It Finally Happened: Part XIV
Just as Kim suspected, the worst of the storm passed quickly, but it would not release them completely. A slow, fine drizzle followed the initial thunderstorm, keeping the skies gray and dismal. As they left the shelter of the overpass Ron had to start the defroster, and not because of their brief make-out. The humidity was through the roof and the drop in the outside temperature had the car fogged up in an instant.
Just before starting out, Kim fussed over Ron just a little, making sure he wasn't wearing any of her makeup now. He squirmed like a five year old being primped by his mother. There were a few smudges – real kiss-proof lipstick had yet to be created – at least where their level of smacking lips was concerned. After a quick touch-up of her own face, they were ready to go again.
The light rain made the going uncomfortable. It was now too cool to run the air-conditioning but too warm to ride without some air moving, yet every time he switched back over to fan, the car would fog up again. The light mist made running with the windows down uncomfortable, especially considering what it was doing to his Le Goop encrusted hairstyle.
The sun was finally breaking through as they approached Bueno Nacho Corporate Headquarters. It certainly looked different in the daylight, with hundreds of cars parked around it. The other thing they noticed for the first time was the small town that surrounded the large building. Everything had a new, quickly assembled look, making them think the town was in response to the company instead of the headquarters being located in some smallish, previously unknown town. That impression was hammered home by the lack of anything designating a name for the small community. Well, corporate big-wigs and their staff had to live somewhere.
The building itself looked just as they remembered it from their nocturnal visit just a few weeks earlier. The main building had been repaired but there was still scaffolding on the exterior of the giant taco shaped tower. Some of the larger openings were still covered in blue plastic tarps.
"Okay, Ron, time to spill. We're all dressed up, we're at Bueno Nacho. What's the sitch?"
"Kim, I've been called to save Bueno Nacho once more from the clutches of the evil Doctor Drakken." He said with dramatic flair, dropping into a mock battle crouch.
"So not the Drama, Ron, they've already announced they're re-opening in two weeks."
"Oh, they can open their doors and they can start filling the tacos, but it takes the Ron-man to make it all happen, to put the Diablo Sauce on the Chimirito, to put the cheese on the nacho, to put the chips in the Naco!"
"Don't tell me we came all the way out here for you to get your old job as assistant manager back?"
"No Kim, it's bigger than that! They want me in their new commercial!"
"They want you? In their commercial?" Kim tried to stifle a giggle but failed.
"Hey! What's so funny about that?" He asked as they walked in the front doors of the complex.
"Oh, nothing, just thinking how odd it is to be using the front door instead of grappling onto the roof."
"Uh huh." Ron replied, not the least bit convinced and more than a little miffed.
The place looked totally different inside during the day. What had looked like huge, cavernous open space in the dark looked far smaller in the light of day with dozens, perhaps hundreds of people milling about. It had the look of a busy bee-hive, men and women, many in business suits, just as many wearing the orange shirts of management milling about, making the various and sundry preparations for the grand re-launching of the company.
Drakken's hostile take-over of the fast foot juggernaut had been fodder for the scandal sheets for weeks now. It seemed the whole thing had been smoke and mirrors with financial backers disappearing like a morning fog under a hot sun as federal regulators swooped in. The mad scientist had gutted the personnel of the headquarters, leaving the building virtually empty as his new lair. Once the truth was known, many of the old employees were recalled in a desperate attempt to get their restaurants back open and to dig themselves out of the mess left by the Lil Diablo fiasco.
The coverage was full of legal mumbo-jumbo but the upshot was that, in two weeks a select few restaurants would reopen under the hastily reorganized company, one of those locations being a smaller spot in Middleton known to the company at large as restaurant number Five Eighty Two. It helped that the particular building had been refurbished (actually rebuilt) a couple times in the last few years.
Having the roof ripped off with a gravatomic beam or side-swiped by a dino-thingy tend to make such work necessary.
"Feel that KP? It's the pulse of the very lifeblood of Tex-Mex fast food!"
"Feels more like arteries getting more and more clogged with cholesterol if you ask me." She said, crossing her arms.
"Cheese is the manna of life, isn't that right Rufus?"
"Hrk, Uh Huh!" He squeaked, riding on Ron's shoulder after abandoning Kim's purse.
