Chapter 23: The Dean’s Daughter

I’d dedicated Saturday to Josh and Louise’s illusion; I hadn’t been sure how it would go, or how much time I’d need to recover afterwards. It had gone well, as far as I was concerned. They had thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and Dianna had been reasonably satisfied with the illusion I had spun, only finding a few flaws that might have given it away to someone thinking with anything other than their loins.

I knew I needed more practice, and I also knew that Josh and Louise weren’t going to be enough. To use Dianna’s words, they were an extremely credulous pair. They would certainly help me strengthen my ‘dumb’ illusion-crafting muscles, but in order to truly master the craft, I would have to pit my powers against subjects who were clearheaded and on-guard. I would even have to craft illusions that didn’t involve any sex at all.

Sunday morning, I had to listen to a pitch from Josh and Louise. They had put together a business plan that they said was a surefire money maker. It obviously revolved around my illusion capabilities, and I was starkly reminded of Quark, the Ferengi on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, trying to interest people in his salacious holodeck programs.

Over and over, they tried to explain that with the right clientele - mostly rich business owners - the risk of people discovering my power was minimal. They said there would be no need for marketing or advertising, as once we got our first client, he or she would spread the word among their friends. We could make a killing.

I declined to remind them that if I was even remotely interested in such an idea, I had no need of their administrative services. Nor did I point out the oxymoronic business plan that had us both having clients sign non-disclosure agreements and spreading the word among their peers. Instead, I told them that I wanted to do something more fulfilling with my life. To further soften the blow, I gave them the short version of my rather fraught position in the powered-people ecosystem. They made all the right sympathetic noises at that, which had been nice of them.

I also pointed out that rich businesspeople could be just as bad as, if not worse than, the government when presented with a fancy new gizmo. I didn’t have much faith in NDAs being honored when potentially billions of dollars were on the line. That kind of leak, of course, would bring the government’s shadow division right back into the mix. I told the crestfallen pair that I’d probably end up doing little more than giving the feds an extra reason to be mad at me before yanking on the leash.

In the end, it took Jules’ intervention to get them to leave it alone.

“Guys!!!” she said angrily after nearly an hour of argument. They both looked at her, shock on their faces. “Caleb is too nice, so I’m going to say it: drop it. There is no way that he is going to waste his life as some sleazy psychic pimp. Can you imagine it from his perspective, having to sit in a room watching some fat, sweaty old perv getting their rocks off, or having to spend time with said perv creating his fantasy to begin with? Aside from everything else, that would be a complete and total waste of his powers.

“There are people who are being abused, raped, and worse by people with power. You want him, instead of helping to stop them, to waste his talent on this? If sex work is such an attraction to you, why don’t you both set yourselves up as escorts? I’m sure there are plenty of rich, sweaty old men who would love to take you both on. You could make a killing.

“So, wind your fucking necks in, drop this shit, and be grateful for what you are getting from him. If you’re looking to ride his coattails to riches, you’re backing the wrong horse.”

She then sat in my lap and laid her head on my chest. I could feel her trembling. Despite the harshness of her words, I’d guessed that she had wanted to say even more and had held back.

Josh and Louise looked dumbfounded, and after a moment, they both got up and went into their room, closing the door softly behind them.

Amanda chuckled. “Well, that told them,” she said.

“Are you okay?” I asked Jules, stroking her back. She looked up at me, her eyes wet.

“They just got me so mad,” she said. “I’m not sure whether it was Josh, who seemed to have a head full of dollar signs, or Louise thinking with her pussy again. All they were concerned about was what was in it for them. They are supposed to be your friends. They say they love you, but it seemed like they were just trying to use you to get their own needs met.”

“They just got a little bit carried away,” I said. “It happens. Don’t let it upset you. Besides, I wanted to talk to you - the three of you - about this too. I need to practice my illusions. I was wondering if you guys had any fantasies - and I’m not just talking about sex - that you might like a shot at? Ever think of driving a race car, or climbing Everest? Maybe get a tour of the Enterprise?”

Jules’s eyes widened at that. “You could do that?” she asked.

