The Bathrobe Knight: Volume 2 (16 page)

              In the end, Robert decided it was for the best just to be patient and wait. If nothing else, it gave him a moment to take in his surroundings and get a bearing on the room. After having just passed through such a massive, open library, the room felt small and cramped. It was, by all appearances, a well-used office. There were several smaller bookcases, all in varying states of disarray with misplaced books and disheveled papers covering their shelves. The dark wood paneling on the walls, in combination with the dark wooden furniture, including the desk Charles was working at now, seemed to make the room much dimmer than it was despite its ample lighting. There was a thick, heavy carpet laid over the wooden floor, and Robert could feel it shifting under his feet as he stood there trying not to fidget while taking everything in. 

              Charles finally dropped his pen on the desk beside his work and looked up at Robert.

              "Ah, Robert! Thank you for coming," he said with a smile as he rose from where he was sitting and proffered a hand to Robert.

              "Yes, of course. Thank you for inviting me. It's my pleasure," Robert replied, walking across the room to grip the offered hand in a handshake. He chose not to mention the fact that it hadn't been an invitation so much as a kidnapping. Not that he imagined many people ever dared to tell Charles 'no' anyway.

              "My apologies for having to change the circumstances of our meeting at the last minute. I had intended to spend the day downtown at the office, but I had some things come up that needed my immediate attention. It's a shame, too. I was really looking forward to taking a full tour of all the different departments and getting a better idea of how things work there on a day-to-day basis. Some of the things you guys have accomplished are simply incredible."

              Robert couldn't suppress the chuckle that built up in his chest at the idea. "Well, I'm afraid you wouldn't have seen much of the normal, day-to-day operations, anyway. Even the idea of you being in the building seemed to have put people into panic mode."

              "Ah . . ." Charles cocked his head slightly to the side, but nodded in understanding as he did so.  A flicker of sadness appeared in the smile he still wore as he responded, "Yes, it's unfortunate, but I do often elicit that response for some reason. People do seem to get a little nervous when I show up places unannounced. Perhaps I'll have the opportunity sometime in the future to make another visit."

              "Yes, perhaps," Robert replied, but then added, "Just not too soon, I hope. My shoes will squeak themselves to death on the floors if you make a habit of it." He smiled broadly, showing that it was a well-intended joke.

              Charles' smile deepened, and the passing look Robert had noticed was immediately gone. 

              "So, please, forgive me. Where are my manners? Have a seat. Have a seat," Charles said as he waved his hand towards one of the chairs pulled up in front of his desk before retaking his own and sitting down. "I hope you don't mind, but I've arranged for us to have a bit of lunch. I know that it's a little later in the afternoon than most people are accustomed to, but I find that, with all the late hours I work, if I don't eat a bit later than usual, I'm starving before I ever have time to get around to dinner."

              "No, no," Robert replied. "I haven't actually eaten yet either." He patted his stomach as it gave a small gurgle at the idea of food, which had been momentarily forgotten until now. "I made it home after the meeting this morning, but only had time for a bit of coffee and a quick chat with my daughter before leaving."

              "Kass?" Charles inquired.

              Robert's brows furrowed slightly in a strange mix of curiosity, confusion, fear, anxiety, and worry only a father would recognize. 

              "You've met my daughter?" he asked.

              "Oh, no, I'm afraid I haven't had that pleasure. I heard you mention her earlier during the meeting," Charles responded dismissively. "You'll have to introduce me one day."

              Robert felt relief wash through him. 
Why did that make me so nervous?
"Yes, I'm sure she'd like that. I've actually been trying to talk her into taking a job with the company, but she doesn't seem very keen on the idea for some reason."

              "You mean she doesn't want to work at the same place her old man does?" Charles asked with a bit of a laugh. "I can't ever imagine why not."

              "Yeah, well, I'm sure that's at least part of it," Robert replied. "She's also a big fan of the game, and she's worried that signing the Non-Disclosure Agreement and the contractual prohibitions of interference within the game world would stop her from being able to play. Truth be told, she has a habit of getting caught up in things . . . perhaps a little too much, sometimes. Some time off from playing may not be the worst thing for her. 

              "But," Robert held up his hands as he gave a shrug, "there's only so much you can do. All you can really hope for sometimes is to give them a strong moral compass and point them in the right direction and hope they figure out things for themselves. I know I certainly made my own share of mistakes growing up. Back then, though . . ." Robert trailed off, reminiscing for a moment. "Things were different. The world was much more forgiving in a lot of ways than it is now."

              Charles had been nodding his head in agreement with Robert the entire time, and he continued to do so as he said, "Yeah. Could you imagine what you would have said if someone had told you there would be personal computers inside every home, in every pocket and purse, and you would be connected to the rest of the world at the touch of a button? I would have called them crazy, and that would have been being nice, I'm afraid."

              "Well, at least partly crazy, anyway. I don't think anyone could have ever have envisioned the world we live in now. I remember always thinking as a child that we would be zooming around in flying cars or with jet packs . . . that we would be living in the 'Homes of Tomorrow'"--Robert feigned making quotation marks in the air with this hands as he said it-- "where everything would always fix and clean itself at the push of a button. 

              I think I always knew that technology was going to be big. I think that's at least part of why I started studying computers and programming back then. I always wanted to be able to keep up with where the world was going, maybe have a little hand in helping it along. As for smartphones?" Robert laughed as he reached his conclusion. "No way did I ever see that one coming."

              "What was it you think that made you choose to work as a programmer?" Charles asked, curiosity showing on his face.

