RR Lori Warren - Chapter 24 (Patreon)

To refresh your memory on what happened last chapter, check out Chapter 23 

* * * * * * * * * *

RR Lori Warren - Chapter 24

Chapter 24 - An Appointment with Dr. Bexley

[September 5th, 2005]

“Michael McKenna?”

He was halfway through his small-sized bag of miniature pretzels as he looked up from the worn pages of his magazine to the sound of a name–his name.

Relieved to have his focus broken, Michael set the tattered magazine down on the empty chair next to him. He’d been interrupted mid-article but he didn’t mind; in fact, he was relieved.  While most of the staff were remarkably beautiful, RR Labs didn’t have the most intriguing literary selections in their waiting room and he had already read it cover-to-cover while he was waiting during his last appointment.  He set the magazine down and looked up toward the sound of his name.  He gave her a friendly smile and stood up, glad to be leaving the strange waiting room.

This was his third or fourth time visiting the lab and he considered this place particularly unique because of how many stares he would get from the women here.  Though attention from women was not something that had ever really surprised him or caught him off guard.  He started off as a cute boy and grew gracefully into a handsome, tall young man.  He was cocky and arrogant in his teens but he accrued humility and modesty, if not just the minimum amount required, as he aged.

Despite his experience with catching the occasional woman’s eyes on him, it seemed that the rules of the universe operated differently at RR Labs, at least in the waiting room.  Without fail, every woman he’d encountered would stare at him.  The list wasn’t incredibly long since it was uncommon to cross paths with women here but without fail, every one of them gawked.  It didn’t matter if they were incredibly young, incredibly old, skinny, morbidly obese, straight, or VERY clearly gay, they all would steal glances at him.  Sometimes they’d look away embarrassed when he caught them looking, and sometimes they would continue to stare until he himself looked away.  Sometimes they looked concerned…as if they were struggling with some…inner conflict.  Oftentimes they would smile and most times it would be out of politeness, but sometimes it more resembled a smirk with some kind of subtle, indiscernible depth.  It was as if they all knew something that he didn’t.

And in some situations at RR Labs, like the situation he was in right now, the women would smile ear to ear and lightly chuckle to themselves. He could feel the weight of a feminine gaze upon him.  He turned and sure enough, there was an extremely well-endowed blonde smirking at him. Her manicured, dainty hand rested upon the thick thigh of a voluptuous, pale brunette who sat next to her–and they were shamelessly and unapologetically following him with their eyes.

Ignoring the strangely flattering yet uncomfortable behavior behind him, Michael approached the enigmatic, raven-haired woman who had called his name. She looked to be slightly older than Dr. Walker, in her late 20’s or possibly early 30’s. She extended a hand when Michael was close enough, and he could now see her name. Just like most of the other women he’d encountered, her name was elegantly embroidered over the labored, stressed and stretched left breast of her lab coat.

“Hi Michael.  I’m Dr. Alexandria Bexley.” Her smile, aimed up nearly 45 degrees to meet Michael’s elevated eyeline, was charming and disarming. Her luscious, raven locks framed her face, emphasizing her striking features, and as Michael glanced down, he couldn't help but notice the vibrant galactic purple adorning the tips of her short and cute fingers.

In stark contrast to Michael's towering 6'4" frame, she stood notably shorter, her diminutive stature adding an endearing charm to her overall presence. As their hands met, Michael marveled at the effortless way his larger hand enveloped hers, a less-than-subtle indication of just how much larger Michael was than her.

Despite her short, ‘pocket-sized’ stature, it was impossible not to notice the remarkable and considerable curvature beneath her lab coat, impossible to hide even beneath all that thick, pristine white cotton.  This blend of charming cuteness and curvy allure only reaffirmed Michael’s fascination with this peculiar lab.

“I see that you’re here today for….”

She looked down at a pale blue manilla folder, green eyes scanning quickly at a letter-dense document and her eyes widened for a moment before looking back up at him. “oh…RT?” She appeared almost excited.

