EPISODE 47
Written by: Bre L. Drew
Last Time On Town and Country
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Steven got call from Lorraine telling him that their son Evan and herself were injured in a car accident. He decided to travel to Orlando to be with him. - Much to the disappointment of Courtney.
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Shauna saw Antoine having sex with Nichelle.
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Elijah asked Lynn out on a date.
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Antoine suggested a double date with himself, Nichelle, Shauna, and Max.
SUNCOAST CONDOMINIUMS: SULLIVAN RESIDENCE, ORLANDO, FLORIDA
For Steven Sullivan, the last twenty-four hours have been a whirlwind. In enough time he was able to get back to the farm to pack, but not before telling his uncle and aunt the details of his last-minute trip. Whilst in the middle of getting clothes in his suitcase. His mother came into his bedroom seeking more answers to her questions that he didn't have.
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Finally, she said boldly.
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"I'm going with you, so get on that app thing to book me a ticket too."
She heads out of the room to her own room to get ready.
As much as he wanted to tell her she didn't have to come. It wouldn't do any good knowing she wouldn't be left out of the well-being of her grandson.
Even though, she strongly despises his mother so much that she lied to her that if she didn't bring Evan to come to visit him or she would convince him to file for joint custody.
They were on the next plane to Orlando. Three and a half hours later they were in the rental car heading to the hospital. Near midnight, they both found Evan asleep in the triage, as Lorraine was surprised to see her ex-husband and mother-in-law.
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Yet, everything she has been through regarding the accident including her Jeep Cherokee being totaled. She knows that she is not in the position to complain.
It's no secret that she does not have a sordid history with the older woman.
After exchanging conversation about how and what happened to them on the road.
The emergency room physician discharges her from the hospital. The man in his mid-thirties apologizes for the delay due to a shortage of staff.
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The prognosis is that her leg is broken nonetheless it does not require any surgery, and it'll take five to eight weeks, to fully recover from her injuries.
Steven dropped off Esther at the hotel since he participated to crash on the couch at Lorraine and Evan's condo. When he got there, he barely remembers tucking in his son nor making sure that Lorraine had everything before she drifted off to sleep.
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Around ten hours later he was awakened from the comfortable couch in the living room by the sun shining through the valance.
"Daddy," Evan says enthusiastically.
Albeit a few scars from the accident on his body, he still is the joyful little boy he raised.
"Hey big man, want some breakfast?"
Evan nods his head.
Steven enters into the sizable kitchen to fix them some cereal.
The sounds of Lorraine's crutches can be heard before she even can be seen. Still, with her cast on her leg and slower mobility, he is grateful that nothing else seriously happened to both of them.
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She had on her pajamas, consisting of a silk purple tank top and yoga pants.
"Morning, hey thanks for coming down here, I appreciate it, Steven."
"No problem," he said. "I missed out on so much already."
Lorraine knows that it still bothers him that, after their divorce, she purposely kept their son away from him because he wasn't supportive of her going out to audition for a prestigious dance company in Seattle. Though he is only a few feet away, they weren't going to accuse the other.
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"Do you think you should be up walking around?"
"More like hopping, you know me by now that not even a broken leg and fractured ribs can't keep me down. hate to see you this way with Courtney."
"Dammit," he whispers.
With everything going on he had forgotten to call her to let her know he made it to the airport. He grabs his phone and takes it in his son's bedroom to have some privacy.
Four long rings, she comes alive over the phone.
"Hey"
"I'm so sorry I didn't call you last night, we were all tired, Oh I forgot to mention that my mother came with me to Orlando too."
"How are they? " she asks in a respectful tone of voice.
He knows that she wasn't too pleased about their date at the bar getting interrupted with him taking off to come here. Knowing if it was the other way around he would remain supportive.
Steven also informs her that his ex-wife is going to be taking the rest of the school year off from teaching.
"How long are you staying?" Courtney asks reluctantly.
He sighs. "Ugh, I'm not sure yet, but I'll promise when I get back I'll make everything up to you."
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"I love you," she says yearningly.
"Love you too, bye."
He ends the call.
