Pens scratched on paper and sitting positions were altered at intervals, yet it did nothing to alleviate the tension that was hanging in the room. Zayn’s assistant, Mia, thought there was something else going on there- something she couldn’t place her hands on. She had never seen Mr. Graham that way before. He was always bored, and broody, without much care for people.But this? It was different, almost like he was starting to care too much, and it was translating into something that bordered on pure hatred and distaste.“I don’t like the first floor,” Zayn muttered suddenly, flipping open the pages of the document Joel had handed over. “Revamp the whole thing. It looks like a scene from an 80s movie. And don’t get me wrong. Those scenes are great. This just has a little bit of the camera quality too. Do you understand me?”Joel swallowed, and scooted to the edge of his seat, clasping his hands. “The first floor is the way it is because our architect thought it was a great outlay. And
Rina liked to think about things in compartments, consisting of contents that never crossed parts no matter how hard the cosmos tried to shake and pull them together. It was like her deals with acting, and her life when she was still married to Finn. As much as possible, Rina tried not to let these two distinct worlds get mixed up, and the minute she’d realized there was a chance of that happening, she’d chosen one over the other, even though in the end, it had turned out to be a very bad decision.It was like that now, with working at the fashion house. She’d compartmentalized her impending contractual relationship with Zayn and her duty here at O.S.N into different boxes, wanting them never to get mixed up. The first attempt by the cosmos was Joel’s application for a sponsorship, but Rina had thought she’d had nothing to worry about since Zayn wasn’t the kind of person who easily granted sponsorships.But he did, and that had brought the compartments in her head to a test. Maybe Rin
Zayn closed the door behind him at once, planting himself between it and Joel, who stretched to look from his shoulders. His secretary, Mia, stood beside Joel, her eyes to the ground, waiting for this to get resolved so she could finally be out of both their hair. From the moment they walked into the building, a tension had settled around them and had thickened with every minute that passed. Mia thought it was getting to its breaking point, and the minute it snapped, it was going to be hard to salvage the situation.“We’ve been searching everywhere for you,” Joel said, confusion in his eyes. “Was there something in particular you were doing in here?”“I was taking a tour,” Zayn answered casually, stepping away from the door. He bounded down the hallway, leaving the rest of them no choice but to follow. However, something insistent ate at Joel as he walked behind the group. The last time he’d felt that way was when he was abroad, taking classes on fashion. It was on his way out when s
She kept mulling about it, wondering why Zayn had decided to come all the way to the fashion house for a meeting when the great Zayn Graham never met people out of his comfort zone. The best he could do was to set up the meeting at a diner and spend the first hour eating to his satisfaction before addressing the issue that had brought him there in the first place.Rina had learned in a negotiation class she took a while ago that it was trite to make the other person not only know but understand his place in the meeting. It was a power play, where dominance was boldly asserted. But Zayn took his a tad farther. He just didn’t care about what the other person had to say, since most times, they were the ones who always needed his help.The cab stopped at her regular stop and Rina alighted, not bothering to say thank you. These days, all of them had a foul look on their faces, and some of them even went as far as zooming off the minute they realized she was the one. Rina thought that treat
“You heard me,” Rina retorted. “Are you done talking?”Finn stepped back a few paces, looking at Kayla for help. It made Rina remember the number of times during their marriage, how Finn expected her to do the things he was supposed to do, relying on the same image and power that he had helped Kayla ruin. Finn had always been that kind of mine, attaching himself to people just because he knew they had a certain level of influence in the country, knowing fully well that it would help his business and affiliations.She sure helped him while they were together, as his software enterprise grew remarkably. Everyone in the industry knew to go to him when they needed his services, and they’d introduced him to foreign clients. But now that Kayla was with him, he might just go even farther, playing the depressed husband who hadn’t had a clue that his wife had been cheating on him.Rina was angry with herself that she hadn’t seen through the façade and gone right ahead to marry him. She never w
Rina willed for the car to turn around and leave as fast as possible, but with every second that passed, it seemed to edge closer, oblivious to her plight and the situation she had been plunged into. Her pulse raced as the car stopped right at her entrance, and the lights turned off. “Hmmm,” Kayla murmured, angling her head. “I wonder who that is. One of the producers, perhaps? Do you now allow them access into your home?”“If he has any dignity in him, he would turn back right this instant.” Finn’s tone held a certain edge to it, almost like the thought and scene were getting him angry. If Rina didn’t know any better, she just might have believed that. Rina stared harshly at them, an overwhelming feeling overtaking her to effect an equal level of harm to the one they had made her go through. She wanted to wipe that cocky look off Kayla’s face with all her might, replacing it with the hurt that Kayla seemed to easily dish out. Rina remembered the baby she’d lost, and her anger seeme
Kayla and Finn had already been gone for a few minutes, but Rina still stood there, staring at nothing in particular. Her plans of coming up in the industry were getting stronger, with the brand spreading further than she had imagined. They had gotten a lot of calls for collaborative shoots, and Joel had ensured to communicate her reservation, that she would only partake in it if her identity remained a secret. That meant none of the other party could be in the studio during the shoot and she would only do it with the media team she was used to. Surprisingly, they followed through with it, only wanting the sensation that the media had gone crazy over. Sometimes, Rina tried to gauge what their reaction would be the minute they discovered Rina Powers had been the one behind the image all the while. They sang her praises now, but would they do the same the minute the anonymity cloak got ripped off?But Rina felt a sense of urgency, now more than ever. Kayla’s threat wasn’t going to fall
Rina was at the fashion house with the new models Joel had brought in to work with her. They needed to put out more content out there and she couldn't do it all alone. With the International Fashion Show in the plans, they had to get the models ready to walk the runway. Rina was going to sit this one out since she wasn't exactly sure she wanted to reveal her face just yet. For some reason, she enjoyed the peace and sanity of being anonymous. She loved reading the comments on Instagram about her being a sensation. The uncertainty of what would happen the moment the world knew her weighed down on her.“Your back is too stiff,” she gently corrected one of the models walking the runway they had created on the fourth floor. It was a large space meant for only the training of the models. Rina still hadn't been able to get over the surprise that had been etched into their features when they walked into the room and met her sitting with her legs crossed, waiting for them.“Oh my God!” The fi