I always knew I'd never have time to head home and then back to the university. Often I wondered why I even bothered paying rent. It would probably be cheaper to have a storage unit to my name.

Regardless, once I'd set the camera up in my lab to properly observe the mouse this time, I made my way to the gym. This early in the morning, it would be deserted, which in turn meant no weird looks when I'd swipe my badge just to use the showers.

I just had to look presentable enough to them. And I had to be just the right amount of presentable too. Any more or less and they'd have a field day. Most of the board hated me, but the university really wanted an award-winning scientist as their poster boy so I was given quite a bit of of leeway. Something I had consistently taken advantage of.

I stared at the closed door across me where a team of idiots were going to decide the fate of my research. It was cruel. All they cared about was profit and revenue. And as of yet, I had been profitable. I had brought revenue.

I had agreed to simultaneously take part in two different research avenues, but my heart and soul lay in the one I did out of hours. The one I needed to complete. I tugged at the collar of my charcoal suit as it got harder to breathe all of a sudden. I couldn't afford to lose this job. Not now.

I undid the collar button of my shirt and then turned my attention to the plush rug placed diagonally under the coffee table, just across me. Colours always calmed me, and the rug was a bright splash of blue on the otherwise dull hardwood floor. Even the fancy leather armchair I was asked to wait on was black. It exuded power, not style.

That's what this meeting was to them, a display of power. I attempted to swallow but noticed how dry my mouth was. My throat felt tight too, constricted, making it nearly impossible to swallow. I needed to get ahold of myself. Breathe. Relax. They couldn't take this away from me.

"Dr Gilbert?"

My head shot up. A short, smiling brunette stood a few feet away, holding a clipboard and a pen.

"Anna," I greeted with an equally kind smile. I had always felt sorry for her. She was a talented young lady stuck working for people that recognised no one bar themselves.

"They're ready for you," Anna said maintaining her polite smile. I was almost certain her eyes lingered on my neck for a second too long. It might have been a warning, Anna was far too polite to stare at my scruffy appearance just because.

I straightened my tie before rising from the lush armchair, almost certain I had caught a subtle nod from her.

"Have you set my presentation?" I asked, trying my best to utilise conversation to mask the weight that had suddenly dropped in the pit of my stomach.

"Of course Doctor," she responded, giving me another wide smile that showcased her little dimples. In another life, I might have asked her out. In a life where my mother didn't have a massive countdown looming above her head perhaps. In an alternate world where I wouldn't even have chosen to pursue multiple doctorates. I wouldn't have needed to.

Anna handed me a small remote control, "I've set the live feed of your lab on channel two," she added and then paused with a pointed stare.

I smiled again, although this time I was certain my creased brows depicted more confusion than decorum. "Um ... thanks?" I finally managed, unsure what else I was supposed to say, to notice.

Anna gave a small sigh before plastering another smile on her face, this one a little sadder.

I was getting fired. I was sure of it now. Anna must have known but she couldn't tell me. I racked my mind for the clauses of my contract, trying to decide whether or not I had grounds to sue the vultures.

"Dr Gilbert?"

My head jutted out once more and I noticed Anna was already standing beside the door, one hand on the handle. I made my way towards her, "I'm ready," I declared.

She opened the hardwood door almost entirely camouflaged in the wall. It was as if the floor had decided to start travelling vertically once it hit the border. I had seen better accent walls. Especially since the rest of the waiting area was a drab beige. I made my way to the room, straightening my tie and coat once more before I stepped in.

If the purpose of this meeting was to demonstrate their authority, the vultures had done quite well. I entered at the far end of the room and was immediately faced by ten men with their thick hair in comb-overs and in suits that probably cost more than I made in a year. All of them faced me, expressionless as they sat around the giant oval table.

I was a little glad I had opted for my rather plain charcoal suit instead of the emerald double-breasted one. Green would have been too colourful for these tasteless vultures. A shame. I liked that suit. It was the only three-piece suit I owned and it matched the colour of my eyes. Ma had always said I looked better in green.

