Rina thought she was running late by the time she arrived at the building. She was so bothered about her planned impression getting ruined that she barely bothered to pay attention to the stares the taxi driver gave her. All that was on her mind was getting up to the third floor before she lost this chance. She raced through the glass doors, navigating through the sparse crowd of actresses, their teams, and producers. Some of them cast her dumbfounding looks as she glided by, and even though Rina was stung by them, she didn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing it on her face. Her heels clicked on the tiled ground as she hurried along, her head focused and her back straight, maintaining the little that was left of her dignity. When she got into the lift, she allowed the weight of everything that was tossed at her to bring her under. She used to walk through those same halls with respectful glances cast her way, and hushed whispers about how phenomenal she was. Now, the opposite wa
And it wasn’t. Rina paid rapt attention at first, nodding when the director went on reading the terms of the contract. But along the way, it dawned on her that she didn’t even know what the subject matter of the so-called contract was. “Sorry to interrupt,” Rina said suddenly. “But I still have no clue what I’m expected to do for you. With everything you’ve been saying, it doesn’t sound like a role in any movie. So what is it exactly? Modelling?” A mischievous glint appeared in the director’s eyes. “Not exactly,” he murmured. “You see, Rina Powers, we’ve already agreed on how impossible it would be to see you on our screens in that regard so this time, we’re doing something a tad different.” “How different?” Her voice was hesitant. “A lot of podcast owners have reached out to us concerning creating a story around you and since we do not deem it big enough for the agency to sponsor, or any other production team for that matter, we have decided to leave it to them to handle.” “Wh
She rested on the backrest of the back seat, bawling her eyes out while she dished out the address of the house a street before hers to the driver. But after a few minutes, when she tried placing her purse beside her, her hands touched the leather of the seat, and at once, her eyes sprang open. The first thing that came to her mind was that she was getting kidnapped. Rina had heard stories about other actors and actresses getting kidnapped on the way from the set, and not released until the ransom had been sent over. But for her, that would mean death. Rina was penniless. The only thing she had to her name was her cottage. She could imagine the kidnapper asking Finn for money and the response he would give him. Finn would probably even personally ask for her to be killed. It was one less problem he would have to deal with. Flight instinct settled in, and Rina placed her hands on the buttons on the door next to her. She swallowed slowly and tried to move the lock, realizing with d
Zayn watched Rina as he pulled herself up from the couch, clutched her heels in one hand, and mumbled something about needing a bath. He sighed as he let her go, accepting that he had lost the argument at that moment. Rina was probably right, he thought to himself. Their contract which was yet to even begin, was only meant to last for a short time. What happened the minute he left? Zayn hadn’t thought that far into the future, but the fact that he had almost made a damning promise never to let go snapped him back into the present, shoving the crude circumstance they were in into his face. He reached for the glass Rina had been using, filling it with more liquor and placing it against his lips. He took a sip and closed his eyes, relishing in the solitude of the cottage. Zayn couldn’t hear anything from beyond the hallway, but he knew Rina was in there, perhaps, bawling her eyes out again. It was the first time he had seen her cry, other than the forced tears that had graced his sc
Rina was already in bed, trying to forget the episode of Zayn walking in on her, which seemed to have overpowered all the other experiences she’d had earlier that day. Folding into a ball under her sheets, she turned to face the wall, letting out a sigh. She couldn’t sleep, no matter how hard she’d tried. It was almost 10 pm, and even though it was considerably early for her to be in bed, given her past lifestyle, Rina felt too exhausted to stay awake. And now that she was actually in bed, sleep seemed to be eluding her. Rina’s arms wrapped around her b*** protectively and she swallowed from the warmth that serenaded her. And it had nothing to do with the present. She had felt his eyes on her, even though it hadn’t lasted more than a fleeting second. But it had been enough to send her body into an overdrive. Rina told herself it was probably because Finn stopped having sex with her after she got pregnant, leaving her needy body to itself. It hadn’t mattered that much to Rina the
The first thing that roused Zayn from the deep slumbers was Nathan’s gloomy presence, lurking around his room. He opened his eyes to meet his step-brother sitting on the couch on one end of the room, scrolling through his phone in silence. Zayn groaned into his pillow, wishing he could go back to sleep, and then wake up in a moment to find his brother gone. He really didn’t want to have to start his day this way, but like his father would say, it was important to tolerate everyone until they did something over the top enough to push them away. And Zayn knew that day was coming. He could feel it on his fingertips, dark yet unavoidable. Nathan had tried all sorts in the past, but they had all hinted at efforts to sabotage Zayn’s business. However, as a business tycoon who had been in the field for a long time, Zayn was always one step ahead. Most times, he predicted the shitty moves his brother made before they actually happened, and that made him able to nip them in the bud. But