“Uh….yeah, those were the letters,” Michael said with an oblivious chuckle.  “…or at least I think that’s what Dr. Walker told me at my last appointment.”

Dr. Bexley held the door open for him.  “Well, alright then.  Come right this way.” He watched her bright green eyes wander down to his left hand and the busty doctor frowned.  “Oh, sorry to say–but food is not allowed beyond this point.”

Michael nodded his head, turning to walk toward the receptionist.  She looked quite young and attractive but had a serious case of ‘resting bitch face’.

“I’m sorry, but would you mind holding onto these until—”

“—Sorry.” She didn’t even let Michael get out his question before interrupting him and folding her hands over the tall desk.  “It’s against our policy to hold food for visitors.” The receptionist said in a professionally courteous but emotionally cold tone.

‘Okay…not resting bitch face….just a bitch.’ Michael thought.’

“Hmmm…okay then.” Michael was slightly annoyed as he threw away his half-eaten bag of pretzels into the trash can, but more so by the receptionist’s smirk–as if she’d just achieved some sort of victory over Michael.

‘Whatever,’ Michael thought. ‘Lord knows I’ll be able to afford more 99 cent bags of pretzels soon enough’.

“Shall we?” Dr. Bexley asked with a warm smile, holding the heavy door.

“Sure, let’s do it.” As Dr. Bexley encouraged Michael through the heavy door, he caught the chesty blonde from earlier.  She was whispering something into the brunette’s ear… and the blonde quietly giggled as the brunette rolled her eyes. He didn’t know what her deal was but she was definitely hot enough to do whatever she wanted as far as he was concerned.

If he hadn’t already signed an agreement with RR Labs to refrain from any communication with anyone else associated with the experiment aside from lab personnel, he would have tried chatting her up…the brunette could join if she wanted…or not. But alas, that fantasy might have to be pushed off for another day; even the busty blonde wasn’t hot enough to risk breaking the rules and forfeiting the compensation he was being offered.

Right before the heavy door slammed back into its frame, he noticed the women who were waiting and had previously been silent had started speaking again at a normal volume…even though there was a sign that said no talking.  Very strange.

“So…RT.  Exciting, huh?”

“Sure, if you say so.” Michael laughed.  “All I know is it’s my last appointment.” Michael had to consciously slow  his pace significantly so as not to outpace or possibly risk trampling the short, cute doctor. She walked with noticeable purpose and speed but her endearingly compact legs couldn’t compare to Michael’s natural gait.

“Half true!” Dr. Bexley said as they continued down the long hallway.  “It’s the last appointment prior to the start of the experiment.”

They passed a few other women in lab coats.  All of them greeted Dr. Bexley with professional courtesy and warmth but only some even looked at Michael.  It was an abrupt difference from the waiting room for sure, where the women couldn’t get enough of him. The women in lab coats couldn’t have cared less about Michael.

“Yeah, that’s what I hear.  Definitely looking forward to getting started.” Michael said.  He debated making a joke about getting paid but at the risk of coming off as tacky to the pretty doctor, he ultimately decided against it.  Considering how much money he was going to make, it sure wasn’t easy refraining from talking about it!

He’d gone in for several appointments over the past few months. He usually met with Dr. Walker to review paperwork and contracts. She’d also have him take aptitude tests, intelligence exams, psychological evaluation quizzes…lots of boring stuff.  Some of the contracts were also incredibly confusing, and it didn’t help matters that on that day, Dr. Walker had just so happened to wear a low-cut shirt displaying a mind-boggling amount of cleavage.

She was only slightly taller than Dr. Bexley but her chest was noticeably larger.  Still, she created one problem of focus and concentration but she solved it by walking Michael slowly through the important parts and moving a bit quicker through what she called ‘boiler-plate legalese.”  Dr. Walker also did a fantastic job of explaining all the legal and scientific mumbo jumbo in a way that he could easily understand. He found her very impressive, considering how much she also clearly knew about science.

