Silly me, thought Mandy, as she checked her hair and repaired her make up in the small mirror behind her desk. He’s probably short, fat and ugly with sweaty hands.
But Tom Hutchinson wasn’t. As he got out of his VW campervan and Mandy walked towards him across the grass, she saw, instead, that he was tall, slim and athletic with brown hair. As they shook hands, his grip was firm and his eyes seemed to draw her into his soul.
“Now you must tell me absolutely everything that you want … in your dream motorhome,” said Mandy, smiling her best smile.
“Sales are down, are they?” Tom Hutchinson was clearly looking for a bargain.
“There’s a recession, everybody knows that,” said Mandy. “It’s hurting everybody but of course it means that you can get some really good deals.”
Tom Hutchinson wandered over to an Adria Twin.
“That’s the sort of thing that I want,” he said. “It has a good dining room up front where I can do my writing – I’m currently writing an online novel – and a fixed double bed at the back which I can fall into after a long day’s work.”
“It also has a very good bathroom”, observed Mandy. “Do you travel alone or would they be somebody with you? ”
“Mostly alone,” admitted Tom Hutchinson. Then a twinkle came into his eye… “unless I’m lucky of course.”
Mandy gave Tom Hutchinson a rather prim and proper sideways look to put him in his place. There was no mistaking his innuendo but it was said gently, with humour and a very endearing smile which Mandy rather liked.
She opened all the cupboards for him and stood back as he tried the bed.
“If you like the Adria Twin, you may also like a Ford Transit camper van over there,” said Mandy. “It is very similar to the Adria Twin and about the same price. Would you be wanting to trade in your VW camper van?”
“It depends on the price you’d give for the the VW camper-van in part exchange.”
“Ruarc, the owner here, tells me he gives the best prices in England for motor home part exchanges.” Mandy had chosen her words carefully. She didn’t want to lie. It was true Ruarc had told her that he gave the best prices but then he’d added the word ‘not’ and hugely enjoyed the emphasis.
“I can’t stay too long this afternoon, “said Tom Hutchinson, “but perhaps I could come back another day and get your Ruarc to give me a price on my VW camper. Then I will know what I have to play with. I can check out the Ford Transit at the same time”
As he drove away down the road, Mandy stood watching. His cheery wave made her stomach feel strange in a way it hadn’t for years.
Mandy resolved to call him the next day to make a date, then stopped herself and rephrased it in her mind to ‘appointment’ to get his VW valued.