“Anything serious?” Derek’s voice broke her reverie.
“Oh… uh, no. No, not at all.” She shook her head and gave him a weak smile. “Something personal… but I’ve got to go now. I’ll see you tomorrow... I mean, on Monday.”
“Sure, and hey… you can take my laptop computer for the weekend. Enjoy the game for a few hours today and tomorrow. You’re going to love it.”
“Are you sure…” The temptation was undeniable, yet she felt a little ill at ease. “I mean, it’s not… aren’t you going to need your computer?”
“I’ve got another one at home.” His smile made her heart thump again. “No worries, Miss Liston. You can bring it back to class on Monday.”
“Well, that’s sweet of you.” She looked away and stared at the computer he was holding up to her.
“Hey, you did all this for me, Miss Liston…” He nodded at the books she had listed for him. “…it’s the least I can do.”
“Well, thank you, Derek.” She nodded and took the laptop from him. “I’ll see you tomorrow, uh… on Monday then.”
As she walked out of the cafeteria, she could feel his eyes on her. This was the longest and most personalized time she had spent with a member of the opposite sex. And it was not as bad as she had feared. Why she had this fear, she did not know. Her father had passed when she was too young to remember, and her mother never remarried. And she had no uncles or even a grandfather. Maybe the lack of a strong father figure was the reason for her apprehension to get to know men, but she wasn’t really sure if that alone was the reason. She never asked her mother about any of these things and her mother was not the kind to take an interest in anything she needed for all of the time Hannah had to live with her. Now, on her own, the distant between her and her mother had widened almost as much as the circumference of the planet.
The bus she needed arrived and she found a seat. Derek’s laptop carefully stashed in her satchel, she focused on the task at hand – meeting this Garth Hollander at the Fellowship of Ancient Historical Studies. It was not too far from her workplace, she had seen the building a few times before. Getting off the bus, she glanced at her watch. Almost two. She looked up at the building and took the marble steps leading inside.
“I hope he’s done with the lunch break.” She laughed nervously to herself. Then remembered she had her own lunch to take.
“Yes, Miss Liston.” The pretty young woman at the front desk said after she introduced herself. “Director Hollander is expecting you. You can go in now. Last office on the Eleventh floor.”
She nodded her thanks and stepped into the elevator, strange tingling sensations coursing all through her body. This was the second man she was going to have a measured conversation with this day. Something she had never done in her life before, but as she had always known, things had to change for her before she withered away and died a sedated death.
The office was the last one down a long and wide corridor. She was impressed by what she saw and being selected to be a part of this would definitely change her life forever. As a member of this fellowship Hannah would be invited to attend prestigious events and meetings all over the country and maybe even the world. She could keep her job at the university, but a whole new bevy of jobs would open up for her, bigger and better ones too. But first she would have to be accepted and this Garth Hollander would be her first nut to crack. Would she be up to it? She had too, and suddenly she felt very grateful for the time she spent with Derek all that morning. It did fill her with a sense of purpose and a whole lot of confidence in herself and to get going for her goals.
“Yes, please come in, Miss Liston.” A deep male voice responded to her soft knock on the large door with Garth Hollander embossed on the nameplate.
“Good Afternoon, Mister Hollander.” Hannah said softly as she stepped inside.
“Please, take a seat.” The rather large man rising up from his seat beamed at her. “And call me Garth.”
“Thank you, Ga-Garth.” She said, feeling suddenly intimidated by this bear of a man.
“You wouldn’t mind if I called you Hannah.” His smile was wide and made his grey eyes sparkle.
“No, not at all.” She managed to whisper. Despite his intimidating appearance, his cheerful demeanor began to ease away her initial discomfort. This man was tall and wide, but not overweight. He looked rather fit and strong actually, and his dark business suit seemed to be perfectly tailored for his impressive build. He was rather handsome, in a rugged sort of way, and had it not been for the eyeglasses and neatly trimmed beard, she was sure he would look like some warrior from an ancient era in time.
