Page 54 - Demo

2030-JONE
The salesman stopped walking with Tom and for the first time looked into his eyes and saw no nonsense. He swallowed hard and said, “Sir, that car is $25,000.”
$25,500 total and you have a deal.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“If I can’t drive out in half an hour or less, it’s no deal. I’ll be
in the waiting room. You’re on the clock.”
The dealer went running into the showroom.
While Tom was waiting, he half wanted to pull out his folder
and start familiarizing himself with its contents. He dared not. He tried to guess his task, but he couldn’t begin to fathom what Corin had prepared for him. He had to wait. In exactly 19 min- utes and 15 seconds the dealer came to Tom with the keys.
“Sir, I need you to sign a few papers.”
“You still have a little time I see. Good man.”
“Right this way.” Exactly 28 minutes and 34 seconds later,
the dealer walked Tom to his new car. “I apologize for the rain Sir. But if you return, we will clean it up for you free of charge.”
“Thanks, but that won’t be necessary.”
Tom shook hands with the salesman.
“You did good. Here is your commission and tip.”
As Tom drove away, the dealer opened his hand revealing
eight folded thousand-dollar bills. He dropped his umbrella think- ing how nice it was to deal with a man of his word. Picking up his umbrella, he rolled it up and walked back to the office in the downpour. His boss asked why he had settled for a few hundred dollars commission on his first sale. The salesman, smiling, only said the man looked honest.
Tom started down the road very fast and suddenly slowed realizing he could not afford to be in jail under any circumstances. He was a little hazy on Arnetta’s exact location, but his car drove as if it had some internal self-guidance system all its own. He turned the corner and started looking carefully.
Screech!
The Reaction Factor 53