Chapter 23: What happens in Vegas...
OK, I knew I was a nerd. I have known since I understood what a nerd was. The problem was that I did not look like a nerd. I was tall, semi-handsome, had a deep voice, and did not need glasses.
But I was also a loner with a perhaps an unhealthy attachment to my iMac.
I was terminally shy with everyone and catatonic with girls. Twice I had paid professional ladies to take my virginity and twice I had failed to get the necessary erection.
I was a nerd.
Thankfully the mother of one of my few friends saw me for what I was and had the patience to allow me to shed my virginal status with her. Her kindness extended to the lessons necessary to be a good lover.
I learned my lessons well and by the end of her tutoring I had the skills.
Unfortunately I did not have the courage for the hunt.
Roll forward five years and I was still the same guy except I had a college degree, a good job, and had been laid by seven different women.
OK, three of the girls were drunk at the time and it is possible they do not remember me but I very much remember them so it counts. The others I will admit were nerdettes.
One of them wanted us to fuck all the time for nearly three months then went to a college a thousand miles away. She never moved back home.
She was the only one I had fucked more than twice; in fact we had fucked more than twenty times. She was the only one that I could have called a girlfriend although there was never really was an emotional attachment between us.
My job however was right up my alley. I had tried teaching physics but I lasted just one year. I now installed intelligent spot light systems in all kinds of venues all over the country.
I also worked by myself.
My boss Roger called me into his office on the Monday of Thanksgiving week and after I answered his question on special plans for the holiday with a "No" he said, "Marshall, I have a job for you.
But before I explain it to you I want you to know that if this had come up in March or June I would have picked you anyway, you are my best lightrider. The fact that you are a loner by nature will help both of us.
We have made our biggest single sale so far, twenty-one units. They all need to be up and running by New Years Eve."
"I could put up twenty one units in two weeks. What's the catch?"
"You will need to work around the schedule of the venues. You will be rushed for a few days at a time and be completely idle for a few days at a time.
Your last four are scheduled for December 23rd but your room reservation is good until the twenty-seventh just in case."
"OK, when do I need to start?"
"Today, your plane leaves in four hours. You are going to Las Vegas."
I smiled; I had always wanted to go to Las Vegas. "Where am I staying?"
"Amazingly enough right on the strip at The Imperial Palace. Our favorite numbers cruncher Petra figured that since fifteen of the jobs are walking distance away it would save us cab fare and save you heart attacks. She also got the hotel to give us a big discount for a thirty-day stay.
There is a three-day stretch we see in which renting a car makes sense. All you need is in this folder. Look it over on the plane. Your first installation is the showroom at the Imperial Palace itself.
The units are already in Las Vegas at each venue.
Daily progress reports to me on my cell phone please. Written reports when you can send them. Go, you have a plane to catch."
As soon as I checked into The Imperial Palace I went to the showroom and checked out the unit. I made sure it was still alive then went up the scaffolding to see how big of a problem I had
.
In most jobs our biggest headache was getting the existing units out of the way. After they were gone the next problem was seeing that I had enough vertical clearance for the unit, In effect the units looked like there were two spotlights, a small one under of the other. The bottom part of each was the optical scanner and the motor that moved the spot. Anything in its way had to be removed.
Luckily our single units weighed less than the old spots so whatever support they had would do. Controlling the unit was by a remote control device so I had no wiring to do other than plugging it in.
I had the unit at the Palace running in just over one hour.
Thanks to the Pacific Time Zone I had a lot of time to explore.
After a shower I went out on The Strip and soon ran into a lot of people handing out business cards from women that wanted to make my stay memorable. I took a few thinking it was free Vegas memorabilia.
Then I walked on to see The Bellagio fountains. I stayed for three shows and loved the first two but by the third my interest was in how it worked.
I purchased a ticket to the Eiffel Tower at The Parisian just so I could look down on the fountains from above.
I thought I had it figured out when I heard a lady read to her kid from a guidebook a paragraph that detailed how the fountains worked. I could not have been more wrong.
I treated myself to the Bellagio buffet and it was as fantastic as its reputation. I ate too much.
I looked around at the sights inside the hotel then yawned.
I was baffled, it was just ten PM. Then I remembered, time zones. My body sensed midnight and my body knew the clocks were lying.
I went back to my room, and in five minutes I was asleep.
I was wide-awake at four AM. I forced myself to stay in bed until five, gave up and took a shower. At five thirty I was searching for a cup of coffee.
The hotel had a diner that feature steaks and eggs for breakfast. They also had prime rib..... for breakfast.
