by MF Isaacs
Sierra’s laughter died as she watched and waited for Natalie to respond to my request for help. I could feel her wishing and hoping just as much as I was that Natalie would agree to help. When she started to shake her head, but before she could get any words out, Sierra stepped in. “Curtis nice try. She’s not going to fall for it. Maybe she’d be willing to help you after you buy a new car from her or something. You are much to old and not nearly cute enough to use the ‘You gotta help me’ trick.”
Holy shit, my sister, who just married the first guy she ever liked after knowing him less than three months, just called me out. Which, made everyone at the table laugh. I turned to face Natalie before I spoke, “Fine. You work tomorrow? It’s time to ditch the hand-me-down Explorer anyway. If you can help me pick a new car, I’ll let you help me pick furniture for the condo.”
She was speechless so it was Cal that piped in, “She is working tomorrow. She’ll be at the Land Rover dealership. I can give you directions later.” He wasn’t fooling me, he was helping her out because he knew I had the money to spend. Fine by me, I had no problem spending money if that is what it takes to get more time with Natalie.
Our food arrived and conversation carried on throughout the meal. The only thing that could have made the night any better was if my condo was ready and Natalie was coming home with me. As it was, I wished her a good night and told her I’d see her tomorrow.
I didn’t look back as I said good night to everyone before heading back to the McMann house.
NATALIE
I drove away from the restaurant, in my 2002 Honda Civic, happier than I had been in months. What are the odds that I would be the one working that day when Calvin came into the jewelry store to look at rings? Who would have thought he was serious when he basically offered me a job on the spot? When he came in a couple weeks ago to buy Sierra a wedding gift, I knew it was a sign I needed to move on with my life.
I’d been renting a bedroom from sister’s best friend Kim; partly to help her out, but mostly to get out of my parents’ house. It was cheap, so I couldn’t complain about her drunk dialing the ex-boyfriend once or twice a week. Those conversations were loud and ended with him showing up for a booty call or her crying herself to sleep. Before I moved in with her I had been living at home, I moved back in after graduating college. My dad worked out of town so it was usually just my mom and me. It wasn’t that bad, but living with my parents put a real damper on my sex life.
I didn’t love my job at the jewelry store, but I didn’t hate it either. I loved the jewelry and I loved helping people and, not to sound conceded, but I am really good at it. You don’t have to be pushy to be good at sales. Regardless of the job, I was in a funk. I went to college on the west coast, so none of my friends lived nearby. All of my high school friends have moved on, most who went to college didn’t come back. The only one still here is married with kids. My sister fell into that same category, plus she lived almost an hour away. I was just the odd man out. Living in a college town didn’t help, I was too old to fit in with students but not old enough to fit in with the professors.
Before Calvin had even walked out of the jewelry store with that beautiful diamond necklace, I was formulating a plan for myself. I made decent money, but I spent just as much if not more. I had never been good at saving money which meant that I would have to keep my fingers crossed that my November commission would be enough to get me into a place, and I would have to pray that my dad was willing to help me move my big stuff so I wouldn’t have to rent a moving van.
That night, I found a perfect studio apartment online. It wasn’t much more than I was paying for the bedroom and drunk dialing roommate I currently had. I took a leap of faith and filled out the rental application online, paid the application fee, and then waited to hear back. I had to tell someone, so I called my one local friend. When I called to tell her my exciting news, she shot me down as soon as she heard my voice, “Oh, sorry Natalie I thought you were Brian calling. He isn’t home from work yet. I really can’t talk. Can I call you back?” I heard the phone disconnect before I could even respond. Another sign that it was time for me to move on.
I knew better than to call my mom at night when my dad was out of town. She and my roommate would make great drinking buddies because they both hit the bottle as soon as they were alone and the sun went down. My sister was likely still working, so I didn’t bother calling her. I gave up the idea of sharing my news with anyone, instead I poured myself a glass of wine and scrolled through Pinterest until I was tired enough to sleep.
The next morning, as I was getting ready for work I received the call letting me know I got the studio apartment. After going over the details with the apartment manager, I gave her my credit card for the deposit and first month rent. I hated using my credit card, but figured I would be able to pay it off in full as soon as I got my commission check for November’s sales. Calvin’s purchase alone should be enough to cover a month’s rent and all my other sales combined should be enough for the deposit.
Everything was coming together smoothly. I called my dad on the way to work and asked if he would be willing to help me move. He was shocked that I was moving, but quickly agreed to help me. I needed to call Calvin and see about picking a start date after making sure he was sure. He was convincing when telling me that they had a handful of dealerships and they could use me at any of them. He was very adamant that the job would be there as soon as I made the call, but I didn’t want to be presumptuous. I also didn’t want to interrupt his wedding weekend. The last big thing on my list was to give my notice at work, I was prepared to give at least two weeks. With the holidays coming, I wouldn’t want to leave them short staffed.
