Edited by Angel Love
When Mark left Vesta's room, early Tuesday morning, he encountered no one as he made his way to his room #952. Slipping his keycard into the lock, he suddenly realized that his room was directly above Miss Mari Maccord's. The realization made him chuckle, especially when he thought back to what she saw he and Vesta doing the night before. He did, wonder, however, what turn of events might occur during the SoundTek meetings that day and for a fleeting moment, he considered skipping the day's seminars, at least till the shock of Mari's revelation subsided.
Around eight o'clock, Mark met Vesta, Neali, and Marilyn in the hotel coffee shop for a quick sweet roll and some Hazel Nut Java. Vesta filled N and M in on the special encounter the old Iceberg had when she opened the door connecting their rooms. In response, the girls laughed so hard they cried. Unfortunately, both had to straiten up makeup before they attended the first session of the day.
The first SoundTek seminar assembled at nine o'clock for a brief meeting with software engineers then the group broke into teams of ten or twelve people so each engineer could demonstrate their developments, while those present actually used the SoundTek equipment. The demos were fantastic as one would expect them to be, not to mention the fact that there was plenty of time for Q and A.
"Software programmers know the ins and outs of the filtering system much better than marketing reps!" Mark told Neali and Vesta. "But one thing programmers can't determine is which sounds to actually remove."
That entire morning was devoted to demonstrations from SoundTek in hopes that companies would compare their new version with that of the competitors. Amazingly, Miss Mari Maccord popped into the various team demonstrations just to smile and see how each session progressed.
Obviously, the intended worked, especially with the male inhabitants for Mari was indeed, an attractive woman. And, since she wasn't faced with direct questions she knew nothing about, she was able to hold her composure at the highest level.
But when Maccord entered the room where Vesta and Mark were using the demo equipment, she thought she saw her opportunity to put the young couple in their places, once and for all. Neither Mark nor Vesta were aware of her presence behind them. The demo leader acknowledged Mari with a head nod but didn't miss a beat in his presentation. Mari Maccord only briefly smiled at him then turned to talk to her assistant Bill. A moment later, Bill left the room not to return until the seminar had finished.
Wearing headphones specifically designed to shut out background noises, each team member sat anxiously awaiting the final computer audio demonstration. Staring into their monitors kept them all busy, except for the Presentation leader, a man named Gary. He thought Mari's lingering presence a little odd but decided she, too, wanted to be a part of the action in some unique way. How, he didn't know but assumed she'd eventually let him know.
By way of microphone, Gary informed the team that they would be listening to a music track, Beethoven's Symphony #5 while various background noises would be interjected into the mix. The first time, the noises would be obvious because the filtering software would allow them. One would be a car horn; one a woman's terrified scream, another some children laughing, and another sound of a carpenter hammering nails.
On the second time through, the software was used to filter out these sounds during the three minute clip of Beethoven. Needless to say, the filtering capabilities were incredibly magnificent. Even Mark and Vesta, who doubted the quality of the newest version, were very much impressed. Then Gary decided he'd try a third demo using just a microphone. The classical piece played for almost a minute before he said various words to create the unwanted background noises.
At first, he merely counted to ten then spoke several words and phrases including a quote from SoundTek's most recent sales brochure. Each team member could see the words spoken as they were printed out on the computer screens yet amazingly, none heard the background noises. Then Gary caught Mari's motioning gestures to hand her the microphone.
Midst the fourth time through the Beethoven clip, she said boldly, "I saw what you did! I know who you are!"
Just then the man on Vesta's left for some unknown reason went into a coughing fit. He jumped upward to attempt to protect the team members from his hacking but when he did, his headphones went flying and his chair on wheels jettisoned back striking Vicky Virginity Maccord in the mid section. In shock, she dropped her microphone and fell backwards, landing on her butt. So sudden was her fall that she hit, fell on her back, and her legs flew into the air in a flailing V like shape.
It was then that the rest of the team turned around to see what had happened. Hoots and hollers, guffawing and knee slapping filled the air yet amazingly, SoundTek's version nine effectively filtered out the background noise. Headphones came off, including Gary's.
