When I was in my late teens there were three guiding principles that I thought would shape my life; #1, if I got married it would be forever; #2, I would never loan out my car unless it was a clunker; and #3, I would never get involved in anyone else's male-female relationships. By the time I was twenty seven things were working out a little differently than I thought.
I had a hard time giving up on principle #1 but it ended up to be necessary. My wife Karen and I were compatible in college, but we didn't realize that our relationship was one that would not likely flourish outside that cloistered environment. We had never lived together before marriage and didn't realize how different some of our desires, important interests, and personality traits were. For example Karen liked pleasant sex once I week whereas I liked mind-blowing sex once a day. We were married for three years before we split, eighteen months before the events in this story started to unfold. We didn't have an acrimonious split and we are still very good friends -- really, we are, although we live on opposite sides of the country -- but we just couldn't make it.
I had a less hard time giving up on principle #2, although it was still agonizing. After my divorce I moved to a big city where I got my dream job, driving there in my dream car, a Tesla Model X, four doors, a 300 mile range between recharges, a top pick for the environment, and zero to sixty in about four seconds. The only problem was that I only used the car on weekends or for business trips and it is really, really expensive to own a car in the city given the outrageous parking fees at my condo, city insurance rates, etc.
A friend at work, who had the same problem that I did, put me on to a car sharing/renting service called CarQwik.
"I listed my car with them three months ago, Jerry, and I've had no problems. I charge $15/hour for its use, they provide $2 million liability insurance on top of my own, and zero deductible comprehensive insurance, and the deals are quickly and easily arranged by text message. They provide me with a basic renter profile and I also can refuse any renter that I want to."
It sounded good to me, so I did my due diligence, including actually going to CarQwik's local office and talking with the manager there. She was really intrigued that I had an all-electric car so that I wouldn't have to pay for gas and that the electricity that I charged my Tesla with was included in my condo fees. She suggested that I charge $20/hour, the maximum fee allowed. CarQwik got 25% of that and paid me by direct deposit within ten days of a rental and was responsible for any deadbeats.
I was a little apprehensive when I rented to the first two customers and denied a third (an eighteen year old -- I wasn't trustworthy at that age and I didn't think he was either), but I was less apprehensive for the next two renters. Since a couple of the renters used the car overnight I got some decent coin from the deals and nobody even so much as left any dirt on the floor mats.
The sixth potential customer wanted to use my car on a Saturday. Because it was one of the few times I didn't need it on a Saturday since I was going by metro to a baseball game with a number of my friends, I agreed. Julie showed up at my condo about 9 a.m. I was surprised by her appearance. She had on a loose sweatshirt and sweatpants with paint stains on them. Her auburn hair was in a bun on top of her head with strands sticking out all over the place, and she had no makeup on. She also seemed nervous. She did have a melodious voice and a cute nose, though.
Just to be sure that she was who CarQwik said she was I checked her license. Two things stood out. She was thirty seven, although even given her basically disheveled appearance she looked less than thirty. For eye color it listed "DIC." I looked at her eyes -- they were green.
"Say, Julie, why is your eye color listed as 'DIC' on your license?"
"Oh, that's kind of embarrassing, Jerry. It means 'dichromatic.'"
"OK," I laughed, "then what does 'dichromatic' mean?"
"Oh, sorry; it means that my eyes are different color."
"They look green to me," I said staring into them.
"I have a colored contact in." With that she put her fingers to her right eye and popped out a contact, then looked at me smiling.
"By God, it's gray," I said staring even more intently. Even though Julie was smiling suddenly I got uneasy. Her eyes were enchanting, hypnotizing, even bewitching. It took all my will power to stop staring as I nervously reached for my car keys, and stuttered out, "OK, Julie, let me go down with you to the car and I'll show you some unusual features." I had no idea why I said that, because I hadn't done it with any other renters but instead just relied on CarQwik to give them the information that they needed.
As Julie drove away she demurely waved, and I waved back. Why are there butterflies in my stomach? I asked myself as I rode up on the elevator.
Julie brought the car back early Sunday morning, just as agreed. Rather than merely placing the keys in the lock box next to my parking place, which was standard procedure, she brought them up to my condo. This time I was the one who was disheveled, having just gotten up about fifteen minutes before she arrived.
She looked much different. She was nicely, though casually, dressed, her hair was down and combed, she had light makeup on, and no green contact.
"Sorry, Jerry, I wasn't sure whether I should leave the keys in the box or bring them to you, so I thought I'd bring them up. Is that OK?
I didn't mind seeing those captivating eyes again even though I probably looked like shit. Also, I was totally impressed with her present appearance. Now that she had on clothes that flattered her figure rather than hid it there was no doubt that she had a killer body. Also her light makeup and shoulder length hair nicely complemented her cute nose and fascinating dichromatic eyes.
"Sure, no problem," I replied, "but I'm sorry that I look so scary."
"Ha, ha, you look much better than I did the first time we met."
"If you can stand the terrible view, would you like a cup of coffee?"
"Thank you, Jerry, that is so nice. I definitely would but my husband is waiting in our car double parked so I need to leave now."
Why is that upsetting to me? I asked myself. Since I probably had a weird look on my face I decided I needed to say something in response to that. "Oh, you have a car?"
"Yes, but my husband uses it for work every day. I only need one for work every few days, and I hope that I can use your car again next week. It is a truly awesome vehicle."
"Sure, just let me know."
"Thanks, I'll be in touch," she smiled, while again giving me a demur wave.
I couldn't figure out why I was unsettled the rest of the day. Maybe I knew, but didn't want to admit it.
Julie did rent my car through CarQwik three more times, each time making the effort to return the keys personally. The third time was shortly after I got home from work and her husband wasn't waiting for her. I invited her in for dinner. She accepted.
I'm only a decent cook but I make two dishes really well, including mushroom risotto. "Do you like mushroom risotto?" I asked.
"Can you really make that, Jerry; it's one of my favorite meals."
"I can, and I hope that it doesn't disappoint you."
"I would love to know how to make it because I only order it out. Can you show me?"
"Sure," I replied, ushering her into my condo and offering her a glass of red wine.
Julie was exceptionally bubbly and chatty as she watched me make my specialty, asking lots of questions, constantly smiling, and telling a few slightly off-color but amusing jokes as certain subjects came up in conversation.