I thought I was doing the right thing by telling my boss that I would be giving notice soon. I told her I would be giving two weeks’ notice as soon as I had the exact dates. Instead, the bitch fired me. The only fucking reason she could come up with was inappropriate customer interaction. I know ultimately, she was trying to get out of paying me my commission, but she didn’t know who she was dealing with. I wasn’t walking away that easily. I knew the rules, I knew she had three days to have my final paycheck ready. I knew the loophole that would force her to pay my commission. She wasn’t smart enough to realize that I am smart enough to know the rules.
As I walked to my car, I called my brother-in-law, Greg, at his law office. I gave him the quick and dirty, he told me he would take care of it and I believed him. I sat in the parking lot on the verge of tears for about two minutes before I decided to make the call that would solidify the changes I was making in my life.
He answered on the second ring and knew it was me before I finished trying to identify myself. “Hi Calvin, this is Natalie. I am the...”
“Please tell me you are ready to take my offer?”
That phone call was four days ago, I did my new hire paperwork yesterday and today was my first full day working for Luke and Calvin McMann. I didn’t have any sales today, which is expected since I am just learning the ropes. Calvin told me not to worry about it, he said it could be up to a week before I had my footing. He did what he could to show me the ropes. As I was walking out of the restaurant, he pulled me aside and told me he wasn’t kidding about working at the Land Rover dealership. He said he would meet me there in the morning.
CURTIS
I woke up feeling better than I have in months, maybe even years. My list of things to do was long, but it wasn’t overwhelming. First on my list was running and not because I wanted to clear my head, but because I actually enjoyed running. Dressed in my winter running gear, I stopped in the kitchen for some water before taking off. I wasn’t surprised to find Amy cleaning up from breakfast. She tried to fix me breakfast, but I assured her I would fix myself a post workout shake when I got back from running. I don’t know what made me do it, but I asked her if she wanted to go with me. Her face lit up like I had offered her the world.
“I won’t be able to keep up with you. You
go ahead. I’ll just do my PIYO here.” she may have declined with her words but her eyes were begging me to convince her to come with me. So, I did.
“You are already dressed for it. Go get your shoes. You’ll keep up just fine. Give yourself a little credit, I can’t do PIYO. Plus, if I wait for you, I can eat a banana before we go.” I nudged her toward the hallway as I reached for a banana.
She paused for a half a second before making the decision to go for it. A few minutes later we were outside stretching in the driveway. As soon as we started out, Amy proved that she was in much better shape than I had previously given her credit for; she was able to chat and run at the same time. Sierra is the only other female I had ever run with and she was usually trying to get out of her own head, so talking wasn’t part of the routine. Conversation with Amy was thankfully light, I half expected her to bring up my failed relationship with Callie and Will; she didn’t. Instead, she asked me, “When you were a kid, what did you think you would do when you grew up?” The way she phrased the question brought it back to before life took a shit on me or on us. It also brought me back to a time when I didn’t have a shit ton of money. It allowed me to answer without regard for anything, just the truth of what I thought as a kid.
“I wanted to teach and coach high school. I actually have everything I need to get my teaching certificate, other than my student teaching.” Other than my adviser back at Western State, I hadn’t mentioned the possibilities of teaching to anyone. “I only have three classes left before I can graduate.”
“Wow, does anyone know you are that close to being able to graduate?” She was a little winded, but honestly so was I because we were heading uphill.
“No. I honestly didn’t have plans to graduate. I thought I would need to spread it out for the sake of watching after Sierra.” We both smiled at the mention of my amazing sister. “Now that I don’t need to do that and now that it’s time for me, I might actually look into student teaching this spring. I can take the three classes this summer and have my certificate in time for the fall. Wow. I don’t know if I am ready for it to happen that quickly. Maybe I’ll take the classes this spring and try to student teach in the fall.”
“Curtis, Curtis.” She had to call my name several times because I was rambling. “You are more than ready. You will make a great teacher and coach. Don’t panic, I think you should call your adviser and see what he suggests.”
We ran in silence for about a mile while I mentally added a few things to my to-do list. By the time we made it back to the house, I would guess we’d gone anywhere from 5 to 6 miles. Amy pretended that I killed her, but the reality is, not one second did she appear to struggle. Thankfully, I could joke with her about it, “You didn’t do too bad for being a Grandma.” My reflexes were good enough to catch the water bottle she tried to hit me with.
“I think I want them to call me GiGi or Mayme or something like that, because honestly, I am way too young to be a Grandma. Thanks for letting me run with you.” she said the last part as she was heading down the hall toward her room.
“Anytime Grandma.” I laughed as I saw her flip me off as she walked down the hall.
Next on my list was a shower and going to see Natalie; car then hopefully furniture shopping.
