Long Summary of Walter's Wager A Two-Timing Agnostic Rolls the Dice by Frederick L. Whitney Walter Kempf, agnostic since his college days, does not agree that he is a two-timer, at least not in the usual sense of selfish motives. He justifies his dual courting of Heidi and Kelly, each a desirable mate, as fair--fair to them and fair to him--because withholding the truth would result in the least hurt to him and to them. He wagers that time will resolve the issue of choice. Choice, however, is complicated by the bonds that tie the women to their estranged husbands--Heidi, a Roman Catholic Church marriage; Kelly, a negatively biased prenuptial contract. Having the necessary analytical skills and ample opportunity to apply them, Walter volunteers to help dissolve these bonds. As an analyst for TMI of Scottsdale, Arizona, Walter makes frequent transatlantic trips while working on a Management Manual for a joint venture between Daesung, a Korean international conglomerate, and Klingel, a German manufacturer of high-tech materials in Munich. This thorny state of affairs originated a year and a half ago when Walter fell in love with Heidi while he vacationed in Vienna, Austria. They lived together. Nearing the end of his three-week vacation, Heidi revealed that she was already married but wanted to continue their intimate relationship. Walter, abhorring their adultery, fled without waiting for her explanation. After a year of brooding, his drinking reached such proportions that two co-workers hatched a nefarious plot to discredit him. As a condition for protecting his job at TMI, he completed a 12-Step substance-abuse treatment program. During treatment he and his roommate Mitch concocted a surreptitious plan to prove they could drink moderately. The plan called for Walter to purchase coffee and vodka from Kelly, part-owner of Augie's highway tourist stop not far from Prescott, Arizona. After but a few days, Mitch failed the test, got drunk and ran off. Walter, however, having fallen in love with Kelly, continued the plan through graduation. After graduation at a romantic dinner, Kelly revealed her prenuptial contract and marriage, but this time Walter did not flee as he did when Heidi revealed her marital state. Instead, he rejected his former immature morality and agreed to an intimate relationship with Kelly. Thereafter, Walter supports Kelly's efforts to cancel her pre-nup agreement with the aging profligate Professor Howard Teek so she can get a divorce and they can wed. Walter, having been laid off despite successfully completing the treatment program, searches for a new job. One morning when Walter is revising his résumé, Mitch unexpectedly calls and reveals he has found sobriety by becoming a born-again Christian. In the following weeks, he tries to convince Walter to do the same. Walter finds it hard to believe that Mitch would accept "goofy" religious ideas they had berated during treatment. Hoping for Mitch's born-again zeal to fade, Walter tentatively plays along; but playing along eventually impacts his relationship with Kelly--good and bad The good is that Walter and Kelly, for the first time, open themselves to each other's religious and spiritual beliefs. The bad is that Kelly tells Walter she cannot accept a born-again religious life style. Walter, whose agnosticism is based upon his disgust with the erroneous higher-power, anthropomorphic God of Christianity, is enamored by the depth of Kelly's non-theistic beliefs. Mitch, on the other hand, closes his mind to any beliefs other than those of born-again Christianity. A saddened Walter, about to make his first of many business trips to KGL in Munich, Germany, breaks off his close friendship with Mitch. This pleases Kelly, but saddens Mitch, who, nevertheless, intensifies his born-again activities. During this business trip, Walter has time to reflect upon his past treatment of Heidi. He feels that he owes Heidi an apology, so during the weekend he fl
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