I had three spots to put up that day and two of the clubs were open to me until four. The third would be available to me after five. I had them all done before seven that night.
As I went back to my room I saw a girl my age emerge from a door. A man was handing her some bills and she smiled at me as she walked away.
"Oh, wow. A hooker," I thought.
I looked at the stash of flyers I had gotten the previous day and tried to pick one. They were all way too pretty for someone like me although it was possible that I was just too much of a coward to call one.
I decided that what I really needed was a shower and took one. Unfortunately that got me wide-awake.
I was naked in bed when I decided to see what the hotel services where and noted a selection of adult movies, they were eight dollars each.
But I was on a company credit card. Petra would point it out to Adrian and he would probably frown on that.
I decided I needed more information but also decided not to call because they would know my room numbers then my name,
I dressed and went to talk with the concierge but stopped when I saw she was a lady and was talking to a girl about my age.
"Mom I just don't understand it, the club says no sex but everyone expects sex and I have to fight them off," I heard the young woman say.
"Baby you can handle it. You will have your masters in four weeks and will get a real job. All of this will fade into a weird memory."
"I know Mom but we need the money."
"We will be fine without the money."
An older couple stepped up behind the girl and she gave her Mom a kiss and stepped aside.
She saw me staring at her and stopped to give me a chance to say something
.
"I didn't mean to, umm, service, eavesdrop, but I was urrr... service uhh, wondering ahh, kind of, offer, umm, you service?"
She smiled at me, a real smile. "Buy me a cup of coffee?"
"Absolutely."
She was the prettiest girl I had ever been seen with. She was tall, slender, part oriental. Her mother was Asian, likely Korean.
I got us coffee and strawberry pie and we sat in the shop.
She related, "Dad lost his job as I started on my third year at UNLV and it looked like I would have to drop out. Mom arranged for me to be a dancer at a club.
I was awkward and shy but people liked me anyway.
The girls told me of a service the club provided but I was too shy to consider it until tuition and fees were raised.
The "extra services" allow the girls to keep all the money as long as we do not have sex. The ones that do have sex are not allowed to share with the club. The club owner wants happy customers but wants to stay OK with the law.
There have been girls that have found their names off the schedules for that.
The no sex part is clearly stated but one in five customer still thinks that is what they are paying for.
I just had three of those in a row. The one tonight got mad and I had to lock myself in the bathroom until security came up. When they got to the room they found the guy naked, passed out on the floor outside the bathroom.
I told them who I worked for and they said go home. I came here to vent on Mom.
"
"I am sorry you had a harrowing experience."
"It's OK, it will be better tomorrow. Now what did you want to ask me?"
"Well, I...can wait until you are better. I was waiting to ask the concierge a question about certain charges and billing. It can wait until the morning."
She gave me a big smile and said, "You wanted to know if you could charge dirty movies to a different account? Yes you can but you do not need to. The bill will say "Other Incurred Charges."
I felt myself blush and I stammered a thanks.
"Are you vacationing? You don't strike me as a gambler?"
"Oh, I am not. I came to do a job."
"You're a hit man?" she asked me with a grin.
I returned her grin and noted I was suddenly at ease with her.
I said, "Not exactly. I am installing smart spotlights."
"How can spotlights be smart?"
"Ours has a face recognition camera, the spot will follow anyone you designate automatically. The operator stays on the ground with a remote control unit. That was a concession to the union, the spots do not really need operators at all."
"You mean you program it on me and a spot will follow me everywhere I go?"
"Yes, we have spots that can follow two or three people no matter how many other people cross their path."
"Where have you installed them?"
"Well, one of them is in the small showroom here. They used it tonight."
"Show me please."
We stood and we went backstage at the show room.
The comedian's show had ended and the only ones there were the cleaning crew. I had her stand on stage and turned on the controller. I got a picture, zoomed in on her and pressed, "Choose."
I turned on the spot and she was bathed in light. I asked her to try to run away from it and she did.
Everywhere she went the light stayed on her even when she ran into the seats and tried to hide behind a large lady. Everyone was laughing and the lady tried to steal the spot but could not.
I turned the light off and hit cancel. She rejoined me on stage and said, "That is an amazing thing you put up there."
"Thank you but all I do is the installing. My boss is the genius. I have a few more to install around town including two and three target units. I will be in town into December."
As we walked back to the lobby we introduced ourselves. "My name is Holly, the woman you saw me talking to is my Mom Liz."
"Oh, hi. I am Marshall. Very happy to meet you,"
Her mother was walking towards us and I saw Holly surreptitiously shake her head no at her Mom. Her Moms fake smile turned into a real smile for me.