It only took them a couple moments to realized they had no idea where they were going. Before they made their entrance upstairs, the battle with the sumo-ninja and Shego taking place inside the Taco Tower. Fortunately, like any corporate complex, there was a reception desk, curiously manned by a familiar face.
"Ron Stoppable and Kim Possible! We've been waiting for you. Take a seat and they'll be right down to see you in just a few."
"Hey, didn't you use to work for Jack Hench?" Ron asked the slight platinum blonde man.
"I sure did. He had to let a lot of us go since business was getting so tight, but he gave me a stellar letter of recommendation."
"You didn't get laid off because of us, did you?" Kim asked.
"Mmmm, partly, but that's okay. Part of working for a company who supplies super-villains, enough of them get rounded up and Mister Hench got himself into a bind. So how have things been for you?"
"Great. Better than great." Kim said, taking Ron's hand.
"Oh, that's just super. I thought you kids looked great together."
A graying, slender man in a nice, but plain looking suit came down the hall towards them. "Mister Stoppable, I'm so glad you could finally make it." His accent was vaguely reminiscent of the Seniors, but his features made it seem more likely he was of Mexican descent than Spanish.
Still hand-in-hand, they got up to follow the man.
"Oh, Miss Possible, this is going to be a private meeting. If you wouldn't mind."
"Oh, sure." She said, casting a worried look at her boyfriend. If he noticed it, he didn't show it. He was still walking on a cloud, reveling in his soon-to-be stardom as the savior of the fast food giant.
"If you need anything at all, just let the fellow at the desk know. This shouldn't be long."
"Of course. I'll be…right here." She waved slightly as the two men left. Waiting until they turned a corner, she sat back down, feeling out of place with everyone bustling around her. With nothing better to do she reached into her purse, hoping to watch some streaming video on her Kimmunicator. About the time her hand closed on the fluffed Kleenex package she realized it was still in Ron's pocket. Hopefully it wouldn't go off while he was in his meeting.
Why did they just want him? Weren't the two of them involved in this together? Wasn't Ron part of the whole? It was starting to bother her that she'd gotten all dressed up for this, only to have to sit in the public waiting area, just like she had done as a little girl when her father took her to business meetings. At least then she had Ron with her most of the time to keep her company.
She watched the fellow at the desk. The last time she had seen him, she took advantage of his pleasant and helpful nature in order to discover the true nature of his former employer. She wondered for a moment if the young man had gotten in trouble for that. After all, she used his absence to bypass the reception area and literally tried to break into the inner depths of Henchco. Maybe he was just professional enough not to let any hard feelings show, at least here. She did notice the fact he wouldn't look at her now that Ron had left for whatever it was he was here to discuss.
Her arms remained crossed as she sat back in her seat, a slight pout forming on her lips. The headquarters had been back in full swing for such a short time no new magazines had accumulated in the lobby. There was a woman's fashion magazine there that had to be three months old. So last season!
Yet, it wasn't the first signs of boredom that bothered her. It was the fact she was being left out of something Ron was doing. Only, this time she knew she was feeling that way, and it was making her ashamed. Sure he could get big-headed about things, especially when people were singing his praises, that was just Ron being Ron. Except, every time that happened, she started getting threatened by it and that was…
…Kim being Kim.
She buried her face in her hands, rubbing her temples. Ron was better at some things and yes, he tended to go all goon when that happened, but instead of trying to keep his feet on the ground and supporting him, she tried to either get away or to shuffle it aside. She didn't want to feel that way, she didn't want to be threatened by his success. This was something he was good at and something he had earned.
Kim still wanted to be with him though. She wanted to share everything with him now.
Her reverie was broken as she spotted a familiar face in the crowd. Or, more precisely, standing above the crowd. With a smile she jumped out of her seat, trying to catch up to the tall, dark-haired man.
Ron watched, awestruck as the video came to a close. "Dude, that is like, so cool."
"We thought you might like it, Mr. Stoppable…"
"Ron, just call me Ron. I, mean, like, that was all me?"
"Yes, we spliced the security camera footage of your fight with Doctor Drakken in with clips we acquired from American Starmaker."
"Man, I didn't have any idea how badical I looked when I took down old Blue Boy. Booyah! And that was so cool how you remixed the Naked Mole Rap like that. So, when do we shoot this new commercial?"
"Mister Stoppable…Ron, that was the new commercial." The elder executive said.