“Very good, Hannah.” Hollander nodded and held up a sheet of paper. “I’ve read what you wrote to us, and I must say I am impressed. Having you in the Fellowship is going to be enriching.”
“I… yes, it will be enriching for me too.” She looked nervously at the printout of her email that he seemed to be perusing with great interest.
“Of course, you will have to earn your way in.” He gave her a rather patronizing smile. “After all, this place will be a great step up for you and your future career.”
“Yes, it will… and I… I certainly hope I can be accepted on merit.”
“Yes, of course. You do more than qualify.” He looked at her with a knowing gleam in his bright eyes. “But then, merely qualifying doesn’t cut it, you know… finding yourself a solid, respectable position in the fellowship, now that’s what’s going to make or break your association with this esteemed body of scholars.”
“Uh… what do you suppose I should do?” She felt a strange sensation at the way he was looking her over. It wasn’t something that made her uncomfortable, but on the contrary Hannah seemed to appreciate the longing look in his eyes toward her.
“You are a smarter than average person.” His grin grew a bit wolfish. “And I know you can tell when opportunity presents itself to you. There are many benefits to be had befriending those in position in such places.”
“Are you suggesting that I… that I… oh, my god!” She understood his intent, but what surprised her more was her own reaction to it. She didn’t abhor the fact as she always had before, she desired it somehow and it dawned to her why. All it took was that ice breaker of sorts she had with Derek that morning. He had cracked the ice and now it had begun to melt.
“Yes, precisely. That’s the reason why I asked to see you right away, Hannah.”
“But… but… I’m sure there are many women who would gladly… I mean, what’s so special about me?”
“Hannah, my dear.” Hollander shook his head and leaned over his desk with a sympathetic smile. “Haven’t you ever looked at yourself in at the mirror? You are a lovely young woman, and one with brains to balance that beauty. But by the nature of what I see, you must be some sort of reclusive in denial of your own existence. You need to fight it, come out of your own self-imposed confinement and live life as you were meant to.”
“Mister Holl… um, Garth.” She took a deep breath and covered her face with her palms. “I… well, thank you for your insights… I must think about this.”
“Sure, take your time… and come back whenever you wish.” He had a wide smile on his face as he rose off his chair. “But think about what I’m saying. You have one life; don’t waste it away by giving in to your inconsequential fears.”
Hannah stood up quickly, nodded at the man and walked to the door and through it. He was speaking as if he knew her all her life. And yet, his words did make some sense, but his intentions were clear and very frightening to her. Of course, she did want what he had to offer in terms of a place in this prestigious fellowship, but the price for it was something she was yet to consider as affordable.
The bus she boarded took her home and as she walked up the stairway of her not so impressive apartment building, thoughts of finally being able to flee this place creeped across her mind. She walked up, lost in thought about the possibilities she would have, if only she could ov
ercome her fears and experience the life that she’d been denying herself for the last ten years.
She entered her apartment and locked the door. A nice warm shower would let her calm down and think about things with a more relaxed mindset. She ran the water and took off her clothes. Even though she knew she had a fine body, Hannah had never before considered about it. Yes, she did rather pleasure herself at times, but those were moments under the covers in the darkness of night. She had never before admired herself in the natural state before. But now, Hollander’s words got her thinking and she dared to stand completely naked in front of the bathroom mirror.
The lithe and shapely woman looking back at her from the reflection was hardly someone she could recognize. Hannah paused and began to pay attention to her own naked body for the first time in her life. She had never seen a naked woman before, well, maybe in magazines and movies, but those were quick stolen glances not long enough to form a memory of. She took a deep breath and puffed out her chest. Her eyes went wide at the way her breasts pushed out, tight and upright like round oranges. She gingerly raised her open palms up to them, shivering at the sensation of her own touch. Her nipples had hardened and she felt that pleasurable throb in them. Her fingers felt good on her warm flesh and she cupped her breasts, gently squeezing the softness of her yielding flesh.
