Rina counted the seconds in her head.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then the door burst open suddenly, ushering in the editor of the team who had left to get beer earlier. He did a little victory dance with an excited yelp before dumping the beer in the center of the group, then found a space to sit opposite Rina.
She didn’t look at him. Not even for a second. Her eyes roamed the faces of the others on the balcony. Rina tried to join in on the laughter, grabbing a can of beer. But fatigue ate deeply at her. Stifling a yawn, she leaned back into the wall and tried so hard to keep her eyes wide open. It would be a stump to sleep off in a situation like that.
Now that she had enough time to think about it, Rina wished she hadn’t jumped in at the offer to have dinner back in the fashion house. She would have been in her bed by now, clutching her quilt around her comfortably, while listening to a piece of soothing music, allowing sleep to take her into its warm arms. But there she was, making a series of attempts to listen in on the conversation going on, to contribute actively, when half the time, she had no clue what they were saying.
Rina downed the first can of beer in a few minutes, thinking it would at least keep her up. She thought it would be unfair to leave when the celebratory dinner had only just started. It would have been better if she hadn’t agreed to it in the first place.
“Let’s play a game!” One of them clapped excitedly, a bottle appearing out of nowhere. It was placed in the center of the circle, the rest of them huddled around it like a mini campfire. The game was one of truths. If anyone wasn’t going to answer any of the questions, they had the freedom to take a shot instead.
Rina grabbed her second can of beer as the game commenced. The bottle was spun and it fell on one of the photographers. The questions came rolling in, and after a while, Rina tuned out of it, her head lolling on the wall. She could feel Joel beside her, laughing at some joke that someone had made. Even though he didn’t ask any more questions, she could still feel his curiosity in the air and was intent on ignoring it for as long as she could.
Her eyes felt heavy and Rina battled with exhaustion. It had been a really busy day for everyone. The only time they had taken a break was when the food truck Zayn sent came around. She remained in her office, watching the rest of her colleagues walk to the truck excitedly. She couldn’t be there because the designers on the second floor had also been made aware of the food truck provided by the secret model, so she couldn’t risk bumping into them on the way.
“Rina?”
She sat up suddenly, her eyes darting around. Everyone stared back at her, seemingly waiting for something. She blinked rapidly, then remembered they’d been playing a game. Her gaze fell to the ground and she noted the bottle was pointing in Joel’s direction.
He must have asked her a question.
With a slight inkling of what his question might have been. Deciding against it, Rina muttered, “I have to leave,” then dragged herself from the ground. The earth swayed underneath her feet, and Rina’s hands reached out to Joel instantly, seeking for balance.
He got on his feet at once, genuine concern stretched on his face. He pushed her hair away and placed both hands on the sides of her face, making her look into his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he questioned. “Do you feel sick?”
Rina shook her head and swallowed. “I’m fine,” her voice came out in a raspy whisper, so she cleared her throat and tried again. “I just really need to go home.”
“Why did you take two cans of beer if you knew you couldn’t handle it?” he scolded in front of everyone. Even though Rina knew it was from a place of concern, it did nothing to dampen the irritation she felt inside.
“I’m just tired, Joel.” To prove her point, she took her hands off him and stepped away from his touch, bending slightly to grab her purse from the floor.
“Let me drive you home.”
“You don’t have …”
“Hey guys,” he turned to the group, a hand on Rina’s shoulders. She froze at the contact. “We’re going to head out first. The doorman would be here for the night so you can leave when you want to.”
They wave them goodbye, with Joel leading Rina back into the building. They took the lift, with Rina staring at the trickling numbers. Joel was still hovering around her like he was scared she was going to drop to the ground at any minute.
She gave him the directions to her cottage, and sat through the ride, trying to bite down her growing irritation at the questions Joel kept throwing her at intervals wanting to know if she felt better.
When he pulled up in front of her cottage, Rina turned to look at him and realized Joel meant no harm. He had brought her all the way to her house even when he had no reason to. She was just edgy because of her tiredness, and it was unfair to take it out on him.
“Thank you,” she whispered, staring directly into his eyes, the way her father taught her to communicate sincerity. “And I want you to know that you don’t have any reason to be worried about me. I’m fine, Joel. Really. I might not be able to tell you what you want to know, because there’s nothing to tell. Really. And I hope you understand that.”
Joel nodded; his eyes distracted. He was staring at something behind her, the wheels turning in his head.
“You didn’t tell me you got a car.”
“What?”
Rina whipped her head around, stopping when she saw the shiny white Lexus sports car parked at one end of the driveway.