NB: I want to thank all the Literotica authors whose work inspired me to write this story. Thanks for the ideas everyone! Special shout-outs to the imaginations of mchucha for "Chloe's Internship" and Big_Kahuna_69 for "The Peripheral Cocksucker."
I welcome comments and advice from anyone.
PS: The development of sexual tension and realistic characters occupies the initial short chapters of this story. The explicit sex that follows benefits from this, so I wouldn't skip ahead if I were you. Your patience will be rewarded! ;-)
Chapter 1: April 19, 2013
"We're doing fine," Arthur lied into the phone, "Thanks for asking."
What a whopper that was. Arthur hadn't been part of any 'we' for three years. He just couldn't bring himself to admit that to Sylvia. Label it insecurity or whatever you want. It had been fifteen years since he had last spoken with Sylvia and her voice completely unnerved him.
The truth was too humiliating to explain. Sylvia was the woman he should have married, way back when they were both in their early twenties. He had chickened-out, and Sylvia had married Dan Kozlowski instead. Predictably, their friendship died of starvation during those early years while she and Dan were busy making babies. It took Arthur many years to finally tie the knot with someone else, and once he did Sylvia stopped calling him altogether. Until today.
The truth was, ten years into Arthur's marriage his wife had left him. That unfortunate event had nothing to do with Sylvia and everything to do with an infidelity Arthur committed with a much younger woman during one of his consulting trips to Japan. It had only been a brief dalliance, but it had cost him his marriage and very nearly his career too. Everything Arthur cared for had been stripped from him in the resulting divorce. At least he and his wife had never had children, so he had been spared the agony of losing them too.
"Having an affair," Arthur wrote in his diary on the day his divorce was finalized, "is like inviting an arsonist to live under your house."
Now, out of the blue, three years into his unwelcomed 2nd bachelorhood, Sylvia was on his phone. She reported being happily married and a mother of three. In Arthur's mind she remained a never-forgotten first love. He was caught so off guard he could scarcely think of anything to say to her. He stayed quiet while Sylvia sprayed a geyser of words at him about her family's latest dynamics. To Arthur's ear, it sounded like she was expecting him to absorb the last fifteen years of her life story in a mere thirty seconds. This presumptuousness did not bother him at all.
"Elise," continued Sylvia "is our middle daughter. She's pursuing her physical therapy license. She moved back in with us here in Arizona after finishing college. But to be honest we're a bit worried about her."
"Uh-huh..." mumbled Arthur, wondering why his chest felt so airy and light.
"She needs work experience, and there isn't anywhere suitable near us, so..." Sylvia paused to take a deep breath. "I know it's kind of weird, Arty, but I thought you might be able to take her on for the summer... just to get something on her resume in a more serious medical field, you know? She lacks direction at the moment. She keeps talking about yoga and... and all these other hippy ideas. I think she just needs some real-world experience to give her something more practical to aspire to."
"Well, Sylvia, umm..." Arthur demurred, "I don't know if my lab is really the right place. You know, we don't do clinical work here. It's just research... biomedical research. Nothing at all to do with physical therapy."
"Oh Art," Sylvia purred before resuming her frenetic pace, "You don't need to worry about that. She's only twenty-two! And it would just be for the summer. Surely there must be some project you can stick her on that's worthwhile for your company? She's very smart you know. And I think as long as you offer her enough to break even, she'll jump at the chance to learn something new... even if it's only to get herself out from under my roof for a few months."
Ten minutes further into this conversation Arthur found himself agreeing to look at Elise's resume. As soon as he hung up, it arrived in his inbox attached to a blank email with the subject: 'Thanks Arty.'
Elise's resume contained several surprises; she claimed four years of 'Varsity Rhythmic Gymnastics' in college, a certificate in massage-therapy and, listed under her 'Extracurricular Interests,' were tantric yoga and touch-therapy.
"Hmm," Arthur chuckled to himself, "I could use a massage. She might be helpful after all."
April 20, 2013
The next day Arthur interviewed Elise via Skype. On his computer monitor she came across as smart and eager. Despite the jumpy webcam image, Arthur also noticed she was quite attractive. Perhaps not as stunning as her mother had been all those years ago, but definitely easy on the eyes; long auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail, a fair complexion and bright hazel eyes. She was wearing a dark grey blazer over a white blouse. Arthur noticed both garments looked ill-fitting and loose. "But boy," he mused to himself, "Does she ever have a charming smile."
Five hundred miles away Elise sat before her battered college laptop, trying not to slouch. She didn't care that her interview clothes were borrowed from her older sister. She only knew that she desperately wanted this job. Re-entry from college wasn't going well at home and she felt trapped under the suffocating blanket of her parents' criticism. So, she poured forth her brightest smile to the man on her screen and concentrated on saying smart things. In the previous twenty-four hours her mom had made clear that this guy, Doctor Arthur Peters, held her key to a summer of freedom in California. Elise thought he looked pudgy, boring and middle-aged; a square-faced and bearded version of what came to mind whenever she heard the word 'scientist.'
"Regardless," she mentally scolded herself between answers, "I just need this dude to hire me. He doesn't look too stuffy and he can't be THAT old; at least he still has all his hair. If only I could get him to smile, I'd know for sure. And if I get this job, I'll make some connections in the Bay Area and maybe find a way to move there permanently -- to finally get away from all this hellish negativity."
Elise tried to make her answers not only intelligent but funny too... or at least novel. But the doctor's face remained stony and tense on her screen. She had no idea whether the interview was going well or not.
Elise need not have worried. Arthur's initial goal was simply to make sure she wasn't crazy. He didn't want to babysit someone else's head case. Once he'd established that she was sane and she had affirmed some basic computing and database skills, Arthur signed off by telling her the real challenge would be getting approval from his partner. The brilliant and inscrutable Dr. Yamamoto would probably reject the entire idea outright, he told Elise: "So don't get your hopes up too high."
April 22, 2013
Two days later, Elise's cell phone rang in the middle of her pre-bedtime yoga stretches.
"This is Elise," she answered, uncurling her legs from behind her head.
"Hi Elise," Arthur started, "This is Dr. Peters."
"Oh, hi Doctor. Any good news...? I hope?"
"Well, some good, some bad I'm afraid. Do you have a few minutes?"
"Sure."
