The day that Cassandra had been working hard toward for years had finally arrived. It was her graduation day, she would receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. She was ecstatic. All the hard work: late hours studying, traveling back and forth to classes around her work schedule, tuition payments and paying extra in child care, it all was beneficial for this day.

Cassandra proudly sat in her seat in the auditorium wearing her cap and gown, along with the other graduates, staff and family and friends that were in attendance for the College of The Bahamas commencement ceremony.

Graduating summa cum laude, Cassandra stood when her name was called. Her heart was thundering in her chest and she held back the tears that wanted to spring free. “This is it!” she told herself as she walked up the steps to receive her diploma. The crowd was cheering her on, which added to whole surreal feeling of the occasion for her.

She recognized a few distinct voices in the crowd. She turned her head and saw Josiah and Trinity, standing and cheering her name. They stood next to Veronica who was also applauding loudly, whooping “Cassandra, Cassandra!” Standing next to her was Damian. He’d insisted on coming, so Cassandra finally introduced him to her kids as her friend. He too was proudly cheering her on. To her surprise, two rows behind where Damian and the others were sitting, was her mother. The sight of Claudia really shocked her. The fact that her mother was actually standing up applauding as well deepened her surprise.

Cassandra accepted her diploma and congratulatory hug from the college President. Veronica had made her way to the stage to snap a few photos. As she walked to the other end of the stage to return to her seat, she heard another deep male voice shouting out her name, she turned her head and there, a few rows from the back was Marco, standing next to his twin sisters. Their eyes locked, then he winked at her. And just like that he had her hot and bothered.