EPISODE 255
Written by: Bre L. Drew
September 25, 2023
Last Time on Town and Country
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Daniel was confronted by Ernest for his manipulations of Jordan, who also gave him the check for the amount he used to pay for Jordan to stay in Stonecrest, which he got by selling his home. Also, it is revealed that Tommy is moving out of the mansion.
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Aaliyah had been the one to have the intimate video of Sean and Louise play at Louise and her father's engagement party, causing a fallout between her, Lenny, and Tanner.
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Jacques and Courtney have continued to bond while Jacques still pursues Emma away from Will at Deirdre's behest.
HOME FARM
Even though the day is anywhere near over, it is already not going in Daniel Covington's favor; earlier, he encountered Ernest McKnight, who let him have it over him, gaslighting Jordan, and now he only discovers that his youngest son is planning to move out.
"I don't even know what to say," the businessman finally comments.
Standing on the other side of him near the staircase of the living room of the mansion on the Home Farm Estate, Tommy Covington holds a duffle bag in each of his hands.
"Well, that must be a first for you." Tommy sarcastically verbalizes.
Daniel sticks his hands into his pants pockets, hoping to change his mind about leaving.
"I know what I did was extreme."
"Extreme?" Tommy cuts him off. "You blackmailed my wife's psychiatrist to sedate her to cause her to think she's losing her mind, and then the man took his own life. I don't think extreme is the right word."
During the infamous board meeting, in the recordings of conversations with Dr. Toussaint, Daniel used some private information to entice him to over-medicate Jordan so she wouldn't have access to Jeremy, ultimately making Tommy the primary parent.
"Can I at least ask you where you are moving to?"
Tommy puts the bags by his feet and deeply exhales.
"If you must know, I'm moving into the guest house. I don't feel comfortable living here for many reasons, but with Jordan and Jeremy living not far from the man who attempted to separate them, I wouldn't be much of a husband or father if I were not there to protect them."
"Protect them from who? Me?!" Daniel exclaims incredulously.
VICTORY COTTAGE
It was a quiet journey, albeit with latest top 40 songs on the radio in the car. Samuel and Aaliyah Gupta enter the two-story cottage where they and their mother reside.
With her suitcase, Aaliyah heads for the stairs.
"Hey, wait up; a minute; I need to talk to you," Samuel says with his luggage near him by the door.
Aaliyah leaves her bags by the stairs while turning to face her brother.
"Well, I give you credit. You waited until we got home to tell me the error of my ways."
During their weekend getaway with their friends in Nashville to see Martha and her band perform, Lenny discovered that
Aaliyah had been the one to showcase the intimate video of Sean and Louise at their dad's and Louise's engagement party, causing friction between her and her friends.
"You already know how I feel about what you did, but now everyone else does, and they might not be so receptive."
Aaliyah takes a strand of her long brown hair and tucks it behind her ear. "And look, I hated how it all came out, but I shouldn't have to apologize for making Dad see that he wouldn't be happy with Louise."
Samuel sees hardly any remorse on her face, which, in a way, alarms him, even though he knows he can't blame her entirely for what occurred.
"You never gave him the chance to come to that conclusion for himself by not coming to him in private and telling him, and then only then dad could've been the one to deal with everything, but you took it upon yourself to do it because you have this notion that mom and dad belong back together."
Aaliyah gazes at her brother with intent. "Are you forgetting that Louise was making out with another man? And not just any man, but her ex-husband? If anyone is in the wrong, it's Louise."
THE WATERFALL BAR
While their friends rode with the drummer in Martha's band back from Nashville, Antoine Hall and Shauna Covington chose to ride with the guitarist who lives closer to The Waterfall, where Antoine lives. And Shauna left her car.
Now, the friends stand outside the bar talking in one of the last days before summer ends.
"You need help with those bags?" Antoine asks his best friend and one-time lover.
"Yeah, you could make yourself useful," she teases.
The two make it over to her blue Mercedes convertible, where she opens the trunk so Antoine can lift her suitcase into it, then closes it.
"Damn girl, what you got in there, your whole closet?" he says jokingly.
"Very funny," she says. "No, in all seriousness, I'm glad I got away this weekend. I needed a moment to forget," she confesses.
He knows right away she is hinting at her new reality of her husband's paralyzation and how she's been putting so much time in as his wife to help care for him. Also, the additional weight of losing the baby still hinders her.
"You dealin' with a lot of shit, and now what Daniel did, girl, I don't know how you can stand being in that house."
Shauna, who has been holding her sunglasses, places them on her forehead. "Look, I ain't happy about it, but it's equipped with everything Max needs. And anyway, the mansion is big enough to avoid my so-called father-in-law, which will be happening until further notice."
Antoine is able to see through her, although, knowing how strong she is, he knows it is taking a toll on her.
"If you need someone to talk to or chill with, you know I got you, right?" he advises.
Shauna smiles with ample appreciation. "Yeah, I do," she replies. "And you made my weekend hella fun despite everything that is going on."
Antoine then pulls her into a hug, and she lays her head on his chest.
