The night was one of the longest, at least for Rina. The sheets bore witness to her thrashing and turning, as Zayn’s words evaded her thoughts, and left her needy. She thought about it over and over again, in her head, creating different scenarios of how that conversation could have gone. But the thing was, Rina could never be sure what Zayn had exactly meant by those words. He could have been messing with her, as his long list of casanova acts preached. But at the same time, Rina couldn’t shake off the look in his eyes, like he’d been fighting something off, and losing terribly at it.
She removed the pillow from under her head and tried to lay on the mattress alone, hoping it did the trick. But her eyes were still wide open in another thirty minutes, sleep constantly eluding her. Giving up entirely, Rina sat on her bed and grabbed the remote to the TV, turning on a Netflix series. She grabbed a pillow and squeezed it tight as the light from the screen flooded the room, taking her mind off Zayn and everything that had happened the previous night.
It was a horror movie, and Rina was into it soon enough, holding the pillow over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. At intervals, she would let it go, forgetting the whole house was asleep at that moment. Her eyes would dart to the door hastily, half-expecting it to push open at any time, William or maybe Igor running through it, thinking she was in some form of danger.
Two hours later, the credits rolled in and Rina decided to try again. Leaving the TV on, she laid back on the bed, closing her eyes and counting sheep. She fell asleep somewhere in the middle, only to be awakened rudely by a thump on her door. Rina sat up groggily, her eyes straying to the digital clock on the side stool. It was only 8 am, and Rina wished she could return to bed. With only two hours of sleep, she didn’t want to step out of her room, lest her puffy eyes scare anyone away.
Attempting to return to bed, Rina ignored the person at the door and pulled the comforter over her head, closing her eyes. But suddenly, she felt a pair of hands snake under her knees, and in a second, she was lifted into strong arms, the scent hitting her almost immediately. Her hands snaked around his neck to keep herself from falling, and she pushed hard against him, even though it did nothing against his strong grip.
“I need to get back to bed,” she whined, her eyes begging for a few more minutes of sleep. “I had the worst night ever, Zayn.”
“I promise this is worth it,” Zayn murmured, easily walking out of the room and down the stairs with her in his arms. “If I don’t do this, you would probably hate me for the next couple of months and I don’t think I enjoy you doing that.”
“I won’t hate you,” she pleaded. “I promised. Just let me…”
Abruptly, he dumped her onto the three-sitter couch in front of the TV in the living room, plopping down beside her. She scratched at her eyes, feeling the fatigue pull at her desperately, threatening to pull her under. But that suddenly seemed to disappear when a familiar voice came on through the speakers, making her sit upright at once.
“I told you,” Zayn said with pride in his tone and laughter in his eyes. But Rina barely paid any attention to him as her eyes were glued to the screen. She barely even noticed Susan and William come to join them, scooting to the edge of their seat, fully invested in the sudden appearance of Regina. It was a live broadcast by the country’s national television, with camera lights flashing everywhere.
Rina chuckled at the fact that despite what happened, Regina would still never appear on national TV without her full makeup and perfect dress. She was covered in a two-piece suit that bordered on causal and formal, the front belted to look like a dress, and the pants flowing and baggy. The high collars made it look really classy and Rina identified the outfit as one of Claire’s productions from the previous year. She had one of them herself, back in the cottage.
“I am here today to deeply apologize to one of our own, Rina Power,” Regina started, sending a ruckus through the crowd. The loud whispers and the low murmurings overtook the hall, but Regina spoke above the noise, increasing her pitch. “I know you all think the worst of Ms. Power, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the course of my career, it is the fact that you can’t believe everything you see on the internet. These things can be doctored and manipulated, and I fear that Ms. Power has suffered wrongly in our hands. Despite whatever you think, I want to personally apologize for the role I played in all of this. I shouldn’t have talked badly about her because she is undeserving of that. And for every other act I committed against her, I am deeply remorseful.”
Regina turned her eyes directly to the camera with such hurt and sincerity that if Rina didn’t know her well, she just might have believed her. “Rina Power, in case you are watching this, I didn’t mean for all of this to happen. I was just childish, immature, and carried away by my own jealousy over your great career since I have always wanted to be like you. I hope you forgive me and I look forward to working with you when all of this dies down. You are a star, and your light cannot be dimmed.” She bowed low then, and walked off the podium, ignoring all the questions that got tossed her way.
The laughter was still in Zayn’s eyes when he turned to look at her. “I can’t believe you pulled this through. This is… mind-blowing.”
Rina shrugged. “Everything about me is mind blowing.”