Repeatedly blowing and sipping from the cup, Lilian strolled down the campus into the presentation hall.
The new Faculty Hall had only been constructed about a year ago. It had that signature high ceiling, wooden panels and probably more than 500 seats. Maybe it was the size of the hall, the lingering scent of paint, or the weight of the door, Lilian subconsciously had a minor hit of adrenaline as soon as she pushed the heavy door open.
Lee, her Teaching Assistant, had arrived slightly earlier and was standing at the front, gesturing and cueing at the campus staff to reposition the rostrum on the stage.
“It’s looking good,” exclaimed Lilian while walking past the raked seating, “is everything ready yet?”
“I just got here myself, but they’ve cleaned everything already,” replied Lee.
Lilian walked up to the stage and quickly thanked the staff. She rested her half-full black coffee on the stage, let out a dry grin, then ran back down.
“I forgot to bring my laptop,” Lilian said to Lee with a happy-little-girl expression on her face, “do you have yours with you?”
“Here you go,” Lee took out a lightweight laptop from her bag, “no password.”
Lilian received the laptop and ran back up on stage. After a few maneuvers, she let out another dry grin.
“How do you start the slideshow,” Lilian yelled at the air.
A staffer with a bluish-black polo shirt jogged up to the rostrum. Lilian grabbed her coffee and took a step back, letting him set everything up.
Lilian tapped her index finger on the cup somewhat rhythmically. After a few moments, a picture of the galaxy appeared on the projector screen, with the words “A First Glance into the Alien World – Detection of Chemical Compounds in the Exoplanetary Atmosphere Using Spectroscopy” bolded and centered on the screen.
“It’s working now,” said the staffer while smiling politely, “you can use the pointer to change slides.”
He handed the presentation laser pointer to her. Although her left hand was empty, she reflexively reached out for the pointer with her right hand, spilling a little bit of coffee on the floor.
She tested the buttons to change the slides, then she held down the laser and pointed it towards the screen, spilling a little bit more coffee, this time on her shoes.
“Ah,” Lilian let out an angry shout, but her face was both laughing and annoyed at the same time.
Both Lee and the staffer chuckled. Lee experienced this daily, but she still found it funny every time.
The next hour, however, was a boring waiting game.
The Dean of the Science Faculty was the first to show up. Without realizing it herself, Lilian subtly adjusted her hair, eyelids and lips while walking down the stage to greet him. They were in different discipline and their work had little overlap, so she didn’t really know much about him personally.
After some casually professional chatters, a few other professors from the other universities showed up. She would’ve loved to talk to them, but engaging with the Dean already took some enthusiasm off of her, plus it was a 5-day Symposium anyway. She decided to simply fade out from the crowd.
Once the people started to talk to each other, she slowly made her way back up the stage, subconsciously but definitely with a more “professional” and “woman-like” gait.
After a while, two men walked into the hall, one holding a big camera and the other a big stand.
As Lilian put down the laser pointer in her hand, the sweat marks on the pointer quickly evaporated. Her hand moved towards the lukewarm black coffee that still had a few more sips. She knew that the presentation would be broadcast live over the Internet, but locking eyes with a giant lens somehow instinctively made her feel like a prey animal.