Prologue
Julie Pembroke looked up from her desk at the sound of the elevator chime. The door opened, and the young man exited, gave her a small smile and continued on down the hall without saying a word. Right on time. He was so punctual she could set her watch by him. Once, she even made that very same comment as he arrived, which elicited a small chuckle and an embarrassed duck of the blond head, but no other response. Julie sighed, feeling sorry for this sad young man.
"Who was that?" Barbara, the new girl, asked. "And why didn't he sign in?"
"We sign him in." Julie passed over the log book filled with names, room numbers and other tiny details. At the top of the page with today's date was, in Julie's handwriting, the first entry being time stamped at 1:15. the second entry was for just prior to ten am. She sighed again. "He is here, every single Tuesday at 1:15 without fail. He stays exactly 45 minutes and then he leaves. I think I can count on one hand the number of times he has missed a visit the entire time." she even flipped a few pages to future Tuesdays. They were all pre filled out.
"How long has it been?" Barbara asked, curious.
"Slightly over five years."