It had not been the best week of my life, lots of little things had all mounted up to make my life a misery, most of them trivial but a couple of big things too. I received a phone call asking me to meet him in the car park, this man who had once been my lover and was now one of my best friends. He had something to show me. I laughed and answered him fatuously. He laughed back and just told me to meet him, he had something to make me smile. I packed up and picked up my bag and keys, making my way out of the room and the building, wandering across the road to find him.
I spotted him in one corner of the car park, watching the world go by. I walked towards him, my breath catching in my throat as I saw what he was leaning on.
I stopped in front of him and he smiled and asked if I liked it. Lost for words I just looked at him, nodding and saying, "Oh wow," over and over again.
In front of me was a car, but no ordinary car. This was a Jaguar XJS convertible in beautiful British Racing Green, with the roof down, walnut dashboard, full leather seats and 5 gears. It purred, 'Drive me' and I looked back up at him. He held out his hand, the keys hanging from his finger. I looked at him and laughed; he could not possibly mean for me to drive this car? I told him so and he laughed again, saying that it needed a woman behind the wheel and he knew of no other woman who could drive a car like this as fast as he wanted it driven and he trusted no one else.
I smiled telling him he was going to regret it. Throwing my bag into the back, I jumped into the front seat. I adjusted it until I was happy, moved the mirror and slid the key into the ignition, listening to it click and purr into action, noticing at the same time that there were only six miles on the clock, thinking how many more miles I could put on it before we got back. I turned to him and asked him how far I could go, he answered that I could go as far as I wanted.
I left the car park and had an idea, I needed to know how fast this baby could go, and as I flew down the motorway at 100mph I knew where we were going. I turned it towards a village locally that had an airfield, knowing that a friend of mine worked there and would let us onto the runways if there were no planes due in. I was taking a chance, it could sometimes be busy there.
I pulled up and asked the guy on the gate to contact my friend, and within 5 minutes he came wandering along, his eyes nearly leaving his head when he saw what I was driving. He leant into the car and gave me a hello kiss, which I returned warmly, then he asked me what I was after, I told him and he answered that I was in luck, there were no planes due in for 3 hours and the runways were mine, just do not turn it over.
I laughed and said I would not, shifting it into first and rolling off. I hit the runway at 60mph and shifted into 4th, running it faster and faster until I changed into 5th at 85mph. I floored the accelerator and we took off, my foot going to the floor as the speedometer climbed and climbed until I hit 150mph, the roof down, my hair slicked back, I looked across at him, he was gripping the door with what can only be described as feeling, looking absolutely petrified. I laughed, and carried on driving, slowing down only to turn and speed up again.
Eventually I slowed at the far end of the runway, and rolled to a stop. Putting the car in neutral and switching off the engine, I turned to him smiling, he turned to me and looked at me, telling me never, ever to do that again, I laughed again and told him not to be a baby, he wanted me to drive that fast or he would not have let me have the car in the first place. I leant across the car and kissed him gently, thanking him. He smiled and told me that it was his pleasure, he had noticed that I had not been myself and wanted to treat me, knowing how I felt about fast cars.