The car slowed down in front of the villa, long enough for Rina and Zayn to alight. She looked surprised to find him following closely behind since he had mentioned that he had to be on his flight back as soon as possible. But he stood by the door, hitting the passcode.
“Did you get it?”
Rina nodded.
“You can change it whenever you want so you can feel safe.” He pushed the door open and sauntered in, with Rina’s feet whispering on the wooden floor behind. Zayn didn’t stop, flipping on the lights and heading into the kitchen. He pulled open the refrigerator and got out a bottle of water. There was nothing edible in there since they’d had no idea Rina was going to be living there.
“Aren’t you supposed to be on your way?” Rina suddenly asked as she sauntered to the kitchen, leaning on the door frame. “Earlier, when you said you had to be on your flight back, it sounded really urgent.”
“It is urgent,” he answered shrugging, then slid the bottle of water onto the countertop next to him, proceeding to rummage through the refrigerator.
“And?” Rina angled her head and wrapped her hands around her frame.
That finally got Zayn’s attention. He stood straight and regarded her slowly, his eyes raking from her dried crusted hair to the white robe that looked like it had been through a war. Zayn sighed and walked over to her. She leaned away from him at first but relaxed her muscles when he placed his hands on her shoulders.
“How are you, Rina?” he questioned softly, looking into her eyes. Rina shivered underneath the force and intensity of his gaze and tried to pull her eyes away. But Zayn removed a hand, and placed it gently under her chin, gearing her attention back on him.
“How are you?” he repeated. “And don’t give me the generic response of how fine you are. I need to know that you are great enough to stay here all alone after everything you’ve been through today. No one can go through that and still stay fierce the way you have done all day. You don’t have to act so tough around me, Rina.”
She shook her head, and took a step backward, allowing his hands to fall to his side. His eyes unnerved her and made her want to fall into his arms and let him take charge. Rina couldn’t deny the fact that exhaustion slowly ebbed away at her, but admitting it was as good as saying she succumbed to it. And Rina didn’t have the time for that. Not when she still had a lot of things to accomplish.
“I’m fine, Zayn,” she murmured, earning an audible groan from him. He walked further into the kitchen, sighed exasperatedly, then turned around, returning to her.
“You are going to be my wife, Rina, and you are going to need to tell me how you really feel when something unpleasant happens. I told you. This is new to me relinquishing control. But I’m willing to try to do that because of what we both stand to gain at the end of this contract.”
That was the problem Rina had identified the fact that it was all because of the contract, which was going to be nothing in another five years.
“Zayn,” she breathed. “I had a husband who I told everything to, but look where it ended. You wouldn’t blame me for wanting to stay this way. And it really isn’t a front. I just don’t have the luxury of rolling around in tears when every minute is precious. I need all the strength I can get to push through this, and I won’t get that by staying in the past. My cottage has been messed with. I have been messed with. Nothing I do is going to change that, but at least, I can control what I do with the development.”
He bit his bottom lip, then nodded slowly. “I’m not Finn, Rina. But I get it. I always do. And I’m going to make you open up to me. I don’t care if I do that for the whole five years that this contract exists, but we’re going to get to that point where you can tell me anything. Because only then can we manage to fool the whole world. They would be looking and searching for the cracks, so we need to be able to show them that we’re friends who depend on each other.”
Silence.
“You look like you got run over by an egg truck,” Zayn sighed. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
They walked upstairs and through the dimly lit hallway, into the room Rina had occupied before. She stopped by the door of the closet and turned around, her breath raging and her eyes growing hazy. She was taken back to their moment in an oddly similar circumstance and Rina couldn’t let it happen again. She was scared that she would come undone in his hands and that all the walls she had put up before Zayn to keep him out would be for naught.
Zayn had gotten it all wrong Rina’s reason for not telling him that she hated the smell of the eggs on her and that her heart sunk because she was attached to the cottage, that it made her want to fall to the floor in tears but reigning it in was best for now.
It was because Rina knew that it would lower her defenses, and she would become too attached to him. People entered into and left her life as they pleased, but Rina wanted to put an end to that. At least, Zayn was very clear about his intentions. He would be gone in five years. But while his presence lasted, it was her duty to ensure she didn’t fall for him, even though she could gradually feel her heart slipping into that abyss.
Because when that happened, Rina wasn’t sure she would be able to let go.