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As he leaves out, he wanted to know what exactly did she want with him?
He goes into the dining room where Lorraine is sitting down in one chair and has her casted leg in another chair, a cup of coffee is in front of her on the table. Her crutches our on the back of the chair where she is resting her limb.
"We need to talk," she says with a hint of a nervous smirk.
Steven takes a seat at the head of the table near her.
Taking strands of her brown hair behind both of her ears.
"I finally was able to get in touch with my father," Lorraine says cautiously. "He is taking the first flight out of Havana in a few hours."
An incredulous look occurred on Steven's face. "Your father and stepmother went on vacation to Cuba?"
"I know," Lorraine says matching his tone of unbelievability.
Hank Bianchi, Lorraine's father who has voted Republican since he was 18 and is straight-laced as they came. He lives in Bethesda and has worked the same government job in D.C. for forty years. He never likes the idea of his only child being a dancer. Often referring it to as a "Gypsy Lifestyle" Although, he would swim across the ocean to make sure his family is taken care of.
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"Bette, of course, is staying for a few more days, no surprise there." Lorraine concludes.
Bette is Hank's wife, the two married when Lorraine was 22, sadly there is no love between the two women. It doesn't help that Lorraine's late mother and Bette were good friends. Lorraine still thinks that she took advantage of her father's grief since they got married three months after burying his wife and her friend. Every year the couple takes seasonal vacations which is obviously Bette's idea. Bette's own children hardly stay in contact with her also disagreeing with their mother's ways as well.
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"My dad is going to have his hands full with taking care of me, so I was hoping ... "
He interjects "I think I know what you're asking and the answer is yes,"
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EIGHT HOURS LATER
LOCKHART LAKE COTTAGE
Lynn Lockhart never considered herself a beauty queen at all. Tonight, however, she finds herself at least cute. In about twenty minutes, Elijah will be picking her up to take her out on their first date together. She never imagined that her best friend would be the person taking her out.
Her mother and her twin sister both have been playing her fairy godmothers helping her get ready.
The ivory sweater dress still looks good on her, the makeup was done effortlessly by her mother, and Tanner neatly placed a flower comb in her hair to make her look even more feminine. She paired the dress up with white boots with a pump on them.
Louise aims her iPhone on her daughter. "Just one more."
"Mom, I hate to see how you get when prom comes around next year." Tanner Lockhart adds.
The three of them were in the foyer of the cottage.
"All right," the Saunders-Lockhart matriarch says. She puts her smartphone on the hallway console table.
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A few more minutes of small talk and peeking out of the window to see the headlights of Elijah mother's Volvo SUV.
Lynn's iPhone rings on the console. She assures them all that he is probably on his way.
"Hey E,"
"What?" she says a little bit louder in between him talking to her.
"What is going on?" Louise queries
Tanner shrugs.
Lynn shakes her head at her phone screen after she ends the call. "Mrs. Barker's car is still in the auto shop, so he can't pick me up," she announces a bit disheartened.
"Oh no, but why can't Elijah borrow Nathaniel's car?" Louise says
Nathaniel is Elijah's father who is a tenured professor at Sampson University. He drives a 2018 Mercedes Benz sedan.
Tanner crosses her arms on her chest. "Like he would let that car out of his sight."
"And he is at a conference in Louisville until tomorrow morning," Lynn explains frustratingly.
She at least thought tonight would be a typical first date with dinner and going to see a movie.
"Mom, I know I'm technically still not able to drive the Fiat. but I haven't skipped school since the new semester, and my grades are getting better..."
"Go ahead, pick him up, but please be home by 11:30 or I am coming after you ok." Louise interpose
With the key in her hand, she feels so good being able to get behind the wheel again.
On her way out of the door, she graciously thanks her mother for everything.
THE WATERFALL BAR: JACKSON APARTMENT
Shauna Jackson tried to avoid him throughout the morning, deciding to miss breakfast so she wouldn't have to make nice in front of Antoine. She waited until he went with her grandmother to help her to set up the bar downstairs.
Still, the memory of hearing and seeing him having sex with Nichelle last night wouldn't fleet her brain.
