Thesis Topic 23 Ch. 06

"Lillian, let me do some calls to see if we can save your inheritance somehow. Wait for me outside."

Lillian waited nervously outside Ms. Barbara's office, all her world seemed to be crumbling. She fidgeted nervously in the reception chair until maybe an hour later she was called again inside Ms. Barbara's office.

"Lillian, I talked with my contact in the disciplinary council, he is a man who believes in justice and thinks that the punishment should be proportional to the fault, and he sees that the cost for your stupid behavior would be exaggerated. He believes that it could be possible to bend the rules a little to let you preserve your inheritance, but it won't be a free ticket for you. He thinks there is a possibility to trade the expulsion for a probation period. All your student rights will be suspended for an amount of time, probably a year, after which, you could have another chance to write a professional thesis."

Lillian breathed with relief. That wasn't that bad considering the circumstances. She would lose a year, and certainly, she won't graduate with honors, but she could use it to advance on a new thesis, and the fact that she could still graduate was simply wonderful news.

"But there is a catch. To have some leverage to convince the rest of the board, you have to show repentance and willingness to accept that you made a huge, career-destroying, mistake that deserves much more than a slap in the hand, so you need to promise to restitute your scholarship (around $180,000 USD). "

Lillian felt anger, "Those greedy bastards," she thought, but she would lose much more than that if she didn't accept.

"Do you agree with these terms?" said Ms. Barbara

Lillian simply nodded but seeing Ms. Barbara expecting more than that.

"Yes. Ms. Barbara, I agree. Thank you for getting me this opportunity."

"I haven't got it yet, at this moment it is just a possibility. Carl, told me that he needs the support of 3 members of the council, he could get one, but it would be good to make some lobbying to convince a couple more."

Lillian felt the apprehension returning. The uncertainty was killing her.

Ms. Barbara was silent and looked concentrated, after a few seconds and musings she turned to see Lillian.

"You are doing an internship at Johnson & Carter, don't you?"

"Yes," she answered insecurely.

"Isn't Mr. Palmer your boss?"

She nodded again, even more afraid of where the conversation could be going.

"Well, that could be your way out. If you can get his support, he surely would be able to convince several members of the council. He knows three of them personally and he is a very persuasive man."

Lillian was pale, and silent, for a moment she thought of complaining about Mr. Palmer's sexual harassment, but she quickly realized that she had very little credibility after Ms. Barbara had seen the embarrassing photos that she posted on the internet. She could even worsen her problems because she had been exchanging sex for benefits.

"I know what are you thinking. You think it would ruin your image with Mr. Palmer, and your chances at Johnson & Carter. Let me tell you that it is just a matter of time anyway. And you don't have necessarily to tell him all the dirty details of your academic fraud. "

Lillian was paralyzed. She didn't dare to say or do anything, her head was spinning, and filled with scattered memories of her humiliating sexual encounters with Mr. Palmer.

"There must be another person who can help me." she thought with desperation trying to find a way out, but before she could come with an answer, Ms. Barbara took the phone.

"Can you put me in line with Mr. Palmer?"

"Hi, Harry! How are you? Thanks for taking my call."

Lillian was surprised, she realized that until that moment, she didn't even know Mr. Palmer's first name even when she had sucked her cock three times and even received her dick in her asshole once. Ms. Barbara and he were obviously friends. She shivered with fear and shame.

"This is it," she thought, "My last chance will fly away right now."

"I have Lillian Sanders with me. I will put this on speaker so we could all talk a little."

Mr. Palmer felt nervous. Was Lillian denouncing him?

"Listen Harry, I will go straight to the point."

Mr. Palmer gulped.

"Lillian made a mistake that could have costly consequences for her."

Mr. Palmer finally breathed.

"She had been otherwise a pretty good student, and I would like to hear your opinion about her professional behavior." Ms. Barbara made this trying to put him in a supportive mood.

"Well, she made a mistake here too, but she did an impressive interview with me and convinced me to rehire her."

