Closed: Ms. Hanover needs attention

(OOC -- This Companion Thread continues Jake's quest to put his boss into an incriminating sexual situation with a student. In case you didn't read them, this CT is preceded by 93, 94, 95, and 96.)

"My only question, Mister Jacobs," John Shepard responded, "is when do we start?"

Jake smiled, pleased; thrilled, to be more precise. It was, of course, still a big leap between getting John to be nice with an anonymous woman and fucking a school administrator before a hidden camera, but Jake still saw the situation going his way.

"Today," Jake answered. "We start today."

He contemplated how quickly he should move ahead with John; slow was safer and likely more successful, but fast was more satisfying. Jake wanted revenge against this woman who he thought had achieved her promotion by sleeping with the school's superintendent. But he also knew that he couldn't propose, promote, create, and supervise the Adult Tutoring Program -- cover for the whore house -- without having control over Paula Hanover.

"John, I'm going to be very blunt with you." Fast, Jake told himself. Fast is better. Jake checked the windows, looking for eavesdroppers outside his office. "I want you to ... get to know ... on an intimate level ... Ms. Hanover ... Harrison High School's Senior Counselor ... my boss..."

John's reaction was almost immediate; Jake had expected this. He wasn't suggesting that the boy go down to the malt shop with some lonely brainiac or the ugly daughter of a friend; he was that John seduce one of the most influential staff members of a school with over a thousand students.

"She has taken a shine to you already, John," Jake continued quickly before John could begin thinking about changing his mind. "In this modern age of everyone having a camera ... either in a phone or a camcorder or what ever ... it's amazing how much you can learn about another person's activities ... and John, I have reviewed both the school's security camera footage and dozens of hours of documentary footage shot of the school's drama program by some of your classmates. I even reviewed the film the Dee-MAP crew shoots when the Theater Group is rehearsing their shows."

John opened his desk drawer and pulled out another file, this one not of incriminating photos of Jessica blowing a man in a bar, but of what appeared to be randoms shots from all about the school, photocopies of bad photographs that seemed to have nothing in common.

The one thing they did have in common was one, sometimes two circles in red permanent marker. And in these circles were Ms. Hanover, John, or both. "She's been watching you closely, John. She likes you. She's ... this might be too strong a word ... obsessed with you. And this starts before your career. This woman is very attracted to you ... and here's the beauty of it. You're now 18. You know what that means ... yes...?"

John was on-board with the whole idea of going out on a date with some woman for an evening so that she might feel desirable, or so that she'd have some gossip to blab to her friends, or even so that his counselor could get his own personal 'reward' for having set up this mystery-woman with the town's 'star', as people sometimes referred to him. He needed that bill on the table, but he needed the ones Mister Jacobs had shown in his money-clip even more. He realized that he didn't know exactly how much Mister Jacob's was willing to pay.

Any thoughts of bartering over a fair price for his time were discarded immediately when Mister Jacobs dropped the name of his date-to-be.

Miss Hanover, his freshman counselor.

John's eyes immediately widened and he sat straight up in his chair. He was unable to form a response response before his counselor continued on. As Mister Jacobs confirmed John's suspicions about the hungry gazes Miss Hanover had given him over the years, John felt his stomach clench when he was made aware of all the hundreds of hours of security and other footage the school acquired each year. John hadn't realized that all the cameras he saw on school grounds would actually be recording. He had thought them deterrence measures, like some cameras in stores. He also would never have guessed that those tapes would be saved in a database that could be accessed by the Administration Staff.

When Mister Jacobs placed that folder of photos on the desk and John saw himself outlined in red ink in every one of them, he knew that Jake had spent a very large amount of time gathering this evidence. What was disturbing about the photos, however, was the frequency in which Miss Hanover appeared in them, never far from where John was. He felt a chill on his neck as he realized that she wasn't just giving him hungry stares, she was practically stalking him.

Mister Jacobs further confirmed the thoughts in John's head when he told John that Miss Hanover was, for all intents and purposes, obsessed with him, and had been obsessed with him since their first encounter during his freshman year.

It was quite obvious what Mister Jacobs wanted John to do, but the reasoning behind it was beyond John's grasp. He wanted to ask why, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know the reason.

What he was sure of was the fact that he wanted that hundred dollar bill on the table, and that he wanted more of them.

