First sight

""Hey, how you doin' Leah Tully?"

I turned to the voice of Donald 'Don' Finnigan, my fellow student at Freemont College, in our 'metropolis' city of Nesco. Tall and fairly-muscled with Prada sunglasses and a sleeveless black jacket, he looked more like he was about to enter a concert than the presentation hall for defending our final year project.

"Why don't you and I revel in a solitary graduation-fiesta soon as we are done with this presentation? I could get you higher than that grade sheet of yours", he winked .

I sighed inside my mind.

Freemont was the elite university in Nesco, and had its fair share of rich playboys trying to dazzle the renegade scholarship girls. Not this girl though.

"I am busy after the presentation, Donald. Thanks for the invite", I said.

"Oh come on Tully, don't be like that. Show a man some love", Donald reached out to grab my hand.

"She said no. Mess with someone else Finnigan", came a sharp voice from behind me, as a bony hand grabbed Donald's wrist with the Rolex watch.

I turned around and saw my best friend- Jay Riley stare stone-facedly at Donald. Jay was his usual self - disheveled blonde hair atop a pretty, clean-shaven face , wearing a white Arrow shirt and khaki pants to match his golden eyes- which were staring grimly from above his high cheekbones at the moment.

"Go screw yourself Riley", muttered Donald, as he wrenched his hand away from Jay's grip, gave me a scathing look and walked away to .

"Thanks for being my knight in shining armor", I said, giving Jay a quick smile and a hand squeeze.

"Well, I guess I had to do something", Jay said, relaxing his face and breaking into his boyish grin that showed-off his round dimples, "Though I swear I was afraid Finnigan was gonna whoop my ass."

"Nonsense", I smirked, "You would have knocked him flat on his back."

I had met Jay on the first day of the first year at my C-language lecture at Freemont, where he had asked me if he could sit besides me- one of the few girls in the class- and I had awkwardly obliged. He had been so young and naïve then- a quiet blonde boy with messy hair and puppy eyes, barely making any eye-contact with others and hardly interacting with the professors. However, slowly but surely, we had bonded- to the point where we smiled whenever we saw each other and shared most of everything. That timid Jay Riley had transformed into a dashing, cheerful and empathetic man whom any girl could have a crush on- and indeed many did.

"The chief guest for our presentations isn't here yet", I said, quickly checking my Etsy bunny watch showing five minutes past nine, "I'll have a quick go at the loo".

"Quick then sweety", Jay said, "Don't want you to be late when its time for your presentation."

"Don't worry", I said, walking towards the end of the corridor, "Everyone is gonna remember me today."

* * *

I rushed against the crowd, headed for the bathroom that was at the opposite end of the vinyl-floored level. Looking out of the one-way glass windows bordering my floor, I could see the tall banyans and neatly trimmed lawns of Freemont, just before the incessant traffic and sprawling malls of Nesco hit reality - a world I was about to enter after five industrious, yet memorable years at the college.

I had been working on my project for over a year and a half now, which basically was to train a system to detect Ransomware in computer systems. The annual project presentations at Freemont was attended by industry leaders and top academicians in the country, where students had the potential to be recruited on spot for their ideas. And right now, all of them, along with my entire batch, were waiting for the chief guest who was apparently five minutes late. Guess you screwed up a bit even if you were a magnate.

I rushed into the air-conditioned washroom with daylight bulbs highlighting the cool black vinyl flooring and ceiling, with wet tulips in a vase near the stone motion-sensor sinks and glossy mirrors opposite the wood-paneled bathroom stalls designed to showcase your entire body amidst this luxurious setting. Typical Freemont.

I went into an empty stall, did what I had to, and came out to wash my hands in the foamy water. Just as I was drying my hands in the dryer, I looked at the mirror in front of me.

I nearly lost my pulse.

Staring at me from behind was the most handsome man I had ever seen. Easily six foot high with straight but disheveled brownish-black hair, sparkly grey eyes and a lightly trimmed beard to accentuate his jawline, his jet black Brioni suite did little to hide the manly frame within. He was dressed from head to toe in black- black suit, black solid tie with a golden pin and black Calvin Klein jeans with those complementing Oxford shoes. And right now, his grey eyes were boring into me- unblinking and unwavering.

