EPISODE 219
Written by: Bre L. Drew
January 16, 2023
Last Time on Town and Country
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Upset at the announcement of Jai and Louise getting married, Aaliyah took off.
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With the pressure from Deirdre to seduce Emma away from Will, knowing he must do it to obtain the funds Jacques needs to rescue his family's shipping company from debt.
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Daniel blackmailed Jordan's psychiatrist, Dr. Pierre Toussiant, to help him drive her insane so she could lose custody of Jeremy.
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Tricia hired Thora as a part-time barista at Jojo's.
JOJO'S CAFE
Aaliyah Gupta is greeted instantly by the bluesy baritone vocals of Darius Rucker as "Wagon Wheel" plays on the SiriusXM country station on the sound system when she enters JoJo's cafe this afternoon.
She is still trying to get her head around the fact that her father is planning to remarry, even though she had hoped he would reunite with her mother, no matter how bizarre it may sound.
Noticing a longer line than she anticipated at the counter, she decides to sit at the table by the large window overlooking Main Street.
Meanwhile, behind the counter, Tricia Lockhart finds herself using whatever patience she has as she trains Thora, since today is her first day working here. And so far, she is doing an okay job; however, it is noticeable that she needs to work less on hospitality and more on her time management.
"Take the marker to write his name on the cup and move it along," Tricia strongly recommends.
Thora McKnight, who is wearing an apron and whose blonde hair is in a low ponytail, nods in reply as she does as instruct.
At the same time, Sean Lockhart appears on the other side of the counter. "Hey," he calls out to his wife. She turns to face him, surprised to see him in the middle of the day, knowing he has returned to work on the farm since their infant son Dylan died of SIDS.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asks him.
"I was just coming to see how you were doing," he replies. "But I see you're busy."
"Sean, hello, long time no see," Thora says to the father of her daughter's former friends. "By the way, I'm so sorry for your loss,"
He clears his throat to suppress the lump he still feels every time he hears his son's name or even sees a photo of him.
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"Thank you, Thora," he replies somberly.
Tricia folds her arms. "You can see how busy I am, so give me a few minutes, okay," she says straightforwardly.
Sean bobs his head in response and walks away.
As Sean is about to take a seat at a nearby table, he sees Aaliyah on her iPad, to whom he goes over to say hello.
"Hey, Aaliyah," he says to his daughter's best friend.
Aaliyah turns her attention from the device to Tanner and Lenny's father. "Hi, Mr. Lockhart,"
He recognizes the look on her face all too well as that of a young woman who is disappointed about something. "Look, I know this probably isn't any of my business, but is everything okay?"
"You don't know?" she asks in confusion.
"Know what?"
At first, Aaliyah feels some regret for telling him, but he is going to find out sooner or later.
"That my father and Louise are engaged,"
WHEELER BUILDING: APT #424
Despite occasionally skimming the panel discussing the latest goings-on in the NFL on SportsCenter on ESPN on his TV in the living room of his third-floor apartment, Jai Gupta couldn't stop thinking about how devastated Aaliyah was to learn of his engagement to Louise. Even though Samuel told him not to worry about it, he finds himself doing just that.
A knock on the door prompts him to stand, unsure whether it is his daughter, but when he opens the door, he finds his fiancée standing in the doorway, and he moves aside to let her inside.
"I thought I would come by and surprise you with lunch for a change." Louise Saunders Lockhart informs him. "I hope Chinese is okay."
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When she lifts the takeout bag, she notices that her fiancé appears to be somewhere other than here. Jai, are you okay?" She inquires with some concern.
Jai runs his hand through his dark hair and sighs.
"I should've been upfront with you about this some time ago, but Aaliyah hadn't been so keen on the two of us getting close, and today when I told her and Samuel about our engagement, she took off out here like a bat out of hell."
Louise sets the food on the coffee table, trying to process what she is being told.
MILLER INN
With the weight of an uncertain future on his mind, Jacques Laurent steps inside the lobby of the Miller Inn. The hotel where he's currently staying is courtesy of Deirdre Covington, whom he just left. The millionaire widow told him that if he didn't seduce her daughter soon, she wouldn't give him the money he needed to get his family's shipping company out of its crippling debt.
Thankfully, he didn't have to smile and greet the tourists since they had mostly left after the holidays. The lobby was mainly quiet, despite the work going on in the ballroom and the occasional chatter from the front desk clerks.
He is about to head to the elevator bank when he spots Courtney Covington Sullivan in black and ivory two-tone single-breasted blazer and slacks speaking with a construction worker near the ballroom door. As he moves towards the younger businesswoman, the worker takes off.
"He didn't have to leave on my account," the handsome Frenchman says charmingly.
Courtney braces herself to deal with her aunt's egotistical ex-fiancé, who had previously flirted with her. "I believe I told you before that I'm a happily married woman, so if you are coming to hit on me again, you can forget about it,"
"Who says I'm trying to flirt with you?" he says confidently. "Can someone just come over to say hello to you?"
"Well, you said hello, and now I'm saying goodbye." Courtney was about to turn around when he held his hand out to stop her.
"Come on, don't be like that," he replies amicably. "I know my history doesn't necessarily give you much confidence in me; look, I'm thousands of miles away from home, and I don't know many people in this town, but you seem like a friendly face."
