EPISODE 53
Written by: Bre L. Drew
Last Time On Town and Country
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Shauna and Mae disagreed over the possiblity of Will's chance of getting out of prison early.
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Antoine started to develop feelings for Nichelle.
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One year ago 'Town & Country' first premiered in 2018.
THE WATERFALL BAR
THE WATERFALL BAR
Beyoncé's rendition of 'Before I Let Go' is playing throughout the bar. The patrons our catching up on the latest local gossip. Meanwhile, in between servicing those customers. Antoine Hall is drying shot glasses with a cloth. He decides to puts on a friendly smile on when he sees Steven Sullivan taking a seat in front of him.
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The men exchange a simple hand slap. "Hey, how you doing man?" Steven greets the bartender.
"All right, haven't seen you in a minute man."
The two have maintained a friendship over the year or so that Steven moved back to town from living in Lexington. They first met years ago when he was still married to his ex when he came to Radcliffe to visit the rest of the Saunders' for Thanksgiving. He was introduced to him by Mae when he came to visit.
"I've been on call at the animal clinic non-stop since I took my son back to Orlando."
Steven orders himself a chicken salad and iced tea. Although he prefers a beer he is still on call meaning he would have to rush out to any location or even back to the clinic to treat a sick animal.
Antoine returns with his food and drink.
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Steven recognizes a certain glow on his friend. "I recognize that look someone is in love."
Antoine holds up his hands to refute that observation. "Let me stop you right there man I ain't in love. he shrugs, "more like a strong like. "
Steven takes a few bites of his salad. "Who is the lucky lady?"
A reluctant delight creeps on his face as he begins telling Steven about Nichelle in a sincere manner.
"Good to hear that cause it seemed for a while." Steven displays hesitance. "Never mind."
"Never mind what?"
Steven exhales moderately "Well, I remember when you had a thing for Shauna not long ago."
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FRANKLIN FARM: MAIN HOUSE
FRANKLIN FARM: MAIN HOUSE
Louise Saunders Lockhart is quite grateful for the busy day so far. It does help her to take her mind away from her post-marital issues. She is walking back from the barn where she had assisted the farmhands with bucket feeding the cows that will be soon ready for milk production.
For the past couple of days now she has been getting up the gumption to run something by her dad that has to do with potentially expanding their business.
Entering through the door to the kitchen she sees her father and Esther sitting down at the table. Both of them turns around with looks of concern.
"Do I wanna know what is going on?" Louise vocalizes
Peter throws a look to his sister then back to his daughter. "You better sit down for what we gotta tell you, sweetheart."
"No, I think I better stand for this," Louise says adamantly.
"Told you she would say that," Esther mentions with a hint of optimism.
Louise has no idea what they want to tell her hoping it isn't anything troubling. She didn't need any surprises for today she doesn't think she couldn't handle it right now.
Peter gets out of the chair grabs a sheet of paper that is in the center of the table. He hands it to her as he watches carefully taking in the information that she is currently being read.
"Wow, these numbers are impressive, so this is what you two were hiding from me?" she says in an upbeat manner.
The sales report had concluded that the gross profit of items sold at MarketFresh Stores since their deal took place.
"It was your Aunt's idea to surprise you." her father explains.
Still holding the piece of paper in her hand. "At least one part of my life is going smoothly."
"What are you talking about?" Esther asks partially with concern and nosiness
Louise wasn't in the mood to talk about the run-in the other morning with her ex-husband's mistress.
"Dad, are you busy?"
"Not particularly, what's going on?" her dad states.
​
HOME FARM: GUEST HOUSE
In the post-coital state, Max Covington is more than delighted to have his girlfriend Shauna Jackson in his arms. The couple is lying in bed upstairs in one of the three bedrooms inside of the guest house on the Home Farm Estate which he uses as an office for his photography business.
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He gazes up to see Shauna with an expression of sadness upon her. In spite of her being in a purple lingerie negligee.
