Shea Thorne was intrigued, smiling and said, "Tell me your number, I'll call you. Let me take the initiative to treat you to dinner today."
She didn't know her phone number, but Milo Sinclair knew his own.
When the car in front stopped again, Milo Sinclair found time to glance at Shea Thorne, and uttered a string of numbers. Shortly after, his phone rang with the factory default ringtone.
"What would you like for dinner? Any request can be fulfilled," Milo Sinclair asked. She was quite the surprise, appearing clueless on the surface but her actions conveyed meaning accurately.
"What do you usually eat with girls?" Shea Thorne deliberately asked.
"The last time I spent the night with a female companion was in March last year. My last girlfriend was ten years ago. We broke up after graduating college," Milo Sinclair briefly shared his dating history to prevent her from thinking he was setting her up. He assured, "Rest assured, both ties are cleanly cut, you have no worries about exes."
He didn't need to say such things, but facing Shea Thorne's eyes, Milo Sinclair didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble over this in the future. The girl would ask eventually, so it was better for him to say it first.
"I didn't ask you that. If you don't have a guilty conscience, why reveal it yourself?" Shea Thorne intentionally teased him, placed her locked phone aside, and said, "Next time, to a fresh and cute little girl, I might just become the last companion."
A girlfriend is a matter of the heart, a companion is about physical attraction.
Oh...
Milo Sinclair sighed deeply. This little girl was deliberately teasing him. He couldn't bear to argue with her further and resignedly said, "So, what do you think? I've laid all my cards on the table. Do you still think I'm deceiving you?"
Shea Thorne looked at him smugly, then turned to gaze at the scenery outside, feeling the conversation had reached its end, any further discussion would be pointless.
Ultimately, they didn't decide on what to eat. Milo Sinclair personally chose a conservative Chinese restaurant, parked in the restaurant's underground parking, a place with high privacy, where he was a regular and had his own private room.
"Can you drink alcohol? The lamb chops you just ordered will taste better with this bottle of wine." While ordering, Milo Sinclair asked Shea Thorne, "Don't worry about drunk driving, I'll have a driver take you home later."
Shea Thorne shook her head; despite being a thirty-something aunt who could drink, she was worried that Ariana Thorne's body couldn't handle it. In the previous life, Ariana Thorne didn't touch a drop of alcohol.
Neither of them drank, and after finishing the meal, Shea Thorne paid for it, and Milo Sinclair didn't argue.
After dinner, Milo Sinclair escorted Shea Thorne back to the campus, and it was already past nine in the evening. This time, Milo Sinclair didn't let her carry her violin case back herself, but accompanied her inside.
Shea Thorne sighed inwardly, fortunately, it was dark and not many people could see, otherwise, it would be big news the next day.
She could win; it was the biggest prize in the gamble.
At the entrance of the dorm building, Milo Sinclair handed the violin case to Shea Thorne and asked, "How about my proposal?"
"...?" Shea Thorne was momentarily confused.
"The medical community."
He was referring to the matter of practicing the violin, Shea Thorne understood and laughed, "Can you ensure that when it disturbs others, no complaints will be made?"
Milo Sinclair nodded; at National Medical University, not many matters reach his desk. As long as he informs the faculty that his girlfriend needs to use the medical community, he believes the faculty would support it.
At the mention of "the medical community," a surge of agreement came from Ariana Thorne, and Shea Thorne blurted out, "Alright."
"Then, send me your class schedule when you get back, and I'll come to pick you up whenever you go," Milo Sinclair said goodbye and walked away.
Shea Thorne watched as that tall figure gradually vanished and sarcastically mused whether Ariana Thorne knew what her agreement meant, or whether she was willing to do anything just to see Miles Crawford?
Could it be they end up giving Miles Crawford the warm affection of a teacher's wife?
Well, with two lifetimes only revolving around Miles Crawford, let her taste what's good from others to understand that Miles Crawford isn't all there is.
...
After returning, her roommate Sharon Somerset once again reported to Shea Thorne that Milo Sinclair's car appeared at the school entrance!
Upon hearing this, Shea Thorne was anxious. Students at F University might lack other abilities, but as informant paparazzi, they were unparalleled. Even without his conspicuous car, Milo Sinclair's vehicle was still recognized.
"Why is he constantly coming to our school?" Sharon Somerset gossiped, "Is he perhaps planning to give a lecture? If so, I'd sign up immediately!"
It's understandable she didn't speculate Milo Sinclair was there to pursue a girlfriend; the disparity is too vast, like heaven and earth.
Rhonda Ford immediately cut her down, "Wake up, for Professor Sinclair's lecture, you have to submit a paper of over twenty thousand words after listening, would you really study hard just for the sake of someone good-looking?"
Papers were their bane, so upon hearing the word "paper," Sharon Somerset instantly lost spirit.
Shea Thorne recalled the towering stack of papers on Milo Sinclair's desk and wondered if they were all student-written papers?
This guy is something else.
After freshening up, the dorm room began its nightly discussions, and Sharon Somerset, disappointed from not meeting Milo Sinclair twice, began fantasizing about him after lights out.
The other two eagerly joined in, starting an intense debate over whether Milo Sinclair was straight or not.
Each of the three argued their positions with conviction, analyzing what they knew and defending their viewpoints.
"I think he's not straight, you know, he had a girlfriend in college, they dated for several years. I heard they were discussing marriage before they suddenly broke up," Sharon Somerset said, this detail came from the National Medical University's forum where someone specifically dug up this history, though they didn't get a chance to see photos of Professor Sinclair and his girlfriend, as the post was taken down within five minutes.
Privately, such stories don't circulate; whenever such posts appear, they don't last.
The poster would often be "served" with papers, so gradually, people lost interest in discussing these things online, afraid of retaliation from Professor Sinclair.
Upon hearing this, Shea Thorne recalled the girlfriend Milo Sinclair mentioned who broke up ten years ago, should be the person Sharon Somerset was talking about.
"Maybe Professor Sinclair is sentimental, not allowing discussion because he's unable to forget his past?" Farah Hale suggested.
"That shouldn't be the case. With Professor Sinclair's current prestige and status, if he couldn't forget the past, wouldn't he just go pursue it?" Sharon Somerset, the opposing debater, retorted.
Shea Thorne agreed with this; today, he pursued quite actively and knew how to adapt by catering to her preferences, not like someone who would wait quietly.
Then, Rhonda Ford, who had been quiet, spoke up, "I heard from Jonah Bell that during one conversation, Professor Sinclair's senior said the breakup was because, back then, Sinclair was planning to go abroad, and the girl disliked him for being poor, so she secretly cheated on him."
Jonah Bell, having studied under Professor Sinclair during undergrad, occasionally knew of these things.
Cheated?
Shea Thorne thought of the car Milo Sinclair drove, the dinner tonight costing nearly ten grand without any wine, all expenses he was originally supposed to cover, reflecting not a bit of poverty.
"I wonder if she regrets it now?" Sharon Somerset sighed, "Professor Sinclair is young and successful, a perfect 'back then you ignored me, now I'm out of your league' story of revenge."
"Probably regretting it. I heard Professor Sinclair pampered his girlfriends back then, even while working he never cut off her branded goods," Rhonda Ford added, which was why his relationships were so well-known.
"If it were me, I'd cry myself to death in the bathroom."