Chapter 1

My name is Jason Raymond Russell. I am 26, decent looking, and have a good job. It is Sunday morning and I'm having a second coffee while reading the Sunday paper. A large two column picture caught my eye. As I stared at the picture, my mind was lost in thought. Two years had passed since we parted and seeing the woman's face in the picture still hurt me.

Who could cause such a reaction, you ask? That is my story.

I was living and working in a small college town that had four colleges in it; I was 23 years old at the time. Two of the colleges were girl's schools; one was a state university, and one large business college. There were lots of pretty young coeds, what you might call a target rich environment.

One of my buddies was in between semesters and was working at our place to earn enough money to finish his education. Jim was also a member of one of the fraternities at the state school. He and I were each other's wing man on many a mission.

Our mission was to have carnal knowledge of as many of the young lovelies as possible. We were very good so our targets seldom escaped.

Jim and I were at a sorority mixer and having a great time. There was free booze, free snacks, and an abundance of coeds. I was doing a scouting mission to see which of the young ladies was to be the lucky one for this evening.

Let me say at that period of my life I was a bit of a conceited ass. In my mind, I was a god's gift to women. I had the moves, looks, and attitude to be successful with a lot of the college girls. I lacked the sincerity to have a meaningful relationship. At that time of my life that was okay though.

I spotted a likely candidate, a cute petite redhead, and was just about to make a move when Jim grabbed my arm. He steered me toward a group of girls standing off to the side of the party. They seemed to be watching but not partaking in the festivities.

In the middle of this group was an outstanding example of the desirable college coed. She was poised, well dressed, had a nice figure and her face was beautiful. I asked Jim who she was.

"That is Gloria Preston," he informed me. "She is untouchable. Gloria goes to Williams College (one of the girl's schools) and never dates the same guy twice. The few guys that have taken her out swear she is gay or a cold fish. None of them got as far as holding hands with her and you can't have her either."

"She's not gay," I told Jim. "Watch her look at the men as they walk by. She is totally checking them out. I think she is just very guarded and a little picky. She won't become too deeply involved with just any man."

"Wow, Dr. Phil, you have her all figured out without even talking to her," Jim laughed at me. "You are amazing sir. No on second thought, you are full of it."

"Do you know any of the other girls in that group?"

"Yeah, the blond is Donna Mason. She goes to UM like me. We had a couple of classes together," Jim answered. "We went out on a few dates but there was no real spark so we quit dating and stayed friends. Why?"

"I'm going to prove that Gloria isn't gay or a cold fish. Your part will be to introduce me to Donna. I'll take it from there."

"Okay, but you are wasting your time Jason," Jim warned me.

We walked over to the group and Jim said hello to Donna. After a short conversation with her he introduced me. I said hello and Donna introduced the rest of the group. There were four other girls, but all I remembered was Gloria. When Jim, Donna, and I began to talk, I would include the other girls, but not Gloria. I ignored her. If she joined in, I would listen and then turn away from her without an answer or comment.

As an example, when Gloria told me she went to Williams, I said yeah and went back to talking to Donna and the others. She was getting a little upset.

Jim and I said good bye to the group and started home. When we got back to my car Jim shook his head and looked at me.

"You sure made a great impression on Gloria. You didn't say a word to her and cut her off when she tried to join in. I can see your plan. You are going to piss her off so much that she will screw you just to get your attention. Great plan."

"Oh ye of little faith. My plan is working fine." I explained. "Look every guy Gloria has ever met has told her how pretty she is and tried to make moves on her. She is not used to being ignored.

It will get her interested. Gloria will begin to think; why isn't this guy after me? What's wrong with me? She won't be able to stand it, then Gloria will come after me. It's in the bag."

Jim laughed at me, and then said "good luck."

"Do me a favor; find out more about her for me. I need to know where she eats, gets coffee, shops and anything else you can get. Will you help me?"

"Sure buddy," Jim said, "I'll get the info from some of the sorority sisters and have the goods in a couple of days."

I thanked Jim and then drove home. Two days later Jim gave me a report. He told me all the things that I wanted to know about Gloria and I set my plan in motion.

Starting the next evening and every spare minute I had, I sort of hung around whatever place she was. If Gloria was at the coffee shop, I would go in and get a drink and leave. If she was at the sandwich shop eating, I would stop in and get something to eat. I would even try to be around when she was shopping. All this ground work went on for three weeks. It didn't happen every time or every day that she went out but it did happen enough that she began to notice me. That was the plan.

