The Segment (Completed)

41. Stay

(Unedited)

Farrah kept quiet most of the time as she watched Richard chat with Mark and Will, taking their advice into consideration as well as hearing out what both George and Rachel had to say. Even though he gave her space to voice her thoughts, he did not even for one second meet her gaze.

By the time they finished going through the raw edits and the discussion that followed, Farrah was close to tears. She knew if anyone uttered so much as one kind word to her, she knew she would breakdown in sobbing. She had been looking at the floor, and then felt eyes on her. Looking up she saw everyone in the room had their gaze trained on her.

"Farrah, you feeling alright?" George asked, looking worried. Voicing the thoughts of everyone in the room

"Yeah...No, I'm not alright," she admitted honestly. "I'm...uh...tired."

"Look, you will be shooting the next part of the interview in a couple of days and you need to be in top form. Go home and rest, and we'll discuss the rest tomorrow," George said shooting a look towards Rachel, who nodded in agreement.

Clearing, her throat she nodded collecting her things avoiding looking at Richard. She exited the editing booth and took deep breaths as she walked towards her desk to pick up her bag and coat. Shooting small smiles at some of her colleagues she quickly packed up and left without saying much. Her phone was buzzing but she decided to ignore it as she stepped out of the lift and headed towards the restrooms in the lobby.

She looked at her reflection and swallowed thickly. Ripping a piece of tissue from the dispenser, she gently dabbed under her eyes and her nose. Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath; steeling herself against the hordes of people she would be bumping into on the tube ride home.

As she walked out the building, Richard's black Range Rover was already waiting in front. She tried to detour from walking pass it but heard Ben calling after her. He was insisting that she get into the car and wait for Richard and as she kept refusing.

Her will faltered when he said, "Come on Farrah, please. Charlie will kill me if she knew that we were here and didn't drop you home; especially when you're not feeling well." And she caved. She knew how formidable Charlie could be, and the last thing she wanted was them to have argument over her.

But it bothered her though, that for all of Ben's pleading and insisting, he did not even once mention Richard's name. Not even once. As she sat in the car, the thought gripped her; Did her even want her there?

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't see Richard stalking towards the car in long purposeful strides. She jumped when the car door opened and he sat down in the backseat with her. Ben closed the door and rounded the car to sit in the drivers seat and started driving. There was utter silence in the car other than the radio in the background as both Richard and Farrah they looked out the windows, lost in their own thoughts.

With a jolt she realized that they were already at her flat. She said a quiet thank you and rushed out of the car, without even waiting for Ben to get the door for her. Richard just quietly watched as Farrah with hurried steps walk into her flat.

"What did you do?" came Ben's voice tight with anger.

"Nothing," Richard answered emotionlessly.

"Then why has Farrah been on the verge of tears all afternoon?" Ben shot back.

"How would I know?" Richard answered flatly.

"Richard, what happened?" Ben said again in a calmer tone, taking a deep breath. He twisted around in the drivers seat to face Richard. He watched as Richard kept his eyes on the door that Farrah has walked through as he worked his jaw.