Lillian blushed remembering her shameful interviews with Mr. Palmer.

"And what about her work? Is she good?" said Ms. Barbara, trying to get a more positive response from him.

"Well, she had been working in three different positions since she started here, but definitely she fits better in the last one, it is a better match between her abilities and the job requirements. She is still not as qualified as her colleges, but she had tried to be on par, and she had been doing a very clean job.

About her work habits, her punctuality has some room to improve, but I have heard that she stands out by the way she dresses, and she is always willing to give something extra."

Mr. Palmer was very amused inserting all those inuendos knowing that Lillian was listening and was surely interpreting his phrases in a much different way than Ms. Barbara.

Lillian was on the edge, all that she was hearing was indeed extremely humiliating for her, but Ms. Barbara didn't interpret it the same way, for her, it was simply a mediocre evaluation and nothing else.

Ms. Barbara would have wanted a better evaluation to have some leverage, but she sensed that he was being polite, and the real evaluation of Lillian was probably worse than it sounded. She wasn't so sure to get his help now but decided to talk directly.

"Harry, I will be frank. Lillian needs your help, her mistake could get her expelled from the University, which would be very costly for her, and I sincerely believe that it would unfair for several reasons. So Carl of the disciplinary council had planned an alternative punishment for her, that seems to be fitter for the crime, but we need to get some support from the disciplinary board, and I believe that you can talk to them and help present Lillian's case more favorably. If you agree I can brief you on the specifics later."

"Well, that sounds serious Barbara. I am willing to hear Lillian, but she had to convince me that helping her with the board is the right thing for me to do. I will be willing to receive her in my office at lunchtime. I am not making any promises but to hear her story."

The call ended after they exchanged some pleasantries.

Lillian was almost trembling; she knew what would entitle getting his support. She shivered with apprehension and shame, but she was willing to do anything. She was convinced that it was the only way to rescue her identity and future.

Ms. Barbara looked at the nervous girl in front of her. She looked more like a frightened naughty highSchool girl about to face the principal, than the successful student and near to graduate woman that she was supposed to be. Even the business attire didn't help her case, probably because it looked somewhat ridiculous without a blouse, making her look again like a schoolgirl wearing her big sister clothes. She sighed; she was disappointed with Mr. Palmer's evaluation. She expected an excellent evaluation, after all, she had been failing at her thesis, and Ms. Barbara had thought that it was because Lillian was so engrossed in her promising internship that she was neglecting her college work.

She finally sighed, and said, "Ok, Lilly," she didn't know where 'Lilly' came from, maybe it was because of the way she perceived Lillian now. "You should go now to Mr. Palmer's office, try to be there before lunchtime, so there is someone to let you in. Remember punctuality is very important especially right now."

Lillian stood up and extended her hand to thank Ms. Barbara.

Ms. Barbara shook her hand and looking her at her eyes, she said.

"Lilly, you must not fail. It is probably your last chance. Show me that you deserve this opportunity."

"I will," said Lillian almost in a whisper.

A few minutes later she was riding on the bus towards Mr. Palmer's office. She had removed all of her makeup because it became a mess with her tears, only her lips remained painted in a soft pink tone. She looked very young. She was dreading her incoming meeting with Mr. Palmer.

PART 11

She arrived at Mr. Palmer's office just a few minutes before lunchtime.

Kathleen (Mr. Palmer's secretary) greeted her cheerfully.

"Hi Lilly, Nice outfit."

Lillian blushed remembering the embarrassing outfit that she was wearing the last time she saw Kathleen.

"You should try it with a blouse, it would look a lot better."

Lillian merely nodded, angry at being patronized that way, "Of course I know dumb ass," she thought angrily, "she must think this is the first time I wear decent clothes."

But then she added, "of course is a matter of fashion, and probably Mr. Palmer like it better that way," Kathleen said with a smirk.

Lillian blushed, "She knows!" she thought ashamed. "Meeting with him alone, at lunchtime when the office is deserted must ring some bells in Kathleen's head, and the worst part is that whatever degrading things she thinks I came to do, they are probably true," she was feeling small in front of this secretary that she once considered way below her, both professionally and as a woman of respect.

