EPISODE 54
Written by: Bre L. Drew
Last Time On Town and Country
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The parole board meeting for Will's early release is approaching.
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Max advised Shauna to be there for her grandmother no matter what.
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Sean asked Tricia to move in with him - she agreed.
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Peter disliked Louise's idea of going into organic dairy,
THE WATERFALL BAR: JACKSON APARTMENT
Today is the meeting of the parole board where they'll determine whether Will Jackson will be eligible for early release from prison. And Mae Jackson decided to keep her mind at ease this morning by changing the linen on his bed. She can't remember the last time she has stepped foot in his bedroom since he was sentenced. Now she hopes beyond hope that her son will come home where he belongs.
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Outside of the door, Shauna Jackson is intensely contemplating to go talk to her. The two disagreed on her uncle coming home when she found out that it was being kept from her. She never can see him the same after he was arrested for fraud three years ago. However, she recalls Max telling her perhaps her grandmother needs right now is her family.
Of the corner of her eye, she sees Antoine Hall coming out of his room dressed in a blue Sonoma button-down t-shirt and jeans. He too seems a bit more cautious approaching her than usual.
"Long time no see," Antoine remarks
The ex-lovers were careful not to run into each other since Shauna declared that she isn't in love with him and is in love with Max, despite their past feelings for one another. Besides Antoine is becoming more attracted to Nichelle. All he truly wants at the moment is to remain to be friends with her.
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"Hey," she says nonchalantly.
Continuously she still is standing by Will's bedroom door.
"Never known you to back down from anything," he tells her.
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Antoine knows possible that with Will possibly coming home is hard on the women. Yet it hadn't dawned on him how it will affect him too. He had gotten to be the man of the house since he went to prison.
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He and Will had gotten along all right since they first met when Shauna had introduced him to her family when he moved to Radcliffe in the tenth grade with his mother. And since he was the only man of the house he has tried to step up to make Mae not regretful of taking him in when things got tough for him years ago.
"I'm not afraid," she speaks in between strained and normal.
"Would it help if I go in with you?"
Shauna turns around with a strong look of disapproval.
Antoine throws his hands up in resignation. "I know you with your man." Just like I'm with Nichelle."
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With some hesitation, Shauna is accompanied by Antoine inside the room. They both see Mae putting a pillow on the head of the mattress. She spots them when she turns her head to the door.
WHEELER BUILDING: APT # 424
Located within Old Factory Town near downtown Radcliffe Formerly the location of a wool factory that went out of business decades prior. Now stood the five-story Wheeler Apartment Building with 85% resident occupancy.
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Behind the closed door of 424, Sean Lockhart feels somewhat at ease inside his new home finally looking somewhat habitable which is a far cry from the chaotic state it was in between his things along with his girlfriend Tricia Meyer who has already taken most of their bedroom closet with all of her clothes and shoes. He also had joked that he needs to build her own separate room for it go in.
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Tricia saunters in her heels towards him in a glamorous get-up of a short-sleeve Chloe Persian shirt paired with orange leather pants that shows off her terrific figure.
He puts his broad arms around her slim body.
"Have I told you how glad I am that you agreed to move in with me?"
Tricia pouts her lips. "Aren't you sweet,"
The two of them kiss passionately.
"Sean, are you sure that you don't want me around when your daughters get here?" Tricia questions boldly
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He had invited both of his daughters to come over to the apartment so they can all hang out together here. Sean is adamant about reconnecting with his girls. And he knows that he must tell them about the woman they see as the one who stole him away from their mother is living here with him. He plans to be honest with them now more than ever since he doesn't want another hiccup between his children and himself.
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Sean shakes his head. "No, I need to do this on my own besides my girls are feisty, so when they find out about me and you living together, you don't want to be around Trish."
"You're forgetting that I once was sixteen, so you don't have to protect me," Tricia says loosely, "But I respect your wishes. One more kiss for the road." she replies.
