- Previously on "Twenties"...
- Yo, guess who walked into the coffee shop
with a Todd today? - Lorraine.
- We don't know each other like that?
- We don't. - Bye, Hattie.
- Ben got the promotion. What if I quit?
- You're not gonna quit.
- What were you talking to that waiter about?
He handed you his business card.
- Babe, I don't even know where that card is at.
- We have to let it be. We can't raise this baby.
I love you. This is not our time.
- I know you're getting back into acting,
and I want to help.
I'll make sure you're on Joseph's list.
He's the head of casting at the studio.
- And scene.
[romantic orchestral music]
- Okay, you got your clothes pressed,
your smoothie-- whey protein, extra ginger--
and they were holding a package
for you downstairs at the front desk.
- May I ask you a question? What do you think of me?
♪ ♪
- What do you mean?
- Well, you've worked here for some time now.
You must've formed an opinion.
- I think you're great.
- Do you know I have a drinking problem?
- Uh, okay, what?
This conversation is getting a little strange.
And is that my vape?
♪ ♪
I should get back to my desk.
I'm sure the writers will be back any minute now.
- I gave them the afternoon off.
We have the whole office to ourselves.
- Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
- What? - Un-uh, nope.
Not falling under your spell.
- Excuse me?
- I know all about your spell, okay?
I shouldn't even be looking you in the eye right now.
- I like looking you in your eyes.
Makes me feel alive.
- Why are you doing me like this?
- Like what? - You know what.
- No, I don't. Tell me.
- You had me at your house,
offering me wine and shit.
We smoked on your couch while watching a documentary
about dumb rich white people. You opened up to me
about the time you gave your baby up for adoption.
I didn't know whether to comfort you or go down on you.
And now you're sitting here smoking my vape,
looking as good as you want to look and telling me
we got the office to ourselves and shit.
- So?
- Ida B, you are trying to seduce me.
♪ ♪
Aren't you?
♪ ♪
- Is it working?
[music swells]
♪ ♪
- ♪ Doin' too many gangsta talk ♪
♪ I pull up and see if that gangsta talk ♪
♪ Too many [...] be on my [...] ♪
♪ Got [...] in her mouth, let her babysit ♪
♪ You plastic [...], you a'ight ♪
- That part where you-- - You mean Tre?
- Right, the part where Tre's mom
sees her for the first time
after she cuts off all her hair
and starts crying ...
Wow, powerful stuff.
- It was so moving.
It's like, as you stepped into your true self,
your mom felt like she was losing her daughter.
- Well, it's not me. It's the character.
- It was really strong.
- Yeah, you went there. - I just wanted to keep it 100.
- Truth is always better than fiction.
- You know, when we first met,
I could tell you had feelings for me, but I never knew
how hard it was for you to get over me
until I read your beautiful script.
- Bitch, I don't like you like that.
- Well, then who was Sienna supposed to be?
- Do you want to tell her, or should I?
- Tell her what?
- Sienna is obviously me.
The characters live together, and she's dating a handsome man
that loves her to a fault. - Both of y'all are crazy.
I don't like either one of y'all like that.
Wow.
- You don't have a crush on me? - No.
- Are you sure you've never lusted after me?
- Positive.
Now what did y'all think about the ending?
- Oh, I didn't get past act two because I was trying
to figure out how to let you down easy.
- Yeah, I started to wonder
if I wanted to play a role that was based on me.
I don't want to do anything that's too meta.
- So, basically, y'all didn't finish the script.
- To be fair, it's a little long.
- Yeah, you need to cut at least 10 pages.
- You just mad because I don't like you.
- If this goes, do I have to audition?
- It's her first real script.
Let's not get her hopes up.
- You have to speak things into existence.
- Thank you, Ni.
- You're welcome, sweetie. - What are you doing?
- I felt a little chemistry between us just then.
Was that just me?
- You're a mess. - So are you.
[gentle music]
- Get the Valentina sides ready.
Casting needs them by noon.
- I'm on it.
[percussive music]
♪ ♪
- Happy birthday.
- My birthday is tomorrow.
- I know. I'm gonna be out of town,
so happy early birthday.
It's a Ballet Russe program signed by Raven Wilkinson.
I found it on eBay.
- Wow, I can't believe you did this.
- Well, I hope that you have a wonderful birthday.
- It's already off to a good start.
[smooth music]
- ♪ Where all the boss girls getting money for show ♪
♪ Teach you how to stunt and how to get that dough ♪
- Look, Valentina, you can't work here with this attitude.
If someone walks out of your chair unhappy,
you got to fix it.
Black women deserve better.
- And what about me? I'm a black woman.
Don't I deserve better?
You right. I'm hurting right now, sis.
My man said he's moving out, going back to the D,
and I came him here for him.
I started a new life here for him.
He don't give a damn.
He's crawling right back to his ex
and her three kids that ain't even his.
- Valentina, you will get through this.
Now come here and give Coco a hug.
Get it, girl. I can't believe
you memorized all this already. You're good.
- Professional. - I know that's right.
[cell phone rings]
- Hi, daddy. - Hello there, baby girl.
