Ridge practically forced Eric to retire before changing his mind and suggesting Eric could stay if he wanted. Of course, that didn’t exactly make Eric feel welcome and wanted in his own family business!

Ridge pushed Eric out the door right before Christmas and halfheartedly opened it back up just a crack. It’s easy to see why Eric didn’t rush back to work at Forrester Creations, even if he’s been struggling to adjust to retirement.

Eric needs a new sense of purpose and a chance to feel truly valued. Katie Spencer (Heather Tom) should be able to offer all that, so we have no doubt that Eric will end up designing at her new fashion house soon.

Naturally, Ridge might complain about Eric’s stressful new job and argue that he should stick to retirement or at least do a simple part-time gig at Forrester.

Perhaps Ridge will insist the only reason he was willing to consider a retirement reversal was because he knew they could keep a close eye on Eric.

That can’t happen when Eric’s running himself ragged at Katie’s brand-new fashion house, which will take a lot of effort to get off the ground.

However, Eric may contend that he knows his own limits and push Ridge to back off. This might turn into yet another huge argument and could potentially set the stage for a father-son wager.

What if Ridge challenges Eric to one last fashion showdown? The terms might include something about Eric retiring for good if he loses to Ridge once more.

If Eric wins, he might convince Ridge to stop all this retirement talk and just trust him to know when it’s time to go.

Eric would surely like an opportunity to beat Ridge for real since he was duped into thinking he won last time around. Maybe Eric could make it his mission to defeat Ridge and his own family company in the process.

This would ultimately be a feud between Forrester Creations and Katie’s new fashion house as well. What better way to have these rivals go head-to-head than through a classic fashion faceoff?

The Bold and the Beautiful spoilers say Ridge may get updates on Eric’s new designer position and flip out, so stay tuned for his outraged reaction to that news.