36 comments

Fiction Funny Romance

“May I be of any assistance?” You swing round from the row of adverts in the window to see a handsome young salesman dressed in the inevitable crisply-pressed suit and tie, towering over you. The most startling turquoise-blue eyes twinkle down at you and the term ‘stunning’ springs to mind. No doubt a result of reading too many romance novels, you scold yourself. Stop it! After all, you are here on business.


“Erm, yes please. I’m looking for a…. I need a… erm… I want to buy a car,” you say and immediately want to kick yourself. Nothing like stating the obvious, is there? In a rush to redeem yourself you mumble that you are thinking about a small car, maybe a Golf or a Kia or possibly a Twingo. Flashing you a wide schoolboy grin revealing perfectly aligned teeth, the man informs you that you have come to the right place.


Spellbound by the man’s pearly smile, you find yourself staring back at him, utterly lost for words. Somehow, you find yourself rabbiting on about how you need to replace your little old green car you call Albert which you have owned for the past five years. The man raises his left eyebrow and continues to look at you with a little smile. He has cute little dimples, you notice, your mind wandering. With a start, you realize he is expecting you to carry on,


 “Well, that is, until some crazy idiot at the traffic lights didn’t stop and ran into the back of us last week and completely wrote him off. It was a Thursday and it was raining. I was on my way home from work. I was heartbroken! I’ll never be able to replace him. My friends all used to tell me Albert’s colour matched my eyes exactly,” you continue, before realizing you are waffling and making a complete idiot of yourself. With a conscious effort, you manage to drag your eyes away from his in order to study your feet, only to realize with horror that you are still wearing your still slightly muddy gardening shoes. Talk about embarrassment! You cringe and hide under your fringe, thanking your lucky stars you still haven’t been to the hairdresser’s for that overdue trim.


It turns out that Mr Sex on Legs just so happens to have a cute little number he tells you he knows will suit you down to a T, and offers to show you right now if you are interested. It is a Kia Forte, three years old with extremely low mileage and has only had one careful owner, no less. You are not too sure about that last dubious-sounding fact, but decide to give him the benefit of the doubt and let it slide.


 “And it’s exactly the right tint of green,” he adds with a little wink which sends your stomach fluttering into spasms and instantly transforms your face into a seriously unflattering shade of scarlet.


Following him meekly past the rows of gleaming Mercedes and BMWs towards the second-hand car section out the back, you cannot help but notice his socks and your opinion of him plummets in dismay. It is a pet hate of yours. As you always say, anyone who chooses to wear dazzling white socks with a charcoal grey suit and stylish cream silk shirt definitely merits the most severe disdain. The poor man must obviously be colour-blind, you reason in his defence.


 “Here’s the little beauty I was telling you about,” says Nigel. You can see that is his name from the shiny metallic name-tag gracing his lapel, “So, what do you think?” His voice sounds like your grandmother’s treacle toffee, is what you think, although obviously you don’t tell him that. You always adored your grandmother’s treacle toffee.


Actually, you like to believe you are quite savvy about cars, yet right now you cannot think of a single sensible question to ask. He is still waiting for you to speak but your mind has somehow turned to mush,


“Does… does it have a big glove box? I need one with plenty of space… For my handbag.” The very instant those ridiculous words leave your mouth, you regret them. In response, he turns to face you, now sporting an amused expression and you want to slap yourself. Why, oh why do you keep on saying the most stupid things?


Within half an hour and a quick test drive around the block, the sale is concluded. The emerald-green Kia which matches your eye-colour precisely, is now all yours. Oh yes, along with a five-year loan at a mere eighteen percent interest rate, that is.

Dangling the car keys over your hand, he flashes you a little smile. It is probably the most enigmatic smile you have ever seen and you are not quite sure how to take it. Does it mean you have indeed just snapped up a bargain, or is that look telling you he has just hoodwinked you into making the biggest financial mistake of your life?


Maybe you’ll be able to tell us all a little more after your hot date with the man this evening, you inform us later with confidence. You only agreed to going along so you could use the situation to set things straight once and for all with this man. After all, there’s no way you would ever let a mere car salesman get the better of you, is there?


As you leisurely roll up to the arranged spot opposite the restaurant in Albert’s replacement you’ve baptised Nigello, you check the time. Perfect. As intended, you’ve arrived fashionably late. The only problem is, it looks as if Nigel is going to arrive even more fashionably late, damn him! Yep, that’s him sauntering up now, sporting his sheepish schoolboy grin complete with dimples and waving a bouquet of pink and white peonies - your favourite flowers in the whole world. How could he possibly have known? Your pulse races and your knees wobble. Who’s kidding who?





June 22, 2020 11:47

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

36 comments

03:03 Jun 28, 2020

What a sweet story. Never let go of the reader had perfect tempo. “Sex on legs” love that. Good work !

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
08:35 Jun 30, 2020

Thank you for taking the time to review, Sarah.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Aditi Singh
11:16 Jul 02, 2020

This was funny and imaginative. Very nice!

