Edited by Angel Love
Chapter 2
When the wake-up call came around six o'clock on Monday morning, it startled the sleeping lovers, Mark and Vesta. Neither wanted to answer the phone but Vesta reached over, sleepily grabbed the receiver, and managed to mutter an unintelligible greeting. When she hung up the phone, she kissed Mark making sure he had plenty of breast softness to stimulate him awake.
Giggling, she said, "Wake up baby doll! You'd better go to your room and get cleaned up for the first convention session!"
But Mark was pinned to the bed with two large breasts, not to mention Vesta's naked body. They kissed tenderly then she rolled off and left him semi hard so she could climb into a hot shower. Mark got up, managed to dress, and left. When he closed her door, he started to run his comb through his disheveled hair but suddenly was interrupted by the opening of the door of room #852.
As it opened, he started to walk in that direction but soon found himself staring at Virginia Virginity, the old Sex Nazi from the previous night. She was wearing a robe that must have been at least seventy five years old, probably one her great grandmother wore when she was sick. SN stepped out into the hallway, turned, and immediately shot Mark a glare that would rival the Guns of Navarone.
"Well, well!!!" she said with a smirk. "Just leaving?" she said in her self righteous tone.
Standing three feet away, Mark said, "It isn't any of your business, lady!"
"No?" she snapped back. "Well you made it my business young man! In fact, you made it everyone's business on the eighth floor!"
"Oh, yeah, sure we did!" he said in response.
"You sure did! The noises, the nasty words, the yelling, the screaming, the moaning, and the groaning kept me and others awake for hours!" she spat with her mean look.
Mark chuckled at her and asked if she'd learned anything new. His words made shades of pink and red boil up from her neck to her forehead. In response to colors he'd not previously seen before, he laughed heartily then walked by her to the elevators. Three or four minutes later, he climbed into his own hot shower and there he reminisced his evening with his beautiful Vesta.
The first SoundTek Systems session assembled at nine o'clock in the large meeting room. Vesta waited there and met Mark with her fantastic smile, one that told him she'd thoroughly enjoyed their evening and night together. He took her by the hand, kissed her softly, and then escorted her to the third row of chairs, just to the left of the speaker's podium.
The speaker for the initial meeting was hailed as SoundTek's finest, a lady named Mari Maccord. Settling into their chairs, Vesta and Mark read through the hype on the company's new software package. It was typical at best and each knew that every session would be more of the same. After the chairs filled with a hundred people or so, their attentions were distracted by a well dressed man who stepped to the podium to introduce the session and SoundTek's famed speaker.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to SoundTek System's annual software convention. Please feel free to drink the coffee provided in the back and please make yourselves comfortable!"
The chattering crowd faded into silence then as the man said, "My name is Bill and I am the Marketing head for SoundTek Systems Inc."
Already yawning, Mark faintly heard Bill give the usual company reports of fantastic sales, profits, and the like. Mark's head was down as he halfway listened and read through the rest of the pamphlet given to him at the door. A moment later, he felt a jab in his ribs from Vesta's left elbow. He looked up to hear Bill introduce the special speaker for the morning.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Let me introduce SoundTek's foremost authority on cutting edge audio software!" Bill said.
A lady stepped onto the stage, turned to face the audience, and smiled as applause rang throughout the room. Her head turned from side to side as she smiled and waved her greetings. She was smartly dressed in her professional outfit of deep blue hues which contrasted her pretty reddish brown hair. Her smile was bright, warm, and exciting. Everyone in the room recognized her charisma and responded accordingly, except for two.
Sitting there riveted to their chairs sporting the deer caught in the headlights look, Mark and Vesta stared intently at Mari Maccord, the frigid Sex Nazi from room #852. Slowly, their heads turned and when their eyes caught the others, they practically doubled over as they attempted to stifle mutual laughter.