"Wait a minute. I thought you needed me to do a new one and if that was it, where was KP?"
"KP?"
"Kim. You know, my girlfriend. She was the one who did all the really big stuff that night, not me." A lot of the joy was starting to drain from his face.
"We're incredibly grateful for what she did, but this is about selling our restaurants, about proving we've been saved from Doctor Drakken, and it was you who did that. You're the one who invented our best selling item ever." He pointed his remote at the plasma TV again, replaying the thirty second spot. "I'm afraid all we had of Miss Possible was her destroying the tower by kicking Drakken's henchwoman into it. Not exactly what we had in mind for selling Nacos."
"But…but maybe we could shoot something new. I mean, she was in the video for The Naked Mole Rap."
"Son, listen to what these men have to say."
Ron's head whipped around as he recognized the voice. His father was just coming in the door, flanked by a tall man in a very expensive looking suit.
"Dad? I thought you and Mom were in Denver."
"Mom's downstairs. We've been going to Denver to meet with Mister Howe here." He indicated the briefcase toting man as they sat down at the conference table beside him.
"Mister Stoppable, I'm George Howe. Your father has retained me to represent you in these negotiations."
"Negotiations? I thought I was here to star in a commercial."
"Son, that's why we're here. You can't just show up and make a spot like that. There are lots of legal concerns involved here. We've got, of course, your best interests at heart here."
The meeting, at least from Ron's point of view, went downhill from there. The lawyer and the executives launched into a lengthy discussion involving a lot of numbers that didn't make any sense to him, speaking of percentages, rights and all such, every bit of which went right over his head. All save one final point."
"Of course, all of this will be put into a trust until my client's twenty first birthday."
"What?" Ron blurted finally. "You mean I won't be getting any of this money for more than four years?"
"Son, after what happened with the first royalties settlement you got, I don't really think it would be wise to give you access to that kind of money again."
"It's not exactly that kind of money this time around." The lawyer explained. "But if it's invested wisely, you should have plenty for college and still have a nice nest-egg left when you graduate."
"But what about a car, and stuff for Kim, and a ri…" He stopped himself even as he was rising out of his seat, catching his father's expression.
"That's exactly why I'm accepting their proposal like this, Ronald." His father said, motioning for his son to sit back down. "It's for your own good."
"Aw man. This is so not what I thought all this was going to be about. I've been completely tapped out with all the stuff I've had to pay for."
"Exactly. I know that date with Kimberly was expensive, as was that cruise the two of you took back in April."
"That was for a mission."
"I know, but if you kept up like this, even this money will be gone long before you even finish your Senior year, if not quicker. Trust me, Son, it's better this way."
"If you say so." Ron leaned his chin on one hand, dropping into full sulk mode.
"So, you're telling me the whole 'special procedures' thing you mentioned in Go City was nothing more than a red carpet treatment?" Kim asked as she chatted with the large man.
"Mostly. It was still meant to keep him reigned in just a bit. I never got the chance to implement any of the procedures since that's when Aviarius decided to attack."
"So, Hego, have you heard from your sister since she was arrested?"
They were both leaning on a rail, overlooking the main floor of the central building. It seemed the Grande Bueno Nacho in Go City was going to be one of the first locations re-opening.
"Not a word. I tried to go visit her but she wouldn't see me. I was hoping I would be able to go see the trial, but work is keeping me tied up."
"What about the team?"
"We're partially back up and running, though Mego is still squabbling about me being the team leader and the twins are quite a handful."
"I know what you mean, my little brothers are twins."
"KP?"
Ron looked like he had shrunken half a foot since going into the meeting. "Oh, hi Hego." He said half-heartedly.
"Ron, what's wrong."
"Nothing Kim. I'm the big Naco-boy. Woo hoo."
"I've seen the spot they're going to run, congratulations Ron." The big man said, pumping his hand.
"Yeah. I'm the big time commercial guy now."
"I hope you'll be able to come back to Go-City for the Grande-Re-Opening. We redid our focus groups and you'll be glad to hear we've added the Naco to our menu!" Hego said with a wide grin, totally missing Ron's demeanor.
"Great. Hope that goes well for you." He took Kim by the hand, pulling her toward the stairs. "Come on, let's go home Kim."
She let him lead her away, desperate to know what had him in such a funk.