3rd May, 2050
Orlando, Florida
Wellington College premises
Ryan had taken the rest of February to get settled in his new penthouse home somewhere in downtown Orlando, secluded from other people and the rest of the city just the way he liked it to be. He had bought two cars already to make moving around town easy for him. He had a Tesla 2045 capable of mid-air flights but not road use parked in his garage and had driven the second car to school, a grey Mercedes Duo 2030 model capable of moving on the road and then taking off from the ground when required to. His robot butler Mr. Henry had also been flown in from France some days ago which meant he could focus on school now and leave everything to the all-knowing robot equipped with a multi-million Euros A.I chip he had named Mr. Henry who handled all his affairs including the running of the multi-billion dollar conglomerate he inherited from his parents some years after their death. He had been told to keep a low profile but one thing he would never do was use an air taxi or air bus when he had enough money to buy any car in the world he wanted. He arrived in one of the suspended garages that morning in his car and was ready for his first day of his last semester of college. He was an agent in secret but to the world he was still just a 24 year old man.
He was through the front door and walking down the hallway to his first lecture in his new college and turned the corner quickly not knowing someone else was turning the corner as well and heading in the opposite direction. The lady with her hair tied into a bun slammed into him and almost fell to the ground before his hands reflexively came up and held her by the shoulders to steady her. He looked into her eyes and as she looked into his, they stood there locked in each other's gaze and forgetting about everything else and everyone else walking down the hallway in those few seconds. She noticed his mysterious dark eyes that clearly held secrets and he noticed her brown eyes that promised she was fun, but Ryan felt something else, something he could not understand. He felt the need to get to know her come up in his thoughts which was weird for him because he rarely ever cared about others, what they were up to or even something as simple as knowing someone else's name. The procedure had totally altered his personality socially.
As he looked into her eyes he felt a sudden familiarity quickly followed by recognition. He knew who this girl was because he could never forget those beautiful big brown eyes even if he was to die, of all the people he could bump into on his first day of school in this new city, he had ran into Sofia Quill. As he stood there with his hands holding her arms and their eyes still locked he was sure that she recognized him in that moment as well, she knew who he was as well.
"Emma we need to get going, the lecture is about to start." a lady from behind them who was clearly her friend said in a low but serious voice, instantly breaking their connection and bringing Ryan back to his senses. He stepped aside looking away from her face and taking his hands off her before walking past her like nothing just happened. Normally he would have stopped to help her pick the books that had fallen from her hands to the ground but he had no such intentions after what he had just felt after looking into her eyes for just a few seconds. He was never a coward and never ran but getting away from her was the smart thing to do, especially if there was any way she was indeed Sofia. He didn't know what to say to Sofia if he met her and hoped in his head that she was not the one. He turned to look at her as he walked away and found she was staring at him wide-eyed with anger on her face; what he did next was more like himself, he completely ignored her and looked away as he also walked away and turned the next corner disappearing out of her sight as calmly as he could, he didn't want his first meeting with the strange girl who had reminded him so much of Sofia to make him hasty, he was never in a haste. As he walked away though he found her eyes finding their way back into his thoughts and he wondered just why any student wound still need to carry around their own books in 2050 with all the mini self help robots around, or why anyone would even need to buy actual books when all the information could be found using the phones that could now be synced to the users mind for easy access to information. He shook his head and focused his attention on finding his lecture room.
He pushed the thought out his mind and tried finding his lecture room quickly. He had heard the other lady call the one he bumped into 'Emma'. That meant there was no way she was Sofia. Being back in this city was messing with his head and imaginations already. He smiled to himself as he kept trying to find his lecture room.
Emma stood there furious at the rude young man who just bumped into her and walked away like nothing happened. She had almost chased after him but decided against it after seeing she was already a minute late to her lecture and had spoilt her perfect early attendance record because of that stranger. "Can you imagine the audacity of that rude jerk? He is lucky I have lectures right now." Emma said to her friend who had already picked up her books from the floor and handed them back to her. "Did you see the look on his face before he turned the corner? He had this look on his face like he didn't care about anything at all. I should have slapped it off his face." She said getting angry again as she remembered what just happened.
