A True Connection

He slips back into the routine he started in his first year, but now he has decided to use the University's gym to get rid of his frustrations. Ryan dates a couple of girls, but it never gets past the first date. With Rose, they had an instant connection, even in the club. The way they danced together, the way they didn't need to touch to know. "Shit," he says to himself after a particular night of disappointment.

Four months have passed since he had been back at the University. He had gone home for Christmas and looked around for Rose. He hadn't taken enough notice to know where she lived. There were a number of areas it could have been, and it was in a part of the city that Ryan had never ventured before. He has driven around, but there were a number of houses in different areas that looked like the house. He even knocked on a couple of doors to no avail.

He was sitting in his English class when his course head walked in and had a word with his teacher.

"Ryan, Mr. Webster would like a word," his professor says, not looking happy that she's been interrupted.

Ryan gets up and quietly makes his way out of the auditorium. As the door closes, he looks at Mr. Webster for an answer to why he'd been taken out of class.

"Ryan, a Mr. Mahoney is here and wants to talk to you about a possible job experience offer," he says excitedly. "Mr. Mahoney is on the board of MCT in the city," he clarifies.

"MCT? Christ, they are in the FTSE 250," Ryan says. "Why couldn't this wait until after my lesson?"

"Mr. Mahoney is only passing and is limited for time. He would like to meet and run something by you. You realise this doesn't normally happen until your last year; rarely do they talk to third years, but this is the first time I've seen a second year get looked at."

"Oh," is all Ryan can think. He didn't consider himself anything special. He wasn't even top of his class. They hadn't started the money market side of his course yet, so this was a little more confusing.

They get to Mr. Webster's office, and a short middle-aged man stands as they walk in.

He smiles and offers his hand. "You must be Mr. Ryan Lock. A pleasure to meet the man who's been talked about."

Again, Ryan is confused but goes with the flow. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mahoney."

"I won't take up too much of your time, Mr. Lock, but we are looking for a person like yourself and would like to offer you some early on-the-job training. It's not usual for us to take someone so early, and I will admit it's a bit of an experiment. So, what do you say?"

"I'm not sure what I am agreeing to do, Mr. Mahoney."

"Sorry, my fault. I was getting ahead of myself. We would like to invite you to come to work for us on Tuesday, Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings, also during your free time and over the holidays when the offices are open. In return, we will show you the ropes, so to speak."

Ryan's eyes double, and then he looks at Mr. Webster, who's grinning at him.

Ryan thinks for a moment, but it's a no-brainer. It is the area of finance he wants to be, and he nods his head. "I would be honoured, Mr. Mahoney." It will, of course, mean fewer trips back home, Ryan thinks to himself.

"Fantastic. I will see you next Tuesday afternoon then. Report to my office, and we will get you started." He stands and shakes Mr. Webster's hand. "Thank you, Mr. Webster, and I will see you on Tuesday." With that, he walks out of the office, leaving the two men wondering what just happened.

"Not to look a gift horse, but I don't get it," Ryan says.

"Fortune shines on those who most deserve it," Mr. Webster says, confusing Ryan even more.

The next month flies past as Ryan starts his on-the-job training. If he wasn't confused, to begin with, he was now. Mr. Mahoney says he will start at the bottom and let Ryan see all the aspects of how the company works. Ryan's first job was as a gofer. He got coffee for whoever needed it and ran errands around the building.

Alicia was one of the girls that Ryan had dated just once. Out of the handful of girls he dated, she was the one he got on with the best, but it wasn't enough. He almost didn't bother to ask her out in the first place because they live in the same HMO (House of Mass Occupation). She is sitting outside her favourite coffee shop looking out when she sees Ryan exit the tube station entrance across the road.

He sees her, acknowledges her, and crosses the road. He walks into the cafe and then back out. "Want to join me?" Alicia asks.

Ryan looks around and sees there are no free tables, so he sits down. There's a moment of awkward silence. "So, how have you been, Alicia?" Ryan asks.

"Not bad. A little confused why our night out didn't lead to a second," she says, pausing when Ryan's coffee and sandwich turns up. "You are an enigma, Ryan," she adds when the server goes back in. She lets Ryan take a sip of his coffee before asking. "So, what gives?"

