Don’t people change gradually? How does someone change overnight?
No. She must have changed gradually. It’s just that I never noticed anything other than her starry eyes, suppressed smiles, and tinted cheeks. I didn’t notice it today either, until now.
My gaze slides lower. And damn it,she has curves.She’s wearing a brown, sleeveless dress that hugs her breasts. I glance down at my palms—yes, they would fit perfectly. Then there’s her slim waist, not bony, the fabric flowing down over her hips all the way to her toes.
I look away.How do I unsee it?The past two minutes have rewired my circuits, and I don’t appreciate how sudden the change is.
I’ve never felt sexual desire for any woman before. No woman has ever been important enough to awaken it, and I’ve always taken pride in that. I’m not a dick-driven man. I control my body, not the other way around. In my own eyes, I’m a great monk, disciplined and controlled, only jerking off to relax.
So, in short, this is unusual. Strange. Out of place. To find someone this attractive all of a sudden, and then again, who am I even talking about? If she could lodge herself in my brain like a fixed synapse with her puppy love, this is far easier to explain.
She’s currently scolding her cousin because he brought me here. I take another deep look at her, from head to heel.
A fuckingmasterpiecemade by God.
For me.
I smile. Now I’ve got something sensible to attach to mysenselessfixationon her. It’s totally senseless to want to see a girl smiling at you, but it’s completely sensible to want a woman.
I turn on my heel, my gaze fixed ahead, and stride toward the exit.
chapter 1
16 October 2050
Iselyn (20 years old)
“I don’t drink,” I tell Selly again, just in case she didn’t hear me the first time.
“Ohh, Isa, you should try this! This is the best thing you’ve ever taken in your mouth,” Paige leans closer. “Actually, it’s the second best thing. The best thing is always a hard dick.”
She winks, Selly and Mari burst out laughing.
“Go on, Isa, we’re cheering for you,” Mari says.
They call me Isa here, which isn’t even part of my name. But I guess it’s better than Isaliye or Isale or whatever other strange versions they come up with. I honestly don’t know what’s so difficult about pronouncing Iselyn.
I take a sip of the drink. My face instantly scrunches up at the bitter taste. I cough and quickly set the glass down before asking the bartender for water.
Their laughter follows. “You’re so cute,” Selly says, smiling.
“I guess that’s why every other guy here is dying to take you on a date,” Mari adds, I think I catch a not-so-friendly flicker in her eyes beneath her smile.
“Would you like to join us on the floor?” Paige asks, gesturing toward the crowd of dancers.
I shake my head. “I’ll wait here.”
They don’t ask me again and leave for the dance floor. These girls are fellow researchers in my group—whom, to be honest, I want to bond with because staying alone isn’t much fun. But I guess I’ll soon start finding enjoyment in being alone.
I glance around the club, the laughter and flashing lights feeling too loud, and I can’t help but regret my decision to come here.
There isn’t a single good thing that has happened to me in this city. I guess today is my regret day.
I was doing perfectly fine back in Vladivostok—developing my plant-based natural medicines with steady progress. Then I got the challenge of creating a formula for a rare skin disease called Poyasa. And I thought coming here would help. Not really my fault though, this whole country claims that this university has the best ethnopharmacologists.
Bullshit.
I’m not a narcissist, but some facts need to be acknowledged if you want to save your time and sanity. One such fact is that the New York Medical University doesn’t have a single person who could me. I’ve discussed my project with their best professors and doctors, and they all looked at me like I’d lost my mind for even thinking about developing such a medicine.
