Читать книгу Celia's Shadow - Sandy Levy Kirschenbaum - Страница 28

The first showroom had two customers—AFTER Celia and Kate entered the room. Three different sales people, two men and a woman, pounced upon them.

“Just checking things out.” Celia made it clear she was not going to buy at this time. The men walked away, but the black-haired woman, wearing a pale-yellow suit that was too tight for her little round body, followed them throughout the showroom. They left after seven minutes.

“I don’t want that kind of pressure.” Celia pushed through the doors out toward the parking lot.

“I’ll admit being followed around is annoying, but there was hardly any pressure.”

“Did you check out that yellow suit?” Celia giggled.

“I know. Hideous color.”

“Do you think she got up this morning and saw herself in the mirror and thought that suit was a good choice?”

“Celia, you need to get serious about this. You have no transportation for work on Monday.”

“I can walk to the commuter rail. I don’t have to take the subway.”

“You know—you’re truly difficult. Your car is seriously dangerous, and you need a new one. I’m trying to help you. You know I’m right. You can’t keep that old junk of yours.” Kate shook her head and dramatically rubbed her forehead. “You know it’s not safe, right? Safety first! Let’s find another dealer. We can make fun of the yellow suit later. Or maybe not at all.”

The second dealership was less than a mile away from their first stop. The huge building was surrounded by colorful flags, which were attached to ropes strung between several light poles. The new cars were lined up diagonally along the side wall of the structure.

Celia and Kate walked down the row of cars and then back up to the first one. They were silent. Celia pulled the handle of the front car. The car was locked. Her nail broke and the skin at the top of her finger was pinched. “Shit!” She shook her hand up and down to shake away the pain. “Every car is locked. It’s not even possible to look inside without someone’s help.”

A group of salesmen stood smoking by the front of the dealership. They continued to smoke as they watched the two women walk among the parked cars. They offered no assistance.

“Can you believe they let their salespeople smoke by the entrance? Who smokes at work these days?” Kate whispered to Celia.

Celia scowled at Kate, her jaw pushed forward. “Yeah, who smokes these days? Oh, that’s right. I do.” Celia’s attitude had gone from resistance to bad to worse. Kate’s comment antagonized her and downgraded her frame of mind.

They roamed the row of cars and peeked through the windows of two or three.

“I’m out of here. I don’t appreciate being ignored. If we were guys, or maybe young hotties, they’d be all over us.” Celia turned away from the cars.

“First and foremost, we ARE hotties! And second, we don’t have to waste any more time on this new car nonsense.” Celia picked up on the exasperation in Kate’s tone. “I can take you home and maybe your cute little car will miraculously go for another couple of years without needing to be fixed once or twice a month.”

“I’m willing to look, but I won’t tolerate being ignored. How are we supposed to see them if they’re all locked?” Celia was frazzled. Her eyes became glassy. “I’m totally intimidated by this entire process. I don’t want to have to beg someone to help me. I don’t know what questions to ask.” Celia was more upset than Kate had seen her in a very long time.

“Celia, do you want Tom to help us? He knows a lot about cars. I’m trying to be supportive. I’m sorry, but I don’t know any more than you do.” Kate stepped closer to Celia and took her hand. “Honestly, if you don’t want to do this, I don’t want to push you. I understand it’s stressful and scary and a huge commitment, but I think you’ll thank me for this.”

“No, I’d rather do it without Tom. I could research more online. I’m mad that I haven’t done that already. It is a daunting decision for me. I don’t do well with change. Let’s go to one more place and I’ll take it more seriously. There’s another dealer down the street. Let’s go there and see what they have. I’ll try to relax.”

“Don’t worry about buying something this second. Let’s see what they have and find something fun about this.”

At the next dealership, they parked at the front door and walked into the well-lit showroom, filled with gleaming new cars. Immediately they found themselves in front of a sparkling black Navigator.

“This is beautiful. The black has a little glitter.” Celia opened the door and peeked inside. “This is gorgeous. Is this real leather?” She rubbed her hand across the seat. “What am I saying? Of course, it’s leather. And I’m sure it’s way too expensive for me.”