Lillian's eyes were cast down, and Kathleen enjoyed her little victory. She wasn't a bad person, but she deeply despised the women that had sex with the bosses.

"Mr. Palmer is already waiting for you. You know the way don't you?"

Kathleen nodded quietly and walked to Mr. Palmer's office.

Mr. Palmer waved Lillian to sit in front of him. He was reviewing some papers and only separated his eyes from the document from time to time to look at Lillian.

She saw the girl in front of him, constantly fidgeting in her chair, and biting her lower lip nervously while avoiding eye contact with him and he realized that she had changed a lot since the first time she met her a few months ago. Now even with the expensive clothes that she was wearing she didn't look professional, the lack of stockings and blouse made her look cheap, and her baby face made her look really cute, but definitely not like the promising young graduate that she was a short time ago.

He could not avoid thinking that it was at least partly his fault. He had mixed emotions about that, on one hand, he felt regret for his contribution to the girl's downfall, on the other, at a more primary, less rational level, he felt a power rush of the transformation that he had achieved in her.

He could not avoid thinking that Lillian was destined to be another bitch just like his ex-wife and that he had saved some poor guy. He wished he had made the same with her ex-wife when she was that young.

"What would have been of her if I had pushed her downwards instead of upwards, she would probably be a waitress or even a stripper," he felt delighted with the images forming in his mind, but then his rational mind started to fight back.

"Probably Lillian doesn't deserve this," He was divided, part of him wanted to further exploit the girl, after all, her destiny now depended mostly on him, and another part of him wanted to give Lillian a real chance to put her life back on track and get out from the downward spiral that she had traveled with his help.

He was still undecided; what had begun as a game for him, as a way to cope with his bitter divorce, could have now lifetime consequences for Lillian. He was convinced that most of this was Lillian's fault, after all, she was the one making the worst decisions. She was the one who made unforgivable mistakes in her original position interviewing job candidates, then she crashed his document scanning project, and dressed like a little slut. It wasn't his idea that she took a shift at the dark horse, and in the topless area. She even uploaded nude photos of herself to the internet, What was she thinking? If the word gets out, she will ruin any chances to work for a serious firm.

Her worst idea yet was to use her own nude photos as a proof of her advance in her thesis project. She should have asserted herself and told Ms. Barbara that the subject didn't want that, and if it was requisite, she would have to look for another subject and start from scratch. And if she wanted to cheat on that, she should at least have copied some model photos or hired someone to do the stunt.

" No," he said to himself, "she has done it mostly herself. Maybe this is what she really wants." But then he shook the idea out of his mind.

"I promised myself to give her a fair chance to recover her life." Finally, the best part of him won the battle, and he finally rose his eyes from the paper.

"Hi, Lillian. Ms. Barbara already told me everything about your situation. I would lie to you if I tell you that it was a complete surprise to me. But I understand your situation and I am willing to help you."

She sensed respect from him, something that she hadn't seen in his eyes since all this mess started.

"I think that your problem is way deeper than this expulsion threat, as a matter of fact, this crisis is just the consequence of your very poor decisions. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes sir," she said.

"You need to start behaving professionally, and responsibly, so the first step is to solve this problem by yourself, using your professional skills to convince me firstly, and then the disciplinary board, that you are a valuable student who made a terrible mistake, but who is nonetheless working professionally on her thesis and could probe her knowledge, and her honorability."

Lillian nodded, she was surprised by Mr. Palmer's speech. She was also taken out of balance because she expected that he would want something sexual in exchange of his help.

"OK. Lillian. Here is what I can do for you. I can call three of the board members who are friends of mine. Two of them are women, so they probably would sympathize with you. I can tell them good things about you, but I can't lie, and I won't do your job. I can invite them to join us this Wednesday afternoon in my meeting room. There you will have your chance to talk privately with them and convince them that all of this was an unacceptable, but well-meant mistake and not an open intention of deceiving everybody with a fake thesis. You will have to portray your stunt as a brave but stupid way to defend your subject privacy. You'll then accept that you deserve a penalty, but ask for their mercy, so your punishment doesn't have lifelong consequences for you."

