Almost

"True power is holding someone else's in your hand and showing it to them." - Brian D. Smith

*

As Dan walked out the front door of his Apartment Building he saw Agent Smith on the sidewalk. He looked as though he was casually standing and minding his own business. Agent Smith stood 6'5" and looked like an Aryan wet dream. Tall, blond hair, blue eyes (when he didn't have his shades on), solidly built, and not someone who pulls casual off very well. Dan smiled as he noticed Agent McDonald across the street sitting in the black sedan as he thought to himself, going to be another day in the "magic kingdom".

Smith turned and looked down at Dan, "Good morning, Dr. Hamilton. Agent McDonald and I are going to be close by until further notice. Orders from above. Sorry, for any inconvenience sir." Dan accepted the situation with a shrug of his shoulders and replied, "Fine, but Agent Smith, I'm meeting a girl here in a moment. Could you guys back off a bit until she picks me up? "

Agent Smith was about to reply when Samantha Harrison pulled up right in front of them. She looked at Dan and a giant of a man beside him with a curious smile, "Good morning Dan, hope I not interrupting anything. You ready to go?"

"Sure, just talking with my neighbor Jeff. Samantha, this is my friend Jeff Smith. Jeff this is my friend Samantha Harrison." Jeff nodded his head, "Nice to you Ms. Harrison." Then to Dan, "See you around Dan." Jeff then walked across the street to join McDonald in the black sedan.

Samantha's eyes followed him as he left. Sam knew that was no neighbor. She had been around enough to know a body guard when she saw one. It was a non-issue. Lot's a rich people had them. Her father made sure she had one or two on many occasions. Samantha turned to face Dan, "Dan, you want to drive?" Sheepishly Dan replied, "Samantha, I don't drive. I don't even have a drivers license. Sorry." Again, this was not an issue for Samantha. Many of her friends didn't drive. When you have money, people drive you. Still, she would have to convince him the merits of being able to drive.

" Hey, no big deal. Just get in. I thought we could go over to "Sabastian's" for a coffee." Sabastian's was one of the city's finest restaurants where a coffee cost 25.00 a cup. Dan was without a clue so he readily agreed, "Sure, sounds good to me." As soon as he sat, Samantha slid across the next to him, smiled, put her arms around Dan and kiss sweetly on the cheek. In for a penny, in for a pound. Sam was already behind the wheel again before Dan could react. "Dan, buckle up, K?" And then they were off.

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At 2:00 p.m. sharp two vans were waved through the gates of the Harrison Estate with equipment to give a multimedia unclassified version of Dan's family history, educational background, and accomplishments. His present work was not gone into detail but both were informed of its importance to The US government, economy and national security.

By the time Presidential ordered briefing of Dr. Alexander Daniel Hamilton to Benjamin and Jacklyn Harrison was completed, both were numb. When asked if they had any questions, they both looked at each other first and then returning said together, "No."

Fortunately, Benjamin Harrison's secretary, Sharon Di Vinci was on hand. She looked at her employer for permission to speak. "Mr. Harrison that was a lot of information for anyone to take in a one time."

Turning towards the visitors," Will we be given of copy of that material to review later?" Returning to look at Mr. Harrison, "Also, perhaps these people could leave a contact number in case you or Mrs. Harrison have any other questions at a later date?"

Benjamin smiled at Sharon and thought to himself, that's my girl. He nodded his head, "That's an excellent point, Sharon." Then looking back at the group replied, "Sharon will take any contact information you have in case we have further questions. Now, if there is nothing else I would like to consult with my wife. Good day, and thank you for your time."

At that, Benjamin stood, looked down at his lovely wife, and reached out to take her hand. Jacklyn's mind was spinning as she took her husbands and they left through the side doors into Benjamin's private office.

After closing the doors, they both sat together on the couch in the office looking out straight ahead looking at nothing particular. Benjamin took his wife's hand gently in his and after a few moments finally spoke. "Well my dear, there are few times I find myself at a loss for words, and this is one of them. If I had not seen that briefing myself, I would have a very difficult time believing anything in that presentation. Why in the world would this young man want to date Samantha?"

