They went up into the broadcasting room, the lighting and sound already set in perfect order. Zayn took her hands and helped her up the podium, waiting for her to get seated, facing the camera, before following suit. He was being extra careful with her, extra touchy, and even though to Rina, it felt like Zayn was only doing that to keep up with the idea people have of them, it was the opposite to him.
Zayn couldn’t keep his hands away, neither could his thoughts remain static without straying to Rina. It worried him more than he dared to mention, still, he couldn’t deny the fact that the memories of her felt great. They filled him with warmth and made him think love wasn’t such a bad thing after all. But every second it occurred to him, he shook out of it immediately, not wanting to be dragged into that.
The host was a different lady from the person who had walked them in, but Rina was pleased to find out it was the same host as the one that had featured Joel Osteen. She was exactly the way Rima remembered, with her sharp and condescending eyes, nose that seemed to be keen on sniffing every gossip and rumor in the air but never paying attention to herself, and eyes that bore so many hidden agendas.
But Rina had every plan to bring them to naught. She allowed her anger through the months to course through her, replaying every scene in her head, from Kayla’s betrayal to Finn leaving her, the death of her baby, the blacklisting, the hiding, the injury, and then the public bashing through Joel and every other person that had sat in the same spot to say foul things about her. The host seemed to notice the fury in Rina’s eyes as she took her seat, leaning away from her and keeping her gaze cautious.
She nodded to the people behind the camera, then turned her chair to face the couple, with a bright smile on her face. Rina wanted to scoff because she knew how fake that was. It was either that or the host was looking for a way to buy back into her good graces. And Rina knew it was her game, and only she could score.
“It is such an honor to have you both here, Zayn Graham and Rina Power,” she beamed, clasping her hands together to calm her excitement. “I have never had either of you on my show before, and I have to say that I am reeling with joy right now. Seeing you both up close has always been one of my life dreams, and now that you are here, I can boldly say this could be the end of my life and I wouldn’t even bother fighting it.”
It was meant to be a joke, with Rina and Zayn obliging her by laughing. But it was every shade of awkward, as the last thing Rina wanted to be doing with the host was sharing laughter and inflating her ego.
“I am Mandy, and this is the “Globe”, where we discuss happenings with celebrities shining in their various arts.” She turned to the camera and said, “I’m sure we all out there need no introduction as the whole city is buzzing with news about the latest engagement that has kicked us right on our feet. Rina Power and Zayn Graham, the power couple we have all never dared to imagine. Two impeccably smart and strong people.”
Mandy returned her gaze to them, going right into it. “All your fans out there are going wild with the news of your engagement. There are numerous hashtags on the media, but the most popular is hashtag The Graham Power. I think it is cute, and portrays both of your images. What do you think?”
Rina chuckled. “Its cute. Thank you to all of our fans out there, rooting for us. We are sorry for keeping this away for this long, but we had good reasons to do that. But now that we are in the open, we crave your support through to the very end.”
“To the very end?” Mandy regarded her, tilting her head. “Does that mean we should expect something big? Like a wedding?”
“I have every plan of marrying Rina,” Zayn answered without mincing words. “So, yes. There is a wedding in view. Once we have a date, everyone will know about it.”
“Interesting,” Mandy murmured. She looked at them for a second too long, then seemed to realize she was on air with a start. Her head bowed to look at the paper on her lap before proceeding to the next question.
“I’m sure you would have been expecting it, but this one goes to Rina. How did you meet Mr. Graham? Was it when you were with Mr. Smith or after? How was it like with everything going on, meeting the person you ended up falling in love with? If it was while you were with Mr. Smith, did you feel like you were doing something wrong?”
Rina knew what Mandy was trying to achieve. Making her look bad in front of millions of viewers was one way of killing the popularity she was already gaining with her fans. “I knew Zayn before I met him,” Rina breathed. “Just like the whole world does. He is the most powerful person in the country, so it’s only normal to have heard of him or even seen him at one point in my life. But then, we met again in the middle of all the lies and drama that was going on in every corner, following when I was wrongfully blacklisted by Scottsdale Entertainment.” Rina added ‘wrongfully’ because even though some people were beginning to question it, she still needed them to hear it from her, that everything she’d had to go through was an attack on her person.
“I was attacked on the road on a certain night, and Zayn was there to save me. I was lonely, broken, and left only with my zeal to get back to where I was pushed away from. And he was there to hold my hand, every step of the way.”