Las Vegas’ Kerth Ceremonies, part 9
It was the bewitching hour. Susan had put on the dress, her jewelry, and her highest heels. She twirled in front of the mirror. She looked hot! She looked damned hot! Bree was smaller busted than her, so Susan had quite a bit of cleavage showing with a dangling crystal in the center of all the exposed flesh. Her upswept hair made her neck look long and kissable. She looked hotter than hot!
She deposited her key in her bag, left the room to go down to the Ballroom to have supper and the Awards ceremony, but most of all she was looking forward to dancing with Casey. Whether she won or not the dance would happen, but the best part was she might also get a Kerth for her illustrations. Even though the books she illustrated were written on a level of children, they were often syndicated to newspapers for the editorial pages. It was found that without much stretch in imagination the books were very adaptable to current events and satire of the front pages. Even though Susan had illustrated the books for children, she was getting a reputation of being an editorial illustrator. On the way down the hall Susan mused that she’d been having such good luck lately that she had an idea that she would be lucky enough to win tonight.
Down the hall from Susan was another brunette with her hair up on top of her head who was putting an identical dress that fit a little differently than Susan’s. Lois’ dress covered all the right parts and left a lot to the imagination. Lois was taking her time getting ready because she hoped that her husband would be able to come home before they had to go downstairs. The awards they were nominated for were late in the program, and Lois really did not want to sit around and hear a lot of people she didn’t know get the unimportant Kerths that were awarded early in the program.
At the appointed hour when the banquet was to begin, the wait staff started handing out the salads. Susan ate and listened to the conversation at her table. Most of the people at her table were from Belleview, WA. They seemed to know each other and did not include her in their conversation. Then again, most of the people around at the tables were newspaper journalists, not book illustrators. She reminded herself that later on a good looking fellow who had been so wonderful to her was going to dance with her. It was hard to be depressed when his face came to her mind.
The soup was served, and the lady next to her started to ask her about her nomination. When she said she was the illustrator for the Rabbit series, the lady told everyone at the table and all of them said they enjoyed the editorials. Susan did not tell them she did not write the pithy sayings, only drew the Rabbit’s pictures. She enjoyed the adulation for a few minutes before the conversation shifted again to families. Susan told them she had a teenage daughter, and they all said she looked too young to have teenager. Then the conversation switched again. When the main course was served, she couldn’t wait until the actual award ceremony started as she was exhausted by switching between talking to them and sitting quietly without any conversation.
As the dessert was served, the Master of Ceremonies came to the podium He introduced a comedian who gave them a few jokes that were hard to laugh at. By the time the M.C. came back to the podium, everyone was ready for the ceremony to start. The first category that was nominated were the editorials. Susan pondered why she was nominated, but the writer of her book was not. She listened to those named and knew her writer was better than most of them. The next category of nominees was the illustrators of the editorial page. Susan sat very still and heard her name called along with the other eight nominees. As the card was opened with the name of the winner, Susan held her breath. Her name was called as the winner, and she seemed fused to her chair. Her tablemates told her she had won, but she continued to sit there in stunned silence. Finally a page came to her and helped her stand and go to the podium. As she looked out over the audience, she had stage fright. But she recovered enough to remember to thank the author of the book, her publisher, her daughter, and the readers who enjoy her pictures.
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Susan did not see Casey as he was standing in the shadows at the rear of the Ballroom. He was half in and half out of the room with his face in the shadows. He really wanted to see her win but did not want her to feel she was being stalked if she saw him there. So, even though he clapped harder and louder than anyone else around him, he made sure that she did not see him. As Casey listened to Susan’s thank-you speech, he became aware of two female arms and a very female body pressed against him from the rear. A voice said to him, “Oh, there he is. My own little key carrier. Which pocket you want me to put my key in?” Casey wrenched himself away from the unknown female, and turned around to see a woman who looked a lot like Susan and was dressed a lot like her also. He turned around again and looked back to the front of the room where Susan was winding up her speech. He turned back around sure he must have been mistaken about the nearby female’s resemblance.
“Oh, my god! You’re not my husband! I’m so sorry, Mr. Uh, Uh, but I really thought when I saw you there that you were my husband. “ Lois was mortified. How had she made this mistake? The man had a passing resemblance to Clark, but he was shorter, fuller in the face, and less muscular. He also had no glasses on his face, but he wouldn’t be mistaken for Superman. She wished she had not made the assumption that he was her husband before she had seen him in the light.
“Hello, I’m Casey Manning. And you are?”
“I’m Lois Lane Kent. My husband is Clark Kent. We’re reporters with the Daily Planet. He and I were on two different schedules, so I came down first. When I saw you standing there, for some unknown reason I thought you were Clark. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so embarrassed by a mistake.”
“Well, Lois. I would love to meet that husband of yours. I’ve not had many people mistake me for someone they know that well. When he gets here please introduce me to him.”
“You will be around here until later? Are you a nominee also?”
Casey gave her a big grin. “I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere. I’m the owner of the Monticeto. I’m here all weekend long and would love to make sure that you and your husband enjoy your stay here and want to come back to visit again soon.”
“I’ll make sure to introduce you and Clark, then. Have a good evening, Casey. Again, I’m so sorry about that goof.”
Lois moved through the crowded Ballroom and went to the table that the escort said was where she and Clark were to sit. As she sat down, the program continued and the waiters brought food out for her to eat.
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Susan felt as if her feet were not touching the ground. She had won! A group of her peers had decided that her work was award winning. She had pictures taken with her Kerth and they engraved her name on it while she waited. Instead of going back to the table where she felt so uncomfortable, Susan decided to take her Kerth Award upstairs to the suite. She would be dancing with Casey, and didn’t need to hold on to the award. So instead of returning to the Ballroom, she made her way out the side door and took the elevator back up to the 19th floor. She let herself into the suite and after she had kissed the statue, she left it on her bedside table. As she made her way back to the elevator banks, a pair of arms grabbed her from behind and picked her off her feet. As soon as she squealed the arms let her go. Susan turned around to see Casey standing in the hallway in a pair of jeans. Or was it Clark?
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Susan. It’s me, Clark Kent. You look so much like my wife and her dress for the banquet is that same color. I thought she was running late going down to the banquet and I had caught up with her. Please forgive me. I would never have made that mistake if I wasn’t in fast-forward mode. I need to get in the shower, put my tux on, and get down to the banquet. My mind was only recognizing people around me with half efficiency. When I get down to the banquet, can I introduce you to Lois? You will see that I really did make an honest mistake.”
“I’d love to meet the famous Lois Lane. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you in a little bit.” Susan got on the elevator, but when she got downstairs she decided to sit in the lobby and wait for Clark instead of going back into the Ballroom.
While she was sitting alone, Susan contemplated the fact that Casey had kept his word and given her the privacy she needed in their rooms. Spending time with Casey would not have been a hardship. Instead of treating her as a roommate, he’d let her have the suite as her private sanctuary. She was glad she had trusted her instincts about him. He was a great guy.
