Chapter 11 - He looks like trouble

Sarah slept in and woke up exhausted. Most of the night she was tossing and turning thinking about her unusual experience previous evening which involved Omega.

Luckily, she didn't have morning class, so she spent the morning catching up on sleep and lazing in the bed.

~Tesla University, cafeteria ~

That morning, Aiden woke up with a strong desire to see Sarah.

During breakfast time, he entered the cafeteria and expectantly looked at people seated at each table. His gaze ignored several ladies who threw amorous looks toward him. He was disappointed by Sarah's absence. Suddenly he was not hungry. He left the cafeteria and went back to his room.

At lunch time, Aiden came back to cafeteria and in the same way as in the morning, he observed people seated at each table. His eyes lit up when he noticed Sarah sitting at a remote table by herself. He swiftly went and grabbed a random tray from one lady who just got it filled with food. The lady didn't seem to mind, as she ended up bragging to her friends how she bought lunch for him.

Aiden's gaze didn't leave Sarah as he approached her.

When he was few steps away, she lifted her head and their eyes met. 'She looks tired. Is it because of me?' He remembered their chats from last night, one as Aiden and one as Omega. He smiled. "Can I join you?"

She blinked few times before shifting her things making space for him across the table.

He observed her for a second and decided to sit next to her. 'It's closer.'

As he sat next to her, Sarah was surrounded by his woody-floral scent. She subconsciously took a deep breath.

Aiden observed her face for some time. It's obvious that she is moved by him. Or is it? Every time he thinks that he captured her heart, she does something unexpected, something rational. Love-struck girl is not able to act so rationally. 'Why would I want her to fall for me?'

Aiden is team lead in White corp., company where his brother is a CEO. The work Aiden does is… sensitive. It involves research and hacking, sometimes what he does is not legal. The amount of work is recently increasing, and his brother tasked him with finding more people to join the team. Requirements are skills, and trustworthiness. Nothing of what they do should be leaked. Aiden was keeping an eye on students in several Universities across the US, when he heard that a rare prodigy joined Tesla University, he decided to come back from his hiatus.

Aiden's task now is to assess Sarah's skills, and if she is good, to see if she can be trusted before offering her a position in the team. For that, she does not need to fall for him. Actually, if that happens, it can cause additional complications. He told himself more than once to stay focused on his task at hand, but somehow, she invaded his thoughts. Aiden was excited thinking of Sarah being interested in him, and he could not help himself but to approach her with hope that his charms will work on her.

"Rough night?", His voice was deep and mesmerizing.

Sarah acknowledged to herself that he is very handsome. She could describe his face with one word: perfect. His eyes are dark and bewitching, and it seems that he mastered the skill of stealing hearts of ladies with that devilish smile. Aiden's long hair loosely tied back exquisitely frames his face, making him look like he came from a beautiful old painting of some European royal. 'Everything about him looks like trouble', Sarah thought.

Sarah remembered their chat from previous night and felt panic rising within her. Last night, at the mention of 'wild imagination' she called him outrageous, and he ended up throwing all the blame on her implying that she is the one with wild thoughts about him. 'Does he really think of me as a girl with wild thoughts, or was he only teasing me? Why am I so concerned with what he thinks about me?'

"You look very tired", he clarified.

'Oh, I'm probably just overthinking things.' Her expression softened and she faintly smiled. "You could say so." She remembered the project, "Do you still want me to work on the project?"

"You didn't check your phone", he said while putting a bite of food in his mouth. He frowned and looked at the food. 'Mac and cheese? Gross!' But he can't return the food, not in front of Sarah. Is he going to admit that he grabbed a tray without thinking just because he wanted to sit next to her as soon as possible?

"Something wrong with the food?" Sarah asked while checking her phone.

"You could say that." He smiled helplessly. He hoped that she didn't notice.

Sarah looked at the message history and saw his answer 'Yes.' She was sleep deprived and her brain didn't work well, so she looked at him. "Yes, what?"

Aiden leaned to look at her phone and pointed at previous message which was from her. "Yes, we are still on for the project", he clarified with a smile. As he leaned towards her, his perfume again filled her nostrils, making her feel lightheaded. 'I'm lucky to be seated', she thought.

Sarah needed few seconds to compose herself before asking, "When can we discuss UI design?".

"How about now?"

Sarah frowned, "I can't. My brain is not working. I had a rough night, remember?"

He chuckled, "Let me know when your brain starts working".

Sarah looked at Aiden with a complicated expression. He was friendly, maybe too friendly for her standards. She felt that he is teasing her. But maybe he is just like that, friendly with everyone, and she is just too stiff. She smiled while shaking her head in surrender, revealing two rows of perfect white teeth.

Looking at her relaxed expression and a perfect smile, Aiden held his breath. Whenever she looked at him with her deep green eyes, his heart skipped a beat. He was aware that he is approaching the line of no return, he is falling for her. But there is nothing he can do to stay away from her.

They chatted about professors, lectures, and other school related things. Two of them looked relaxed. While talking about lessons and schedules, they concluded that after lunch, they have the same lesson. Sarah and Aiden headed together towards the classroom.

They entered the classroom and Sarah remembered that she always saw him surrounded by students that she thought of are his fans. She looked around like she is searching for something. Aiden noticed, "Are you looking for something?".

"Yes, if I remember correctly, you usually travel with a full entourage. I just noticed that they are missing. Did you give them a day off?", she said jokingly.

Aiden frowned, 'Is she teasing me?' After a second, he smiled, "Funny, very funny…"

Sarah smiled back and headed to her usual sitting spot, front and center.

Aiden followed her and took a seat next to her.

A moment later there were audible gasps behind them. Sarah slowly turned around and was met with gazes of multiple students staring at them with their eyes wide open. Some even had their mouth open. Right away she realized that those gasps and exaggerated reactions are because Aiden was sitting next to her. Sarah faced forward slow-motion and looked with a complicated expression at Aiden who was rummaging through his bag. After few seconds he lifted his head, looked at her and raised his eyebrows expecting her to speak.

Sarah leaned towards him, and said in a quiet voice, "Why did you sit here?"

He mimicked her action, leaned toward her and spoke quietly, "We entered together, it's normal that we sit together."

Sarah thought for a moment before agreeing with what he said. But she was still unsettled, "You are bringing me trouble", Sarah kept her voice quiet.

"How come?", he asked innocently. But he knew what she means. Aiden glanced behind them. And then faced Sarah speaking in a serious voice, "Do you really care what they think? Are you embarrassed to sit next to me? If you are, I will move."

Sarah was a shocked when she heard his words. Why would she care what others think? "No. You should not move." She started going through her bag to find stuff she will need during lecture.

Aiden turned forward with a satisfied smile on his face.

At that time, professor entered the classroom and lecture started.

During lecture both Sarah and Aiden paid attention forward while taking notes. Aiden glanced few times at Sarah's notes and noticed her neat handwriting. His gaze fell on her hand and followed her slender fingers which moved the pencil over the paper. He wished to reach out and hold her hand.

Sarah felt not so empty in her chest. It was an unknown feeling to her, but it made her feel less lonely. 'Is it because of him?', Sarah wondered.