EPISODE 262
Written by: Bre L. Drew
November 13, 2023
Last Time on Town and Country
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Sean returned to town from Louisiana to inform Louise that he isn't giving up on their reconciliation; however, Louise remains unsure about their prospects since he's still married to Tricia.
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Meanwhile, Tricia informed Sean that due to her mother's arrival in Radcliffe, she is putting their divorce proceedings on hold since she's still suspicious of Jolene's visit.
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Jai and Mala decide to keep getting back together a secret just in case it doesn't work out the second time around,
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Friends and Aaliyah said goodbye to Lorenzo, who took the job with Murray Hirsch. Lorenzo told Aaliyah they will take their relationship as it comes with them now being long distance.
FRANKLIN FARM
During this cloudy and chilly fall morning, Louise Saunders Lockhart treads on her family's farm. The farmer couldn't help but be preoccupied with thoughts surrounding Sean being back in town, meaning they would eventually have to decide whether they could start anew together or if it was too late. Yet she can't forget about the kiss they shared. It had been some time since a kiss meant a lot to her, and she cursed herself for feeling like a teenage girl crazy in love.
When Louise reaches the barn, she spots her daughter walking out of the shed, who notices her mother approaching her.
"Ooh, somebody's happy. Think I can guess who's behind that?" Lenny Lockhart states.
"And who would that be, Lynn Felice?" Louise says her blonde fraternal twin daughter's full name affectionately.
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"He's about this tall, salt and pepper hair, kinda in decent shape," Lynn responds.
Louise grins at her daughter's accurate description of the man she was married to for many years.
"So, you know about your father being back home?"
"Yeah, he called to tell me he's back from visiting Uncle Johnny." Lenny nods. "He also told me that once things finish between him and Tricia, he's not going to stop until you two are together again."
Louise shakes her head, wishing he hadn't told them that.
"What's wrong?" Lynn queries, seeing the concern written on her face.
"With everything going on, don't hope for a reunion just yet."
"I know you feel bad about what went down between you and Dad, but I wouldn't worry about Jai. I mean, you guys are over."
Louise knows she is referring to the video of them giving into their inhibitions played at her and Jai's engagement party, which ultimately ended their courtship.
"Just know, Lynn, that whatever happens, you and your father will always love you and your sister, no matter what."
"I know, but something tells me you two will get there eventually," she says optimistically.
WHEELER BUILDING: APT # 424
Despite having to leave for work in twenty minutes, Sean Lockhart finds himself cooking breakfast in the small kitchen of the apartment he lives in with his wife.
The sound of footsteps makes him lift his head from placing food on plates as he sees Tricia Lockhart wearing a light purple sweatshirt and pants pajama set with slippers and her hair in a casual ponytail.
"I thought you would be out the door by now," she says. Her eyes, which follow her smell, suddenly lay upon the various foods on the countertop, including sunny-side-up eggs, bacon, and toast.
"I'm about to take off, but I thought I would make breakfast for you and your mother before I left."
Tricia can hear the sincerity in his voice, knowing she's dealing with her mother, Jolene, being in town after many years of estrangement.
"You still suspicious about why she's here?" Sean asks.
"I haven't seen her since the president, who must never be named, was in the White House. What do you think?" Tricia remarks.
Sean chuckles while he notices the time on his watch on his wrist. "Before I came home from my trip, I went to see Louise."
Tricia shakes her head while she folds her arms at hearing the information, especially since he and his ex had gotten closer, much to the detriment of their marriage. "Oh, I bet she couldn't wait to tell you how big and bad I was to her," she says overdramatically.
"No, she didn't, and when your mother does leave, we can focus on ending this marriage."
"Fine with me."
Sean gestures at the food. "Well, I gotta take off, but please, you and Jolene, help y'all selves,"
"Thanks," she says lowly.
With some recognition of her gratitude, he smirks before he walks out of the apartment.
VICTORY COTTAGE
"That can't be the time already, can't it?" Mala Gupta blurts out.
She and her ex-husband, now her current lover, Jai, are in her bedroom of the two-story residential cottage where she and her children reside.
She glances at the time on the television screen, courtesy of the local news playing at a low volume.
The two had been secretly seeing each other again after the revelation of his former fiancée Louise's dalliance with Sean.
They both aren't at the phase of their reconciliation where anyone else knows, since they don't want to give their children false hope if it doesn't work out.
"Time flies when you're having fun," Jai notes. "Mala, I have something to ask you."
Mala turns to face him. "And what would that be?"
"Is the sex better the second time around?"
Despite being British, Mala had never been a prude, especially in her rebellious youth, but had never been asked that question regarding performance.