"Am I wrong to assume that sex together wasn't as pleasurable for you than it was for me this time?" Max asks doing his best to lighten the mood.
"Oh no, it was great as usual." She replies.
Max grins hard.
"Look at you feeling yourself, no it's -- just some things I am dealing with, more like trying to avoid."
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Max holds her a tad tighter. "I'm here if you want to talk about it."
Shauna sighs whilst delicately moving Max's arm off of her.
"My grandmother and I got into a big argument the other day."
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He is quite stunned to hear this since she has known her she has been extremely close to the woman who predominately raised due to her mother choosing to be out of the picture from most of her life.
Shauna turns over to place her lips on her boyfriend's she then starts smooching him rather sensually.
Stopping her from trying to change the subject from trying to avoid talking about it sensing that she does have to get it out of her system.
"What are you doing?"
"Tell me what is going on."
THE WATERFALL BAR
"Movin on brother, Movin on."
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Truthfully Antoine hasn't exactly gotten over the first girl he had sex with and developed legit feelings for as long as he has known her. But since she made it clear that she does like the skinny white boy more than he thought she did.
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He has been hanging out more with Nichelle whom he likes her company and not to mention she is a sexy girl who doesn't come with all type of complications and of course the most important she is single.
"I've been in a similar situation to yours," Steven says retrospectively.
"You talkin about Courtney and your ex-wife?"
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Steven shakes his head denying the question. "Oh no this happened a long time ago, I was with my high school girlfriend Linda Hawthrone."
"Yeah, I met her when she came here for Horace's funeral."
Horace was Mae's husband and Shauna's grandfather who passed away two years ago.
He takes a few sips of the tea through the straw. "She was best friends with Cassie, Shauna's mother, in fact, the three of us were like the three musketeers back then. "When we got together the two of us were so inseparable we even went to the same college. "But in the long run us being together for all of that time made her realize we hadn't found ourselves without the other, so on graduation day at Eastern Kentucky I received not only my degree but a broken heart when Linda broke up with me too."
Eventually, Linda went on to become a successful television journalist who is now presently working as an American Correspondent for the BBC in London.
"What you mean?" Antoine inquires
Steven puts his fork down on a napkin. "Sometimes that the first person you fall in love isn't always the one you should end up with." Don't let yourself get caught up on what you could've had with Shauna and miss out on what you can have with the woman you're in strong like with."
Antoine is beginning now to comprehend what his friend is telling him, by coincidence however he sees Nichelle walking into the bar wearing a multi-color floral print reversible ruffle duster, a pair of blue jean capris and ballerina flats. When she gets to the bar, she sets her purse down on it as she is happy to see her lover she greets him with a kiss.
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"Steven, Nichelle, Nichelle, Steven." Antoine introduces the two strangers.
Steven makes eye contact with the woman that Antoine is currently seeing. "Nice to meet you."
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"You too," Nichelle says with a smile.
A chime comes from the older guy's iPhone in which he picks up near his glass.
"I hate to be rude, but I have an emergency back at the l clinic a dog swallowed a nail." See you later Toine, and nice to meet you Nichelle.
"You too Steven," Nichelle remarks.
"I made a decision." Nichelle declares confidently
Antoine begins cleaning where the veterinarian was stationed at. "Your apartment or mine?" he suggests
Nichelle playfully swats at him. "No, nothing like that I decided that I'm going to take the bar in the fall."
Antoine knows that Nichelle had been wrestling with the decision either to take the bar exam next month or to postpone it. Nichelle graduates from law school next week. "Are you sure about that?"
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"Yeah, I mean I still will be working at the non-profit law firm through the summer." Besides, it will give me enough time to prepare myself to take it and pass it on the first try."
"With all of that damn studying you do, I'm sure you can do it blindfold," Antione replies encouragingly.
"Thanks, can I get a glass of white wine please?"