“I think so,” I replied. “I’m not quite as big a Trekkie as you, so you might spot the illusion, but it will be good practice for me. Why don’t you and I spend some time scripting it out, and when you’re ready you can go take a look?”

Jules leapt off my lap like I’d stuck a pin in her. “I’ll go download the schematics,” she said, and dashed from the room.

Mary looked at me, a smile in her eyes. “You really do know how to push all of our buttons,” she said.

“How about you?” I asked.

“You already fulfilled my fantasy,” she purred, “and it was no illusion. But I’ll think about it. I think I’d rather keep my sex life in the real world, but there might be some other things I’d like to try.”

“Amanda?” I queried.

“I’m like Mary,” she said. “I want real sex, not imaginary. It might be nice, though, to do the Pretty Woman shopping scene - the ‘after’ one when she goes back and spends loads of cash.”

“Wouldn’t you be disappointed when it ended,” I asked, “and you found that you didn’t still have all the things you bought?”

“Nah,” she said. “That kind of shopping is for the experience, not the purchases. In fact, now that I’m thinking about it, I’d like to do the before and the after. It would be so much fun rubbing those bitches’ noses in it.”

Mary and I grinned at each other.

“I guess,” I said ruefully, “I’m going to have to watch Pretty Woman.”

Both girls were appalled that I had not seen the film, and so we spent the next two hours immersed in the nineties romcom. I could have quite easily gone my entire life without watching it, but Julia Roberts had a nice butt, so I couldn’t call it a total waste.

It also gave me the outline for the fantasy that Amanda wanted, of course. I just needed to do a little research on Rodeo Drive and write a bit of a script, and then I’d have her illusion ready.

When the movie had ended, Jules was back into the room, almost hopping from foot to foot. It was so cute to see her excitement. She was like a little girl queueing to see Santa. My heart swelled seeing her so happy, and I hoped that I wouldn’t disappoint her.

We wouldn’t have time to do the actual illusion, but we spent the next couple of hours talking about it, deciding where she would go, who was going to show her around, Mr. Data, of course - and if anything would happen while she was there. I dangled the idea of a twenty-first-century jury-rig that only occurred to her, and she loved it. Even if we never got to perform the illusion, she had a brilliant night planning it all out. I had a wonderful night seeing her so full of innocent anticipation.

When it was time for me to go to bed, Mary accompanied me. We showered together and then spent some time making love. It was gentle and loving, and there were no powers involved. Amanda, still sitting in the living room, would obviously share Mary’s orgasm; those two were forever joined at the clit – and likely a few other naughty places too. It was so natural and wonderful to reconnect with the girl I had been butting heads with. We had had sex since we had settled our differences, but that was our first lovemaking, and it was perfect. I fell asleep with her in my arms.

Josh and Louise didn’t join us for breakfast the next morning. I wasn’t sure whether they were hiding or sulking. I guessed that I would find out sooner or later.

As had become our new norm, the four of us travelled into uni together. George was waiting for me again. I sighed as I approached him. He looked haggard, but happy.

“Sue and I would like to take you guys out to dinner,” he said.

“Dinner?” I asked. “What’s the occasion?”

“I don’t want to steal her thunder,” he said. “Can you make it tonight?” The girls and I looked at each other. We all nodded.

“Perfect,” he said. “Meet us at Giovanni’s on Seventh Street at six-thirty.”

After he left, I looked at the girls.

“She fucked him half to death,” grinned Amanda. “Did you see how tired he was? I’ll bet they didn’t get out of bed from when they got home after being at ours until this morning.”

“He doesn’t look too upset about it,” I commented wryly.

“Would you be?” she countered coyly.

I silently conceded the point, and got goodbye kisses from the three of them. After that, we all split up and went to our various classes.

I had three people approach me during the day, having been referred by Jamie, the counselor, for help in losing weight. I worried I was going to need a secretary soon; that thought made me feel a little guilty about how quickly I’d deemed Josh and Louise dead weight vis-a-vis their business proposition. All of my former smoking-cessation clients were done with their visits, but I still had sessions booked with twelve of the fourteen people who were on my weight-loss program. I wondered if I could start doing group sessions for followup to make it less time-consuming. I also realized I needed to talk to a tax accountant. I was currently making six hundred dollars a week on top of the three thousand a month the FBI was paying me. Then there was my allowance, and the money I was getting from Josh and Louise. The last thing I needed was the IRS on my tail.