A few more moments pass when Shauna lets go of him while placing her sunglasses over her eyes.
"I better get back to my real life." she notes. "And tell my grandma I will try stop by here sometime this week."
​
Shauna's grandmother, Mae Jackson, owns and lives at The Waterfall.
Antoine dips his head while watching her get into her vehicle and then starts it while backing out of the spot like she's done since she was a teenager, she then waves while maintaining focus on exiting the establishment as Antoine holds his hand up before getting his things into the bar before opening time.
COVINGTON GROUP
On the twentieth floor of the Covington Tower, located in downtown Radcliffe, is Courtney Covington Sullivan, sitting at the desk in the CEO office suite of the Covington Group, on the phone with one of the shareholders who wasn't present at the shareholders meeting where her father had been voted out as CEO when his machinations to Jordan came to light.
"Sir, I promise you that my father's undertakings, as you call them, in no way reflect the Covington Group and your interests are protected, I assure you."
She then notices someone on her other line on the office telephone.
"You have my word; have a nice day, and we appreciate your business as always."
After ending a call, the new CEO picks up the call.
"Yes, Evelyn," she says when she hears the familiar Staten Island accent of the longtime secretary.
"Courtney, you have a visitor," she informs her. "May I send her in?"
"All right, tell whoever it is to come in. Thank you."
She soon sees Tricia Lockhart entering the room in a sage green satin off-the-shoulder blouse and shapely blue jeans, holding onto her shoulder bag.
Tricia soon gets wrapped up in her arms in a friendly embrace and then part ways.
"My life is officially hell!" the cafe manager declares as she takes a seat in the chair across from her.
Courtney instantly knows Tricia is referring to Sean and Louise getting close and were captured on video for everyone to see.
"I don't even know what to say, sweetie. How are you feeling?"
Tricia crosses her legs and sighs. "If I'm putting you in an awkward spot by coming to you. Then let me know."
Courtney shows a look of confusion on her face at that statement.
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean you're my friend, but Louise is your family by marriage, and I know you don't hate her like I do."
Courtney is, of course, married to Steven, who is Louise's first cousin, not to mention her father's first love as well,
"That is all true, and this revelation hasn't stopped me from caring about Louise, but it does in no way invalidate your feelings, Tricia."
Tricia looks to somewhat appreciate the meaningful tone in her voice.
"I confronted her too, by the way,"
"I'm not surprised,"
"Well, don't worry, I didn't rip a hair from her head even though I wanted to."
The other day, she went to her house to have it out with the woman, despite being engaged to another man, found the time to kiss her husband nearly half naked.
"I guess it might be premature to ask how you are going to approach things with Sean?"
Tricia leans back into the chair, knowing what to emit.
"Like I told the first Mrs. Lockhart, I don't have a marriage anymore, so when Sean gets back from once again taking off. I will be filing for divorce."
At times, Courtney had heard issues with her friend's marriage, however, something in her voice sounded as if she was going to stick by her conviction.
A light tap at the door gets the ladies' attention as Courtney permits the person to come in,
​
Evelyn treks into the room, holding a large bouquet of calla lilies.
"For you," the secretary tells her boss while placing the flowers on her desk.
As Courtney nods, Tricia glances at the delivery.
"Well, it looks like Steven did not skimp on these beauties."
Courtney takes the card from them and expects to see that it is from her husband, although what is written tells her that her husband didn't send her these.
"Bravo à votre succès." She reads aloud.
"Now I'm a little rusty on my le français since it's been a minute since I went to France," the former flight attendant queries.
"Cheers to your success." she effortlessly translates.
Though she already presumes who the flowers are from,
MILLER INN
Jacques Laurent steps off the elevator onto the ground floor of the Miller Inn, where he resides. The very handsome man is on the phone with his father, Pascal, informing him how he's trying to secure the funds to rescue their family's shipping company.
He can feel the stares of various hotel staff and other people overhearing him speak in a mix of English and his native French.
Jacques is about to tell his father to stop yelling at him when he lifts his head, noticing Emma Covington walking into the hotel, unaware of him, as she goes in the direction of where the spa is.
"Euh, père, je vais devoir te rappeler. Quelque chose s’est produit. Au revoir." (Translation: Uh, father, I'm going to have to call you back. Something has come up. Bye.)
He decides to follow the woman who was once his fiancée. He still loves the woman. However, as her mother, Deirdre, had promised him, if he managed to seduce her away from that ex-con beau of hers, she would give him the money to salvage his family's company.
While he enters the spa, he sees Emma being guided by one of the male masseuses, which quickly enters his mind, knowing that he doesn't have much time to waste if he wants to retain his goals.
He goes down the hallway where Emma and the masseuse go in and waits for some seconds until the masseuse comes out.
Jacques casually clears his throat, which captures the short and stocky hotel employee in black scrubs.
"What is it that I could do for you, sir?" he asks the guest, whom he has seen around for some time now.
​
"Something important," he reveals. He soon reaches for a one-hundred-dollar bill in his blazer pocket before continuing to relate to him.
