“I…I didn’t know… She…”
The more Zayn’s personal assistant stammered, the more he got so infuriated. Stifling the urge to wrap his hands around her throat and squeeze the life out of her, he closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath.
It did nothing to reduce the fury Zayn felt inside.
“Forward the call to my office,” he instructed his expression back to its stoic and fierce nature.
“Okay, Mr. Graham.” She sounded relieved, but Zayn was far from done.
“And that’s going to be the last thing you’d be doing for me here. You are fired. Clear out your desk, and see HR on your way out for your official letter and your payment in lieu of notice.”
“Sir?” She rushed out from behind her desk, stopping before him but with enough distance so as not to encroach on his personal space. Everyone who worked there knew how he felt about that. “I didn’t know that…Everyone in Country G knows her story and I was looking out for you.”
“Looking out for me,” Zayn smirked darkly, his lips raising in amusement even though fury shone from his eyes. “Who made that your duty?”
“You can’t let me go just like that,” she pleaded. “The employment contract stipulated that I’ll be given a month’s notice to give me enough time to find another job. But I don’t want to leave here. I love working here.”
“Then you should have thought about that before opening your crude mouth.”
“What about the employment contract?” She was scrambling for nothing in particular, bidding her time just in case by some miracle, she managed to convince Zayn that she had meant no harm. But deep down, she knew this was the end. Zayn was not known for his forgiving nature.
“You can take it up in court. I’ll see you then.”
His personal assistant fell to the ground in a heap of regret and anger for Rina as Zayn returned to his office. As he instructed, the call was waiting for him.
“Hey,” he breathed, clueless as to why he was grateful that Rina had waited for him rather than ending the call after the way his assistant had spoken to her. “What did you want to tell me?”
It wasn’t the best thing to say at first, particularly after what just happened. An apology was perhaps appropriate, but Zayn could count the number of times he had apologized to someone who wasn’t his parent. And he wasn’t about to add to that list, especially when for all he cared, Rina could be calling to inform him of her decision to stand by her sole survival, canceling the deal of their marriage.
He heard her shaky breath on the other end of the line, and at once, concern scratched at him. She had been really affected by those words earlier and was trying to move past that.
“What did you do with her?” Rina asked.
“She’s clearing out her desk as we speak.”
“You can’t do that, Zayn,” Rina protested, surprising Zayn who had thought she would be doing the total opposite. “With everything that has been happening, I don’t want to add to that list. She probably hates me more than she did for costing her her job. Maybe I shouldn’t have called…’
“Rina…”
“If I had just stayed put, she would still have her job and…”
“Rina!” Zayn ejected more power into his voice, causing her to stop talking. “Do you think I let her off because of you?” There was slight humor in his tone.
“I thought…”
“Stop thinking the whole world revolves around you, Rina. True, the media is all abuzz about your situation, but that has nothing to do with how I run my business in my office. Her offence was talking to a caller and prospective client rudely. We don’t condone that around here. So, I hate to break it to you, Rina, but if she had said the exact words to someone else, I would have reacted the same way.”
Rina didn’t know whether to be relieved or angry. The mix of contrasting emotions didn’t sit well with her and it made her confused. Of course, she wasn’t special to Zayn since there was no reason for that to happen in the first place. Still, his indifference stung and she couldn’t deny that.
“I wanted to talk about the marriage contract,” Rina muttered, her voice considerably lower. Zayn knew it was about something he said, but he didn’t bother addressing it. It was of no use.
“What about it?”
“I’ll get married to you,” she blurted, but the expression on Zayn’s face didn’t change.
“I thought we had gone past that,” he replied. “I didn’t think you were going to change your mind. You need me too much to sacrifice the benefits.”
Rina ignored his cockiness. “But I need you to also include in the contract that you would keep this as a secret. I don’t want anyone to find out about our arrangement until it becomes practically impossible to hide. That means, this will be between us until the wedding.”
“Okay.”
“You will let me do my things without interfering in them. The only time you are allowed to lift a finger is when I ask you to. Other than that, let me do this myself.” Rina had found a way to have both him and her pursuit. “And no emotions are to be involved.”
“You made that clear before.”
“Yes. I just feel the compelling urge to say it again, particularly with what happened the last time.”
“What happened the last time, Rina?” Zayn twirled his chair around to stare at the boarded water fountain behind him. His tone was laced with intrigue, all intent on teasing her.
“You know what happened,” Rina blurted.
“But you can call it for what it is.”
“No.”
“Okay,” he chuckled. “I won’t get my emotions involved, as long as you can promise not to get yours involved too. And by that, I mean, try not to seduce me with your great tits.”