Chapter 3

Mr. Edwards and his staff took great care in the handling of Dale's affairs. They had utilized several tax specialists and investment advisors to help him develop a strategy for maximizing his wealth and holding on to as much of it as possible. It actually took about four days before the paperwork was completed. There were many pieces of property and other items that had to be transferred and registered in his name. Dale tried to learn as many details as he could about the various properties, investments, and businesses that made up the portfolio of assets he had inherited.

Though his major in college had been in literature, he had minored in computer science and had actually worked in the computer field for most of his adult life - until the dotcom bust anyway. Mr. Edwards had pulled off a bit of a miracle and had several select credit cards issued in his name in less than a week. The first thing that Dale did when he received them was to visit a local computer store and purchase a top of the line thin notebook computer loaded with useful software and a high end PDA. Mr. Edwards assigned a staff member the task of scanning all of the legal documents and supporting records into a document management system that turned the whole lot of paperwork into organized PDF files. Dale had a copy of these files transferred to his PC.

When the bulk of this work was finished and Dale was ready to take his leave of Mr. Edwards' offices, Mr. Edwards handed him a handsome leather briefcase he had prepared for Dale to take with him. He had Dale open it up. When he did, he found that it was custom made with foam cutouts to hold his ultra-thin notebook, his PDA, and a cell phone. It also had a spot for a file or two as well as a matching leather portfolio that contained a pad of paper and a gold pen and pencil set. The portfolio and the briefcase both had his initials embossed on them. Mr. Edward's showed him how to set the locks. As it turned out, his notebook and PDA, as well as the cell phone could all communicate together. The notebook and PDA both had wireless connections to the Internet. Mr. Edwards had secured a cell phone registered under one of the businesses that Dale now found himself part owner of. This way the phone was not listed in Dale's name. No point in making it easy for people to bother him, particularly his ex-wife or her lawyers.

For his entire stay in the hotel the personalized service had been excellent; however, as is often the case, there seemed to be one hotel staff member who not only tried to be as helpful as possible but also appeared genuinely pleased to do so and in this case that was Angelina. Anytime he wanted to be driven somewhere he had called the number on the card she had given him, and if she was on duty, she drove him personally. On the last evening he planned on spending at the hotel he decided to visit the casino and if possible to take Angelina with him. This afternoon when she came to pick him up from Mr. Edwards' offices he asked her before he got into the car.

"Angelina, you have been so helpful and pleasant to be around. If you would like to, and if it wouldn't cause you any difficulty, would you join me for dinner and some gambling in the casino?" Dale asked with a sincere smile.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, so he added, "If that isn't something you want to do, how can I show my appreciation?"

"Oh No! It isn't that!" She said with a smile of her own, "I'd love to go to dinner with you! You've been the perfect gentleman; but if my employer's find out - it will cost me my job!"

"Well then, I guess will have to go somewhere that they won't find out then," Dale said. "What would happen if we switched things around a bit? Would you be allowed to accompany me on the casino floor as my 'Personal Valet'?"

"Yes. I can do that without any problem," she answered.

"Let's do that this evening then. My offer for dinner at any restaurant of your choice will be good anytime you want to take me up on it. Just keep my card and call this number Angelina - even if you just want to chat," Dale said as he handed her one of the contact cards that Mr. Edwards had prepared for him.

"Well thank you Mr. Young. You are very kind and most understanding and I will be taking you up on that dinner! Now about tonight, I am allowed to dress up a bit for the casino floor if you'd like. What are you going to be wearing?"

"I'll probably just wear gray dress slacks, black dress shoes, and a black silk shirt."

"I'm sure I can find something to coordinate with that," she replied with a grin.

From a standpoint of personal enjoyment, the evening was a success; however, from a financial viewpoint the Casino management was probably a bit happier than Dale would be if he had been concerned about the money. All in all he lost more than he won but he did enjoy himself.