"So...let me get this straight. You're going to give me that bill on the table just for talking with you. Then, you're going to make arrangements for me to meet with Ms. Hanover somehow. You're going to pay for whatever arrangements are made for this 'date', but at the end of the night, you want me to..." John trailed off. He felt awkward; it wasn't as if the two of them chatted about their sex lives during their previous meetings. But John wanted answers, and he wasn't going to let anything be unclear, to the point where he could be blackmailed.

So he continued after taking a breath to steel himself. "You want me to then, after this date, have se-- get... intimate... with Ms. Hanover. What the hell are you going to get out of this?" The question came out without prior approval from John's brain, but it was a question he wanted answered.

"What the hell are you going to get out of this?"

Jake had been expecting John's question; even before John entered the office, Jake knew he would hear this question. He thought he had a sufficient answer. "Personally...? I get the satisfaction of helping out a co-worker ... a woman for whom I have great respect, but for whom I also have great sympathy. John ... she's lonely ... she needs some one to comfort her. And I think we both know who she fantasizes will someday comfort her."

Jake sat back in his chair, taking a more comfortable, casual position. "Look ... John. You're 18 years old. In the eyes of the school, you are an adult. Ms. Hanover ... Paula ... is no longer your Counselor. I am. So ... there is no conflict of interest concerning you being a student and Paula being a school employee."

Actually, that was absolutely and totally untrue; it was, in fact, the reason Jake had gone looking for a student to bed Hanover, so that once it was over, he'd have the information -- as well as the pics, video, and audio -- to hold over her head. But John wasn't as aware of school policy as Jake and Paula were, and even if he was, Jake's hope was that the Benjamin still sitting between the two men on the desk, as well as the others that Jake was sure to allow John to see, would be more important than a silly rule like that.

"I am only asking you to ... befriend Paula. And ... if the two of you hit it off, and you want to be ... intimate was your word, yes...? Well ... so be it then. And if you find that you need a few more dollars ... for dinner ... a late night dessert maybe ... whatever ... all you have to do is ask."

Jake shifted his glance past John, caught sight of a teacher he had no interest in talking to, and told John, "Listen, I have to go talk to Mister Carls." He stood, pushed the bill all the way to the edge of the desk, and made his way around the desk for the door. "Listen, you don't have to make a decision now, but like I said, I need to know by 7th period." He opened the door and called to Mr. Carls. "Feel free to take a moment here, John, there's no hurry to get back to class."

And before John could respond, Jake was gone leaving the boy with the offer, the hundred, and his decision...

As Mister Jacobs was abruptly leaving his office, John called out to him, "Wait, hang on just a second, Mister Jacobs!" But his counselor had already bolted from the room. John turned back to the little green portrait of Benjamin Franklin sitting on the edge of the desk, swept his hand up to grab it, and placed it inside his pocket before anyone could walk into the office and see it lying in plain sight of the door.

John couldn't get a good read on what Mister Jacobs wanted. At first, he had told John it was just a dinner and a movie. Then, he had said he wanted John to 'get to know' Ms. Hanover on an 'intimate level', and his tone suggested something more than a kiss on the cheek. When John had asked what Mister Jacobs was referring to, his counselor had then reverted back to saying that he just wanted John to befriend Ms. Hanover. He was quite confused.

He thought about the bill in his pocket, and about what he would have to do in order to obtain more copies of Mr. Franklin to join the lonesome one he had now.

He thought back to the requests a few volunteer workers had made of him the month after he turned eighteen. They had asked if he would be willing to be part of an auction for their respective charities, in which he would be an item to be bid upon. The winning bidder would have won a dinner-date with him.

At the time, John was still going out with Tasia, and so he had declined out of both embarrassment and because he thought it was somehow cheating on her. He did donate to the charities however. Now, he almost wished he hadn't.

John stood up from his seat after a few minutes and stretched. His mind was in overdrive trying to figure out what he was going to do after receiving that text-message from his agent. Things were looking quite grim... besides this new development with Mister Jacobs.

He didn't really know if what Mister Jacobs had said about this prospective dinner date not being against school regulations was true or not, and that bothered him a bit. He knew that if someone were to catch him doing something against the rules, it would be infinitely worse than if some other student were caught doing the same thing. Popularity brings with it many expectations, and if there's one thing he'd learned from his exposure to film, it was that nearly everyone loved watching famous people screw up.

That being said, he trusted his counselor. Mister Jacobs had never led John down the wrong path, and he didn't think Mister Jacobs would have asked him about this if it were something that they could all feel serious repercussions from.

