Younger – A Close Shave

By: Taylor Gates

Emily’s (Fiona Roberts) labradoodle book is in surprisingly high-demand, even selling out on Amazon. Emily is smugly proud, but Kelsey (Hilary Duff) reminds her that Liza (Sutton Foster) did all the work as her editor, practically having rewritten the whole thing. Zane (Charles Michael Davis) sends Kelsey a shady congratulations on Twitter and Kelsey informs Liza they’re just playfully flirt-fighting.

Diana (Miriam Shor) tells Liza and Kelsey that Millennial has started a trend—they’ve been getting submissions about the deep thoughts of animals all morning. Charles (Peter Hermann) thanks them for potentially saving Empirical; they’re half a million apart on L.L. Moore’s new contract, and these sales might help bridge the gap. Instead of being embarrassed by this title, they should run towards these kinds of books.

Diana struggles with how to respond to an “I love you” text from Richard and finally decides on, “I know. Thank you.” She gives Liza her credit card and tells her to buy some birthday gifts for Charles that she can choose from. When Liza presents the options to Diana, she hates all of them for Charles but wants to keep all of them for Richard. Liza suggests that maybe this means she likes Richard more than she thinks. Diana realizes that she’s right—she does love Richard and should stop trying to win Charles’ approval all the time. This year, he’s getting a cupcake like everyone else.

Lauren (Molly Bernard) drags Maggie (Debi Mazar) to a bar so they can wing woman each other. Maggie gets some action first when she’s approached by Donna (Michelle Hurd), a fellow artist and fan of Maggie’s work. Donna gives Maggie her number and makes her promise to text or call her. Lauren excitedly tells Maggie that she was clearly super into her, but Maggie was distracted by the dark hair on her upper lip.

Kelsey goes to Zane’s apartment and the two compare how many followers they’ve gained from their Twitter feud before making out. The next day, Kelsey excitedly tells Liza that their feud has gone national and is getting tons of press for them. Charles informs them that Moore is giving them pushback on their offer so the dog book money is coming at the right time. He warns Kelsey he thinks her online insults are unwise, but she shoots back that they are helping his business.

Liza has dinner with Caitlin (Tessa Albertson), who asks her how she’s doing after her breakup with Josh (Nico Tortorella). Liza promises she’s all right and says they’re still friends, lying and saying the age difference is what ended things. When Caitlin uses the bathroom, Jay (Aasif Mandvi) from bonfire comes over to Liza’s table. He grabs her phone and plugs his number in, saying they don’t have to talk about work. Despite Liza trying to rush him away, Caitlin gets back before he leaves and he hears her call Liza mom.

Donna goes over to Maggie’s place for a date, admitting she’s interested in her not just as an artist but as a woman as well. She says she likes romantic things like kissing, cuddling, and bubble baths. Maggie still can’t get in the mood because she’s distracted by her mustache, but she agrees to take a bath together anyway. Maggie gets excited when Donna asks her to shave her, but things quickly go south when Maggie puts shaving cream on her lip. Donna wanted her to shave her pussy, not her face.

Liza has dinner with Jay, telling him everything about lying and her real age. Jay promises to keep her secret no matter what because he’s one of the good guys. He encourages her to keep her secret, saying she can confide in him if she ever wants to talk. Liza spies Charles across the restaurant and Jay calls him over to say hello since the two went to college together. Thinking he’s doing her a favor, Jay assures Charles their meeting is strictly social. However, considering her and Charles’ kiss, it makes things rather awkward.

Kelsey sees that Zane has sent her a mean DM while they were having sex. She takes his phone away and says she’s sleeping with him that night, not his technology. He agrees, taking both of their phones to the kitchen and pouring them more wine. Kelsey follows him down, telling him she wants to stop the feud since Charles isn’t crazy about it. Zane agrees this is the perfect time to call it quits, but not before getting a text from his boss about L.L. Moore…

The next day at Empirical, Diana announces that L.L. Moore has signed with Zane’s company. Charles asks Kelsey if this is because of her online fight, and Kelsey desperately assures them that her and Zane are more than friends and that he would never do that to her. Charles asks her if he had access to any of her devices and could have gotten any business information off of them. Kelsey remembers he had her phone last night and stays silent. Charles takes this as an admission of guilt and yells at Kelsey for her carelessness. Diana shoots her a disappointed look.

Liza goes into Kelsey’s office where she is hysterical and worried she’s going to be fired. Liza tries to comfort her, but Kelsey just wants to be alone. Zane texts her, begging her to let him explain, but she refuses.

Liza goes into Charles’ office, angry at him for accusing Kelsey and making her cry. She says that it’s not like him to be so furious without knowing the facts first. Charles’ says she’s right—he doesn’t know anything. He doesn’t know how he’s going to continue fix the L.L. Moore situation, continue paying his employees, or why she’s dating a 40-year-old in publishing who isn’t him. His reveal is cut off by a group of employees coming in and singing happy birthday, led by a smiling Diana holding a cupcake.