The Dean

Lily woke up to the sound of Joan's loud alarm. It was almost a recurring situation. Joan would set her alarm but instead of waking up, it would wake Lily up, who in turn would wake her up. It was not any different this morning.

"Joan!" Lily groaned from her sleep. "Get up." She repeatedly shoved the sleeping bag of potatoes next to her.

Joan rolled on her side. With her back to Lily, she continued with her sleep. When Lily realized her roommate wasn't going to wake up, she grudgingly reached out for Joan's phone. Taking a moment to rub her eyes, she turned the alarm off. After a few minutes of futile trying, Lily decided there was no way she could return back to sleep.

After a long stretch and a big yawn, she flung the big yellow blanket that she shared with Joan, off her. She forced her feet into the soft, feathery flip flop that Neo got her as a birthday present the year before. Rising to her feet, she picked her phone off the bedside table before dragging herself out of the room. Her first stop was the kitchen, where she took out a bottle of water from the fridge. Taking a moment to gobble down half of the bottle's contents, she leaned against the kitchen counter to go through her phone.

At the top of her screen, she noticed an email notification. Placing the water bottle down on the counter, she unlocked her phone to view the contents of the email. Almost immediately, her eyes widened. It was an email from the dean of the art faculty, asking her to appear in his office by 7 am. Her eyes instantly dashed for the top corner of her phone in search of the time. It was 6:10 am. It took her roughly twenty minutes to get to the university from the apartment, which meant she was left with less than thirty minutes to freshen up.

Gently slamming her phone on the counter, she rushed into the bedroom. Without a moment of thought, she dragged her towel down from the wardrobe door and headed into the bathroom. It was maybe a record for the fastest bath she had ever taken in her entire life, but she did it and was out in a heartbeat. She scrambled through her closet, taking out the closet outfit she could find. She eventually went with knee-length shorts, a baggy T-shirt and a face cap for her messy hair.

While she hurriedly put her clothes on, Joan was woken up by all the noise. She sat up in bed, slowly rubbing her eyes as she yawned. "Where are you going in such a rush?" She mumbled sleepily when she noticed a panicking Lily.

"The Dean of our faculty wants to see me." Lily blurted nervously.

Joan's sleepy eyes immediately widened. "The dean?!" It was almost a yell. "How did you find out? Did he say why?"

"I got an email from him this morning," Lily mumbled, pulling out a pair of loafers from under the bed. "He didn't mention why but he wants me in his office before 7 am."

Joan reached for her phone, glancing at the time. "It's 6:37 Lily."

Though she didn't mean to, Joan's announcement threw Lily into a state of greater panic. She sprung to her feet, hastily did her hair into a bun before forcing it into her face cap.

"How do I look?" She didn't wait for Joan to respond before running around to pick her bag and a few other essentials.

"You don't want the answer to that question Lily." And she was right. Lily looked as shabby as ever.

"See you later Joan." Lily yelled as she dashed out of the bedroom.

Before Joan could respond, Lily had taken her phone off the kitchen counter along with the half bottle of water and headed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

Asher was ushered into the office, his assistant that also doubled as a bodyguard that followed him everywhere, walked behind him.

"Welcome Mr Asher," an older, stern-looking man with thick round glasses offered his hand for a shake.

"Thank you." Asher mumbled, taking the man's hand in a short handshake.

The older man showed Asher to a chair on the other side of a big wooden desk. "Can I get you anything?" The man asked as Asher took his seat.

"No." He replied flatly.

The man made his way to his seat at the big table, across from where Asher sat. He took a quick glance at his watch. "She should be here any minute." he stated calmly.

Asher simply grunted, taking up his phone to look through for any new emails he may have gotten. A moment later, a knock came on the door. Clearing his throat, Asher put his phone away to look up. A second after the knock, the door opened to reveal a shabby looking Lily, panting as quietly as she could.

When Lily noticed Asher Blackwood sitting across from Mr Gabriel, Dean of the art faculty, she knew she was in for some trouble. Taking a deep breath to steady her breathing, she slowly walked into the office.

Keeping her eyes on Mr Gabriel, she shut the door gently. "Good morning sir," she muttered.

"You're late," Asher spat, glaring at her with hostile eyes.

Lily heard him, but she chose to keep her eyes on the Dean. "You asked to see me sir." she spoke calmly, ignoring Asher who fumed when he realized she was ignoring him.

The nerve of this girl, Asher thought as he stared at her. Even when she was right in front of a higher authority, she still disrespected him. As much as he wanted to speak, he remained quiet, knowing what was coming.

"Yes Lily, I did," the Dean began. Crossing his fingers into each other, he looked up at Lily with seriousness in his eyes. "I'll go straight to the point, I wouldn't want to waste Mr Blackwood's time,"

Lily almost rolled her eyes at the Dean's statement. Everyone seemed to kiss Asher's ass and she was disgusted by it. "Lily Grant," the Dean called with all sternness. "You are going to apologize to Mr Blackwood for disrespecting him and spilling coffee over his car seat."

Lily's jaw dropped slightly. She glanced at Asher who had a smirk on his face. The shock on Lily's face excited him, the smile on his face came naturally. Lily looked back at Mr Gabriel. "But sir I also had it poured over…"

"Lily, there is no excuse for your punishable behavior," he cut her off hastily. "You should be grateful that Mr Blackwood is gracious enough not to cut you out of his program."

Asher could feel himself working up a laugh as he watched the drama that both adults were acting out in front of him. What he enjoyed most was the expression on Lily's face. As satisfying as it was to him, it was making Lily furious. She was forced out of bed, ran through the streets looking like a person who was spit out of a whale's mouth, just because Asher's pride was wounded and he needed to be pampered.

"Mr Dean I…"

"Apologize now Lily!"

The old man's harsh tone traveled through the air, piercing Lily's eardrums. Against every will in her body, she turned to Asher who looked at her with expectant eyes. She hates what she was about to do. She hates each person in the room, including herself, but she knew she had no choice.

"I'm sorry." she murmured grudgingly.

Asher looked at her with a wide grin. He was having fun and he wasn't done yet. "For?"

Lily bit her bottom lip in annoyance. Asher was milking her and she knew it. Swallowing slowly, she let out a silent sigh. "For spilling coffee over your car seat and disrespecting you."

With a victory smile, Asher got to his feet. "That would be all Mr Gabriel," he announced.

Not waiting for a response from the Dean, Asher headed out of the office, leaving behind a very furious Lily.