Hey everyone,
First, I'm absolutely amazed that I have reached 500 followers. Never did I think in a million years that I would have a following as large as this, so I'm thankful for everyone's support.
Lately, I've been trying to focus on stories that aren't Incest/Taboo in nature. It's been a while since I've written a romance story, and I had a lot of fun writing my previous one, so I decided to give it another go. There is a very well-established erotica genre pertaining to millionaires/billionaires that I've been browsing as of late, so I decided to make one, with my own personal twist, of course.
A huge inspiration for this tale was the story of mathematician George Dantzig. Google him if you've got a few minutes and you will see just how fascinating of a man he is. That said, I've kept the math talk to an absolute minimum in this story.
I've also done the best job to make the "back-and-forth" time jumps to be as cohesive as possible since I genuinely don't try to throw the readers off.
Lastly, a fair warning to all readers, this story is a slow burn. It's a bit of a journey to the sexy bits. So, buckle up and enjoy the story.
As always, all participants in this story are 18 years or older.
Big thanks to Todger65 for their editing magic!
- Alexandra
******
-Present Day-
Katrina Rollins, or Katie, as she liked to be called, walked out of the terminal at Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Michigan. As she stepped outside into the sunny early April day, she adjusted her black-colored fleece zip-up sweater as the breeze from the chilly spring day hit her. Her brown hair whipped around in the wind as she slid the strap of her computer bag over her right shoulder.
As her eyes adjusted to the sunshine, she saw a woman wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with blue jeans and brown boots standing in front of a red Ford SUV. She was holding a tablet with the word "Rollins", written in white letters against the black background, in her black leather glove-laden hands. Her vibrant strawberry blonde hair was in a ponytail, and she had the greenest eyes imaginable and very pale skin that was almost as white as a ghost. This stood in sharp contrast to her dark red lipstick and eye shadow. Something about her was... unsettling, almost uncanny. She appeared to be a couple inches taller than Katie's height of 5' 3" and had a slender looking frame.
"That must be my contact."
Katie thought to herself as she slowly approached the woman and cleared her throat.
"Excuse me, my name is Katrina Rollins. You must be Adele." The young journalist said nervously as she extended her hand to the mysterious looking woman.
She smiled back at her and shook her black gloved hand. "Ah yes, welcome Miss Rollins. Thank you for showing up as well as your understanding. As you know, Mr. Baumgartner is all about discretion."
Adele opened the front passenger side door and Katie stepped into the modestly sized car and sat on the cloth-upholstered seat. As her driver entered, she handed Katie a black headband.
"Now as I'm sure you're aware per the NDA you signed, you must wear this over your eyes for the duration of our journey. If you take off the blindfold at any time, a signal will be sent to his residence indicating the removal and the interview will be terminated; After which I will turn the car around and drop you off back at the airport. You will also turn off your cell phone and give it to me during the time you are with both me and Mr. Baumgartner. Do you understand?"
Katie nodded in affirmation as she placed the blindfold over her eyes. "Of course, I understand completely."
Adele then produced a small remote control from the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt. "Please hold still, Miss Rollins." She pressed the small red button on the remote and Katie felt a warming sensation over her eyes and the side of her head.
"Oh, that feels nice... you're not going to do anything bad to me, are you?" Katie said with a slightly concerned tone of voice.
Adele laughed as she fired up the ignition on the car. "Oh no, of course not. I just activated the signal on your blindfold. It's equipped with a sensor that detects the neuron signals in your brain. The headband sensed you were feeling uneasy, so the warmth is designed to put you at ease. I should know, I made it myself." She smiled at Katie and put the car into drive. "And in case you were wondering, no, it's not a mind control device nor am I going to drug you. Just relax and we'll be there before you know it."
******
After riding in silence for the better part of 2 hours, Katie started to wonder where she was. She had sensed that they had been on a freeway at one point and even a couple of highways. But here she was, blindfolded and in a state that she had never been to before. Under normal circumstances, this would be terrifying.
Yet she was here by choice, and all for the sake of a story she had been pursuing for the past few months.
Having graduated from the University of Notre Dame a year prior, Katie had landed a job as a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. Like many who were still green in the gills, she was looking for a big scoop that would help make a name for herself. Countless hours of doing "human interest" stories had become stale for her, so she put her nose to the grindstone and set her goal on a story that seemingly was improbable by most journalists: An interview with Paul Baumgartner.