I whipped around apprehensively at this intrusion of my privacy. Before I could open my mouth, he spoke with a honey, bourbon voice- "This is the men's washroom."

I turned my head, noted the men's stalls for the first time and recoiled- partially because of my dumb folly and partially because of the perfection in front of me.

Without breaking eye contact, the stranger walked past me with an uptight gait, towards the sink. I froze at this proximity as his musky odor assaulted my senses. Here was this impeccable god probably residing in some welkin-high steel power tower, and here was me- dressed in a plaid button-up blouse and a black Zara skirt with slacks.

He washed his hands in the sink, momentarily looking away from me. It was when he looked back up that I felt the full power of his steely grey eyes- there was doubt, there was bewilderment, there was laughter and there was something else- desire.

I lowered my eyes, acknowledging the fact that I was alone in a washroom with a man for the first time.

I turned around to leave but his voice stopped me in my tracks- "The name is Derek".

I slowly turned towards him with round eyes and mumbled feebly- "Leah."

"I want you to spend time with me Leah", Derek said slowly.

My face became flushed in an instant.

"I have a project presentation to give right now", I said.

His brow clouded for a moment. "Would that be the annual Freemont project presentation?"

"Yes", I said.

His eyes flashed triumphantly then, "Excellent. That's where I am headed right now. Come, let's go."

He stepped out of the washroom, giving me a smirk showing off perfect pearly teeth against his black sartorial inclinations. I paused for the moment, then turned and followed his scent out of our confinement.

He started walking briskly down the now empty corridor and I paced after him to keep pace. It looked like all the guests had arrived and the presentations had started. I hoped I wasn't too late, though my punctuality wasn't where my thoughts were drifting to at the moment. He strutted determinedly without talking as if he had remembered to do something he shouldn't have ignored.

Even while walking alongside him, the pull from his persona induced a crackling tension in the air. I tried to break the tension - "May I ask what is your role in the session today?"

He looked at me from the corner of his eye and again gave that smirk, revealing a dimple on the left cheek for the first time- "I'm here to make contacts."

As we neared the hall, I naturally took a left turn towards the rear entrance of the hall hoping to sneak up to the crowd from behind soundlessly.

"Not that way", came his voice from behind me. I turned around and lost my breath again to find him inches away from me as he reached down and took my hand. His grip was firm but not clenching. I couldn't help but gape at his corporeal features as he proceeded to walk straight, tagging me behind him like a mannequin doll.

Before I knew it, we were at the main entrance to the hall. "Wait", I started to protest.

He stopped, looked at me and smiled, "Just trust me on this one please, okay?"

His dazzle and the sincerity in his honey-coated voice. How could anyone refuse?

I gulped a quiet okay. He looked ahead, checked himself for a moment and thrust himself into the hall with me still holding his hand.

The Freemont hall was a fully-airconditioned auditorium with more than thousands seats elevated one after the other in red-whipped layers. All the seats faced the main stage which was also the subject of bright lights for the cameras at the moment. The event was to be live-streamed.

The hall was packed with all the invitees seated on the stage and most of the off-stage seats were taken up by the students who were to be presenting, as well as spectator students who had apparently turned up to witness the event.

The door through which we entered was at the dead center of the stage and the student seats. Inevitably, every head in the hall turned towards us at our grand intrusion and I felt the torrent of adrenaline surging through my being as thousands of eyes sized me up.

Then, a voice came from the podium atop the stage- "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the Chief Guest of today's event. The chairman and chief executive officer of Drexxel Group headquartered at our Nesco- Mr. Derek Drexxel."

I felt turned to stone as the room broke into an applause and as I slowly digested the fact that the man I was with was Derek Drexxel. But even amongst the raucous clapping in the room, I could still make out that honey-coated voice as he leaned towards me and whispered in my ear, "I look forward to your presentation."