I hope you're feeling blessed this evening.
- She is blessed because I got her an audition.
- Yeah, tomorrow. It's for the show
she works for, "Coco's Butter."
- My goodness, you young ladies are doing big things.
- We just trying to make an honest living.
- Don't you be worrying about nothing.
You're a natural.
- Thank you, Daddy. - I'll be saying a prayer.
Bye now.
[cell phone chimes]
- You so lucky to have a daddy. - Well, you have one too.
- Yeah, but he ain't shit.
- Do you think that's why your life is such a mess?
- My life ain't that messy.
It is a little messy,
but I'm in the process of trying to clean it up.
- And you're doing a great job.
- Get off me.
[quiet music]
[chatter]
- Who do you think you're talking to, Coco?
I'm from Detroit, heifer.
- Now listen here, girlfriend.
I don't care where you come from.
That is no way to treat a customer.
- I don't know what I'm doing here.
- I think you skipped a line.
- No, I mean... I'm sorry.
I don't--I don't know what I'm doing here.
These aren't the pages I was given.
- Well, scripts change all the time.
It's part of the writing process.
- Okay.
Can we start over?
- Of course.
You know what? Forget the pages.
Do you have a monologue prepared?
- I'm West Indian. Of course I'm prepared.
- Wonderful. All right, go for it.
- I know you love me, Michael, I do.
and yes, I love you.
I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't,
but sometimes love is about timing.
You talk about what God wants and reading the signs.
I don't see signs.
I see you and me and this choice.
You want a miracle.
Well, I can't turn this water into wine,
and neither can you, but God can
if we let him.
We have to let it go.
We have to let it be.
We can't raise this baby.
I love you, but this...
This isn't our time.
- Thank you, Nia.
That was really, really good.
Hattie, could you step outside with me?
- Who wrote that?
- How dare you?
- Hold up. - You had no right.
- First of all, I didn't know she was gonna do that.
- That is a violation of my privacy.
- I am so sorry.
I would never want you to feel like you can't trust me.
I just thought it was really good,
and you have this amazing voice,
and nobody gets to hear it.
- Go to your desk and pack up all your shit.
I never want to see your face again.
[percussive music]
♪ ♪
- Damn.
[soft rock music]
- ♪ Hey, wasn't it me who said ♪
♪ That nothing good's gonna last forever ♪
♪ And wasn't it me who said ♪
♪ Let's just be glad for the time together ♪
♪ It must have been hard to tell me ♪
♪ That you've given all you had to give ♪
♪ I can understand your feeling that way ♪
[quiet chatter]
- Hey.
- Hi.
- I just wanted to apologize
for what happened the other day.
You didn't deserve that.
You don't even know me like that, and every time I see you,
you're always encouraging me and shit.
I mean, I'm grateful for it.
Look, I totally get it if you don't want to,
but I think it would be dope
if we could link up some time and just chill.
- Like Netflix and chill? - Nah, not like that.
Look, I'm surrounded by straight people,
and it would be nice if I could have
at least one queer friend.
- Look, I get it. It's cool.
- It is?
- Yeah, I'm not your type. It's fine.
- I just feel like we're the same, you know?
We're both "soft studs."
- I'm not soft. - Well, we're the aggressor.
- What makes you think I'm aggressive?
- Stop playing with me, man.
- I'm not playing with you. - I'm just saying,
I think of you more
as a wing-woman than actually being my woman.
- Hattie, I'm a lesbian. - I can see that.
- Which means I like women, all kinds of women.
I like soft women, feminine women,
masculine women, trans women, black women,
Asian women, Cameroon--
- I get it. You like women.
- So if you want to limit yourself to the type of women
you date, that's cool,
but I do think you should reconsider,
because I know you see me out in the world
with my locks and baggy clothes,
but you have no idea what I'm like behind closed doors,
when I take my clothes off, when I let my hair down,
you don't know if I'm dominant or submissive,
if I like it rough, or if I like to take it slow.
We got the same anatomy,
and I'm pretty good at taking care of myself.
What makes you think I can't take care of you?
That's why you shouldn't be afraid
of trying new things.
You just might like it.
- Look, I was just trying to come in here and apologize
and ask if we could be friends.
I don't need all this extra shit.
- Your apology is accepted.
And I got enough friends.
[spacey music]
♪ ♪
[lively mid-century orchestral music]
- I hate assigned seating.
- There's my angel. - She is angelic, isn't she?
- You dropped down straight from heaven.
- Yeah, you look stunning as always.
- I'm so glad you guys could be here.
- We wouldn't miss it for the world.
- You're the daughter we wish we always had.
- That means so much to me.
- Richard. - Yes.
- Now, I know the email said you're not opening gifts
until after dessert, but I can't wait.
- Okay. Oh, my God.
[gasps]
- Ooh. - Thank you.
I don't even know what to say. This is too much.
- Oh, it's never too much.
♪ Never too much, never too much ♪
♪ Never too much ♪
- Happy birthday. - Oh, shit.
- What? - There's my offspring.