Kate pointed to the sticker on the window and scowled.

Celia read the sticker and gasped. “This is what freaks me out. The cars I like are too expensive. This price is exactly why I’m nervous about getting a new car. Who can afford this?” Celia was anxious. Kate tried to remain calm and supportive.

“How about these?” Kate stood between two SUVs on display and swayed her arms between the vehicles. “Let’s get some information. These are as nice as that one. Right?”

Celia walked away from the Navigator and over to Kate. They ambled around the SUVs and peeked through the window. Kate reached for the door of the dark-blue one. Celia suddenly clutched Kate’s arm. She squeezed it hard and pulled her back.

“What’s wrong?”

“Shh! That’s him. Don’t look!” Celia stared at the entrance at the front of the large room.

“That’s who?” She immediately turned her head to look.

“Kate! I told you not to look and the first thing you do is look! Why did you look? What part of ‘Don’t look’ didn’t you understand?”

“Sorry. Who are we not looking at?”

“That guy by the door. That’s the guy I saw at Pete’s Market.” Celia was still squeezing Kate’s arm.

“When?” She pulled her arm free.

“I don’t know. Maybe a month ago. I told you about him. Spilled coffee on myself. Remember?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I remember. Are you sure it’s him?”

“Yes! That’s definitely him! I couldn’t forget that face or those eyes. Should we find out if he works here? Maybe I could buy a car from him. Come on, let’s walk over there.”

Kate groaned and shook her head. She let her bag fall from her shoulder. Slowly they proceeded in his direction. Before they reached the handsome stranger, a salesperson greeted him. The two men walked past Celia and Kate.

“Are we invisible? He didn’t even notice us. I looked directly at him. We should have stayed by the Navigator. I don’t want to leave right now.”

“I think you seem to be forgetting the reason we’re here. Besides, you’re not interested in guys these days. Remember?”

“Very funny. I don’t think he’s a booper.” Celia took a deep breath. “Do you think he’s a booper?” She wrinkled her nose and tilted her head. She was serious with her question, though she knew she wouldn’t get a serious answer.

“You never know, Celia. Don’t forget, you told me that you thought the booper was cute at first sight too. Hey, maybe we can use the word booper as the code word for when you meet a guy who’s a jerk. You know, he’s a real booper. Good idea?”

They laughed at the same time. At every vehicle, Kate jumped into the front seat and pointed out all the visible features on the dashboard. Celia read the sticker and groaned. She held her heart as she recited the price aloud.

“This is a beauty. I might buy it if you don’t want to.” Kate sat up straight and looked through the front window.

“You know, Kate, that’s not a bad idea. You buy this one, and I’ll buy your car. I’ll be broke if I buy one of these.”

“Broke or broken down, take your pick. I could get used to driving up this high. It’s as if you’re a notch above everyone else.” She stepped down and out of the SUV. “I want you to sit in the driver’s seat. I’m not kidding. I think you’ll love it.”

Celia stepped onto the side panel and settled into the driver’s seat. A salesman in olive trousers and a light-blue button-down shirt approached.

Celia adjusted the seat and kept her eyes forward as if she were driving. She continued to peek in the rearview and side mirrors for the man with the nice eyes. Her concentration on the car was distracted, to say the least.

“How do you like it?” The salesman watched Celia and Kate inspect the car.

“I don’t know. I think it’s too big for me.” She turned her eyes away from the mirrors and toward the back window. “I’ll be afraid to back up.”

“You look fabulous in it.” Kate leaned into the window next to Celia.

“I need to think about this. I’m just shopping around today.” Celia glanced in the direction of the potential non-booper as they left the dealership. He never glanced in her direction.

Kate talked Celia into one more stop as she spotted a Jeep dealer up ahead. After she took the Jeep for a test drive, Celia knew her car search was over. She was in love with a steel-gray Wrangler. A decision was made, and Kate couldn’t have been happier.