by Claire Adams
“That’s crazy he left you all that money. You don’t have to tell me how much, but it was a lot, wasn’t it?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it was. I was really surprised.”
“Have you bought anything yet?”
“No, not really. Well, just some stuff for my mom that she already brought back to the house and said she doesn’t want.”
“That sounds exactly like your mom.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I guess it does.”
When Kelly and I finished talking, I got into my car. I started to drive, but not back toward home. I wasn’t sure where I was going at first, just sort of driving with no destination in mind. But then I saw the Audi dealership, and I turned in without even really thinking about it.
It wasn’t as if my Honda Accord didn’t work perfectly fine; it did, and it probably would continue to do so for many more years. But I hadn’t really bought anything for myself yet, and I had all this money, so why not? I didn’t want a BMW or a Mercedes; I also didn’t want something big like a Range Rover, but I had always liked Audis. Sophie’s mom had gone out with a guy for a while, Bill was his name, and was the vice president of a bank, and he drove an Audi. Sophie and I were maybe eight or nine and he used to drive us in the Audi to go get ice cream.
A salesman strolled over when I walked in. He was young, probably mid-twenties, and quite handsome.
“Welcome,” he said. “My name’s Justin. Have you ever driven an Audi before?”
“No. But I like how they look.”
“They are very aesthetically pleasing, aren’t they?”
“Yes, they are.”
I went over to one of the cars. It was a four-door sedan, but sleek and fast looking. It was a matte-charcoal color; not quite black, not quite gray.
Justin cleared his throat. “Now, are we waiting for a husband or significant other to get here?”
I turned and looked at him. “No,” I said. “This is a car for me. That I’m buying for myself.”
“I apologize. I didn’t mean to be presumptuous. Why don’t you let me show you some of our other cars that are more in your price range?”
“I’ll take this one,” I said, not bothering to bring up the fact that he would not have asked me the question if I had been a guy.
“Umm . . . that’s the S8 Plus. It’s our most expensive model . . . I . . . I don’t know if I can let you test drive it. Are you sure you really want that one?”
“I’m sure. And I don’t need to test drive it. I know I like these cars and it doesn’t have to be perfect, anyway. It’s just a car, right?” I was enjoying the completely flummoxed look on his face.
“Ummm, okay. Well, why don’t we come over here and we can get started on the loan paperwork and make sure that you’ll get approved before we go any further. And how much were you planning to put down? Generally, people put down—”
“We don’t need to fill out any loan paperwork,” I interrupted. “I’m going to pay for it in full.”
His eyes widened and he looked beyond flustered. “Ma’am,” he said. “This car is one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. Do you mean that you’re going to buy it outright today?”
“That’s what I mean.”
I dug through my purse and pulled out my wallet. “Here you go,” I said, handing him my debit card. “I actually don’t have a credit card with that high of a limit on it. But my debit card should work just fine.”
He took it from me as though he were expecting it to blow up in his hand. “It’ll go through,” I said.
I stood there waiting while he ran the card. It went through, he gave me the keys, and just like that, I had a new car.
“So . . . obviously I can’t drive two cars,” I said. “I guess I can try to come back and get this. But I really don’t want it, though.”
“We can’t take it as a trade-in, since it’s not an Audi.”
“No, no, I’m not looking to do a trade-in. Is there another option, though? Can I donate it?”
“You want to donate that? It looks like it’s in really good condition.”
“It is.”
“Well, we had another customer donate their car to the local radio station. It’s a tax write off. They’ll come get the car and everything; if you give them a call and arrange it, I think we could let you keep the car parked here until they were able to do so. Here, let me look up the number for you.”
I waited while he went on the computer and got the phone number for me. I was on the phone for less than five minutes; all I had to do was sign the title over and leave the keys and they’d send me something to use for taxes next year as a write-off.
“Thanks for all your help,” I said to Justin, who was still looking at me as though he couldn’t believe that I’d just come in here and bought that car.
I’d never driven a brand new car before, had never seen the odometer go from 000000 to 000001. And this really was something else. The seats were butter-soft leather, with lumbar support, and were so comfortable I felt as though I could easily drive all the way to California. I’d certainly be able to make it there in record time; I didn’t go over fifty, but I could feel the car’s power and knew that it was the sort of thing that could go exceptionally fast if I just pressed a little harder on the gas.
I wasn’t too far from my mom’s house, so I decided I’d stop by there quickly before I headed home. I didn’t know if she’d actually be there or not, but if she was, I wanted to talk to her.
Her car was in the driveway when I pulled up and she was out in the side yard, working in her garden. She lifted the wide brim of her straw hat as I approached.
“I was wondering who just pulled into my driveway,” she said. “Where’s your car?”
“That is my car. I bought a new one. And don’t worry—I’m donating the other one. And I won’t even use it as a tax write off.”
She went back to pulling weeds. “Well that’s generous of you. That car is in perfectly good condition; someone will really luck out with that.” She rocked back onto her heels, dropping the weeds she’d just pulled into the bucket beside her. “I hope that you’re going to be philanthropic with that money, Isla. I hope you’re going to try to do some good with it. You have a rare opportunity, and I would hate to see it go to waste.”