Benjamin Harrison was truly perplexed with this situation but knew what was coming as he studied his wife's face. Jacklyn was deep in thought. Oh well, here we go again. He embraced both his son's wife and his daughter's husband whole heartily. Why? His first 2 children were both in happy marriages. For any parent, this was all they wanted for their children. For them be happy. And the reason for that was he left coupling judgments for his children to his wife Jacklyn.

Benjamin Harrison was a busy man. A busy man who loved his family and took to heart the lessons his father gave him. In situations like this. He could even remember the conversation the day his father expressed this particular piece of wisdom to him.

"Son, you make all the major decisions in life and business. In those area's, if she wants to give her input, be polite and listen to her but follow your gut instinct. But son, on the domestic home front, move the hell out of the way. Your wife wants some piece of furniture or art in the house you don't particularly like? Move out of the way and let her have it. Education for the children? Move out of the way. Your wife sees a protentional good spouse for your children? Move out the HELL out of the way. Whatever your wife desires outside the big decisions and generating wealth income, move out of the way. Son, I raised you in the tradition of our family. What we know. Business. What I just told you, your grandfather told me and your great grandfather told him. You do that and you will have a good life. Not a perfect one, but a good one. Truth be known, if it wasn't for your mother I wouldn't have accomplished all that I have."

From that point forward, that conversation with his father gave Benjamin David Harrison an everlasting different view he had of his mother. Young Benjamin at one point believed he knew it all. His father's comments took a while to settle in but they finally did. Men did not know everything. A hard pill to swallow for sure, but that was the truth. That's the fucking hardest part for any man to accept. And unbeknownst to him until much later, it was his mother who had arranged his marriage to Jacklyn. How could she know Jacklyn would be the perfect life partner for him? She was everything he could ever have hoped for.

Finally finding her voice Jacklyn replied without emotion, "Benjamin, I want him. He's the one. It's time for this girl to get serious with someone. He IS the one." The last sentence said with firm control.

Benjamin Harrison turned to his wife but couldn't reply. Time to move out of the way. She had arranged the marriage of his two other children and so far they seemed to be working out. But this. This was different. He could not wrap his head around his daughter and the young man given in the briefing.

It just did not make any sense. Sure, he was a nice looking young man, but... Jacklyn's mind was now calculating, "Benjamin, I will talk with Samantha later. YOU, don't say a word to her. Trust me with this."

But he had to question her judgment on this one. He needed some confirmation why Jacklyn wanted this young man to be a protentional part of the Harrison empire. Benjamin Harrison took his wife's hand and gently kissed it. "Jacklyn, I'm still trying to picture those two together. What would they ever talk about? What could he possibly want with Samantha?"

Jacklyn turned to look at her husband and suddenly broke out laughing. She loved this man more than life itself but sometimes he could be so.....so....impossible. Benjamin Harrison looked at his wife laughing and tried to figure out what was so funny.

"What?"

Recovering from the best laugh she'd had that day Jacklyn Harrison stopped until she looked at her husband's confused face. His expression was priceless. That set off another spell of laughter that lasted longer than the first. She had to let go of his hand to wipe the tears from her eyes she was laughing so hard.

Surrendering to the moment turned away a second, "Ok Jackie, when you're done... can you tell me what's so funny?"

Out of breath and not fully recovered, Jacklyn hooked her left arm around her husband's right and kissed his cheek. "Oh Benjamin. You are too funny at times. " Trying to control another outburst she said, "Just why you think he would be interested in Samantha? "

Now it was time for him to remind his wife of the way the world really is, "Jacklyn do you remember what they said about this Dr. Hamilton fellow? He has no clue who our family is?" Pausing to let it sink in, "WHY would he be interested in her if not for our families' wealth? He's a modern day Einstein and Samantha ONLY has a bachelors' degree in English literature for heaven's sake! "

Jacklyn rolled her eyes in, "Oh Benjamin, I can't believe I have to explain this to you. First, Samantha is finishing up her Master's degree in English Literature. Just because it's not a business-related degree like Ronnie and Sarah's (Samantha's older brother and sister) you have don't be so cheeky. Just think a moment will you? Why would that brilliant young man be interested in Samantha?"