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Sean and Tricia begin making out more feverishly than before. He almost gets caught up in almost having sex until Tricia teases him that was just the preview and that the coming attraction is later on. She puts her boyfriend's keys to his truck off the granite counter into her orange clutch bag.
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She makes her way to the elevator bank, where she presses the down arrow button. On the other elevator, she stares at a pair of young women with their arms linked through one another. Tricia hadn't imagined she would first make contact with her lover's daughters in passing. As the elevator open, she puts her designer sunglasses on her face before getting on.
FRANKLIN FARM : MAIN HOUSE
After eating breakfast in the kitchen inside his home, Peter Saunders finds himself reading the last few sentences of the sports section in the Radcliffe Chronicle. He then places the newspaper on the table in front of him.
His train of thought is still focused on the disagreement he had his with his eldest daughter about whether or not they should commit to her idea of the farm delving into the organic dairy business. He was adamant about not straying away from that business model. If that wasn't difficult enough; Esther accused him of acting like their late father who did not value women's insight when it comes to running the farm. He isn't a chauvinist like his daddy was, but he too is the type of person who believes in the old adage if ain't broke don't fix it which means Franklin Farm Ltd. will continue to produce dairy products without all of the hassles that come with such a big undertaking.
He hadn't realized until the water from the faucet was turned off that his wife was still in the room.
"Babe, I hate to say this, but you look miles away." Sarah Lynn Saunders says
She had just finished cleaning the dishes. With forty-six years of marriage, she is all too familiar with the moods of her husband. She takes a seat near him at the table.
He slightly smirks at her. "Am I am making all of this a bigger situation than it is Sare?"
Sarah Lynn tosses some of her blonde hair off her shoulders. "I wouldn't put it that way, look I know how you a man of tradition so you see this as a huge transition."
Peter rubs his chin. "Is that a way of saying I am an old ass man who doesn't like change? "
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His wife chortles. "I thought I'd to put it more -- diplomatically." It's nothing wrong with change, besides it ain't the first time you questioned Louise on her decisions when it comes running Franklin Farm Peter."
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He knows that when he promoted his daughter to take more control of the business side of the farm he had some reservations about his decision such as wondering if she can handle meetings with various suppliers or if she has what it takes to do the job.
"I dunno what to do should I give into her idea, or keep on what we've been doing for generations?"
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Sarah Lynn rises from the chair to stand behind her husband. She uses her hands to massage her husband's back to relieve the knots in his back.
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"That feels so good," Peter says with alleviation.
"Thought it would, you know maybe you should consider actually listening to our daughter maybe the both of you can come with some sort of compromise."
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Peter remains silent whilst Sarah kept rubbing his back, deciding to do just that when he sees Louise.
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COVINGTON GROUP
In her office on one of the executive floors located in the Covington Tower. Courtney Covington is behind the desk finally getting to the invoice of the renovation that is currently being done at Jojo's Café. To her astonishment, the budget was significantly under her estimation. In addition to overseeing the café, she has meetings scheduled for potential buyers and renters for retail space the company is developing as well.
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She answers her office telephone on the third ring her secretary Noreen lets her know someone is here to see her. A few seconds later, Courtney's face lights up when she sees Max Covington walking in with a bag of take-out food.
Walking from behind the desk, she hugs her older brother.
"Bad time little sis?" Max inquires thoughtfully
"For you never, have a seat," she assures him.
He notifies his sister that he wanted to spoil her with lunch that consists of two bacon cheeseburgers, French fries, a salad and diet coke for Courtney and a regular coke for him.
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"This is heaven," Courtney says whilst munching on a fry.
"Beats the hell out of the cafeteria downstairs, doesn't it?" Max sips his soda.
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Courtney had been so preoccupied she didn't even know it was lunchtime.
"Things with Shauna, are they going better," she asks carefully.