Despite all the balls and chainsaws I felt like I was juggling, I was able to focus enough on my classes to get the information I needed. Ever since I’d retrained my brain to better absorb and synthesize information, college had felt like a lazy afterthought. Going to classes was about keeping up appearances - and, I supposed, being polite to the professors and other students. I knew that with a glance at the textbooks, I could probably ace every exam.

I waited in the car park for the girls at the end of the day. Amanda and Mary arrived, but Jules appeared to be running late. I was just about to ‘contact’ her when she emerged from the uni followed by the tall guy, Jasper, who had been hassling her. She had asked me to let her deal with it, and so I hung back - at least until he grabbed her arm and turned her around.

“Grab your phones and record this,” I sent to the twins.

I approached as Jules was trying to extricate her arm from his hand. He was much stronger than her.

“Let go of me,” she said. He laughed. Neither of them had noticed my approach.

“Or what?” he taunted.

“Or you’ll have to deal with me!” I said, startling the pair of them.

He released her arm and Jules moved to me, putting her arms around me.

“Caleb,” she said, tears in her eyes.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She nodded. “He just won’t leave me alone.”

“Go to the girls,” I said. “I’ll have a word.”

Jasper tried to sucker punch me as I looked away, but I had heard his intention, and my hours and hours of martial arts training kicked in. I blocked the punch. Every instinct I had told me to follow up, but I didn’t.

“Now that you’ve gotten that out of your system,” I said, “can we talk like men, or are you going to behave like a schoolboy?”

He took another swing. I blocked again. He was getting angrier. On his third swing, I caught his arm, put him in a wristlock, and took him to the floor. He yelped.

“You have a choice,” I said. “You either leave Jules alone, or I go to the university counselor and report that you are harassing a female student. If that isn’t enough to get you expelled, then assault should do the job.”

“Wait!” he cried. “I can’t get expelled. I’m on a study release from my job. I’ll get fired.”

“Then your choice is simple,” I growled. “Stay away from Jules. Next time I won’t be quite so nice.”

“I can’t stay away,” he replied. “We have the same classes.”

“You know perfectly well what I mean,” I said. “Go to classes, but leave her alone. If I hear that you have been harassing her any more, I promise you, being expelled will be the least of your worries.”

I heard his thoughts and realized why he was so interested in Jules. He wasn’t going to let her go that easily. I decided to up the ante.

“Dean already knows all about you,” I told him. “Sorry, maybe you don’t know his first name. I do. I call him Pops, actually. Jules’ father. Perhaps you refer to him by another name? ‘Mr. Moneybags?’ ‘Walking Piggybank?’ Yeah, him. Right now, you’re not too high on his shit list. He’s a reasonable guy. He understands that horny college boys do bad things sometimes. He was willing to chalk the rest up to coincidence. If he finds out what you did today, though? Wow. I would not want to be you.

“Honestly, Jasper,” I continued, “you lost any chance of seeing a dime of that money months and months ago. Even if you were doing everything right to try to get Jules to forgive you, let alone like you, you would not be within a light year of those bank accounts. If assaulting his daughter was part of your master plan ... I don’t even know what to say to that. You are a colossal fuckup. Let it go. Stop digging your own hole.”

He looked up at me with defiance in his eyes.

“Last warning,” I hissed, releasing his wrist. He stayed on the ground.

“What did you say to him?” asked Jules on the ride home. I worried that the whole truth might upset her, but I didn’t want any secrets between us.

“Jules, there’s something you need to know about Jasper,” I said.

“What?” she asked.

“He knows who your father is,” I said. “I think he comes from somewhere near where you live. His interest in you isn’t really in you. He was chasing you because he knows your daddy’s rich. The night you argued, he was drunk, and his libido got the better of him. Otherwise, you would probably still be together.”