Benjamin Harrison paused to consider the question seriously. From a practical business point of view, none of it added up. If the young man was an average "Joe Blow" and had knowledge of Samantha's family and wealth, no question it would make sense try to get her attention. But a guy that smart? Hell, he could pick and choose any woman he wanted. He was a nice looking young man on top of the world. At the same time he was also still trying to wrap his head around the presentation they had just seen.

He was astounded to see the video of Dr. Hamilton lecturing before an audience at MIT at the age of 17. He didn't understand what the young man was talking about but the audience of 200 other scientists were held in rapt attention. Any questions from the audience were one by one answered to the satisfaction of the people attending. It just didn't make sense he would be interested in Samantha. Finally, he just looked at his wife and shrugged his shoulders.

Jacklyn studied her husband's face. He really couldn't figure it out. To Jacklyn, this wasn't funny anymore and more seriously, "Benjamin, what was the first thing that attracted you to me? My amazing intellect?"

Benjamin Harrison looked at his wife in the eyes while taking her hand, kissing it, and smiled remembering fondly, "Jacklyn my love, your charm, and beauty of course. Your charm being you showed interest in me and your beauty which attracted my interest in you. You looked like a princess to me that night of the party. When I look at you now I still see that young beautiful woman who captured my heart."

Jacklyn was still an incredible beauty but intimate moments like these with her husband were few and far between. Life was always so busy. She suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to cry because of the pure joy she felt inside. Her wonderful Benjamin. She felt her eyes starting to moisten, but controlled herself, "Oh, Benjamin..." He pulled his wife close a moment and held her, "Jacklyn, I am nothing without your love and support. I cannot imagine achieving what we have without you by my side. "

There was silence for just a moment before she moved back to look in his face, "Mr. Harrison, we were discussing something very important regarding our youngest child that we should finish... or I will make a total mess of my face ." She was even beautiful when she cried, but he knew she was right and let her go.

Gathering her composure, she continued, "The point I was trying to make darling is...." darn him and his words of love, " ...the point is...perhaps this young man may have the some of the same feelings for Samantha as you had for me that night."

Benjamin leaned back against the couch to consider, "Jacklyn, believe me, we were different. Young people now....don't understand commitment. Seriously, they just met last night. That wouldn't be normal."

Jacklyn leaned back against the couch again and touching her husband's hand while looking out again at nothing particular in the room, "From what we both seen in that presentation, I don't think that boy is normal."

"No, you're right about that....that boy isn't normal at all. I love Samantha to death but I still don't see the match. His family seemed nice. No criminal background. Father and Mother still married. Their credit check is good. Sister is studying to be a Family Consular. And like they said, "Solid citizens and good Americans."

Pausing for a moment, Benjamin Harrison paused. Turning to Jacklyn, "Sweetheart, do you think our family is like the Hamiltons, " Solid citizens and good Americans?"

Jacklyn shrugged her shoulders. She never thought about that before and replied, "Oh Benjamin, I guess so....we pay our taxes and everything...right?"

Benjamin decided he would think about that later and continued, "What are we talking about here anyway? This is all pie in the sky stuff. She may never see him again anyway. I was just trying to make sure Samantha was in no danger."

"Well, we now know she isn't in any thanks to you. Besides, you got to speak to the President this morning and I got regards..." Jacklyn said happily. "This has been a strange day, to say the least. I must say though, the more I learned about him, the more inclined to believe he would be a nice addition to our family."

Benjamin looked at his wife. She did this before for both the older children without them being aware they were being set up. This was not his strength and he was more than happy to drop all of this in Jacklyn's lap. Now that he knew why he was unable to come up so little background information this morning, that Samantha was in no danger, knew more about this boy's personal life, he was ready to wash his hands of this matter.