Lillian saw a glimpse of hope. She could have a chance to save some face, regain some respect, and retake some control over her life.

"Thank you very much, sir. I really appreciate what you are doing for me."

Still, she had some doubts and apprehension; the idea of defending herself against three respectable academic veterans was frightening, but she tried to remain focused, so she asked.

"And how do you think I should structure my presentation Sir?"

"Well, I think that after thanking their presence, you should focus on convincing them that your thesis is for real. I would tell them why I chose this research method instead of others. I would show them all the research papers that I know exist on the subject and tell them why there is room for another study, what is yet to be known or proved. I would also show them the reference framework in which I had been basing my work, you know cites, and references of other works, that support the content of my interview questions. Then I will present them with interview extracts and my interpretation of why those particular answers are useful for my research.

Be prepared to show the original interview tapes, so they can see that you did not make them up. A good touch, would be to let them play random bits of the interviews, so they can see your professional approach to the subject, and then you could make technical comments about those excerpts.

Finally, you should tell them about your subject negative to give you professional photos of herself, and that you stupidly surrendered to Ms. Barbara exigency of them, by faking the photos and protecting your subject.

You could close your presentation telling them about your perfect record, although they already know that, and making your respectful beg for mercy."

Lillian was overwhelmed. That should be so easy if she would have been working on her thesis, but she hadn't done much work lately and her interview recordings were shameful, especially after Karen forced her into her silly games.

"Sir... I... "

"Why don't you rehearse for me right now. That way I will feel more confident to defend your case. Don't worry about the details right now, but you will need the precise quotes in the real meeting."

Lillian felt ditzy, she realized that she had done so little work on her thesis, it would be impossible to have a decent presentation in a couple of days. She will simply fail.

"Sir... I ... I don't feel like I can do that..."

She said ashamed.

"Why? Aren't you a top student?"

"Yes," she said in a whisper.

"Then show me!"

"It is just that this thesis... you know... I have not ... really done much... Yet."

"Tell me what you have, explain to me your hypothesis and your methodology, everything that you remember right now."

Lillian was trembling, and she started babbling about her thesis, but her language kept slipping to a very unprofessional territory. She continually spoke of "horniness" and pussies, tits, instead of talking about arousal, vaginas, and breasts. She was emotionally involved in her talk instead of preserving a detached clinical view.

Mr. Palmer then started asking her basic psychology concepts, trying to made her gain some confidence, and then build something from there, but she was so nervous that she mixed up basic concepts and even failed to remember some very elementary principles. She was getting more and more nervous, thinking "If I perform like this on Wednesday they would think that I cheated all along my college years."

Mr. Palmer even tried to build her confidence asking some high school and general knowledge concepts, but she was getting more and more frightened, and more and more incompetent by the minute.

"Lillian, you need to come with something better than that if you want to convince the members of the board. Remember it is your only chance."

Lillian started stammering a bunch of non-sense. Her voice was almost a whisper and she was blushing bright red. She knew she was making a fool of herself and only wanted the conversation to end. She realized that it was impossible to be prepared in two days, and even worse, she would probably fail to deliver a congruent speech even if she knew the facts. She was having more and more trouble behaving professionally, especially when she was in front of men. She felt so bellow them.

She finally broke down, "There must be another way Mr. Palmer, I can't do that. I can't convince them that my thesis is a professional work."

"Why can't you do that?"

"Because it isn't, I haven't done much really, just a few interviews, and the recordings aren't very neat," she whispered ashamed.

"Are you saying that your lack of professionalism would be immediately evident in a meeting with the members of the council."

She nodded ashamed.

"I don't see you able to pose even as a mediocre student so they would probably doubt your student record too. Aren't you the worst student there?"