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She knows that he wasn't happy that he found out that Antoine had slept with his girlfriend when they were teenagers, which caused a rift between the couple. Courtney wasn't the type to bring something up that made anyone feel uncomfortable.
"Believe it or not we're in a much better place now even with -- he shall not be named bragging he slept with Shauna when they were younger."
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THE WATERFALL BAR: JACKSON APARTMENT
"When Will comes home, can you two at least be civil with him he is going to have a hard enough time being out of prison he should have his family to depend on," Mae says
Shauna sighs reluctantly. "We'll try to be civil with him. " Won't we Antoine?" she adds.
Antoine nods tentatively.
"Why you ain't at the prison with him?" Antoine inquires his surrogate grandmother figure.
He knows that Mae would've dropped everything to be with her youngest child at the meeting with the parole board.
Mae drops both of her arms at her side. "I wanted to be there, but Will said, he'll be fine without me there." Anyway, Vernon is there with him, which is good."
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Vernon Watson is Will's attorney who has represented him since his initial hearing. He was the one who got his sentence to be shorter than it could've been.
Antoine moves toward the headboard shelf where he turns on the boombox that Will has had as a teenager. He gets her to dance to Cameo's Back and Forth.
"Well, we are here to keep you, company grandma," Shauna says cheerfully.
"Yeah Ms. Mae, we bout to old school step come on now, I know you got some moves," Antoine says encouragingly.
With the funky beat, the three of them start dancing to the throwback jam. The three of them our grooving like they used to when the bar held events or just a random day in between cooking in the kitchen.
They were all forgetting what they all were waiting for until the sounds of Mae's iPhone emitting on the dresser. A mix of trepidation and hope wash over the Jackson matriarch as she goes to retrieve the phone in which both Shauna and Antoine can perceive. She quickly gestures him to turn down the radio.
"Hello," she answers lightly. She instantly recognizes the voice of Will's attorney over the other end of the conversation. About a minute of discussing the decision granted at the parole boarding meeting. She gets off the phone. Standing still she reflects on what she just was told.
"Mae, are you okay?" Antoine asks concerningly.
"Yeah, uh I guess -- I got my hopes up, Will's parole was denied."
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Shauna heads over to where her grandmother is. "How is that possible?"
Even though she wasn't keen on her uncle coming home early, she thought that he would have a chance for early release due to basically completing his prison sentence.
Antoine clears his throat. "Nichelle told me that the statistics of black non-violent offenders being denied parole is high." He feels that she wasn't in the mood to hear that fact.
"I'll be downstairs setting up the bar if anyone needs me." he then kisses Mae's cheek before taking off downstairs.
Shauna is about to speak when she is informed that Mae wants to be alone for a little while. Respectfully she leaves the room but not before spinning around before going back out in the hall.
Water starts dispensing from her eyes. Saddened over her prayer not being received. She should've been on her way to the Hudson County Correctional Facility to take her son out of the hell hole. He should've been welcomed home with his homecooked favorite food. Now she has to wait until the fall for all of that to happen.
"Why can't I have my own flesh and blood under one roof again?" she whispers to herself before being quiet again.
COVINGTON GROUP
Courtney has always been aware that deep down his sardonic nature, her big brother is a romantic who often falls fast and hard for the women he starts seeing. Though he seems different when the topic of Shauna comes up like a shining glimmer appears on his face.
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"Can you believe that all three of us are in a relationship?"
"And two of the three are seeing members of Dad's favorite family" Max answers jokingly
The Covington and Saunders families have a rivalry that dates back for years. And now Courtney has been seeing Steven and Tommy has started dating Tanner.
"Moving on," Courtney says in a tone that she is ready to change the subject.
About fifteen minutes has passed of them eating and talking. Max receives a text from his girlfriend on his iPhone.
"Damn!" he swears
"What's wrong?" Courtney seeks curiously
"Her uncle isn't getting out of prison today as they thought."
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Max had confided in his sister about everything a few days ago.
