It was past three in the morning, when Rina sighed deep in her sleep. Her legs shot out from underneath the quilt, and the cold air caressed the skin there. It made her grumble, still with closed eyes, wanting the cold to be gone. Slowly, her eyes fell open, blinking quite a couple of times before finally taking in her surroundings.
Her eyes fell on the night light glowing from her bedside, dimly illuminating the room. She didn’t need to try to remember that her last memory was of her on the couch, listening to Zayn saying something. Or was it the other way around? Had she fallen asleep mumbling about her boring day?
Zayn.
The cold hit her skin again, and Rina recognized it as the discomfort that had roused her from sleep. She pulled her leg back into the quilt and made to wrap it around herself, but it felt hard to pull, like there was something heavy holding it from the other side.
Then she heard the intake of breath, and her body froze. Rina turned around slowly, coming face to face with the person she had just been thinking about. She could see the collar of his shirt peeking out from underneath the quilt, the white creating a stark contrast to the blackness of the quilt.
He must have been too tired to make the trip back to his house after getting her into bed.
Getting over the initial shock, Rina’s eyes raked his features, trying so hard not to breathe too loud so he wouldn’t catch her staring. She didn’t think she could ever get over the length of his lashes, and how they seemed to frame his face perfectly, accentuating the striking features of his face. His sharp jaw looked relaxed, without the broody touch that never seemed to be far away from him. Zayn slept peacefully, his breath rising and falling like a symphony belted out in the middle of the night.
She enjoyed watching him, watching his full lips pucker and relax. She reached out with the tips of her fingers, pushing a stray strand of hair away from his forehead. Rina couldn’t resist going further, tracing the length of his lashes. He blinked and she paused, but Zayn didn’t open his eyes, falling further instead into the arms of sleep.
Rina’s fingers hovered around his lips, and then she halted, wondering what she was doing. Last night, she could have easily blamed the cans of beer she had taken. But there was nothing to fall back on right now. Just plain desires that Rina thought were unfounded. She needed to stop. Zayn wouldn’t be too keen about this.
“You are not supposed to be awake yet,” Zayn suddenly said, and Rina yelped in surprise, pushing herself away from him. She fell off the bed, landing on the ground in a thud, and at once, Zayn jumped up, running to her side.
Rina held out a hand to stop him from helping her up. “I’m fine,” she blurted, easily edging towards anger even though she didn’t know who exactly it was directed at. “What are you doing in here? I never asked you to come into my room.”
“You fell asleep on the couch, and I didn’t want to leave you there. You would have gotten up with neck pain.”
“You carried me in here?”
“Do you sleepwalk?”
She looked down at her clothes, registering she had changed out of the outfit she had worn to the fashion house. She was now in a cute pink pajama.
“And you changed me out of my clothes?”
Zayn smirked. “It was a tempting idea, but no. I called someone to assist.”
“Why didn’t you follow the person home then?”
He yawned and stretched his arms above his head. “For someone of your stature, your voice is quite loud, don’t you think? It’s the middle of the night.”
“Well, isn’t it a nice thing I don’t have neighbors?”
“I was too tired to make the journey back home, okay?” Zayn muttered. “I had only just gotten into the country after a goddamn long flight before driving all the way to your house at the other end of the city. The mere thought of repeating the ride back was enough to get me even more exhausted.”
“But…” Rina stuttered weakly. “But you didn’t have to stay in here.”
“You’re right,” Zayn nodded. “I’ll just spend the rest of the night on the couch then.” He glanced at the bedside clock. “It’s only just a couple of hours to go. I should be fine.”
“Zayn…”
He grabbed the pillows he’d been using and stalked out of the room casually like he didn’t really mind. Rina wanted to go after him, to tell him he could spend the rest of the night on her bed, while she used the couch. She was much smaller than him and had crashed on the couch quite a number of times.
But her legs stayed rooted on the spot, watching the door close behind Zayn. She heard his footsteps echo down the hallway until they turned into a faint whisper.
Sighing, Rina sat on her bed and covered her head with her face. All of this was so novel to her that she didn’t know what to call it, or how to describe it. All she knew was that when Zayn was around, she wanted to do things that weren’t supposed to be done, and it made her angry with herself, and in the process, it made her lash at him like he had any role to play in it in the first place.
If he found out, he would probably call off the contract, and walk out of her life just like the way he had seen himself in, and that thought scared Rina. Returning under the quilt, she pulled it up to her chin, wondering whether the heater in the cottage would be enough for Zayn, who had gone to the living room without a blanket.
Rina fell back to a fitful sleep, but by the time she woke up, Zayn was already gone, her driveway devoid of the white Lexus sports car.