Rina blinked so hard and fast that she felt a dull ache in her eyelid. How did anyone answer that question, as unexpected as it had come? Joel still looked at her in anticipation, and again, Rina’s gaze fell on the design machine.
Was she open to dating again? Rina wasn’t sure what the answer to that was. Although it was true that she had thought about it a few times, she’d never really allowed herself to linger in those moments. She’s always left the question unattended, burying it under her mass of determination, and fury. And now that it was here again, she had no clue what to say.
She was hoping this would be one of those moments where Joel caught on to her discomfort, opting to settle for something more comfortable. But he seemed to have been thinking about it for a while now and was so interested in knowing what she wanted that he wasn’t paying attention to other things.
“Erm…”‘ Rina was starting to say, but a sudden chime on his phone made her stop. Usually, he would have thrown a subtle glance at it, ignoring it for their discussion. But he must have seen something that could not have been ignored as his eyes lit up in excitement and surprise.
“Hold on, please.” He held up a finger to communicate that he only needed a minute, before retrieving his phone from the desk. His eyes scanned the screen and disbelief shone in his eyes. Rina couldn’t decide whether to get infected by his excitement even though she had no clue what it was about, or be relieved that it had saved her from having to answer his question.
She was going to tell him that she wasn’t sure yet; that she needed more time to conclude processing all that had occurred and map out what she wanted for the future. But even that had sounded too suggestive in her head. Rina didn’t want Joel to think that she was yet to get over Finn, but at the same time, she also didn’t want him to know that she sort of thought he was her type. The second part of her reply might just have drawn his mind there.
“I can’t believe this!” Joel whispered fervently; his eyes still glued to his screen. His body left the seat in a second, and he raised his head to look at Rina, a mixture of shock and excitement coursing through him.
“Pinch me, please,” he said, bearing a glassy look.
“What?”
“I’m definitely dreaming. This can’t be real.”
“Joel, what is it?” Rina got out of her seat as well, unsure if she should be perplexed. She slid the phone off his hands and took in the mail opened on the screen in a single glance. It was from Graham Conglomerate.
“They’re going to sponsor you?” Rina understood why Joel was that way. Anyone else who had seen that message would have acted the same way. It wasn’t every day a fashion house got sponsored by the most powerful person in the country.
“I can’t believe this is happening!” He screamed excitedly, finally getting over the initial shock. “That day at the panel session, I thought I was groveling too much. But something in me just pushed me to tell him my name. Now I believe what they say about him.”
“What do they say?”
“He’s so unpredictable,” Joel muttered, shaking his head. “Did you see the look he gave me that day? I was so sure that if he had had any plans on working with me, that moment would have been enough to kill it. That night, I kept thinking about what I possibly had done wrong. He looked pissed at me, and I didn’t understand it.”
“Well, he definitely wasn’t pissed.” Rina kept her voice light, handing back the phone to him. “I’m so happy for you, Joel. You’re getting everything you deserve.”
“What changed his mind?” Joel whispered to himself, plopping right back into his seat. “And how am I even going to show my appreciation? In the mail, the company wants to host our International Fashion Show so maybe I could…”
“They want to what?” Rina thought she had heard wrong.
“Crazy, right? I hadn’t even put that into work since I didn’t think we would have the money for it. If I was going to hold it at all, it would perhaps be after two years of launching, but from the way the mail was couched, I think they want it in less than a year.”
“Unbelievable,” Rina scoffed, shaking her head. She and Joel were thinking about two distinct things. She thought Zayn had agreed not to interfere in her career, so what was this new wave he was coming with? O. S. N’s International Fashion show? He wanted to be there just to exert his powers. Rina knew it.
Rina knew she could easily deny her invitation if she got one since no one would have discovered she was the anonymous model. Joel wouldn’t be ecstatic about it, but it had to be that way. She meant it when she said she wanted to do this alone. Rina didn’t know the game Zayn was playing, but she didn’t like it one bit.
“He’s also going to take part cost of the production of our first line and our features in magazines,” Joel went on, obviously still in the heart of what the mail meant for O. S. N. Rina knew she should be happy for him, but she couldn’t help but scowl at the thought.
“This calls for celebration,” Joel sat back up, clasping his hands on the table. “What do you think? Dinner?”
“You know we can’t…”
“I know,” Joel rolled his eyes. “We could do it at my place instead. You never took me up on my invite to see the wooden floorboards in my kitchen. Don’t you think this would be a great avenue for that?”
Rina’s refusal was already on her tongue, but she halted mid-way. And with a mischievous grin, said, “Okay. Only if you order take out though. There’s no way I’m going to let you feed me with your sappy cooking skills.”