Rina slept the instant her head hit the pillow, and she didn’t get up again until noon the next morning. She reached for her phone first, and shot up from her bed when she met thirteen missed calls from her from her former manager, George. She hadn’t even gotten around to calling him back when she heard the doorbell ring. Every bone in Rina stilled as she waited for the unmistakable sound of the bell a second time And when the shrill of the bell got to her again, her mind went into a frenzy. It couldn’t have been Zayn. He had never rung the bell before, preferring to barge in at will.Then the paparazzi?Panic set in as she rushed into the living room, staring at the door like it was the enemy. The person must have given up on the doorbell entirely as pounding on the door commenced. Rina stepped hesitantly closer to the door and took in a deep breath. This was the reason she needed a spyhole installed, but there hadn’t been a need before since she hadn’t been living there. “Rina?” A
The entrance was abuzz with celebrities posing for the many flashlights aimed their way. As she got out of George’s car, Rina didn’t hesitate one minute. She walked straight ahead, her huge hat blocking her face, down the alley on the right. She hoped George wouldn’t take too long to get there because it was only a matter of minutes before someone saw her. Rina wanted to pace the small inconspicuous door, but realizing that was bound to draw more attention to her, she leaned instead on the wall, pulling the hat further down her face. She was dressed in a pair of white pants and a matching shirt, with a brown trench coat and a pair of brown heels. The hat completed the power look that anyone who saw her would stop to admire the outfit before thinking too much about how huge the hat was. It was meant to be a fashion statement, but Rina was using a stone to kill two birds. She heard the clank from behind the door and stood out of the way for George to get it open before sneaking in.
Zayn’s expression turned into a scowl immediately his eyes fell on her. A smile played on her lips as she peered at Rina with the most condescending look ever. “Rina Powers in Zayn Graham’s office,” she mused without any intention of giving it up. “Now, that’s something to get the whole country talking about. But I doubt it would get to you since you are already so used to making the front page of the papers.”“Jada…”“But then again, I don’t think it would feel the same if the subject changes. What are you here for, Rina? Begging for aid? You already got Claire on your side by some miracle, and I’m certain she would see right through you before your contractual year is over and you would be back to ground zero. But you see, Zayn over here isn’t that gullible. If you’re here to seduce him, you better think twice about it because he wouldn’t bat an eyelid when he makes you a public nuisance.”Zayn got up on his feet, his eyes red with anger. “That is the last time I will hear you speak
Rina tried to stop herself, but with the villa empty once again, she was left with her thoughts. Reeling from them, she walked to her room and changed into a pair of baggy jeans and a white tank top, allowing her hair to flow in waves all around her. She grabbed a tote, applied nude gloss to her lips, and completed her outfit with a pair of platforms. Rina meant business, she meant to take back the control she’d lost hours ago. Although she had no idea how that was going to work, Rina knew that for Zayn and herself to continue a platonic arrangement, it was a sacrifice she was going to have to make, and hope for herself that nothing like that happened again. If it did, she doubted she would be able to deny her feelings anymore.Taking her keys off her nightstand, Rina walked out of the villa and into the garage, getting behind the wheel. This time, when Igor approached, she told him her destination so he didn’t have to worry. It would have been a futile effort calling Zayn since he wo
The living room was in a celebratory state as Rina stepped downstairs after having a bath and getting ready for the day. Susan had made a simmering pot of lasagna, her eyes bright with excitement and her feet light and swift. She smiled up at Rina the second she was at the foot of the stairs. “Isn’t it such a beautiful day?” Susan was over the moon with the announcement. She wasn’t even that happy with Regina’s public apology. But this? It was exactly what Rina needed.As Susan prepared the table, Rina looked around for Zayn. But even before her eyes gazed round the living area, she already knew he was not in the villa. She would have felt him around, the charge in the air pulling her attention to his presence. But she felt nothing now, just his lingering scent and the overwhelming memory of what had transpired between them.The door pushed open, halting Rina’s thoughts. Her head whipped in that direction just as George sauntered in with a grin. She angled her head at his arrival, won
