Mila said with a smile, “My car is coughing and spluttering and there are black clouds coming out of the muffler.”
“Well then, there’s no need to run a diagnostic, your car has had too many cigarettes and it needs to quit smoking.”
“Stop it! My car is broken and I need to get to work!” Mila said.
“I’m sorry. I apologise. I’m going to be serious now I promise.” He cleared his throat, “Heh, Hem, Young Lady, I will have my team run a diagnostic and I will give you a call to let you know what we discover and how much it will be to repair the vehicle.”
Mila smiled at him and steered him back into the casual flirtation she had tried to redirect him from. “You like that word don’t you?” she asked tilting her head playfully and brushing all her hair forward to drape in front of her left shoulder.
“Which word?” he asked leaning back into his chair, hands placed behind his head, enjoying the banter with the beautiful young lady before him.
“Die-ag-nos-tic!” she said leaning her bust into the desk and sounding out each syllable.
“Well, young lady, I’ll have you know that diagnostic is a word associated with careers that demand years and years of university education, it defines a term that includes problem solving, investigative and analytical findings and quite frankly, makes me sound a little posh, don’t you think?”
“Nup,” Mila said shaking her head. She pressed her lips together to try and stop herself smiling but it didn’t work.
“Well I’ve got another word I’d rather hear, but it’s from you....” he said standing up from his chair and leaning closer into the service desk and teetering on entering her personal space.
“Oh yeah? And what is that?” Mila said folding her arms and standing her ground. She positioned her weight onto her right hip, a move that dropped every mouth in the queue behind her as they watched her figure intensely.
‘Yes,” he said.
“Yes what?” Mila asked.
“Will you let me take you to dinner sometime?” he asked.
“Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!” Mila replied without thinking but then realised she didn’t want everyone in the room to hear their banter.
“Owwwwwwch! ” he said falling backwards clutching at his heart. Then he mimed ripping his heart out, throwing it on the floor, stepping on it, twisting his foot at first and then stomping on it with both feet.
Mila giggled as she watched his 190 cm athletic frame energetically contort. Then she caught herself perving again and looked around at the four people behind her in line who were watching the display with great interest. Leaning in and hoping they couldn’t hear her, she whispered to him, “I’m sorry, I’m seeing someone. And I’m not a cheater.”
“Oh okay, I didn’t realise, I’m sorry,” he said, backing off and trying to regain a professional approach. “He is a lucky man. And I, better get your details, in case you ever become single and need a shoulder to cry on,” he said unable to let the opportunity go by.
“You’re a bit of work aren’t you? My details are linked to the rego of the car, since I bought it here, brand new, only four months ago,” she said handing him her registration papers.
“Fantastic...” he said searching the paperwork for her name, “Mila!”
“Thank you....” Mila said stepping across to the right and focussing in on the young man’s name tag, “Mar-ley!”
“I like the way you say that, it’s very ...Um. Doesn’t matter. So were you named after Milla Milla, the town up north on the Atherton Tablelands, near Cairns?” Marley asked.
“Um Nooooo, I wasn’t. And you’re the second person to ask me if I was named after cheese! Were you named after Bob?” She paused. “Mar-ley?”
“True dat!” Marley replied clapping his hands once then pointing his right index finger at her. “Mumsy and Dadsy were quite the scoobers!” he said matter of fact as he rolled up a piece of A4 paper and imitated smoking it like it was an enormous spliff, before sitting back into his chair like he was relaxed from his imaginary inhalation. He started to chuckle.
Mila giggled too. She was very taken with Marley but true to her declaration, she was not a cheater. Her mind wandered for a moment, long enough to imagine grabbing hold of his business shirt and tearing it open by wrenching the front collar apart, exploding each button from its hole then using his shirt to pull his shoulders towards her, before lunging for his bright and brash smile and locking on to his lips. Feeling goose bumps trickling up her arm, Mila rubbed her arms to cover up any visual trace of lust and belted out sternly, “Well I’d LOVE to stop and chat but I have to find a way to get to work, ‘cause I am late as!”
Ever the quick thinking opportunist, Marley jumped out of his seat and walked over to grab the keys of a demonstration vehicle, saying, “Oh, I can fix that, we have a courtesy service so I’d be happy to drive you to work right away if you like?”
“Oh you’re offering to take me? Why you do offer a good service here don’t you?” she smiled.
“Oh I’d personally like to offer YOU a FULL service but you’re a lovely lady and I’m a gentleman so I shan’t suggest anything of the sort,” he said as posh as he could with a smile brighter than the morning star.
“Stop it!” Mila said, not wanting him to stop it.
Marley signalled to his boss, old beer-bellied Baz who was now on a phone call back in his office, and yelled, “Baz I’ll be back shortly, I’m dropping a customer off to work.”
Baz saw Marley walking out the front door and the four men still waiting in the service queue that he would now have to serve. Putting the phone aside, he yelled towards deaf ears, “That’s not part of your job!”
The four men left waiting in the queue stared at Marley and then at their watches in disbelief. Their wait for service had undoubtedly just doubled. But their disgruntled expressions soon turned to knowing smiles. Marley was simply living their dream of walking away with such an incredibly hot looking young woman.
On the drive to Mila’s work Marley couldn’t keep himself from prying, “So did you say you bought your car from us four months ago?”
“Yes, my dad and I came in.”
“Four months ago, argh, damn it! I must have been on holidays.”
“Maybe, I don’t remember seeing you before,” Mila replied.
“I’m never going on holidays again, I don’t want to miss you coming into my work ever again.”
“Hey, I don’t want to have to go in to your work, it means my car is broken, you better fix it or I want a new one,” Mila said trying to be tough.
Marley decided to change the subject. “So how long have you been seeing your boyfriend?”
“Two months,” Mila replied.
Marley felt like
