Rina stretched out on her bed, yawning noisily as her eyes slowly got accustomed to the light. She stared at the clock by her bedside, her eyes widening as she realized it was noon already. It had been a while since she’d last had her morning to herself. And Rina had to admit that it sure did feel good.
Rising slowly from her bed, Rina started her day, taking as much time as she could. She walked gently from her room to the kitchen, brewing a glass of coffee to begin the day. She took it while staring out from her kitchen window, watching the sun tease nature gingerly, the rays highlighting every hidden path in the woods beyond.
She was tempted to go for another cup, but Rina knew there was something called a caffeine high. So, instead, she made a quick pan of scrambled eggs and grabbed the bread she had purchased the last time she went grocery shopping, which was only about two days ago.
Settling back in the living room, she turned on the TV to see a movie while munching on her breakfast, or better still, brunch. Rina felt relaxed with nothing overwhelming pressing her over. She could even afford a fit of laughter, her shoulders bobbing from the rom-com playing on the screen.
Rina was so engrossed in the movie that when her doorbell rang, she didn’t recognize that it was from her reality and not the movie. When it kept on ringing repeatedly, she sat up suddenly, and paused the movie, listening for the bell again.
The shrill sound echoed around her cottage, pulling her away from the couch. She sauntered to the door with a lazy smile on her face, not even bothering to consider who it could be. Her subconscious already assumed it was either Zayn or William since they were the only ones who called in person, of course apart from Finn and Kayla.
“Hold on!” Rina called as she turned the lock open and pulled the door to herself to reveal a court bailiff. He bowed slightly in greeting, and produced an envelope, vanishing before Rina could say anything.
Angling her head at the strangeness of the situation, she felt the envelope for anything strange before pushing the door closed. Her movie totally forgotten, Rina padded to the kitchen to retrieve a knife, tearing the envelope open to reveal its contents.
It was a withdrawal of motion from the court, signed by Finn’s counsel. He was no longer suing her for wrongful ownership and possession of the cottage. Rina felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders and she held on to the edge of the counter to keep herself from falling to the ground. She had already plagued herself with thoughts of what she was going to do if she wasn’t able to fight Kayla and Finn.
Rina didn’t have anywhere else to live, and once, she had toyed with the idea of asking Zayn if she could move in with him. The sudden realization of her train of thought had shaken her out of it and fueled her with the need to fight. But apparently, there hadn’t been a need to fight in the first place.
“I can’t believe this!” she sighed to herself, her head trying to wrap itself around what this meant. Rina knew Finn quite well since they had been married for five years. He wasn’t one to easily give up on something, unless if there was a strong reason to do so, something that gave him a greater gain from what he would have gained with what he had planned initially.
A faint thought creeping up in her head, Rina grabbed the papers from the counter and crossed the space to the living room, grabbing her phone from the table. She called Zayn at once, who answered on the third ring.
“Did you do anything about Finn’s suit in court?” she asked at once, not mincing words.
“What if I did?”
“I told you I was going to handle it.”
“I don’t dispute the fact that you can, Rina. I know how strong you are, and how you accomplish everything you set your heart out to do. But I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. They even had the effrontery to come to the cottage to threaten you themselves, like the suit wasn’t enough.”
Zayn half expected Rina to keep up with the arguments, but suddenly she muttered, “Thank you.”
“What?”
“I said thank you! And don’t think I’m going to say it again.”
Zayn laughed. “You’re welcome. We never got to finish our conversation yesterday.”
“What conversation?” Rina chuckled awkwardly. “We talked about a lot of things yesterday.”
“You know the exact one I’m talking about, don’t you? Or are you getting cold feet about marrying me?”
“Marriage,” Rina sighed. “It sure sounds like a lot right now. Why don’t we talk about it at the end of the fashion show? I’m just so busy right now with the models and the preparation, even more so now that I’ve decided to walk the runway too.”
“Wait a minute,” Zayn stopped her. “You’re going to unveil yourself? I thought you said you weren’t ready.”
“Yesterday, you made me realize that I would never be ready no matter how long I wait,” Rina explained, plopping down on the couch. “I might as well just do it now. I don’t have any control over what people would say, and that is never going to change. So, why stall?”
“Have you told Joel about it?” Zayn said his name like a venom he was trying to get out of his system.
Rina shook her head, then realizing Zayn couldn’t see her, said, “No. I will tell him when I go to the fashion house later today. I’m supposed to meet the models by 6.”
“Do you need a ride?”
“Zayn…”
“Kidding.”
But Zayn wasn’t. He felt this undying urge to be with Rina round the clock, and if he didn’t do something about it soon, he feared it was going to grow way more than he could handle.