Selena stared at the huge box that had been delivered to her home. She knew what was inside because she had special ordered it months ago. Now she was filled with nervous anticipation.

Inside that box was her dream man. The companion that she’d created for herself. She’d taken the day off from her normal duties just to open the box and to get acquainted with her new man.

She’d never been with a real man before. Having a man of her own had been her dreams, but she felt that shewas a plain, shy girl and she didn’t want risk getting involved with someone and getting her feelings hurt. No, a companion who was made just for her; to her specifications was a safe bet. He was going to be her dream man and now he’d finally arrived.

Selena had recently inherited quite a bit of money from her parents. She had been an only child that had come late in her parent’s lives. Her mother had been almost fifty when she had become pregnant with Selena after having been married to Selena’s father for over thirty years. Though they had always wanted children, they hadn’t thought it possible. They were ecstatic when Selena appeared on the scene.

Selena sighed and sat on the sofa staring at the box. There was an old saying about being an old person’s child that she felt rang true in her case. Old people’s children born late in their parent’s lives were plain and acted old like their parents. She was a quiet wallflower and felt that she was anything but beautiful. While she wasn’t obese, she was full figured. Men didn’t give her a second glance and at thirty she had never really had a boyfriend. How pathetic! She pushed her glasses back on her nose and walked over to the mirror.

She smiled at her reflection revealing the sizable gap between her front teeth. No, there was nothing special about her. She knew that much, and now the thought of being with a man, even a robotic one made just for her, was exciting.

She was a successful writer of children’s books and had become a bit of a recluse. The last ten years of her life had been filled with duties related to her parent’s illnesses. Her mother had suffered a stroke and had been partially paralyzed and her father had succumbed to cancer. She took care of her parents who took sick while she was in college and have given them her total time and attention until they both quietly passed on.

Now she was alone with no one. She didn’t know how to go about meeting men, but had been intrigued with the advertisement about the new lifelike robotic companions that everyone had been raving about.

Ordering one had been a long process in itself. She had to fill out detailed questionnaires about what she liked and wanted in a man. Selena thought about the men she had often seen in movies, the ones that she really liked and patterned her ‘man’ after them.

She had always dreamed of having a man like George Preppard from Breakfast at Tiffany’s or Troy Donahue from the movie, A Summer’s Place. She loved old movies and she loved blond hunks. There was no way that a girl like her could attract that kind of flesh and blood man, so this was the next best thing.

Since all information was assured to be confidential, she had no problem giving a detailed description of her life in order to help the company program the ‘companion’ for her. She gave them her most intimate desires and fantasies in order for her dream man to become a reality. It had taken six months, but now he was here.

Now the moment of truth had arrived and the box was in the living room of her large home waiting to be opened; and even though he had been programmed just for her, she was a bit nervous.

Tried of staring at the brown wrapping, Selena stood up and quickly began tearing into the huge package. What did she have to be afraid of? He was created for her and her picture had been programmed in his brain. There would be no disappointed looks from him nor smirks at her size.

She stood back and gasped. Her companion was in a plexiglass case with his hands against the glass. He stared at her and blinked and then smiled when he focused on her. She was sure he recognized her from his programming. Selena felt as if her heart was going to beat out of her chest.

He was absolutely gorgeous and he was smiling at her seductively from his encasement. He was perfect; with his blond hair and blue eyes and dimpled chin. She stared at him wondering what to do next and quickly grabbed the user’s guide that was attached to the box.

She scanned it and saw that she had to enter a four digit code on the panel to get the box to open. She remembered giving the company her birthday and so she quickly punched in the code holding her breath.

The door sprang open and the companion blinked again and stiffly stepped out of the box.

“Hello” he said smiling at her.

“Hello” Selena replied nervously.

“I’m Alfred. You are Selena Graves, correct?” the companion inquired.

“Yes.” She replied nervously.

“I am Alfred” he said again blinking at her.

Of all the names that came to mind, Alfred was the last name she would have given to this hunk of a specimen of manliness. He looked like a Brad or even a Michael, but Alfred?

She was momentarily taken aback, but then remembered that she had left the name portion of the application blank and had decided to allow the company to program his name themselves once the companion had processed all of the information she’d submitted. He would be allowed to pick his own name once he had processed all of the information she’d give the company.

“So” she said crossing her arms across her chest. “What in the world possessed you to name yourself Alfred?”

He looked confused for a moment as if thinking about what she asked and then replied, “You told the creators that I could chose a name, is that not correct?”

“I did. I was just wondering” Selena replied. “You look more like a Bradley than an Alfred.”

“How can you look like a name?” Alfred asked still looking confused. “Do all Selena’s look like you?”

“No…no!” Selena groaned realizing that he didn’t understand. “I just want to know how you came to pick the name Alfred.”

Confusion left his face and he smiled again. “Alfred is an acceptable name based on the programming you requested for me. It was a most logical choice.”

“How is Alfred a logical choice?” Selena asked surprised. “What has the name Alfred to do with your programming?”

“Do you recall the attributes you requested?” Alfred asked.

“I asked for you to be smart” she pointed out.

“Alfred Tarski” he responded. “Mathematician and philosopher.”

“I asked for you to be creative and thoughtful” Selena continued.

“Alfred Nobel” he said grinning “Who made the bomb and created the Nobel Peace Prize.”

She put her hands on her hips. “I said that I like surprises! What about that?”

“Alfred Hitchcock” Albert said quirking a brow. “His movies were full of surprises.”

“OK, OK…I wanted a man knowledgeable abut sex!” she said getting closer to him.

“Alfred Kinsey” Albert replied. “You’ve heard of the Kinsey report, haven’t you?”

“So you chose Alfred because of all of those Alfreds?” she asked surprised. “Are there any more?”

Alfred grinned at her. “I also chose the name Alfred because of Alfred Pennyworth from the Batman movies. It is my desire to service you.”

Before she realized what he was about to do, he walked over to her, pulling her into his arms and kissed her squeezing her ample bottom. She pushed against his chest and he broke the kiss and grinned at her.

Alfred licked his lips and Selena stepped back trying to recover and then she noticed a sizable erection tenting his pants.

Alfred grinned at her making no attempt to hide his desire, his eyes locking with hers.

“I think the name is most appropriate, don’t you agree?”