Chapter 5...Part 6

Meeting Candy and Beth was really nice. The girl was so happy to be around females again. It seemed like forever since she had been around feminine companionship. They all met one morning and got to know one another. The girl set up files on Candy’s laptop and they discussed where they wanted the business to go. How nice it was to work again!

Later on they all went car shopping. Yes, reminiscent of other times in Utah but the girl was sure this time would be different. She also thought that maybe she would finally see something come from Merrill Lynch. After all, how were they going to buy cars if they had no money?

This was the day the girl found her dream vehicle. They were at a Buick dealership test driving Buick Lucerns when the girl saw a vehicle she had never seen before. It was what they call a crossover. It was just the perfect size. All wheel drive and comfy looking. She test drove it and after that she wanted no other vehicle. This dream of hers was a GMC Acadia. They had just been released. The one she drove was fully loaded and she fell instantly in love. The guest promised her that she could have one and priced everything out the door.

That night everyone had high hopes. They all had a really nice dinner together at a yummy Mexican restaurant. This was when they also met Candy’s husband, David. The evening was so enjoyable the girl didn’t want to go back to the truck.

They spent the next several days in North Carolina. They spent time at Candy’s house and she made them dinner a couple of times. Then it was decided to head to Florida again.

The 3 of them headed south again. When they got near Alabama, Sam got a call. He received a bonus check. Well, of course this was reason for everyone to spend money. To this day the girl could never figure out why it was better to spend all the money and have none later. Sam was a gambler and it has already been established how the guest was. Instead of saving money and trying to figure a way out of this mess the first thing they did was to eat at a non-cheap restaurant. Then they stayed in a motel for the night. It had been such a long time since the girl had slept in a bed she didn’t sleep much that night. However, she was thrilled to spend an hour or two in a nice, hot bath.

The next morning they were off towards Florida again. This was definitely getting old. They never seemed to make it anywhere near where they were supposed to be. However, this time they did indeed make it to Florida. Sam had never been to any beaches in Florida before so it was suggested that they go back to Daytona Beach.

They got to Daytona Beach and saw another truck parked in an empty parking lot. They parked near him. They went down to the beach for a couple of hours then went back to the truck for lunch. They went back down to the beach for a couple more hours. The men walked down the beach for a while and the girl was left by herself. It was a nice time for her. She picked up small sea shells from the beach and just enjoyed being on her own. It was peaceful and quiet and no one was telling her what to do or what an idiot she was for doing it.

After a while she was starting to be concerned where the men went. She called them on their cell phones and neither one answered at first. Then the guest called her back. He said they were on their way back and with a present for the girl. She figured it was some kind of a sea shell.

She eventually saw the men walking toward her and she could see the guest was holding something in his arms. When the men got to her he unwrapped his shirt to show her 2 star fish that they had chased for her. She wasn’t thrilled that the star fish were dying but the guest assured her they would have died anyhow. Now that they were out of the water she was just thrilled that she had them. They had also gathered a lot of big shells for her.

After they gathered all their belongings they headed back to the truck. Sam went on ahead to unlock the truck. Soon you heard him yelling for the guest. The couple just figured that Sam was being overly dramatic about something. The guest left all their belongings with the girl and went to see what all the fuss was about.

What they found out was that the truck was gone. Completely gone! When they walked over to the parking lot where they had parked there was now a sign that said ‘no parking, all will be towed’ and gave the information of the company. This was an incredibly stressful situation. The guest seemed less upset that the other two. He told Sam to just call the company, find out where they were and what it would take to get the truck back.

The tow yard was only about a mile away from where they were. They first called a cab company. They had $10.00 left. It was going to cost them at least $40.00 just to get one mile. They found an orange vendor on the beach who was willing to drive Sam to the tow yard. Sam ended up calling the people that owned the truck and they advanced him the money to get the truck out of impound. It was $400.00 for one mile of towing!

The next night they made it incredibly close to Miami. They got to the truck stop closest to Miami and spent the night there. The next morning the guest called Merrill Lynch and was told that they couldn’t meet with him.

Well, now what? They were finally almost in Miami and things still weren’t being taken care of. The decision was made to head back to North Carolina and see what could be accomplished there with the office girls.