​
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VICTORY COTTAGE
"Look, do I regret how the video has affected certain people? Yes, but am I going to continue to feel guilty about it? I'm not, so can we drop the subject, Samuel?" Aaliyah proclaims.
Samuel shakes her head at her sister's response. "Would any of those certain people be Tanner and Lenny? You know your friends, because I bet Dad and Louise weren't the only ones humiliated at seeing that."
Aaliyah breathes thoroughly before responding. "I didn't think of them. Okay, is that what you want me to say? But hopefully, over time, we will be able to work things out, and this will be just a small blip."
"What if they don't? What then? Did you think of that while trying to be Lindsay Lohan in The Parent Trap, reuniting our parents?" Samuel retorts. "I don't want to fight; it's just frustrating to hear how cavalier you're being and for something that might not get Mom and Dad back together anyway. I hope you realize all of this sooner than later."
Samuel takes his suitcase upstairs while leaving Aaliyah to reflect on her actions.
COVINGTON GROUP
Courtney informed Tricia about her strong suspicion that Jacques was the one who sent her the flowers since they had been getting closer platonically since he came back to town.
Silently, Tricia tosses a look at her friend, implying that perhaps there is more to the situation.
"What?" Courtney questions her friend.
"You know a man sending you flowers while you and Steven aren't getting along? I don't know, but maybe I'm reading too much into it."
At Jai and Louise's engagement party, the couple disagreed over him and his mother talking about her father's misdeeds.
And even though what he did to everyone was wrong, she doesn't need anyone to talk about him in such a gossipy manner either.
"First of all, Steven and I are fine. As you know, married couples sometimes differ, and every time I speak to Jacques, I make it quite clear to him that I'm married, even if he has tried to flirt with me more than once. And besides, he was truly congratulatory about me running the company now. With most of my family fractured from what my father did, it does not hurt to have someone in my corner."
Tricia casually shrugs at her friend's response.
"No, I get it."
"Besides, I think his emphasis is on someone else," Courtney wistfully remarks.
MILLER INN: SPA
Music, consisting of chimes, fills the room while Emma lies on the portable table with a white sheet wrapped around her body. After all of the issues affecting her family, she made the appointment to get out as soon as possible.
Finally, she hears the door open with the masseuse, who had left out to get some oils to use on her.
It doesn't take long for him to do his job, as he manages to massage parts of his body, including her back, with essential oils that smell great.
"Ah, that feels so good," she moans. "You have wonderful hands."
The masseuse continues as he feels how tight she is.
"I haven't heard that in a while," the guy says lowly.
While closing her eyes, she soon feels his hands on a part of her anatomy. She deduces it isn't part of her aromatherapy session.
​
"Hey, now!" she says warningly.
However, he goes lower on her behind, which makes her quickly turn around to confront him, yet it isn't the guy she thought was doing it. It's Jacques, of all men.
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"What in the hell are you doing?" she asks silently while swatting his arm.
Jacques, who is wearing his button-down shirt with his sleeves rolled up, smiles charismatically at the currently furious woman. "Don't try to deny it; you said I have wonderful hands."
By now, Emma, who manages to cover her naked self with the sheet, gets off the table to reach for the white hotel robe hanging on the hook on the wall.
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"Whatever you're trying to do isn't working," she vocalizes.
"It seems to be with the moaning you were doing, and I bet your jailbird isn't making you feel how I still obviously do."
Emma stares up at her former lover with her possessions in her hands.
"This never happened! Got it!" Emma cautions him.
The businesswoman walks out of the room, hating that, after all these years, he is still able to make her feel aroused and angry at the same time.
Jacques smirks as he was able to pay the real masseuse one hundred dollars for him to let him come in here so he can take a break without a doubt, knowing that Emma still cares about him, which will let him obtain what he needs and, most of all, desires.
HOME FARM
"I know what I did was irreprehensible, but I care about Jeremy, and I was doing everything I could to keep him here with us, with you, and not be bounced around the country with Jordan, which you know was going to happen if you didn't marry her."
Tommy had eloped with Jordan because of her wanting to take Jeremy out of state, knowing he couldn't have 2000 miles between him and his son.
"Well, at least you admit you knew what you did was wrong. I guess it's better late than never." He scoffs. "But Dad, don't forget what you set in motion; it didn't just affect Jordan. But because of you, Max is in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and Shauna lost the baby she and Max very much wanted, so you can say you did it for us, but in reality, you did all of it for yourself. Now, if you excuse me, I've got to get out of here."
Tommy grasps both bags of his, making his way out of the front door.
And as the door shuts, giving some finality to the situation, Daniel goes over to the minibar to fix himself a stiff drink, which is unusual since he doesn't drink this early in the day, but what was said by both McKnight and Tommy calls for one.
"No matter the cost, huh, Daniel?" he says to himself before taking a hearty taste of scotch.
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END OF EPISODE
ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF TOWN AND COUNTRY
Jai and Louise discuss their next step.
Aaliyah attempts to make amends with Tanner.
Lorenzo confides in Elijah about his job offer.
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