Over the short time he had been at the college, Ameer had managed to offend nearly the entire faculty in some way or another. What irritated most of his colleagues was his arrogant, disdainful attitude, as well as his way of asking them for their opinions, only to dismiss them as if they were as worthless as a one-eared bat. The trouble started when he was made Head Invigilator for the first-term exam.

He was in his late twenties and quite popular among his female students because of his looks. He had a light complexion, was taller than the average man, and had a slim, lithe body. His premature baldness only seemed to add to his looks, making him more desirable to most of his female learners for some mysterious reason. (Perhaps it was because he had the Vin Diesel look: the shiny, shaved head.) It also helped that he was a natural flirt and could be as charming as a cute baby.

In his first meeting with the invigilation team, he had handed out a sheet of instructions. “I am the Head Invigilator,” he stated, in an emphatic tone. Each time he used the word “I”, he stressed and uttered it as if it meant ‘king’ or ‘lord’. “I expect all of you to adhere to the instructions as spelled out to the letter. I do not want any of you to come to me when something goes wrong, and claim that you didn’t know what to do.”

As he carried on lording it over the lecturers, his colleagues bristled with indignance. Ameer was oblivious to all of this, as he was too focused on the mesmerising sound of his own voice, like a donkey caught up in his own echoing brays. The lecturers looked at each other and, as one, they became united in their dislike of the upstart. Nomhle especially took offence to his manner and bided her time until she could get revenge.

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Tell us: What do you think of Ameer?