Dara felt flustered as she tried to maneuver her Sprite from the crowded spot. When she had pulled out, there had been no one there, but the moment she had committed, a bunch of hoverbils had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Crowded, but needing to move, she carefully maneuvered, narrowly missing a tree on one side. She pulled forward again, but still didn't have enough space to turn far enough. She wished her model had the rotate-in-place feature that more expensive versions had!
She reversed back again to the chorus of metallic scraping. As she pulled forward again, it scraped again and she prayed desperately that it was just the railing she was damaging her hoverbil with.
She parked again and got out to inspect the damage.
The other vehicles were going in other directions as they could, seemingly ignoring her plight. All except one... a badly scraped luxury Spider. A strikingly handsome, rich-looking man stood surveying the damage as well, his expression very grim.
Dara covered her mouth in shock. "I'm so sorry!" she cried out.
"Everything will be all right after we talk to your insurance company," he replied. "I hope it's a generous policy."
"I don't know. I think it's the legal minimum. I can't afford anything more than that."
His face looked even more grim. "Then I may have to sue you against future pay to secure the money to repair this thing. You seem to think I have enough money to simply buy another Spider... or repair all this damage you've caused!"
"I... I don't know!" Dara replied, the tears forming in her eyes. "I'm so sorry! I've had such a bad day! I just needed some groceries! And now, I'm probably indebted to you for the rest of my life!"
A smile began to form on the man's face as if he'd come up with the perfect solution. "Yes, I think you may be right," he replied. "Follow me home."
"What?" she asked, surprised.
"Are you deaf too? Get into your hoverbil and follow me home. You wanted to know how to pay me back, I think I know the way."
"Okay," she replied, and obeyed, getting back into her Sprite and following the luxurious Spider along the route to one of the biggest homes in the city, up on top of the hill.
She parked where he showed her, then followed him into the mansion. He said nothing for awhile, simply getting out some refreshments and indicating she should sit at the bar.
Finally, drinks in hand, he looked at her. He was very handsome, she realized again.
"I will be willing to not even bother your insurance company if you are willing to work for me full time... as long as I have need of you."
Dara's mouth hung open a moment before she remembered to close it. "But I have a job!"
"Apparently not a very good one," he replied.