He walked out the door out into the lobby, smiled and nodded to the secretary as he left, and wandered down to his next class. He didn't care about the classes, he just wanted it to be 7th period already.


******

The bell signaled the end of his class, and John was the first one out of his seat and out of the room. He walked quickly down the hallway to the Administration Offices, intent on getting there quickly. He waved at people as he walked past, but kindly shrugged off those who tried to engage him in conversation.

He opened the door to the lobby and greeted the secretary once again. She seemed surprised to see him, Mister Jacobs must not have told her they were meeting again. He smiled at her but said nothing, and walked to his counselor's office door.

He stood outside it briefly, his nerves grabbing at him temporarily.

Calm down, he told himself, you're like some novice actor getting stage fright before his first appearance. Pull yourself together, you know what you're here for.

John rapped the back of his knuckles on the door and stood back, waiting for Mister Jacobs to answer. John had his answer ready.

He wanted to see how far this path led... and how many hundred-dollar bills lay upon it.

Jake smiled at John's announcement that he was here to help Ms. Hanover.

"Paula," Jake corrected him. "The next time you see her, I want you to call her Paula. Don't say it too ... is cocky-ish a word...? I doubt it. I missing the right word, but basically ... just say it politely ... like a man talking to a woman, not a student talking to a teacher, or Counselor."

The phone rang, and Jake signaled John to stand by for a moment. He answered some questions about college admissions forms and deadlines, and when he was finished, he looked back to John and said firmly, "Paula is going to be at the Wrestling Weight Room at 5pm. She and a few of the other ladies work out there while wrestling is in hiatus. But, I happen to know that she will be there alone tonight."

Here we go, Jake. You better be right about this boy, because you don't have time to find someone else to do this job. He was made for this role!

"So ... what I am suggesting is this. If you were to be there before she got there, at five ... maybe you'd been working out already ... you know ... shirtless ... sweat sheen across your rippling muscles..."

As he talked, John's eyes widened. Jake wasn't sure if it was surprise or shock, or the fact that Jake was sounding like one of the many Directors John was used to working with on the set.

"... I think she might ... you know ... take notice...? Can you do that?"

So her first name is Paula, John thought, and filed the information away safely so as not to screw up before the game began.

He was a bit offended when Mister Jacobs thought it was necessary to tell him how to say a woman's name, but he let it slide. It seemed like Mister Jacobs was just as nervous as John felt, and there wasn't a reason to interrupt him over something so trivial.

John waited patiently as Mister Jacobs was on the phone, and his mind went back to the question that was playing through it all day: should he ask how much he was going to get from this? John didn't know how much he could expect, and he didn't want to sound like an asshole if he asked and gave too high a number, so he left it alone. He just hoped it consisted of at least a few hundreds.

When his counselor gave John his idea for how to 'accidentally' find alone time with Ms. Hanover, John's eyes widened again, like they had earlier in the day. But this time, it wasn't the shock of the request, it was the fact that Mister Jacobs sounded like the director for a pornographic movie with a bad plot. He immediately had to restrain himself from laughing out loud.

As Mister Jacobs finished his statement, John couldn't contain himself and he let a short laugh escape as he imagined his counselor directing two porn-stars into different positions while wearing a fedora in an attempt to look more 'artsy'.

He quickly recovered his composure and said, "Sorry, Mister Jacobs, I didn't mean to laugh. Yes, I can definitely be working out in the weight room before she gets there."

He sobered up more as he realized he didn't know what to expect once both Ms. Han...Paula...and he were in the weight room together.

"So once we're in there you...what? You want me to ask her out on a date or something?" It wasn't that John couldn't ask a girl out, it was that he didn't know how to ask someone older than himself out to dinner. This was, after all, not his plan, but Mister Jacobs's. John wanted to make sure he did everything right in order to get the money he was promised.

"So once we're in there you...what?" John asked. "You want me to ask her out on a date or something?"

Jake shrugged. "Or something. Just ... what ever feels right."

Jake was hoping, of course, that Paula would simply go crazy upon seeing the very fit, sweat-sparkling body of her lust interest and take John right there on the wrestling mats. He doubted he would be so lucky; but, just in case he was, he knew the codes for remotely activating the record function for the security cameras in the Wrestling Weight Room.

Not only would he be able to turn the recorders on from right here in his office and record -- visually and audibly -- everything that happened in the room from a pair of microphone-aided cameras, but he'd be able to download the files straight to a flash drive and then delete this recording ... and no one would ever know! Suddenly, Jake was very tickled about having been in charge of implementing the new surveillance system two years ago, a job that -- at them time -- had seemed like a whole lot of work for no extra bucks in his pay check.

