Royalty

Fifty One

"No, I don't," I shook my head as she looked at me curiously. "I was just hoping there was some way I could see them?"

"Hmm. There's not much I can do without an appointment, but I'll check." her brows knit together as she began clicking through the computer. "His next meeting isn't until 2PM, so there's about a half hour time frame in which he's free."

"That is fine with me," I nodded my head. Any time is good, as long as I can have the chance to talk to him. 

The receptionist moved away from her computer and started pointing in directions away from the desk, "So you'll go down this hallway to your left. Take the elevator up to the forty eighth floor, and the secretary will tell you where to go."

"Thank you very much."

"Have a nice day."

I walked in the direction of the elevator, passing by a few security guards and trying not to make any unnecessary eye contact. 

I got into the elevator with a few other business looking people. A couple were talking on the phone as the rest were focusing their attention elsewhere, like the screen that displayed the floor numbers.

It was a little nerve-wracking to think how Summer's parents were going to react to me showing up unannounced. But as nervous as it made me feel, I wasn't going to worry about it. I didn't want to show just how obvious it was that I could actually piss my pants in the moment. 

Once I had gotten to the forty eighth floor, I stepped out of the elevator and into a room that was very white with colorful pictures on the walls. There was a secretary at her desk to the left and a few doors surrounding the room. 

Walking up to the secretary, I cleared my throat and spoke up, "Um, hi. I was told you could tell me where to go to speak with Mr. Lutes."

She looked at me skeptically before slightly tilting her head to the side, "Do you have an appointment?"

"Well, no. But the receptionist downstairs said that I had about thirty minutes to talk with him before his next meeting."

The lady sighed as she pressed a button on the telephone, picking it up and pausing before she spoke, "Mr. Lutes, I have someone here to see you. May I send them in? ... No, sir ... Okay." She hung up and pointed her bony finger behind me, "The last door on the right."

I nodded my head and thanked her as I walked towards the very short hallway. Like she said, I made my way to the last door on the right and stopped in front of it. It was a dark mahogany, making the small hallway feel a lot more ominous than it was. Beside the door was a name plate and a slim cutout for a window, and inside the room, I could see Robert sitting at his desk.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door before I entered the office. I moved slowly, just in case I startled the man and upset him. I didn't want to start off on a bad note, especially with the way things left off the last time I saw him. 

Robert looked up at me, an obvious expression of surprise on his face. He shut the folder he had been writing in and folded his hands together on his dark colored desk.

"Henry. What brings you in?"

It was clear in his tone of voice that he knew he got my name wrong. If I were to guess, I'd say he was waiting for any sort of reaction from me, but I ignored his mistake because getting my name wrong was not what I came here to do.

"I was hoping I could talk to you about what happened at the charity event."

He leaned back in his chair and motioned for me to take a seat across from him at the desk. For a brief moment I was mesmerized by the amazing view out of his office window. It overlooked the entirety of Central Park.