The Seminar

It’s 9am in the morning. Everyone’s getting ready. The seminar is in an hour. Aron knocks at Ashley’s door to check up on her.

“You ready?” Aron asks.

“Just a minute,” Ashley replies from inside. She’s puts on his formal heels that he specially brought for today’s occasion. She opens the door and sees Aron standing outside waiting for her.

“Do I look okay?” Ashley asks. Aron clears his throat and replies to her.

“You look…fine.” She looks stunning and Aron knows it but he can’t just say that to her. He doesn’t want Ashley to know that his heart is pounding right now.

“Come on guys! We have to be there on time,” Professor Murphy speaks from across the corridor. They walk towards Professor Murphy to join him. They get into the cab sent for them. The cab driver takes them to the place where the seminar is being held. They arrive at the location. They can see lots of people they’ve only seen on book covers. Professor Murphy gives them their entry cards and they hang it around their necks.

“Nervous?” Aron continues, “I’ve got a chocolate bar in my pocket if you want.” Aron says to divert her attention. Ashley laughs at Aron’s words. Ashley knows he said it to lighten the mood as he can clearly see her shaking.

“Sure! Mr. Willy Wonka, I would love to have some chocolate,” Ashley replies and they both laugh. Aron gives her the chocolate bar and Ashley takes a bite which decreases her nervousness a little. Food always helps. No matter where you are, food is always a solution.

“Aron! Ashley! Meet Senior Advocate Harris Branca. He one of the most influential people out there,” Professor Murphy continues, “These are our university’s top 2 students. Unfortunately the third one couldn’t make it here due to some problems.”

Aron and Ashley shake their hands with Harris Branca.

“It’s an honor to meet you Sir,” Aron speaks.

“Our whole project was based on your book Unlocking Criminal Justice. Your research is phenomenal,” Ashley says and Harris smiles at their kind words.

“I’m happy that my book was of some help to your project. I’m sure someday you two are going to make your name in this profession as well. Just stay focused and determined, then nothing will seem impossible,” Harris encourages them to follow their dreams and to never quit. They take a picture together and Harris leaves with Professor Murphy to meet other advocates. Aron and Ashley are introduced to other students selected to attend this seminar from other universities.

A guy named Matt approaches Ashley while Aron goes to have a glass of water. Matt is one of the top students as well. He introduces himself to Ashley. They have a small talk about law stuff. Matt’s fellows tell him to come inside as the seminar was about to start.

“It was nice meeting you Ashley,” Matt speaks and goes in for a hug which leaves Ashley off-guard but she doesn’t say anything as she didn’t want to create a scene there. Aron sees all this and he’s furious. He rushes towards them but Matt had already left. Aron asks Ashley if everything’s alright. She doesn’t say anything at first and tries to pull herself together. After a few moments, she tells him that she’s fine and that they should go inside as the seminar is about to start.

The seminar starts but Aron is still furious. He sits beside Ashley and gives Matt death stares. He didn’t take his eyes off of him. If someone saw Aron staring at Matt like that, he would think that Aron is planning Matt’s murder. The seminar ends and they meet some more influential and successful personalities. They’re honored to meet each one of them as they aspire to be like them.

They attend the whole seminar without facing any difficulty except Ashley’s encounter with Matt. After their encounter, Aron doesn’t leave Ashley alone even for a second. He stays by her side throughout the whole event. He keeps his eyes on Matt as well so he won’t approach Ashley. Aron can see Matt eyeing on them but he doesn’t dare to come close because of the death stare Aron’s giving him.

After the seminar, they go to a restaurant to have lunch with Professor Murphy’s friend who’s also an advocate in Singapore. He invited Aron and Ashley as well when he met them at the seminar. Aron is relieved as he doesn’t have to see Matt’s face now. Matt makes him furious.

It's dark when they arrive at the hotel. Professor Murphy asks them to get some rest and pack their things in the morning as their flight to Turkey is at 2 am. They got to their respective rooms to sleep and call it a night. Ashley gets out of the bed after half an hour as she can’t seem to sleep. She has been trying to sleep for the past half an hour. She goes outside and sits by the swimming pool. She’s so lost in her thoughts that she doesn’t notice Aron walking towards her. She snaps out of her thoughts when he sits beside her.

“Wanna go for a walk?” Ashley asks Aron and he nods without asking any questions.

They’re walking together on the sidewalk but they’re quiet. They don’t walk too far from the hotel as they had to got back as well. Ashley and Aron are waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green. When the light turns green, Ashley takes a step forward but she doesn’t see the car speeding towards them as she’s distracted by her thoughts. Aron grabs her hand and pulls her towards him. Ashley strikes with her chest as the car passes by them. Ashley can hear Aron’s heartbeat. His heart was beating mad fast and it felt like his heart was going to explode. Aron doesn’t scold her. Even if his heart sank in that moment, he still didn’t loose his composure and rubbed his hand through Ashley’s hair.

“Ashley! It’s…okay. Don’t worry. You’re okay,” Aron speaks while taking heavy breaths.

Ashley doesn’t pull away. Tears start to fall from her eyes. She cries and hugs Aron not wanting him to let go. She needs someone right now. She needs him.

“It’s okay to cry. I’m here for you Ashley,” Aron speaks as he knows that she isn’t crying because of what happened just now. She’s crying because of what happened at the seminar. She froze when Matt hugged her without her consent. She wasn’t able to defend her and she was mad ay herself for not saying anything. Only the two of them know for how long they stayed there while hugging each other.