She stormed into her cottage, the door taking the brunt of her fury. It slammed into its hinges, the grunting sound echoing through the previously empty home. Rina couldn’t compartmentalize how she felt, and it irked her even further. It was a busy day, so she needed to be in bed already. She couldn’t take the chance of being cranky the next day during the studio sessions. Yet, Rina couldn’t let it go.Heading into the kitchen, her eyes fell on the vase bearing tulips on the table. She picked it up with a grim determination, reaching the sink. She held the vase over it, her hands about dropping it with force. But Rina couldn’t let go. Sighing, she brought it back down and whispered, “It’s going to be a lot of work tossing all of you outside and I’m so tired so I’d rather reserve my energy. And besides, you didn’t do anything. Zayn is the one at fault here. I can’t let you suffer on his account.”If anyone had passed by her window at that moment, they would have found it really weird
Rina returned to the studio with an apology on her lips. She knew Joel had been worried about her the previous night, and even though she couldn’t tell him exactly who had sent Williams over, she needed him to know that it wasn’t because she couldn’t trust him. Rina wanted to keep her agreement with Zayn from everyone, as much as she was capable of. The studio was located on the first floor of the building, past the reception and showroom, down to the back. Since they had yet to make their first catalog released to the public, it was usually quiet down there, with only a few people around. Most of the work took place on the second floor, where the designers were, already hired and in the middle of crafting out creative pieces, alongside Joel.Rina came in when they were all expected to be working, so no one would place her face and her relationship with the fashion house. And she entered through the back door. Of course, they couldn’t keep doing this forever, but Joel maintained that
All of Rina froze at once, her eyes staring at the bright red buds before her. They were roses, radiant and absolutely stunning. She couldn’t decipher which held her rooted to the ground – the beauty of the flowers or the shock spurring from the name the card was addressed to.“Stomping beauty?” Joel peered at the bouquet the photographer held as if it were some deadly weapon that didn’t belong there. His feelings were perhaps bruised upon discovering the package hadn’t been meant for him. It was his feeble attempt at acting all machoistic, like it didn’t bother him.“We don’t have anyone by that name here,” he continued, angling his head. “Or do we? Who’s the sender?”“You don’t have to pry into someone’s privacy like that!” Rina snapped, her hands lunging out to stop them from checking for the name of the sender. Joel was surprised at her actions. He raised a brow in concern and confusion. It brought back the memories of the previous night, and how weird it had been when the burly g
In the middle of the shoot, a lot of people came around to shop physically from the walk-in store. The first floor was full of life, and the media team had to take a break because they couldn’t concentrate with all the noise. Making a mental note to inform Joel to move them to the third floor, Rina grabbed her jacket and ducked her head into the hallway, ensuring she wouldn’t run into someone before making her way upstairs. Although her office was located on the second floor, it was at the end of the hallway, away from the major section where the clothes were being designed. The minute she got inside, she turned the lock on the door and slumped into her seat. It was a moderately spaced room, with the dominant theme being black. Even though Rina had told Joel to let her cater for the expenses of decorating her office, he hadn’t allowed it, insisting that it was a part of the perks of working for him. So, while Rina had ordered everything she used for the space, including the small sno
The guys were going for a celebratory dinner downtown, and Rina wanted to come with them. It was either that or spending another lonely night back at her cottage, wondering when to expect Finn’s strike or the moment Kayla would decide she was bored again and in search of someone to torment. Joel wanted her to come along too. When he extended the invite to her, standing by the doorway to her office, he saw the longing on her face and took advantage of it. “You can put on a disguise,” he offered. “You work in a fashion house so that should be fairly easy to put together. Don’t you think?”“Still,” Rina sighed. It was still too early to be seen with the group, particularly when they’d just made the first hit. It wasn’t going to take anyone anything to easily have a hunch that she was the mysterious sensation the media talked about after seeing a woman trying hard to disguise her features. She could have dyed her hair a bright pink if it was a pre-thought plan, but it was already pretty
Rina counted the seconds in her head.One.Two.Three.Then the door burst open suddenly, ushering in the editor of the team who had left to get beer earlier. He did a little victory dance with an excited yelp before dumping the beer in the center of the group, then found a space to sit opposite Rina.She didn’t look at him. Not even for a second. Her eyes roamed the faces of the others on the balcony. Rina tried to join in on the laughter, grabbing a can of beer. But fatigue ate deeply at her. Stifling a yawn, she leaned back into the wall and tried so hard to keep her eyes wide open. It would be a stump to sleep off in a situation like that. Now that she had enough time to think about it, Rina wished she hadn’t jumped in at the offer to have dinner back in the fashion house. She would have been in her bed by now, clutching her quilt around her comfortably, while listening to a piece of soothing music, allowing sleep to take her into its warm arms. But there she was, making a series
Her heart raced with excitement but Rina tried to shrug it off. Turning back to Joel, she yawned dramatically and unbuckled the seatbelt, her hands on the lock of the door. “Wait!” Joel stopped her. “You were just telling me something. What was it?”“Never mind,” Rina answered in a breath. She couldn’t even remember what she’d been saying, and even if she could, Rina didn’t want to waste one more minute talking about something that could be gotten across later. She turned to look at the car again, an increasing need taking over. He was so close by that she could feel it in the air. Rina didn’t know how to control how she felt right now. Perhaps, there was a small part of her that wasn’t even trying to. “It sounded really important,” Joel pushed. “I don’t have anyone I’m in a hurry to get back to, so we might as well talk here. It’s a beautiful night.”Rina yawned again, more dramatic this time. She didn’t wait a second as she pushed the door open, and stepped out, the chill of the
Zayn panicked. He hadn’t seen Rina for just a couple of weeks, but now that she was right in front of him, it felt like years. He memorized her face again, searching for the slightest chances. Her eyes appeared unfocused and her breath was tinged with the smell of beer. Her hair was an endearing brown today, and that damn pearl he loved was on her elegant neck, calling out softly to him. When she didn’t move, Zayn fought hard to stop himself from doing anything. He reminded himself that this was only existing because of the contract and they had to stick to the terms to see it through. But her lips. They were so inviting, making Zayn imagine what they would taste like pressed against his. He wondered if her gloss was strawberry-flavored. Would he be able to taste the beer on her lips?He felt her eyes casually flick through his, and Zayn knew that if he didn’t act now, something was going to happen. There was barely any distance between them now, so all it would have taken was a sl