“Hey,” he called softly, his eyes caressing her as she sauntered over. “You look exhausted. After we’re done here, do you want to see a movie?”
Rina chuckled lightly. “Maybe some other time. I’m just so exhausted that I need to drop into my bed the minute I leave here.”
“What about the weekend? You said the girls don’t have to come in then since they’ve worked hard this week. Should we see the movie then? I can book the tickets beforehand, or better still, we can stay back at my house and just catch your favorite series. What do you say?”
“Er…”
“You don’t have to give me an answer now,” he was quick to point out, hearing the impending rejection in her voice. “The weekend is still two days away so you can think about it all you want.”
“Joel, the movie sounds nice but…”
“I can’t take a no from you.” Although, he said it lightly, there was no disputing the fact that he meant it.
She didn’t want to be rude, but Rina thought there had to be a way out of this. It wasn’t because she couldn’t see a movie with him. But for the last couple of weeks, Rina had noticed a gradual change in Joel’s relationship with her. He had added a tad more intimacy with how he spoke to her, and the way he came to her aid each time she dropped something on the floor.
As much as it was nice, Rina didn’t want Joel to get the wrong picture. She had just gotten out of a bad marriage and wasn’t interested in starting anything new. And besides, Zayn didn’t like him. That had to count for something.
“How about we talk about this after we see the girls walk?” She said, smiling up at him. “They’re really tired and need to go home.”
Nodding, Rina sauntered towards the girls and gathered them in a straight file at the end of the runway. They were to walk the full length, and back, then at the end, Joel was supposed to comment on each model and tell them how close they were to being ready for the International Fashion Show.
Rita started first, the lost look in her eyes gone the minute she stepped onto the runway. She walked according to the beat of the music, her long legs moving ahead of her, her back straight with elegance, and her poise pristine. Rina couldn’t be any more proud.
She edged the rest of the girls on as they took their initial stance, then walked the length of the room and back, swaying and giving alluring stares. Rina loved the overall outlook, but she still thought they had a lot to work on. Although invisible to the untrained eye, Rina could see the little mistakes made in their walk, especially when they had to wait for each other to start the wall back so one person could step in.
Rina noticed the hesitation each time it happened, like they didn’t know what point to do that. And she understood because she’d once been there before. However, they needed to straighten that out before the big day.
The girls gathered around after everyone had walked, and they sat on the floor before Joel, looking at him expectantly. He put a hand on his chin, in deep reflection for a minute, before pulling back. The girls had a huge respect for him and it showed in how much they valued his opinions. One of them had even admitted to Rina that she had a crush on him.
But of course, Rina had no plans of telling Joel that.
“I think that was great,” Joel said, hitting his palms in applause. “You all have greatly improved and I’m proud of you. However, you’re still going to have to put in a lot of work for the International Fashion Show. I saw a few glitches here and there, but overall, I loved it.”
The girls clapped in unison and sighed in relief. Joel still had something to say so he continued, addressing the girls on the aura behind their stares and the image he was trying to portray with the line he was launching at the show. Rina’s phone rang at that moment, and she dove into the pocket of her pants to retrieve it.
“Is that Joel’s voice I hear?” Zayn asked the second Rina picked up the call. “When did he start working with the models alongside you? I don’t like it.”
Rolling her eyes, Rina motioned to her colleagues that she was only going to take a few minutes, before going to the staircase.
“They’re his models, Zayn. He has to talk to them at some point.” She thought it strange and oddly exciting that Zayn said these things. Even though she constantly tried to remind herself that it wasn’t supposed to get to her since it was going to end five years after the marriage, it still didn’t stop the flip that her stomach took each time and the red patch that spread on her face.
“He can do that without you in the room.”
“Are you jealous, Zayn?”
“What? No! It isn’t about you, Rina,” he corrected. “I just don’t like the sound of his voice for some reason. So when next I call and you happen to be in the same room as him, don’t take the call with him there. I would have reacted the same if it was another person in the same room as him.”
“Oh!” It felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured on her, but Rina only had herself to blame. She knew Zayn didn’t mean anything serious. To him, this was just about the contract. And it should be the same for her too.
“I have to go back to the girls,” she said, trying not to communicate the hurt in her voice. Rina cleared her throat noisily before saying. “What did you need?”
“I’m outside your building.”
“What?”
“I came to get you home.”