He had other things on his mind now. That comment about the conversation with the President was now irritating the shit out of him. Calling in a favor from Donald to find out who his daughter was dating? Son-of-a bitch, what a waste! And he knew he would have to return the favor when asked. Grrrrr.... Let it go. Just, let it go. Damn! Nothing to do about it now. What was done was done. So, he let it go.

Looking at Jacklyn in deep thought he surrendered. If his lovely wife was happy, he was happy. If he knew his wife, Jacklyn would be watching everything very carefully from this moment on.

Leaning over to kiss her cheek, he stood, smiled and said, "Mrs. Harrison, I will leave this matter with you. I will speak with Sharon to remind her to give you a copy of the presentation and contact number regarding this boy so you can follow up if you have any other questions. Ok?"

Jacklyn stood, straighten her husband's tie and kissed him on his cheek, "You're a good father Benjamin. Go take of your business now and I will have a chat with Samantha later this evening about Dr. Alexander Daniel Hamilton."

Benjamin smiled at that thought as he watched his wife leave the room. He walked back into the briefing room and saw an 8 by 10-inch picture of Dan on the table. Picking it up, he examined the boy's face. He was sure he had seen him somewhere else before but just couldn't place it.

But like his father told before, he would move out of the way.

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That same morning Dan's father and mother, George and June Hamilton, received a call from the Agency. They regularly were kept up to date with Dan's well being as they had been from his 17th birthday. They were mostly to Dan's mother to set her mind at ease. Every aspect of Dan's life was considered including his family.

Dan's family was a close, loving, and caring one. His parents and sister's well being and concerns were on top of the list of priorities to keep Dan's research moving along. His family was simple and could have taken advantage of Dan's position, but they didn't. They were proud of their son for working to make the world a better place with his research. They knew what he was doing was a good thing.

Complete background and psychological profiles had been done on them all. When all was said and done, Dan's family was nothing less than an oddity to an Agency that could make any happen. Anything imaginable. Good or Bad. These good folks were as American as Corn Flakes. Salt of the earth types.

Making sure they were happy cost the Agency next to nothing. The only thing they asked for was if there was some type of scholarship program they could apply for that would pay the way for Dan's sister Debra to get her degree. The Agency was astounded. The next day Debra had a no cost full eight-year degree program scholarship of her choosing, a new car and a fully furnished, all expense paid for, 2-bedroom condo (for when her parents or Dan visited) near her University campus.

Dan's parents never asked anything for themselves. They could have and would have received it, but didn't. This was a topic of conversation for a couple of weeks amongst the Ph.D.'s who were doing the psychology profile of Dan's mother and father. Anyone who read the reports would find themselves charmed by this simple, unassuming family. The only thing to complete this picture would have been a Norman Rockwell painting of the family.

Both the were asked that Saturday morning would it be possible for them to meet with some of the people they had become acquainted with. This wasn't unusual. What was unusual was they were invited to a reception of sorts Sunday and some people would be by to discuss it with them and measure them for new clothing later that day at 2:00. At the same time, the Harrisons were being briefed, 2 vans pulled up on the curb in front of George and June Hamilton's home.

"June honey, the government people here," George called out before he opened the front door to wave them in. June checked herself in the mirror one last time before moving next to George to welcome their guest. There were 8 of them. George smiled as he opened the screen door to greet them. "Hi, all. Right on time!" June had already prepared refreshments and seeing the number of people began pulling dining room chairs into the living room so everyone had a seat.

A young woman directed everyone in and allowed them to sit a moment. She had served as the main contact between the family and the Agency since the beginning. She thanked George and June profusely on behalf of the entire group for the refreshments and directed everyone to have some lemonade and cookies before she began. It would have been rude to June who spent all that time preparing refreshments just to turn them down before she began.

George and June sat patiently listening to the young woman as she described the get together the Agency had planned for Sunday afternoon. It would be a formal affair involving Dan's work and they had come to measure them for custom clothes and shoes. Sunday morning, they would be picked up to complete the final fitting which they would do at the hotel where the reception was being held. Mrs. Hamilton would get a full beauty spa treatment at the hotel and Mr. Hamilton hair cut and shave at a proper barber. Would that be ok?