EPISODE 197
Written by: Bre L. Drew
August 15, 2022
Last Time on Town and Country
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Emma was stunned to discover that her former fiancé, Jacques Laurent, was back in town.
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In the middle of an argument, Jordan mentioned that Tanner was still a virgin in front of Presley.
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If he didn't convince Jordan that he was suffering from mental instability, Daniel would go to the hospital board to inform Dr. Toussaint's past patient he was romantically involved with committed suicide.
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Sean and Louise caught up, which he kept from Tricia.
THE WATERFALL BAR
A scantly-sized crowd currently inhabits the inside of The Waterfall this early afternoon.
Above them, Erykah Badu's neo-soul throwback hit "Otherside Of The Game" plays.
Of the small crowd, Will Jackson sits at the bar of the establishment his mother owns. He is speaking to his good friend Martha Saunders, who is behind the bar working, about his lover's ex arriving in town.
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"I'm not jealous or anything; it's just what he has that I don't."
The single mother, wearing a black crisscross tank top and dark faux-leather pants, places her hands on her hips.
"Let's see, he's wealthy, sexy, worldly, and tall. Am I missing something?" "she says half-jokingly
Will is somewhat humorously taken back by her response.
"Okay, brotha, might beat me on two outta four, but he's just a pretty boy who was only with Emma for her money."
"People probably say the same thing about you," a voice retorts.
Antoine Hall walks out of the storage area to the bar.
"Don't you have anything better to do than be up in my shit?" Will asks his adversary.
The two men never got along, which heightened when Mae promoted Antoine to manage the bar, despite Will's being her son.
"Last time I checked, I work here; you don't," Antoine retorts.
Martha holds both arms to gesture for them to stay in their neutral corners. "Enough you two, and Will, you have other qualities that would please any woman."
Will scoffs, somewhat unsure if he believes that or not.
MILLER INN: SUITE 330
Emma Covington tries her best to exhale at the door of his suite inside the Miller Inn.
In a matter of seconds, she is going to be face to-face with her ex-fiancé, with whom she once considered spending the rest of her life. But turned out he was using her for her money and familial connections to aid his family's faltering shipping company.
She was stunned to see him the other night at The Cliffe since she hadn't spoken to him since she ended their engagement.
"You can do this, Emma. You defied medical expectations by waking from a coma. "Then you can tell the Parisian asshole where to go," she tells herself.
She makes a fist to tap on the door.
She hears the footsteps towards the door. When it opens, she spots the handsomely suave man with a white bath towel wrapped around his waist while the rest of his well-built body is on display.
"Bonjour Emma, I'étais juste sous la douche, voulez-vous me rejoindre?" He addresses her in his native language.
"Thanks for the offer of sixty seconds of pleasure, but I will pass." She says, knowing of his request for her to join him in the shower.
She saunters into the suite as he closes the door behind him.
"I didn't expect you to visit me so soon."
"I will say this to you again; what are you doing here? Emma seeks "Better yet, when are you leaving?"
His smile spreads widely across his face while he goes to his room service cart, where he picks up his cup of coffee.
"If you care to know, I'm conducting some business stateside," he tells her while taking a sip of the liquid. "Coffee is decent enough."
She sways her head, conveying her disbelief. "You're avoiding my question, Jacques,"
"Depends on when I close the deal," he replies.
"Either you are lying, or International Access is doing exponentially well again."
The last time she had heard, International Access Transport, the company her father and uncles started forty years ago, was struggling financially.
"Bebe, that was what you Americans call a blip; the company is rebounding," he remarks. "Now you remember who had the best coffee at that cafe in the 6th arrondissement." We would go there every weekend."
"Don't you do this, and don't think we're going to reunite. Okay, I'm with someone else now, and I'm happy," she announces.
He maintains a smile on his face despite the recent news given.
"I didn't say anything of the sort, but I haven't forgotten about you,"
Emma steps towards the door with her hand on the knob.
"Do me a favor; whatever the hell you are doing in Radcliffe, get it wrapped up and leave town immediately," Emma says warningly.
"You know, the invitation in the shower still stands,"
Emma groans with frustration.
