American History 1988
Chapter 142 - 136: Surprises Everywhere

Chapter 142: Chapter 136: Surprises Everywhere

"Mr. Kennard, your flight is at ten in the morning, here is your ticket." Assistant Ruth gently slid the pre-booked ticket across the front of the desk.

"Thank you," William Kennard donned his suit jacket and adjusted his cuffs again, "Is the car all arranged?"

"Yes, George is waiting downstairs," Ruth came over and tied his tie for him.

"Good~," William Kennard unobtrusively patted Ruth’s buttocks, "When I get back from St. Louis, I will make sure you’re well fed."

Ruth suggestively pulled the tie in her hand, and the two immediately came into intimate contact, "Maybe we have time before you leave?"

William Kennard looked at his wristwatch, "Oh~ If we include the time for a shower, it might be a bit tight."

"Leave it to me, at least I can make you comfortable for a while first." Saying this, Ruth released the tie and slowly squatted down.

"Wow~" Fifty-something William Kennard soon couldn’t control his expression, "Ruth~ don’t leave any marks~!"

Three minutes later, William Kennard tightened his belt and tidied up his clothes again.

Ruth pulled out a tissue to wipe the corner of her mouth, and only with the aid of a cup of coffee could she force down what was in her mouth.

Mr. Kennard had said to leave no trace.

"Sweetheart, wait for me to come back~" William Kennard winked at her before picking up the ticket and leaving the office.

Ruth kept her smile until his figure had disappeared. Then, shrugging her shoulders, she put the remaining blue pill back into the box and casually threw it into the drawer.

Being an assistant wasn’t easy, especially for a woman like her; office discrimination was omnipresent.

In a giant corporation like AT&T, the situation was even more complex, and it was only by paying the appropriate price that she could earn that gaze of fear from others.

Pulling out her lipstick and tracing it over her reflection in the hand-held mirror, Ruth reverted to her cool demeanor.

As for William Kennard, now comfortably relieved, he was hurrying downstairs at a brisk pace.

There were twenty minutes left, which should be enough time for him to reach the airport. Only, if he walked too briskly, there was a faint soreness below.

Well, that was the price for the recent comfort, and at his age, it was inevitable that one couldn’t always perform.

"Boss, I have something to report to you." As William Kennard stepped out of the elevator, Alex came up behind him with a document in hand.

"Alex, I’m catching a flight right now," William Kennard tried to control his pace as the rush made the pain worse.

"Boss, five minutes is all I need. Remember that Teams software you asked me to look into last time? We have the results."

Alex, oblivious to his superior’s grimace, kept prattling on.

"Alex!" Finally reaching the car, William Kennard raised his voice to interrupt him, "We’ll talk when I’m back; the meeting at headquarters is more important."

"Boss..."

Humm~

All that responded to him was the receding taillights of the car.

Feeling helpless, Alex could only turn around and head back to the AT&T office building.

"George, drive faster," William Kennard said once seated, which finally alleviated the nagging pain a bit.

"Sure, sir," George stepped on the accelerator, and the black Lincoln car sped toward San Francisco International Airport.

...

"Boss, here is your ticket," Anna produced the pre-arranged United Airlines ticket from the glove compartment of the passenger side.

"Thank you, organize the important documents while I’m away. If there’s an emergency, call me anytime."

Getting out of the Cadillac, Dean gave another instruction. He needed to return to Ohio for a few days as Robert had brought him good news.

USA Network had agreed to Dean’s terms, but as the transaction involved shares, certain restrictions required Dean’s signature in person.

To avoid complications, Dean carved out a few days from the busy affairs of Byte Software.

"Boss, are you sure you don’t need me to go with you? Maybe I could help out, I’ve recently learned Thai massage techniques."

"Uh..." Faced with Anna’s insinuation, Dean shrugged with a smile, "I’ll be back soon, Anna. And my body is in good shape, I’m sure of it."

"OK~," Anna nodded in disappointment, she really wanted Dean to prove to her just how good his body was.

"Bye~" Waving his hand, Dean handed the Cadillac over to her.

Though there were many eager girls around, Dean was now somewhat reluctant to share his affection.

Glancing at the ticket in his hand, Dean hurried into the hall of San Francisco International Airport, he needed to print his boarding pass first.

Thump~, because he was looking down at the information on the ticket, Dean accidentally brushed shoulders with someone.

"I’m sorry, sir~" Dean picked up the fallen ticket for the other person, as it seemed they were both preoccupied with their paths.

The middle-aged man before him was somewhat impatient but nodded in courtesy nevertheless. "Thank you~"

Dean glanced at the man’s ticket and gestured for him to go ahead, the service desk for printing boarding passes was right in front of them.