She runs her hands through her hair. "Well, it was never nothing to complain about the first time. Why do you ask?"
"I don't know. Guess because we aren't exactly spring chickens anymore."
"Well, we aren't exactly ready to be put out to pasture either. So, choose your next set of words carefully."
"I was just asking."
Mala places her hand on his face, gazing at him. "You can be proud of yourself."
Jai displays a pleased smile.
Shortly after, the reverberant of the front door closes downstairs, which catches their attention, especially Mala.
"Crap!" she loudly whispers.
With speed, she gets out of bed to put on her dark green satin robe.
"This sneaking around can be fun," Jai replies.
Mala quickly turns to him to express that it isn't anything but.
She moves herself out of the room, thankful that she had him park his car in the garage.
While going down the stairs, she sees Samuel Gupta coming home from his late shift at the hospital, which he does at least once a month.
"Good morning, Samuel," she addresses her son.
The psychiatrist isn't used to his mother still being in her robe by now.
"Mom, is there something going on I should know about?"
SAMPSON UNIVERSITY: STUDENT UNION
Among the modest number of students populating the student union of Sampson University this morning is Aaliyah Gupta, sitting by herself at one of the tables towards the back. Partly out of boredom and necessity, she occasionally skims a particular chapter in her marketing textbook that will be part of her finals in a few weeks.
"Aaliyah," a somewhat familiar voice calling her name, gets her attention.
Elijah Barker stands near her, holding onto one of the straps of his backpack.
At first, a tide of awkwardness played between them, while for Aaliyah, it seemed the noise had increased from everyone else in the room.
"Hey,"
"You alright?"
Aaliyah closes the book, feeling like whatever occurs, she won't be in the slightest mood to read about brand awareness.
"Yeah, it's just that I'm kind of surprised you're speaking to me; that's all."
Elijah's girlfriend Lenny and her twin sister Tanner, who until recently was her best friend, discovered she had been the one behind the video of their parents nearly having sex. Since then, they have kept their distance from her.
The poly-sci major doesn't hide his bewilderment at that declaration. "It's no denying what you did was pretty crappy, but you're my friend too," Elijah states. "Besides, I'm in no position to judge anyone; it's kind of in the rulebook for alcoholics in recovery."
For nearly three years now, Elijah has been a recovering alcoholic, faithfully attending meetings to maintain his sobriety.
Feeling the wave of relief between them, she realizes he's still on his feet.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said while clearing her items, including her notebook, textbook, and messenger bag, to make room for him to sit adjacent to her, which he does.
"I know this hasn't been the best couple of weeks for you," Elijah cites understandingly.
"Between most of my friends excommunicating me and my boyfriend leaving town, let's just say I had better days."
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"Speaking of your boyfriend, I got a text from him yesterday."
Lorenzo left town when he got a job as a content creator for Murray Hirsch's talent agency.
"Yeah, we talked the other day too. He and the band are in Vancouver now."
"He had asked me where all the good places were to hang out in B.C."
Aaliyah now recalls that Elijah's father's side of the family is from there, including the former semi-successful figure skater cousin who eloped with her boyfriend when she got pregnant last year.
"I know he's doing his thing, and I'm so happy for him," she says, then stops herself.
Elijah looks at her with intent. "But you can't help but miss him," he fills in.
"Does that make me an unsupportive girlfriend?"
He exhales before answering his friend's question.
"Absolutely not; it's obvious you care about him, and it's normal that you will miss him."
"I know we agreed that whatever happens will happen, but I didn't know it would be this hard," she confesses wholeheartedly.
"I can't even imagine what it would be like if I were apart from Lenny for more than a few days, let alone months," he tells her. "And I want you to know I'm in your corner, no matter what."
Aaliyah takes a strand of her long, dark brown hair and tucks it behind her ear. "Elijah, thank you, I need all the people in my corner I can take right now."
VICTORY COTTAGE
Mala walks down the rest of the staircase to be closer to her son.
"I was about to take a shower when I heard you down here," she lies.
"It seems like you and I had the same idea, and I'm going to catch up on some Z's," he declares. "Are you working from home today?"
"Uh yeah," she proclaims.
For both of their sakes, she opts to alter the topic of conversation.
"How are you?"
"If that is your way of asking, have I spoken to Martha since I overheard her admitting she kept the fact that she saw her child's father when we were in Nashville? Then the answer is no."
In spite of his sarcasm, she can tell he is still bothered about it.
"I know I don't say this often about the women you court."
"But?"
"Martha should not have omitted that from you; however, Samuel, the way you've told me about how he abandoned not only her when she needed him the most but Steven Junior too, I mean, maybe she's processing this herself and didn't want to tell you unless something comes out of it." she counsels
He nods as if he hadn't taken that into consideration. "I really am tired. I forgot my bag in the car."
