Paige leaned against the wall of the Williams Building, as she huffed and puffed, trying to catch her breath. She wiped the sweat on her forehead with a handkerchief, and straightened her collar. It was quite likely that she looked like what the cat dragged in, but she didn't care. It was two minutes to ten, and she felt like a freaking winner.

After Paige brought her breathing under control, she walked into the hall, and her eyes darted around furiously for a familiar and friendly face. Finally, she spotted Casey Holland, her closest friend in the department.

Casey beckoned to her with a wave. "Hurry up Paige. I kept a seat for you."

Paige dashed over to her and slipped into her seat, just in the nick of time. Professor Rawlings walked in and mounted the stage a few seconds later. His face was stern as he surveyed the audience and tapped his wristwatch. Paige raised her wrist to check the time and realised that she forgot to wear hers. A quick glance at the wall clock confirmed her suspicion. It was ten o'clock sharp. She hissed. "What a punctual mother trucker!"

"Good morning students. Welcome to today's departmental meeting. I am here to address you about an important project you will be embarking on." Professor Rawlings said. He pointed a finger and gestured with his hand in sweeping movements, making him look more like Simon Cowell than he already did. "I hope you all remembered to put on your name tag stickers, you will be put into groups of three and supervised by some of my exceptional PhD students."

The students murmured as they answered, "Yes."

Paige rolled her eyes and whispered to Casey, "Bollocks! I forgot my name tag!"

Casey giggled, "Relax, it's kind of hard to forget you anyway."

"Aww, how sweet of y—"

"Paige Adesanya, would you like to take over from here?" Professor Rawlings asked, and gave her a pointed look. There was pin drop silence, and all eyes were on her.

"No sir, I am sorry," she replied in a soft voice.

Professor Rawlings smiled and continued talking. Casey whispered into Paige's ear, "See? I told you. You are hard to forget. Your cute figure, caramel skin and big, brown—"

"Don't you have a boyfriend? Keep quiet and pay attention," Paige joked.

"—without further ado, let me introduce you to your project supervisors." Professor Rawlings said. "Give them a round of applause as they mount the stage."

Four men and four women smiled broadly and took their places on the seats, after introducing themselves. Paige observed them, and looked away with disinterest.

Professor Rawlings typed a few things on his laptop and projected the screen onto the overhead whiteboard. "You have been divided into nine groups. Check your name for your group and supervisor. These ladies and gentlemen will go to some designated spots in the hall where you will have a brief meet and greet, one on one, and discuss what the project entails."

The PhD students went to different angles of the hall where some chairs had already been arranged and they waved.

"I'm in group three," Casey said, "and my supervisor is Olushola Pratt." She got up, and dusted her jeans, entirely unnecessary, but it was a habit of hers. "What about you, Paige?"

"There must be a mistake. Can't you see the screen? Apparently, I am the only person in group nine, and my supervisor is Brian Rochester."

Casey gasped, she tucked an auburn red lock of hair behind her ear, and her bright green eyes widened. "Rawlings didn't introduce us to anyone with that name."

"Exactly," Paige said.

Casey gave a good suggestion. "Raise your hand and tell him before he goes, so you don't end up floating or doing some crappy lab work to make up the course credits."

Paige raised her hand, and waved it furiously. Professor Rawlings was already on his way off the stage. Fortunately, he got a glimpse of her hand and halted. "Yes? Is there a problem?" he asked.

"Yes sir. Who is Brian Rochester? You didn't introduce us to him." Paige responded. She had to shout over the murmuring of her classmates, as they shuffled to the designated spots in the hall to meet their supervisors.

"Oh, pardon me for that. He was already here before his colleagues arrived. He is standing over there." Professor Rawlings pointed at a man who stood at the right side of the hall with his arms crossed.

Paige bobbed her head left and right to get a better look, but she could not see him very well from where she stood. "Alright sir, I'll go and see him."

Professor Rawlings smiled and whispered, "Good luck," before he chuckled and walked away.

Practically everyone had already located their supervisors and were already seated before Paige made her way over to him. By the time she got there, his arms were still crossed and his jaw was clenched. Paige had a seat and smiled, ignoring his frosty glare. "Hello, my name is Paige Ade—"

"Let us get straight to business," he interjected sharply. "You will be working on the assessment of the medicinal properties of Hawton flowers," he said in a deep, hoarse voice.

"—sanya," Paige said as she blinked her eyes haughtily.

Brian arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"I said, 'sanya'. That is the end of my surname. You did not allow me to complete my introduction. My name is Paige Uzo Adesanya." She squared her shoulders and held his icy, blue gaze without flinching. She was born and raised in Leeds, but she was imbibed with her parental cultural values to show respect to elders and people in authority. Nevertheless, she was not going to take crap from anybody. If he were mistaken, she would not hesitate to jolly well straighten him out.

His eyes bored into hers as he regarded her silently. He had seen her when she rushed into the hall, borderline late, with a big smile on her face. She looked like a typical, happy go lucky fresher, who had no idea what she had gotten into by opting for Pharmacy. He ran a hand through his thick, sandy, blonde hair and paused briefly before responding. "Alright. I will assist you with the biological sampling techniques, and put you through with the initial lab work."

Paige's signature smile returned, "That sounds great. I can't wait to start."

"Good. You will give me weekly reports on every Friday by eight a.m." Brian said.

Fiddlesticks! Paige thought, she absolutely hated waking up early. She counted her job at Carol Street Pharmacy a blessing because she was asked to resume at noon, three days a week.

He noticed her frown. "Is there a problem, Paige?"

"Not at all. Everything is peachy," she replied.

"Good. You will be required to report to the lab, twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays by nine a.m. sharp." he said with emphasis on sharp.

Double fiddlesticks! There goes my off days! she thought. "Excuse me, Mr Rochester," she said condescendingly, "Those are my off days. I work every other weekday."

"You still have weekends don't you?" he asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, but—"

"Find a way around it. Time management and responsibility are part of being an adult, Paige. You are an adult, aren't you?"

Is being an over official sod part of being an adult too? she wondered.

"Of course I am an adult. I am eighteen, do children get into uni?" she muttered.

"Good. For this project you'll be expected to act like one. See you in the lab tomorrow."