how to make your shyness work for you. (This last area was not really a

problem

for Roger, but the book was rather more Machiavellian than its title

indicated,

concentrating on the right way to act shy in order to arouse women's maternal

instincts). He also made it a habit to read women's magazines, which always

had

articles in them telling their readers how to find the right sort of man.

Roger

studied these articles carefully and tried to act like that sort of man.

Besides, he thought that being able to converse on topics written about in

women's magazines made him seem quite progressive and free.

He spent tons of money on clothes, hairstyling, jewelry, and after-shave,

worked

out hard to keep himself in shape, and often answered personal advertisements

in

the papers, as well as placing them, usually beginning with the line,

"Attractive, successful single male, uncomfortable in pubs..." The fact that

Roger often achieved success in his endeavors with young women said less

about

him or the validity of his approach than it did about the desperate

loneliness

of many young women living in a crowded city.

Still, there was one type of woman Roger had yet to "make it with," as he

would

put it, and that was the sort of woman who appeared on the covers of the

women's

magazines (and sometimes the same models would appear in the centerfolds of

male

magazines as well.) She was the drop-dead-gorgeous sort of women, like young

television actresses or the models in the shampoo and makeup ads.

Occasionally

Roger would encounter such women in his forays through the pubs, but women

who

looked like that encountered lots of Rogers, and as a result they had no

difficulty saying no.

Except for this one.

This one had been alone, sitting in the corner of the bar, drinking by

herself.

She was the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She had met his gaze for

just

a second when he had made eye contact with her, then she shyly dropped her

gaze,

raising it again a moment later to see if he was still looking at her, then

immediately dropping it again with a shy smile. Roger's heart had skipped a

beat.

He had sauntered over to her casually and said hello, asked if the seat next

to

hers was taken, No, it wasn't. Was she waiting for someone? She was, but it

appeared that she had been stood up. No! What sort of madman would stand up a

woman like her? She smiled shyly and thanked him for the compliment. He asked

if

he could buy her a drink. She nodded, and it had progressed rapidly from

there,

with Roger boldly taking the initiative. They had gone back to his apartment