Battle

Nice name

It took her a solid two minutes to calm herself down and respond. She made her way slowly towards the trainer's table keeping her head low the entire time. She walked so slow that a turtle would have beat her to the table. On the way to the table she managed to think of 20 something reasons that she could give for her lack of punctuality.

The other participants were leaving the training room. Some of the boys threw a small smile towards her on their way out. She returned them shyly. The man was leaning at the edge of the table with his arms crossed across his chest.

Ayana stood in front of him leaving at least 6 feet of space between them. Thank you to her Asian genes, she looked like a dwarf while he looked like a giant. The size difference wasn't making it any easier for her to face him.

"Right?" The man asked. Ayana finally looked up at him, confused. "What?" It came out almost like a whisper. That's when she realised that this man had long dark hair tied into a low bun. He had light stubble along his defined jaw making him look like a Greek god.

"Ayana Sivam? That's you right?" He asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Oh, y..yes.. that is me..and I'm sorry for..."

"I'm Professor Barnes, I'll be your trainer for this programme. I don't like my session being interrupted. So if you think you can't make it on time please don't bother coming. If you have any questions you can get my number from one of the boys. Calls or texts after office hours will not be entertained." The man stated sternly cutting off her stuttering.

Rude. She thought to herself.

She just stood there looking at him trying to find some words to say. Suddenly she forgot how to speak English. When she opened her mouth no words came out. Professor Barnes raised his eyebrows getting impatient. Ayana thought it was best to just keep her mouth shut. So she just nodded and left.

She felt like she could finally breathe once she was out the door. She made her way to her favourite café on campus for lunch. After the encounter with Professor Barnes, she needed all the energy she could get for the next three classes of the day.

After a very long tiring day at the campus Ayana arrived at her room. She took a quick shower and poured some cereal on a bowl for dinner. She needed to save money to get a new laptop that could run her drawing software. So most of her meals consisted of cereal and ramen noodles. She settled in her desk and read through some of the materials provided by Professor Barnes in preparation for the training session the next day. It was 1 am in the morning and Ayana decided to call it a night.

The moment her head hit the pillow, she was out as light.

~

She made sure to arrive fifteen minutes early to the training today. She wanted to get some coffee on her way to the session. An idea crossed her mind while she was waiting for her turn to order.

What if I get Professor Barnes coffee as a way to apologize for yesterday?

How she was actually going to find the courage to give it to him was another problem of it's own. But without thinking too much about it, she ordered two black coffees and made her way to the computer room. She was the first to arrive, so she settled in a seat at the front row. She could feel her heart beating in her ears as she was thinking of about a hundred ways to give him the coffee.

She decided on the easiest option and placed the coffee on his table and went back to her seat. Eventually the other students entered the room and took their seat. A cute blonde-haired boy took the empty seat next to hers'. He gave her a gorgeous smile showcasing his pearly white teeth. She returned the gesture.

He extended his hand and said "Hi, I'm Edwin". The dimples on his cheeks were definitely distracting.

Ayana shook his hand introducing herself. "Hello, I'm Ayana".

"Nice name" he said winking at her. Ayana blushed. Edwin then busied himself messing with the computer on his desk.

Right on time, Professor Barnes walked into the room wearing a black button up shirt tucked into grey slack pants, looking dashing as ever. Ayana was nervously biting and picking on the dried skin of her lower lips as she waited for his reaction to the scorching hot coffee sitting on his table. It was a habit she developed from her dad.

Professor Barnes looked at the coffee for a moment placing his things on the table. Thinking it was left by someone from the previous session, he simply took it and made his way to the trash can to dispose it. A light whimper escaped Ayana's plump lips. A whimper that was too soft for anyone to hear. Even Edwin who was sitting right next to her.

But it definitely did not miss Professor Barnes's ears. He stopped in his tracks and looked at Ayana. She had this almost animated 'lost puppy' look on her face with her big brown eyes fixed on the coffee in his hands.

"Is this yours?" He asked gesturing to the cup in his hand.

"umm...it's uh...it's for you.."

His lips curved upwards slightly as he asked "You got this coffee for me?". The smirk on his face was causing Ayana to stutter.

Her struggle to form a basic sentence was amusing to Professor Barnes. He found it cute.

Deciding to cut her some slack, he took a sip of the coffee and said "Thank you, it's exactly how I like it" with a sly smirk.

Ayana could literally feel the heat rising from her neck all the way up to her cheeks and ears. Lucky for her she's brown.

For the next hour she actively tried to avoid eye contact with him. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see him taking sips of the coffee which made her happy. The rest of the session mostly consisted of Professor Barnes demonstrating the basics of the software through the projector and the students following along.

As everyone was busy designing a basic reaction tank, Professor Barnes decided to walk around the room. Ayana finished the task in less than five minutes as she had experience designing an actual plant for her lecturer during her second year. She decided to help Edwin with his task as he was struggling.

While teaching Edwin, she heard Professor Barnes's footsteps approaching her desk. He crouched down to the level of her computer screen and studied her drawing. His head was so close to hers. Her heart was beating fast and the butterflies in her stomach were going crazy. She thought she was going to pass out from the smell of his cologne.

"Impressive" he stated, eyes still fixed to her computer screen. Ayana was so happy. His compliment meant a lot to her.

"Thank you" she replied. This time without stuttering.

The sudden confidence in her voice took Professor Barnes by surprise making him look at her. His lips was only a few inches away from her cheeks. She decided to keep her head straight. Professor Barnes let his eyes roam her face for a bit studying her thick lashes and pointy nose. She looked so beautiful he almost couldn't believe his eyes.

But his gaze was just too much to handle for her causing an involuntary sigh escape her lips.

Professor Barnes snapped back to reality. He cleared his throat straightening himself and walked towards his table. Now it was his turn to avoid any eye contact with her. He couldn't believe that he let himself slip up like that.

When the session ended, Edwin invited her to have lunch with his friends.