The sky above the city was gray, as if the rain were holding its breath.
Lina clutched her coat tightly, still breathless after running to catch the bus, which, as usual, had narrowly missed her. Another day off to a bad start.
She gasped in surprise, and that's when she saw him. Leaning against a black car that gleamed like a jewel, dressed in a perfectly tailored suit and sporting a sparkling watch on his wrist—not to mention the name Ethan emblazoned on it like a neon sign—he was on the phone. But before she even noticed him, his gaze fell upon her, as if he had sensed her before their eyes met.
Lina looked away, embarrassed. A man like her didn't exist.
He exuded something dangerous, an arrogant confidence. And yet… there was also this intensity, this magnetism that couldn't be ignored.
He hung up and approached.
"You seem lost," he said in a calm but authoritative voice.
"No. Just late," she replied hesitantly.
"Then let me help you not be."
He got out of his car, a slight smile on his lips. Lina hesitated. Everything inside her screamed to refuse, but an impulse—perhaps curiosity, or perhaps the growing warmth within her—suggested she accept.
She got in. And that's how it all began.
Lina settled comfortably into the soft leather seat. "The smell of the car," she murmured, "the smell of precious wood, perfume… something else, something indefinable."
As if she had entered a world that wasn't her own.
"Fasten your seatbelts. Let's go." "
His tone was calm, but it wasn't a suggestion. It was a gentle command, accompanied by a smile. Lina responded without hesitation.
"Where should I drop you off?" he asked, his eyes fixed on the road.
"At the university," she replied. "The design school, on Fourth Avenue." He turned his head slightly, an amused smile on his lips.
"Design. I never would have guessed."
"Why?" she asked, a little defensively. "You have this look… It's like you're observing everything. Like you're trying to guess what we're missing."
Lina was speechless. No one had ever put it that way.
He continued:
"My name is Ethan." "Lina," she said.
"Nice name," he murmured. A silence fell between them. A heavy silence, thick with meaning, as if the very air itself were vibrating.
She glanced at him distractedly. He wasn't smiling, but his gaze seemed to be assessing her.
Not the way one looks at a woman, but rather the way one examines an object that pleases them, something they intend to possess.
"Do you often ride in other people's cars?" he asked suddenly. She felt her cheeks flush. "No. Never."
"Then why me?" She remained silent for a moment.
"Why him?" she thought to herself.
She could have said no. She didn't know him. But the truth was simple and dangerous:
"I had a feeling you wouldn't hurt me." Ethan smiled. Slowly.
" "That's what I wanted you to believe."
The car stopped in front of her campus.
He looked at her, this time straight in the eyes.
"Do you have a number where I can reach you, Lina?" She hesitated. A second. Two.
Then she gave it to him.
He didn't take his eyes off her. Not even when she got out of the car. Not even when she closed the door.
But when he turned the ignition key again, she felt her heart race.
She had no idea that this simple "yes" would change her life forever.
She didn't yet know that she had just said "yes" to danger.