Deep in the arms of sleep, Rina felt someone touch her. It was as soft as a feather but very intentional. She snuggled further into its comfort, feeling her lips rise in a smile as she fell deeper into her slumber. But when she felt it again, along with the calm it brought, she wondered where it was from, and why it was still present. Slowly, her mind began to work, bringing her back to the present. She remembered the bathtub and the music playing from her speaker. She remembered the half glass of wine on the floor, forgotten as she leaned her head against the tiles, hoping for just a few minutes of rest.
Rina’s eyes slowly opened, no panic in them, as she beheld Zayn’s face staring down at her. He was seated on the bed beside her, a hand suspended mid-air like he’d been touching her. Zayn looked at her ruefully, withdrawing his hand to his side. Clearing his throat noisily, he got off the bed and put a considerable distance between them. She made to sit up, but his eyes shone in sudden alarm, visible from the glow of the night light. Rina halted, wondering what the problem was.
“You are putting on nothing underneath,” he answered her unspoken question, nudging to the sheets covering her. “I didn’t have the time to find something, and I wasn’t sure how you would take that if you had met me trying to dress you.”
“You could have called Susan,” Rina finally said, scooting up until her back hit the headboard.
“That’s not why I’m here.” He had changed to his clipped tone, circling around to the Zayn Graham she’d first met that day at the hospital cold and detached. Retrieving his phone, he dialed a number but didn’t say anything. In a minute, there was a tiny knock on her door, and Zayn approached it, cracking it open just enough to put a slim folder through it before shutting it again.
“What is that?” Rina asked as he returned to the room. Zayn didn’t answer at first, turning on the white lights. Their glare flushed the room, and Rina winced from the sudden action, her eyes taking a few seconds to adjust to it. She glared at Zayn who didn’t even bat an eyelid as he opened the folder and pushed it to her front on the bed.
“It is the contract you were meant to sign months ago. We have to do this now if there is to be a wedding.”
“Why does it matter?” Rina’s defiance shined through in her set jaw and her bright eyes. “I already accepted your ring and grand proposal, not to mention the fact that I had to spend days hearing nothing from you. I think that makes it more than enough.”
“You have to sign it,” he muttered. “It is imperative moving forward, just in case a dispute ensues and we need to refer to a document to ascertain what happens from that point moving forward. Surely you understand.”
Rina looked at the contract in front of her, and even though she had read it before, she dedicated some minutes to it, going through the terms one after the other. Zayn was uncomfortable with the silence, especially spurred by the fact that Rina kept glancing up at him at intervals, her eyes searching his.
“This will do,” she said, leaning forward to the side stool to grab a pen. She scribbled hastily on it, then handed the paper and pen over to Zayn to do the same, while keeping her eyes on him. When he was done, he smiled grimly at her then turned around to leave.
“You really left that term the way you promised it would be,” she called out to him suddenly, causing Zayn to halt by the door.
“What term?”
“You said neither of us could see other people during the five years of our marriage. I thought that was going to change.”
He turned around and angled his head. “Is there someone catching your fancy, soon-to-be Mrs. Graham? You should tell me about him now, so I can carefully plot his demise.”
Although he said it with a straight face, Rina felt those words on every part of her body, teasing her with whispery feathers. She felt a sudden warmth in the middle of her thighs and pressed her legs together instinctively, glad he couldn’t see her from under the sheets. It didn’t help that he had called her Mrs. Graham. Rina had to admit that the name suited her had a good air around it. She called it a few times in her head, mentally seeing the way it rolled off her tongue.
“There’s no one,” she answered, rolling her eyes. “Sometimes, I wish there was, because then, I wouldn’t be sending pictures and messages to a robot who wouldn’t respond to me.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Or should I send them to William, instead? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind knowing what I had been up to through the week.”
The expression on his face changed in that split second, becoming more ferocious. “Don’t even think about it,” he blurted. “No one is going to see those pictures other than me and I hope you keep it that way if you don’t want me to do something outrageous.”
Rina leaned forward and the duvet danced deliciously around her waist, exposing a little part of the skin there. It made Zayn direct his gaze to her face strongly, unwavering.
“Something outrageous? Like what?”‘
“Like ensure their life gets fucked here in the country and ruin all their accounts so they have nothing to their names. No one touches what is mind, Rina, and the sooner you learn, the better it will be for us all. Do you understand?”
Rina nodded, still under Zayn’s spell. She doubted the possibility of meeting someone else that would make her feel half the things that Zayn made her feel. “We have our first public attendance by the way, as engaged couples.”
“Where?”
“Joel’s wedding. Can you get us an invitation? I find myself curious as to how the event will go.”
He looked at her for a fleeting moment before nodding and walking out of her room, leaving the heat in his wake.