"And put some damn clothes on," she tells him while heading out of the room towards the elevator bank.
Jacques stands in the doorway, maintaining a satisfied grin.
WHEELER BUILDING: APT #303
Jai Gupta stands at the door of his third-floor apartment in the Wheeler Building. On the opposite end is Louise Saunders Lockhart.
"I can get used to these sleepovers," he says while wrapping his arms around her.
"I wish I could stay longer, but I need to get out to the farm to catch up on some paperwork. I will call you later, "
"I'll be counting the minutes," he teases, which elicits a chuckle from Louise.
The grocery store owner gives her a passionate peck on the lips. He then watches her walk off into the hallway.
In a way, Louise didn't mind feeling like a twenty-one-year-old again, head over heels in lust with her beau. But now, she decides to put her memories of last night aside as she knows work awaits her.
And after a few more seconds, the elevator swings open when she sees Tricia Lockhart holding onto a car seat carrier in her possession.
The look on her face looks annoyed at the elevator stopping anywhere else but the lobby, so when she spots her husband's former wife standing there, it becomes more noticeable,
RADCLIFFE POLICE DEPARTMENT
"Get him questioned and released, all right," Ernest McKnight says harshly over the phone.
The police chief is in his office at the Radcliffe Police Department.
He slams the phone on the receiver while he takes a seat at his desk. An ongoing case has had him on and off the phone for the last ten minutes.
While sighing laboriously, he clicks onto his work email on his desktop computer as a light tap strikes his door.
"Is that you, Kensington?"
A familiar voice calls out, "You're going to have to settle for me," which gets Ernest's attention.
"First your sister, now you."
Presley McKnight slowly moves towards his father.
"Actually, I came on my own," he says. "Jordan told me she saw you sweeping up pieces of a broken beer bottle."
"Is this when you tell me I sinned for drinking the devil's brew," Ernest remarks sarcastically.
The reverend moves his head in protest.
"You can do what you want, but I just don't want this divorce to be ugly for this family."
"Whatever happens, it's between your mother and me. Do yourself a favor and worry about your own flock."
Presley tries to keep himself in check. Though it shouldn't surprise him that making a mockery of his vocation had been something he had done since he didn't go to the police academy out of high school, unlike his late brother EJ.
"And tell your mother I will sign those papers when I have the time," Ernest states stubbornly.
"Don't make this more difficult than it should be," Presley warns.
He hastily walks out of the office, closing the door behind him.
Ernest's eyes lay on a framed photo of Thora smiling, taken a decade ago on a boat during the Fourth of July weekend.
"How did we get here?" he inquires to himself.
SAMPSON UNIVERSITY: ASHTON DORMITORY
"You would think, after all these years, I wouldn't let Jordan get to me." Tanner Lockhart declares to Aaliyah Gupta:
She and her best friend return to their dorm room with their takeout. This year they will be serving as Resident Advisors, meaning they will have moved onto campus a few weeks before everyone else to get everything prepared for the freshmen boarding in Ashton Dormitory this year. It is also where the two first resided when they were freshmen themselves.
Aaliyah puts a strand of her long brown hair behind one ear. "Honestly, if I were you, my fist would've met her jaw by now, but that's just me,"
Tanner shakes her head while managing to chuckle at her friend's claim. The other night, she and her former friend got into it. With Jordan making a crack about Tanner's remaining a virgin, feeling embarrassed, she left the club not long after with her new boyfriend, Presley.
"You know what, I'm tired of talking about Jordan and Tommy," Tanner changes the subject. "Let's talk about something else, okay
Aaliyah respectfully nods at her friend as the two begin eating their food.
FRANKLIN FARM: MAIN HOUSE
Lynn Lockhart grabs a water bottle out of the refrigerator in the kitchen of her ancestral home on Franklin Farm. She needs to hydrate after spending hours outside working on the farm for most of the day.
After taking a long sip, Sarah Lynn Saunders strolls inside the room.
"Lynn, how are you, sweetheart?"
"Hey, grandma,"
The older, blonde woman quickly wraps her arm around one of her three grandchildren.