"The prison system is complicated, to say the least." So are you going over to the bar to be with Shauna?" she wonders aloud.
"In a heartbeat, but she also texted that she wanted to be there for her grandmother all day so I'll see her tomorrow."
As he takes a bite of his burger, he wishes that Antoine will not use this outcome to his advantage to have some sort of rendezvous with the woman he loves.
WHEELER BUILDING: APT# 424
"Wow this is not bad," Lynn Lockhart says referring to the interior of the apartment.
"Not a bad fedora kiddo," he compliments her back on the hat she has on her head.
Tanner, however, had her arms folded thinking to herself that only last year that both of her parents were living under the same roof.
"It's nice daddy," Tanner says lowly.
"Pretty Princess, you know we all are going through some major adjustments."
He had given them the tour of the apartment glad that the twins seem impressed with their bedroom that they'll be sharing when they will come to stay here.
Sean puts his hands on his hips. "I'm going to have to talk both of your --
"Boyfriends," Tanner adds correctly.
"Please don't," Lynn says as it is the last thing she wants.
Sean couldn't believe that both of his daughters are now dating boys. It seemed like he missed so much by moving out of the cottage.
The girls told him that they're dating, Elijah Barker and Tommy Covington respectively.
"As your father, it is my job to grill the boys that have the privilege of seeing you two. " Besides it'll give me time to get to know Junior to see if he is anything like that father of his. I won't be responsible for my actions. Anyway, I have something to tell you two."
The fraternal twins take a seat on the black and beige tweed sofa in the living room. Sean perches himself on the love chair adjacent to the couch.
"What's going on Dad?" Tanner inquires thoughtfully
Sean claps his hand together. "It is no easy way of saying this, so I'm going to tell you this because I love you and don't want any more secrets between the three of us. " Tricia and I will be living here together."
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The mere mention of the woman's name dissatisfies the Lockhart twins.
Tanner thought that he saw the light and dump the woman he cheated on their mother with. She has the knowledge that he isn't a monk. She thought he would be with someone else with no prior history of ruining their family.
"That witch broke up our family, how can you? " Lynn says angrily
"I love her, in fact, she knows that maintaining a relationship with you two is important to me ." he insists.
Tanner stands up and gets closer to her father. "We weren't important enough when you let that woman move in. "
Sean can't deny that he hardly considered them when he asked her to pick up her life to move two-thousand miles away. Yet he wants them to try and get along with her since she is the one that he wants to spend the rest of his life with.
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Pounding on the door gets Sean's attention which also temporarily interrupts their argument.
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Coming through the door is Tricia holding several shopping bags from various stores. Sean wondered did she forget already that she supposed to be out longer, but he knows that it wasn't the right time to act as if the situation is not complicated.
"Oh, great, " Lynn murmurs sarcastically. "You all right?" she whispers to her twin sister, who senses the same anger she is feeling too.
Tanner moves pieces of her dark brown hair out of her face. "You know the answer to that question." she retorts
Tricia puts the bags on the credenza before Sean introduces the three women for the first time.
In her most pleasant voice, she welcomingly greets her lover's teenage twin daughters. She sees the blonde one who looks similar like her mother and the brunette one has her father's facial features though have physical traits of the opposite parent as well.
"I wish - that - I could say that it's good to meet you." Come on Lenny." Tanner remarks in a quivering state.
The twins reach the door where they leave out of the apartment heading towards the hallway to the elevators. Sean closes the door back reluctantly.
"Was it something I said?" Tricia suggests
"No, it's just going to take some time for them to see you're an amazing person," Sean says candidly.
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She holds him lovingly in her arms.
Purposely she wrapped up her shopping spree short because she'll be damned if she was going to let two adolescents and their bitch of a mother destroy what she has with him.
END OF EPISODE
ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF TOWN AND COUNTRY
Tanner, Lynn, Tommy, and Elijah attend Jordan's party.
Louise and Tricia have it out.
Steven and Courtney have a romantic evening out.
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