She was saying this because she was a good person. I knew it could be a whole lot worse; she could be one of those people who was only interested in how much of the money she’d be able to get, in what I’d be able to do for her. That wasn’t the case at all, but I still couldn’t help feeling irritated.
“I know,” I said. “I haven’t made any decisions yet as to what exactly I’m going to be doing with the money, but it’s not just going to be used for one big shopping spree, I promise you that.”
“I would hope not. So. What brings you by? Just wanted to show me your new car?”
“I wanted to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
“I wanted to ask what exactly it is you think you’re doing. With Levi.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Should I be the one asking you that question?”
“I don’t recall asking you to come over and start giving Levi shit. I mean, I come home and find you two there, in the middle of an argument.”
“It was just quite a surprise to be going over to your house and have him answer the door,” she said. “It was the last thing I was expecting.”
“Even though you knew that he’d come here with me?”
“No, Isla—this whole thing with him.”
“Yes, I know, Mom. You’ve made it abundantly clear that you don’t think I should be hanging out with him. I’ve got it.”
“I just feel there’s been a lot of changes for you in a very short period of time. I don’t want you to get so caught up in things that you end up doing something stupid, or you end up getting hurt. I don’t want to see that happen.”
“Levi’s not out to get me.”
My mother stood up and st
retched, the knees of her jeans stained with dirt. She was perfectly happy out here, though, working in her garden, getting dirt underneath her fingernails, ripping up weeds, being out under the sun. What had she been thinking, marrying Alex?
“Are you just afraid?” I asked. “Are you afraid that the same thing is going to happen to me that happened between you and Alex?”
“They’re different from us,” she said. “I know that sounds like an odd thing to say. And probably not a politically-correct thing to say, either. But they are. Money has given them a different outlook on life. Alex’s was different than Levi’s, of course, but it’s still vastly different from you and me. It’s not a good or bad thing; that’s just the way it is.”
“That didn’t stop you from marrying Alex.”
“No, it didn’t. But how did that work out? I let myself get caught up in the idea that the two of us could somehow transcend our differences. And in a way, we did, but what ultimately ended our relationship was the fact that he was really married to his business. Levi might be different in that regard, but he’s had such a different life than you have.”
I shook my head. “Mom, that doesn’t even make sense. Are you saying that you think people have to be the same in order for a relationship to work? Because that’s ridiculous.”
“That’s not what I’m saying, Isla. People can certainly come from very different backgrounds and have it work, but they also have to have similarities, too. The right guy is out there for you, Isla. You’re a good girl, you always have been. I just don’t think Levi’s the right person for you.”
“You’re not the one dating him.”
“Is that what you two are doing? Dating? He was your stepbrother.”
“I think we’re dating—I don’t know. We haven’t really talked about it; things have just happened naturally. And he used to be my stepbrother, for like, five years. It’s not like he’s my real brother.”
“All right, Isla. It’s clear you’re not interested in hearing the voice of reason, so I’ll stay out of it, okay?” She looked past me at the car. She shook her head. “I don’t even want to know how much you just spent on that.”
I drove home after that, hoping that Levi wouldn’t give me a hard time about the car. I doubted he would. I ran inside, where he was sitting at the dining room table, looking at his phone, eating a bowl of cereal.
“Come see what I got,” I said.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me outside.
“Wow!” he said, letting out a low whistle. “This is yours?”
“Yeah. Total impulse buy, but seeing as I haven’t really bought anything yet, I figured it would be okay.”
“I’ll say.” He went over and ran his hand over the hood. “Damn, girl, looks like you know a thing or two about cars.”
“Not really. I just liked the look of this one.”
“You picked a good one. How’s it drive?”
“Good, as far as I can tell. You want to take it out?”
He grinned. “Sure—we could take it for a little spin around the block.”
I tossed him the keys and went around to the passenger side and got in.
“It’s been a while since I’ve driven,” he said as he backed out of the driveway. “But don’t worry; it always came naturally to me.”
I buckled my seat belt and wondered if this was such a good idea, after all. He tapped the gas as we drove away from the house and the car surged forward.
“Woooweee,” he said. “This thing is a beast.”
“I’m sure you’ve been in way nicer cars than this.”
“I’ve been in nicer cars, sure, but not way nicer. This thing’s pretty mint. It feels great. Let’s get this thing out on the highway.”
We drove out to Route 1 and Levi wasted no time in getting the car up to eighty. It didn’t feel like we were moving that fast at all, though; in fact, the car was so smooth it felt as though it were hovering over the ground, like we were in a luxury space ship or something.
“Damn, this is nice,” he said. He let off the gas as we approached a car, and once the car changed to the right-hand lane, he accelerated again. “Your car is giving me a hard on,” he said, reaching over to take my hand and place it on his crotch. He was right; his cock was rock hard and straining against the front of his shorts.
