Thomas Forrester appears to have made his exit on Bold and the Beautiful with Douglas in tow

While there's still time for Hope to make a mad dash to the airport to go catch Thomas before he and their son, Douglas, hop a plane to France, it looks like that's not going to be in the cards for Thope fans holding onto hope. Although it hasn't been confirmed that Matthew Atkinson has departed The Bold and the Beautiful, or that he's going to be taking a scheduled hiatus and will return to soap later in the year, it does appear that we won't be seeing him for the foreseeable future. Unless, of course, we get to see him from time to time overseas.

On Thursday, March 28's episode of the daytime program, Thomas bid farewell to Ridge and Steffy in the CEO office at Forrester Creations as did Douglas (played by Henry Joseph Samiri). The moment came after Douglas informed Hope that he wanted to go with his dad and that he was upset she'd rejected Thomas' proposal once again. He'd had his heart set on his parents getting married but now he believes it won't ever happen, so he wants to be there for Thomas.

The father-son duo are off to Paris, the soap's favorite locale for Forresters who need to get out of Los Angeles. It's Steffy Forrester's usual go-to when she is running from a broken heart or removing her children from a bad situation. It's also where Forrester International is located so that's where Thomas will be working from off-screen.

If Atkinson's hiatus is brief, we could see him in May or at least by the summer. However, if Thomas is being written out for a significant amount of time, it's possible we won't see him return until the fall. I'll keep you posted as more news comes in but for right now, we get to revel in the drama that's going to come from his departure.

Hope went from being devastated to harboring a lot of anger in March 28's episode. She even hurled Thomas' engagement ring into a rack of clothes, so you know that ire is going to need somewhere to go. Considering the episode ended with Steffy crowing over her victory in front of Hope and making sure to rub her nose in the fact that she'd successfully gotten her brother to leave her, those two are about to have a feud that's one for the ages.

But hopefully Atkinson won't be gone for too long. Thomas Forrester has become a fan favorite on The Bold and the Beautiful, and it'll be good to have him back on the soap with a fresh perspective and perhaps even a new love interest if the writers want to try him in a relationship with someone else before they inevitably give Thope another go.