Rina stretched out on her bed, yawning noisily as her eyes slowly got accustomed to the light. She stared at the clock by her bedside, her eyes widening as she realized it was noon already. It had been a while since she’d last had her morning to herself. And Rina had to admit that it sure did feel good.Rising slowly from her bed, Rina started her day, taking as much time as she could. She walked gently from her room to the kitchen, brewing a glass of coffee to begin the day. She took it while staring out from her kitchen window, watching the sun tease nature gingerly, the rays highlighting every hidden path in the woods beyond.She was tempted to go for another cup, but Rina knew there was something called a caffeine high. So, instead, she made a quick pan of scrambled eggs and grabbed the bread she had purchased the last time she went grocery shopping, which was only about two days ago.Settling back in the living room, she turned on the TV to see a movie while munching on her break
Rina got to the fashion house exactly ten minutes before 6 pm and headed straight for the runway. The models were there already, much to Rina’s delight, looking well-rested and better than they’d looked the last time. They welcomed her with anticipation on their faces.She searched for Rita amongst the faces, smiling at her when she saw her laughing with another model, her blonde hair catching in the light. It was a great sight to behold, and it made Rina glad she had asked them to return home that day.Dropping her purse in front of the room, Rina gathered them together to remind them of all that Joel had said the previous day, as well as the areas they ought to be looking at improving on. They were going to be walking with the music now, and she expected them all to remember that they were walking in beat with it, and that would affect how long they were meant to wait for the model on the runway before they stepped into it. It needed to be uniform.Joel poked his head in and muttere
But Zayn didn’t come to pick her up. Instead, he sent William early the next morning. He bowed as she sauntered out of the building with a huge smile on her face that immediately flattened out when she realized it wasn’t Zayn.“Good morning, Ma’am,” William greeted, walking around to open the door and helping Rina get in.She waited for him to get behind the wheel before asking. “Why isn’t Zayn picking me up?”“He had to be at the office really early,” William explained. “And he said he wants to have breakfast with you before you go back to the cottage so I’m taking you to a breakfast spot.”Rina nodded, and leaned her head against the headrest, staring at the traffic as it went by. It was barely 6 am, yet the whole world seemed to be awake already, going about their activities, oblivious to the lives of others. Rina thought about oblivion and how much it could make a person insensitive to the feelings of another.It was just like when she was lied against and had all those rumors thr
Rina couldn’t breathe. No. She didn’t want to. It was hard to imagine what it felt like without this moment etched in her memory, clawed so deep that it would be hard to uproot it. She stayed that way, memorizing every bit of the moment, from the smell of his skin to the silent whispers of his clothes as it kissed hers softly.And even when her phone vibrated in her pockets, it didn’t register to Rina. Her eyes remained closed, lost in the feeling of being held, and the notion of being protected. The last few minutes had been unpredictable, and even though it was weird that she found stability here, in Zayn’s arms, she refused to think about it on the spot.Zayn pulled her impossibly closer to himself. Fear had never been an emotion he’d felt before. Even his father used to say there was nothing that scared Zayn Graham, right from his infancy. He’d always taken things head-on, only bothering about the consequences later, when he was done with it.But the minute he’d heard that William
Even though Zayn had said they were going to talk over breakfast, Susan made it impossible for him to get around to what he wanted to say.“Does that mean you were the one he called over to help me change out of my clothes on the night that I was…”“Yeah.” Susan’s smiles were so warm. “On the night he got you drunk.”“Su!”“Don’t worry. I gave him a good scolding that night and ensured he stayed back with you to ensure you didn’t get sick during the night. Next time, he would understand the importance of eating a healthy meal before drinking anything that contains alcohol.”Rina felt really bad immediately. She’d had no clue that Susan was the one who made Zayn stay the night and had gotten all jumpy when she woke up, even going as far as asking him to go sleep on the couch in the living room without covers. That was mean of her.“Ms. Susan…”“What nonsense,” she waved her hands in the air dismissively. “Call me Susan. Any friends of Zayn can call me that. And I would have to add that
Susan took Rina to the room she would be sleeping in on the second floor and smiled warmly at her as she got settled in. The bed bounced and rocked Rina’s bottom as she settled into it and it made her sigh with relief. She was going to take the day as a much-needed vacation away from her life. It had been a while since she had last slept anywhere other than her cottage.She remembered the first two years of her marriage with Finn, and how they used to have bi-monthly vacations anywhere in the world, as long as they both were interested in it. They’d even gone to Africa to explore the rich lands and culture, and Rina had felt her life couldn’t go any better.Finn adored her to bits, or at least, he pretended to. He was attentive to the smallest detail about her, and always tried to make life easier for them both. But after the end of the second year, Finn became different. Although it wasn’t exactly in Rina’s face, it was there, in the little things she didn’t pay attention to, like wh
Rina slept through the day. It was almost 4 pm the next time she opened her eyes, and a bowl of hot pasta was already on the bedside table, waiting for her. She dove into it immediately, registering that her pangs of hunger was what had gotten her up from sleep in the first place.Full, Rina returned to bed after going through her phone for messages and missed calls. The only person who’d reached out to her was Joel, asking if she was still up for their movie date like she’d agreed to it in the first place. Trusting Zayn to handle that, she turned off her phone and went back to bed.The second time she opened her eyes, the curtains had been dropped over the windows and the bright lights in the room had been turned off, leaving only the night light on. Getting up with a start, Rina’s eyes fell on the clock on the bedside table, realizing with a start that it was almost 9 pm. She had slept the whole day without doing anything, and now Rina felt bad for it.So much for making a comeback.
She turned to search his face, looking for anything that might give away how the conversation had gone. There was nothing. Not even the regular residue of hatred he had for Joel, that he carried everywhere like a badge. He had an amused look instead, as he swirled his glass of wine in one hand. “Don’t tell me you went to see him yourself?” Rina asked, knowing that something beyond the ordinary must have occurred. “What did you tell him, Zayn?” “Nothing much, actually,” he answered, shrugging, still with that amused look. He seemed to be having a lot of fun with the situation and was making no attempt at hiding it. “I just had a business meeting with him. He seemed really okay with the conclusions we arrived at before we shook hands.” “Zayn,” Rina tried not to let the anxiety she felt seep through in her tone. “I’m sure one of the items for the meeting didn’t include informing Joel that he couldn’t go to see a movie with one of his models whose identity was supposed to stay anonym