her. He reassured her he had slept in a guestroom. They talked and he wondered what he could do to get her back. She suggested he could court her and they kissed.
Forrester Creations were going to have their very late fashion show and Eric and Ridge were very busy putting the designs together. It was decided that the fashion show was going to set place in Lake Como, Italy. Eric had decided to ask Stephanie to marry him after the showing. So the Forresters flew to Italy and had a very successful fashion show. Lauren and Sally decided to go after them and they did, as well as sneaked in to the fashion show. Lauren wasn´t pleased as Eric and Stephanie stood in the spotlight as the audience clapped and cheered.
Afterwards, Eric wrote Stephanie a letter asking her to marry him in Como that same afternoon. He had written that if she didn’t turn up at the main square in town, he would know she didn’t want to marry him and then leave her alone. Eric went to the place where he had said they would meet and met with the mayor of the city who was going to marry them.
Stephanie decided that she wanted to marry Eric and left her hotel room. She went down to the water taxi to get a ride into town. Sally tried to stop her, but ended up in the lake.
Stephanie took a boat, but was stranded in the middle of the lake as she ran out of gas. Eric waited and waited but Stephanie never showed up. He assumed she had turned him down. Stephanie finally got a ride into town but Eric was gone. When she got back to the hotel, she found that he had already checked out. Eric was on the private plane he had hired for a honeymoon with Stephanie and was ready to fly back to Los Angeles. Lauren found him there and found out what had happened. She ended up flying home with him. But as the plane flew over Greenland, a problem occurred and the plane crashed in the middle of nowhere.
Rush, a man escaping society, was living in the area and saved their lives. He took them to his home and they recovered there. Meanwhile, Stephanie and the Forresters found out about the plane crash and hope was running out that Eric had survived. But no matter what the experts said, Stephanie refused to believe Eric had died. Rush got entangled in Eric and Lauren´s lives as they argued wheatear or not Stephanie loved Eric or not. Lauren confided herself to Rush and he grew more interested in her. He even went so far as to lock Eric in with the dogs outside in a cage. Eric escaped and Rush was crazy. Eric managed to shoot Rush before he could escape. They assumed he would die sooner or later. Times became tougher for Eric and Lauren as they couldn´t find food. They didn´t know how to survive in the wilderness. They came close on giving up.
Stephanie hired her own rescue team and she and Ridge flew to Greenland to find Eric. They managed to track them down. Eric and Stephanie reunited. They all flew back to Los Angeles and Stephanie told Eric what had happened in Italy and they decided to plan a new wedding. But the Greenland experience had changed Eric. And only Lauren could really understand what they had gone through. Stephanie on the other hand was convinced that Brooke was keeping something from Ridge and she was determined to find out what it was so she could stop him from marrying her. (Brooke was keeping the truth about Thomas paternity from Ridge). Eric didn’t believe it was more than wishful thinking from Stephanie´s side. They disagreed about it. And Eric was getting worried about Lauren and her new man, Jonny. He was Rushes twin brother. And something about him bothered Eric. They later found out Rush had taken Jonny´s place and was after Lauren. Eric figured it out in time to save Lauren from him. Rush died when Eric pushed him down the balcony.
Stephanie and Eric started having argument over the Brooke/Ridge/Taylor triangle. Stephanie was lobbying for Taylor while Eric wanted Ridge to be there for Brooke, Rick and Bridget. After a fight, Eric went over to Lauren to talk and they ended up taking a hot tub. Stephanie felt guilty over the fight and called over to Lauren and asked to speak to Eric. They talked and Stephanie apologized. Eric left Lauren’s apartment to go home. But he left his underwear there to dry after the tub bath. The next morning, Stephanie woke up, feeling afraid that she had lost Eric. But she didn’t worry long, cause Eric walked in with breakfast on bed for her, saying that her phone call meant a lot. Stephanie assured her she meant every word. That she was going to get control of her anger towards Brooke for the children’s sake. They made up with a kiss and some fruits. Lauren and Sally thought it would be fun to go over to Stephanie and let her have it, so they took Eric’s underwear and left. Stephanie opened and Sally and Lauren came in, taunting her about the underwear. Stephanie said they had underestimated her relationship with Eric if they thought she would think he and Lauren had sex the night before just because she had his underwear. The three got into a fight as Eric watched from above. Lauren and Sally really went after Stephanie, but Stephanie didn´t budge. She started counting to 10 to cool her nerves, as James had suggested she´d do. Lauren and Sally wondered what she was doing and Sally thought she´d stop her, so she took her glass of water and threw it at Stephanie.
Ridge found out he was Thomas father and that Brooke had known about it. He was furious and later chose to leave Brooke and go back to Taylor. Stephanie was happy about it, while Eric was not. He was worried about the kids and how they would handle it. Bridget didn’t take it well as she ran away from home. She later came home. Stephanie wanted to go with Eric there, but he wanted her to stay away. But she wouldn´t listen and went over despite of what Eric wanted. And she got into a fight with Brooke. Eric overheard and was furious with Stephanie. He later told her that he couldn´t marry her since she was killing him. Stephanie cried, asking him not to leave her. The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt her, but he had no choice. He left her crying and went over to Lauren.
They got together. Lauren wrote a song for Eric which she had Dionne Warwick perform for them, hoping Eric would propose to her. Although he didn´t, they stayed together for a few months before the relationship faded out. By that time, Stephanie was seeing James.
