Chapter 8: A High Stakes Wager

The following Monday morning Cecilia breathed a huge sigh of relief, when she woke up and realized her period had started. Her menstruation normally was a source of irritation that intruded on her routine once a month, but for once she was very happy to see the familiar spot of blood. She changed her panties and stuffed a pad in the crotch of the clean pair, relieved that her moment of carelessness with Jason the previous Friday night would not disrupt her life.

She spent a normal Monday morning, going to her early class, then drawing her boyfriend during the 11:00 Life Drawing class, then spending "quality time" with her strange economics professor during the hour leading up to the 1:30 economic theory class.

Burnside already was thinking about the class midterm. She had decided to split the midterm into two parts, one to be given at the beginning of October and the other at the beginning of November. Although Cecilia really had nothing to do with writing the test or grading it, Burnside confided some of the exam plans to her scholarship student.

The professor also confided another piece of exciting news, that it was likely the Prime Minister of Upper Danubia would visit Chicago and the university sometime late in the semester. The student's reaction surprised and impressed her.

"You mean Vladim Dukov is gonna be here?!"

"You actually know who he is?"

"Yeah, Dr. Burnside, he was Kimberly Lee's defense attorney when she got arrested ... you know Kimberly Lee of 'Socrates' Mistresses'. I'm a big fan of that group and I know all about him, 'cause of what he did for Kim. So he's actually coming? Do you think I could meet him? Please ... I'd really like to meet him!"

Burnside thought for a minute, trying to see how Cecilia could be brought into the planned visit of the foreign dignitary. The Prime Minister would attend an international economic seminar in downtown Chicago and speak about his plans for his country's economic development. He was scheduled to visit several political think-tanks and then give two speeches at the university about his views and goals for the future of his country. His final stop before flying on to Canada and Europe would be a day in Washington DC to speak at the National Press Club.

Vladim Dukov had been Prime Minister of Upper Danubia for less than a year, but was well-liked within his own country. He was not a popular figure in the US, because of his nationalistic ideology and rejection of globalization. He was not friendly to international business concerns and perfectly willing to walk away from negotiations if he felt the interests of his country were not being served. He recently had caused a sensation in Europe by withdrawing Upper Danubia's application to join the EU because he felt the previous government had made too many concessions in its effort to join. Dukov had his own philosophy about economic development, based on the needs of a rather isolated and backwards society instead of popular economic models. The Prime Minister's goal in coming to the US was to speak directly to the public and intellectuals about what he wanted for Upper Danubia and ultimately where he hoped to lead his country.

The political issues where of only passing interest to Cecilia. Her desire to meet Dukov was much more personal. The Danubian leader was a direct link to her favorite singer and the music that had transformed her outlook on life.

To Burnside the issue was a practical one, finding a student for the university delegation who actually knew where Upper Danubia was located and enough about the country to not look like the typically ignorant American. It was obvious Cecilia was a bit star-struck at the thought of meeting her favorite singer's former guardian, but if she could tone that down a bit, she would make a good addition to the student representatives.

"I don't see why you couldn't be part of the student delegation. Most of the group will be graduate students, but I think you'd do a good job representing our department. I'll add you, under a condition. I want you to pick a Danubian topic for your term paper for the Theory of International Development course. Do some research, get yourself ready to meet Prime Minister Dukov, and you'll make a real contribution."

After her daily workout with Lisa, Cecilia sat with the other RA's for their nightly dinner. The dorm director surprised his staff when he announced he wanted to have a formal meeting with the RA's following the meal.

The staff met in one of the dorm's small conference rooms. There was a series of issues to discuss, including a new duty roster, a review of the previous weekend's fire in the adjacent building and Huntington Hall's own evacuation procedures were a similar emergency to take place, and an announcement there would be a fire drill later in the week.

Following the serious topics, the dorm director gave the group a sarcastic smile and passed out flyers for a 10 kilometer run that would be held Saturday of the following week. It was sponsored by the Tri-Alpha fraternity and was a yearly tradition at the university, an essential task of the fraternity's initiation for new pledges. What set the Tri-Alpha run apart from any other university-sponsored 10-K run was that all runners had to be completely nude throughout the entire race and the ceremony preceding the event. The only permitted items of clothing for anyone participating were running shoes and socks.

