Chapter Text
Early March 2020
Freema headed in to work early on the Monday, after following the news all weekend, watching the press conference about the first cases of Coronavirus arriving in New York and being told to avoid public transport. Starting to feel uneasy about the situation, she watched out of the window as high rise buildings of New York passed by, as her driver drove her to the Studio. She headed in quickly to avoid the chilly air, making her way to the cafeteria to grab a hot mug of tea and some breakfast. After removing her coat she settled at a table and hugged her drink trying to keep her hands warm. Ryan was also in early as they were scheduled to be filming together, he picked up his breakfast and made his way to sit with Freema. “Hey Freema, how was your weekend?” Ryan enquired. Freema shrugged her shoulders and explained that she has been watching the news all weekend and was starting to worry about the situation. As normal she had spoken to the different members of her family over the weekend and Coronavirus cases in England were on the rise, yet the Government didn’t seem overly worried. Trying to change the subject and lighten the mood, Ryan asked Freema how her plans for her birthday were progressing. Freema loved to celebrate her birthday and had various different things planned with the different friendship groups that she had.
As the next few days passed the number of Coronavirus cases increased and it was all that was on the news, Italy was particularly hard hit, cases were increasing significantly in New York and England, with a number of people calling for lock downs to be implemented. Freema’s anxiousness increased as she was alone in New York with all her family back in London. A small number of the production team had caught the virus and the Executive Producers called a meeting. Speculation was rife between both the production team and the cast as to what was going to happen, they were weeks from flying to the Dominican Republic to film the last episodes of the second season.
The meeting was brief, the cast and crew were informed that they were following the government advice and that they would be continuing to shoot as per the schedule. Later that evening all the cast and crew received an email and a text confirming that filming was suspended and not to head to the studio until further notice. It was expected that the City was due to go in to quarantine in the next few days.
Freema read the message and started to pace her apartment wondering what to do. How long would they be shutting down for…should she stay in New York on the hope that it would just be for a couple of weeks or should she back home to London whilst she still could. It was the middle of the night in London and Freema didn’t want to wake her family, but she needed to talk to someone. Ryan answered on the first ring, “Hey Freema”, Freema feeling relived that he answered so quickly, “Have you seen the message? Filming has been suspended indefinitely. I don’t know what to do. I think that I want to go back to London, I don’t want to get stuck here in New York”. Ryan only lived a couple of blocks away from Freemas Brooklyn apartment, “I am on my way” he told her.
Ryan arrived 10 mins later, bottle of wine in hand as Freema began searching for flights back home to England, making himself feel at home as he opened the wine and poured them both a glass. Freema explained to him that her gut feeling was that she wanted to go home, she was expecting to fly home at the end of April after they had finished filming the remaining episodes. Staying in her New York apartment, with no outside space, no family and the uncertainty of how long this was going to last, was not something that she wanted to do. Flights were still going between JFK and Heathrow but they were starting to fill up fast. Ryan was looking on his phone and Freema was searching on her phone. Freema found a seat on a flight direct to London and booked it for late afternoon the next day, giving her chance to get herself organised. Still not really sure what she was supposed to do work wise she messaged David and told him that she was heading home whilst she still could and would keep in touch.
Freema, almost a glass of wine down and with a flight booked started to relax a little, was glad of the company. Freema questioned Ryan “What are you going to do? Are you staying here in New York or heading home to California?”. Ryan frowned as he thought of his answer “I haven’t really thought about it, I was just going to watch and see how things go, I am sure I can pick up a last minute flight home”. Ryan was in a relationship with Liz, which was on and off and had yet to tell her that recording had stopped.
Freema moved into her bedroom as she wanted to start packing. She had clothes in both New York and London so didn’t need to take lots with her, but still wanted to take some of her things, Ryan followed her in and settled on her bed. Her suitcase was in the top cupboard, she was struggling to reach it, so Ryan moved to help. As she pointed in the direction of where to find the suitcase, Ryan approached Freema from behind and grabbed her waist. He pulled her in and Freema laughed “Ryan what are you doing?”, he held her tight as he breathed her in and told her “I miss you”. After lingering for slightly too long Freema turned round in his arms and hugged him back. “I miss you too, but we have been here before and we agreed that whilst we were working together we weren’t going here again and you are seeing someone”. Ryan leans in and kisses Freema, who starts to respond, enjoying the moment and then pulled back. “We can’t do this, you are seeing someone and I am leaving tomorrow to go home”. “But I miss you and I want you” he tells her with his most heartfelt look. “But you are with Liz” Freema replied, “But that’s only because I can’t have you” Ryan quietly mutters. Freema looks at him shyly, pecks him on the cheek as she hugs him before pulling away to continue packing. Ryan sits back on the bed, takes his glass of wine and watches as Freema packs her things.
It was getting late, they had finished their drinks and Ryan made his way to start leaving. Freema showed him to the door. Ryan pulled her in again for a good night hug and tried his luck again going in for another kiss. Freema has always had feelings for Ryan, there was an instant spark between them that they had acted on previously, this time she kissed him passionately and they both let out a moan as Ryan slipped his tongue in her mouth. The moment lasted a couple of minutes before Freema stopped them again, they hugged and Ryan headed home, not knowing when they would see each other again.