Jules cursed. “I never even suspected,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter now,” said Amanda. “We’re together, and you know we love you.”

Jules smiled at her. “Did you convince him to leave me alone?” she asked.

“I’m not so sure.” I said, “I told him that Pops knew all about him, and he had no chance with either of you, but I’m not sure we’ve heard the last of him.”

I sent them each the memory of our confrontation as we arrived home, continuing the conversation as we entered the house.

“He didn’t look convinced,” said Amanda. “He knows that he has no chance with Jules now, but he may decide he wants to get back at you.”

“Let him,” I said. “I think we should have a word with Jamie tomorrow and get her to tell him to back off Jules. If he wants to come after me then that will be his last mistake.”

We all got showered and changed and were outside the restaurant at the appointed time. Sue and George arrived only minutes later. We went in and were shown to our table.

It took a few moments for us to get settled. The waiter handed us menus and took our drink orders.

Sue sat directly opposite me, with George to her right. Mary sat to her left. Jules sat to my right, and Amanda, sitting to my left, completed the circle. While we waited for our drinks, Sue looked across at me.

“Caleb,” she said. “I’m sorry. I was stupid and I treated you really really badly. I became everything that I would tear any guy a new asshole for being. I spent the weekend ‘apologizing’ to George.”

George blushed.

“Whatever you did to me, worked,” she said. “The sex was phenomenal – and I know what that means. I know it, thanks to you. Even now I don’t think George believes it, but I know it. If I wasn’t madly in love with him, and he with me, the sex wouldn’t be anywhere near as good.

“That was the first reason I asked you to come out tonight,” she said, smiling shyly. “The second was to show you this.” She held out her left hand to display the ring wrapped around her fourth finger.

“You got engaged?” I asked, but then quickly added, “Congratulations!”

Each of the girls offered their congratulations too, insisting on examining the ring.

“Be honest,” I said to George. “You already had that. There’s no way, by the look of you, that you had time to leave the bedroom to go ring shopping.”

He grinned and held his hands up. “A gentleman never tells,” he said.

We had a good meal, and they took the bill. As we were getting ready to leave, Sue pulled me to one side.

“I really screwed up, didn’t I?” she said. “I hope I didn’t completely ruin our friendship.”

“We’re still friends,” I said, and she smiled sadly.

“But not best friends?” she asked.

I looked at her, seeing her eyes moisten as she saw the answer on my face. She hugged me softly. “I’m sorry, Caleb, for everything.”

“Be happy,” I said to her, “and look after him.”

When we got home, Josh and Louise were nowhere to be seen. I went and knocked on their door, but there was no answer. I guessed that either they didn’t want to speak to us, or they were out. I could have scanned the room to see if they were in there but decided to give them their privacy.

The next morning, I got a notification by email that I had an appointment to see the dean at nine.

I frowned. I guessed immediately what it was about, but I was surprised that Jasper had had the balls to go through with it. I got the girls to send me the videos that they had taken with their phones, and I went to his office.

When I arrived, I was surprised to find that not only was Jasper in the office, but quite the crowd. There was an older man standing behind him whom I guessed was his father. Two police officers were also in attendance. Jasper wore a smug look and a sling. I knew that he didn’t have an injury. Wrist locks hurt, but they rarely did damage, and I hadn’t put it on that hard.

Alongside the dean, once again, was my head of year, and Jamie, the counselor. She looked upset.

I tried to hold a poker face, but I’m not sure I succeeded. Not only did I have the videos ready to go, plus a very friendly university employee on my side, but the two police officers standing near Jasper’s father were none other than Debs and her partner, Steve.

“Caleb Stott,” the dean intoned again, as he had the day they had made the false allegations of cheating. “Once more you are in my office.” He opened his mouth to continue, but I interrupted.

“To face another bogus charge, it seems,” I said. “If this continues, I will be filing suit for harassment against you, personally, and your university.”

He blustered for a second. “We have been made aware of a very serious matter,” he said, trying to regain his equilibrium. “Apparently, you assaulted another student yesterday, causing injury. We are bound to investigate.”

