Prologue

I entered Federico’s a few minutes after eight in the evening. The place was crowded, as usual. I greeted Henri, the maitre`de, and he showed me to a table.

“Harry” I said “Jack is coming, too. Show him over when he gets here.”

“Of course, Mr. deFrame.”

I ordered drinks for both of us when the waiter came over, but was surprised when Jack came in. He was with another man. Jack introduced him as John Wilson, and they both sat down. When the waiter returned, Jack ordered Wilson a drink. “I asked you to come tonight to introduce you to John,” said Jack, by way of breaking the ice.

“Oh? A business proposition, Mr. Wilson?” Jack had introduced several potential business associates to me this way. Some had worked out and some hadn’t. I returned the favor when I could. Jack and I go way back.

“Um, not precisely,” replied Wilson. He had a faint English accent.

Before he could elaborate, a waiter approached the table. “Excuse me, Mr. James, a phone call for you.”

Jack pushed himself away from the table and stood. “Probably something at the office,” he said and left.

I turned back to Wilson. “Should we continue? Or wait for Jack to return?”

“It might be best to continue. In truth, I asked the waiter to call Jack away. Our talk should be private.”

“Really?”

“Quite. I think you’ll agree shortly.”

“So?” I was simultaneously intrigued and wary. Certainly, this was an unusual approach.

“I think I should start by telling a story. I suspect you might find some interesting points to this, um, story.

“There once was a young man. Let’s call him Tim. Tim was a very bright young man, and of course, went to a very good college. In college, he learned quite a bit of electronics, and this eventually led him to a very nice job with a rather large computer firm. IBM, I think.

“Well, anyway, Tim was a very ambitious fellow. Despite a rather tiring schedule doing research for the large computer firm, he managed to go to school nights and earned another degree or two. A very bright young man, as I said.”

“Quite,” I said dryly.

“Yes. Now, as I said, Tim was very bright and ambitious. He had a very good idea for a new type of computer chip, but his bosses at the large computer firm didn’t want to take the obvious and large risks to develop the chip. So, Tim decided to do it on his own. He quit his job and started his own company. It took years of grinding, back-breaking work, long hours, tight money. Several times he thought of just chucking it all in. But he succeeded. Today, Tim’s firm is the industry leader in its field, and Tim is considered the hottest man in the business.”

“A real Horatio Alger,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Indeed. But Tim has a problem. And it’s a problem with a solution. You see, Tim has difficulties with women. He married right out of college, to his college sweetheart. But she had different dreams and hopes than he did. The long hours at the big computer company, and then worse, the longer hours and lack of security when Tim started his own company, broke her love for him. She divorced him after almost a decade of marriage. Then the poor fellow married again but discovered that his wife was more interested in his money than in him.

“Now, you can see Tim’s problem. Twice burned, twice shy. He can never know whether a woman is attracted to him or to his wallet. Or that a woman will stay, what with his work and schedule. So, Tim, now in the prime of his life, and for the first time with the time and money to pursue a more leisurely schedule, now has no one to share his new freedoms.”

“I certainly hope there is a moral to this story,” I bit out.

“Oh, yes. In fact, a most happy ending, for Tim had a most devoted friend, a friend who had known him for more than twenty years, through thick and thin. The friend put him in contact with an acquaintance of his, and the acquaintance had a solution to the problem. The acquaintance was associated with the Wilkerson Institute, and the Wilkerson Institute arranged for Tim to meet a lovely young lady, and all of Tim’s desires were satisfied by her.”

“Uh, huh.” This was intriguing, in a painful and very personal way. “Did Jack ever mention to you, my first name is Timothy? Or that I used to work for IBM, and now own a computer chip company?”

“What? Really? What an astounding coincidence!” said Wilson. A two-year-old wouldn’t have believed him. “Have you been married twice, also?”

I gave him a semi-amused smile, raising an eyebrow at him in the process.

“My heavens. Then perhaps the Wilkerson Institute can help you as well!”

“And just what is the Wilkerson Institute?” I asked.

“Quite simply, the Wilkerson Institute trains young ladies in all the arts necessary to satisfy its patrons. We are the finest establishment in the world at providing such training.”

“What do you mean, all the arts?”

“Precisely that. All the arts.”

“Including...”

“Exactly.”

This took me back. I flopped back in my chair and drained my glass. I simply stared at Wilson, until I was brought back to the table when the waiter placed a fresh drink in front of me. What in the world was this? A high-class pimping operation? An escort service? Hookers? Electronic dating? I drained the fresh drink and leaned forward again.

Chapter 1 »