The run had been a yearly tradition since the early 1960's, when the Tri-Alphas began incorporating nudity as part of their initiations. During the first two decades of its existence the 10-K route had gone through not only the university, but also through Fraternity Row and a couple of nearby commercial streets. In 1985 the race was scaled back. The Tri-Alpha fraternity and the university agreed to shorten the run to just 2 miles and have it contained completely within the campus area. A few years later there was talk of banning the nude 10-K race altogether, given that most of the universities around the US that had nude student runs were stopping them.

Talk of banning the Tri-Alpha nude run came to an abrupt end when a fraternity alumnus and multi-millionaire died and left a huge grant to the university. The benefactor left his money in a trust fund, stipulating that $ 10 million would be paid out each year until the account was exhausted. The grant had two conditions. The first condition was the entire amount had to be used to pay the salaries of non-tenured professors and Teaching Assistants. The second condition was that the Tri-Alpha nude run had to be held each year, restored to its original 10-kilometer length and held in the middle of the day on the last Saturday each September.

Whatever moral objections there might have been to the spectacle of naked runners streaking through the university each year, no one in the Board of Regents was going to argue against $ 10 million in guaranteed salary money for instructors. Money talks, and bullshit walks. So, the Board of Regents negotiated the details of the revised race with the directors of the Tri-Alpha fraternity. The race would remain within the confines of the university, but would be a full 10-K run. The starting line was at the Memorial Stadium. The runners would do two laps around the football field, then leave the stadium to follow a route around the university, pass through the old part of campus, then circle back to the Stadium and do a final lap around the track to the finish line. The event drew a large crowd that filled the stadium and lined the race route around the university. Attendance was restricted to students, active alumni, faculty members, and reporters. The campus was sealed off to outsiders during the race, but even with the restriction, typically between 50,000 and 60,000 spectators attended the event each year.

Participating in the race and running the full 10 kilometers non-stop was a requirement for all Tri-Alpha pledges. The fraternity encouraged other students to participate by offering a trophy and $ 1,000 in prize money to any non-Tri-Alpha member who managed to win the men's race. A second prize of $ 1,000 was offered to the winner of the women's division, as an incentive to encourage female students to run. During any given year there were a few participants from other fraternities and sororities, a few from the dorms, and always students representing the Art Department, the Theater Department, the Athletic Department, and the School of Music. However, the male 10-K winner usually was a Tri-Alpha pledge, because the fraternity forced its prospective members to train for the race.

The RA's smiled and laughed at the idea of getting someone from Huntington Hall to run in the nude for an hour, but the director had an offer that made his staff take the whole affair more seriously.

"I've got a $50 gift card to any store in the mall for anyone who can get me a runner to represent Huntington Hall in the 10-K. If you get me a winning runner, I'll give you a $ 500 gift card. I think it'd be good for morale if we could have someone to cheer for in this race, one of our own. Anyhow, you all have floor meetings scheduled this Sunday and I'd appreciate you bringing it up to your residents."

Most of the RA's figured they had their work cut out for them, getting any of their floor residents to participate. The race was not an experience for anyone with any modesty, because the time the runners spent in the nude extended way beyond the hour of running. There was a pre-race ceremony and a march around the stadium prior to the run itself, and then post-race events and a coronation ceremony for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in separate divisions for male and female runners. The six winning runners could expect to be nude in public for at least six hours and pose for hundreds of pictures. Yes, $ 1,000 was a nice amount of money for a student, but actually winning the prize was a tough challenge, given the competition from the well-prepared Tri-Alpha pledges.

Cecilia was the only RA who was confident that she could supply at least two runners, and possibly four. She was sure that with a little coaxing she could get Jason and Ken to run, but she wanted to get Mike and Lisa to participate as well. That would mean four gift certificates and $ 200 to spend on new clothing. If either Jason or Ken won the race, she would get the $ 500 gift certificate and finally supplement her meager wardrobe in a meaningful way.

As Cecilia pondered getting her runners for Huntington Hall, the director set down a stack of flyers and registration packets for the race. Most of the other RA's took just one packet, but Cecilia confidently took four.

The evening returned to normal, as Cecilia went to Jason's room, where he was waiting for her to review Burnside's materials. As instructed, he was naked and stood obediently as she questioned him about his studies. Eventually she planned to train him to always greet her by getting on his knees and kissing her hands, but that would come later.

