In college, Brian discovered Japanese purely by accident and found he was gifted at languages. Recognized by his professors as being a very bright young man, he graduated with honors and was awarded a generous fellowship in a doctoral program at Georgetown. He accepted the offer with the blessings of his mother, but over the protests of his brothers and sisters, who warned him that he'd end up driving a taxi if he continued to study something so useless.

Brian had nearly finished his thesis when he met Candice Mabry, the daughter of a dentist from Omaha and a political science major. In her senior year, she was working on the campaign of a candidate for the U.S. Senate. Having won his seat, the newly elected Senator offered Candice a place on his staff in Washington when she graduated.

Deeply smitten and wanting only what was best for his beloved, Brian urged Candice to accept. He was sure that Washington, with its think tanks and government agencies, would offer opportunities for a new Ph.D. who was an expert on the poetry of the imperial court of twelfth century Japan.