Second Chance 3: Ask Me Again 3: David's Story by Theresa Hodge

wear, thanks to my generous friend Monica who had splurged on me much more than I would have spent on myself.
    I looked at myself in the mirror. I was a year older and wiser, I hoped. I still looked the same, I thought, as I turned off the water and reached for the fluffy blue towel to dry my face and hands. My stomach suddenly decided to grumble loudly. I shouldn’t have been hungry after the big meal Monica and I consumed the night before, but I was.
    I went to the kitchen to remove a bowl from the cabinet and grabbed a spoon from the utensil drawer before getting a box of cereal from the pantry. I poured the cereal into the bowl along with some cold milk from the refrigerator and walked back into my bedroom to eat my cereal while watching television.
    I was glad I decided to close the cookie shop for my birthday. My plan was to be lazy and lie around all day in my pajamas, until it was time to get ready for my date with David. I sat my empty bowl aside and slid back under my bed covers. I had awakened too early for a Saturday morning, I thought to myself, as I sighed and drowsily closed my eyes.
    The doorbell ranged loudly through the house and caused my eyes to pop open with a snap. I glanced over at the clock before rising from the bed to put on my robe. I peeped through the peephole cautiously as I wondered who could be showing up this early on a Saturday morning. I opened the door to take in the man standing before me with a clipboard in hand.
    “Good morning, mam,” he said brightly with a friendly smile stamped on his face. “My name is Harry Baylor, from Baylor Automotive and Mechanics,” he added. He consulted his clipboard before he began speaking again. A Mr. David McRay asked us to deliver your car to you at this address. You are Madelyn Stowe, correct?”
    “Yes, I am she,” I said peeping around him for a glimpse of my old car. “Where is my car?” I asked him not seeing it.
    “That is your car, mam,” he said pointing to a shiny new car that looked familiarly like my old car.
    “No, my car was rusty and it had two hub caps missing,” I said looking in awe at the pretty car parked in my driveway.
    “Mr. McRay had us to do a total overhaul on your car. It’s the same body but everything under the hood including the engine is new and it purrs so well,” he said with a chuckle. “The seats were reupholstered, you have a new sound system with speakers and Bluetooth and brand new tires. You basically have a new car with a 100,000 mile warranty included,” he added.
    My eyes grew brighter by the minute as they filled with happy tears. “It is beautiful,” I said thinking of how David had given me the most precious gift that I could ever think of.
    “I will be on my way, if I can get you to sign here on the dotted lines of this receipt.”
    I took the clipboard from Harry and quickly signed my name on the dotted line where he requested and passed the clipboard back over to him.
    He tore off my part of the receipt and gave it to me. “As you can see, you have a zero balance. Everything was taken care of by Mr. McRay.”
    “Thank you,” I said beyond ecstatic at David’s generosity.
    “You are welcome, ma'am,” he said returning my car keys before he walked off and drove away in his tow truck.
    I stood in my doorway for a while admiring my car before spinning on my heels, hurrying to my bedroom to slip on a pair of sneakers and hurrying out the front door to inspect my birthday gift.  The new shiny red paint shined so much that I could see my reflection. I unlocked the door on the passenger side before sliding behind the wheel. My trembling hands slid over the smooth vinyl of the dashboard and over the smooth leather seats. The carpet and floor mats had even been replaced. I studied the interior of my old, new car in great detail. I ran my hand over the door panels before reluctantly getting out standing beside it.  I took one last look at my car before half running and half skipping into