Sometimes you have to chase your dreams and make them happen! And I did just that, sitting in my lawyer's office with eight beautiful women sitting across from us in a semi-circle.
Through a six month campaign of hanging out at coffee shops, book stores, and libraries in Manhattan and Brooklyn I had struck up something like friendly relationships with the eight women, and my lawyer. They were all working towards their doctorates in various disciplines in the humanities, and I was going to award one of them 10 million dollars so that they wouldn't have to write a grant application for a very, very long time. Grant writing! The bane of academia! These are some seriously smart and hardworking women, so they were dubious, but 10 million is 10 million, and I'm handsome.
Also the stock market is amazing if you know what you're doing, like a lottery ticket that rewards the wealthy.
Anyway, here we are, myself, my lawyer Sumitra Charles, a beautiful 33 year old woman, and our eight academics:
Sandra Smith: An African Studies doctoral candidate, 25 years old, she was 5'5'' tall, black, had amazing double D's, wonderfully poofy hair that she wore in a pony tail, almond shaped eyes, and a pretty amazing curvy ass.
Elia Meyers: A Woman's Studies doctoral candidate, 27 years old, she was 5'8" tall, and from Montanna, so she had that big open sky look I've noticed in people from the north country. Clear blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and a strong narrow nose, along with light brown hair that spilled delicately down either side of her neck.
3. Cindy Shu: An Asian Studies doctoral candidate, 26 years old, she was Chinese- American, 5'7" tall with amazing shiny, lustrous hair that spilled over her shoulders, and clear skin that shone.
4. Rebecca Jones: A Native American and Indigenous People's doctoral candidate, 25 years old, she was the tallest in the group, white and coming in at 6'0" tall with long dark brown hair, deep, dark brown eyes, and an amazingly trim body and long legs.
5. Sarah Nevins: A Woman's Studies doctoral candidate, 28 years old, 5'5" tall, she was of Italian and Greek descent with dark eyes, and a toothy smile, striaght hair with blonde hi lights that was shoulder length. She was another tight body, but with curvy hips.
6. Maria Gonzalez: A Pan-American Studies doctoral candidate, 25 years old, Hispanic, 5'3'' tall, she had dark eyes, wavy dark brown hair, lovely brown skin and a cute nose that curved just a bit inward at the end. Like Sandra, she had a lovely chest. Oh, they all had lovely chests, honestly, but I digress.
7. Jennifer Saxon: A Latin American Studies doctoral candidate, 24 years old, she was white, 5'5'' tall, with dark, curly brown hair and a smile that lit up the room, slender with a tight body, but still had hips that she could swing when she walked.
8. Jess Peters: An African Studies doctoral candidate, 28 years old, and just ever so slightly shorter than Rebecca at 5'11'', she was black, slightly darker skinned than Sandra, tall, slender, with killer legs like Rebecca. Also notable were her amazing eyes and high cheekbones.
What they were wearing today isn't important, although what Sumitra was wearing is. She wore tight Gray Jeans with a slender black belt, and a blue button down shirt, the top two buttons undone. She had a thick head of black hair, deep, dark eyes and a a geometrically triangular nose that hooked slightly downward, very regal and aquiline.
I stood behind her large mahogany desk just to her left where she sat, looking a bit agitated, with the contract laid out in front of her. As of now, only the two of us knew what it said.
"Everyone's here" she said in a crisp voice, with only the slightest tremble (if you were expecting it, like I was). "Can we proceed?"
Nods all around, and I thanked everyone for being on time.
"Thank you, Arthur" Jennifer piped in, "this is really an amazing thing you're doing!"
"Although it being a contest is unorthodox," Maria stated.
"Well, that's me!" Unorthodox sometimes.
I noticed some of them had brought folders and had them on their laps, expecting to make a presentation, perhaps to impress me with their research.
"Let's let Sumitra read the terms of the contest, though." I said.
"Yessss...ok, we'll all sign the document, as well as nine NDAs after I've read it, at the request of Arthur." Sumitra added.
"To begin", and she began to read from the contract:
"All federal, state, and local laws shall apply to "The Hold-It Contest" (hereby referred to as "The Contest") The contest shall be open to all eight participants here today: Sandra Smith, Elia Meyers, Cindy Shu, Rebecca Jones, Sarah Nevins, Maria Gonzalez, Jennifer Saxon, and Jess Peters..."
(There was some murmuring and confusion, with Sarah muttering..."Hold it contest...?")
Sumitra stopped then for a second to adjust herself in her chair and cross her legs, unseen to the participants across the desk, but I noticed.
"Participation in the contest requires full and unconditional agreement to these official rules and requires a $5,000 deposit, already collected and placed in escrow. Winning the prize and return of the deposit is fully contingent upon being compliant with these official rules.
(A small price, the $5,000, relatively, that all the women assembled were willing to put up for a decade or more free of writing grants, but large enough to ensure full compliance to the end.)
The contest begins on January 25th and ends on February 6th, consisting of 6 rounds, each round consisting of two randomly selected participants to compete, with the loser being eliminated, and the winner proceeding, tournament style.
Each round of the contest shall consist of the aforementioned randomly selected participants arriving at Arthur Carson's apartment at 7 PM on the selected date of their participation.
Sumitra paused again briefly, squirmed in her chair for a bit, and took a deep breath, most likely because this is where things were going to get interesting. I got the feeling from reading the room that some of them were a bit skeptical about my apartment as well, but let's keep going!
Upon arrival, each participant will have the opportunity to use the bathroom to ensure an empty bladder and that the urge to urinate is non-existent....
"....What?!?," hissed Cindy, looking surprised, but Sumitra continued on. She wanted this over with for a few reasons.
"Hush Cindy," Jess, implored, "let's see where this is going...it's ten million dollars in grant money!"
"...At which point the contest shall begin with each contestant drinking a 10 ounce glass of water. Another 10 ounce glass of water shall be consumed by each participant every 15 minutes. Each participant must remain fully clothed until each round is complete in items of clothing to be specified in the next section. The contest shall continue," Sumitra was solidly looking down at the paper now, avoiding the curious and surprised eyes on her. I on the other hand was drinking in the shock and confusion, "until one participant can no longer resist the urge to urinate and proceeds to urinate in her pants..."
The room erupted now. Elia leaped up, "Arthur! No, what the fuck?"