"Just play it by ear, John," he continued. Glancing to the windows and the office beyond again, looking for prying eyes and ears, Jake spoke a bit softer when he added, "The doors automatically lock, and you have to have a Master Key to open them ... so ... the two of you will be able to ... work out ... in private. I think Paula will enjoy that. And that's the point, right--" Jake emphasized his next words. "--to ensure that Paula enjoys herself."

The phone rang again, Jake answered it and asked the person to hold, and he turned his attention back to John. "Listen ... you're doing a good thing here, John. And ... I won't forget it. I will make sure you are ... compensated for this. But, I have to take this, so..."

Jake glanced toward the door suggestively, reminding John Five o'clock before he spun his chair away from the boy and returned to a quick, active phone conversation about home furnishings and lease rates.

(OOC -- Feel free to post anything between now and 5pm, and then we're on hold until "Ms. Hanover" is available to post.)

Mister Jacobs was still being vague, but John didn't think he'd be able to press Mister Jacobs further. The more he thought about it, the less it really mattered. He knew that if he got into a snag he'd be able to work his way out of it, he was after all an accomplished actor. He wouldn't have to work very hard to manipulate a situation if something less-than ideal occurred.

John noted Mister Jacobs's emphasis on the automatic doors, as well as on the fact that Paula was to fully enjoy herself. Now John thought that this role was more suited to his style of acting. He could play the charmer as well as or better than anyone else he'd met, and the performances he'd given in such a role were among his most respected.

He understood the signal to leave the office, and he stepped out quietly after his counselor had hinted at the compensation that John was worried about. There was nothing to be done about it now; only to do the deed and barter about the price later, if it seemed unfair.

He returned to his last class and followed his normal after-school routine. He almost forgot about his new predicament in regards to his acting career having been put on-hold, but he quickly pushed those depressive thoughts out of the way as he headed to the weight-room where the wrestlers worked out.

Paula Hanover's ears perked at the sound of weights clacking against weights as she descended the stairs beneath Harrison High's gym and into the hall towards the weight room. Either Becky or Jennifer, no doubt she suspected as the sounds grew louder. Those two were the eager beavers of her little off-season exercise group, so certainly it was one of them already hitting the weights. Probably Becky... she was last place in their betting pool and would be trying to catch up!

She turned the corner opening into the spacious room, opened her smiling lips to greet her friend ... and froze. No, it wasn't Becky or Jennifer, but rather the last person she would have expected -- John Shepard. "Oh!" she blurts out from the doorway with a surprise that flushed a little color to her cheeks. Her right hand instinctively crossed about her tummy and glanced away trying to look casual in her drab gray sweats and absurd No Pain No Gain headband.

"John... I didn't know you would...." she half-stammered to the sweaty, well-muscled boy and did her best to feign her obvious appreciation. "Sorry... is it wrestling season again already?" she asked a little confused. "I thought these facilities would be open for the women's exercise group until the 24th..."


OOC: Hello John! I'll be writing the role of Paula (as well as Nickie Sloan, one of your fellow students). Just as an FYI, my schedule is a bit crazy right now and the only posting I can guarantee is over the weekends. So you might have to go a couple days without hearing from me during the week, but I'll try my best to keep up!

And please feel free to PM me if you want to plot this out or share ideas or anything!

John was engaged in the minor resistance-training aspect of his routine workout when he heard Ms. Hanover's...Paula's...outburst.

He finished his set and returned the dumbbells back to their place on the stand. He turned around to face Paula and smiled as he said, "Oh, hi Ms. Hanover, I didn't think anyone would be coming to work out today. Am I interrupting your workout?"

He walked towards her, grabbing his towel off a nearby bench and tossing it casually over one shoulder. He was bare-chested and had a pair of athletic shorts on. He wasn't wearing any shoes either, preferring to train in his bare feet like he had been taught by Tasia. He wiped his forearm across his forehead, but since both parts of his body were soaked with sweat, all it did was push the droplets around. He opted for the towel then, wiping his face first and then his neck and shoulders as he stopped in front of her.

"What did you mean by wrestling team, anyway? You know I don't wrestle, Ms. Hanover. Would you mind if I called you Paula? Since it's just the two of us, I mean." John was engrossed in his role. If Mister Jacobs wanted him to play the sweat-slicked stud to get Paula to go out with him, that's what he'd do. This was just another role to play...but this role paid cash.