I took a deep breath and faced the vultures with my head held high. Dr Verne was there too, among the vultures in his navy suit and gelled side-part, reminding me very suddenly of my worth. I spotted my dark-haired, clean-shaven sponsor quite quickly. He was the only one wearing a bright yellow sweater over a pair of jeans after all. I could see occasional red peeking through the cable knitting of his sweater and it made me smile.

My sponsor, or Director Riquebourc, as he had introduced himself smiled back growing my confidence even more. I wasn't quite sure what he was the director of, the few times we had communicated other than by email, his thick accent had indicated English may not have been his first language.

"So," I began, breaking the silence before they could, "I understand you want to be apprised of my progress." I made eye contact with the blond, wiry man at the head of the table. Mr Dea was the chair of the board after all and he never let it be forgotten. "I can only assume you mean my official work with the university, because anything I do after hours with my equipment is not the university's concern."

Mr Dea leaned forward, interlocking his fingers with a smile that exuded victory, "I had a feeling you'd say that Dr Gilbert," he said, spitting venom with every word he uttered, "however, the University by-laws dictate that we have control over all of your funding so long as you are employed with us."

And there it was. They wanted me to bend or leave.

I smiled back placing both hands on the table, it was supposed to be a polite, professional smile, but it came out a sneer. I had spent a lifetime studying human behaviour, one of my doctorates was in this very field, they couldn't fool me. "So let me get this straight," I said as a small chuckle escaped, "you want to cut my funding and you're doing that by calling Director Riquebourc and me out in front of the entire board." I winced and took a seat across the chairman, "Did you really think this through?"

The blond chairman was still smiling, "Your behaviour is one of the reasons we are here Dr Gilbert." He tapped the forefingers of both hands against each other gently as he spoke.

I paused. Tapping fingers as the man was, indicated a number of possibilities. Metronomic signals, they were called, constant movements such as drumming fingers, or tapping feet. And they always showed a desire to release extra energy. It was more likely Dea was either anxious or was planning something, neither of which were helpful to my situation.

"What do you really want Mr Chairman?" I demanded, sitting upright, never breaking eye contact. I wasn't going to be bullied into submission, not by a vulture like him.

"I've made myself quite clear." Dea didn't change his posture for a minute, "you're wasting funding that could be allocated to better departments, Dr Gilbert. You're exhausted," he then added and interlocked his fingers again, "between your odd hours and your understandable time at the hospice I wonder if you have any time for your contracted work."

I scoffed, much louder than I cared to admit. They were provoking me, poking and prodding and it was working, "Are you blaming my dying mother?!" I wasn't sure how I had managed to keep my volume as low as I had. I wanted to yell at them, instead my voice was a little louder than a whisper. But I could feel the vein throbbing in my neck and I knew that my expression had relayed exactly what I felt.

"Of course not," Dr Verne wheezed, "you're exhausted Theo, you have every reason to be. I just think—and the board agrees, you need a break."

I shook my head, my jaw tightening at the accusation, "My ailing mother is the very reason I was awarded both my doctorates," I reminded them, "you had no issues with my exhaustion when it gave me international awards." I clenched my fists so hard that my palms hurt. Dr Verne shrank in his seat but Dea seemed unfazed by my outburst.

"We're only trying to help you, Theo—"

"Don't," I snarled, I hated when they used my first name like we were long lost friends of some sort. "Don't bother."

There were really only two roads in front of me now. I could agree to take their mandatory leave and stop working on my mother's cure or I could leave.

Ma didn't have long, I had a better chance of being recruited by a different organisation if I quit. My contract ensured I wasn't allowed to work in another university for a few years, but at least I could walk away with my experiment. I could take a loan, rent a storage unit and make my own lab. It wasn't the end of the world.

I hadn't realised I was staring absently at my hands, or that everyone else in the room was staring at me so intently. Not until I looked back up at least.

"Wait!" Riquebourc said as I had barely opened my mouth. I shut it again with a curious frown at my sponsor. "Before you decide anything," he said, his eyes darting frantically from Dea to me, "we should take a recess."

"I agree," Dea smiled, his malice as thinly veiled as the logo on the handkerchief bulging out of his breast pocket.

I made no motion as the men around me shuffled out of their seats and the room. Dr Verne attempted to pat my back, but I stiffened at his touch. It was too little too late.