Ryan smiles. He did like Alicia, and she was the only one he knew before he asked her out. They live in the same house, share, and bump into each other regularly. It had been a little awkward after, but he had to concede she would make a good friend. "I don't want to say it's not you, it's me, but it's true. I had.....an experience just before I came back for the second year. This experience showed me what I missed in every relationship that went wrong, and I'm looking for something that compares. You were the best one I dated, but at best, you would be a good friend. There wasn't the spark between us I was looking for."

Alicia sits there and thinks about what he said. "So why not just go back to her?"

"I don't know how to get hold of her. I left my number, but she never rang. I guess I got more out of our night together than she did. I tried to find her, but I didn't take notice of exactly where she lived when we took a taxi to her house. I know her name, but that came back as a dead end. My only other clue is that my mate was in love with her because she was some famous YouTuber or something, but I found nothing under the name I had."

"Famous YouTuber aye. Sorry, I never really got into that."

"Yeah, me neither," he says. "I hate all social media."

"Reality TV is worse," Alicia says.

They sit in silence for a moment, and Ryan tucks into his toastie.

"Can we be friends?" Alicia asks.

"Sure, why not? But that's all," Ryan says. "No benefits," he adds.

Alicia pouts her lips. "You ruin all my fun. I like you, Ryan; you are a clever man and one I would like as a friend."

So, Ryan got a new best friend. Alicia and he spent time together and going out. She wasn't looking for a relationship anymore but wanted to focus on her studies. They made good study mates and used each other as a partner to go to parties or go to the cinema together. They often slept together but never did anything sexual.

They never got close physically, but as friends, they couldn't be closer. They are at one of Alicia's friend's parties when her friend turns around and asks, "So why aren't you two an item? You seem to get on."

Alicia's a little drunk and replies. "Because he's in love with another woman. A famous YouTuber," she answers.

"Oh yeah, what's she famous for?"

Ryan is stunned. Why hadn't he thought of that? What an idiot. He looked at Alicia, who knew instantly he wanted to go.

"You want to go?" Ryan nods. "I think I'll stay. Someone's been giving me the eye all night, and I'm feeling horny."

"Too much information," Ryan shoots back. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go. I can always crash here if it comes to nothing." She hugs him before he thanks the hostess and leaves.

Once he gets back, he gets his laptop out and opens YouTube again. 'Kate Winslet look-alike,' he types. Then he stares at it and smiles and remembers the time in Fever, the nightclub. "She doesn't like being compared to Kate Winslet," he says to himself as he remembers her grimacing when the asshole got between them at the bar.

Then he hit, 'Return.'

Ryan had to scroll down a little, but suddenly, there she was. The face looking out at Ryan was his Rose. "No wonder I couldn't find her. What the hell is Mac & Cheeze," he says. He puts in Mac and Cheeze, and the full list comes up. He looks for the last one she made and finds it two months after their night together. Ryan clicks on it, and Rose fills his screen, looking as beautiful as he remembers.

"Hey guys," she says into her camera. "Something has come up. I'm going to be taking some time away from the limelight and deal with a personal matter. I'm not sure how long I will be away, but please be patient, and I will see you on the other side."

That was it. Where was she going and why? Ryan clicks on another. Rose, on her channel, does a number of things, including makeup tips or how to look after your skin. Everything is for girls, so he looks at the comments. Ryan grimaces at some of the trolls and how rude they are about what she does or what they want to do with her. He can understand men watching because she is very beautiful and sexy.

On another episode on her channel, Ryan sees a link to her Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook. He looked at all, and they were all shut down. He then looked for Rose Macintosh on Facebook. Ryan had to make up a Facebook account to do this but came back with nothing. It's like she's just disappeared.

He noticed a couple of comments asking if anyone had seen her in his hometown, but there were no replies.

Ryan gives up and goes to bed; he has a restless sleep as his mind doesn't stop trying to come up with solutions.

It's a knock at his door that wakes him. Alicia is standing there still in the same clothes as the night before. She gives him a sheepish look before walking in.

"You had a better night than me," he says.

