She stormed into her cottage, the door taking the brunt of her fury. It slammed into its hinges, the grunting sound echoing through the previously empty home. Rina couldn’t compartmentalize how she felt, and it irked her even further. It was a busy day, so she needed to be in bed already. She couldn’t take the chance of being cranky the next day during the studio sessions. Yet, Rina couldn’t let it go.
Heading into the kitchen, her eyes fell on the vase bearing tulips on the table. She picked it up with a grim determination, reaching the sink. She held the vase over it, her hands about dropping it with force. But Rina couldn’t let go.
Sighing, she brought it back down and whispered, “It’s going to be a lot of work tossing all of you outside and I’m so tired so I’d rather reserve my energy. And besides, you didn’t do anything. Zayn is the one at fault here. I can’t let you suffer on his account.”
If anyone had passed by her window at that moment, they would have found it really weird a human speaking to a vase of tulips. And Rina knew that. Catching herself, she sighed for the umpteenth time that night, leaving the vase on the sink and grabbing a pack of juice.
She strolled down the hallway into her bedroom, sitting on the edge of her bed and gingerly taking off her heels. Her jewelry came off next, and before long, she was standing naked. Dumping the dress in the laundry basket, Rina made a mental note to do her laundry before heading into the bathroom. She filled the bathtub with water and a sweet-smelling soap.
Rina took as much time as she could afford, all the while trying to calm her raging mind. When she returned to her room fifteen minutes later, she was certain she could make the call without acting like an entitled wife.
He picked up the call on the first ring like he’d been sitting beside the phone, waiting for her call all along.
“Shouldn’t you be asleep by now?” Rina felt a rush go through her and almost felt her resolve weakening. She hadn’t known how much she’d missed Zayn until now, his voice filling her with warmth and an aching need.
“Why did you do that?” She said, shaking away the feeling. Rina thought that was a good start. Her voice gave nothing away. It was plain, emotionless, and sounded like she would rather be doing anything else than making that call.
But Zayn could read through her. “Why did I do what?”
“You know what I’m talking about.” He did, but Zayn thought it was more fun to have her spell it out. China had been one hole of boredom for him, and at times, he found himself thinking about taking the next flight back to the country. Then, he would remind himself of the reason he had ensured this meeting was held in China in the first place. He couldn’t return yet until he had discovered what was actually wrong with him.
But recently, Zayn was discovering the trip didn’t make any difference.
“You…” Rina bit her lips and took a deep breath. “You ruined a perfectly great dinner with my boss.”
“You didn’t tell me you were going out tonight.” Zayn sounded so diplomatic that if Rina didn’t feel her fury coming back, she just might have listened to him for a few minutes.
“I didn’t know I had to report my every movement to you!” she shot back, giving up on trying to rein in her feelings. “And maybe I would have if you had somehow tried to reach me. You’ve been gone for over a week now, Zayn. Over seven days! But not once have you called me. And when I leave you a message, you don’t even answer.”
“Rina…”
“Yet, you send your frightening bodyguard to pick me up from his house like I’m some damsel in distress.”
“Aren’t you?”
“Why are you finding this funny?” Rina stumped her feet on the ground, unable to do any other thing.
Zayn chuckled. He could imagine Rina in her room right now, standing beside her cute nightlight, her lips pouted in displeasure, and her legs hitting the ground like a kid.
“I’m not,” he muttered. “I just wasn’t fine with you out with him in the night. You know how I feel about Joel, don’t you?”
“How did you even know I was with him? Do you have someone spying on me or what?”
“I told you, Rina,” he drawled. “Stop asking me things you really don’t want to know the answer to. It’s only going to get you upset.”
“I am already upset!” She snapped. “Is this why you approved Joel’s sponsorship proposal? I knew you had no plans of doing that in the first place, so why now? And you included that clause as well.”
“I thought the clause would be a great way to bring more publicity to the brand,” Zayn answered casually. “And besides, I didn’t approve the sponsorship for Joel. You know I’d never do that. I did it for his brand O. S. N fashion house. By the rules of company law, they are two distinct persons.”
“Zayn! What does that even mean?”
“It means that I will do whatever I need to do to ensure things are a tad smoother for my wife-to-be. I know you didn’t want me interfering in your career, and I didn’t. The proposal was already on my desk way before I met you.”
Rina blew out a steam of breath, unable to get around that. Zayn made a lot of sense and she didn’t know what else to do. But that didn’t take away the fact that she was displeased by his actions. Joel was no harm. She didn’t need saving. And they weren’t even in a real relationship in the first place.
“I can see the people I want to see, Zayn,” she murmured weakly, her last attempt at being the last to speak.
“You’re right,” Zayn replied. “But not Joel.”