Rina got up with a start, wincing as the headache came in immediately, hitting her head all over. She held a hand to her forehead and leaned on the headboard, staying that way for a while until the first bout passed. She felt like she would throw up at any minute, and her eyes still felt like she was asleep, even though she knew she didn’t want to return to bed. Reaching for her phone by the nightstand, she checked for missed calls and messages, yet ended up ignoring the five missed calls and three unreplied messages. Her head banged again, demanding her attention, and this time, Rina didn’t think she could ignore it.
Yet, there was something trying to nudge her consciousness, something she had missed even though she’d only just woken up a few minutes ago. It was present, nudging her to pay attention to something else other than her migraine. When she heard the loud thump on her door, Rina jumped and yelped from the sudden shoot of pain. That was what woke her up, and not the migraine. The headache was just a hangover from how much she had to drink the previous night. But the banging at her door? That was real.
Rina leaned over her bed, wondering why the noise hadn’t woken George, only for her to meet empty ground. He must have gotten up earlier and returned to his partner. Rina had slept for the most part of the day. It was almost 2 pm. She couldn’t believe she had slept that long.
Tightening the bathrobe she’d had on since the previous night, she padded gently to her room door, careful not to make any sound. For some reason, she was apprehensive about who was at her door, and anytime her sixth sense kicked in like that, Rina usually had every cause to be cautious. Disregarding her flip-flops, she walked down the hallway on her toes and sauntered into the living room. She stopped at the door and peered in through the spyhole, but she couldn’t see anything or anyone.
But Rina knew they were there because another loud thump reverberated around the cottage. It sounded like the person had thrown something hard at the door, and if Rina didn’t stop whoever it was, her door would be ruined in no time. Still, she couldn’t bear to twist the key in the lock and turn the handle open, when she was absolutely clueless as to what awaited her on the other side. It seemed like the person was intentionally avoiding the spyhole, not wanting to give his identity away.
And Rina was in no mood for games.
She paced the living room and ran a hand through her hair at intervals, sighing when she hit a knot. She needed full hair care, and that required stepping out of her doors. Rina was certain the stylists working for O. S. N fashion house would be more than excited to help her out, but she still needed to find her personal stylist. Working at the fashion house for a long time wasn’t her plan, because Rina still wanted to return to the movie industry. And that meant she needed to start putting things in place.
When something even heavier hit her door, Rina shook her head. She couldn’t believe she had just been thinking about her hair when there was someone out there obviously trying to harm her. Her phone rang from her bedroom, and Rina swore when she figured out she hadn’t silenced it. Now, the person or persons outside probably knew that she was at home.
“I knew she was home,” a masculine voice uttered, as if on cue. “The whore is ignoring us, but I guess she wouldn’t be able to do that anymore when we bring down this door. Banjo, can we get anything stronger that can tear the door into two?”
Us?
Rina knew she had to start panicking. That voice was strange to her, as she was certain she had never heard it before. But the notion that he was even with more people scared her the most. She stayed still, holding her breath, trying to listen closely, without placing her ears against the door. There were murmurs of people that sounded more than a couple of them, and Rina wondered what they wanted.
Rina jumped in fright when she heard the sound of glass shattering coming from somewhere behind her, and she raced to her kitchen without thinking of the possibility of being seen. Her eyes fell wide open and she put a hand over her mouth when she saw the small crowd that had gathered there, hate in their eyes. Rina could only wonder just how many were at her front door if that number was at her kitchen window.
“There she is!” A woman in the crowd suddenly screamed in excitement, and before Rina knew it, an egg landed on her robe. Before she could recover from that one, the tossing started at full speed, eggs thrown from the broken window, targeted at every part of her skin. Rina was motionless – she stood there, watching the crowd, the sudden action causing her to stay rooted to the spot. She swallowed as egg white dripped from her hair which already resembled a nest, and Rina was more annoyed by the fact that it would now take a longer time to get her hair all ready for her next shoot.
“Miss Powers!” She heard someone scream her name from inside the cottage and that seemed to snap her back to consciousness. She ran out of the kitchen and closed the door behind her, her pulse racing in fright and her blood pulsing. Rina tried to blow out a stream of breaths from her mouth because she found it difficult to breathe. Her eyes watered and her chest hurt, threatening to shut down at her. But Rina fought hard against it.
Wading through her living room, she saw a man rush in through the doors in the living room. Rina was about to ask how he got in, backing away gently when she recognized him as one of Zayn’s men. She released a breath she had no idea she’d been consciously holding, and fell into her couch.
“Get dressed, ma’am,” he said without skipping a beat. “Your address has been leaked and you are no longer safe in here.”