Chapter 16: Wednesday Morn

At that point the growling of Kyle’s stomach breaks the mood and Kathleen laughs at the humor of it. “Why is my stomach growling so funny?” asks Kyle.

“It wasn’t the growling, it was the timing. Come on, your mom and sisters have probably been waiting on us to eat.”

“We love you, but not that much,” comes a shout from the kitchen.

Kyle and Kathleen enter the kitchen to find his mother and sisters are almost finished. On the table is the remains of a deep-dish breakfast pie - a crusted quiche containing eggs, sausage, and bacon pieces as well as cheese, onions, and shredded style hash brown potatoes. All this is blended together in a sauce and baked well. It’s one of Kyle’s favorite breakfast dishes.

“Mom, how did you have time to make this?” Kyle asks.

“I gave the chef at the hotel the recipe and asked him to prepare it as a carry out. I thought it might help your day start out on a brighter note.”

“Thanks, Mom, it will. It definitely will.”

Just when the couple starts eating Mike, the security guard, arrives. He declines their offer of breakfast and goes into the living room. Once there he sits to watch the TV, and he periodically monitors any activity occurring around the exterior of the house.

While Kyle and the others eat a casual breakfast Kyle’s mom keeps discussing wedding plans and asking questions about the couple’s plans for the future. At first Kyle is a bit upset by her sudden nosiness, but after a few minutes he realizes she’s trying to distract him from some of the sadness of what’s coming. Even Kyle hasn’t thought about the emotions he’ll encounter in losing his baby, CyberFun, the same day he’ll bury the man he loved more than any other man in the world. Fortunately, his mother realized what he would be feeling.

As a result of this distraction it’s almost eleven-thirty when they’re interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. “Alexander Residence,” proclaims KK on picking up the phone.

“Kathleen, this is Stanley. I need to talk to Kyle. Oh, by the way, the closing has been completed.”

“Great! Here’s Kyle.”

Kathleen whispers, “Stanley,” when she hands Kyle the telephone.

Kyle nods and says, “Yes, Stanley, what can I do for you.”

“Kyle, we just completed the closing and I need you to meet me at CyberFun to open the safe. I’ve already instructed the manager on duty to close out all the registers and to prepare an inventory of all salable items. I’ll take the money from the safe, the current receipts, and the drawer cash, and hold it until you’re in a position to work on it. As for the inventory, once the numbers are totaled the buyers will issue an additional check to cover that.”

“Sure,” responds Kyle. “I’ll be there in less than fifteen minutes. I need to get my backpack out of the office, anyway. Do I need to bring Kathleen and my keys?”

“They haven’t asked for them. Until they say otherwise, or until you resign, you’re still an employee.”

“OK, then I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Kyle hangs up the phone and announces, “I’ve got to meet Stanley at the store. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Give me a minute,” answers Kathleen, “I want to go with you.”

“OK, but hurry. Stanley is already there waiting for me.”

They soon jump into Kyle’s Jeep to drive to the University and CyberFun. Along the way Kyle reminds her they’re to keep the persona of employees, not the prior owners. Within fifteen minutes they arrive at the store and park in the back. Using Kyle’s key they enter the rear door and head for the office. Before they make it to their destination they have to pass through the fairly crowded sports bar area. Here they find Stanley, as well as two people they’ve never seen before.

The man appears to be in his early thirties with sun streaked light brown hair and a body that appears to have been physically fit in the recent past. It now seems to be going soft from lack of consistent exercise. The man seems to be trying to imitate the Don Johnson look with slacks, a pastel tee, a linen sports coat, and expensive loafers with no socks. Unfortunately, on him the look doesn’t work.

The woman with him is a bottle blond with big tits, a tightly fitted dark blue silk dress with too much cleavage, and a hem only about two inches below her crotch. Added to this is a six-inch slit up each side and five inch fuck-me pumps. If this isn’t bad enough she’s smacking on a large wad of gum. Kyle’s initial thought is, This is some kind of joke!, but he soon finds out differently.

Stanley leads the couple to where Kyle and Kathleen are standing and says, “Thanks, Kyle, for coming so quickly. This is Brian Smiley and Janet Hobbs from ODS, the new owners of CyberFun. Brian, Janet, this is Kyle Alexander and his fiancée, Kathleen Kennedy. Though they only work part time while attending classes they’ve been with the company from the beginning and have been an integral part of its success.”

Kyle and Kathleen hold out their hands to greet the new owners, and are shocked when they’re obviously rebuffed. Others in the room also notice the obvious actions of the new owners. “Would you please open the safe?” asks the man in a rather gruff voice.

“Sure,” replies Kyle.

The five walk into the office where Kyle opens the safe and starts removing the items inside. “That won’t be necessary, Mister Alexander,” announces Brian. “Mister Patterson can handle things now. Instead, will you two join me in the main lounge? I want witnesses to hear what I have to say.”

A puzzled Kyle responds, “Sure, no problem.”

A curious Stanley Patterson ignores the safe for the moment and follows them to the door so he can hear what’s about to transpire. At the same time as he’s listening he’s blocking the only entrance to the office so the money in the safe is reasonably secure.

After signaling for quiet in the room Brian announces, “My name is Brian Smiley and my company, ODS, is the new owner of CyberFun. It’s our intention to continue to provide the same quality service and food as you’ve experienced in the past, though there will be some changes. We plan to add beer to the menu with sexier costumes for the waitresses. In addition, we’ll be expanding the study area’s resources, though we’ll now be charging a minimum fee for its utilization. We also plan to add more games to the video area, including video poker. I hope this will add much to your pleasure and relaxation.”

After pausing a moment for effect Brian continues, “Now, with all this I want everyone to know we have information leading us to believe Kyle Alexander, and possibly Kathleen Kennedy, have been embezzling funds from the store’s operations. This information will be turned over to the District Attorney. In the meantime the two are now fired for cause and are no longer to have access to these facilities. As soon as they remove their personal items and turn over all keys they’ll be ushered out, never to be allowed to return. Later this morning a court order will be issued to enable the police to enforce this, and they can probably expect to be arrested no later than tomorrow. Oh, and any employee who speaks to them is considered fired.”

Kyle is totally shocked and Kathleen is furious. Just when she starts to respond Stanley catches her attention and slightly shakes his head no to indicate he wants her to let it go for now.

Trusting Stanley’s judgment she turns to Kyle instead and says, “Come on. Let’s get our stuff and blow this place!”

It doesn’t take the couple long to gather their personal items, but it takes another few minutes for Brian to review them to make sure they don’t have anything that might have belonged to CyberFun. Finally, they hand their keys to Stanley, who’s just finished with the safe, as an act of defiance against the new owner, and start toward the back door.