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"Your wish is my command baby," Antoine tells her.
HOME FARM: GUEST HOUSE
Shauna rises in the bed putting the comforter to cover her legs. "We got into it about my Uncle Will it's a chance that he might be getting out of prison earlier than expected."
Max is the one who lifts himself to be at eye level with her. "We've been seeing each other for months now, and this is the first you ever said having an uncle Shauna."
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Shauna is uncertain to go any further. "Talking about my uncle brings back memories of him stealing from my grandfather when he was dying so he can save his online retail business." Not to mention seeing him breaking my grandmother's heart when he was arrested for check fraud." But now my grandmother wants us to forget all about that and in her own words welcome him with open arms. " she sniffles. "Sorry if I sound like an ungrateful brat or something."
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Max puts his arm around her. "No, you do have the right to be concern about your uncle coming home. "
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"My grandma is so easily forgiving."
"I don't think Mae wants you to rush to forgive Will. She wants her family back together any way she can."
Shauna sighs exhaustingly. "I suppose,"
She is curious when Max gets out of bed without his shirt on to grab one of his smaller digital cameras off his desk.
"Max, what are you doing?"
"Say Cheese," Max says
"Oh god no, I'm not in the mood to -- ."
"Just do what I say ok," Max says nicely.
Shauna strives to do a pose she remembers from watching America's Next Top Model. As her lover takes what feels like several snapshots of her on the bed.
Max puts down the device. "How are you feeling?"
"Not bad now, you were trying to make me feel better weren't you?" she beams.
Max arches one of his eyebrows. " And I see it has worked."
Shauna slides off the bed as she embraces Max into a clinch. "Think it is one more thing that is going to keep me in a good too."
They end up making out which resorts to them getting back in bed making love.
FRANKLIN FARM: MAIN HOUSE
Louise sets aside the sales report on the counter. "I have a way to grow our product line which will give us a leg up in stores."
"What's that?" bribing the USDA?" he chuckles
Once again Louise feels that she is not being taken seriously. Even though she has been managing the farm for ten years, she is still treated like a little girl who is playing pretend instead of a woman who graduated from university with a degree in agriculture.
"I think we can expand the line by getting into organic dairy."
From his nonchalant disposition, he is possessing she already can tell what he is going to tell her.
"Answer is no," he says without mincing any words.
"Now Petey hear her out," Esther replies defensively.
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Louise already had prepared herself for his response for the man who rarely accepts any change whether it be professional or personal.
"Dad, more consumers are not only buying organic milk, but eggs, cheese, and yogurt without pesticides, "Louise mentions factually."Plus we will be able to charge more due to the costs going into it."
Peter crosses his arms onto his chest. "Let's not forget they're also many cons to going into organic farming such as time commitment and productivity."
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"Guess for now we can agree to disagree," Louise tells her father.
She trails out of the kitchen back outside to clear her head when she will get back to work.
It does not take long for Esther to leave the table to get closer to Peter so she can take her little brother to task about the way he treated his daughter a moment ago.
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"I think it is a good idea to at least consider."
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Peter sucks his teeth. "Too many people getting involved in the well-being in the farm, first Danny Boy and now ---
Esther interjects. "If our father wasn't in the ground, I would swear that you're him right now, he too was so dismissive of women's opinions especially when it came to the business side of the farm remember that little brother ?"
Jimmy Saunders was a man of old school conservative values who often saw women belonging barefoot and pregnant whilst the men were the providers. That is the reasoning why Esther behind to pursue a college education so she can prove to herself and men that she can be qualified to be her own boss.
I'm not daddy Esther, but this farm has been doing well for years we shouldn't be rocking the boat with any sudden change." I gotta go I am taking Sare out to lunch to celebrate our anniversary see ya later."
END OF EPISODE
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ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF TOWN AND COUNTRY
Sean decides to be upfront.
The Jacksons will find out if Will gets out of prison.
And Much More!
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