"I take it you've been working hard,"
Lenny takes a drink of water from the bottle.
"Oh yeah,"
Sarah Lynn inspects the hidden weariness of her granddaughter.
"I know that look; would it be wrong for me to guess something is troubling you?"
"Am I that obvious?"
Despite trying to work through her issues, she couldn't help but think about the fight she had with Elijah the other night at The Cliffe over him overdoing it.
She didn't want him to relapse into alcoholism. He told her he had enough people in his life and didn't need to be that. After the argument, they hardly spoke two words to each other.
Sarah Lynn sits at the table, at which Lenny joins her adjacently, where she fills her in about Elijah and herself.
"I can't wait to figure out how relationships can go without fighting." Lenny finishes her explanation.
Sarah Lynn gives her granddaughter a generous smile.
"Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but any relationship, good or bad, cannot survive without its challenges; trust me. I should know."
Lynn realizes she is thinking of her grandad, Peter, who passed away a few years ago. "You still miss him?"
Sarah Lynn clears her throat lightly and tries to hold back her tears.
"There isn't a day that goes by when I don't think of your grandfather." Finally, Sarah Lynn answers. "And we had our fair share of disagreements over the years, but I wouldn't forgo that time with him."
"That's kind of how I feel about Elijah and me," Lenny confesses.
Well, you have to know that Elijah has to live his life with his struggle with alcohol. But he has to be able to take care of himself. "
"So, what do I do?"
Sarah Lynn places her hands on the top of Lenny's hands in a comforting manner.
"Talk to him, tell him you feel I know it might be difficult. But most importantly, Lynn, remember that he needs your support as he stays on his path to recovery. Though it is his path, not yours, he has to be the one to know to reach out for help.
Lenny tries to let go of the words her grandmother just told her, unsure how to process them.
SAMPSON UNIVERSITY: ASHTON DORMITORY
Presently, Tanner and Aaliyah were finishing their meals and occasionally skimming through a rerun of Project Runway on the small flat-screen TV.
Then a knock is heard on the door.
"I wonder who that could be." Aaliyah wonders aloud as Tanner gets on her feet to get the door.
When she opens it, she finds Presley on the other side.
"Hey," she says humbly.
"Hi," he greets her. "Can I come in?"
"Sure," she responds casually.
Tanner steps aside to let him into the room.
"Hey Presley!" Aaliyah addresses
"Aaliyah, hi,"
From the expressions on their faces, Aaliyah knew the couple had a lot to discuss.
"I think y'all need a moment, so I will take this chance to get some sketching in," Aaliyah states while picking up her purse and iPad off her desk.
The design and business students then shuffled out of the room.
"Uh, I just got done speaking to my father, so if I'm short of words, you now know why," he informs her.
Tanner nods, knowing he and Chief McKnight haven't been close in years.
"Well, that only means one thing," she replies. "About the other night...
Presley holds out his hand to stop her. Presley holds out his hand to stop her. I would like to apologize. What my sister said was out of line. "
Tanner takes a seat on the bottom bunk, which she sleeps on.
"I knew we would have to cross that uncomfortable bridge eventually," she says truthfully.
Presley remains standing, not wanting to invade his girlfriend's personal space, trying to select the right words.
"Look, Tanner, there is no need to feel any pressure about sex. I understand that you want to wait until you're ready. "
Tanner glances at her boyfriend meaningfully.
I guess I hadn't really thought of it when we first got together. But I know how hard it can be for the other person if they don't want to wait. I mean, the other reason why Tommy and I came undone was the fact he was ready, and I wasn't; we fought over that, and you know the rest, "she reveals candidly."
Presley takes a seat beside Tanner.
"Well, thankfully, I'm not Tommy, and most importantly, I will never place any pressure on you, Tanner. I care about you too much to hurt you. I love you."
The declaration of love surprises the young woman.
"I love you too," she announces.
The two embrace one another as their lips brush against each other as they kiss.
THE WATERFALL BAR
A steady flow of patrons now populates the bar as Emma wanders inside as "I'm Only Human" by Luther Vandross plays.