"I will try to be civil if and when we see each other from now on, but for now, I have to get back to work," Courtney tells him straight-forwardly. The petite woman turns on her heel to go back inside the nosy ballroom.
Jacques stands outside the door with an amused smile. He then notices the familiar ringtone emanating from his inner coat pocket, from which he removes his iPhone.
"Hello," he answers. The voice on the other end causes him to slightly straighten up and begin speaking in his native language as he speaks to his father, Pascal. He tells him that the company is taking another hit financially and needs that money, hoping that whatever he is working on is going to pay off for them. He assures his father that the best way he knows to handle things is to smooth everything over.
​
JOJO'S CAFE
Needing her usual, Jordan McKnight saunters inside the cafe as Paramore's "Still Into You" is now playing. The young woman comes from another therapy session, although she is beginning to think it isn't doing the job since she is still hearing voices of doubt, not to mention feeling anxious, which is very unlike her.
When she gets to the front of the line, she is surprised to see her mother behind the counter but recalls that Presley told her she had gotten a part-time job here.
"Jordan, hi; what can I get for you?" Thora inquiries about her only daughter.
"Large black iced tea,"
As Thora goes to prepare to drink, she can sense something is off about her. Seconds later, she gives her the tea and notices the dark circles around her eyes.
"Have you been getting any sleep?" Thora examines. "You look tired,"
"Wow, thanks for the compliment," Jordan says sarcastically. "In case you forgot, I have an active one-year-old son that keeps me on my toes." She lies partially.
"It isn't a crime to show some care for my daughter," Thora points out. "If you need me to watch Jeremy when Lillith can't, I will find time in my schedule."
"I don't need you to do that; I can take care of my son without anyone's help," Jordan snipes at her.
Thora is about to say something else when she watches her daughter take herself and her tea out the door.
"What on earth has gotten into her?" Thora says to herself.
WHEELER BUILDING: APT # 303
By now, the two stand across from each other in the living room of his apartment.
"Jai, look, if all of this is going to cause problems for Aaliyah, then maybe we can slow things down."
He shakes his head in response. "I love my daughter very much, but she isn't a kid anymore, and she can't get her way by stomping and pouting all because she wants her parents back together."
Louise silently acknowledges what she could've guessed. Now it makes sense why Aaliyah is dead set against them marrying.
"I hope you know you don't ever have to question my love for you," Jai says meaningfully.
"I haven't,"
"I don't know what to do," he says.
Louise goes toward him and places a supportive touch on his arm.
"Just try to reach out to her; she'll get back to you when she's ready, and then eat something because, as my grandmother Rosemary used to say, worrying without food does no good," Louise advises.
Jai finds himself inwardly laughing.
"I guess you're right,"
He takes out his iPhone from the table, deciding to send a text rather than call and get hung up on, while Louise heads into the kitchen to retrieve the takeout cartons from their bag, realizing the honeymoon phase of their engagement is over.
JOJO'S CAFE
Sean is speechless as he hears that his ex-wife is now set to marry Jai, courtesy of Aaliyah.
When he gains the sense of speech again, he decides to focus back on the younger woman. "I guess you're taken by surprise, too, huh?"
​
"Honestly, it does; I know my dad's happiness is important, but I thought somehow my parents would realize they're better off together, but I guess it isn't meant to be." Aaliyah expresses her annoyance.
Sean himself wonders why Louise hasn't told him yet, since they work on the farm together as well as co-parent. Then it occurs to him that he forfeited his right to know the most recent developments concerning Louise when they divorced years ago.
"I'm sure whatever happens, your father cares about you; trust me," Sean says, nodding.
Aaliyah makes a face like she knows he might have a point but doesn't want to accept the validity of his statement.
She then notices that the line has now gone down significantly.
"I better get my latte to go, but thanks for not judging me about this, Mr. Lockhart."
"It's no problem; see you later, Aaliyah," he tells her.
The design and merchandising major grabs her purse and proceeds to the counter.
Sean becomes so absorbed in his thoughts that he fails to notice his wife sitting across from him.
"I saw you were speaking to Aaliyah; what's up with her?" She wonders aloud.
"Uh, she told me that Jai and Louise are getting married," he reveals.
"Where are they registered?" she asks sarcastically. "Maybe I can get Louise a self-help book on not meddling in someone else's marriage."
Sean has been going to his ex-wife to seek support for problems in their marriage, including their baby's death.
Sean shakes his head in seriousness at his wife's sardonic retort. "Anyway, she told me she wanted her parents back together, and I told her no matter what happened, her parents will still love her no matter what."
"And how do you feel about Louise remarrying another man?" Tricia asks in her usual blunt manner.
"What do you want me to say, Tricia, that I'm furious?" He says it wistfully. "Which I'm not; she's an adult, and if she wants to marry whomever she wants, she's free to do so. I just hope she isn't making a mistake by getting married all of a sudden."
Tricia can tell by his tone of voice that he does have strong feelings about his ex-wife marrying Jai. Nonetheless, she didn't have the time or the energy to keep harping on it, so she let him ask her what she wanted to order for dinner tonight, though the resonance of the conversation still remains between them.
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END OF EPISODE
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ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF TOWN AND COUNTRY
Martha shows concern.
Courtney walks in on Steven and Esther discussing Emma.
Tanner makes an important decision.
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