Las Vegas’ Kerth Ceremonies, part 4
Casey picked up the house phone. “Good afternoon, Mr. Manning,” he heard. “How may I direct your call?”
“Could you please connect me with the main office? I need to speak to either Mary or Delinda, please.”
“Of course, Mr. Manning. I’m Patrice and I’ll be on the switchboard most of the evening in case you need anything else.“ Casey heard a series of soft clicks happen in the background.
“This is Mary. How may I help you?”
“Hello, Mary. It’s Casey. Have any of the whales from the poker game arrived yet?” He heard the soft sound of keys being worked on a computer and the voice on the other end said, “Yes, George Jefferson has arrived and J.R. Ewing’s pilot called for us to send a town car to meet his plane at the airport. He should be here within the hour.”
“It sounds like things are moving toward the midnight start of the game. If any of the whales call and say they are delayed, will you please notify me? I know you are on it, but I want to be available to smooth out any bumps that might happen before the high rollers leave on Sunday evening.”
“We’ll handle it, Casey. Is there anything else we can help you with?”
“Not that I can think of right now. Thanks, Mary.” He gently put the receiver back down on the phone and turned on the giant television to see if there was any sports on that caught his attention. How he loved to have a well-run place. He just was not into clutter and excess effort to make something happen. His staff made things happen without even breaking a sweat. This made him very, very happy.
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About six o’clock, Susan began to really be hungry. She had eaten cereal for breakfast, but she had not even had a drink of water since then, unless you count all the raindrops she had inhaled. Being careful not to cross back into unsecured territory, she went to the little shop down the concourse only to discover that a bag of pretzels was $2.99 and a bottle of water was $1.50. The next chance she had to get on a standby flight was 7:40 p.m. Susan walked back to the desk again, but no one was manning the desk at the gate she was assigned. What was she going to do about the fact that she had no money with her, she hadn’t eaten all day, and as the day progressed, her appearance got rougher. She definitely was a drowned cat looking girl, even though all the wet stuff had dried up. She made a decision to go to the sandwich shop and buy herself a roast beef and Swiss on rye bread. She had seen it advertised on the front of the store as she paced the halls, and it had just about overcome her senses. She checked her billfold to make sure she had her credit card with her, and went into the little corner shop that had a bar and sandwich shop in it. She sat down and picked up the menu. The waitress came over and took her order. Susan wished she could order something with a salad or bread to be served immediately. She was drooling with anticipation.
When her meal arrived, Susan devoured her sandwich and fries. She had two colas and ordered herself a slice of key lime pie. She was starting to get some color back into her face when the waitress brought her check and scared the color right back out of her face. The bill came to $21.33. With a minimum tip, she had been eating a $25 meal. Reluctantly, she gave the girl her credit card and determined that regardless of what plane she managed to take to Las Vegas, she would not eat again until she was on the Publisher’s tab at the hotel.
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Lois and Clark put on casual clothes and appeared in public for the first time since they had arrived. Clark took her hand in his and they held hands the entire length of the hallway. When they arrived at the elevator, they heard the warning bell that the elevator was stopping on their floor. When the doors opened, out stepped someone both of them recognized. Jerry Stark was an award-winning reporter from the Kansas City Enquirer. They had all met at previous Kerth Awards, but did not recall ever speaking to one another before today. With him was a beautiful, blonde, very young-looking lady who looked all of twelve years old. Clark nodded at him, but was shocked into silence at the age difference of the people standing in front of him. Lois, on the other hand, plunged right into a conversation.
“Hello. I’m Lois Lane Kent and this is my husband, Clark. You’re Jerry Stark, right? You must be here for the awards. Is your companion here from the paper also?”
“Nice to meet you two. We’ve never really had a conversation before, even though we are up against each other for an award again this year. Oh, let me introduce you to my daughter, Melanie. My wife and son, Dave, are around here somewhere. Good luck with all the awards you are nominated to win, minus mine. I enjoy reading your articles.” Jerry and Melanie turned left and started down the hallway.
“See you tonight, Jerry,” were Clark’s parting words as he pushed the button to bring the elevator back up to their floor.
Soon the elevator arrived and took them down to the main floor where Lois and Clark found a seafood special on lobster. They both enjoyed the large meal and decided to leave the Monticeto to take a walk to work off the calories. Lois seemed to be enjoying them ducking into other casinos to look around, but Clark soon became very bored with the noise and flashing lights. After the third casino, Clark pulled his wife to himself, and kissed her before whispering in her ear he knew a better way to work off calories. Instead of going further down the main street, they walked back to the Monticeto. They ignored a group of journalists involved in a lively discussion in the lobby. Instead, they entered the elevators and because no one else was riding up with them, a loving make-out session began. They managed to pull apart just as the bell announced they arrived at their floor. Clark put on a little super-speed getting them down the hall and they arrived at their room very quickly. As Clark was trying to locate the door key, Lois mentioned she wanted to do other things beside seeing the inside of their room, but she did it with a big grin on her face. She did not remember how they got from the front door to the bed, but they covered the space in record time even for someone capable of super speed.
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Eight p.m. came and Susan was still not on a plane to Las Vegas. She was assured that they would fit her on her last stand-by plane leaving a little before midnight. She wondered out loud to the lady sitting next to her just how they knew in advance when to send her bags to Vegas. The woman picked up and moved to another seat.