On one of the more exciting appointments, he had to have his muscles checked for some reason or another, and luckily enough who performed what was essentially a deep tissue massage? None other than Dr. Walker herself.  She discussed work details with another red-headed doctor that had joined her, presumably a different volunteer perhaps for a different experiment all together.  Something about a Third R?  Michael gave up very quickly on trying to understand what either woman was talking about and decided to just enjoy the massage.

One of the worst appointments involved getting a series of painful shots, one in his arm and two in his ass cheek.  They wouldn’t inform him what they were for specifically, only that it had to do with the overall goal of weight loss/sustainment which was the purpose for his volunteering to begin with.  He would have liked to know more about what he was putting into his body, but for money they were offering him, how could he say no?

RR Laboratories had developed some kind of revolutionary new weight loss treatment, which was what the shots were for.  He was informed that they were so confident in the drug’s ability to lose and/or maintain weight that they were offering volunteers $80 per pound of body mass!  Honestly, as he thought about it, it really didn’t make any sense why they would offer him that amount, and what was it incentivizing?  At some point, Dr. Walker explained it to him…unfortunately for him, Dr. Walker had to remove her lab coat, having spilled something on it earlier.  He knew she had talked about the reason, but all he remembered was how nice her cleavage looked in the purple blouse she was wearing.  That was the first time he saw so much of her chest and it was a rare treat.

He had considered eating as much as he could to pack on the pounds, but unfortunately he weighed in at 195 pounds at his first meeting with Dr. Walker, and the contract stipulated that any additional weight gain between the preliminary weigh-in and the first official weigh-in of the experiment would not be counted. If  his weight were less, the newer weight would be considered.  It seemed unfair but it didn’t matter, not in the grand scheme of things.  He had weighed himself that morning and he was 193.8.

‘Oh well…$15,504 instead of $15,600…whatever will I do?’ he thought with a sarcastic smile.

He would even keep getting paid each week as long as he remained in the experiment.  And what would he have to do to earn that money each week?  He was instructed to eat any time the option was presented to him so long as he desired; it was a way to put the treatment to the test. RR Labs recommended that he drink alcohol when desired, to eat fast food and sugary snacks at least twice a day, and to refrain from two much exercise.  He would then report his weight loss or weight gain.

That was it.

That was seriously it.

He was going to be paid to drink beer, eat McDonalds, and lay his lazy ass around all day.  He’d always been in pretty good shape, abstaining from sugary sweet temptations in favor of more healthy foods.  Now he would finally be able to enjoy them…guilt free!  AND while being paid!  Michael wished he could present this offer to the version of him from the freshman year of his first degree.  That Michael, staying up late and eating Ramen every night, falling asleep on the bench between workouts, would have certainly appreciated this opportunity.  Michael drank a lot more for fun back then, it was a great way to meet girls and even though he was still looking for Ms. Right, he didn’t drink so much anymore.  Even so, Michael didn’t mind taking a few swigs here and there if it meant literally getting paid!

It all honestly sounded way too good to be true…but Dr. Walker seemed trustworthy…and it wasn’t her fault he was too distracted to focus on her explanation.  Also, while his skepticism alarms were initially ringing loudly, he ultimately dismissed the idea of it being a scam for two reasons:

1) they never asked him for money, which was a surefire way to identify a scam.

2) they never asked him to bring anyone else in.

On the contrary, Dr. Walker strongly suggested he not tell anyone about the experiment.  She was very emphatic about that.

Michael had let his mind wander and was about to pass the speed-walking Dr. Bexley.  He slowed down to walk by her side. “Wasn’t my appointment supposed to be with Dr. Walker?”

Dr. Bexley stopped in front of two doors, turning to face the one on the right.  “Dr. Walker had some last-minute revisions to her schedule, so she asked me to—”

“Dr. Bexley, I’m sorry…do you have a second?”

