A Message From Pluto

CHAPTER SIX. Caesar Royale

Ted leaned his scooter against a pole that supported the canopy which made for the parking lot and walked out into the dazzling early morning sunlight. He turned around and walked towards the tall twenty two storey building that was home of Caesar Royale, a giant media group and the biggest company in the cowboy city of Texas.

He strode unhurriedly towards the the entrance on which there was a logo of CR with the C wearing a crown and enclosed in a gold frame. Everything about the company showed the level of affluence of the that made the rounds. He pushed the glass slide door and walked into the lobby. The atmosphere inside was cool and bustling. There was a long counter constructed with dark polished mahogany. Behind the counter sat a receptionist looking at the door. She took a look at him and absently looked away. behind her there were about three women and a man sitting behind desks in swivel chairs, a pile sheets of paper on each desk and a Dell computer on them. When he walked up to the lady at the front desk, she looked up again and took a closer look at him. She had a pretty face, heart shaped with dimples that looked pink under the poor lighting.

"Hello. I am Ted Harris." He greeted cheerfully.

" Hello Mr Harris. What can I do for you?" She was very polite.

" I want to see the manager." When he said this, she took a closer look at him, taking in his appearance and clothes. He was dressed in a blue shirt that was open at the neck. Tucked into his black pants and black Mister shoes. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive. Then she noticed that Ted was watching her closely.

" Sorry, do you have an appointment?" She smiled apologetically. He spread his hands.

" No problem. Yes I am scheduled to meet with him at ten." He said.

She looked at him again. That is not the answer she was expecting to hear from him. So she drew the intercom on the desk towards her and dialed a number.

" What is your name again?" She asked as she pressed the receiver to her ear.

" Harris."

" Ted Harris." She said immediately she heard Ted. Ted smiled and nodded in approval.

At this moment a woman from one of those desks behind the receptionist walked over and stood beside her, waiting for her to end the call. The woman turned sideways and looked indifferently at Ted. He stared back at her briefly and concentrated on the call the receptionist was engaged in. The woman frowned. She was not used to men ignoring her so blatantly.

They both heard the receptionist say, " Mr Ford there's a man here to see you. He says he has made an appointment." Pause, then. " He says his name is Ted Harris." Silence. " No?" There was a frown on her face. Ted leaned closer, trying to say something but she quickly apologized and hung up.

" The manager is not expecting anyone by the name of Harris, but you told me you had an appointment." She was obviously displeased.

" I am sorry you got it mixed up. I am supposed to meet him with other gentlemen so maybe the appointment is not in my name." Ted said quickly trying to smooth things over.

" Then it is not your appointment. " It was the woman who had come over that spoke. She didn't like him and was hoping to get one over him. Thankfully he was caught gate-crashing.

Ted tried to explain but the receptionist held up her hand to silence him. " Mr Harris I will suggest you go outside, make an appointment and come back another time." She said in a not so friendly tone. There should be a wait area around here so...." He started to say but the other lady quickly shouted him down.

" If you had an appointment, which you clearly don't have". It was the woman who had come over. Ted turned to her and asked.

" What is your name, Miss?"

She sneered and humphed. " What gives you the guts to feel you are qualified to know my name?" Then she turned to the receptionist and said with irritation. " You better send him outside and not crowd the front desk, you how personnel feels about things like this." Then she stood aside and glared at Ted with her hands on her waist, expecting the receptionist to do something about it immediately

" I am sorry Mr Harris but you will need to go outside. I am afraid you will have to come back again another time." She said rising from her chair with an air of finality.

"Are you sending me out because she said so or because there is no place I can wait in here?"

" You are putting me in a spot, Mr Harris. I'm asking you to go outside because you don't have an appointment with the manager and hanging around the lobby is going to look odd." Her voice was a bit cool now, on the verge of anger.

After seemingly thinking about it himself, Ted nodded vigorously looked at his watch and said.

" No problem. I will wait outside for the meantime." He smiled at the two women and said. " I will come back before you know it, in a few minutes." Then without wasting time, he walked out of the building with his head held high.

The receptionist blew her cheeks in relief and pushed back the intercom to the left of the counter then she turned to the woman beside her, a thin smile on her lips.

Outside the Caesar Royale Ted Harris walked back to the parking lot and climbed up on his scooter to wait for the time to meet with the manager. He looked up just in time to see a sleek latest model Chevrolet Corvette turned into the premises of the company. The car snaked it's way towards the VIP parking lot as a uniformed security man scurried over. The car stopped in an empty space as a middle-aged man quickly pushed open the passenger door and walked quickly to the rear door to open. A man who looked to be in his sixties stepped out of the car and glanced around. He had a close cropped hair cut a goatie that suggested someone who was conscious of his good looks.

