Chapter 1: The Proposal

Daniel Reed paused in packing up his things to watch Charlotte Richfield walk away towards the main foyer of the library. She was exquisite. Lovely long flowing blonde hair that fell around her shoulders in waves, watery blue eyes that dotted a perfect face, beautiful full tits, a small waist, and best of all a lovely round ass. And how she moved when she walked. She must know she was watching, girls always did, not that they ever let on. It’s not like he ever would have a chance with her, she was six inches taller than his 5’2” and she certainly did not strike him as the kind that wanted to look down on her boyfriend. That she even stuck with him as her tutor after seeing him the first time was a complete surprise. Certainly there must be an engineering major who was a better catch than him she could pay for lessons. She disappeared around the corner and he went back to packing up the rest of his belongings.

The brown haired post grad had just put the last of his books into his satchel when the alarm on his phone went off. It was the reminder of his appointment with Professor Carlisle. He glanced up at the clock before adjusting his glasses. He had 25 minutes to get to her residence at the other end of campus. He needed to hoof it. Slinging his pack over his shoulder he made for the side exit as it would be closer. It was a crisp October day, brown leaves layered the ground, the sun still shone over the top of MacEachern Hall in the late afternoon, early signs of Hallowe’en preparations were spotted now and again as he crossed campus. It was still a little over a week away but there was no such thing as being too early for that day he had learned.

He crossed the inner ring road and started through the large park that separated the residences from the other campus buildings. Even as a post grad he had not occasion to visit this area often, it had been more than a year ago. It was rather surprising that the professor wanted to meet him at her residence and not in her office. It would have been far more convenient if it were the last. He had grabbed the second last telephone number tab on the notice that hung in the library for the project he was applying for. The entire thing was gone a day later so someone else must have grabbed the other. It wasn’t even in his field, rather it was some kind of behavioural science thing he only half understood from the blurb on the paper. But the pay promised to be good and he could really use it at the moment. Tuition was killing his finances.

The 22 year old followed the bridle path for 10 minutes until it emerged on the other side near a bus stop. Peering at the map there momentarily, he started to his right until he came across Cranston Close. The house number was large, likely it was at the far end. “Six minutes,” he noted glancing at his phone, before picking up his pace. The homes here were not as big as the fraternity and sorority houses on campus but they weren’t far behind and each was separated from the next but generous gaps of green and high fences. Slightly out of breath Daniel trudged up the steps of 177 Cranston Close and rang the bell.

A tall, majestic female figure answered the door, which he could only assume was Professor Lauren Carlisle. He had seen her around campus but had never made the connection having never needed to take any courses in humanities since his freshman year. With her thick auburn brown bob and deep blue eyes regarding him through glasses of her own, the woman absolutely towered over him and would have done the same with his lovely Charlotte as well. In fact in every physical way she was more impressive than the junior. Her tight front diving black leather dress that held her cleavage in place with a single high collar button only made her figure stand out even more. He wasn’t sure if the twinkle of her eyes betrayed a slight amusement or meant nothing at all.

“Right on time. You must be Daniel Reed?” she greeted offering her hand. “I’m Professor Carlisle, but we are not in class at the moment so for now you may call me Lauren. But only when we are off campus you understand.”

He wasn’t expecting the strength of her grip and found he could not end the handshake until she decided to. “Off campus?”

“Oh yes,” she confirmed. “That ends back there at the corner. That’s why there are no bus stops down here. Here let me take your jacket. Set your bag there.”

The short scholar instructively followed the woman’s instructions handing over his corduroy outerwear after dropping his

satchel near the wall. Glancing around he noticed the interior was every bit as impressive as the Victorian exterior of the building. And the 16 foot high ceilings made him feel even smaller than the woman did.

“So this mansion?” he queried.

“Belongs to my family,” she finished without looking.

“And you live here alone?” he followed up a bit incredulously.

“My niece does as well. She’s a student at Southwest State,” she revealed with her back to him. “You’ll probably see her around from time to time.” As she hung the garment in the closet Lauren couldn’t help but let a small smile creep across her face. This one was every bit as promising as the latter said he was. “If you’ll just follow me into my office we can get started with the interview,” she directed not looking back. “You are the last of nine applicants, so I will be able to make a decision after we finish,” she added walking through a pair of high double doors.

“Take a seat Mr. Reed,” she indicated before moving to the other side of the large oak desk and sitting herself in a plush leather chair opposite. “So this project has a two year run time as mentioned on the flyer that was posted. You are here so I am assuming that this commitment will not be a problem for you?”

“Not at all Ma’am,” he confirmed. “I plan on doing my doctorate in structural engineering here at Southwest State. I’ll be here a while.”

“This is good to know. Now the pay as specified is 3000 dollars a month but you will be required to live here for the duration. I do need to keep you under observation as much as possible,” she explained.

“What about my things?”

“We will have what you own moved here. As I understand it, you still live in one of the dorms so there will not be much I’m gathering. And once you are settled in, room and board will be one less bill you will need to pay as well now won’t it?” she smiled.

“Yes, I suppose it would,” he replied sharing her momentary optimism. “What exactly would I need to do?”

“We’ll get to that, first though I’d like to get some background details,” she pivoted.

Over the next half hour the pair talked extensively about the grad student’s life up until university, about the fact that he was the only boy in a family of four children and that his father had walked out on them when he was 10 years old. A scholarship recipient, hopefully once he graduated he would be able to find a position that would allow him to afford some semblance of decent existence for his family.

“Well, I’ve asked my questions and, to be honest, you seem to be the most promising of all of the candidates I had sit in that chair Daniel,” she surmised some time later.

“As to what this study entails,” she began. “My partner and I, Dr. Elke Heinrich will be testing physical and behavioural responses to various stimuli over time. Should you agree to our terms I will book you in for a full physical, hopefully within a week or two. You will be able to continue your studies from here. We have a very fast connection to the university and you will have access to everything in their library. Anything else you need for your thesis, simply ask and we will look into it.

“What about my tutoring? I tutor a student in math, a Charlotte Richfield, twice a week in the library?” he questioned.

“There is no reason we cannot also do that here. The study is across the hall to the right. There is more than enough space there.” Pushing a document and pen across the desk she then asked. “What say you Daniel Reed?”

“3000 dollars a month and my room and board?”

“You should actually be able to send some money back to your family from that,” the tall brunette calculated. After a moment’s hesitation, she watched him nod and sign the contract. “Good. First order of business then; Come over to this side of the desk and stand beside me,” she instructed, to which her test subject responded with a quizzical look. “It is important that you do follow instructions Daniel. We need to get accurate results and you agreed to it.”