Chapter 20 - Allow me to impress you

~Tesla University, women's dorm~

After Monday classes, Sarah got a notification that software for facial recognition based on Mimi's and Megan's photos completed scanning the web. She looked at the logs and was surprised to see that there are a lot of matches. Sarah encrypted the results and stored them on her cloud storage. She decided not to spend too much time on it at this time, she needs to focus on finishing the project work first.

...

Next morning, Sarah woke up, and got ready for the day. She was looking at herself in the mirror before heading out. She had on black skinny jeans, gray cashmere sweater, and running shoes on. Again, she caught herself thinking if Aiden will like it. 'Do I like him?' She was ready to acknowledge that she likes his company, that she enjoys his company. But does she like him? She is still not ready to accept that as a fact. 'I'm not sure what I'm feeling. The only way to find out is to spend more time with him.'

In the classroom, Sarah took a seat at her usual spot, front and center. Less than a minute later, a young man sat next to.

"Hi, I'm Adam", He introduced himself while flashing a dazzling smile.

"Sarah", she responded with a cold tone without looking at him, and she kept busy with her phone.

"What do you think about this course?", he appeared oblivious that she is not interested in conversation.

"It's OK", Sarah didn't want to talk much with him.

"You don't seem very chatty", he persisted.

"Correct", she responded. Anyone else would give up right after cold introduction. 'Why are there so persistent people?'

He let out a low chuckle, "You are unapproachable."

"Yet here you are!", she was getting frustrated.

She could see from the corner of her eye, that his smile disappeared, and that Adam is serious. Sarah did her best to avoid him, but after few minutes she gave in. She faced him, and asked in a frustrated tone, "What do you want?".

His smile was back now, "To get to know you".

"But you do know me, Adam. You know my name, I think this course is OK, I'm not a chatty person, and I am not approachable. There is nothing much left to know about me.", she continued in cold tone.

Objectively, he was charming, but she was not interested.

"You are cold now, but I'm confident that will change", he said with a smirk, and confidence of a man who had many successful romantic conquests.

Sarah was speechless. 'Oh, this is unbelievable!' She met her share of blunt men and pushy ones, but this one is right there on the top of the list. 'Why does he not just go away?' She frowned and turned forward.

Professor entered at that time, and lecture started. As usual, Sarah was facing forward, but she could see that during most of the lesson Adam would look at her, few times he even slightly leaned towards her. She ignored him.

After lecture was done, Sarah was leaving the classroom and heard Adam call after her, "Why are you in a rush? How about we have a lunch together?"

Aiden was standing further down the hallway. Dashing as only he could be in black jeans, gray sweater, and dark brown jacket.

Seeing that the lesson is over, he kept his phone away and looked up. His eyes met Sarah's, and both smiled, reflecting of each other's expressions.

Seeing that she stopped and smiled, Adam's confidence soared. Sarah heard Adam's voice, "So, you do want to have a lunch with me?". Her face got serious as she turned to look at him. He was right behind her. She shook her head in disbelief and headed towards Aiden. Adam followed her for few steps and then he noticed Aiden and stopped in his track. Adam's smile was gone. Aiden looked at Adam with a grim expression, giving him a warning look.

Sarah felt warm of the thought that Aiden wants to protect her. Her cheeks slightly blushed. Without thinking, she took his hand in hers, and pulled him toward exit. "Let's go."

Aiden glanced at their hands, and then followed her. He was pleasantly surprised that she held his hand.

By the time they exited the building, Sarah was aware of her hand and she let go of him.

"Is everything OK?" Aiden was not happy that she let go of his hand, again.

"Just a fly, don't worry about it". She was not sure if he was asking about Adam or because she let go of her hand but decided to go with first option. "Should I call a cab, or are you going to impress me again?"

Hearing her question improved his mood. Aiden laughed, "Allow me to impress you again".

She smiled, happy to see that he is laughing. His car was parked at the campus parking. It took them few minutes of walking to reach warm interior of Aiden's Mercedes, and head toward the mall.

...

In front of the mall as they were driving by, Sarah noticed food stalls selling Asian food, "How about Asian food for lunch?"

Aiden agreed while parking in the underground parking of the mall.

She led him outside and pointed out at the food stalls.

"I was hoping for something indoors", Aiden frowned, obviously not pleased with her choice.

"Nothing is better than street food!" Sarah was cheerful, "Come on!" She tugged his sleeve and headed towards the stalls. "What will you have?"

"Hmm, you pick", Aiden responded apprehensively.

"OK", she was excited. Sarah picked few grilled meat skewers, dumplings and steam buns. They took a seat at a small table in front of the mall. It was a cold December day, but the feel of street food made Sarah warm.

Aiden looked at the food suspiciously examining it.

"Don't tell me this is your first-time eating street food", Sarah was in disbelief.

He nodded. They had a cook in their home, and since young age he was used to eating well balanced meals. Even during studies and travels, Aiden never cared for street or fast food.

"Oh, you are deprived", she laughed. "Here, try some, it's good", she handed him a meat skewer.

He took the skewer in his hand and observed it.

"You will not know until you try", Sarah said, and with her hand gently guided meat skewer from his hand toward his lips.

He took a bite. After few seconds he said, "hmm, not bad".

"Try these also", Sarah pushed dumplings and steamed buns closer towards him. "I will be right back!" Sarah went back to the food stalls and in a minute came back carrying two steaming cups of herbal tea. "We are just missing this", she put cups of tea on the table.

"You seem familiar with street food."

"I guess so. I travel with my mom often, and I get a chance to try all kinds of food. I find that street food has a charm of its own", she said with a faint smile on her face and misty eyes, like she is remembering something pleasant.

After they finished, Sarah asked, "Was it good?"

"Yes", he nodded.

"I'm glad you liked it.", she laughed. "Let's go inside."

...

The mall covers a large area, 5 stories high, filled with shops and restaurants. There is also a movie theater, play areas and arcades. Sarah checked store directory to see where to go next. "Do you want to get something?", she asked him.

He shrugged, "Nothing specific. I will accompany you, and I might find something I like".

"You finished Christmas shopping?", she asked.

"I don't do Christmas shopping."

Sarah was surprised, "Oh, OK. I will not judge you for the offense of missing on getting mostly-useless things to others."

"If it's useless, why are you doing it?", he asked seriously.

She thought for a minute before answering, "For the experience of figuring out what other person would like, and anticipation if they will like it. And at the end it does not matter if I get it right, what matters is the message sent by the gift itself: I'm thinking about you and I hope that makes you happy."

He thought about what she said, and then nodded.

"Let's go here first", she pointed at a nearby clothing store.

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