“Oh, this feels good.” She moaned softly. “Would it feel better if a man did this?”
Her eyes trailed lower, traversing over her flat yet supple belly and to her shapely mound. She pressed her thighs together and rubbed them. The sensation down there made a sharp gasp escape her trembling lips. She ran one hand down over her belly and slipped it between her legs. She was wet already, a pleasurable wetness, warm and slick. A strange feeling of need to have something slide into her made her head giddy. She licked her finger and lowered it down, placing it over her wet slit. She took a deep breath, shivering. Her finger rested on the slit and she crooked it, probing at her virgin entrance. Her breath quickened and her nipples began to ache even more.
“Oh, I… I have to…” She shook with anticipation of pushing her finger into her pussy. She had done this before, but never in full sight of herself. Doing this in front of her mirror for the first time was the most exciting thing Hannah had ever done in her life. She closed her eyes and placed her finger into position, readying to push it all the way in.
Knock! Knock!
Oh, no! Who could that be? Hannah could have cursed out loud, but her docile nature didn’t even allow her that. Hastily donning her bathrobe, she walked over to the front door.
“Howdy, Neighbor.” Clara Pickets gave her a wide, red-lipstick coated grin. “Could ya spare me some milk and sugar, I’m fresh out and I hate my coffee black.”
“Uh… sure, come on in.” Hannah said with a sigh, hoping Clara wouldn’t notice her hastily wrapped inside-out bathrobe.
But Clara had no mind for those things. The redhead herself was wearing her boyfriend’s shirt and nothing else on. Why, the young woman seemed to have some of her lover’s and her own love sauce still trickling down her sexy legs. Hannah could practically smell the sex off her.
“How much do you need?” She asked the other woman instead.
“A cup of each will do.” Clara flashed a wide smile. “Hank’s with me. Oh, and I’ll return the cups later.”
“Sure, no worries.” Hannah smiled. And she didn’t need to be told that Hank Ferris was with her, she had heard them all night.
“Thanks, you’re a peach, Hannah.” Clara said as she happily accepted the two cups. “Say, I’ve been living next door to you for over a year now… and I’ve never seen you have any visitors.”
“Uh… yeah, I don’t really like to entertain.” She told the redhead, hoping that she would leave already.
“You mean, you don’t have any boyfriends… I’ve never seen you going out on the weekends either.”
It was none of her business, but Hannah didn’t want to come off as rude. Clara was the only person within reach in case of any kind of emergency. There was Alvin Rand the super, of course, but he was almost always in the basement, three floors down.
“Well, yeah… I mean, no.” Hannah nodded demurely. “I am fine actually.”
“Really?” Clara’s green eyes went wide as she stepped outside. “Geez, I could never live like that… without a boyfriend.”
I’m sure you couldn’t. Hannah smiled at the quip inside her head and gave the other woman another nod as she reached to close the door.
“But hey,” Clara stuck her foot at the base of the door before she could close it. “You know what, Hank and I are hitting this new club tonight… if you like, you can come with us… we could hook you up.”
“Oh, I… that’s nice of you, but I… I’m not really into the club thing.”
“Too bad, there are always a lot of good looking hunks, and most of them are loaded, at these clubs.” Clara shrugged with a smile.
“No problem. You have a good time.”
“Yeah, we will.” Clara smiled knowingly and then her eyes lit up. “Oh, wait a minute… you could totally hook up with Al… yeah, he’s sort of like you, so very reserved and formal… hell, yeah… you’d make a nice pair.”
“Al? Alvin Rand?” Hannah stared at her neighbor as if she had grown an extra head.
“Sure, why not. He’s a good man… a great catch.” Clara shrugged, making her firm breasts jiggle under the lover’s loose t-shirt. “Think about it.”
“Sure… I will give it a thought.” She nodded as Clara stepped away from her door.