"Don't be so sure," she says, sitting on his bed. Ryan's room has a bed and a desk, and that's about all that will fit other than a chest of drawers and a built-in wardrobe. The house has a communal area to cook anything and three shower rooms. So, did you find anything when you left?"

"Yep," Ryan says as he gets dressed.

He doesn't say anything else and waits for Alicia to burst. It doesn't take long before Alicia shouts at him. "Ryan," she calls.

He smiles and sits down next to her with his laptop. Okay, the one thing about Rose is she looks like Kate Winslet," he tells her for the first time.

"Yeah, right, in your dreams," she says, disbelieving him.

Ryan doesn't say anymore as his screen comes back on where he left it. On the screen was one of Rose's downloads. He starts it up, and after the advert, Rose comes on to show her followers how to pick something to go out for a night out.

"Wow, she does look like Kate Winslet," Alicia says. "Are you telling me you slept with her?" No wonder you aren't interested in anyone else. How the hell can anyone compete?"

"Yeah, right, don't get me any closer," Ryan says. Then he clicks on Rose's last post and she says she's going away for a while. "I've checked all the social media sites, but they are all closed. I don't know what to do," he says, hoping his friend has an idea.

"Leave comments on each of her videos. Be cryptic and say something only she will know." Then she spots something and clicks on it. After the advert, the video is in the nightclub where Rose and Ryan met. The next thing is a video of Rose and Ryan dancing to Next's, 'Too Close.' "Shit, that's you and her dancing," Alicia says. The video is only about a minute long, but you can see them move as one, knowing each other by instinct.

They sit there quietly for a moment. "That was taken the night before I came back after the summer break."

"Shit, Ryan. I get it now," Alicia hugs him. "Look, I gotta get up to my room and change. When I get back, want to go out?"

"Yeah," Ryan says. Alicia gets up and walks out. As the door clicks shut, Ryan leaves a couple of messages on her videos. He couldn't think of anything cryptic, so he just wrote. 'To spend one night in heaven, Ryan.'

Time again passes, and the end of his second year passes the beginning of his third. Alicia had hooked up with the guy from the party, and they seemed to be casual. His name is Bryson, but Ryan likes to call him just about anything that starts with Br.

Ryan spent the summer at MCT. He doesn't feel he's learning anything until one Saturday when Mr. Mahoney gets Ryan to go through some customer accounts. These customers are in the red and losing money. Mr. Mahoney then goes through what Ryan can do with these accounts. It occurs to Ryan that he's not that bothered about them and wants to pass them on to someone else. Then he considers it, "Or maybe it is a simulation. Why would they give a student real money to play with?"

He shows Ryan how to analyse and make a plan. Then he said, "Ryan, why don't you take ten of these accounts, and we will see if we can turn them around."

Since Ryan had started at MCT, he had been watching the stock market. Ryan's particular gift is seeing patterns, and he sees many different patterns that he thinks would help him make money. He had run a couple of dummy runs and had come out way up each time.

So, starting with a small sum, he opens an account on MCT's small investors account. Over the next couple of months, he doubles his money. By the Christmas break, he has nearly three thousand in his account. He has started applying the same investments on the ten accounts, and all ten were increasing, showing more money than the people had invested. With every investment, Ryan records every investment in a notebook as well as on a memory stick. He is meticulous in the way he works out each investment.

He then moves his account to a different company because Ryan is unsure whether he can have his account; Ryan also doesn't want to get noticed. With the ten accounts he was managing, Ryan thought he was getting a bit close to breaking the rules or having some sort of conflict of interest. To cover what he is doing, Ryan often asks Mr. Mahoney's advice and then continues doing what he is doing. He knew that Mr. Mahoney wouldn't remember what he advised Ryan, so when it finally got noticed, Ryan would just say he did what he was told.

Time is going very fast; he's keeping a close eye on Rose's accounts online, but they are still down. They've been quiet for nearly two years now, and he's on the verge of giving up on that dream.

He keeps his mind occupied by scanning the money markets during the day. The downside of only being at work for three half days was that he was limited in what he could do. He did have remote access to his account, but again he was limited. His account was doing well, and by the end of his third year, he was up over thirty-five grand. The thing was, the more money he had in his account, the more money he made, and he made over five grand just on his last month's investments alone. He expects by the end of the summer break to be nearer ten. He's still recording each investment both digitally and in his notebook.

