Chapter 39. His Charming Attraction

After his name was being introduced on the stage, the room echoed by the clapping hands. The environment immediately got brightened up by the cheering sound that the girls made.
“See? I told you. The girls are being totally hysterical of him,” Cora murmured.
Sienna tried to take a look observantly at that man, who was standing still on the stage with people that way older than him. As the camera zoomed in to show his face closer, everyone could see his charming face on the projector screen.
Cora’s brown eyes immediately popped out. Then she said, “He is just so damn hot!”
Sienna slightly glanced at her and murmured, “You have said that twice. I remember.”
Cora stared back at her and grinned. “Yeah, I did. And don’t you think he is handsome? Look at his face! He looks like a photo model on the city’s billboard!”
Sienna chuckled terribly when she said that. “Seriously, Cora?”
Cora nodded assuredly at her. She didn’t say that by mistake for sure.
Sienna gazed out at the projector screen to see that man’s face again. It took her a moment before she was finally charmed by his good-looking face. It felt like she was being absorbed by an invisible spell that bounded her to his charisma.
“Oh, my God, you’re right…” the words escaped her mouth weakly. “He is very handsome.”
Cora quickly glanced at her, chuckling. “See? You’re such a geek. You’re like the only girl in this room that missed the epic moment of noticing how handsome that man is.”
By the next second, Sienna seemed like she was drooling at his manly look. She couldn’t blink easily because she wanted to keep her eyes wide awake all the time since then.
“Look at you,” Cora sighed in disbelief. She caught Sienna got bewitched by his charm. “You fall for him eventually. I know it.”
Sienna blinked fast. She shook her head and stared down at her notebook. She was feeling kind of embarrassed when Cora caught her looking speechless.
As she got more attached to his charm, she failed in writing down what she should have in her notebook. She was not the only person that didn’t focus on listening about the discussion topic, but all of the girls in the room as well.
At the end of the seminar, Mister George let the students ask some questions for the speakers to answer. There were fewer than a hundred students that participated in this seminar. And there were only a few students that engaged well in the discussion about the new business trend of stock trading. While other students chose to listen than participating in the question and answer session with the speakers.
It was already two p.m. when Mister George finally dismissed the session. The seminar was held for two hours. And it was time for the students to approach the speakers, asking for their important signatures.
Before Sienna and Cora could walk to the stage, they waited in line with other students. It would take some minutes before they could meet the speakers closely.
“I’m so nervous! Aren’t you?” Cora murmured.
Sienna only chuckled at her witty expression.
Then Cora asked, “Who will you approach there? Is it Daniel Wilson or our two senior lecturers beside him?”
Sienna shrugged her shoulders and said, “Anybody. I’m not really picky.”
Cora stared in disbelief at her. “No way that you will ever miss this opportunity! We rarely see a man as handsome as Daniel in real life! Come on…”
Sienna sighed heavily. She couldn’t endure the pain of listening to her noisy best friend. And thus, she nodded to agree.
“Fine, whatever. Let’s get done with it and move on to the cafeteria after this,” Sienna said ignorantly, “because my stomach keeps growling terribly.”
Cora giggled at her. “Oh, yeah, I can hear the growling sound from here.”
Sienna rolled her eyes and giggled along with her.
As they were getting closer to the speakers who sat on the chairs on the stage, some girls suddenly took their place. These annoying girls did it intentionally since they also wanted to get the signature from Daniel Wilson.
“Mean girls,” Cora muttered weakly behind Sienna. “What the hell?”
“You can steal my spot if you want,” Sienna pitied her since they both had been waiting for around ten minutes to get there.
As they were approaching the stage further, they finally could see him a little bit closer. Cora stared out at the students that waited in front of them. She quickly counted how many spots were left. Then she stared back at Sienna to ask, “Are you sure?”
Sienna didn’t want to see Cora feeling restless. She nodded assuredly.
“If I take yours, chances are, you won’t be getting his signature. You are probably getting it from that African professor beside him,” Cora reminded her.