A Chicago native, much like Katie herself, Paul, along with his college roommate Adrian Hendricks, revolutionized Quantum Computing and Algorithms, which was hailed by many as the biggest scientific discovery since the invention of Penicillin. Thanks to his discovery, cures for diseases such as Cancer, Alzheimer's and ALS were not only no longer a pipedream, but one with treatments that had yielded promising results, with many test trials not only showing a reversal of said symptoms, but many subjects being completely cured of their ailments.
That was just the tip of the iceberg of scientific discoveries that had come from Paul's work in quantum algorithms. Overnight, he had gone from some moppy headed loner with a love for video games & living in the dorms of Case Western University, to being on the cover of various magazine covers and the subject of many interviews and public speaking events; He had accomplished all of this before he turned 21 years old.
For a couple of years, it seemed like the two were everywhere. Making appearances at conferences, university lectures, and even a few talk show appearances.
Adrian was hired almost immediately after he graduated college by Microsoft as a member of their R&D Team and was actively working on some patents for the company.
Unlike Adrian, however, Paul vanished. In fact, he had been out of the public eye for just about six years at this point. Rumors began to circulate online as to where he went. Some of the more scrupulous denizens of the internet had Paul linked to conspiracy theories involving the Illuminati and other secret societies. One rumor that had taken root was that Paul was an alien visitor from another world that went back to his home planet.
Katie didn't believe any of this was true but the circumstances surrounding his disappearance had mystified her to no end. Using her journalistic and technological know-how, along with some sources and tips, she was somehow able to find the contact information for him on an encrypted website on the dark web.
When she sent out the email using an encrypted platform, she was more-or-less taking a shot in the dark. In fact, by the time that she had gotten a response, it had been close to three months before she got a notification that he had responded. In the email came instructions along with an NDA that she was required to sign.
Initially the editor was extremely apprehensive about allowing her to pursue this story but after verifying the sources that she had gotten this information from; he had reluctantly decided to fund her venture to upstate Michigan.
******
The car suddenly started to rumble as she felt the car begin to move uphill slightly. Her breathing tensed up as she once again felt the blindfold give off a warming sensation.
"We're almost there. Just a couple minutes more." Adele hummed to her as the car made its way up the narrow road on the hillside flanked by trees on both sides.
"Okay, Miss Rollins, you may remove your blindfold now." Adele had placed the car in park as Katie lifted the cover from her eyes and looked at the house in front of her. It was... not what she was expecting.
She had expected this elaborate-looking mansion that had more square footage in it than a football stadium. In front of her instead was a modestly sized two story log home with a detached two car garage next to it.
"This is the home of Paul Baumgartner?"
She thought to herself as she raised an eyebrow.
Her driver, sensing her confusion, chuckled. "Trust me this is the place. I've known him for a few years now. I better know how to get to his home, or I'd be in trouble." Adele smiled as she opened the driver's side door.
Katie, still clutching her computer bag, opened her door and stepped out. As she followed Adele to the house, the sounds of the gravel driveway crunched under her gray sneakers as they approached the white colored front door. She stood behind Adele as she fished her keys from her pants pocket and unlocked the door, which made a beeping sound as she stepped in.
She turned around and faced Katie. "It's alright, come on in. You don't need my permission to come inside."
As the young journalist stepped through the threshold of the house, she noticed right away that it all looked... familiar. The living room had a mounted TV against the wall, which was hooked up to a couple of gaming consoles and the couches surrounding the center table had a brown rustic appearance to them. Mounted on the wooden paneled wall were a couple of paintings of deer and other various wildlife in the area. All this reminded Katie of the cabin her grandparents owned in Wisconsin.
Adele called out. "Paul, your guest is here!"
A man's voice called from the staircase at the opposite end of the room. "Sounds good Adele, I'll be right down!"
She turned to Katie and motioned to the couch to her right. "Please be seated, Mr. Baumgartner will be with you shortly. Would you like some water?"
"Yes, I would like that. I am a bit parched after the car ride." Katie sat down on the comfortable sofa as Adele handed her a bottle of water. After taking a few sips, she opened her computer bag and produced a notepad and tape recorder. One of the stipulations of the NDA stated that no laptops or tablets be brought with her for the interview, so these would have to do.
