"That must be an exciting book you were reading," said the young woman sitting next to the window. Up until that point, we hadn't spoken. She was dres...ed casually in jeans, loose fitting pullover and sneakers. Her hair was braided. She was by no means plain. In fact, the lack of makeup gave her a genuine, what-you-see-is-what-you-get appearance. She wore a large diamond on her ring finger."Not really," I said, laying what was left of the ball in the empty seat between us, and holding up the. The receptionist explained where to go, handing me a locker key and towel. My locker was number one so, assuming I was first in, I headed for the changing room and undressed. I'm tall with dark hair, average to slim build; good looking enough to get some attention, without ever really standing out.With my towel wrapped around my waste I went and had a quick look around the facilities. The jacuzzi seemed as good a place as any to start - unlike the darkness of the sauna and steam room you had. " Yeah, well ... just remember your rules when she's around," he warned with a sly grin.I'd found Doogie Cruickshank to be an invaluable aid when it came to the marketing side of our business. I was a born-and-bred operations guy and needed to learn more about what made successful marketing strategy. It was a matter of matching the needs of the market to our capability. It was no use building wonderful machines that no one was interested in.Doogie was in charge of U.K. sales at our Manchester. We’d been building to this moment from the day we’d first met. It was a logical step, but one which created several dilemmas. First, there was the problem of not being able to date. Second, there was my relationship with Tasha. Third, there was my recent talk with Maggie. Beyond that was the decision which loomed large over all the others — was Kimiko prepared to stay in the US once she graduated? And if all of THOSE things could be resolved, was pursuing marriage with Kimiko something I wanted.