"He is really good looking though." Cara said. "As your best friend I have to tell you to stop getting angry with fine men and start making friends with them instead. Someone as beautiful as you should not be this single for this long." She said shaking her head and leading the way to the lecture room. "He must be a transfer student. With how good looking he is I would have known who he was if he was here last year." She said turning to smile at Emma again who just shook her head without saying anything. She walked to her lecture quickly a part of her wishing she would see the stranger later and give him a piece of her mind and another part of her just wanting to see him again which was strange. There was something about his face earlier especially his eyes that just seemed so familiar to her even though she couldn't really know where she had seen him before, she felt she had seen him before and even knew him which was weird because if that was true she would have remembered everything about it. Like her best friend just said, he was incredibly good looking and not someone she would forget meeting and definitely not forget knowing or being friends or acquaintances with. It was weird. She felt a hand on her shoulder shaking her out of her thoughts. "We are here now, snap out of your thoughts and let's go in." Cara said laughing softly. "Stop thinking about him Emma." Cara said teasingly.
"He is a rude stranger and someone I just met, why would I be thinking about him?" Emma said with a light shrug of her slender shoulders.
"How did you know I was talking about your good looking mystery man from the hallway if you weren't thinking about him? I could have been speaking about anyone." Cara asked smiling as she walked past her friend and into the lecture room before the reply could come. Emma stood there for a few seconds to clear her head and glare at her friend from the door for toying with her thoughts before walking into the lecture room, Wellington College was a large place with over 2,000 people from all across the globe. The odds of her running into the weirdly familiar stranger from earlier were low and almost impossible so she blocked the memory of it happening and stepped into the lecture room quickly and taking the front seat just in front of the lecturer like she always did.
10 minutes had passed and the lecture with the Professor had proceeded smoothly till there was a light rap on the door that got the attention of everyone in the lecture room and had their eyes turning to the door except Emma's who were fixed on the book in front of her as she took down important notes. Her attention remained on the pages of her book till she heard the murmuring and whispers coming from the rest of her course mates and heard one of them say it clearly. "He looks so mysterious and yet dashing in black and grey. Who is he?" That statement was enough to have her attention turn to the door quickly where she locked eyes with the rude stranger from earlier. She found herself glaring at him now and wishing she could hit him when he responded by giving her a brilliant smile followed by a shrug before turning to address the Professor who was also looking at him now. If there was one thing Ryan knew how to do, it was to make an entrance and leave a lasting impression.
"Are you a part of my class?" the Professor asked clearly not happy about something.
"Yes, I am a part of your class." Ryan replied slowly and audibly all the while maintaining steady eye contact with the much older man.
"Why will you be over 10 minutes late to my lecture?" the Professor asked being as direct as he always was.
"Sir I am sorry about that, I still haven't gotten too familiar with the place yet and went to the wrong lecture hall. I also bumped into someone who was moving too fast in the hallway earlier and it slowed me down a bit." he said adding the last part intentionally and knowing the lady from earlier had heard him loud and clear.
"You must be the exchange student from France. You are Ryan?" the Professor asked sounding very excited and less angry now which was very surprising to the rest of the class who never saw the older man excited about anything.
"Yes sir I am and I just started here at Wellington College this month, this morning to be precise." Ryan said with an obvious look and sound of nonchalance.
"Come in and have your seat, you are welcome to my class." The Professor said excitedly as Ryan walked into the class. He stood in front of the class scanning the large lecture room for a few seconds before finding a seat in the upper sections of the lecture room. He was up the stairs and seated in his seat quickly having that air of confidence and aura of mysteriousness about him that everyone in the room could see with every step he took. The whole time he maintained a bland expression on his face except when passing by Emma who he had bumped into earlier, he turned to her and looked at her in the eyes again before walking past and going to his seat. Cara who knew exactly what was happening between the two of them could only try her best not to fall into a fit of laughter as she noticed the expressions on her best friend's face from where she sat.