Mark and Vesta could hardly contain themselves as they stood and looked directly into the stunned face of Miss Mari Maccord, their arch rival.
And though all happened in a split second, each team member caught the shot of Mari's womanly triangle centered between her well parted, and flailing legs. Then in an attempt to help the self righteous bag in her time of embarrassment, Vesta and Mark moved toward her to extend their hands.
When Maccord realized who was trying to help, her face quickly changed from stunned and embarrassed to furrowed brows and pursed lips. Bill, her assistant stepped in to divert Mark and Vesta and as he lifted her to her feet, he accidentally grabbed her butt to steady her. Shocked, Maccord swung wildly and slapped him in the face. This brought more laughter from the team.
When Mari looked at Vesta and Mark, she heard Vesta say, "My goodness Ms Maccord! You seem to be falling a lot lately!"
Mark roared in laughter as varying shades of pinks and reds boiled upward from Mari's neck to her face. She really looked like she was going to pop so Bill put his arm around her and escorted her out of the seminar to take her back to her room. The man who had the coughing fit apologized for causing such a commotion and Gary, wiping his eyes, attempted to complete the demonstration. He, needless to say, had little effectiveness after Maccord's faux pas. .
At lunch, Neali and Marilyn joined Vesta and Mark for light salads in the garden room. Mark attempted to recount what had occurred in their particular demonstration leading the four to erupt in tear jerking laughter. But after several minutes of hilarity, Neali managed to drift into a more contemplative mood.
"Ya know guys, you'd better be careful from here on!"
"What do you mean?" Mark inquired.
"Well, now that Maccord has been thoroughly embarrassed, she's liable to turn on you!" Neali said, "And when she does, watch out!"
Laughing at Neali's warning, Mark said, "Gee, I wonder if Mari has ever had a man love her?"
"Me too!" Marilyn and Vesta said in unison.
Neali wondered as well but none of them knew what to do about it. When Marilyn and Neali excused themselves, they told the two that they were skipping out on the afternoon sessions to do a sight seeing tour of the city. They would start by seeing the Alamo, the famed missions on Mission Road, the River Walk, and complete their day with dinner at a popular steakhouse in the north side. Vesta and Mark attended the afternoon sessions continuing to experience SoundTek's special computer equipment for home users.
Bill sat with Mari all afternoon as he tried to console her over her embarrassing faux pas. It was indeed her fault but he somehow felt sorry for her and wanted to assist her by being supportive. She did appreciate his efforts yet somehow wished she'd won the little battle of putting the two young reprobates in their place. Eventually, all was set aside as Bill treated Mari to a special meal at a river walk restaurant named The Wine Cellar. In time, Maccord's woes were drowned in good wine, lively music, and some extra special TLC from Bill.
That evening, Mark and his lover walked hand in hand along the river walk. The romance of the city lights, the sounds of Flamenco music, the Mariachis playing their guitars and singing songs of love set the mood for stimulating conversation between two lovers whose destinies had mysteriously collided at what Mark mistakenly thought was nothing more than a dumb software convention. They continued their walk and talk till they arrived back at the hotel around seven. When they entered the elevator, they found themselves alone.
Vesta was indeed curious as to what might come next, possibly romance she hoped but maybe not. Mark didn't' say a word but when he pressed the button for the fifteenth floor, her eyebrows raised in some surprise. Since she had no idea of what he might be thinking, she just stayed quiet, close to his side, and ready for whatever might happen. To intensify the surprise, she closed her eyes.
"Ding, ding, ding!" sounded the bell as they reached the top floor.
Mark escorted his babe out to step into a large open room which at the time was uninhabited. When Vesta opened her eyes, she gasped as she looked out over the cityscape of the San Antonio night. Through a gigantic picture window, she viewed the traffic below, the bright lights scaling the city buildings beyond, and the Tower of the Americas in the distance. Breath taking was not even an adequate way to describe the romantic aura of her eye gate's awe.
"Welcome to the observation deck, my dear!" Mark said as he led her around to view different sides of the city.
"Oh baby doll! This is so beautiful, so wonderful, and so thoughtful of you to bring me here!"