" Good morning Mr Quinton." The security man greeted, eager to please. Quinton nodded without saying a word, turned around and headed for the entrance of the Caesar Royale. Through the front glass Ted Harris could see the women in reception scrambling to please Mr Quinton. He smiled mirthlessly to himself waited.

He saw Mr Quinton disappear behind a wall that led to a connecting door. Looking at his watch, he decided to wait for another five minutes before making his presence felt. While waiting he placed a call to a number. Soon the call was answered with a , " Hello Mr Harris."

" Get me an appointment with the manager of JP Morgan Chase at twelve hours."

" Yes, Mr Harris. Right away sir." The man replied. " Is there any thing else you will have me do for you?." There was a tremor in his voice. He had been waiting for this call for a long time. Himself and a group of carefully selected elite businessmen have been waiting for the young Master to take his place and call them out to serve him and they had waited for a good part of a quarter of a century and today he made the call. Surprisingly the first person he wanted to see was the manager of the biggest private bank in the country.

" No, not at the moment, thank you." Ted replied absent mindedly.

" I was expecting you will have need of reliable transport." The man said quickly again.

" I will rely on Quinton for this for now, thank you again."

" This is what I should do, Mr Harris. I will make all the arrangements immediately."

Ted hung up the phone and placed a call now to Quinton. He picked up at the first ring.

" Mr Harris."

" I have arrived at the Royale, can you get someone to send me up." At the other end, Ted could hear the sound of shuffling

" Yes, yes. I will be with you in a minute." He said

" You don't need to trouble yourself and come down." He said quietly.

" It's no trouble at all."

" Then suit yourself." Ted said and stopped being polite. He crossed the wide expanse of cobbled ground again and went to the lobby. He walked back to the receptionist who was typing on the computer in front of her. She looked up and frowned.

" I think it's time I see the manager." He said before she could utter a word.

" You are not supposed to be here, Mr Harris. If you don't leave I will be forced to call security." She said, standing up from her chair, her pretty face hot with anger.

" That will be more like it. Besides, before the day is over I will be meeting with all of you here." Ted said calmly, folding his hands across his chest.

" Why don't you call security to send this bum out of here. Head of Personnel will be angry if he meets him here." They suddenly here a woman shouting loudly and strolling over. It was the woman who had antagonized him earlier. She looked at him like an insect that suddenly fell into a place it was not wanted. She came and stood in her trademark pose. " This is Caesar Royale, and not everybody can come and go as he pleases."

Ted smiled thinly. " I will remember that." He said wagging a finger. But right now, I will see the manager."

" The manager is a little bit busy right now, besides you don't have an appointment." She said impatiently.

At this moment the door swung open and two gentlemen walked in.

" Not too busy to attend to Mr Harris." The man in the lead said loudly as they scurried over. It was no other than the manager of Caesar Royale, Greg Tyler. Closely following behind was Mr Quinton. They came up breathlessly and stood in front of of Ted, looking down, unable to meet his eyes.

" I am sorry for keeping you waiting, Mr Harris. It will never happen again." The manager immediately offered an apology.

" I am sorry I did not realize that you were here already." It was Mr Quinton who was stopped.

" There's no problem. I just arrived." Ted said with a smile as he extended a hand. Then he added tentatively, " Besides your reception is excellent. I have no reason to grumble." Ted glanced at the two women present while saying this. The receptionist's mouth was wide open as were her eyes. The other woman looked like she had swallowed a snake, her eyes darting from side to side.

The manager, Mr Tyler was saying, " When Mr Quinton informed me that you have arrived, I said I will personally and send you up." Ted released his hand.

" If it's not too much trouble for you, then thank you."

" Not at all, not at all." Manager Tyler said. " Can we go up to the director's office so Mr Harris can have tea and we will talk more amiably." He added.

Ted spread his hands and gestured to the manager to lead the way. The manager hurried forward to lead them out. At the door, Ted paused as if in thought and turned round to look at the two women who stood rooted on the ground.

" You two will still be here when I finish business with the manager?"

" They will be here for as long as you require them to be." The manager said quickly. The ladies themselves were dumbfounded and could not speak at all.

" Then I will see you around." Ted raised his voice a notch and spoke to them directly. The secretary could only nod. The manager had already turned and moved forward again. Ted followed him with Mr Quinton closing the rank out of the door and into the elevator that will take them to the director's office.

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