NATALIE
Walking into the Land Rover dealership, the feel was completely different than it had been the day before at the Toyota dealership. Nothing wrong with Toyota, but it’s like Target versus Nordstrom. Thankfully, I’ve spent enough money on clothes that I’ll be fine regardless of where they want me to work. Calvin was already there when I arrived, which made things easier since I didn’t know anyone else yet. We walked through the lot as he showed me all the inventory, he said it was something he liked to do at the beginning of each day.
There wasn’t a single model out there that wasn’t beautiful, the low-end model was still high end in my book. He paid me a great compliment when he said, “I love that you aren’t even blinking twice at the price tags.”
“Remember the first time you came in to look at rings. You told me you weren’t ready to buy, but you wanted to learn so you would know what to expect when you were ready. Buying a car is the same way. This isn’t the place they will come to learn about cars. If they are pulling in here, they already know what to expect price wise.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw an older model Ford Explorer pull into the parking area by the showroom. The site of him climbing out of the car cause my steps to falter. He was even better looking today than he’d been yesterday. Calvin put his hand gently on my back until I righted my steps. There was no way I could play that off, Calvin saw my cards.
“Let’s go get your first sale. I will tell you right now, he’ll buy anything you’re selling. Don’t let him fool you into thinking he can’t afford a brand-new Luxury Discovery.” He laughed like he knew something I didn’t.
Curtis saw us coming and waiting for us to approach him in the parking lot. Cal shook his hand as soon as we were close enough, then broke the ice for us, “Don’t be a cheap bastard Curtis. Honestly, Natalie could sell ice to Eskimos if needed, so don’t fight it. She’ll show you our inventory, I’m sure there is something here you’ll like.” And with that, he walked into the building without any further instruction for me.
I was shocked when he leaned into kiss my cheek in greeting. “Show me what you got hot stuff.” I was used to getting hit on, it is just part of being in sales. This, him calling me hot stuff, felt different. It made my heart race. He lightly rested his hand on my back to guide me back the way I had come. Suddenly, I felt nervous. It wasn’t about selling something, Calvin was right, I could sell ice to an Eskimo, it was about him.
I stopped at each model and opened the driver’s door as I gave him all the details I could. Not once did he look inside the car, his eyes never once strayed from me. When I finally got to the Discovery, I specifically asked him, “would you like to test drive this one?”
“No testing needed. I want it.” It took effort for me to keep my mouth from falling open.
I scrunched my brow as I asked, “Are you sure, you don’t want to at least take a look inside? Sit in the seat?” I was holding the door open for him, trying to encourage him into climbing in.
“No.” He hasn’t once taken his eyes off me, but when he takes a step closer I think he might be changing his mind. His hand returned to my back and with a little pressure he guided me into the seat. “You try the seat. If you like the seat, it’s the one I want. I want you to be comfortable when you drive my car. I want you to be comfortable when you come with me to pick out furniture and when I take you out. I want you...”
From the driver’s seat I interrupted him, “Curtis, I can’t sell you a car that you haven’t even looked at.”
“You heard Cal, hot stuff, you could sell anything. I need a new car and this is the one you gravitated to, which tells me you like it. If you like it, I want it. So, let’s get the paperwork done and then we can talk about furniture shopping and dinner.” He took my hand as I climbed out of the car. I pulled the papers from the vehicle before making our way into the sales office.
Calvin was waiting there with a shitty ass grin on his face. It wasn’t directed toward me, but I was the only one who saw it because Curtis was still only looking at me. At one point, I thought to myself that I should feel awkward having him openly look at me like he was; it wasn’t awkward, it was flattering. Curtis was still facing me when Cal asked, “You get him into a new Discovery?”
“Sort of, he’s buying the HSE Luxury in Corris Grey, but he didn’t technically get into it. I grabbed the papers, would you like to walk me through the financing process?” I asked as Curtis and I automatically followed Calvin to the main sales desk.
“Nah, I’m pretty sure he’s going to just write a check. Hey Curtis, you bring your check book or do you need the total so you can go get a cashier’s check?” For the first time since he’d been there, he looked at something other than me when Calvin asked t
he question.
“I think I have a checkbook in the Explorer. I’ll go check. Hey Cal, what time is she done working today? I want to try and get the living room and bedroom furniture done today.” He stood but didn’t walk away until Calvin answered.
“If you are really going out to get your checkbook, she could probably be done in two hours. So, go get your damn checkbook and buy the fucking car already.” Calvin was laughing. I wasn’t opposed to swearing, but I did feel funny at the thought that he was letting me go but only if Curtis was buying the car.
Curtis was back before Calvin could even show me how to do the paperwork. He explained that it went much quicker because Curtis paid in full, had he done a loan it would have taken much longer. At one point, Curtis walked out front to make a phone call. When he came back everything was ready for his final signature. When it was all said and done, it had taken less than two hours for me to get my first sale. I couldn’t help the bubble of excitement. Thankfully, Calvin felt generous and let me go right then.
As we walked out of the showroom, Curtis handed me the key fob for the new car before asking me, “You mind following me? I need to take this over and park it at the storage unit I rented.”