The Fine Print

After Zahra’s disastrous morning at work due to frazzled nerves, Rowan visits her cubicle to find out why she has not answered her texts. He discovers that she accidentally dropped her phone in the toilet. He repeats his text invitation to go on a date with him, and they meet the next night. In the car ride, Zahra tries to find out what his middle initial, G, stands for, and he tells her that his mother’s love for all things related to King Arthur led to his full name: Rowan Galahad Kane. As he talks about his mother and her relationship with his father, Zahra realizes that even if Rowan is not looking for love, he is looking for healing, and she feels that she can help with that.

Zahra and Rowan go to dinner at a high-end restaurant, and Zahra is uncomfortable with the prices despite Rowan’s assurance that he will pay. She also spots Lance with his fiancée, so Rowan distracts her. However, Lance approaches their table later to greet Zahra. Rowan makes sure that Lance knows Zahra is with him and that she has told him about the Nebula Land project. Rowan also promotes Lance and informs him that the promotion will require him to move to the Shanghai Dreamland Park. He makes it clear that that he sees Lance for who he really is. Rowan tells Zahra that he does not care if Lance moves to Shanghai or turns in his resignation; he simply wants the man gone from the Florida Dreamland property. Zahra’s strong reaction to Rowan’s show of support make him worry that she might see them developing a more serious relationship.

Zahra notes to herself that despite Rowan’s assertions that he only wants something casual, his actions reveal that he cares for her very much. She initiates sex in the car ride, using their encounter to tell him that she sees how much he cares for her. His whispered comment in the aftermath, that if he had a heart to give, he would give it to her, breaks her heart as she feels intense compassion for him.

Rowan accepts Ani’s invitation to have dinner with the Gulian family. He impresses Zahra’s parents, but when conversation moves toward finances and they admit that they cannot afford vacations, Rowan becomes more reserved than usual. After dinner, he admits to Zahra that he sees himself as an “asshole” now, and claims that he does not know how to run a business and be human. Zahra promises to help him.

With Ani’s help, Rowan surprises Zahra with a trip to New York City, using his private jet to travel. After he mentions taking her to Chicago sometime and enjoying seeing his extravagant life through her perspective, she realizes that Claire was right; they will not be able to avoid developing deeper feelings in this so-called casual relationship. She feels sure that Rowan wants more than sex. When they enter his New York City penthouse and talk about Dreamland, he admits that he may have found the one person who could make Dreamland tolerable for him again.

When Zahra discovers that Ani packed all of Zahra’s books by her favorite author, Rowan reveals that they have tickets to the author’s book signing. The author, Juliana De La Rosa, reveals that she knows Rowan because his company produced the television adaptation of her book. Additionally, Rowan made the entire book signing happen just for Zahra. Rowan insists that Zahra is not his girlfriend, but Juliana smiles knowingly and tells them to let her know who stops believing the lie first. Zahra wonders where their relationship will go from there. With snow falling again, she twirls on the sidewalk and ends up making them both fall over, and they laugh.

Over dinner at the penthouse, Rowan asks Zahra to tell him about her pins. She shares that Claire convinced her to start therapy after Lance’s betrayal. Claire started a tradition of buying a new, ridiculous pin for every week that Zahra went to therapy. Zahra admits that she felt so low before counseling that she even considered suicide. Rowan tells her how strong she is and wishes that he were strong enough to talk through the issues that weigh him down. He tells her that his father became a different person after his mother’s death, and that Seth always treated him like a disappointment.

Rowan admits that he feels more than he ever wanted to for Zahra and that even though he feels as if he cannot promise her much, he wants to. They make love, and Zahra recognizes that she might be falling in love. She decides that she does not want to be the first to admit those feelings.

Zahra and Rowan spend a day seeing all of the tourist attractions in New York and building a snowman in Central Park. On their return to the penthouse, Rowan finally accepts a call from Declan, who criticizes him for indulging in romantic distractions. He insists that Rowan return to Chicago after the vote related to his grandfather’s project so that Declan himself can focus on his own task from their grandfather. Feeling anguished at the idea of hurting Zahra and leaving her, Rowan nonetheless recalls how much Declan has done for him and agrees to support his brother by returning.