Las Vegas’ Kerth Ceremonies, part 6
Samantha Marquez was going to change rooms. She had gone into a single to give the high rollers the owner’s suite, but that had left her in temporary quarters of a small room with a bed. She was used to a better living space. When she learned a large suite was given to a lady who was booked into a single, Sam decided that she should trade her single room for the suite so she could get into more comfortable surroundings. Now, all she needed to do is have the front desk tell the suite resident that she was moving to the fourth floor. Mary had left for the day before she managed to get it all lined up, but the lady that had been given the suite in the middle of the night should not give them trouble. Sam would rather have someone else do her dirty work of making her leave the suite, so she talked to Shana in the main office. As she was leaving room 471, Sam told the cleaning crew that there would be a move later in the day, so they could wait to clean her room. Sam was an events coordinator who was in charge of the welfare of some very important people, so she really did deserve the suite much more than the occupant.
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Early in the morning, Susan awoke with her stomach still growling. She had slept so soundly that she felt like a new woman. She grabbed a piece of fruit out of the basket sitting on the table in the main room of the suite. When she opened her suitcase to find something to wear, she remembered the good looking man she met the night before and took out her best dressy-casual outfit. She wanted to look good today in case she ran into him again. She crunched on an apple as she thought about tonight and that beautiful dress she had to wear. Then she realized that if her overnight bag did not arrive soon, she would have no dress shoes, no jewelry, no make-up, no hairbrush, and worst of all no way to pay to replace any of those things. It was hard to be depressed when staying in such beautiful surroundings, but Susan was afraid as she looked into the mirror that she was doomed to look like she was only playing at being as good as the rest of the Kerth nominees. It would take her all day to try to reverse the ravages of the trip yesterday. And that depended on her getting her overnight bag back to start to pull herself back to eye-catching for the Awards.
She jumped into the shower and used the complimentary shampoo and conditioner to wash yesterday out of her hair. As she got out of the shower and put her clothes on, she tried to finger-comb her hair. It was obvious that she was not going to make it look better that way. Wracking her brain to figure how to make her appearance presentable, Susan remembered that one of the things that was listed on her letter from her publisher was that she could have a spa visit while she was at the Monticeto. Susan picked up the phone as an idea occurred to her.
“Hello. This is Susan Mayer in the Paris-House Suite. Can you connect me to the Spa?”
A series of clicks happened. “Monticeto Spa” came across the phone.
“Hello. I’m Susan Mayer and I’m in the Paris-House Suite. My publisher gave me a spa package for my Kerth nomination. I was wondering if I could trade in my visit to you so instead I can have the beauty parlor do something with my hair. I have really done a number on it and need to have someone rescue me from looking like this tonight at the Awards.”
“Of course, Ms. Mayer. Let me look up your records. Okay, I see that you were allotted two hours in the spa. That surely will allow you to have your hair done and your make-up too, if you would like to have that done.”
“Oh, thank you! Can we make that appointment? I need to have some breakfast, but I am available any time you can make me an appointment.” Susan could feel her ulcers start to relax.
“I have Ms. Susan Mayer scheduled for an eleven o’clock appointment with our beauty parlor. Is there anything else I can help you with?” The voice on the other side of the phone must know how bad she looked, thought Susan.
“No, thank you. I’ll see you at eleven this morning.”
She rushed out the door to get some breakfast before her appointment. As the door closed behind her, she heard the phone in her room ring. She resisted the urge to ignore it, turned, opened the door, and went back in to answer the phone.
“Good morning, Ms. Mayer. This is the front desk. I hope you slept well and feel ready for today.“
“Yes,” answered Susan. “What’s not to like? This is a beautiful suite.”
“Could I please request you to come down to the front desk and ask to speak to Shana. She requested that I relay this message for her.”
Susan could feel her stomach tightening again. “Of course. May I know what this is all about?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Mayer. I do not have that information. Shana will be able help you when you come down here.”
“I’m starving. Can I please get some breakfast before I see Shana? I will be down there in about an hour, if you will relay that message to her.” Susan was afraid of what this message was, but she was determined to have a better day than yesterday.
“I will relay that message to Shana. Have a good breakfast, Ms. Mayer.” The phone clicked in her ear. Susan rushed back out the door before it could ring again.
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Lois and Clark strolled, hand in hand, into the casino on the ground floor of the Monticeto. There was noisy with machines and activity all around them. Lois asked Clark for a $20 so she could try her luck. Clark grinned at her and said, “You work and make your own money. Why are you asking me to fund your gambling habits?”
“If you will notice, husband-dear, I don’t have a purse with me. In fact, I don’t even have a room key or any of the other things I usually carry in a purse. So, you have me where you want me…absolutely dependent on you.” She giggled as she said it.
Clark broke out laughing at the remark. Lois had never in her life been helpless or dependent. He reached in his back pocket, took out his wallet, and handed her a $20. While he watched her looking at all the machines and finally choosing one, he said to her, “If I need to go away, suddenly, I’ll make sure to leave you a key before I go.” He made their secret signal for flying to indicate his intentions if he had to leave.
Lois sat down in the chair in front of her chosen slot machine and Clark took the empty one right next to it. She inserted the money in the machine and watched that amount come up on the lighted screen. She pushed the buttons and watched the wheels rotate. When it was done with the transaction, it said on the screen that she had won 25 cents back on the dollar she had gambled. She looked over at Clark and grinned. “See, I’m a winner.” Clark pointed out to her that her bet was for $1, so a quarter return was not exactly winning. He looked amused, but did not laugh at her. Between bets, she looked over at him and asked, “You going to try your luck too?”
This time Clark could not resist laughing. He leaned over to her and asked, “I thought I already got lucky three times. What do you think I want to happen on this casino floor?” The heated look he got back from her made him laugh all the more.
They stayed and tried various slot machines and had a drink that was offered to them, compliments of the house. Clark had a wonderful time watching Lois play the machines. The casino definitely won in the long run, but on one of her spins she got $10 for a $1 bet. In the end, the result was that they lost their investment of $40 and all her winnings. But both of them had a wonderful and relaxing time.
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In the security room the picture on the screen of the boss and a woman were being examined with great interest. None of the security team had seen her before. But it was obvious to Ed that this woman was special to the boss. Out of curiosity, they ran a scan on her and found that she came up as a blank. This only meant that she had not been in trouble in Las Vegas before. Ed then put the national scan on her and was amazed that she was instantly recognized as Lois Lane, the famous reporter from Metropolis. She must be in town for the Kerth Awards. Ed wondered how Casey had met Miss Lane? And just how long has he known her? Their body language was very comfortable with each other like they had been in each other’s lives for a while.
Ed chuckled to himself as he returned to the job of protecting the casino. Casey and the famous Lois Lane! Who would have thought that one?
