12. The World Is Mine
The older woman with the bad tight perm remained sitting behind her small white desk. She set the receiver back down onto the cradle. She simply cast her eyes over to her and grumbled. 'He's ready for you now.'
She nodded to the woman as she stood, putting her hands on her jean clad thighs to steady them before taking a deep breath. She could feel the older woman watching her, so she inhaled silently and raised her chin striding towards the glass pained door. She gripped the gold doorknob in her pale fist and twisted.
The white bearded man was sitting behind his fiercely large mahogany desk – overcompensating perhaps? She smirked to herself. He placed his palms onto the sides on the desk for leverage and stood respectfully as she entered the room and shut the door behind her with a quiet click.
He smiled warmly. 'Ms Fabray, thank you for waiting.' He gestured a large hand towards the two small armchairs placed in front of the desk. 'Please, take a seat.'
Under his gaze she walked forward and placed herself into the small armchair to the left. He noticed her unease and chuckled slightly.
'I understand we haven't had the chance to meet yet Ms Fabray?'
She cleared her throat. 'Please Professor Adkins, just call me Quinn.'
He sat back into his chair smiling, placing his fingertips together into a peak. 'Okay then Quinn, none of this Professor Adkins business.' He waved a dismissive hand. 'Just James, okay?' He smiled, his eyes lit expectantly.
'Uh...' She stuttered slightly. 'O-Okay…'
He clicked his fingers. 'Good. Now onto more pressing matters. Your graduation is coming up…'
Her eyes lit up in alarm. 'Uh…'
He chuckled. 'Don't worry Quinn, you're still graduating.'
She sighed in clear relief. 'Sorry, go on…'
He smiled again. 'As I was saying, obviously you are aware of your impending graduation. Also, as you already know, every year each graduating class has a guest speaker from one of your leading professors. Would you like to be the speaker this year Quinn…?'
Her face dropped like a lead weight and she choked on her own saliva. 'I'm sorry?' She screeched at an unnaturally high pitch.
He smiled that he had captured her attention. 'The staff normally discusses at length which professor would be most suitable to speak in front of each graduating class. However, this year we decided on a change. We decided that alongside the professor speaking, we should also have a graduating student speak to their fellow graduating class. You know, to make the whole experience more relatable – rather than listening to some old professor babble that you've been listening to for the past four years.'
Her eyes flickered back and forth, still trying to recover from the sudden request.
'B-but…wh-why…'
'Why you?' He asked looking at her closely. She nodded slowly finally looking at him.
'Because we think you can be an example to your fellow graduates. We've been impressed by you Quinn. You didn't have the best start here at NYU, but we've seen you really develop – the staff here unanimously agree with me. We talked at great length about the possibility of requesting to present you as a leading example of how to succeed to your fellow graduates. We think that you could be the perfect fit as a speaker at your graduation. What do you think of the idea? You've been very quiet…' He chuckled to himself.
'Well…I…can't say I'm not surprised…' She managed to squeak out.
'Of course you can refuse, and we'll just go back to the old way of doing things. We just thought it would be an interesting change…are you interested at all…?'
She almost waited too long to reply. 'I…' She laughed. 'I…' She started to laugh. Properly, giddy, belly laughing. She felt moisture sting her eyes as she clung onto her abdomen as her whole body shook. When she looked up, she found Professor Adkins watching her with a confused expression and a raised brow.
He cleared his throat. 'May…may I ask what is so amusing Quinn…?'
'Just that you want me of all people to do this!' She managed to croak out before she calmed herself down enough to speak without her voice cracking. 'I just…look at me…look at my track record…'
He sat back again, serenely smiling to himself. 'Exactly.' He held up his hands.
She gave him a puzzled look. 'So lemme get this straight. You want me the girl who failed first year here; the one who skips class more than I'm actually there, and the one who rarely hands in papers on time to be the class speaker?'
She chuckled shaking her head. 'You are out of your mind Sir.'
He smiled. 'Interesting…' She stared at him. He raised a brow before a shrug. 'I never pegged you as one to back away from a fight Quinn...'
Her insides ignited. She knew what he was doing. She gritted her teeth and stuck out her pale slight hand in comparison to his, looking him straight in his watery blue eyes.
'I'll do it.'