Mari hailed SoundTek's products, newest features, innovative marketing techniques, and how far ahead their new package was to that of their competitors. She spoke confidently for over twenty minutes while she supported her claims with a magnificent slide presentation. When finished, she opened that morning's session for Q and A.
A man on the opposite side from Vesta and Mark stood and asked, "Ms. Maccord! Your pamphlet states that SoundTek's version nine software is able to filter background sounds out of the recording mixes. May I ask you how this is done?"
"Great question! And, by the way, it's Miss Maccord!" she announced with a smile to the entire room. "The software engineers have brilliantly written the program so that the filtering capabilities can actually record then separate each sound unit so that unwanted background noises are deleted. It is, as all of you know, not a perfect filtering but ours is far above the other's!" Mari said with the utmost confidence.
Evidently, that satisfied the male questioner so Mari continued, "Good question, sir! Another?"
While Mark sat holding his hand over his mouth, he suddenly sensed movement to his right as Vesta then stood to ask a question. Shocked, he immediately looked at her wondering what in the world she might ask the iceberg that could sink the Titanic. When Maccord looked over and saw Vesta standing, her face immediately flushed with recognition. It startled Mari Maccord but she regained her control quickly, covering any facial betrayal with a smile.
"Ms Maccord! You say that your software package can filter background sounds? What if a user was recording, say some music in one room, say her study but background noises were emanating from the next room, say the bedroom?" Vesta asked.
Immediately, shrieks of laughter, hoots and hollers, and the like filled the room. Mari looked visibly shaken but turned her frustration into smiles that matched the crowds. She waited till the laughter had faded then attempted to regain control by putting the ball back in the woman's court.
Smiling broadly, Maccord said, "Let's see Miss, you said your name was?" Mari shot back graciously.
"I didn't!" Vesta remarked then paused to listen as more chuckling ensued.
"Well Miss!" Mari said. "I'm not sure what sort of noises you were referring to so maybe you could educate us? Make some?"
Mari figured that since the woman had aroused a hornet's nest, she might as well see if the lady would get stung.
But Vesta said sweetly, "Ooooooh, how about background moans and groans? Maybe a squeal or two? A soft moan? A grunt?"
Again the room filled with red-faced laughter as Mari Maccord continued her failing efforts to embarrass the questioner. This time, however, Maccord didn't break her gaze nor did Vesta. Mark's shoulders were bouncing up and down but he did somehow manage to stifle his laughter. Mari continued to smile but Mark did notice that the red and pink shades began to rise slowly from Mari's neck, boiling upward to her face. Because he'd seen them that morning, he knew it wouldn't be long till the Pressure Cooker blew her stack.
Mari's assistant, Bill, noticed that Mari was a bit shaken so he stepped in to try to answer the question. When he did, Mari stepped to the side and stared at him. He explained that no matter the noises, the filtering system would identify, separate, and delete whatever wasn't needed for the recording. His explanation was lame at best for the software would have no idea of which sound units to remove. Nobody, however, questioned it further. After all, Miss Mari Maccord had been beaten subtly by an unknown female, one that the men in the room had grown to seductively appreciate.
Then Bill ended the session telling everyone to rejoin them at the next meeting, a half an hour later. The crowd broke into a flurry of chatter while Mark stood to put his arm around his lovely lady. She kissed him and the two made their way out into the long corridor leading to a bank of elevators. There, they playfully kissed and somehow midst the fun, agreed to meet for lunch at an Italian café.
Mark attended the second SoundTek session because a demonstration was offered to those who wanted to know more. The program was excellent and all the features Mari had proclaimed to be the best, were actually as she reported. Mark made careful notes on various aspects of the software, its usability, its quality, and its price. Though expensive, it seemed to be what his own company might need to launch sales for the next year.
Vesta had previously agreed to meet two friends from New York, who were also attending the seminars. On another floor, she met Neali and Marilyn, her old friends from college days. They attended a seminar on SoundTek's educational packaged software.