Albert was a tall gangly genius. He was 6'3" tall and weighed only 155 pounds. He was an average looking guy, but was quite skinny. His bachelor's degree was in mathematics, his masters in systems analysis and his two doctorates in quantum physics and molecular physics. He was the co-founder and chief engineer for a software company headquartered in New York.
Although Albert is a member of the board of directors by virtue of his stock holdings in the company, he chose not to become one of the managing officers. His true love was in design and implementation of their products.
The company was founded to write software for the many thousands of games created each year. Eventually, the government and local police departments contacted him and they began writing police simulations and expanded into guidance systems for aircraft and missiles. As the money rolled in, the company purchased a new multilevel building for their headquarters and development.
Each day when Albert came to work, he would scan his badge at the security station while his mind was usually elsewhere. One day as he was scanning his badge, he happened to look at the counter and saw mathematical equations. He knew they were simple equations, but he stopped and looked briefly at them and then looked up at the security officer behind the counter.
"You're working on multiplying polynomials," he said.
"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Roberts. I was just doing my homework and got stumped on these problems," the security officer said.
Albert looked at the name badge of the attractive woman about 5'9" tall and he guessed about the same weight as him. That's where any similarities ended. Even though they may have been the same weight, he was six inches taller. And where he was skinny, she appeared to be quite muscular.
Since there were very few things that interested Albert as much as mathematics or physics, he said, "Hello . . . Judy. Is there something I can help you with?"
She was stuttering, "I-I am s-sorry Mr. R-Roberts. I w-would never ask you t-to help me with this. That's kind of overkill."
He smiled, scanned his badge and walked behind the counter. "Please call me Albert, Judy. Let's see what is giving you trouble." She was too stunned to speak. Albert didn't notice because he was looking at the problem. He smiled as he explained how to multiply polynomials. He said, "This brings back memories. Can I help with anything else?"
"No sir," Judy said. She had noticed that some of the other employees were giving them the eye as they passed by. "I think I finally understand what I'm doing just from your brief explanation. Thank you, sir."
He smiled and said, "Albert. Please."
Each day after that, Albert looked for Judy and always said good morning to her. Three days later, he asked if she was having any more problems. She looked kind of frustrated and said, "Factoring polynomials."
He smiled and said, "I can help with that, but why are you taking an Algebra class?"
"I'm only one semester away from my college degree and I had put math off until the end. I was kind of hoping they would drop it as a requirement, but . . . "
He said, "I have a meeting in a few minutes, but if you want to come up to my office when your shift is finished this afternoon, I can help you."
"Sir, I couldn't ask you to do that."
He smiled at her and said, "You're not asking. I'm volunteering. Just go to the 8
th
floor and ask the secretary, Mary Kay, where I am. OK?"
"OK. Thank you sir."
"Please call me Albert."
"OK, thank you Albert."
When she was finished work, she changed into her street clothes and found her way to the 8
th
floor and asked where she could find Albert. Mary Kay said," Mr. Roberts is the last door at the end of the hall. Is he expecting you?"
"Yes Ma'am," Judy responded.
When she walked in to his office, he was in the middle of working on his computer, but when he saw her, his face lit up in the first smile Judy had ever seen on him. "Hi Judy. Come in. Have a seat at the table over there. Do you want a Coke or something?"
"No sir; I mean Albert."
They spent the next hour with him explaining factoring polynomials and making sure she understood them. When they were finished, Judy asked, "How can I repay you, Albert? I finally get these pesky polynomials. Can I buy you dinner or something?"
"Really?" Albert asked in surprise. "You'd take me to dinner? Really?"
"Well, yeah. I mean; if you'll go to dinner with me."
He looked down at the table and said, "Nobody usually wants to be with me after work, Judy. I'm kind of different and sometimes can be blunt and have trouble keeping a conversation going. "
She smiled and said, "I have the same problem. So when you're done working, I would like to take you to dinner as a small token of my appreciation. It may be awkward for both of us, but at least we know it up front."
They ended up at a nearby Italian restaurant. As Albert followed her to their table, he noticed that she had very nice, but muscular legs. He could tell that her arms and upper body were muscular and she moved very gracefully.
Over dinner, he discovered that she had graduated from high school and then enlisted in the Marine Corps where she became an expert at hand to hand combat. When she got out of the Marines, she got a job working security for Albert's company while she attended evening classes at the local college. She told him that she's been a weight lifter since junior high school. Being somewhat blunt, and not having dating experience, he asked her weight. She said, "I probably weigh more than you do, Albert. I weigh 165 pounds."
He smiled and said, "But your weight is spread out over your body much more attractively than mine is."
He told her that, at the age of 25, he has only ever had one date. And that was set up by his Mother because she wanted him to go to his senior prom. Since he didn't know how to dance and couldn't really talk about much, except science and math, the date had been a flop. After that, he threw himself into his work.
She asked what he liked to do in his spare time. He told her that he spends most of his time writing computer code. She asked about hobbies and was surprised to find that he enjoyed fiddling with his cars. He owned a Duisenberg, a 1910 Maxwell Q, a Triumph and a 1930 Ford Roadster. Judy had no idea what any of them looked like or were worth, but assumed that they were probably worth quite a bit.
Judy said, "Guys are usually intimidated by me. Most of them don't want anything to do with a woman who could kick their ass or break them in half."
"Why?" He asked. "Do they want to fight with you?"
She laughed and shook her head. Before they left the restaurant, they agreed that he would help her with Algebra and she would repay him with an occasional dinner.
Over the next few weeks, Albert continued to help Judy a couple of times a week with her algebra. His assistance in helping her study for her tests enabled her to raise her scores from a C- to an A-. She took him to dinner once a week and on the third week, she invited him to her apartment for dinner to prove that she was more than just a big tough ex Marine.
He brought a couple bottles of wine and flowers and chocolates because he had no idea what was considered proper. He wore a pair of khakis and a golf shirt, and Judy wore knee length shorts and a tank top. Judy served a salad, stuffed pork chops, baked potato, and green beans. As they were finishing up, she said, "I hope you like my dessert. It's one of my favorites."
"I'm sure I will," he said. His face broke out in a huge grin as she set a Hostess Cupcake in front of him. "That's one of my favorites too."
After they finished with dinner and dessert, she said, "Can I ask your advice on something?" He nodded his head. "I was thinking of getting a tattoo on my shoulder and can't decide which one to get. Can you look at the pictures and tell me which one you like best?"
She noticed that his smile had turned into a somewhat pained expression as he walked close to her and touched her shoulder. She watched him as he looked closely at her bare shoulder and began to smile. "Do you want to see them?" She asked.
His smile disappeared and he said, "No thanks. I won't give you advice on putting ink on your body."
"Wh-why not?" She asked thinking that she had done something wrong.