The Cinderella Project (A Comedy of Love, #1) Read Online Free Page A

facing working for me.”
    “Yes, you mentioned that last night. I wasn’t expecting pay. Most internships don’t pay.”
    I was well aware of that fact. Let’s try reason number two. “You’re right, of course. Another thing I ought to mention is that I’m within three-and-a-half months of completing and defending my dissertation. Again, I’m sure you’re very intelligent and capable but given my workload, I honestly don’t see myself having anywhere near enough time to properly train you. That and I’m so far into my work that you’d probably spend most of that time just getting up to speed, only to come to a screeching halt when I finish.
    “Look, I know you’re interested in this subject. You’re more than welcome to read my dissertation when it’s published, but I don’t want you to waste the better part of a semester just trying to catch up. I really think you’d have a more beneficial experience if you found someone who was just starting out his or her work and then go with them. You’d get in on the ground floor. They’d spend a semester fumbling to get into gear anyway, so you’d both be on the same page the whole time.”
    Moiré cupped her chin in her hand. “So in other words, you think I’m an idiot and you don’t want to babysit me when you’re this close to the finish line. Does that about sum it up?”
    My. She was rather direct. “No, no, that’s not it at all,” I said, waving defensively. “Again, I’m sure you’re one of the best and brightest. I just honestly don’t believe that I —that my situation—will be of any benefit to you .” That was true enough. “For your sake, I’m making a professional suggestion that you consider something you could spend more time with and something that’s still new enough that you would be able to come abreast of the project in hours or days, instead of months.”
    “I appreciate your concern for me,” she said and I noticed that those perfectly-formed labii were still molded in that teasing little smile. “Maybe I can allay some of your fears? You see, I’ve had some spare time this summer and I chose this project quite deliberately. I know that you’re measuring the way people’s nervous systems respond not only to different physical stimuli, but how their perceptions about the source of those stimuli affect the neurophysical response. Your objective is to determine whether standard indicators of relationship success can be detected by brainwave patterns and I know that you’ve got enough drive to compare that data with anecdotal observations. You use couples in various stages of romantic relationships, from beginning to end. You stimulate brain function with pressure on certain body regions typically associated with romantic contact. Your baseline tests use just pressure, which is then supplemented by pressure exerted on those regions while the subjects view images of people unrelated to them.
    “You have a very straightforward and comprehensive methodology and your results have been very consistent. Your core literary research involves several hundred books, including novels from the romance genre alongside official psychological texts. You’ve supplemented all of those with multi-media research, primarily in the form of films and love songs. According to what I’ve found, you’ve conducted over nine-hundred tests thus far.
    “Your faculty sponsor is Reginald Jordan, Dean of the Department and you’ve had a total of four research assistants over the course of your work, though it has been just over a year since you last had one. Thus, you’ve been working completely on your own at various part-time jobs for nearly a thousand man hours.” She paused for a moment in thought.
    “Oh and your favorite color is gray-blue.”
    I stared at her for several moments, dumbstruck.
    Finally, I managed to speak. “I don’t recall having published my autobiography yet. Would you care to write it for me? I’m not sure whether to