Rina walked back onto the runway with her phone clutched in her palms and her eyes stuck between excitement and anxiety. She sat beside Joel as he rounded up his address with the girls, then appreciated them for their hard work one last time.
“We will meet again tomorrow for the last time this week,” she announced to the girls when Joel was done talking. “Rest up. You don’t have to come in early, but I expect us all to be here by 6 pm. Are we fine with that?”
“Yes, Powers.”
“I understand that this arrangement might be keeping us from a lot of things, and I apologize for that, but the moment we have this fashion show behind us, we can take a week’s break to recharge before resuming back at the fashion house. So, let’s give this our best shot for O. S. N fashion house.”
The models were fine with that arrangement, ecstatic even. Their debut with the O. S. N fashion house had brought more to them than they could ever have gotten with their infrequent freelance deals and because of that, they put in all their best and Rina loved to see it. It made her feel comfortable and rest assured that even though she didn’t walk the floor that day, it would still be the best show and Joel wouldn’t regret giving her the chance to make her comeback.
“So, are you ready to go home?” Joel asked as the models filed out, their chatter carrying in the air. “I can give you a ride if you want. It’s pretty late.”
Rina hadn’t gotten used to bringing her car to the fashion house as that was bound to spur a lot of questions, particularly from those who didn’t know she was the mysterious model. So, she only took it around for grocery shopping and once out of the state when she had to go see her parents.
“No,” Rina tried to wave off his offer as casually as possible. “I don’t want to be such a bother to you. I can manage to go back home on my own.”
“I’m not complaining,” Joel said, angling his head. “I enjoy taking you home. You’re a pleasant passenger princess and you know how to hold a great conversation.”
Rina reeled over the implications of Joel calling her a passenger princess in her head. If he was already doing this when they hadn’t even expressly talked about his intentions, what wavelength would they have attained by the time he was finally ready to tell her?
Sighing, she decided to just clear the air so it wouldn’t get too far. “Actually,” she started, clearing her throat noisily. “I have a ride already.”
“I’m not sure I get you,” Joel murmured, shaking his head.
“Someone is outside to pick me up.”
“Oh!”
Joel looked like he had something more to say, but Rina didn’t hang around to wait for him to put his thoughts together. Hastily bidding him a goodnight, she walked out of the room and into the elevator, getting to the second floor in no time. There, she grabbed her purse, turned off the lights, and walked briskly out the doors. She could take the front entrance now since the rest of the workers had clocked out for the day, and it was such an awesome feeling.
Sometimes, Rina wondered when she would be able to do that without looking over her shoulders. It made her so tempted to give up her anonymity, but the uncertainty of what existed beyond that was higher than her need to walk into the building freely.
Zayn flashed the lights of his car twice as he saw her approach, not bothering to hide his presence there, and Rina increased her pace. She knew Joel would be right behind her, trying to catch up before she left. Zayn had already leaned over to push open the door for her from the inside, so Rina got in immediately, closing the door.
“Joel will be out in a few seconds,” she told Zayn, staring up at the entrance, and in her head, counting the seconds until Joel showed up. When Zayn didn’t say anything, she turned to look at him, wondering why he was oddly silent.
“What?” she muttered when she caught him staring at her, with his head leaning against the door like he didn’t care if Joel met them there.
“I’m just contemplating a way to get Joel out of the equation without actually harming him,” he muttered, still staring at her.
“What do you mean? Zayn, if you don’t want him to meet us here, we have to leave right now. I can’t answer any questions as to why Zayn Graham is picking me up from work in the middle of the night and I’m certain you don’t want to hear me say it’s all because of a contract.”
“I know you won’t say that,” Zayn replied. “But don’t you think it is concerning that the first name you mention the minute you get into the car is Joel? You might not have noticed it, but I did, and I don’t like it.”
“You sure don’t like a lot of things about him.”
“You’re right,” Zayn blurted. He’d never hidden how he felt about Joel from the very beginning. He hated the fact that he was working so damn close to Rina round the clock, and he hated the awareness that all Joel wanted was Rina. He didn’t need Joel to say a word, easily picking it up from the way he looked at her, and how he talked about the mysterious model like he knew her personally.
At each meeting, it irked Zayn that he had to listen to Joel talk about Rina, but at the same time, it was better than not attending the meetings at all. Mia, his secretary, had been convinced something was up when Zayn kept attending each meeting, never skipping one, when he didn’t even bother with the meetings of the few other companies he was sponsoring, leaving it to his managers.
“Shit!” Rina cursed, her eyes on the door. Zayn pulled his eyes off her lazily, to see Joel walking out of the doors.