It might have been considered early by most people to start settling down at the tender age of 38 years old, but for Ben Watters, that was exactly what life had afforded him the luxury of doing.  Naturally though, as most people find once they do go and settle themselves down, life can be rather boring without something to do.  Without some kind of purpose, or direction.  This was the position that Ben had found himself in after a few years of living in Hamilton, New York.  Hamilton wasn't exactly a big city, but more like a large college campus with an economy that naturally sprouted up around the university.  The town itself was little more than 20,000 people, but the campus had an annual student body of at least half that size, making it a vibrant little city nestled in the hills of upstate New York, a good 4 hours from New York City.<br/><br/>New York City, on the other hand, was where Ben Watters had made his fortune that allowed him to settle.  An education from Rutgers in economics and finance, and some grad work at Columbia after that, and he was making his way on Wall Street throughout his early and mid 20s.  Having met the right people and made the right moves at the right times, Ben soon had more money than he knew what to do with.  Rather than spend frivolously like so many of his counterparts were wont to do in the big city, Ben stashed every penny away or reinvested it.  His frugality paid off, and by his mid 30s he was in a position where he didn't need to work for the rest of his life, and mostly just did consulting work to pass the time.  He quickly grew tired of the city once he didn't need to be knee deep in it for work all the time, and bought himself a nice condo in the heart of Hamilton, near the buzzing entertainment district just off campus.<br/><br/>Ben spent his days golfing and warding off requests to take an associate professors job from friends at the school, mostly because he had enjoyed spending his nights in the bars, picking up young 20 somethings.  However, even that was becoming mundane.  It was the same old song and dance.  Sloppy drunk girls, and sloppy sex.  He craved something more...formal.  Professional wasn't the right word, because he'd been down the escort path, and he wanted something more...authentic than that.  He knew by now that he wasn't the marrying or even relationship type, and he often wondered if there could be another way.  It was with this reality in mind that he stepped into Magic Cupcakes on a Tuesday morning.<br/><br/>Magic Cupcakes was a popular destination for students, as it served all kinds of wacky baked goods, and though the place had been around for almost two years, Ben got the impression it was struggling, mostly because the only person he ever saw there was the owner, who he later learned from general chit chat was also the baker.  It was her dream to do this, but rent and other expenses just made it hard to break even.  She was a nice girl, probably not much older than the kids she served, and his mind started to wander to possibilities of investing.  It would give him something to do, some direction, after all.  Then, as he debated between a cupcake or a cheese Danish, his mind swam on to the unfulfilled desires he had with the fairer sex, and he pondered if it might be possible to wield his resources in a manner that could marry these two ideas.<br/><br/>"Danish today," he said, as the owner snapped him out of his daydream.  "So let me ask you something...would you ever consider taking on an investor?"