Farrington-Gores: Facing fears

Well, this is it.

'Welcome back, sir!'

'Ah, thank you...'

'Oh, hello. First day back, isn't it?'

'Hey... um, yeah, it is. Took the LLAMA.'

'Sorry. I'm being really unprofessional right now. It's just...'

'...Ah, I see. Do you want me to go up with you?'

'Are you sure?'

'Of course! I don't mind one bit.'

'Thanks. I know it's pathetic...'

'Not in the slightest. It's perfectly understandable that you'd be afraid after what happened. Don't feel ashamed, okay? It's not your fault, and it's not pathetic.'

'Alright.'

'You can do this. You'll be perfectly safe.'

'Oh fucking hell...'

'It's okay! You did it! Well done.'

'Can't...breathe...'

'Take your time. You did really well.'

'Th-thanks...'

'It'll get easier the more you do it. I don't mind going with you each time, if that's what you prefer.'

'Okay... appreciate it.'

'You're welcome.'

'I need to see Tristan.'

'I'll call up.'

*ring ring*

'Already...?'

'Hello?'

'Your father wants to see you, sir.'

'Oh for fuck's sake!'

'What's up?'

'...It's Dad.'

'Oh dear... what are you going to do?'

'Can't imagine he'll go easily... Okay Imogen, send him up.'

'Yes sir. Go on up, Mr Mayor.'

'Thank you.'

'Are you sure about this?'

'Yeah, it's fine. At least I can take this as a chance to finally tell him what I think of him.'

'Oh, thank God you're here! I've been looking for you everywhere! Where the hell did you all go? Why haven't you answered my calls?'

'I haven't answered your calls because none of us wanted to be found. We left you for a reason.'

'Come on... it's a bit of an overreaction to one incident, isn't it? I know I behaved unreasonably, but moving out seems an extreme course of action to take, doesn't it?'

'One incident?'

'Yes? We used to get along well before, didn't we? We've always been close.'

'Okay, first off, the "incident" in question happens to be you fucking hitting Zeus-!'

'Look, I lost my temper! He said something horrible and I had to punish him for it-'

'Don't fucking interrupt me! It's my turn to speak now! You had no right to do what you did. I don't care what he said. It doesn't excuse you raising your fist to him. Not only did you violently assault one of my triplets, you've been threatening to kill my mother for months and you sold my sister!'

'I'm sorry-'

'No you're not! You're sorry it's backfired on you. You're sorry you can't use me to look good any more.'

'I didn't do that! I genuinely love you! I wouldn't have bought you this business if I didn't!'

'Bullshit. You only bought me this business so you could have more power over me, so I'd be indebted to you. Right from the start, you wanted to mould me into your clone. I'm the only kid you care about because I remind you of yourself. You did that deliberately, starting when I was tiny. And you know what? I went along with it. I was happy to do it. I wanted to be just like you, because I respected you. I thought you were amazing. And now I really regret it, because all this time you've been fucking evil, and I had to finally stop being in denial and accept that. I let everybody down by staying loyal to you for so long.'

'That's not true! You're a good son, Tristan. Think about all the good times we've had together over the years. You were happy at home! I mean, you've made your point now. You can all come home now. I'll forgive your mother, and we can go back to normal.'

'Don't you get it? This is permanent. We all wanted to get away from you for good. You might love me, but none of the others are safe from you. Mum, Carmella, Zeus... they all hate you because of the way you've treated them.'

'...And so do I.'

'What?!'

'That's right. All that about worshipping you? It's done. It's in the past. No more.'

'Come on Tristan, surely you don't mean that?'

'Damn right I do! You crossed the line about 50 times over. I'll never forgive you for the things you've done. And I owe it to everyone to kick you to the curb, to make up for the past. You're wasting your time here, Father. We're not coming home. We've made a new home now, and it doesn't involve you.'

'What can I do to change your mind?'

'Nothing. You're dead to me. Now I want you to leave.'

'I'm not going anywhere until you've changed your mind!'

'In that case, let me call security.'