As Jake's eyes shifted between the split image of the camera views, he smiled with excited anticipation. John was playing his roles, speaking his lines, following direction; Jake was beginning to feel like a movie director, watching the imminent sex scene unfold -- all that they needed was a sappy sound track some corny, close ups.

"Would you mind if I called you Paula?" John asked. "Since it's just--"

Jake's eyes widened as John went silent. He leaned in closer and moved the computer mouse, then clicked on the volume icon and checked that it wasn't on mute. He pulled up the volume control screen; there was nothing there to indicate why Jake was watching the pair's mouths move but was hearing no words come out.

"Oh, hi Ms. Hanover, I didn't think anyone would be coming to work out today. Am I interrupting your workout?"

Click to expand...

Paula felt herself quiver a bit when John sits up and faces her. "Oh no, you're fine," she tells him and pauses like a deer in headlights before quickly shaking her head at her little faux pas and stammers, "It's fine!" Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "I mean, it's fine... you're not interrupting anything."

Her knees locked and she had to remind herself to breathe when the young adonis walked closer... dangerously close. So close that her mouth began to water from the scent of his sweaty musk. She struggled to keep her eyes to his, but couldn't help but enjoy a few quick peeks at his muscular chest.

"Would you mind if I called you Paula? Since it's just the two of us, I mean."

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"I think..." She didn't know what to think. She should be thinking 'no, that would be inappropriate and I should be leaving'. But instead she heard herself say "I think that would be okay... we're technically after hours, so I don't think anyone would mind."

Jake was pushing buttons and turning knobs on the computer hardware, as well as links and icons on the computer in a vane attempt to return volume control to the computer and hear what was happening between John Shepard and Paula Hanover.

The two men had exchanged cell phone numbers that morning to keep in touch as necessary. John was an up an coming actor -- accomplished in some areas, still learning in others -- and Jake knew he would handle the dramatic and romantic portions of the plan just fine. Jake remembered last year's "Improv' Night", when Harrison High's drama club put on a show that could only have been described as a marriage between a live "Carol Burnette Show" and "Whose Line Is It". Audience and club members worked out scenes together off the tops of their heads, and John had simply stolen the show.

So, Jake had no concern that John would carry this scene; no, his worry was Paula. She was an adult, an education professional, a school administrator, a student adviser; she knew better than to let anything happen between her and a "Harry High" student, even if he was of legal consent age. Jake needed the yearning woman in Paula Hanover to over power the professional educator in her; Jake needed her to want this boy.

And his hope of listening in, and -- if necessary -- call John on his cell, masquerading as ... well, anyone else, to give advice or direction was now kaput! This show was up to the actor; the director was off set...

John watched Paula's eyes closely. He noticed the way her gaze kept flitting between his own gaze and his body. When her gaze dropped to his abdomen again, he sucked in a deep breath and tensed his muscles, preening himself for her. He was proud of the shape he was in; it wasn't something easily attained, and it took daily exercise to maintain it.

"Great!" John said enthusiastically when Paula answered his question. "Now then, Paula, I'm guessing you came here to work out. Did you want some help? I could spot for you, or I could even teach you a few of my favorite exercises." John was enjoying the subtle...well maybe not-so-subtle... flirting with his old counselor. She was attractive, after all. John had never really given any consideration to the fact that she might find him attractive; he had assumed she was interested in his status, like most of the other women at the school. There was also the fact that Mister Jacobs had made it clear to make sure Paula left the weight room 'satisfied', and John had taken that to mean he had to make certain Paula would not refuse an invitation to dinner.

He started walking back towards the mat he had been working out at. He looked back over his shoulder to her and said, "Well? Which one would you like, Paula?"

"Well? Which one would you like, Paula?"

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Paula darted her eyes back up from his toned bum hoping to catch his eyes before he glances back to her. "Oh, ummm...." she let her duffel bag drop to the cement floor and followed him. "I usually just ride the exercise bike," she tells him and looks over the more serious weight equipment. "But I guess I could use some strength training." He cheeks flushed with self-conscious embarrassment. Lord knows she needs a lot more work than just that!

"What would you recommend? Bench press? Or that one over there?" She was a little embarrassed she didn't even know what the machine was called... the one where you sit upright and lift weights off a pulley by pressing your arms together. "Or some of the light hand weights?" She scratched at her head, completely clueless what a proper workout routine would look like. "You're the expert... where do I need the most work?"