Michael’s gaze shifted away from the left door and toward the door on the right.  He hadn’t even noticed it opening, and in the barely opened doorway stood a young woman. Despite her clear attractiveness, there was a certain indifference in her demeanor..at least toward Michael. Framed by soft waves of golden blonde, her pretty face remained focused on Dr. Bexley as she held the door only as open as it needed to be. She wore a lab coat just like Dr. Bexley but it was disposable, the material thin and papery with no name tag to speak of. Above her golden crown was a sign framed over the door she guarded from his view. It said:

Pre-RT Subjects forbidden beyond this point.

“Yes, Quinn?” Dr. Bexley said.

“Can you sign this Vitamin Enrollment Form?”

“Is Dr. Zhang not available?”

“She’s traveling with Dr. Walker.” Quinn shifted through the door, opened barely a crack. It was a feat possible only for someone as slender as she was. She still had not even acknowledged the young, handsome man awkwardly waiting for the two female doctors to finish conversing.

“Oh, that’s right.  Sure, Quinn...” Dr. Bexley said, accepting the form and pulling a black fountain pen from her breast pocket.  Michael judged from the conversation between Dr. Bexley and Quinn that the Vitamin Enrollment Form was meant for one of the women that smiled at him in the waiting room:  the busty blonde or the thick brunette. Maybe it was the same weight loss program .  As Dr. Bexley added her signature, Michael’s mind wandered in and out of the complicated conversation between the two women. He felt like a child at the supermarket with his mother who had just gotten stopped by a friend to roped into an hour long gossip session.

“Oh, Quinn? Can you remind me…have you observed an RT session yet?” Dr. Bexley asked.

It was the first time that Quinn had so much as even acknowledged Michael’s existence.  She locked eyes with Michael’s, sending an unexplainable, faint tremor through his otherwise composed demeanor.  The thick gloss on her pretty, pink lips glistened as she smirked, a glint of mischief in her eyes. It was very similar to the gazes he’d received in the waiting room.  “Not yet, but I’m actually on the schedule for the first installation tomorrow morning with Dr. Becotte.”

“Oh, that’s great.  How about Jane, then?  Do you know if she’s observed yet?”

“Ummmm..” Quinn tickled her chin as she thought, “no, I don’t think so but I’m not 100% sure.”

Dr. Bexley waved a dismissive hand, “That’s fine, Quinn.  If memory serves right, you and Jane, if she hasn’t already, were the last interns who haven’t gotten an opportunity to observe an RT session.  Can you find out if she’s observed one yet and if she hasn’t, ask her to meet me in the RT room?”

“Sure thing. Do you want me to let Brandi know?” Quinn asked.

“Good thinking, Quinn.  Yes, please do.  I’d like to hit the ground running after RT; hopefully she’s got some time today to squeeze him in.” Dr. Bexley said quickly, looking at her wristwatch.

Quinn’s eyes squinted and an adorable giggle escaped her glossy lips before her fair hand could block it.

“Oh, you know what I mean!” Dr. Bexley said with a chuckle.

It seemed like Quinn knew what she meant…Michael had no clue.

“I’ll talk to Jane after I send Bridg….umm…” Quinn glanced again at Michael, only out of the corner of her eye–and then back to Dr. Bexley. “...the Participant…home with her Vitamin regimen!”

Quinn disappeared back on the secretive side of the big, heavy right door, leaving Michael and Dr. Bexley alone once more.

It was just her and Michael again in this long hallway.

“So are you the ‘Number 2’ around here then?” Michael asked.

Dr. Bexley smiled politely through a conspicuous twitch of her left eye, “Who do you think the ‘Number 1’ is?”

“Dr. Walker?” Michael’s response morphed into a question halfway through the name.  Had he offended her?