As he was in a hurry, William Kennard did not decline and nodded before handing the ticket over to the service staff in the hall.

Zzz~ Zzz~ A crisp new boarding pass quickly ejected from the machine.

After carefully checking his flight information, William Kennard was ready to head to the departure lounge.

However, as someone who often took flights, he keenly noticed something different about the boarding pass in his hand.

The usual Starbucks advertisement printed on the right side and the back had been removed, replaced by a software advertisement.

BIT Software, with its blue-and-white minimalist design, made the entire boarding pass look much fresher than before.

The previous Starbucks-dominated boarding pass was filled with a green background and the classic Siren logo.

The sudden change in design style made it hard for William Kennard not to notice.

Of course, compared to the small lettering of BIT Software, the most eye-catching thing was undoubtedly the Teams logo in the center.

Teams, making communication simpler!

Well, even the slogan is so simple.

Wait a minute! Teams? William Kennard felt that this name sounded familiar.

"Wow~" While William Kennard was trying to recall, Dean had also obtained his boarding pass.

It has to be said, that $100,000 was well spent. Just look at the boarding passes in everyone’s hands at the airport; they were practically moving advertisements for Teams.

And Dean had guessed correctly; most of the passengers here were dressed in suits. It was clear that to some extent, they belonged to the societal elite class.

The elite class often consisted of corporate managers as well, meaning they held a certain level of decision-making power.

Like the man in front of him—look, he’s attracted by the Teams advertisement, isn’t he~

Precisely targeted, worth every penny.

"Excuse me, have you heard of this software?" William Kennard curiously showed his boarding pass to Dean.

"Of course, my company is using it," Dean replied without hesitation. "I highly recommend that you try it. It’s definitely going to be a surprise."

"This software..." William Kennard began, but his words were cut off by the announcement in the hall for boarding to Columbus.

"Sorry, I have to go. But the voice call feature of Teams is a unique experience that you must try!"

After giving a final plug for Byte Software, Dean picked up his luggage and hurried toward the gate.

Teams? Voice calls? William Kennard finally remembered—the news that Alex had rushed to report to him was about this software, wasn’t it?

Looking at the boarding pass in his hand, William Kennard suddenly realized he may have neglected it for too long.

"Attention passengers to St. Louis, your flight will arrive shortly, please proceed to..."

William Kennard frowned and retracted his gaze, picking up his luggage and heading to the United Airlines gate.

Five minutes later, William Kennard found his seat. After stowing his luggage, he carefully put away the boarding pass.

After returning, perhaps he needed to seriously listen to Alex’s report, hoping it would bring good news.

He asked a flight attendant for a cup of coffee, but before he could even sip it, he was distracted by the headrest cover of the seat in front.

Teams, the perfect assistant for office life!

Damn! William Kennard decided that, in addition to Alex’s report, he would call a high-level meeting.

Believing in "out of sight, out of mind," he casually took a newspaper from the seat pocket in front of him.

3Com has announced the development of a new sound card product line, the 3+Sound series, and according to founder Robert Metcalfe, this sound card product will have unique advantages in voice optimization.

When reporters asked if 3Com entered the nascent sound card field under pressure from competitor Cisco going public, Robert Metcalfe denied it.

He claimed that 3Com entered the burgeoning field of sound cards mainly due to a strategic partnership with Byte Software.

To leverage the voice call feature of Teams software, the 3+Sound series will excellently reproduce human voice, enriching communication between people.

Robert Metcalfe stated that whether it is the older generation’s AdLib or the latest Sound Blaster,

their digital audio capabilities were normally okay, but they had serious distortion in output and the volume was also too low, normally requiring all other processing to stop when playing sound.

The 3+Sound series will significantly improve on this flaw, and most importantly, due to deep cooperation with Byte Software, 3Com’s shortcoming in audio algorithms will be fulfilled.

And unlike other sound cards which had prices going up to hundreds of dollars, the 3+Sound series would be truly budget-friendly with prices expected to be between $49 and $79.

In the middle of this news report, there was also a photo of Robert Metcalfe with Byte Software founder Dean Price.

Byte Software again, and that damn Teams! William Kennard suddenly realized that everywhere around him was filled with messages about this software.

Wait a minute! This photo?!

William Kennard stared harder at the photo of the two men in the newspaper—it began to look familiar. How come Dean Price in this photo looked somewhat like the young man he had just met?

"Oh~No!" William Kennard slapped his forehead.

WTF?! Could this really be a coincidence or is God playing a joke on him?!

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