FINAL LINES FROM THE STORY...
"Leave a Message Please "

Right there he made a decision. He would ask her out for dinner. What did he care if she said no? He would ask her again. Isn't that what Rich would do? How many phone messages had he heard from Rich for the divine Missy? He would wait and wait until she said yes. Wasn't that what Jacob had done for Rachel? When Jacob first kissed Rachel, he wept. Then he worked seven years for her father, Laban; "They seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had for her." The words of the Bible made him feel even more determined.

Perhaps after dinner they could wash Whitey.

That would take at least seven years.