CEO Attends a College Reunion, Never Imagining the Woman He Once Ignored Would Now Capture His Heart
The Reunion and First Intentions
Elijah Zayn hadn’t stepped foot on the campus of Westboro University in over 10 years. He definitely hadn’t expected his chest to tighten the second he saw her: Olivia Rivers. She stood across the quad laughing with two women he didn’t recognize.
She held a glass of champagne in one hand. A soft pink dress hugged her curves like it had been made just for her. This was the same Olivia he’d barely noticed in college. She used to sit two rows behind him in business ethics class.
She was always wearing oversized sweaters and scribbling in notebooks he never bothered to ask about. He stared longer than he should have.
“Elijah Zayn,” someone called behind him.
“Westboro’s golden boy returns.”
He forced a polite grin and turned to shake hands. However, his mind was stuck on the woman across the lawn. She looked different, but not in the obvious surface-level way. She moved differently and looked confident, like she belonged.
Now he couldn’t look away. The reunion was hosted in the newly renovated alumni hall. It was complete with white-gloved servers and string quartet music that didn’t match the buzz of excitement in the air. Elijah’s name carried weight now.
He was the CEO of Zane Tech, one of the fastest-growing AI firms in the country. He was used to people recognizing him and leaning in to ask questions. They pretended to have known him back then. But that night none of it landed.
Olivia Rivers had just walked into the ballroom. She hadn’t seen him yet. She was too busy scanning the room with curious eyes and a soft mouth. She paused at the name tag table. Her fingers brushed through the cards.
When she found hers and pinned it to her dress, Elijah finally moved. He crossed the room without thinking.
“Olivia,” he said, stopping just a few feet away.
She turned slowly, her eyes locking with his. They were brown and warm with a flicker of surprise.
“Elijah,” she said, her voice calm but unreadable.
“Didn’t expect to see you here.”
He tried not to let her tone shake him.
“Didn’t expect to see you either,” he laughed awkwardly.
“You look different.”
“Yeah,” she said, tilting her head.
“I stopped hiding.”
He wasn’t sure what to say to that. For a moment, she just sipped her champagne. She looked at him like she was seeing him for the first time.
“You remember me?” she asked.
“Of course I do,” he nodded a little too fast.
“We had business ethics together.”
“And uh, public speaking second semester senior year,” she raised a brow.
“And yet you never said more than three words to me.”
He opened his mouth then closed it.
“I’m not mad,” she added, lips curving slightly.
“Just surprised you remember.”
“I remember now,” he said quietly.
“You weren’t easy to forget. I just didn’t see it then.”
She didn’t reply, just looked at him for a long time before a woman called her name from across the room.
“I should go say hi,” Olivia said, nodding toward the group.
“Wait,” Elijah said quickly.
“Would you have dinner with me sometime?”
She blinked.
“Dinner?”
“Yeah, I’d like to catch up. Talk. Actually talk.”
She paused then shrugged.
“Sure, why not.”
And just like that, he was hooked. Three nights later, Elijah reserved a private table at one of Manhattan’s most exclusive rooftop restaurants. The host greeted him by name. The waiter didn’t even bring a menu.
He just asked for confirmation of the seven-course chef’s tasting he’d pre-arranged. When Olivia arrived, she wore a navy dress and a look of amused hesitation.
“This is a lot,” she said, sliding into the chair across from him.
He poured her a glass of wine himself.
“I figured it was time I stopped ignoring you.”
She laughed, and the sound went straight to his chest.
“I’m surprised you remember me at all,” she said.
“Back then, I was invisible.”
“You weren’t,” he said.
“I just didn’t know how to look past myself.”
She stared at him.
“I mean it,” Elijah added.
“I was so focused on my own path. I didn’t see anyone else, especially not the girl who actually had something to say.”
Olivia looked down at her wine then back at him.
“You really changed.”
“Maybe,” he said.
“Or maybe I just woke up.”