She can't let go of this feeling of stupidity, she recognizes she is in an already healthy relationship. Deciding that Antoine doesn't have any power over her or her feelings.
Frankly, she was more nervous about Max coming over to her house. She knows that he comes from a well-off family with their own estate. This entire apartment could fit in the guest house of Home Farm. A sense of embarrassment seems to fill inside of her too.
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Smells of various foods such as the citrus of lime glazed chicken breasts roasting in the oven, the cinnamon and brown sugar of sweet mashed potatoes on the stove. She tries to hard to avoid Antoine who is in the kitchen preparing the dinner rolls. Yet, his eyes narrow in on her in her short sleeve silver mini dress, he motions for her to come into the room.
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With items strewn in the kitchen, she is surprised that Antoine does not have a trace of any speck of filth on his black dress shirt.
"Hey, could you do me a favor and set the table?" Antoine asks politely
As much as she wants to protest, she begins putting out the wine stem on the table.
She couldn't hold it on anymore.
"I heard you two last night."
Antoine turns his head away from the stove.
"What?"
"Last night not only Martha and I heard you screwing law school, we saw you too your door was cracked," Shauna says in an accusatory tone of voice.
Antoine puts both of his hands on his hips.
He sighs. "I think you're tryin to tell me you think that I left the door open on purpose."
"Did you?"
"Hell no, your grandma could've walked in, why would I do that Shauna?" Antoine says a little louder than anticipated.
At first, Shauna wouldn't have put it past him to do that in order to become so jealous that she would break up with Max and to fall madly in his arms. But more importantly, she knows that he has too much respect for Mae Jackson to do that in the home she invited him to live with everything happened to his mother.
"I am sorry, all right," Shauna apologizes humbly. "Seems that you like her."
He nods. "Yeah, she ain't so bad."
Tapping on the door commences which sends both of them closer to the entryway.
"Ready?" Antoine asks nonchalantly
She answers. "Yeah"
He opens the door where surprisingly both Nichelle and Max are standing beside one another.
Casual greetings our exchanged once they're let in the apartment. Max and Nichelle both hang up their coats in the small closet revealing a gray wool matching jacket and vest that makes his lean body more prominent, whilst Nichelle is wearing a mint green midi dress. Max then passes a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from 2002. Antoine does his best to seem appreciative by nodding and saying a few words before departing back into the kitchen with Nichelle.
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He cranes his around the interior of the apartment. "So this is where you live?" Max says
"It is, I know it's not grand like Home Farm, but it's home. " Shauna says honestly.
Max puts his finger upon her lips. "Have I mentioned how gorgeous you're looking right now." He manages to make her forget what took place between her and her former lover by enveloping her into making out.
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LOCKHART LAKE COTTAGE
Standing in the kitchen pouring herself a glass of white wine, Louise is settled in for the night. She can't recall the last time that she had time to herself. Tanner is upstairs doing some reading in order to keep herself up when Lenny comes back home so she can inform her of her date with Elijah.
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Whilst placing the bottle and glass on the coffee table in the living room. The familiar chime of the doorbell gets her on her feet towards the door. She peeks through the peephole before her hand twists the knob.
"I hope I am not interrupting you?" Daniel Covington addresses her.
"You know I could use some company, come on in."
The two exes enter into the living room where he sits in the chair whilst she returns to her spot on the couch.
"What's been going on with you?"
"Officially I am divorced, my ex-husband moved out, and one of my daughters is on her first date, life for me is changing rapidly."
Daniel exhales. "It never gets any easier, unfortunately."
Louise sips the glass of wine. "I doubt that you came all the way here to drop by so what's really going on Daniel?"
He puts his hands on his pants. "My company is interested in purchasing the café on Main Street, so I wanted to know some background information about it," he says matter of factly.
"JoJo's?"So what is it you need to know about it? "
"Anything you got?" he replies.
"It was built in 92, actually Shauna's paternal grandparents managed it first."
"Shauna's paternal grandparents?" Daniel asks curiously. He knows her as an employee and girlfriend of his eldest son. Yet he does not know her personal background when it comes to why she is parentless.