The doctor heads out of the house, where Mala finds herself running up the stairs into the bedroom, where Jai is out of bed and dressed in the clothes he came in late last night.
"You got to go!" she quietly remarks. "Samuel's home, and he suspects something is going on."
"I take it, our boy's third eye is working overtime," he says while putting on his coat.
"This isn't funny, Jai."
"We have nothing to hide, but we will take it at whatever pace you want it to, okay?" he says tenderly.
He bends down to kiss her gently on the forehead as he steps out of the room, tiptoeing down the stairs.
Mala remains in the bedroom doorway, watching and silently imploring that he isn't spotted.
Jai peaks out the window and sees Samuel getting out of his car but doesn't see him.
So, he motions with his hand at her before taking off to the kitchen so he can get to the garage door.
She is left with a beam of satisfaction appears on her face as she goes back into the room to get herself together.
WHEELER BUILDING: APT # 424
With the scraping of forks on their plates, mother and daughter sit beside each other at the kitchen island, essentially in silence.
"I must say that your husband knows his way around the stove, which is good because we know you hardly know how to crack an egg." Jolene Woods notes
With the utensil in her hand, she rolls her eyes at her mother's insult. "We get it; Sean can cook, and I can't." She decided to change the subject. "Mom, are we going to keep playing this game?"
The older woman wears a dark charcoal gray knit open-front wrap over her pajamas. "I'm not going to get into it with you right now," she discloses.
She is aware that her daughter is still skeptical of her visiting her from Bakersfield, in addition to Wade, her husband, who has been abusive towards her for years. "So, did he go to a shrink or a counselor to get help?"
"Who? Wade?"
"Yeah, him,"
Jolene splits apart her lightly buttered toast and puts it back on the plate. "No, he hasn't, but he's a changed man."
Something in her tone doesn't give Tricia much confidence in that. "How long will you be staying then?"
"What, you're in a rush to get rid of me?"
"Believe it or not, Mom, I feel safer knowing you're here than in California with that man.
"Just focus on your own life, baby doll," Jolene tells her matter of fact while sipping her orange juice.
She attempts not to let what her mother said to her happen, as she knew if it weren't for her staying here, she and Sean would be in separate rooms, signifying the end of their marriage, which part of her didn't want to end. However, she knows she can't end up like her mother, having to question her spouse's true motives.
FRANKLIN FARM
Sean had been told by one of the farmhands that Louise was out on the farm. While trekking along the expansive land, he finally spots her talking with their daughter by the barn as the sounds of cows mewing and horses whinnying fill the surroundings.
"Well, just keep things in perspective; that's all I'm saying," Louise advises.
Lenny crosses her arms and moves her head reflexively, complying with her mother's request.
She then notices her father is behind them. "Hey, Dad!" Lenny calls out, which makes Louise turn around to see her ex-husband.
"Hey," he greets them. "I'm not interrupting you, am I?"
"No, you're not," Louise replies casually. "I was just telling our daughter not to rush to any conclusions, that's all."
Lenny smirks at her parents, realizing they probably need to be alone. "I just remembered I had to take the hay into the barn."
With that, she walks off, leaving her parents together.
"Subtlety is not one of her strengths," Louise vocalizes.
"Tell me about it," Sean says agreeably. "How are you?"
He and Louise begin taking an unintentional stroll away from where they were initially standing.
"Sean, why on earth did you tell the girls about us getting back together?"
He shrugs his shoulders while responding. "I know you said I shouldn't make any promises, but I thought we both wanted this."
Louise wraps her arms around her as a strong breeze comes through. "I do," she says, lowering her voice.
"I don't know if you will feel the same way after I tell you this."
The expression on his face and the specific sound makes her stop, and Sean stops with her.
"Jolene, Tricia's mother is in town, and it's a whole situation," he informs her.
"And what does that have to do with us?" she retorts.
Sean exhales as he explains it to her. "Tricia wants to hold off on the divorce until she leaves."
"And when will that be exactly, Sean?"
Sean's facial expression gives her the answer she knew was coming.
"I don't know," he quickly replies. "But we shouldn't let this stop us from being together alone," he winks.
He places his hands on her arms, and she recoils, making him let her go.
"I know our Only Fans-esque video might make you think I'm up for sneaking behind Tricia's back, but the truth is, until you two officially end your marriage, anything other than kissing is off limits," she says vehemently.
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Sean is speechless, knowing nothing he will say will give her much hope at this moment.
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END OF EPISODE
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ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF TOWN AND COUNTRY
Martha clears things up with Samuel.
Emma warns Jacques.
Daniel offers assistance.
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