"Ryan, you are French aren't you?" the Professor asked sounding confused about something. David simply nodded to him wishing he wouldn't prod any further. "You are French but your last name does not seem French." The older man stated clearly raising everyone's curiosity.
"My Dad was French-American and my Mom was Swedish. I use my Mom's last name which is why I go by Ryan Arslan." Ryan said speaking calmly and eloquently so everyone could hear what he said.
"That is a wonderful combination of nationalities; it must be why you look like a celebrity who just stepped out a magazine cover." The Professor said being his usually direct but surprisingly nice self. The whole class was laughing now except Emma but including Ryan who seemed not at all embarrassed by the compliment. He didn't find things funny but knew how to act social in order to seem normal to everyone else. "Your grades show you have genius level intellect Ryan which was why I personally asked that you take my course after going through your file in February. You should be able to catch up quickly but if you have any issues, meet my favorite student so she can put you through. Miss Emma Tenem here has wonderful grades as well and would be of good help to you if you need any." The Professor said stepping forward and putting a hand on the shoulder of the lady with her hair tied in a beautiful bun that he had bumped into in the hallway earlier. She turned to look at him but this time seemed more shocked than angry, he was watching her earlier when he said his last name and noticed something strange, he had seen the color drain from her face when he spoke about his parents and then when he mentioned his name. He had decided to use 'RYAN ARSLAN' while in the states instead of 'RYAN TREY-HENF' as well as change his hairstyle and put on glasses to make sure no one found out his actual identity and blew his new and quiet life wide open.
Looking at her face now and seeing the shock he wondered just what was making her so surprised. He wondered if she had any ideas who he really was. He could still see that familiarity in her eyes that he could not understand. Her name was 'Emma' and not 'Sofia' which meant she was not the lady he had left in the states all those years ago when he flew to Europe to begin his training but as he looked into her eyes even there with the lecturer standing next to her and with a weak smile now on her face, he was not sure if she was a stranger anymore or someone else. He smiled back at her and now wondered if avoiding her was the better option or if talking to her was. He would change colleges if he had to, he had no intention of blowing his cover so early but as he looked at her face now he felt weirdly that he could trust her for some reason.
He looked away from her now and focused on the pages of his book in front of him while the lecture progressed smoothly. Even if she was someone he knew before, he had to avoid her now. He was no longer any ordinary man. He didn't look it, but he was currently the most dangerous assassin in Europe and some parts of Asia. He was being monitored by the CIA and Interpol while being hunted by the mafia and many criminal organizations. He worked as an assassin for The Agency now and knew they would be monitoring his every move which made it smart to avoid anybody who had the sort of effect this lady had on him when they bumped into each other earlier and was currently having on him whenever their eyes met.
He had to avoid her for her own safety and so he could continue being the absolutely focused agent he was modified to be, but as he took notes during the lecture and found himself constantly staring at Miss Emma Tenem whose eyes reminded him so much of his Sofia's even though for some reason he could not remember Sofia's face, he knew it was not going to be easy to dodge this lady if she actually had any idea who he was. He was looking at her and she turned around quickly, for the fifth time in less than an hour since they met, their gazes met and held for some passage of time. He felt his heart begin to race and found himself reflexively looking away immediately in embarrassment of being caught staring. It was only after it happened that he realized what just happened, for the first time in almost 5 years, he had felt ashamed about something. He had felt an emotion and he had felt it so strongly that it made his heart race which was supposed to be impossible for him, he had lost all such emotions years ago but now he was not sure what was happening to him. He knew now that even if the lady he just met was a complete stranger and someone he didn't know, he wanted to know more about her going forward.