Zoe's POV
Chapter Two – The Dream Truck
Zoe stood the main building of the car dealership. She really couldn't believe her eyes. She was about to purchase her car from one of California's most expensive but reliable dealers, Dave Richards who also happened to be a business friend of her foster parents Daniel and Claire Redd.
Said dealer walked out a few seconds later, shaking Daniels hand, kissing Claire's cheek and then pausing in front of Zoe.
Although proud of her 5'6 and half ish height, Zoe had to crane her neck back to look at the man's face. He was good looking in a slightly sleazy kind of way, with slick hair and a thin pencil moustache. She really did not trust this guy but since he was giving her a serious discount on her new car, she would stay as polite as possible.
"How are you folks today?" The man asked in a posh but still accented voice. Zoe fought the urge to roll her eyes at the usual dealership-man cheeriness.
...
The minutes dragged by like dead weights. Had she not wanted a new car dearly she would have left the dealership ages ago but still here she was standing next to her equally bored foster mother listening to sleaze ball natter on about a car she really could not care about.
Suddenly she felt a slight poke in her ribs. Turning she looked up at Claire who lowered her voice so only Zoe could hear her.
"Go check out the others cars, I'll cover you."
Kissing her on the cheek, Zoe slunk away from the group silently and continued her browsing now content. Instead of the annoying dealer boast about the random parts of each and every car, Zoe could happily ponder on whether she could see herself driving one of these beauties.
There was an yellow Acura RL, a pink Audi R8 Cabriolet and about fifty other cars that Zoe didn't know the names of but still found amazing. They were all sleek and shiny and screamed expense. But none of them seemed to suit her.
She was about to peruse a red BMW when something else caught her eye. A true smile crept up unbidden on her lips as she made her way to the car neighbouring the BMW. It was a massive GMC Topkick C6500. Black seemed to be an understatement, it practically glowed.
"Wow." Zoe whispered, making her way slightly nervously towards the monster of a car. She was only a head taller than the bonnet and she stroked it carefully, taking in the perfect paint work and the flawlessly smooth texture. She leant against the grill for a few seconds before circling it, stopping once to read the licence plate.
Walking towards the driver's door, she opened it carefully and clambered in, giggling silently at the sheer size of it.
She sunk down into the sleek black leather seats which comforted to her body perfectly. She traced her manicured fingers over the steering wheel marvelling at how she just seemed to fit with this car. A strange symbol sat proudly in the centre of the wheel, a square silver face of sorts that she had a feeling meant something grand and great. She let her nail trace the lines of the face before leaning further back into the seat to take in the inside of the Topkick. Everything was plush and was either jet black or a sterling silver. Zoe craned her neck and smiled happily at the huge backseat and the eight foot steel dually pickup box. Zoe felt extremely small inside but she had to admit, she absolutely adored this thing.
That's when it hit her. She wanted this truck. The BMW was long since gone from her mind only to be replaced by this monster. She was already making a mental list of what she needed to do to keep it clean and how to convince Claire to let her have it.
"Hey honey." She jolted at her Daniel's voice beside the driver's side door. She gave him a heartfelt smile.
"I think I found it." She laughed, running her hands over the wheel again. With that he stood back to take the vehicle in full. After a minute even he was smiling.
"You always did have a knack for picking 'em, didn't you?" He asked more of himself than her. His gaze quickly shifted to his wife who was staring at the Topkick with a mixture of horror and awe.
Zoe saw her expression and laughed, "We really need to stop gawking at it else I'm going to get one vain truck!" To her surprise she felt the truck give a tiny rock, almost as if it was chuckling to itself. Shaking it off as her being so happy she felt dizzy, Zoe looked at Claire hopefully.
When Claire laughed and nodded Zoe knew that she approved – no matter how apprehensive she seemed.
Her gaze quickly shifted to Dave who had a confused look on his face as he looked over the car himself. He almost looked as if he had never seen the Topkick before.
"How much?" Daniel asked, leaning against the driver's door arms folded.
"Well, uh…" Dave trailed off, it was clear he was thinking, but it was also clear how difficult it seemed. Finally he shrugged his shoulders as if coming to a decision and grinned to them.
"$49,000?"
Again Zoe felt the truck she was in move but this time it seemed to tense, as if shocked at the price. Before she knew what she was doing, Zoe patted the steering wheel comfortably and nodded the dealer. She however was surprised, she had expected a lot higher price.
"Deal!" She replied, leaning back into the seat with a smile.