First contact came at the coffee shop. You gave and received your order at the counter. I was in line waiting my turn when Gloria got in line behind me. Turning around I nodded at her as I pretended to look behind her at something else. She smiled at me.

I looked at her again and said, "Hi, I think we have met before but I can't remember you name. I'm Jason Russell."

"I'm Gloria Preston. We met at the Delta Zeta mixer last month," she replied.

"That's right, now I remember, you were with Donna Mason. Sorry I'm not very good with names."

We both got our coffee and she invited me to sit with her. I hesitated, just for effect, and then joined her at a patio table.

Gloria gave me a little smile and said, "What are you doing Jason?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on Jason, you have been damn near stalking me for the last three weeks. Everywhere I go there you are. The same coffee shop, the same diners, even at the mall, there you are. Don't try to deny it; it has happened way too much for coincidence. You're following me, why?"

I looked at her and then confessed. I told her that it was my plan to get her to notice me.

"Again, why?" she asked.

How much to tell her? At this point I think that truth was the best way to go. Well maybe not the whole truth.

"Gloria, I want to get to know you, take you out and spend time with you. I figured that every guy that met you fell all over themselves trying to get your interest. They would tell you how pretty you are, how nicely you dressed, and anything else to flatter you.

All of them were trying to get you to keep them for more than one date. I don't want to be just another guy to you. So I made this plan to peak your interest in me.

I felt that if I played it cool and didn't fawn all over you, I might have a chance to really get to know you.

"Jason that's maybe the craziest thing I even heard," Gloria responded.

"Yeah, weird huh? Well I won't bother you anymore. I'm sorry if I scared you so please don't be angry. I'm really not a psycho."

"I'm not mad, I'm flattered. No one has even gone to all that trouble just to get to know me. Usually, they ask me out and sometimes I say yes. They're all the same. They think I'm pretty and that's all they see.

Guys seldom see or want to know about my thoughts, my goals, or my mind. You're different. Here's my address, pick me up at 7:00, take me to dinner" she ordered as she gave me a card.

"Yes my lady," I replied with a smile. Mission accomplished.

That evening on my way to pick up Gloria, I had a talk with myself. Okay, I thought, you've got a foot in the door. Don't blow it by being like all the other guys she has dated and dumped.

Keep your head in the game, no matter how great she looks. Talk to her and pay attention. Make her believe you really care about her politics, philosophies, and goals. You have to stand out from the rest to keep her.

I pulled up to the apartment building and Gloria came out to meet me at the truck. Before I could get out to open her door, she jumped into the truck. We went to a little Italian mom & pop place that I found. It wasn't a college hang out and much more intimate. It was a nice time where we talked about a lot of different things and something strange happened.

The plan called for me to pretend that I cared about what she was into however as the night came to a close I realized that I really did care. This girl was amazing, at least to me. That was sort of a scary thought for a player like me. I wanted to see more of her and not just as a score. I really liked this girl.

We were sitting in the car in front of her place and I decided to come clean. I didn't know how she would take the whole truth, but I wanted this to go further. I thought I had to tell her everything.

"Gloria, I need to tell you something. What I said earlier today about not wanting to be just another guy was entirely true. However, at the time I said all that stuff it was an adaptation of my plan.

Now after spending the evening with you, I realize that the part about getting to know you and spending time with you is actually the truth. I just didn't know it this morning. I'm sorry I did that. I have found that you are much more than just a pretty face and I do want to spend more time with you. I guess I blew it. Thanks for going to diner with me and I guess I'll see you around."

I was totally dejected; I had found a girl that actually caught my interest and my schemes and plans had lost her. Damn, I am such an ass sometimes.

"My goodness, when you get to talking you just don't stop, do you" Nice speech, but what makes it nicer is I think you really mean it. Tonight you have been different than I thought you would be."

I looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I checked you out. You have a reputation in our little community, Jason. You're a player and a good one, according to most of the girls I talked to. None of them had any complaints, by the way, except that you aren't into relationships. I know you ignored me at the mixer on purpose. It was part of this plan of yours."

"Oh hell," I groaned.

"No one has ever gone to all this trouble to meet me and get me to go out with them. It is very flattering. Let's see where this takes us. No more bullshit though. Okay?"

So started our time together. Almost every night of the week we were together. It was a whirlwind of diners, movies, and college parties. During all this I developed real feelings for Gloria. I don't know if I was in love, but it was definitely more than a just a strong like.

We were going out so much that I finally had to cut back some. My bank roll just couldn't handle 20 to 25 dates a month. The third time I begged off on an invitation to do something with Gloria she wanted to know what was up.