Chapter 5

At 9:30 the next morning, I presented myself at Jonathan Wilkerson’s office. I was welcomed by his secretary, a brunette with “Becky” on her nameplate. She greeted me and buzzed the office. Wilkerson told her to show me right in, so she rose from behind her desk and led the way. I was used to seeing short skirts on the students, but hers might have been the shortest. It barely covered her crotch. Moreover, she was quite tall, with a gorgeous pair of legs that went on forever.

Jonathan Wilkerson rose to greet me. He was a small man — shorter than his secretary, Becky, I noted — and was impeccably dressed. I was glad that I, too, had dressed for the occasion.

I won’t bore you with the details, but after having a very bitter-tasting cup of coffee that Becky supplied, I was seated in a special lounge chair facing a screen. The room was darkened and the show began. I was shown dozens of pictures of girls. Each one showed two, and the two girls were always different or engaged in different activities. In each case, I was to pick the girl or activity I preferred. Finally the session ended.

Again Becky supplied me with a cup of coffee, but this one was wonderful. I thought that she had learned how to make a good cup of coffee rather quickly, but then I learned that the reason the first cup had tasted bitter was that it had been drugged. The fact was I was feeling woozy until I had the second cup; the effects of the drug were being counteracted by the second coffee.

We chatted about various inconsequential things, with Wilkerson being particularly interested in whether or not I was enjoying my stay and was being well cared for. I assured him that I couldn’t imagine receiving better care anywhere, and he seemed to be genuinely pleased.

At that point Becky returned to the room with a computer printout. Wilkerson scanned it and his eyes widened. Then he let out a low whistle that sounded odd coming from the lips of such a dapper gentleman.

“Mr. Harris,” he began, “you have just broken the bank!”

“What does that mean?”

“That means that you have achieved a match score of 100! That’s never happened before in the history of the Institute.” Then rather diffidently he qualified his statement. “Actually, the matches are all 99s — that’s as high a score as the computer is allowed to produce. After all, as good as we think our software is, there has to be the possibility for some error. Nevertheless, with all top scores, the chances of a mismatch are essentially nil.” Then he improbably grinned and added, “Mr. Harris, do we ever have a girl for you!”

It certainly sounded good to me, but he hadn’t mentioned a name, nor did it appear that he was going to. Then I learned that the procedure was for me to meet the young lovely at dinner that evening. It would be for the very first time.

“What do I do in the meantime?” I asked.

“Just go about your business and have fun.”

I was starting to get scared. What if the computer produced someone other than Kristin? But I guessed I would just have to live with the suspense.

Returning to the room, I was greeted by Tina.

“Where’s Kris?”

“She’s been matched,” the girl replied in a voice scarcely above a whisper. “She’s off preparing to meet her new master at dinner tonight.”

Oh, shit! I thought. What if she was matched with someone else? This could really screw up the works.

“What are you doing here, Tina?” I asked. “Are you today’s duty room steward?”

“No, sir. I’m here to occupy your time.” She glanced at the clock and I did too. It was almost noon.

“How about lunch?” I asked. “Have you eaten?”

“No, sir,” she admitted.

Again we ordered from room service and chatted. While sitting beside her at the table, I leaned over and kissed her. Her response was immediate. She turned a bit in her chair, put a soft hand behind my head and kissed me passionately. Her kiss was exactly like Liz’s: loving, passionate, but with no electricity or bells.

When we slowly eased apart, I could see that she was glassy-eyed. “Cam, that was the finest kiss of my entire life! Kris is going to be so overwhelmingly happy with you! And it’s just so great. It really couldn’t happen to a finer person.”

“Do you know something I don’t know?” I asked, remembering Kris’s comment on Tina’s skill with computers.

“Honestly, I don’t, but it’s just got to happen. You two are utterly perfect for each other.”

We decided to play golf that afternoon.

At the practice tee, it was a repeat of the day before with Kris. Tina was taking very easy swings, too. It turned out that Jack, the pro, was way ahead of me. When I bought the set of clubs for Kris the day before, he had wasted no time in ordering in a new set. They had been delivered by FedEx that morning.

I decided to pursue the question with Tina. She admitted that The Carriers all worked out in the gym together, most particularly including the strength machines. When she told me the weight loadings they used, I whistled softly. Kris moved more than the other two, but not much more.

When we went to the first tee, we were again met by Ann and Little Bit. When the two girls saw me they ran into my arms and almost knocked me down in their enthusiasm. The same truck that had brought Tina’s new clubs — oh, yeah, I bought a set for her, too — had delivered the girls’ new computers. They had just finished setting them up when they had to leave for caddying duty. The two voices were tumbling over each other as they described their marvelous gifts from Mr. Harris. Tina questioned them about details of their new systems, agreed that they were the most powerful available, and shared in their joy.

Again, it was a gorgeous day, so the two girls didn’t even wait for instructions. Ann stripped Tina while Little Bit worked on me. After applying sun screen to us, they stripped and did each other, again ending in a passionate embrace.

Tina proved to be a marvelous golfing companion, too. We laughed and teased and heckled each other, with the two young girls delightedly joining in.

We finished the round with just enough time for a quick swim and then it was back to the hotel.

Tina left me in the lobby to return to her room, while I went up to the suite. Liz was on duty.

At that point things changed. Quickly she undressed — I was still naked from our golf and swimming — and joined me in the shower. After the shower, though, she put me in the bathtub. The water was hot and covered with an oil of some kind. The girl smoothed it over my body and finally helped me out. The episode wasn’t over, though. She put me on a massage table and gave me the going over of my life. God, this girl was good!

I suspect I dozed off, because she had to awaken me to dress. It was already 5:30 and I was supposed to be meeting Wilkerson in the dining room at 6:00.

Liz dressed me in black silk shorts followed by my finest dark gray pinstripe summer-weight suit. It was funny to see her fussing to get the tie’s knot exactly right. Then she put a soft hand behind my neck to pull my head down for a kiss. There was just the flow of the purest love. My thought was that this girl was going to be an incredible wife for some very lucky guy, but that guy wasn’t me.

Arriving at the dining room, I was shown to a corner table. Although Jonathan Wilkerson was already seated, the girl acting as maître d’ assured me that he had just arrived. We exchanged greetings and I acted as cordial as my nervousness allowed. I’m certain he was aware of my feelings, but he seemed to be having fun at my expense.