Hannah finally closed the door and locked it. She rested her forehead on the door and sighed. Her body shook as she gave in to soft laughter. This was a day for having very personal conversations with everyone, it seemed. Clara had barely said more than a few words to her before, and today of all days the lively redhead had to give her advice on having a love life.
But then Alvin Rand was a good man, maybe even a great catch for some lucky woman. But she was not the one. No way was she going to even consider it. She did not abhor his company, or fear him in any way. Not anymore. Maybe she did when she first rented the apartment six years ago. But the man proved all of her fears wrong and just went about his job. And even though she hardly spoke more than three words each time she had to meet him, be it to fix something, or pay the rent, or just passing him on the stairs, she had grown to respect the tall, good natured superintendent of their building. But no, she couldn’t see herself being anything more than that with him.
“Ah, now where was I… before Clara interrupted me.” Hannah dropped her bathrobe and stood naked before the dresser next to her bed. “Hm, not bad… not a bad body at all.”
She blushed at her own words. It was strange how in the course of one morning she was able to unshackle herself from years of self-imposed stupidity. She was well aware of not letting it all get to her head, she would have to take this slow and easy, be in control… she had to fight years of inhibited behavior smartly and win. And who did she have to thank for setting this spark, her own student, Derek Kane… and in some way, even Garth Hollander, a man whose existence she hadn’t known until that afternoon.
The thought of Derek reminded her of their time at the cafeteria, and the computer game he told her about. She had forgotten all about it until now. Her satchel was on the bed and she reached for it, curious now all over again about the game he had shown her.
She drew out the laptop and switched it on. There was an image of a scantily clad elf-maiden for the background wallpaper on his desktop and Hannah found herself blushing. Then she remembered that she was naked herself. Oh, what if he could see her now, naked like this with his computer in her hands. She hoped there wasn’t any kind of camera on it transmitting her image back to him somewhere. And somehow the thought of that happening strangely excited her. But there was no sign of any camera on it and she sighed in relief.
The icon for the game was already flashing and she remembered t
hat Derek had set up her account for her to play. Hannah clicked on the icon and the game loaded, filling the screen with an impressive graphic display of a world from another time and place. ‘Welcome back to Finder’s Journey’ flashed across the scenery with an inspiring orchestrated score playing in the background. If she didn’t know better, Hannah could have sworn she was watching a very hi-end movie. She selected her character bio to reacquaint herself with it. Princess Hélène of Dras-Ornel.
The image of the character Derek had set up came to life and turned to face her. She tapped on the tab that activated the character to start the game. She was surprised at the life like quality of the game character design, the animation and the lighting. The princess character seemed to really stare back at her, and her red rose lips seemed to have a petulant pout that reminded Hannah of all those actresses playing the roles in those period movies she so loved to watch.
“This is preposterous.” Princess Hélène said with a plaintive sigh, sounding almost like a live person. “I refuse to be wedded to some king older than my own sire so that he may have better alliance with that kingdom. I dare you, Sir Randal, you will not coerce me to return… not now and not ever.”
“But, princess.” A deep male voice from the side protested. Hannah couldn’t see the other character. “It is for the good of the kingdoms… for the people of Dras-Ornel and Westamblin.”
“And what of me.” Princess Hélène retorted. “Must I be the sacrificial lamb… would not a one care about me?”
“It is not my place, you highness.” Randal’s response came from off camera. “I must obey my king at all cost.”
‘HIT ENTER TO BEGIN’ flashed on the screen. Hannah did and the scenery on the screen rotated. Now she could see the other character, this Sir Randal the Righteous, first knight of the realm. He stood there, waiting for her. Hannah realized that what she saw was from the point of view of her character now. This was a FP-POV or first person point of view game. She remembered Derek telling her that.
“So what now?” She wondered out loud as she huddled naked before the game.
Conquering Her (LitRPG Fantasy Story) Page 2