              "Now, that. . . " Robert began, then stopped. "Well, there was this girl . . ." Robert laughed before continuing. "Kass's mother and I met while we were both still in college. Computers back then were really big and an even bigger pain in the rear end. People were only just starting to open up to the possibilities, what they were capable of. She was working as an assistant to one of the professors at the university, and I took it up in order to get to spend more time with her. It's a bit clichéd, I know, the whole whirlwind college romance and all, but it worked out. Everything was just amazing the entire time I was with her. Then, one day, you graduate and move on in life . . . build a home and a career together and then Kass comes along. Shortly after, we lost her mother, but I had Kass, so things worked out, I suppose."

              Charles held up his hands defensively as he shook his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry into anything too personal."

              "Oh, no, it's alright. They're good memories," Robert answered. "As for being a programmer, well, I guess it just fit my nature. I found out I liked the work. Everything is always logical. There's always a cause for every problem. You just have to be able to find the solution. You can get a computer to do anything. You just have to figure out how to talk to it, to be able to tell it what to do. I think that appeals to me."

              Almost as soon as Robert had finished, there was a quiet knock at the door behind him just before he heard it click open. Robert turned in his seat to see who had entered. A portly woman, middle-aged at first glance and wearing the same strange black uniform he had noted on the maid earlier, had entered halfway into the room.

              "Lunch is ready to be served, sir," she said, addressing Charles across the room. "We have arranged for you to dine on the patio today if it is to your liking, sir." She turned and left the room before Charles ever had the chance to respond, leaving Robert staring at the open door after her. 

              Charles must have seen the look on Robert's face as he turned back around in his chair because he said, "That's Martha. She's taken it upon herself to act as a bit of a motherly figure around here. Always makes sure I eat no matter where I am or what I'm doing. I was in a meeting in Tokyo once not too long ago, ironing out the details in an acquisition I had been gunning after for quite some time.  There I was, pressing the president of a multi-million dollar corporation and several of his highest-ranking board members to take quite a large financial hit and come down to my terms before closing out the deal, and in walks a little Japanese woman carrying a tray with lunch on it for me as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She left me holding the lunch and all she ever said was 'Miss Martha. Very scary' before turning around and walking out. Everyone there was a bit shocked to say the least, myself included. Now, here lately, she has it in her head that I don't spend enough time outside 'getting sun' as she calls it.

              "Who am I to resist?" Charles asked, laughing all the while as he stood up and moved from around the desk. "Please, right this way, Robert. Martha's meals are always as much a treat as they are a surprise."

              Robert followed Charles out of the office and into the hallway, turning towards the as-of-yet unexplored part of the house. As soon as they left the room, the ever present human tackling dummy of an escort appeared as if from nowhere to fall in a few steps behind them. Charles led him down a connecting hallway that ended in a pair of double glass doors which opened up onto a small, private patio. The patio, paved in a pattern of dark red, hexagonal stone bricks, extended only a short distance before meeting with the exceptionally well-manicured lawn, which, in turn, continued down a small hill until it eventually turned into the lush grounds Robert had seen earlier as he approached the estate.  

              Robert couldn't help but comment as he seated himself at the small glass patio table, replete with the umbrella opened overhead. "This view . . . the grounds . . . everything is absolutely breathtaking."

              "Yes," Charles agreed as he seated himself across from Robert, "I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to call this my home. I just wish I was able to spend more time here. Ah, well, maybe one day when I get old and finally decide to retire, right?"

              "And that library," Robert gushed. "I don't think I've seen anything like that outside of an actual  university. To think, you have all those books just on hand whenever you feel like reading. I can't even imagine what it might contain."

              "To be honest, I'm not certain I could tell you even if you were to ask. Most of the books were purchased as lots from various estate sales from around the world. Many of them are quite old and fragile, but there are some true treasures there as well, I assure you." Charles took a sip of the water that was already poured and waiting for them.

              "I hope you don't mind," Charles began, "but whenever I have the opportunity to dine at home, I prefer to throw all the properties out the window." He said this as he spread a white napkin across his lap, and the small bit of irony wasn't lost on Robert. "I have to sit through so many stuffy black-tie, white-tablecloth dinners that I've learned to relish the chance to enjoy a casual meal."

              Robert was actually somewhat relieved to hear him say so. He was comfortable enough with all the proper etiquette associated with a formal dining experience, but he was usually so worried about making any small uncouth mistake, like using the wrong fork, that he never really had the opportunity to enjoy the actual meal.   

              "No, believe me," Robert assured him, "I'm just happy for any meal that doesn't involve SpaghettiO's, Pop Tarts or Lucky Charms."

              "I assume you must let Kass do the cooking most nights at home then?" Charles inquired. 

              As he was speaking, two women, again dressed in the black uniform Robert was now becoming accustomed to, came through the patio doors behind them and set down a plate in from of each man before again returning inside.

              Robert answered as he glanced down at what was being served in front of him, "Not when it can be avoided, anyway. I've always enjoyed cooking. It was something my wife and I used to do together when she was still alive, and, ever since then, being in the kitchen just reminds me of spending time with her. Kass was away at college for so long, though, and with me working so many late nights leading up to the release of the game, we kind of fell out of the habit and never really got back into it. Lately, it's been an 'everyone fend for yourself' kind of system.

              I'm hoping that will change soon, though. My workload really started to drop off in the last few weeks, and I'm starting to make it home at a more reasonable hour. The only challenge now is getting Kass to log out of her game long enough to come downstairs for dinner. I swear, sometimes it's like they never really grow up and are in high school all over again."