FIFTY-ONE
Eric Ascot smiled when the salesman revealed the price. He glanced at the Porsche Cayenne and shook his head. Nice, he thought, but too busy and a little too large for her. He stood inside the Porsche dealership contemplating which model to buy the girl of his dreams. Sophia would love this roadster. She was a racing enthusiast and could appreciate the style and grace of a Boxter S. At his wits ends, he wondered as he slowly sipped the champagne and explored the possibilities.
There were more important questions. Such as whether Sophia would buy his philanthropic behavior as one of the spur of the moment variety or would it be seen as another attempt to get on her good side. Eric sipped the champagne and scrutinized the cars. It should be the Boxter S, he decided. On cue, the salesman wandered back over.
“Enjoying the view, Eric?” he asked.
“Sure am. I want the Boxter S, fully loaded. Clarion speaker system and all the trimmings,” Eric said.
“That’s an excellent choice. For a while, I thought it would be the Cayenne but you fooled me. You said you want it in silver and just cause you’re you, I’m throwing in the Anniversary Edition package. Now, is this where you want it delivered? You said Sophia Sullivan and I’ve got the address right here. Oh, and I’ll throw in the DVD player free of cost.”
“It’s not really free though. I’m sure it’s neatly wrapped in a hidden cost somewhere.”
“No, absolutely not the truth. Everything is set so we just need to set up a delivery time. How’re you paying for this?” Eric threw down his American Express Black card and the discussion ceased. “We’ll have it prepped and ready for delivery later today. She’s a very lucky woman,” the salesman said with a grin.
“You can say that again,” Eric said and shook the salesman’s outstretched hand.
“So nice to have done business with you, sir. Goodbye and don’t you worry. Everything will be taken care of down to the red bow around it, sir. You’ll be pleased,” he said, practically eating out of Eric’s palm.
Eric Ascot strolled through the Porsche dealership admiring the new cars. The 911 Turbo looked good but he was confident that he had made the right choice. He jumped into his Range Rover and rolled out of the parking lot thinking that he had done the right thing. He had just set himself back over fifty thousand dollars trying to get back in favor of the woman he loved.
Would’ve been cheaper to tell her the truth, he thought as he drove along with the afternoon traffic. Suffice it to say, Sophia had definitely been impressed by his altruism so far but would it blow up in his face? As he pulled to a stop, Eric felt confident that he was doing the right thing. Judging from the way they spooned as they slept last night, he felt Sophia’s resistance was wearing down. Even though she didn’t eat the food or drink the wine, she did take the pasta salad for lunch. That fact made him smile as he walked into the studio.