After leaving Kayla’s office, Rina stopped by the O. S. N fashion house next, finding a parking space next to Joel’s car in the lot. She sauntered over to the main entrance, feeling the glee of walking through the doors without the thought of the possibility of anyone bumping into her. She headed straight into the showroom, the shoppers turning back to stare at her as she made a beeline for the linking door to the rest of the building.
The whispers hung over her head, some people not bothering to even reduce their tone, yet Rina didn’t spare them as much as a glance as she held her head high, even managing a smile at a cute teenager who thought Rina rocked. But of course, her mother pulled her away hastily, as the heavens forbid that Rina corrupted her child.
The exchange made her laugh and shake her head at the irony of the situation, as before she became blacklisted, the same mother would have been ecstatic that her child met the great Rina Powers, even going as far as asking for an autograph.
As Rina walked in, she met Joel who had been going into the showroom to ensure things were running smoothly there. “Hey,” he held on to her shoulders, and pulled her away gently, giving her a once over. Rina flashed a grin at him and he took her into his arms, holding her tightly. “I was so worried about you.”
The hug felt warm, the same warmth that she usually felt when hugging a friend. She reciprocated the action, then wiggled out of his arms after a few seconds. “You didn’t have to be worried,” she said. “I told you I was fine.”
“I know,” he sighed. “But that was a lot for you to handle all alone.”
Rina wanted to tell him she wasn’t alone, that Zayn had spent the evening with her until he had to leave the country, and that George had come over for the remaining part of the night, drinking and laughing over the comments with her. But instead, she changed the topic expertly.
“Talking about my saga, how has the sales been since the fashion show? I know the little drama was bound to affect O. S. N but I hope it’s something a little more publicity can help handle.”
“I can’t believe you are thinking about the fashion house right now when it seems everything is collapsing around you. You need to worry about yourself.”
“I worry about myself,” Rina muttered. “But I did that the minute I got booed out of the runway. Right now, I’m determined to make this work. I’m going to get back to where I was, and even beyond, but I can’t do that if I stay cooped up in my bedroom, mulling over something that happened in the past. I can only go forward from this point.”
Joel angled his head and sighed for the umpteenth time. Even though he knew Rina meant every bit of those words, that she could pull through this seeing as she did well with the last one, Joel still couldn’t help himself. He wanted to make things easier for her, but he didn’t know how to unless she told him. And from the looks of things, Rina was determined to handle it all on her own.
“I brought the dress I modeled,” she said, walking further down the hallway and leaving Joel no choice but to trail after her. “It is in my car. I will send someone to get it out for me. I think it would do great in the showroom out there, you know? As much as people act like they don’t fancy relating with me, I’m certain a few of them would still peer through the glass, interested in the dress I wore.”
“Rina…”
She turned around abruptly in the middle of the hallway, and Joel almost walked into her. “Joel, I know you are trying to look out for me, but I need you to understand. I am angry that I got lied against and walked over, and me laying on my bed and wailing about it is only going to make me madder at myself. This is my own way of moving on and fighting back. I hope you respect that.”
Joel raised his hands in the air in mock surrender. “Would you at least allow me to treat you to something nice later tonight? It doesn’t have to be at my place,” he was quick to add. “A nice little diner just opened up by the corner. We could go there after work. How does that sound?”
Rina smiled and nodded. “Sounds like a plan. We can make that work.”
She turned around and continued on her way up to the last floor where the models were gathered, in a deep conversation. They halted the minute Rina sauntered in. She placed her purse carefully by the podium in the room and walked into their middle.
“Hello, girls! It’s so nice to be back.”
“Rina!” They rushed into her arms, genuinely excited that she was there with them. They were scared that Joel was going to have to employ someone else to train and lead them, and they didn’t know how to get adapted to someone else after experiencing the magical touch of Rina Powers. For Rina, the whole country might not want her at that moment, but the fact that she felt the sincerity in the models made her stronger, made her want to fight back even harder, for them and every single person that believed in her.
“Let’s get right into it then,” Rina said after the group hug. She had received mail from one of the models that another fashion company had reached out to them to get their services for a small fashion walk happening the following week. Since they already had such rigorous training for their fashion week, Rina decided to take it easy on them. Although she wasn’t going to walk with them to save Joel the drama that would ensue, Rina was sure as hell going to be at that event.