Dr. Bexley’s full, red lips parted enough to reveal a perfectly aligned row of pristine, white, smiling teeth.  “Hmm..you could say that we’re tied for #1…” There was a long silence as she touched the badge clipped onto her lab coat against the security pad, and then she said, “...or that Dr. Walker and I are both Number 2.”

The short, raven-haired doctor unsecured the top button of her lab coat.  From his vantage point so much higher, Michael could easily see down her blouse to the deep, dark line separating her voluminous breasts. She retrieved from her exposed decolletage a security badge on a lanyard strap around her neck. In doing so, she unknowingly or uncaringly pulled along with it a thin gold necklace.  Hanging from the necklace was a beautiful, glittering jewel that now rested perilously atop her lapel.  Dr. Bexley scanned the ID badge and then leaned in, allowing a wall panel to scan her retina.

Michael smiled as Dr. Bexley finally convinced the beefy security door on the left to open.  He looked up at the placard hanging above it.  “Pre-RT? I guess that’s me huh?”

Dr. Bexley smiled, “It sure is.”  She returned the security badge back down the front of her lab coat, along with the necklace. Michael caught a provocative glimpse of the glittering jewel making its plunge down the busty doctor’s neckline and settling into her pronounced, pale cleavage just before she secured the top button.

This was the deepest into RR Labs Michael had ventured to date.  This second hallway was much longer and quieter than the first. The lights flickered above as Michael paced his steps, trying to stay behind or at least next to Dr. Bexley since she was leading the way.  They made their second hard right and there was nothing. As if reading his mind, Dr. Bexley spoke up. “This hallway doesn’t get as much foot traffic, if you can’t tell. It’s reserved for our…VIP’s.”

After their third right, there was finally something to look at. They’d finally reached the end of this boring, empty corridor.

About 20 feet ahead along the wall to his right, Michael saw a plain door with no label.  Further ahead, at what would have otherwise been a dead-end to the hallway was another door.  Dr. Bexley guided him toward that door, passing the plain unlabeled door on his right and when he was close enough, he could make out the placard:

Reduction Therapy

“So this is it.” Michael said, a little nervous as Dr. Bexley ushered him into the opening.

“Nervous?”  Dr. Bexley asked.

"Sure…but I'd be a lot less nervous if we could talk about what that thing does though." Michael chuckled nervously, directing Dr. Bexley’s attention toward the colossal machine nestled in the corner of the lab. The sheer magnitude of the apparatus left Michael in awe, pondering how the various components had managed to fit through the door for assembly, let alone the hulking behemoth that now dominated the space.

An intricate network of electrical cords sprawled in a chaotic dance around the machine, accompanied by plastic conduit and PVC piping and blinking control panels.  This structure of a device, whatever it did, was a marvel of engineering–a complicated weave of wires, conduits, and piping too intertwined to untangle, even with just the eyes.

Numerous peripherals surrounded the central device, including a large computer monitor, but the central device itself reminded him of one of those full body scanners you see at the airports, the ones where you have to put your hands up near your forehead.  Four towering walls of plexiglass reached for the high-ceiling, nearly 9 feet tall, creating an imposing presence.

One side of the plexiglass enclosure transitioned into an equally tall LED-lit wall, resembling a vibrant canvas bathed in a weak but captivating green hue, like hundreds of fireflies arranged in a lattice structure. The luminosity spilled onto the back wall of the enclosure, casting an ethereal glow on the simple aluminum chair within.

Dr. Bexley gazed at the monstrous device alongside Michael, pride and passion in her eyes to counter Michael’s nervousness and reluctance.  She said, “You know I can’t tell you that, Michael.  Surely Dr. Walker informed you of that much.”

“Yeah, she did; just seeing if you might let something slip.”

Dr. Bexley let out a surprised, light chuckle, not expecting Michael’s wit to charm her as it did, if only for a fleeting moment.

“Well, you’ll find out very soon, Michael.”

She sauntered over to the machine and pressed a few buttons on the computer monitor touch screen as several systems came to life.

~