When the plane touched down at Heathrow, Sienna deleted the last photo of Ryan from her phone.
The final thread connecting her to that messy chapter of her life – gone.
She grabbed her suitcase and hopped in a black cab to campus, watching London blur past the windows. Everything felt foreign but somehow… clean. Like a blank slate.
Standing outside the university gates with her luggage, she took a deep breath. The autumn air didn’t smell like the jasmine back home in California, but it had this crisp energy that made her feel like she could be anyone she wanted.
Orientation was scheduled for her first evening on campus.
After unpacking her tiny dorm room, Sienna threw on a simple sundress and headed to the welcome reception in the main hall. She grabbed a seat in the back, half–listening to the academic jargon on the projected slides.
“Now please join me in welcoming Professor Daniel Hayes to address our incoming class,” the dean announced.
The applause was polite but enthusiastic as this guy in a perfectly tailored charcoal suit walked to the podium.
Fསྐུུ་ཇཛ་ཚ་འབོ་
He was maybe mid–twenties, tall, ridiculously handsome in that effortless intellectual way – designer glasses framing these warm but sharp eyes.
The girls around Sienna were already whispering about how Professor Hayes had basically been a child prodigy – PhD from Oxford at twenty–two, now the youngest tenured professor in the department’s history.
When he started talking, his voice had this smooth British–American hybrid accent. “Welcome to what I hope will be the most challenging and rewarding years of your academic careers. I’d rather think of myself as a mentor than some intimidating professor…”
Sienna found herself actually paying attention instead of scrolling Instagram.
He wasn’t doing the typical boring academic lecture. Instead, he was telling stories about his first year as an international student – including this hilarious disaster involving fish and chips and a very confused taxi driver.
2014
Chapter 9
The whole room cracked up, and suddenly everyone seemed way less nervous about being in a
foreign country.
After the welcome speech, there was a mixer where students could chat with faculty. Sienna was organizing her portfolio when a shadow fell across her table.
8 F 2 2 8 5 5 B
She looked up to find Professor Hayes standing there with that easy smile, holding a printed roster.
“Sienna Hart?” His finger was pointing at her name on the list. “I read through your application essay – your research proposal was really compelling.”
Sienna scrambled to her feet, going into full respectful student mode. “Oh! Professor Hayes, hi.”
“No need to be so formal.” He shook her hand briefly, his eyes scanning her research interests. “Actually, I’m working on a project that overlaps with some of your ideas. Mind if we chat about it?”
He wasn’t doing that condescending professor thing at all – more like he genuinely wanted to hear her thoughts.
Sienna felt herself relaxing as they started talking shop. Before she knew it, they’d been standing in the corner of the reception hall for almost an hour, completely absorbed in discussing research methodologies and theoretical frameworks.
When she finally looked around, the place was practically empty.
“Oh God, I’m so sorry!” Sienna felt her cheeks burn. “I totally monopolized your time.”
Daniel just laughed. “Are you kidding? It’s refreshing to meet a student who’s actually passionate about the work.”
He nodded toward the coffee shop across from the building. “I was about to grab some caffeine. Want to join?”
He handed her a latte, the ceramic warm against her palms. “I know starting somewhere new can be overwhelming. There’s an international conference next weekend in Manchester – want to come with my research team? Good networking opportunity, might give you some ideas for your thesis.”
Sienna wrapped her hands around the mug, struck by how genuine he seemed. No ulterior motives, no weird power dynamics – just a professor who actually cared about his students.
“I’d love that. Thank you.”
They walked out of the building together, the evening air crisp against her face. Her phone sat silently in her bag – she’d blocked Ryan on everything and turned off all her American social media
20:14
From Reet –
Chapter 9
notifications.
For the first time in months, no one was blowing up her phone with drama.
Sipping her latte and listening to Daniel explain the conference schedule, Sienna felt something she hadn’t experienced in forever: peace.
Maybe she really could build something new here. Maybe leaving everything behind had been exactly the right choice.
The coffee was perfect – not too sweet, just warm enough to chase away the London chill.
2014 7