Again, he works through his summer break. He manages to get back for the occasional weekend to share with his family. At least he is entering his last year, and once he gets his degree, he will have more time off. On his last trip home before the new year starts, his mother makes him promise to be back for his sister's 18th birthday dinner. A lot of the family will be there, and because it is an important night, he agrees.

He was a little out with his prediction; he was on over twelve thousand a month. Ryan has even started to skim some of the profit off before he reinvests everything and is looking around for a computer system so he can work from home more efficiently. Ryan gives his friend, Doug, from school, who's working in a commercial computer company, a bell. They have a long conversation about what Ryan wants, and he promises to put a package together that's custom-built. It will take some time to put together, so Ryan arranges to pick it up when he's down for his sister's birthday.

His last year starts, and he becomes aware that his days at MCT will be changed from Tuesdays and Thursdays to Wednesdays and Fridays. He's also been joined by another student from the University called Emily Clarkson. Funnily enough, she's from his hometown, and he's sure she used to visit the coffee shop he worked in. He gets a bad feeling from her and tries to avoid her, but she works next to him on his Wednesday afternoons, which makes it hard. MCT has stopped the Saturday because Ryan thinks Mr. Mahoney can't be bothered to work anymore Saturdays, and with the extra burden of the second student, he's getting a little lax.

Ryan is also being given a lot of small accounts that are making a loss. He turns them around, and as soon as they return a profit, the accounts disappear. He's not sure, but something doesn't feel right, so he records the time and day each time his account is changed. This adds to Ryan's notion that this is not real and a simulation.

He is finding making money increasingly easier, and his personal account has increased by forty percent since he returned and is in six figures. The main reason is that Ryan had hit on two penny share opportunities that returned over a thousand percent each. Penny shares he invested in are from companies that have a product and are looking for money to develop. Ryan considers it more luck than judgement that he found the right investment.

It's the weekend of Ryan's sister's birthday, and he travels down on Friday evening. The house is full of family, and he's having to bunk downstairs with his cousins, who are all younger than him.

Saturday is bright and sunny. It's been nice for a couple of days, and they are talking of an Indian summer. He goes out for his customary jog and would like to visit the gym, but Ryan feels he can do without for a couple of days. He's looking a lot more muscular but not ripped. He also visits one of his best mates from school and picks up the computer he ordered.

Ryan has put his new suit on and is looking his best as he walks into the restaurant with his family. They are seated at the large table. Ryan's sister, as usual, doesn't want her nerdy brother near her cramping her style. She finds him embarrassing, even though she has to admit that today he looks good. They are just about to order when the restaurant suddenly gets loud, and people are looking toward the door. Ryan ignores this and tries to get everyone to give the server their order.

He feels six people walk past behind him and up on the raised area of the Italian restaurant, away from him but in full view.

"Oh shit, it's the woman from Mac and Cheeze," Ryan's sister says to her mother.

Ryan leans forward and looks straight at his sister. "What did you say?" He asks, wanting clarification before he looks.

"It's that woman Rose Mac...something from YouTube. Her channel is called Mac N Cheeze."

Ryan is in conflict. Should he look or not? He has to. His eyes scan across to the table of three males and three females. His breath catches. 'There she is,' he thinks. Then, all his emotions from the last two years come flooding back. His heart is beating so hard he feels sick. 'Fuck, she looks so beautiful,' he thinks.

"Bloody hell, Ryan. Stop staring; it's not like you'll ever have a chance anyway." Ryan's sister says she doesn't want to be embarrassed by her nerdy perv of a brother. Ryan smiles at how little does his sister know.

He sees Rose has put on a little weight, but it doesn't make a difference and still looks incredible. Just then, she looks straight at him. He knows she recognizes him, so he smiles and nods his recognition. "Play it cool, man," he says to himself.

What he gets in return is the dirtiest look a person could give. It's like he's a piece of dog shit that's stuck to her shoe, and at that moment, Ryan feels his world fall apart. The bar person drops a glass at that moment, causing Ryan to think of the irony as his heart shatters into pieces. He had built up in his mind that night, and he had convinced himself that she felt the same, but seeing that look.