She confidently sat at his chair and snapped at him to get the right answers to questions about the assigned readings. Once she was sure he knew the Monday material, she released him to tutor his three friends while she went back to her room. The RA spent an hour studying for one of her classes, then returned to Jason's room to escort him to her room for a massage.

Once Jason was undressed and ready to massage her, Cecilia ordered him to strip her to her panties. She was wearing a regular pair of women's briefs instead of her usual thong because of her period. Obviously for the next several nights Jason would be restricted to massaging her back, arms, feet, and legs. Cecilia sat in her armchair as Jason knelt to begin massaging her feet. As usual he moved up her calves, then massaged her hands, arms, shoulders, and neck. Once the chair portion of the massage was complete, Cecilia would lie on her bed to have her legs and back massaged.

Cecilia fell asleep and Jason covered her up. He quietly got dressed, gave her a very gentle kiss on the cheek, turned out the light, and slipped back to the commons area.

Lisa owed Cecilia a Poker game. Cecilia's original idea was to play one-on-one, with high stakes between the two women. Cecilia was not planning to wager money, however. The stakes instead would be favors and a period of servitude.

Cecilia changed her plans for her Poker wager upon returning to her room with the four Tri-Alpha race registration packets. She would make it a five-person wager, with participating in the race a penalty for the losers of planned game. The three males would end up in the race for sure, and if Cecilia's plans worked out and she won against Lisa, she would pass out registration packets to four losing freshmen. There was no question they would participate, because she still had the pictures from that wild Sunday night two weeks before and would use them as leverage, if necessary, to pressure everyone to play.

Cecilia was aware that Lisa really might be a good player, and there was a risk that it might be Cecilia, not Lisa, who would be take the fourth packet and run the race with the three guys. Yes, it was a risk, but if she lost, the RA was fully prepared to honor the bet and run the 10-K. Cecilia was not much of a risk-taker in her daily life, but for once she was willing to face the prospect of losing to Lisa and running 10 kilometers in the nude. The uncertainty would make the evening's card game an interesting experience and a challenging one for the RA.

During her workout with Lisa on Tuesday, Cecilia brought up the idea of a Poker game Friday night.

"We'll have the guys play with us, so we'll start with five players. We'll play strip Poker. First we strip the guys, then you and me go head-to-head."

"Are we playing for penalties?"

"Yeah, but just one each. We'll be playing for elimination. Whenever someone loses all their clothes, they're out of the game. There will be a single penalty for each loser."

"What is it?"

"I've got four envelopes. Each loser takes an envelope. It's a surprise, but it'll be the same for each loser."

"You too? If you lose, you'll do the penalty?"

"Of course. If I lose, I'll do the penalty."

"And what makes you so sure you can beat me?"

"Lisa, I'm not sure about that at all. I don't know how good you play, and you don't know how good I am. That's what'll make Friday night so interesting."

Friday night Lisa and Cecilia made the final arrangements for the card game. They counted pieces of clothing to make sure each was starting with the same number of item. Cecilia ordered Jason and Mike to bring a small round table into Lisa's room from the commons area and to borrow five folding chairs from the dorm's conference room. The players would sit in a circle, each the same distance from the others. Lisa pulled out her digital camera and Cecilia borrowed Jason's 35-mm camera, for full body portraits to be taken of each loser as soon as he or she was eliminated from the game. Cecilia sealed the four registration packets and laid them on Lisa's desk.

Jason, Ken, and Mike looked at each other nervously. There was a grim determination about the two women that unsettled them. The knowledge that each of them was sure to lose and take a penalty also concerned them. The game really was between Cecilia and Lisa, and the guys figured once they were eliminated, they would be standing at attention in the nude for a very long time while the two women battled to see which of them would end up with the fourth envelope.

The guys did not bother to count how many articles of clothing they were wearing, since they were destined to lose anyway. Jason was wearing only four items; a pair of loose-fitting shorts, a shirt, and a pair of casual deck shoes. Ken had six items of clothing; the same outfit as Jason, but also a pair of socks. Like Jason, Ken normally did not wear underwear. Mike had on five items of clothing; shorts and underwear, shoes, and a shirt.