Sure enough, when the midnight plane arrived, she was called to the desk and told they had a seat for her. Susan was tired and hungry and could not wait until she arrived in Las Vegas. She was exhausted being a resident of an airport and was ready to be anywhere but there. They loaded the plane and it pulled away from the gate. It seemed like it took forever to taxi out to the runway, and at the last second the pilot’s voice came over the intercom to announce that they would be returning to the gate to pick up a special passenger. Susan was trying very hard to keep check on her temper, but she was quickly getting to where she was ready to bark at the next inconvenience thrown at her. They pulled back up at the gate, but from
Susan’s vantage point she could not see who came aboard. Whomever it was went in the opposite direction from her location, and she heard applause happening in the front of the plane. Quickly, the plane pulled back away from the gate and as they awaited to get back into the line to take off the pilot announced., “We welcome the famous college professor, explorer, and world traveler, Indiana Jones, who has just joined us for our trip to the east coast. “ Susan had seen him interviewed on television before, so she knew who he was. She was not impressed that he had held up her flight though.
Susan tried to relax against her seat again, but her blood pressure was way too high from the day she’d had for her to relax completely. As soon as they had taken off the flight attendants came back and handed her a package of pretzels and a can of soda about half the size of a normal soda. She wolfed down her pretzels and washed it with her drink. She would have loved to have another helping of both, but didn’t ask. She didn’t know if they would charge for seconds, and she wasn’t about to get in a position to spend her last dollar when she would soon be in Las Vegas where her food costs were already paid.
Upon arriving at the Las Vegas Airport, Susan followed the crowd to the area where the baggage was loaded on a conveyor belt. She waited, and waited, and waited as the rest of her fellow-passengers took their luggage and left the area, leaving her very concerned. Finally, she asked the only other person left what would happen if her luggage did not get on the plane. The man told her he was headed to the Lost Luggage Office, and she was welcome to accompany him. As they arrived at the office, very loud voices greeted Susan as she opened the door. This was not a room for someone who was tired, hungry, and stressed out about her trip thus far. Susan waited her turn to report her lost luggage, and the lady behind the counter consulted her computer and got on the phone. Soon, Susan saw her two largest suitcases coming through the door from the back room. But, where was her overnight bag? She told the lady helping her she had one more suitcase and was told that it was on its way to Seattle, WA. Susan was assured it would be delivered to her hotel the following morning. It was after she left the office, trying with all her might to manhandle the heavy suitcases that it occurred to her that she did not have a way to get to the Monticeto. Susan stopped to talk to a security guard.
“Excuse me, sir. I have a reservation at the Monticeto Resort and Casino. Do they send cars out to the airport to pick up people with reservations?“
“There is a shuttle bus that takes people to the casinos. It comes every thirty minutes, so you won’t have to wait too long. Go right out this door and wait near the signs on the front drive indicating SHUTTLE BUS. The driver will help you load your luggage and make sure you arrive safely.“
Susan relaxed for a second. “Thank you so much for the information.“ She moved her suitcases slowly toward the door and went outside to the indicated space. There were a number of people already waiting, so Susan hoped that meant that a bus would be arriving soon. A very tired traveler sat down on top of her suitcases at the edge of the front drive to await the next shuttle.
Watching the busy traffic in and out of the airport was almost overwhelming. Susan was so very tired and her stomach was growling. She wondered if the shuttle would take her credit card? She knew that her $10 would not get her very far. She watched as a very large bus pulled up to the curb. It had SHUTTLE BUS written on the side of it. Susan was glad she didn’t have to guess about it, since her patience was very short.
She approached the driver. “Does this bus go to the Monticeto Resort and Casino?”
“Yes, ma’am, We go to all of the major casinos. I just need to mark your luggage with which casino it will be going.” The man handed Susan an Orange ticket and a small pencil and asked her to fill it out.
“I have two bags. Will this do for both of them?” Susan was tired, but didn’t want to lose her suitcases. She had one on a trip somewhere else, and didn’t need more than one bag wandering around.
He handed her another orange tag, and Susan filled it out with her name and a phone number. She attached them to her bags and handed the driver back the pencil. She watched as he loaded both of them in the underside cargo bay. As an after thought, she turned back to the driver. “Do you take a credit card for this trip?” she asked.
“These shuttles are complimentary from the casinos, “ was the answer. Susan climbed on board and settled in for the trip to her destination.
At the Monticeto entrance, the driver announced the name of the Resort, opened the door of the bus, and went to take Susan’s luggage from the underside. He pulled out the bags, but no one appeared to claim them. When she did not appear, he went back to the door and announced “MONTICETO” in a very loud voice. No one appeared. So the driver went back into the bus and went down the aisle until he found a very
sound asleep Susan. He woke her up and asked her to follow him as they were at her resort. Susan slowly came back to consciousness. She picked up her purse and followed him to the outside. A porter came from inside of the Casino and picked up her heavy bags like they were filled with cotton candy. For some reason this depressed Susan more than she could explain. She was on the edge of tears. This was the worst day in her life, trying to get to an award banquet to celebrate something special in her life. Her yin and yang were not in balance. She was certain she had too much yin. Or was that yang?