Sienna said, “Yeah, I get it. It’s okay.”
Then Cora gave her a suggestion instead, “But hey, if we can just ask the guy in front of you to exchange a spot with us, maybe…”
Sienna pinched her eyes, bewildered. “Seriously, Cora? Fine. Do whatever you want.”
“Come on, help me to talk to him, please?” Cora persuaded her.
Thereafter, Sienna tapped his shoulder carefully, hoping that man would want to exchange a spot with them. Without thinking too much, that boy nodded agreeably. He said it didn’t matter anyway.
When they were just five meters away from the speakers, Daniel slightly stared around to see the people that were approaching him. At the moment, he paused at Sienna. They exchanged a quiet stare at each other. Sienna instantly felt her heart throbbing in bad anxiety.
“Oh, shit…” Sienna immediately stared down at her flat shoes. “He sees me, I guess.”
Behind her, Cora heard her murmuring restlessly. She quickly checked him out to see what happened. Then Cora told her, “He is just looking blankly anywhere. I don’t think he really looks at you… or us both. He seems too busy to notice any girl in the room, I think.”
“Really? Good then,” Sienna murmured, feeling relieved.
When Sienna stared up to look in his direction, his eyes found her again. However, Sienna tried to avoid eye contact with him when waiting in line with other students. She didn’t want to be recognized by him. She was feeling shy.
As if his eyes spoke to her soul, he was quietly glancing at her. But did he really notice her? His eyes looked so intimidating that made her pretty nervous. Her heart raced faster each time he kept looking in her direction all over again.
Whenever he stared up to see the next student who would give him a paper to sign, he stole a glance at her. She didn’t know if her mind was playing a trick on her or not, but she was almost convinced that he really looked in her direction.
However, his expression looked emotionless. He almost looked like an ice-cold man. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking at the time each time he stole a glance at her.
The girls near her were talking about his manly look. He has a strong sharp jaw that could cut an apple in two. His dark hair with bangs almost making him looked like a vampire in those steamy romantic stories she could find online.
“We are about to get there. Hold on tight, Sienna,” Cora whispered behind her.
While the girls waited to be signed by Daniel, the boys waited to be signed by the other two lecturers which available. When Mister George noticed the bold difference in this funny situation, he immediately clapped his hands.
As soon as he got everyone’s attention, he demanded the girls that were waiting at Daniel’s side to move away. He wanted half of those girls to fill the available spot beside them.
Of course, the girls disapproved of his demand, but nobody dared to say no. They didn’t want to get into the detention center, so some of them move along.
Sienna was also forced to fill the waiting line next to her and got separated from Cora.
“Damn it! Mister George is so annoying. We’re about to get there together in a minute,” Cora muttered peevishly.
“Hey, it’s okay. You can have him. It doesn’t make any significant impact on me. It’s just a signature,” Sienna said calmly before she moved away to fill the waiting line beside her.
Cora watched her leaving for the next waiting line. She felt sad to get separated from her.
As Sienna stood in line among the boys, Daniel looked in her direction again. And this time, she was assured that he glanced at her and not to anyone.
Thereafter, she moved forward to meet the African professor. She quickly handed over the paper for him to sign.
At the time, she could feel Daniel’s eyes lingered on her face. When she intentionally stared away to check on him again, he really looked at her. And this time, he looked at her a little bit longer.
When she quickly looked around, she found it strange that nobody seemed to notice. He could stare secretly at her without making anyone felt suspicious. But once again, she thought her mind was only playing a silly trick on her.
“Here you go, Miss. Hope you can write a good essay about our seminar today,” the professor returned the paper to her after she had signed it.
“Thank… thank you, Professor,” she said, stammering.
Before she walked away, Sienna glanced again at Daniel for the last time. When the corner of his lips slowly turned upward, she got surprised. He secretly smiled at her.
And because of his mysterious smile, her mind wandered off the whole day.