"Yeah, their son was the one who knocked up Cassie Jackson, when their son got into St. John University on a basketball scholarship the three of them took off leaving their unborn grandchild without them in her life. Then the café changed owners over the years. "
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"Why so many owners?" Daniel queries openly
Louise takes a drink of her wine. "Recession, debt, you know how running a business can have both pros and cons Daniel."I just hope that you won't tear it down."
He is about to get off the couch when Louise tells him to stay put so they can have a drink together. Remembering her aunt having her to declare a new attitude in her life.
"Sure, one drink won't hurt," he responds.
CINEMA AT THE VILLAGE OF HUDSON LAKE
It was about the fifth time Elijah Barker saying how much he is sorry for his mother's car being in the shop for Lynn to tell him nicely whilst they were waiting in the line for concessions at the populated cinema at the mall in Hudson Lake.
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"No more apologies, shit happens all right," she says.
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"Sor-- I mean ok." he retorts
Lynn had made it to his house in twenty minutes courtesy of the highway.
When he got into the passenger seat of the car, the disappointed look on his face told the story.
"We missed our reservation at The Chateau."
Lynn assures him not to worry about it as she pulls off out of his house. She knows that his overprotective mother is probably peeking out of the window seeing him get in the car.
Truthfully, she doesn't care about having dinner at some fancy restaurant. Even though she primarily wore a dress because of it.
Now with a large popcorn, two large sodas, pizza, and fries, they're taking their assigned seating in the fourth row of the main floor of the theatre.
The gigantic screen is showing actors talking about some new show premiering on Freeform in the summer whilst the countdown is own for the previews to start before Captain Marvel starts.
"I forgot to tell you how nice you look today," he says bashfully.
"Don't blush Barker." Lynn smiles
"Are you two on a little date?" Jordan McKnight loudly in a playful voice.
Jordan is wearing a pink satin open-shoulder top with blue jean shorts that cover more up than her usual attire. She has a bottle of Dasani water in her hand too.
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Neither of them was prepared to run into anyone they know, especially their former friend turned enemy and her large breast BFF Mariana Anson wearing her trademark scowl.
"I didn't know you were seeing the Principal son. " Mariana says annoyingly.
"I didn't know you were nothing more but Jordan's shadow. but there you're," Lynn says defensively.
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Jordan rolls her eyes. "Whatever" I just wanted to tell you that I'm throwing the end of the year party in June and my mother says that I got to invite at the entire junior class."
"Well, mission accomplished, see you girls on Monday buh bye. " Elijah says
Jordan and Mariana exchange glances of both being impressed and pissed that he stood up to them. They take off onto the staircase to sit on the balcony of the theatre.
"Assholes," both Elijah and Lynn say in unison.
The previews begin on screen whilst Elijah passes his date for the evening a red vine which she gratefully accepts.
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After so much junk food consumed seeing Brie Larson come to live as Carol Danvers on screen. Lynn parks the car in front of the two-story home of the Barker residence.
"I had a good time tonight. " Lynn inputs
Elijah moves his head. "Me too."
He somehow possesses enough confidence to reach over to kiss her which she wasn't anticipating, but thought he would be the one to give her a hug before getting out of the car. The taste inside his mouth was tangy and sweet.
"Text me when you get home, please Lenny," Elijah says, acknowledging she might forget.
"Okay, I will,"
He steps out of the car with his coat on with his large cup still with little less than half of his soda left.
When she sees him getting in the house, she steers the vehicle down the street not caring if she was blushing or not. She kissed her best friend and liked it.
THE WATERFALL BAR: JACKSON APARTMENT
Shauna found out from Nichelle after dinner that she is from Detroit, comes from a two-parent household and has a younger sister who is a senior in high school. She is optimistic about one day to pass the bar so she can become a civil rights attorney.
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"You've known Antoine for a long time, right?" Nichelle remarks
"We go way back," Shauna says.
Shauna notices how poise she is without much effort which makes her a tad envious of her.
"Don't get me wrong, Antoine is really a decent guy, but he doesn't like to talk about his past."