“You’re getting a boner for my car?” I said, giving him a squeeze.
“No. Well, maybe a little. What’s actually giving me a hard on is you sitting there in those little shorts of yours.”
I unbuckled my seat belt and leaned over, unbuttoning his shorts, pulling his cock through the opening in his boxer shorts. All I could think of was my mother telling me how I’d always been a good girl. Maybe I didn’t want to be a good girl anymore.
“Am I dreaming?” Levi said as I took him into my mouth. “Ohhhh man.”
I felt the car accelerate as I moved my head up and down, feeling him back against my throat. I tried to relax my throat muscles and take him in as far as I could. I slowly drew my mouth up the length of his cock. I licked slow circles around the head of his cock, then wrapped my lips around it and started to suck. Levi groaned and ran his hand through my hair, hopefully keeping his other hand on the steering wheel. I briefly wondered if I was being a total fool for doing this, and did I really want to get into a car accident and be killed? Surely the police or the EMTs or whoever was first to arrive on the scene would know what I had been doing.
But the car felt safe. Even though I knew we were cruising, I felt as though we were ensconced in some sort of shatter-proof capsule, capable of simply ricocheting off anything that it made contact with. So I kept at it, alternating between running the tip of my tongue around the head of his cock and taking him all the way into my mouth, as far as I could.
The longer I sucked him off, the more relaxed my throat must have gotten, because after a few minutes, I was able to get him all the way in and keep him there. I sucked gently, pulling the insides of my cheeks in, feeling the way he swelled inside my mouth. When that happened, I eased off a little, then started to bob my head up and down, slowly, at first, and then faster and faster until I felt his fingers twist through my hair and his hips bucked and he came, a noise sounding like a cross between a growl and a moan escaping from his throat.
I swallowed and then sat up and wiped the back of my hand across my face. Levi was still gripping the steering wheel tightly, chest heaving.
“That was most unexpected,” he said. “But seriously awesome.”
I buckled my seat belt and smiled. “Good. I’m not always such a goody-two-shoes.”
He glanced at me. “I’ll say.”
We drove in silence for a few minutes, and I listened to Levi’s heavy breathing return to normal. I glanced over at him; he had a smile on his face.
“You want to go out to dinner tonight?” I asked. “There’s this restaurant I’ve always wanted to try. Duquette. It’s on the fancy side, though.”
The reason Duquette had been a place I’d always wanted to try but had never been was because, up until now, there was no way I could’ve justified spending hundreds of dollars on a meal for two.
“Sure,” Levi said. “I know that place.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. The owner’s Cecil Duquette, right?”
“Um . . . I’m not sure. I’ve never been there.”
“He used to have a couple restaurants in Manhattan, but then closed them down after his wife decided she was sick of living in the city. He knew my dad.”
“Oh.”
“But yeah, I’d love to go there. We can celebrate your new car.”
I settled back into the seat and looked out the window. My phone started to ring; for a second I thought that it was going to be my mother, calling up to admonish me for doing what I’d just done, though of course there was no way she’d be able to know that.
I retrieved the phone from my purse. It was Sophie.
“Hey,” I said when I pic
ked up. “I was going to give you a call later. We’re in town.”
“We’re?” she repeated. “As in, you and Levi?”
“Yes, as in me and Levi. But I want to see you. So let’s do dinner or something.”
“You busy tonight?”
I paused. “Uh . . . well, we were going to go out to eat. You could come with us. We’re going to Duquette.”
“No, thank you. That’s one date I could definitely do without going on. Though it would be funny to see in you action.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, playing him. Getting him to fall for you. I know you don’t think so, Isla, but you can really get a guy to fall for you. How about tomorrow? I’ve been craving some sushi. We could go to Toro. Seven o’clock?”
“That sounds good.”
“How did you get a reservation at Duquette? I heard you had to call like weeks in advance.”
“I don’t have a reservation. I didn’t know you needed one.”
“Of course you need one at a place like that.”
“You’ve been there?”
“Once. It was a while ago. With that guy, Tobin?”
“Why didn’t I know this?”
“I’m pretty sure you did. It’s a good place. The owner’s some guy from New York.”
“Is everyone aware of these things except for me?” I asked.
“Have a great time,” Sophie said. I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not.
I hung up the phone and looked at Levi. “I guess I should give a call over there; Sophie says you need a reservation.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
I looked the place up and then called, where I was promptly informed there was no way we could get a reservation for that night.
“Would you like me to make a reservation for next week?” the woman asked.
“There’s nothing available for tonight?”
“No, I’m afraid not.”
“I’ll have to call you back,” I said. Levi held his hand out.
“Let me talk to her.”
I handed him the phone. “Hi,” he said. “Who’s this? Hi there, Maureen. I’m Levi. And that was Isla you were just talking to. Yes, I know. Is Cecil there, by any chance? He’s busy? Could I talk to him? I’ll make it quick, I promise. Yes, he knows who I am. Great, thanks.” He glanced at me. “She’s going to go get him. Though she normally wouldn’t do something like that.” He grinned.