Once everyone had left, I turned to the man who had called a recess sitting just at the right of Dea's power seat.

"Why?" I asked Riquebourc. I wasn't in the mood for a lot of words and it wouldn't be fair to lash out at my only supporter in the room.

"Taking a sabbatical is a terrible idea," he urged, and he put both hands on the table with such force that I was certain most of the board would return. But they didn't.

So I nodded, "I know," I responded with surprising calm, and an even more unexpected smile.

"It gives them the upper hand!" Riquebourc continued, oblivious to what I had just said, "They will hold this over you for the rest of your career here!"

"I know," I repeated.

"They need you more than you need them!"

"I know."

Riquebourc frowned, as if just having registered what I had said, "You weren't going to accept their sabbatical?"

I snorted, "No." I was oddly calm now. This felt like the right decision to make after all, "Why do you want me to quit though, Director?" I wondered aloud, "We barely communicate outside of emails and updates. For all you know I'm really as messed up as they claim."

Riquebourc laughed, far too hard and for too long. He had to hold his chest to calm himself after a minute, "I've worked with enough boards to understand politics, Theo."

For some reason Riquebourc calling me Theo didn't annoy me as much as the others had.

"Sucks to be them," I then revealed with a chuckle of my own, "I'm much farther along than these idiots realise. I was actually going to show them exactly that before quitting when you stopped me."

"Ah!" My sponsor gave me a sheepish smile, "Rained on your parade a little then?"

"Little bit," I admitted with a grin, "it won't be as dramatic anymore but I'll try my best."

We shared a laugh before falling silent. I was about to suggest calling the others in when Riquebourc spoke again.

"Where will you go?" He wasn't smiling now, in fact, his slanted eyes insinuated concern. Something I didn't need.

"I'll find something," I assured, "sooner or later. Once word gets out that I've left employment here, I'll get offers." I was confident in my value to the field of science even if the idiots around me weren't.

"There's no guarantee the next board won't be as awful as this one."

I shook my head, sighing again, "No, there isn't," I admitted. I wasn't too worried about it though, everyone played nice the first few years.

Riquebourc drummed his fingers together like Dea had, "So what if you had a different experience entirely?"

My eyebrow arched up faster than I realised. Riquebourc was clearly an opportunist, but I wasn't very sure how I felt about working for my sponsor. "Different how?"

"A haven for bright minds from around the globe," he said softly, his voice a deliberate whisper while his eyes sparkled with excitement.

"I'm assuming that's not in Seris," I guessed, maintaining the volume Riquebourc used.

My sponsor shook his head, "It wouldn't be a haven unless it was concealed from governments too."

I didn't like the use of the word 'conceal,' but that wasn't even my biggest concern. "How far?" I asked.

"Quite," Riquebourc responded persistently, "a good few hours away by plane."

Plane? As in aeroplane? It was risky, I could think of several complications arising, "I'm sorry." I offered the most apologetic smile possible, "The whole reason I'm doing this is for my Ma, she can't fly and I can't just leave her here. Not when she's so ill."

Riquebourc frowned, deep in thought for a minute, "Theo," he finally said, "you can choose to spend your time with her, counting down her final days. Or you can choose to make sure you never have to for a long time."

I hesitated. He was right, of course he was. But agreeing would mean leaving Ma completely alone for some time.

"Okay." Riquebourc scratched his clean-shaven chin, visibly lost in thought, "What if you work on and off?" he suggested, "I can make sure you fly back here for the weekend, and spend some time with your mother."

I smiled, unsure if I should be flattered by his persistence or the freedom he was giving me. "Director," I finally managed to say, "I'm flattered and so grateful but this ... it's about more than just spending some time with her. I need to be here immediately if she takes a turn for the worse and I can't do that if I'm thousands of miles away."

The silence that followed made my heart ache a little but it was interrupted just as suddenly by Anna's polite knock.

Riquebourc sat up straight, "I won't force you, Theo," he said as Anna peeked in, clearing her throat, "and I won't stop sponsoring you either way. Think about it?"

I nodded, first at my sponsor and then at Anna.

This wasn't a decision I could make right now. And at least Riquebourc respected that.