Some of my stories are based on true events that I embellish, recreate conversations I did not hear and change things around. I got this one from a good friend who swears that the central proposition of the story really happened to him.
"One more car to look at and I'm done," Dave said to himself as the Uber pulled up to the kerb outside an architect's wet dream of a house in Dover Heights. There was a British Racing Green Range Rover Sport parked in the driveway, but Dave double-checked the address anyway, he was that kind of person.
"Thanks mate," said Dave as he exited the car. "I'll get you to pick me up if I don't buy this one."
"No worries, Dave," the driver said as he powered up the passenger side window and pulled away.
Dave walked up to the Range Rover. Parked nose out, it appeared as if it had just driven off the showroom floor, despite being four years old. The doors were open, so he gave it a thorough inspection; lifting the floor mats and carpets, checking the spare wheel and opening the bonnet, the engine bay was as clean as the outside of the car.
Dave had looked at five cars already that day but this car and one other were the standouts. While the other car was his favourite colour, Buckingham Blue, this vehicle had exceptionally low kilometres for its age and it was as immaculate as the photos portrayed. Nevertheless, Dave was hoping he could get the owner to come down a bit on price as it was at the top of his price range.
Before Dave could ring the doorbell, the front door opened to reveal a woman. Dressed in a geometric print wrap dress that displayed just the right amount of leg and cleavage, she looked a little younger than him, early to mid-thirties. Sandals with four-inch heels put her on the same level as Dave's 6'2" and she wasn't slim but she wasn't fat either. Slightly wavy dark blonde hair cut in a bob and a chunky gold necklace with matching earrings gave her a 'rich bitch' look. With blue-green eyes, her heart-shaped face was only pretty, but Dave thought that as an overall package, she was one of the most attractive women he'd ever met. He also had a feeling he'd met her before.
With a start, Dave realised she was speaking to him with a slight accent. "German, Swedish?" he wondered.
"I'm sorry, off in my own world for a moment. I'm Dave Carmichael, we spoke on the phone."
"Yes, we did. I'm Gabriella. You're here to test drive the Range Rover?"
"Yes please. And I'd like to look at the service manual as well if that's OK."
"Of course." Gabriella said. "If you'd like to come in, I have the service manual, all the receipts and an NRMA report."
"That's very comprehensive. You've thought of everything."
"One hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money. It makes sense to make the process as easy as possible."
"It does. Has there been much interest in it?" Dave asked.
"The usual time wasters but three people who are serious. Two tried to drive me down on price pretty hard, the other one was prepared to pay the asking price but wanted to do the deal without delay."
"Why didn't you take that one?"
"I had a bad vibe from him and I had promised I wouldn't sell the car until you'd looked at it."
"Thank you, I appreciate you doing that," Dave said as he went through the service manual. It was immaculate, the local Land Rover dealer had serviced it every six months or 5,000 kilometres without fail for the last four years.
"You've had the car from new and you have maintained it perfectly. The NRMA report bears that out but I would still like to take it for a test drive. Would you like to come with me?"
"Yes, I would, just let me get my handbag."
Within minutes they were heading down the street.
"It's a pity it's typical Friday afternoon traffic," said Gabriella. "You won't get a chance to open it up at all."
"No real need," said Dave. "I'm just going to do a loop, New South Head Road, Victoria Road and back."
"You won't find anything amiss. I love this car as you've seen from the service record and the NRMA report but $100,000 is a lot of money to spend on a second-hand car so I feel more comfortable with you taking it for a drive first."
Dave was listening for any sounds that shouldn't be there but there was nothing. No rattles, or squeaks, the big SUV was eerily quiet.
Within minutes, they'd returned to the house. "How about we sit on the sofa," Gabriella said. "Would you like a cold drink? I've got Sprite, Coke or I could mix you up a G & T or a martini."
"Still a bit early in the day for a martini, but a Coke would be great."
As Gabriella got the drinks, her mind was racing. Dave was the last person who wanted to look at the car and she wanted to get it sold so she could get on with her life. Everyone else had sensed her desperation and tried to get her to come down twenty, thirty thousand dollars before even driving it but she wasn't getting that vibe from Dave. She had to get him to buy this car somehow.
When Gabriella returned, she had loosened her wrap dress so that Dave got a good view of her breasts as she leant forward to put a Coke on the table in front of him. They looked large in their lacy white bra but in keeping with the rest of her frame. As she sat close to him on the sofa and crossed her legs, the dress fell away almost to her crotch. Both times Gabriella caught him looking, she just smiled.
"I'm curious, Gabriella. Why are you selling it? Are you upgrading to the latest model?"
"I wish," said Gabriella as she turned to face him and slowly uncrossed and recrossed her legs to give Dave an unobstructed view of her lacy white knickers. "My partner and I have separated. He liked to spend money but wasn't nearly as good at earning it. When I said I wanted to cut back and get off the whole working ridiculous hours in a job I hate, to buy stuff I don't need, to impress people I don't like, treadmill; he started cheating on me.
"I kicked him out but I was already reassessing my life and that was a real wakeup call. I decided I need to get out of this city, take some time to make some decisions about my life. To do that, expensive status symbols like this car have to go."
"I understand completely. John Williamson didn't call Sydney the Emerald City for nothing and sometimes you just need to make space for yourself to think."
"That's a wonderful way of putting it."
"I'm speaking from experience. I did a similar thing a few years ago when I was discharged from the army." Dave said. "I had planned on being a lifer and I had no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
"Look, I'll be straight with you. The car is in pristine condition but I looked at another car today which is in nearly as good a condition as yours. It is same price and has five thousand more kilometres but it's my favourite colour, Buckingham Blue."
"That blue is a nice colour," said Gabriella. "But so is British Racing Green."
"It is," said Dave. "Still, my dilemma is do I get a car that is my favourite colour or a car with fewer kilometres in a colour I like but is not my favourite."
"If you're trying to get me to come down on price, I really can't move on that," said Gabriella. "I need $100,000 to clear my debts, which are not secured against the car by the way, and I'm sure you know that $100,000 it is already a significant discount off the Red Book value for that year and model."
"It is a significant discount and I understand where you're coming from," said Dave. "I'm just thinking aloud."
Gabriella took a deep breath. "I can't move on price," Gabriella said. "But what if I could offer something else as an incentive?"
Dave was intrigued. "What exactly do you have in mind?"
Gabriella took another deep breath. "Oh fuck, here goes nothing," she thought.
"What if I offered me?"
"I'm not sure what you mean," said Dave. "What would I do with you?"