Zayn paused, and closed his eyes, thinking about all the pros and cons of the move he was about making. All the rationality in him laid it out bare, bringing his consciousness to the fact that there was a boundary he was about to cross. But at that moment, it was hard to consider it, not with her sweet scent teasing and taunting him all at the same time, not with the view he’d had for the past twenty minutes, the one he had been trying hard not to think about but was proving to be the most difficult thing.She wiggled underneath him, drawing his attention to her boobs under the nightwear as they moved with her. He screamed “Fuck” in his head, and tried to pull away. This was the same thing he’d warned himself about repeatedly. Rina was a lot of temptation enveloped in one body, and at first, it was easy to explain everything away. But right now, Zayn found control slipping away from his fingers and he wasn’t sure he wanted to do anything about it.Rina stopped moving, gazing into his
“The commentator said that?” She couldn’t believe it, especially after all the hurdles she’d had to cross to get to that point. Still, Rina couldn’t let herself become relaxed. Not yet. It didn’t matter that doubts were beginning to snake through the hearts of the very persons who had tossed her out onto the streets. It could easily change in a heartbeat as long as Kayla still had her wits, powers, and Finn. Although Finn was a very disposable part of the drama, Rina was very conscious of the fact that the only reason Kayla was with him was because she wanted everything Rina owned. It was that very notion she wanted to annihilate.Zayn nodded, still seated on the edge of the bed, considerably far from Rina. “Now that the country is beginning to wonder if they were right, I think the possibility of you getting attacked by anti-fans has slimmed down considerably. Still, you must be extra careful. Your No. 1 enemy is still out there, and we don’t know what she’s going to do next. I presu
Joel tried reaching Rina a million times throughout the night, but she placed her phone on silent when it kept ringing for too long, tossing it on the floor before turning her head the other way to return to sleep. She wasn’t interested in his half-baked apology, because she knew that there was no way he’d had a change of heart in a few hours. Although Rina had no idea why he wanted to speak with her again, she wasn’t going to grant him an audience. She had done that once, and it hadn’t ended well.A few minutes past six am, her phone started vibrating again from the floor and Rina grumbled in frustration, wishing Joel would just stop. She tried to drown out the loud scrapping sound but it was practically impossible, keeping her far from the arms of sleep. Grunting in frustration, she got off her bed, and walked briskly to the door, picking up the phone and receiving the call.“Didn’t you get the message last night?” she snapped, not bothering to check the caller ID for confirmation.
Rina walked out into the night, her mind struggling to grasp what had happened behind the glass walls. Her feet led her to her car, parked directly in front of Joel’s door, but as her hands held onto the handle, William appeared out of nowhere, nodding slightly in acknowledgment before shaking his head subtly.“What?” Rina questioned, not wanting any more drama for the night. She was ready to go to bed immediately, uninterested in thinking about the implications of tonight until much later.“Mr. Graham.” He made an attempt at a whisper but his bass voice made that hard to achieve. “He is in the sports car behind. He wants you to ride with him, ma’am.”Rina sighed exasperatedly. “Can you please tell him that I have had a really stressful day and that I would really love to ride back to the villa alone? I don’t want him telling me how I should have known better than to come here all alone late at night.”“You might have to tell him that yourself, ma’am,” William answered without a chang
“What?” His voice was tainted with disbelief as he pushed off the couch as well. “Selfish? If anything, I have put your needs over and beyond mine countless number of times.”“Because every one of those times, my presence in your life favored you,” Rina retorted. “You loved having me around so you went out of your way to make sure that never changed. And the one time you realize you can’t have me around as you want, you make it your mission to hate me.”“Hate you?”“At the interview, when you were asked if you had finally been freed from my clutches, you laughed Joel! You laughed! You had the chance to tell my anti-fans that I am not who they think I am, yet you let that slide. You let the whole world believe they were right, that I seduced you to get into O.S.N.”“What would you have had me do?” he asked exasperatedly. “You told me you wanted my sales to return to normal. That was me doing what you wanted.”Rina’s head jutted back in surprise. “And now, you turn around and use my own
Rina moved out of the kitchen into the living area with the glass of wine, settling onto one of the white couches arranged in a circular form. At the head was a fireplace, surprisingly working despite the existence of a modern heating system. The fire crackled and roared softly, with the small embers of its flame flickering as far up as they could go. She tried to wrap her head around everything that had happened, from the call leading up to that very moment, and it all seemed planned – only that it was practically impossible for Joel to have planned something like that.Only if he wasn’t the same person she thought he was.After waiting for a few minutes, Rina wished she had gone in with her phone. With practically nothing to do, she got off the couch and roamed the living room, looking at the art lining the wall. She realized what she hadn’t the first time she’d been in there, that Joel loved the middle line between modernization and archaic. Everything he owned seemed to be stuck i