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
14:24 Jul 02, 2020

Thank you for taking the time to review Aditi I appreciate it

Reply

Aditi Singh
17:11 Jul 02, 2020

It was worth reading☺️☺️

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Arvi Krish
00:42 Jun 29, 2020

Hahaha...Really enjoyed reading this! Not to forget I was actually smiling reading this story. You explain each situation very well. Good work! By the way, I have seen some of you feedback whereby you check the sentences grammatically. If you have time do read my story. Hope you could advise me too :-) Thank you

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
08:20 Jun 29, 2020

Thanks for your review Arvi, glad you enjoyed it (& no problem, I’ll take a look right now)

Reply

Arvi Krish
02:27 Jul 01, 2020

Thank you so much for taking your time to read. I guess many people are asking you the same :-) Have a nice day ahead!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Raquel Rodriguez
14:50 Jul 28, 2020

I love this! This is really funny at times. I loved it when you said, '“And it’s exactly the right tint of green,” he adds with a little wink which sends your stomach fluttering into spasms and instantly transforms your face into a seriously unflattering shade of scarlet.' Keep writing! ;) When you have time, could you read my recent submissions?

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
09:40 Jul 31, 2020

thanks for reading Raquel, and yes of course, I'm on my way....

Reply

Raquel Rodriguez
11:55 Jul 31, 2020

:) Thank you!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Grace M'mbone
18:42 Jul 07, 2020

Shirley this was a brilliant story by a brilliant writer. I really learn from writers like you. I would be really grateful if you would please read a story of two of mine. You are so gifted Shirley. Please keep writing.

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
20:51 Jul 07, 2020

Thank you so very much for your kind words Grace. I believe all of us here can & should try to learn lots from each other. I’d love to check out your stories - I’m on my way right now 👍

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Amy DeMatt
21:54 Jul 03, 2020

What a pleasure to read! This story was so real, sweet and humorous—well done!

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
12:04 Jul 07, 2020

Thanks very much Amy, much appreciated. Enjoy your day!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Anja Z
16:56 Jul 02, 2020

Good story , read the whole story , loved the ending. Can you please read mine as well :D

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
21:19 Jul 02, 2020

With pleasure Anja

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Nandan Prasad
04:36 Jul 01, 2020

Wonderful story! Especially the bit about the color-blindness, that had me in splits!

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
16:14 Jul 01, 2020

Thanks for reading Nandan - & you spotted the socks 🤣🤣

Reply

Nandan Prasad
02:02 Jul 02, 2020

Welcome.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Batool Hussain
05:47 Jun 30, 2020

A wonderful story! Mind checking out my new story? Thanks.

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
07:37 Jun 30, 2020

Thank you. Sure, I'll take a look shortly...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
14:43 Jun 29, 2020

Hi Shirley! GREAT story! I really enjoyed reading this! Such a hilarious story! Your story is really great and I'm glad I didn't missed it!😊😉 Would you mind giving feedbacks on my story? I really appreciate it! Looking forward for more stories from you Shirley! Keep writing and have a great day Shirley!❤️️

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
18:34 Jun 29, 2020

Thank you so much for your kind review, and yes I’ve already checked out your beautiful love story...

Reply

01:46 Jun 30, 2020

You're welcome Shirley!😊 Thank you for checking out my story! I really appreciate it!😉 Keep writing Shirley! :)))

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
A O
17:52 Jun 27, 2020

Dear Shirley, I'm so glad you asked me to check out your stories. So far I'm a fan. This is adorable. Should I feel bad that my first car was Betsy, her replacement was The Roach, and the 12 yr old Range Rover I'm currently tooling around in is dubbed The War Horse?

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
22:51 Jun 27, 2020

What memories!!! I always name my cars... Actually my first car was a Renault 12 which I used to call Lamborghini Gini 🤣

Reply

A O
16:14 Jun 28, 2020

Awesome. You're a lot of fun. I look forward to reading more of your work.

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
17:43 Jun 28, 2020

👍 I think we probably share a similar sense of humour....

Reply

A O
00:57 Jun 29, 2020

I suspect you're right. ;-)

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Roshna Rusiniya
13:29 Jun 26, 2020

This is a beautiful story. Very descriptive too. I liked the ending.

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
15:38 Jun 26, 2020

Thank you Roshna, glad you enjoyed reading

Reply

Roshna Rusiniya
16:53 Jun 26, 2020

You are welcome. If you have time, please check out my story too. Thanks!

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
21:27 Jun 26, 2020

Of course, will take a look tomorrow 😊

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
12:36 Jul 28, 2020

🤩🤩🤩🤩 Amazing job! 👏👏👏👏 Oh, and would you mind checking out my most recent story, “Tales Of Walmart”? If so, thank you so much! —Aerin! 🌈🌈🌈

Reply

Shirley Medhurst
09:57 Jul 31, 2020

Thank you Aerin

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in Reedsy Studio. 100% free.