The flight back home was one of the most silent Zayn had ever been on, while with someone. William appeared deep in thought, mulling over something as his face remained peered against the glass, seemingly shutting out the whole world. Zayn knew he met with Mago earlier that day. Although he had no clue how that had gone as he didn’t ask any questions, it wasn’t far-fetched to think that it was what got William looking like that.
Zayn sighed and rested his head on the backrest, allowing his eyes to flutter close. He was going back to the country as an engaged man, and he knew things were going to be different for him, with the wedding coming up and all the other things he had to do for the company. Still, that didn’t bother him or cause a stir within him as much as the idea of having to appear with Rina in public now, as well as the thought of living in the same house with her, knowing how his body betrayed him each time she was around.
It felt like a magnet constantly pulling him in despite the odds, despite the fact that one of Zayn’s greatest pride was the fact that he’d always had such perfect control over himself and the things around him. At that moment, the control was shaking at its seams, threatening to fall down in one pop.
His phone dinged and he retrieved it from his pocket, smiling when the message spread out on the screen. It was Rina, wishing him a pleasant flight. Attached to the message was a picture of her, reading a book back in the hotel while watching the city through the window. Every part of her looked relaxed, and Zayn found himself tracing the outline of the image with his finger, overcome with the urge to touch her, to feel her close to him. Rina was perfect in every ramification, her eyes threatening to uncover the deep secrets and closed walls Zayn had, her hair filling him with the desire to run his hands through her tresses, allowing the strands to glide against his fingers.
Zayn swallowed and groaned, turning the phone off immediately without responding. He didn’t like the way it made him feel like he was about to relinquish the one thing he’d mastered all his life. It felt foreign, like an unchartered path, and Zayn wasn’t sure he wanted to go through it.
“She’s pretty,” he heard Williams say, raising his head at once. Zayn hadn’t realized his best friend and bodyguard had been watching him all along, pulled out of his own reverie. “I’m happy that you are engaged to her. You make such a lovely couple.”
“You do know that none of it is real, right?” Zayn returned his phone to his pocket and angled his body so he was facing William.
“Is that what you think?”
Zayn peered his eyes in his direction.
“Anyone with half an eye can see how much you two love each other, and how much you are willing to deny that fact until it burns you both. It is obvious that you are engaged in a battle with yourself. You are trying so hard not to believe or accept your feelings, even when they are going nowhere. Zayn, you know I have always told you the truth the way I perceive it. You have never believed in love the very notion I have been trying to change almost since we became teenagers but I think this is enough proof that love does exist, love that is going to make you do things you will ordinarily not do.”
“You are wrong,” was the only weak protest Zayn could put up.
“Think about it. I have never seen you give someone so much attention all my life. Even when you were with Jada, you respected her as your woman but did nothing more. She was like a ceremonial head, with the freedom to do whatever she wanted.”
“Rina has that freedom too.”
“She doesn’t. I have watched you hover around her so fiercely and protectively. You send your men to keep her safe when you can’t do that yourself, and try to move your schedule around for dinners you would usually not even consider if it had come from another person. You were willing to stay back in Hong Kong even after the launch just so you could spend time with Rina, and there is nothing wrong with that. But you ended up changing your mind, probably because it hit you that you are going out of your way for someone you claim to feel nothing for. And each time I am in the same room with you two, the tension is always palpable, and I never cease to feel like I am interfering with something intimate. I know you are going to fight this as hard as you can, but I just wanted you to hear it from me first.”
Zayn looked at William and thought about it for a second. But that was how long he was willing to allow it to stay in his head before shrugging the idea away. Zayn Graham thought love was a messy complication and that was the way it was going to stay. The minute Rina got back into the country, he was going to have a meeting with her, formal at its setting, where they would go through the terms of the contract again, and finally append their signature on it. That way, Zayn would be constantly reminded of the true nature of their agreement, rather than leaving it to the cosmos to do as it pleased.
William smiled as he read the look in Zayn’s eyes. No matter what he said, or how perfectly he presented it, Zayn already dismissed the idea of falling in love. His hatred for it would make him fight it till the very end, but William was certain of what he could see. And he knew that in the end, their love would prevail.
“You are wrong, William,” he said, this time with a better conviction. “And I will prove it to you.”