(POV: Ava)
The campus cafeteria was always a mixed bag—half the students were enjoying their meals, the other half were either panicking over assignments or sleeping on their textbooks. The three of us—Ethan, Sophia, and I (Ava)—were seated around a table, discussing something all college students feared: future careers.
"Ugh, why do we even need internships?" Ethan groaned, stabbing his fries aggressively. "Can't we just—like—magically get a high-paying job?"
Sophia rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, Ethan, maybe if you find a genie in a coffee cup. Otherwise, you need connections."
I sighed, sipping my iced coffee. "Well, most companies want recommendation letters, right? If we could get one from a big-name CEO, that would be gold."
Sophia smirked. "Oh, definitely. Hey, Leo—" she turned to him, more as a joke than anything—"you wouldn't happen to know any CEOs, would you?"
Leo, who was quietly eating his sandwich, barely looked up. "Yeah, a few."
We laughed. A solid joke. Classic Leo, deadpan as ever.
Playing along with that joke Ethan asked, "Ohh got any of their business cards, so we can get recommendations."
In response to that he reached into his pocket.
Casually, as if pulling out loose change, he placed a sleek black business card on the table.
"Here."
We blinked.
Sophia picked up the card first.
"Vincent Aldridge – CEO of Aldridge Tech."
…Aldridge Tech? The billion-dollar AI and software company?! The one that literally had its own skyscraper downtown?!
Ethan grabbed the card next, turning it over as if expecting it to say Just Kidding on the back. "HOLD ON—where did you even get this?!"
Leo finished his sandwich and shrugged. "He gave it to me."
Silence.
"…WHY?" I finally blurted out.
Leo, as if completely unaware of how ridiculous this situation was, casually leaned back in his chair. "Oh, that? It's nothing big."
(POV: Leo)
[Flashback ]
A week ago, Leo was walking home from a bookstore when he noticed an old man struggling with his phone on a bench. He wasn't paying much attention—just minding his own business—when the guy suddenly sighed and muttered, "Ugh, I wish I had a younger brain for this stuff."
Leo, who had a half-eaten bag of chips in his hand, simply said, "If you want, I can help."
The old man looked surprised. "You're good with tech?"
Leo shrugged. "Not bad."
It turned out the man was having trouble accessing a secured file—something about needing a code, but he couldn't figure it out.
Leo took one glance at the screen, poked a few settings, and said, "You just need to bypass the secondary authentication by manually syncing the server time. Try this."
The man did exactly that. Within seconds, his file opened.
Stunned, he looked at Leo. "Wait… how did you—?"
Leo, still snacking, just replied, "It was common sense."
…The man started laughing.
"You're an interesting kid," he said, shaking his head. "Do you know who I am?"
Leo, not even looking up from his chips, responded, "Nope."
The man handed him a card. "Vincent Aldridge, CEO of Aldridge Tech. Ever heard of us?"
Leo took the card, looked at it for exactly two seconds, and went: "Oh. That's nice."
Vincent, now even more entertained, chuckled. "You're not even remotely impressed, huh?"
Leo shrugged. "Not really. But thanks for the card."
Then he just walked away.
[Flashback Ends]
(POV: Ava)
"…AND THAT'S IT?!" Ethan practically yelled, causing some students at the next table to look over.
Leo tilted his head. "Yeah."
Sophia facepalmed. "Leo. Do you realize that people dream of getting a personal connection to Vincent Aldridge?! This is a huge deal!"
Leo blinked. "Oh. Huh."
I groaned. "What did you even do with the card?"
Leo looked at me blankly. "…I used it as a bookmark."
Ethan nearly fell off his chair.
---
End of Chapter 3.