“And exactly what investigation did you do?” I asked. “Did you speak to me, or any other witnesses, or examine the CCTV, before you called me here to face charges? And exactly why are two officers waiting for me?”

“They’re here to arrest you,” said Jasper, grinning, “for the assault.”

I nodded. Then turned to the officers. “Hi Debs, Steve.”

“Hi Caleb,” they said. “Let’s hear it.”

“But...” began the Dean, but a look from Debs shut him up.

“Jasper there was harassing my girlfriend,” I said.

“Which one?” asked Debs. “One of the twins, or the dark-haired girl?”

“Jules,” I said, “the one with black hair. I left her to deal with it until he grabbed her arm and wouldn’t let go. I went over, and he let her go, but then tried to sucker punch me. He had three shots at me before I reacted. I grabbed his arm, put him in a wrist lock, and put him on the floor. We had words, and that was it. Unless he has brittle bone disease or some such, there’s no way what I did caused any injury.”

I looked at the counsellor. “It’s no coincidence he got into it with Jules almost immediately before her prior incident,” I said. “He’s a menace. Clearly, I’m regretting having given him another chance to leave all of us alone, rather than having gone to the police directly myself.”

“That’s not true,” Jasper said. “Jules and I were talking, and Rambo here took exception to it. He attacked me. I guess he must be the jealous type.”

“Do you have any witnesses?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “The only ones that saw other than us were your girlfriends, and they are bound to take your side.”

I shrugged and handed my phone to Debs. The video was queued up. She watched, then handed the phone to Steve, who played it again.

Steve handed the phone back to me, then walked over to Jasper. “Stand up, please.”

Jasper stood, looking puzzled.

“Turn around and put your hands behind your back,” Steve said. “You’re under arrest for assault. Hand, I guess, if you really want to keep up with the bullshit.”

“What?” asked the older man. “But it was him that assaulted my son!” He pointed at me.

“Not what I saw,” said Steve. “Mr. Stott gave him two free shots before he defended himself, and that defence was a simple takedown. He would have been quite within his rights to strike back.”

“Mr. Green,” said the dean, and Jasper turned to look at him.

“As of now, you are suspended,” the dean said. “I will ask our counsellor to speak to Miss Steadman, and if she verifies Mr. Stott’s claim that you have been harassing her, then I will be moving to have you expelled.”

Jasper turned hate-filled eyes on me. “This isn’t over,” he said.

“Threats?” I asked. “In full view of two police officers?”

“Send me that video, would you?” said Debs. “You still have my number?”

I smiled. “I do, but I thought you lost mine. You never called.”

“She got cold feet,” Steve said with a grin.

Debs made a face at him. “Just send me the video,” she said, blushing.

They left the office, followed by Jasper’s father.

I turned to the dean. “Was there anything else?” I asked.

He shook his head. I turned to leave.

“Caleb,” Jamie called as I reached the door. “Can you and Jules come to my office at lunchtime please?”

I nodded.

As I walked to belatedly join my first class, I sent the memory to the girls of what had transpired.

Lunchtime found Jules and me in the waiting room for the counselor’s office. Jamie opened her office door and poked her head out.

“Would you mind if I had a few minutes with Jules alone?” she asked. I shrugged.

“No,” said Jules. “You want to speak to me, then Caleb comes too.”

“But...” began Jamie.

“No,” said Jules again. Jamie sighed, opening her door and inviting us both in.

We sat in the session chairs rather than those by her desk. Jamie looked at Jules.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

“Absolutely fantastic,” Jules said, “other than being hassled by some schoolboy who won’t take no for an answer.”

“Tell me about Jasper,” said Jamie.

“Jasper and I were a thing,” Jules said, “but then he got angry when I wouldn’t do anything sexual with him. I’m asexual. I told him that, but he wouldn’t listen. He said some really hurtful things, and we broke up. I guess that was the last straw. It had happened so many times before that I decided I’d had enough.

“But we’re not here about that. Anyway, we were broken up. Caleb, the girls and I got together.”

“The girls?” asked Jamie.

“Amanda and Mary,” said Jules.