- Oh, my god. Mom, what are you doing here?
- Well, it's nice to see you too.
- Shirley, I want you to meet my parents.
- Hi, I'm Richard, Chuck's dad.
- Shirley, Marie's mom, obvi.
And now I see where Chuck gets his good looks from.
- Thank you. You're welcome.
And this is my wife, Angela.
- How do you do? - Lovely to meet you.
- So nice to finally meet.
- It looks like they're taking their assigned seats.
Shall we join them?
- I guess we'll have to find an extra chair for me.
- No worries. You can sit with us.
- [quietly] It's okay.
- Why is she here? - I don't know.
- Somebody had to invite her.
- Well, it wasn't me.
- She's like one of those pouched rats
trying to sniff out land mines in Tanzania.
Animal Planet.
- I'll keep her at bay. - Please do.
- Here's the power couple.
all: Happy birthday.
- I got the part. I'm gonna be Valentina
on "Coco's Butter."
- Hey! Go, Nia. Go, Nia.
I knew you were gonna get it.
Look, we already saved you a seat.
- Who is Valentina?
- She's a broke hairdresser from Detroit.
[overture from "The Marriage of Figaro"]
♪ ♪
- You, on a motorcycle? - Oh, yeah.
1957 Harley-Davidson Hummer.
- I'd ride on the back of your bike any day of the week.
- Mom!
♪ ♪
[clinks glass]
- My dearest Marie,
from the first moment Richard and I met you,
we knew our son had found a gem.
You are intelligent. You're kind.
You're full of preternatural grace.
And we are just so blessed to have known you
for these past two years.
Ladies and gentlemen, to Marie.
- Here, here. - Cheers.
- To Marie. [chatter]
- Thank you, Mama Chuck.
Um...
So you know you're my best friend,
and we've been through a lot together.
Right now I'm sleeping on your couch.
Thank you for that. I, uh...
I'll probably need to stay on your couch a little longer,
because I am unemployed again.
But don't--
don't worry about that now, 'cause we here, okay?
We here. Don't worry about that.
So yeah, um... happy birthday, bitch.
all: Happy birthday.
- Marie, I met you in college sophomore year.
We were waiting in line at the campus Jamba Juice,
and at that moment, I said to myself,
"There's a girl that needs her chakras cleansed."
And you let me clean them.
You are the strongest person I know.
Thank you for being our rock. I love you so much.
Happy birthday.
- Happy birthday.
- You all may have noticed that when I got here,
there was no place at the table for me.
That's because I wasn't invited.
It's no secret that Marie and I aren't exactly close.
And that's because I was a terrible mother.
Yes, it's true. See, when you're a woman,
people assume it's just something you can do,
raise children, wipe their little noses
and their little bums and make every sacrifice
so you're there whenever they need you.
But I never got it right.
I haven't gotten much right at all in my life, except you.
Thank you for being the best that I have to offer.
Happy birthday.
- Cheers to that.
- Happy birthday, bitch. - Happy birthday.
- ♪ Because all of me ♪
♪ Loves all of you ♪
♪ You're my end and my beginning ♪
♪ Even when I lose, I'm winning ♪
♪ 'Cause I'll give you all of me ♪
♪ And you give me all of you ♪
Baby, I mean every word of that song,
and you'd make me the happiest man in the world
if you'd be my wife.
[uneasy orchestral music]
Will you marry me?
♪ ♪
- Yes.
- ♪ Meet me at the altar ♪
♪ In your white dress ♪
♪ Girl, let's just get married ♪
♪ I just wanna get married ♪
- Hey, I hate to trouble you,
but we need to settle the check.
- Oh, my fiancé will handle it.
You know what? I'll get his card.
- ♪ Why do I want ya ♪
♪ And tell me why can't you want me too ♪
Here you go. - Thank you.
[spacey music]
♪ ♪
- Congratulations.
Congratulations.
- Are you really happy about this?
- Are you?
- What's that supposed to mean? - I mean, look,
don't ask questions you don't want the answer to.
- I'm not taking relationship advice from you.
- Ain't nobody trying to give you advice.
I'm just stating facts.
- Oh, is that right? - Yeah.
- Well, since we're stating facts about people,
let me state a few about you.
- Here we go.
- You feel like you have to earn your keep,
like you have to tap-dance for people's affections
because you've been doing that your whole life with your mom.
- Don't talk about my mama.
- And I know that you think being in love
is all fun and games,
but the truth is, it's hard work.
It forces you to look in the mirror,
to work through your shit,
and you obviously have no intention
of doing that anytime soon.
["Bound" by Ari Lennox playing]
♪ ♪
- Aren't you glad we're not in our 20s?
♪ ♪
- I was so high in my 20s.
♪ ♪
- ♪ I'm bound I'm bound ♪
♪ I'm bound I'm so in love now ♪
- What are you doing here?
What's wrong?
- ♪ I'm down I'm down ♪
♪ When you're not around ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Stay here ♪
♪ I need you around ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Stay here stay here ♪
♪ Stay, stay ♪
♪ Oh, yeah ♪
♪ Ah ♪