So following that short adjournment I shall continue with the story.

The four girls arrived at the Renault dealership and as Carrie came to a stop in the car park Kirstie had pressed her nose up to the glass window and was pointing at the mauve mechanical magnificence she had dreamed of, “there, it’s there!”

Kirstie and Carrie got out the car and hurried towards the Renault to have a look around it. Penny and Sarah, the more reserved of the group, slowly strolled over whilst taking in their surroundings with Sarah constantly on the lookout for a sales person, she doesn’t like sales people.

“I love it!” Kirstie exclaimed as she walked around the vehicle, touching the paintwork.

“Let’s just hold on a second,” Carrie said as she stood back and examined every last inch of the bodywork. Carrie was just as excitable as Kirstie but she also had a calming influence but only because it wasn’t her car. Carrie pushed her glasses up in a way that reminded Kirstie of Hiro in the TV show Heroes and Kirstie smiled. “What?” Carrie asked, puzzled at the look she had been given.

Sarah and Penny caught up to the girls, who had already managed to do three laps of the car before they had arrived.

“There’s a dent on the passenger door,” Penny said as she pointed to the base of the front passenger door. “And there are some scratches on the driver door,” Sarah added from the other side of the car. Kirstie looked from one to the other with a sad pout.

Carrie put a gentle hand on Kirstie’s lower back and whispered, “don’t worry, they’re a dealership so they will sort everything out for you.”

The doors all unlocked with a clunk and all four girls jumped at the sound, “sorry ladies!” a cheeky salesman said as he approached the car with remote locking control in hand. “I’m Phil,” he smiled, “would you like to take the car out for a test drive?”

“Absolutely do, Phil!” Penny said as she opened her nearest door and started to examine the interior.

“Who’s driving?” Phil asked as he looked from one face to the next.

“Me!” Kirstie said as she took the keys from him and jumped into the driver’s seat,” Phil looked slightly terrified as Carrie jumped into the front passenger seat and Sarah said to him, “we’re going to stay here, good luck!”

Penny and Sarah headed for a mooch about the forecourt as Kirstie drove Carrie and Phil off up the road. “OK at the next roundabout you want to remain in the left hand lane and take the second exit,” Phil said in a very calm voice.

“Ooo, PhilNav!” Carrie laughed, “you must know this route in your sleep!

“Yes, I lay in bed thinking about roundabouts and lane changes and customers getting lost” he said, “still I’m sure we’ll be fine with your sister!”

“Sister?” Kirstie laughed, “we’re not sisters!” Kirstie thought on for a few short evil moments before adding, “we’re married!”

Carrie coughed back a laugh, “yes, Kirstie used to be Kevin and I just loved him so, sorry, loved HER so much that I had to support her choice, it’s been five years now hasn’t it darling?”

Kirstie looked at Phil’s bright red face in the rear view mirror and laughed, “five years two months sweetheart,” she replied as she put her hand on Carrie’s knee.

Phil didn’t say much more and he seemed to stay a bright red tinge all the way back to the dealership. When they got back Kirstie ran over to Sarah, “I love it, I love it!” she exclaimed as if asking Mummy if she was allowed.

“OK,” Sarah replied, “then you do what you think is best.”

After some discussion it was decided that the price was a little high especially considering that the car was not in top notch condition and some negotiation was to be done.

“… and obviously the dent in the door needs to be repaired,” Carrie said following on from her long long list of demands she made on Kirstie’s behalf.

“Dent?” Phil asked with confusion, Penny pointed to the door and Phil had a look at the small dent, “ah, well, yes, I didn’t even notice that but we should be able to fix that for you for around twenty to thirty pounds.”

Sarah had been quiet up to now but at this her head snapped up as she asked, “you want her to pay you to fix that?”

“Well we may be able to negotiate something, as I said to Kirstie earlier this car really is at the most discounted we can manage. In fact there is a new model, a full year younger on the forecourt for only two hundred pounds more!” Phil said to Sarah, thinking himself rather smug.

“Then I think you have a severe pricing strategy problem,” Sarah replied, “while you were out I spent all of five minutes online and this is quite an expensive example of this vehicle. Now you tell me you have one more expensive in stock. I think you need to re-evaluate your pricing of these cars and you seriously need to look at the quality at which you sell them.”

All the girls looked at Phil, Kirstie and Carrie backed up behind Sarah in a ‘she’s with us’ pattern while Penny folded her arms and smiled a small but knowing grin.

“As I say we can definitely speak about this, and all the other issues you have,” Phil said as he quickly found his negotiating feet again, “in fact if you’d like to come into the showro…”

“I’m going to wait in the car,” Penny loudly announced, cutting Phil off mid-sentence and making it very clear to Kirstie that she didn’t think much of Phil, the car or the dealership.

“I think I’ll join you,” Sarah added.

Carrie threw the car keys to Sarah and said that she would stay with Kirstie and they would have a quick chat with Phil to see if they could come to any agreement.

Sarah and Penny skulked off to the car, mumbling under their breath and pointed at various vehicles on the forecourt as they went. Carrie turned to Phil, “right, we’re all yours, what can you do for us?”

Phil led Carrie and Kirstie into the showroom and sat them down and then the hard selling began. Firstly he offered to fix the dent but not the scratches, then the scratched but not the dent. Then he checked with his manager and he would do both but nothing about the kerbed alloys. Then he would deal with the dent and paint the alloys but leave the scratches. Then he would resurface the alloys but not do anything about the dent or the scratches. Carrie folded her arms with displeasure as she negotiated with Phil and Phil kept running backwards and forwards to his manager’s office.

Eventually Carrie said she had had enough and that as it was getting towards lunchtime she would go away and talk it over and would return later on in the day. Phil started to get very pushy and said that he would really need an answer either way, his manager wouldn’t be happy if Phil let them go without doing everything he possibly could to ensure a sale.

Kirstie began to feel a little claustrophobic and didn’t appreciate Phil’s attitude at all, “we have to go, we all need to go and have lunch and the girls in the car will be getting fed up,” she said hoping that that would settle the matter.

Phil said that he wanted to speak to them as well, with a wicked smile Carrie agreed that it would be a good idea for Phil to speak with Sarah, knowing full well that Sarah would not be happy and would probably have a few choice words to say to Phil!