Holding On

ᴇɪɢʜᴛᴇᴇɴ

It'd seemed like her thoughts were back to normal until George fell asleep and she couldn't sleep no matter how hard she tried. Thoughts of Zain forced their way back in.

She'd tried hard to shut all thoughts out, but the image of Zain remained centre in her mind until she'd realized it was morning and got up to help her aunt prepare breakfast.

Now, in her office, the sleepiness was catching up with her big time.

A hand fell on her shoulder, jolting her from her slumber. Trailing the hand, she found its owner to be Eva, looking down at her with concern. “Hey, Em, are you okay?”

Not wanting to instigate any suspicion in her friend, Emma tried for a smile. “Of course.”

Eva stared down at her for the briefest second. “You know I'm not stupid right? Yesterday you were so detached in the modeling room and barely managed to teach the new models anything useful. You looked so distracted. Lu mentioned that you had a visit from a man which changed your mood drastically. Come on, girlfriend. Tell me what's going on.”

Why couldn't she bring herself to open up to her best friend? “I told you I'm okay.”

“You would've failed that question in an examination. I asked you what was going on, not if you were okay. Now tell...”

Eva trailed off when they both heard an argument, muffled as it passed through to Emma's office. Emma was just about to thank God for the distraction when her breath hitched as Zain barged in with a panicking Lu behind.

All form of grogginess evaporated from her system.

“Emma, I swear I tried to stop him but...”

“It's okay Lu.” She didn't know how she managed to find her voice.

“We need to talk, Emma.” Zain said with a determined expression.

Eva like her usual self immediately jumped to the defensive. “Who the hell are you to think you can just barge in and demand to talk to the owner?”

Zain glared at her but didn't say anything even while his body crackled with impatience.

“Fine. Eva can you leave us alone please? ”

“But Emma...”

“He won't hurt me, Eva, I promise.” It was unnerving how she could vouch for him even when the dark look in his eyes spoke volumes of menace.

Without a word more, Eva threw Zain a disdainful glare and hurried out, shutting the door behind her. Zain immediately turned to Emma and her heart missed a beat as she caught his eyes, but she steeled herself, having a gnawing intuition that she would be needing it for this inevitable confrontation.

“Zain. I'm very busy right now and...”

“Why are you afraid of talking to me? Why are you trying to avoid me.” He cut her off with the question even she didn't have an answer to.

“I don't know what you mean by that. Just why would I be avoiding you or be afraid of talking to you?” She asked, trying to sound nonchalant against her pounding heart.

An incendiary fire blazed in his eyes as he stormed to her side of the table and swiveled her chair to face him, placing his hands on each of the armrest. “If you aren't trying to avoid me, why did you tell your secretary to tell me you weren't around?”

With a sharp intake of air, she met his gaze unflinchingly, this male who wanted to drown her in a sea of emotions. “I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm obliged to tell you how I go about with my schedules and pull through my appointments.”