She takes in Will and Martha talking over at the bar for a few seconds, knowing that at one time they both had feelings for one another but believed he would eventually hurt her if they got together, so he conspired for them to be together.
Yet they became serious about each other.
"I'm assuming that; I'm not interrupting you two," Emma says directly to them.
Will shakes his head while Martha does her best to be civil with the heiress.
"You two need to talk," Martha remarks. "I'll see you at home,"
The bartender walks toward the end of the bar, where she serves a customer.
Emma takes a seat beside her beau.
"Want anything to drink?" Will asks her while holding up his half-finished bottle of beer.
"Yes, I do, but not before I tell you that I visited Jacques at his hotel suite," she informs him.
Will takes a swig of his beer. "And did he give you an answer as to why his ass is back in town?"
"According to him, he is in town for business,"
"I don't buy that shit, do you?" Will asks, raising his voice.
"Hell no," she answers swiftly. "Will, there is nothing to be threatened about. I'm not going back to Jacques Laurent. I refuse to go back down that road again."
He takes another drink of his beer.
"I know lots of people, including your momma, think you can do better than a former convict,"
Emma glances into her lover's eyes with intent.
"If I wanted to, I would be in that hotel suite with him instead; I'm here with you; she consoles him. "I've grown very fond of you despite sometimes driving me up the wall."
Will leans in to kiss his lover tenderly.
"Now I'm in the mood for that drink," Emma declares in a pleased tone of voice.
RADCLIFFE RECIVING HOSPITAL
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With pen to paper, Dr. Pierre Toussaint jots down key notes while Jordan McKnight outlines her experiences this past week in his office at the hospital.
"Between my parents' divorce and my brother still pissed at me for upsetting his girlfriend, I haven't had the best week." she discloses verbally in a chair.
The psychiatrist can't help but reflect on Daniel Covington insisting if he doesn't convince that Jordan is mentally unstable. He would personally see to it that his career is over if the truth comes out to the hospital board about his past relationship with a patient who tragically killed herself.
"Do you think Jeremy is picking up on your stress?" he asks, feigning concern.
Jordan lifts her head to answer him. "I don't know... I hope not."
He takes a few more notes onto his notepad. "Have you been tired or anxious lately?"
"Bit of both, but that's normal for a mother, right?"
Dr. Toussaint situates himself in his chair across from her; he then grabs a small pad off his desk, which he starts writing on.
"I think this will help out with the fatigue and anxiety,"
He offers her the piece of paper, which she examines the scribbly handwriting.
"I don't think I need medication," she says unsurely
"It's just a mild sedative," he says assuredly. "At least when you begin to feel bogged down, you can take it."
Jordan places the prescription in her purse as her session nearly concludes.
WHEELER BUILDING
Both women were silent, riding down to the first floor.
Louise notices that the infant boy is asleep in the carrier.
"He's adorable," she comments.
Louise sees the resemblance of both the twins in Dylan, including Lenny's nose and the same plump cheeks Tanner had as an infant.
"That we can agree on," Tricia says pleasingly. "We're on our way to his scheduled checkup with his pediatrician."
"From what Sean told me the other day, you have adjusted well to parenthood."
Somehow, Tricia turns with a skeptical glance at her husband's ex-wife.
"I didn't know Sean had been out to the cottage or the farm recently."
Louise notices relief in sight when the elevator opens, indicating they're at their destination; nonetheless, she also realizes that Sean hadn't told her about their recent run-in.
The three get off in the sparsely populated lobby.
"Uh, no, we actually talked out here a few days ago." "I was here visiting Jai, and he was going to your place," Louise mentions.
Tricia accurately recalls that specific night while she checks on her son, who is still in slumber in the carrier.
"That's funny because my husband left out that little detail the other night."
Louise looks at an elderly couple walking by on their way out of the door.
"Tricia, it was just a catch-up, nothing serious, okay," Louise states.
"I need to get going," she huffs.
With that, the new mother saunters toward the door with the baby and carryall bag in tow, leaving Louise behind.
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END OF EPISODE
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ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF TOWN AND COUNTRY
Sean and Tricia get into it about their marriage.
Lynn opens up to Elijah.
A plan will be revealed.
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