“You’re all together?” queried Jamie, a little confused.

“Yes,” said Jules. “We all love each other, and we are together. Jasper decided that he had changed his mind about being broken up, though. I recently found out that he comes from near where my parents live, and he knows about my daddy. I suspect that is the reason he changed his mind.”

“Why would knowing your father change his mind?” asked the counselor, clearly not understanding.

“Daddy has quite a lot of money,” said Jules.

Jamie’s face cleared, but then she looked grim. “Go on,” she said.

“After he saw me kissing Caleb in the cafeteria,” Jules began.

“I thought you said you were asexual,” the counselor interrupted.

Jules nodded. She didn’t want to get into the nuances, and I didn’t blame her. “I knew Jasper was watching. I wanted him to get the message, but he would not leave me alone. He kept asking me to go out with him again, promising me all kinds of things. Then there were the snide comments and digs in class. He was either chasing me or ridiculing me. I don’t think he could make up his mind. Yesterday, he followed me out to the parking lot. I wouldn’t even talk to him, and then he grabbed my arm. I had asked Caleb to let me deal with it, but when it got physical, Caleb intervened to protect me.”

Jamie made some notes on her pad.

“Thank you, Jules,” she said. “Other than that, you say you are doing fantastic. Would you like to expand on that?”

“I’m living with three people,” said Jules, “each of whom knows who I am, and loves me for it. I wake up in the morning in the arms of someone who loves me and go to sleep at night surrounded by love. How could I not be?”

“Have you told your parents about your living situation?” Jamie asked.

“We went and stayed with them in the holidays,” said Jules. “They know how happy I am, and that makes them happy. Both my parents think the world of Caleb and the girls. Daddy even bought Caleb the house we’re in so we could all live together.”

I looked sharply at her then; I had a feeling she hadn’t misspoken about who, legally, owned the house. Jules grimaced. I don’t think she’d meant to let that nugget slip.

“I see,” said Jamie. “Well, as long as you are happy, and it seems you are. My offer still stands though: my door is always open. I just wish that you had come to me about Mr. Green. Perhaps I could have done something before it went too far.”

“Mary did suggest that,” said Jules, “but I thought I could handle him. I guess I was wrong. He couldn’t upset me, not with my family behind me.” She grabbed my hand when she said that. “I never thought he would get violent.”

“Well,” said Jamie, “I’ll be making a report to the dean, to the effect that not only was Mr. Green harassing you, but that his previous actions were instrumental in the decision that led you to the roof of the science building. It seems that it is fortunate that Mr. Stott here was around to help.”

“Can I ask a question?” I asked.

Jamie nodded.

“Why has the dean got such a hard-on for me?” I asked. “He seems determined to find something to blame me for.”

“Up until the exams,” she said, “I doubt he even knew you existed. But you kind of made a fool of him. For some people, that’s more than enough. He is also having some family troubles, and I think you just provided a convenient outlet for him to vent. You will notice he was equally quick to suspend Mr. Green – and, undoubtedly, he will be expelled.”

“Family trouble?” I asked.

“I shouldn’t really talk about it,” she said, but the thoughts all came tumbling out of her mind. His daughter, Rachel, had taken up with a guy called Steve Jenkins, and had gone missing. The guy was still around and said she had taken off on her own. The dean was worried sick. It had been almost two months since she had disappeared, and because texts had been sent to her parents from her phone, the police weren’t interested. His daughter was twenty two years old, and, as far as they were concerned, old enough to make her own choices.

I didn’t get much more about this Steve Jenkins character other than the fact he hung out around a coffee shop that students and young people liked to use.

I determined to at least take a look at the guy and make sure he wasn’t a predator, powered or otherwise. If he wasn’t, then I had no reason to do anything more. As the police had said, Rachel was a grown woman and capable of making her own choices. If he was, then I’d speak to Dianna and maybe look into it further.

“How are you doing?” I asked, and she blushed.

“Things are going well,” she said. Her eyes flicked to Jules.

“Good,” I said. “Are we okay to go?”

She nodded, and Jules and I left to try and grab some lunch before the cafeteria stations closed up.