Unseen Scenes—Chapter Fifteen, Book One (Farah) (Patreon)

The fresh and tangy scent of rain on earth smells delicious but not as much as sun. The warmth of summer’s rays on the ground is one Farah always looks forward to at the changing of seasons. 

But summer is a long way off yet. As is any light, if the mood of the room is to be believed. There are so many heavy and suffocating emotions thundering in the living room of the Detective’s apartment that even she can’t manage a smile beneath them.

“Farah?” Rebecca calls.

Farah instantly springs out of her chair. “Yeah?”

She places a hand over the phone she’s talking on. “Will you let my child know that the techs think they will have found something soon, please?”

“Sure! Of course!” Anything to get out of this depression…She smiles at her to cover the unspoken thought before bounding over towards the bedroom door.

The mere idea of the Detective being in there makes the forced smile a genuine one. She knocks on the door and waits.

“Come in.”

She does instantly.

Inside, the atmosphere isn’t any better, an unease punctuating the air and making Farah shudder.

“Jeez, you all right?” The question blurts out of her lips before she can stop it. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

The Detective almost laughs at that before clearing their throat instead. “I’m fine.”

Farah heads over to the window where the Detective is and leans on the wall nearby. It’s not as close as she’d like, but even she gets the need for distance. "You'll be more than fine when you hear what your mother is doing. She's talking to the techs at the lab, who think they might be able to figure out what Murphy wants from those slides found at the hospital."

Surprise lifts their expression. “That does make me more than fine.”

“I’d say,” she replies, letting her gaze drift over them. It was too easy to ignore.

And brings out the desired effect of having the Detective laugh. She could get addicted to that laugh.

“Anything else I need to know?” they ask.

She shrugs, leaning further against the wall and letting the Detective’s body warmth encapsulate them. "Nope. But if you don't mind, I'd rather stay in here with you. It's a bit of a downer in the other room with that lot being all about work."

Their head tilts slightly. Invitingly. "And you thought I'd be more fun?"

A grin instantly catches Farah’s lips at the question. As though they wouldn’t know the answer by now!

"I always think you're more fun,” she replies, doing her best to keep the emotion which makes her heart beat faster out of the words. It doesn’t work but Farah doesn’t mind.

Yet uncertainty once again seems to overtake the Detective, so Farah forces herself out of their gazing and turns her attention to the open window. Of all people she would happily make uncomfortable, they are definitely not one of them.

"I love the smell of rain.” She breathes in the wet scent, licking her lips as the rain drops land on them. “But I don't think it can be as good as the smell of a real home.” The admission was unexpected so Farah fumbles to cover it. “Well, unless it's filled with dirty laundry or something."

The Detective lets out a soft laugh and once again Farah struggles to focus on anything else but the addictive sound of it.

"Must be nice to have somewhere you're settled in,” she comments, glancing about the bedroom behind them.

"You might not find it so fun to be stuck in one place forever,” they say.

"Oh, I don't know,” Farah begins, swallowing down the lump in her throat as nerves build. "It depends on the company."

As she turns to look at them, it’s all she can do not to move closer. The temptation is sweeter than any moment in her life, but the thought of making them uncomfortable stops her.

As well as the fear of rejection, which she’s doing well at denying in that moment.

"Are you suggesting that you think my company would be good enough?" they say finally, breaking the air between them which is heavier and filled with more electricity than the storm clouds above.

"I don't think so,” Farah replies, a wobble of emotion in her throat almost ruining the smooth statement. “I know so."

A flicker of pleasant happiness emanates from the Detective and encourages Farah closer.

"You'll get a cold if you let the rain soak you." She moves her hand forward, now intensely aware of the Detective’s body reacting as she’d hoped to the action. The rain is chill as she sweeps her fingers over their arm. She purses her lips to avoid letting out the sigh which wants to escape her.

They watch the motion carefully.

Honesty overwhelms Farah in that intimate moment. "What an unexpected surprise you've been, Detective."

"Well, I do like to keep people on their toes." They say it nonchalantly, but Farah can hear the slight hitch in their voice.

Their reaction has a smile on her face faster than anything else in her life. "You can put me anywhere you want, any time you like."

A chiming sounds from nearby. She ignores it. And then it happens again. The Detective glances away, stealing away Farah’s breath with the motion.