Shauna is knowledgeable about how he likes to hide anything pertaining to his upbringing. Yet it does give her some personal satisfaction that she knows everything about him and she is left twisting in the wind. However, she curses herself for feeling the way she did earlier so she calms herself down by thinking about her boyfriend.
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"Just be patient with him, that's all you can do Nichelle." Shauna simply replies
******
Antoine appreciated the praise of the food he spent time to make from Nichelle, Shauna, and even Max. With their food was eaten and the alcohol devoured. He recruited Richie Rich to help him with the dishes.
"You wash, I'll dry." you do know how to wash plates and forks right?" Antoine asks sarcastically
"Antoine, do you know how?" Max counters
"Yeah" he replies
"Then that's your answer."
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Antoine wanted to punch the hell out of him for getting on his nerves.
In between putting the dishes in the drain rack, Antoine decides to break the silence between the two men.
"I bet you used to have the butler doing everything for you huh? "
Max passes him a newly clean dish plate. "No I am my own person, but I don't think you know me well enough to make assumptions like you do."
Antoine continues to dry whilst he is holding back from getting in his face.
Both Nichelle and Shauna walk into the room together to be with their men respectively.
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"You two getting along?" Nichelle asks
Both men shake their heads refusing to answer one another.
Max puts his arm around his girlfriend. "Hey, you wanna get out of here for the night?" he vocalizes loudly.
"Sure, let me grab my bag so we can go."
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Shauna turns on her heels to go retrieve her belongings.
Nichelle decides to finish washing the dishes, not before giving Antoine a peck on the cheek.
Max walks closer to the door in which Antoine follows him.
"Shouldn't you be getting back to drying those dishes, Antoine?" Max shoots harshly
Antoine winks. "Hope you can keep up with her because I know how energetic she can be in bed."
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Soon as Max moves a few inches closer to confront him. The shutting of Shauna's bedroom door ceases further conversation between the two guys.
"All set?" she asks Max. She turns to her ex-lover, "Don't wait up."
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Max follows her out of the apartment into the hallway, the rational side of him tells him that he has no proof that Antoine ever slept with Shauna. Nonetheless, the realist side of him knows that what he said to him isn't going to go away until he gets some answers.
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SIX HOURS EARLIER
ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, ORLANDO, FLORIDA
Sitting in the terminal in the busy airport filled with tourists meanwhile, some others arriving home from their various destinations.
Steven has the phone to his ear.
Two short rings, Courtney picks up the phone.
"Hello, how is it going?" she asks unceremoniously.
He smirks a tad. "Good, -- In fact, Momma and I are at the airport - yeah Lorraine's father came into town about a few hours ago."
"Can't wait to see you, how about we go into Hudson Lake for dinner?" she says chirpily.
Steven has been preparing himself to tell her what he has to tell her all this afternoon. His silence becomes deafening to Courtney.
"Steven!" she intervenes. "What is going on?"
"Lorraine asked me could I take Evan off her hands for a while she doesn't want to overwhelm her father with taking care of the both of them. He is on spring break now he would've been bored at home all week with nothing to do but drive them crazy."
His eyes fall next to him, Esther has a smile upon her face as Evan is reading one of his storybooks without much stumbling over the words.
Courtney lets go of her quietness. "So I guess another day then?" her voice dripping in disappointment.
The lady at the desk begins calling passengers to board the plane heading for Radcliffe.
"Court, I promise you that we'll get together tomorrow."
"Let me know if your plans happen to change." the last words she depict before hanging up.
The line goes dead.
Steven decides to try to contact her when they get back into town in a few short hours. He makes sure that Evan has his backpack all packed up. Whilst, Esther and one of her infamous giant purses lead them onto the plane.
"Can we ride Chesapeake when we get on the farm?" Evan happily wonders
Chesapeake is one of the horses that are in the stables on Franklin Farm
"You bet buddy." Steven reacts,
END OF EPISODE
ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF TOWN AND COUNTRY
Max questions Shauna.
Steven finds himself between Courtney and Evan.
Sean and Peter confront one another.
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