***** Vol.4 Chap.15 A bribe *****

When JB got to her office, there was a phone message waiting for her from Dr. Schmidtiz. It had been a while since JB heard from him. She was delighted and called him immediately.

“Dr. Schmidtiz?”

“Yes, JB. Good to hear from you.”

“Good to hear from you, as well. What can I do for you this time?”

“Well, can we meet tomorrow at our usual place and time?”

“Sure, I will be there.”

“Great, see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow.”

JB hung up the phone. She was ecstatic.

Without questions, things are going my way. She thought.

The next day, at the appointed time, JB showed up at the agreed upon place. She deliberately went earlier to see if she could be there before Dr. Schmidtiz. But her plan was foiled. He was already there, though, talking on the phone intensely. She waited patiently near the table. As soon as he saw her, he quickly terminated the conversation.

“JB, you are early. Good for you.”

“Well, it was a nice day, and I did not want to get stuck in my office. So, I left early.”

“Excellent. Beer?” He waved at the waiter, who quickly brought over a glass of sherry and a draft beer for JB.

After taking a sip, he started the conversation. “Well, we really appreciate your work so far. My boss is very impressed with your work. With your program in place, we have made great strides in our work and were able to modify our procedure to give higher yield than before.”

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JB had no idea what he was talking about.

“We are truly appreciative of your past efforts in helping us. I noticed that you always come with a beat-up Ford pickup. So, I talked to my boss, and he agreed that we should provide you with more suitable transportation.”

He had a big smile on his face. “Come with me outside.”

JB had no idea what he was talking about, but she followed him outside.

There it was, parked on the street, was a brand-new bright red Porsche. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a set of keys, and threw them at JB.

“Enjoy your new wheels!”

“For me? I can’t afford this, not at my present salary.” JB said astonishingly.

“Take it. It is all paid for. You will find the title in the glove compartment.”

“Are you sure?”

“Take it for a spin.”

With that, he opened the front passenger door and sat down. Walking over to the driver’s side, she opened the gull wing door and sat down. She slid her hands over the rich leather seats while gawking at the gauges, feeling the transmission stick, and holding the steering wheel.

Everything was first class and luxurious. The whole car smelled new! She turned the ignition key, and the engine came alive. She noticed that the odometer said 000002. Wow, no one had ever driven this car before.

“This is a magnificent machine.” JB spoke with adorations. If truth be told, she was tongue-tied and did not know what to say.

“Isn’t it? Take it out for a spin.”

“Yup.”

JB stepped on the gas pedal and saw the tachometer spin up effortlessly. She put the car in gear and zoomed out of the parking lot. The car was a marvelous machine, totally responsive to her touch. The car accelerated quickly without hesitation when she stepped on the gas and can stop quickly and silently when she even gently pressed on the brake. Simply, it was a fun machine to drive.

She took the car and spun around the block a few times and then went back to park the car, amazed that the car parked itself just by her pressing a button. Not believing her eyes, she took the car out and pressed the button. Again, the car parked itself flawlessly and effortlessly. She had never seen anything like this.

In fact, she was so engrossed in the car that she forgot all about the meeting. She was supposed to be here to meet with him. All this time, he was just smiling at her. Finally, she had enough and she parked the car back at the front and got out.

“What a beautiful machine!” She mumbled. “It is an engineering marvel!” she added.

Together, they walked back into the cafe.