Wild Ride

Chapter 7: A Name Worth Remembering

Carl's pov

The sound of my phone ringing dragged me out of sleep. I groaned and blindly reached for it, still half asleep. When I saw who was calling, I sat up immediately. Mr. Thompson, my supervisor. I cleared my throat before answering.

"Good morning, sir."

"Morning, Carl. I need you in my office in about an hour," he said. His voice was as serious as ever. "I've gone through your master's project and I have some feedback I'd like to discuss with you."

My stomach tightened. "Okay, sir. I'll be there."

"Good. See you soon."

The call ended. I stared at my phone for a few seconds before dropping it onto the bed. Great. Just what I needed this early in the morning. I glanced at the time. 8:00 am. "Damn."

I had exactly one hour to get ready and make my way to campus. For the past few months, my master's project had practically consumed my life. Countless hours staring at my laptop screen, rewriting paragraphs, checking preferences, analyzing information and questioning whether what I'd written was actually good enough. And now my supervisor had gone through it. Part of me wanted to know what he thought, another part of me was terrified.

I dragged myself out of bed and went into the bathroom. I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and stood in front of my wardrobe trying to decide what to wear. I chose a pair of black dress pants and a black shirt. I wore my Patek Philippe wristwatch, I wanted to look professional and confident. I packed my laptop, charger and some papers in my backpack. I put on my socks and shoes.

I checked my phone again. 8:45 am. I had fifteen minutes to get to his office. I hurried out of my apartment, locked the door behind me and made my way towards campus. A light breeze moved through my hair as I walked, but instead of enjoying it, my mind was busy replaying every possible thing Mr. Thompson could say about my work.

As I got closer to his office, I adjusted my collar, took a deep breath and walked towards his door. It was slightly ajar. I knocked.

"Come in."

I pushed the door open. "Morning, Mr. Thompson."

He looked up from his desk, his glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. "Ah, Carl. Come in. Sit down."

I took the seat opposite him. For a moment, he simply looked at me and smiled lightly. "I've read your proposal. Impressive work."

I hadn't realized how tense I was until that moment. I released a deep breath I didn't know I was holding. "Thank you, Professor."

He leaned back in his chair, studying me. "You're not just writing a paper, you're contributing to your field. That means originality matters."

I nodded, listening carefully. "Understood."

"Good. Now tell me about your hypotheses."

And just like that, the nerves started fading. I began explaining my ideas, occasionally using my hands as I spoke. He listened patiently, sometimes nodding, sometimes stopping to ask questions. "Interesting," he said at one point. "But have you considered looking at it from this angle?"

I paused. That was actually a good point. We went back and forth discussing data collection, methodology, possible limitations and the areas I needed to strengthen. By the end of the meeting, my notebook was filled with scribbled notes. When I walked out, I felt like a researcher who had something meaningful to contribute. That thought alone made me smile.

My phone suddenly rang. Damian was calling. He asked where I was, told him. He told me he was hungry and I should meet him up at the restaurant. I agreed, then hung up and started walking towards there. I got there, sat down and started waiting for him.

For some reason, I felt lighter. Maybe it was because the meeting had gone well. Maybe because there was a certain someone I couldn't stop thinking about who I hoped I would see today.

Some minutes later, Damian walked in. I stood up and we exchanged our usual handshake. "Finally," I said.

"Relax, I'm here now."

We laughed and sat down. We started talking about our day and everything that had been keeping us busy. I was in the middle of telling him something when I noticed his attention had drifted away. I followed his gaze, and there she was. She was sitting with someone unfamiliar. All of a sudden, our eyes met and neither of us looked away. Eventually, I broke eye contact and turned back towards Damian, trying to act like nothing had happened.

"Don't start," I warned him.

He grinned. "I didn't say anything."

"You were about to."

He laughed. I smiled to myself and pulled out my phone. I still had four episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 left to watch. I started downloading them and played a quick recap while I waited. I barely made it through the recap before someone leaned toward my phone.

"Woah, is that season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen?"

I looked up. It was her friend. "Yeah, it is."

"That's cool, man."

That was all it took. Within seconds, we were talking about Gojo, Itadori, Mei Mei and practically everything else relating to the anime. I couldn't help laughing. He wasn't so bad after all. I also found out she's into anime. Eventually, he went back to his seat.

I looked at her. If I was going to ask her something, now was probably my chance. "Have you started watching season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen?"

Nothing. She didn't answer. Maybe she hadn't heard me. Her friend leaned toward her and said somethings to her, looked like he repeated my question as well, because she looked up. Her eyes met mine. She realized I had been waiting for her answer.

"Yes, I have," she said. "Although I've only watched episode one. I've been so swamped with classes and assignments, but I'll try to watch the remaining episodes this weekend."

I nodded. "That's good. I would've finished it by now, but I've been busy writing my thesis. I'm hoping to create some time this weekend and finish the remaining four episodes."

"Did you just say thesis?", she asked with curiosity.

I smiled. "Yes, I did. I'm a master's student at this university."

"Oh, wow. That's impressive."

I shrugged. "Thank you."

"If you don't mind me asking..." I noticed her hesitation. "What's your name?"

I looked at her. "I'm Carl. And you?"

"I'm Xandria"

I repeated her name softly, liking how it sounded in my mouth.

Then I smiled. "It's a beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

A faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

Maybe, I'm reading too much meaning into it. But, the fact she had asked for my name felt significant. She could have simply gone back to her conversation. Instead, she'd wanted to know who I was. And somehow, that small question made me feel like maybe I wasn't the only one curious about the other.

I wanted to remember everything about that moment. The way she smiled, the way she looked away after I complimented her, the slight blush on her cheeks. I found myself studying her without even realizing it. Not in an obvious way. After a while, she stood up and turned towards Damian and I.

"See you around," I said to her.

She smiled and gave us a small wave. "See you."

I watched her disappear through the door. For a few seconds, I remained completely quiet. I looked toward the door one more time. I couldn't explain it yet, but something about today felt different. I'd started the morning worrying about my master's project. I'd ended it knowing Xandria's name. And somehow, that felt like the more important discovery.

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