Page 39 of Steamy on Set

“You ready?” With his hand outstretched in my direction, he offers to be my guide into the fray. I grab it and we re-enter the party, looking like a power couple. When he lets go, my hand tingles with the sensation of having been in his, and I fight with myself to not grab for him again when we’re bombarded with the first few people. An hour passes, and we have met almost everybody. I step away from him, ready to mingle on my own.

Going past the table full of food, I dart to a large group who looks engaged by a man in the center. I push my way into the fold, and I come face-to-face with the last person I ever expected to see here.

“Christian?”

Turning at the sound of my voice, his eyes look ready to pop out of his head at the sight of me.

“Farrah?” He freezes, his hand stretched towards me like he wants to touch and see if I’m real.

I step away just as he drops his hand back to his side. My throat closes around the air I try and breathe. The lack of oxygen forces everything to go blurry, as everyone but him disappears from my sight.

“Y-you—” I can barely get the words out.

“Farrah.” His voice, like butter on a pan, sizzles in my ear, popping me out of the haze. Just like that, the room reappears, and I’m standing there, boiling with rage.

“You son of a bitch!” I bellow, drawing the attention of the people surrounding us.

He looks around, realizing the scene I’m about to make, and leans over to whisper,

“Farrah, please can we—”

Reaching for my arm again, he comes up short as I snatch it out of his way and point in his direction.

“No!” My volume increases significantly with the word.

Seeing I’m not going to let him silence me, he steps through the group and beelines for the door. I’m hot on his heels, determined not to let him out of my sight. We reach the hallway, and he finally stops and turns towards me.

Every part of him seems to be frowning, from his eyes to his brows as he takes me in. Struck with the reality that I’m finally seeing him in person, I examine him too. Searching for any signs that our ending has wrecked him as well, I look for a hole that matches my own. When I don’t see the same pain radiating in his eyes, I have to concede that maybe there isn’t one.

“How dare you.” I fight with the tears threatening to fall. “How dare you not call me back. How dare you not explain yourself. How. Dare. You.” Jamming my finger into his chest, I skewer him with my words. “You owed me at least that as your friend, let alone the woman you claimed to love.”

“Please can we not do this here?” He looks past my shoulder at the still open door and the faces likely gathering with questions about the display.

I don’t care. Let them watch as we finally have it out the way we should have months ago.

“No, we are doing this now.”

He sighs, lowering his eyes to mine, his hand flexing as he stops himself from grabbing me.

“Please Farrah, can we please have an actual conversation tomorrow?” Looking behind me once again, his shoulders stiffen when footsteps echo in our direction.

“What’s going on here?” Errol asks, stepping into the hall. He closes the door behind us, before he steps to my side. Even though I’m looking at him his eyes are stuck on Christian, a hard expression lining his face.

“Can we have a minute?” Christian’s voice sounds lighter and friendlier. He’s putting on a show for who he hopes is a potential future client.

“No.” Errol steps in front of me.

I turn back to look at Christian just as his smile drops from his face. Looking between me and Errol, he looks bothered as he takes us in together.

“I don’t know who you are, but this doesn’t concern you.” Christian’s tone has taken on a sharp edge, his shoulders pulled tight as he straightens to his full height.

Looking slightly amused, Errol steps up until they are almost face-to-face.

Seeing things about to take a turn, I move in between them.

“Errol, it’s fine. I just need to talk to him for a moment.”

Errol shifts so he can look me in the eyes, asking if I’ll be okay. I try to put him at ease, but I grimace, the raw hurt getting harder to hide.

---