Sitting in the dimly lit room in contemplation was Dorie.  She neither wanted nor needed anything new in her life, for she was completely satisfied with the way things were.  She had everything she desired, everything she needed.  Her bedside table was full of all of the necessities for getting ready to sleep and her bathroom countertop contained everything she used in the morning.  She had food, water, shelter, and clothing.  Why then would she need anything more?

He came in for the appointment two minutes early.  Just two.  He seemed to be in a hurry, though Dorie didn’t know why.  She was content with the two minutes.  He wasn’t late, anyway and even if he had been, it wouldn’t have bothered her.  She had no intention of saying “yes” to anything he offered.  His hands were full of papers in a mishmosh, a pink one hanging out this way, a yellow one that way.  She almost laughed at the absurdity of his appearance, but she’d been admonished to keep the appointment and so she drew her face to a serious, more businesslike complexion and proceeded to shake his hand.

“Very nice of you to meet with me here, Mr. Uh-,” she started to say.

He chimed in, “Rawlings, Tanner Rawlings.”  He took her hand and gave a firm, if more delicate than a man’s shake.  He was young.

She offered him a glass of water; he refused.  She bade him sit down in the chair opposite him and he gladly took it, slamming the packet of papers down as well.

“I’m so sorry, Miss Dorie,” he said, remembering her preference to leave her last name out of it.

“It’s no problem, young man,” she said, sounding as laxadaisical as she felt.  She’d much rather have been watching an old game show on the television right now, but she’d give him the ten or fifteen minutes required to get the jist and say no.

What he said then was this: “Miss Dorie, I know that you’re about to tell me ‘No, thank you’, but that might be a mistake on your part.”

She was taken aback, but only for a second. 

“What makes you say all that?” she asked, eyeing him with slight suspicion.

“Well, I know that you’ve had at least half a dozen men like me here wearing the same suit, giving you the same speech and you’ve turned all of them down.”

“Yes, I have.”  She said it defiantly.

He leaned closer to her, looked into her eyes and said, “I’m not here to ask you for the same thing that they were, Miss Dorie.  I’m here to tell you that you have another option- one that will make you feel better than you have in years and one that will give you a distinct advantage over the ones who had a hand in setting you up here.”