Tammy's Guiding Light

"Welcome to Scott Belo’s Rental Car Company, may I help you sir?"

Oh, such sweet gentle words piercing through my ears coming from the mouth of a tall, beautiful, and attractive brunette standing behind the front counter wearing a dark red polo shirt, eagerly asking to assist me.

May you help me? Yes, you may certainly help me. You may help me end my sanity, please! Desperately trying not to allow my disparity get the best of me, I reply by saying, "Yes, I would like to rent a car please."

As my eyes gazed upon her beautiful face, I couldn't help myself to even utter another sentence until she said, “Sir, I do apologize, but it seems that you do not have enough points to take advantage of our special rental offer we have going on today.”

“Well, that can’t be right. Can you please check your computer again?” I asked. “My name is Robert Novacks, spelled with a ‘cks’ at the end, not an ‘x’!”

The front desk rental car representative glared at me with frustration in her eyes and entered my information into her computer again. Nodding her head back and forth she said, “Sir, I am sorry for the inconvenience, but my system shows here that you only have 4,300 points. You need to accumulate at least 7,800 points in order to rent one of our Compact Cars.”

Hearing these agonizing words almost escalated my temper, but just by hearing her soft, soothing voice somehow alleviated my nerves and made it easier for me to remain calm.

“How can that be? I haven’t rented any vehicles in quite awhile! The last time I checked, I should have accumulated an extra 5,000 points by now! Listen, someone stole my car a couple of hours ago, and I don’t have the patience right now to stand here and debate with you about my points! Is there any other way I can get a rental car in the meantime?”

“Sir, I am so sorry to hear that and I understand your frustration, but it shows here you had rented a Ford Focus from us four weeks ago which lowered your reward points down to 4,300. As being one of our loyal customers, you have the option of renting one of our compact cars at a rate of $33.00 per day and you’ll be able to accumulate more points depending how long you plan to rent the car?”

My mind began to drift off into space. Where was I four weeks ago? What happened and why? The representative’s voice suddenly became muffled and I didn’t quite get the last part of her question. Then, a sudden epiphany came over me. Oh yeah, now I remember! That was the time I got fired from my job and I had to rent a car since I had lost complete ownership of the company car. Without going into too much detail, let’s just say it was the most miserable day of my life!

“Sir? Excuse me, Sir?”

“Huh? What? What was that? I didn’t quite understand the last question.” I asked in embarrassment.

“Sir, I asked if you would like to rent one of our compact cars for $33.00 and you will be able to accumulate more points that way instead. Would you like to go that route?”

“Sure, why not? At least my wallet didn’t get stolen! By the way, I didn’t quite get your name.”

“Oh, sorry sir, how silly of me, I forgot to put on my name tag this morning. My name is Tammy.”

“Nice to meet you Tammy, I apologize for being so rude to you earlier, but nothing like this has ever happened to me. It’s like all of a sudden I have fallen into the Twilight Zone! Four weeks ago I got fired from my job, last week I broke up with my girlfriend, two days ago my dog died, and now my car got stolen! Do you think my life could get any worse?”

“Oh No! That’s horrible! Well, hopefully everything will turn out for the best. In fact, I’m most certain everything will, it always does. Give it time, your luck will eventually change for the better, sooner or later”, Tammy replied.

“Oh yeah? Well, you've sparked my interest. How do you know?” I asked inquisitively.

“Well, Sir, it just so happens that I got fired from a previous job a few weeks ago, my boyfriend cheated on me a few days ago, my best friend broke into my apartment and stole my jewelry the day after, I got a flat tire yesterday, and today I forgot to put on my name tag. So, it seems we have a few things in common already.”

“Oh Wow! Most definitely! So, has your luck changed any since then?” I asked.

“Well, to be truthfully honest sir, it has, ever since you walked into the building through those front doors. I almost thought I was the only one having a bad day. And now, you have proven me wrong which has led me to believe that there is always someone out there having an even worse day than you are.”

“Oh gee, well, thanks.” I replied sarcastically.

Both of us laughed hysterically while I was pulling out my credit card from my wallet.

Tammy handed me the keys to a rather newer model of a Ford Focus and said, “You are very lucky because we just got this one in early this morning, so congratulations! You are the first one to drive off with it! Here’s your credit card and your receipt Mr. Novacks, I hope you find your car very soon.”

“Thank You so much for being patient with me and I really appreciate your excellent customer service. You most definitely need a raise my dear!” I replied kindly.

“I’m flattered for the suggestion Sir, but I only wish it was that easy! I hope you enjoy your new rental car and have a great rest of the day!” Tammy replied with a beautiful divine smile gleaming from her gorgeous glowing face.

Thinking my day couldn’t get any better, I held the keys in my hand and walked out of the building towards the car. As Just as I was about to enter the car, my cell phone rang. Who in the world could be calling me at a time like this?

“Hello? Who is this?”

“Hello, may I please speak to Mr. Robert Novacks?”

“Yes, this is him.”

“Mr. Novacks, thank goodness we were able to get a hold of you! This is Chief Harris, from the local Police Department. I’m calling to inform you that we found your vehicle and you may come by at your most earliest convenience to pick it up.”

“Thank You so much for the phone call Chief Harris, I will see if I can get a ride and will be there in a few minutes.” I replied.

“Roger that, Mr. Novacks! We will be here waiting. And if you can’t find a ride, please call me back and let me know. I will send out one of my patrol officers to pick you up at your location.”

“I will let you know, thank you so much for your help Chief Harris.”

“You’re welcome Mr. Novacks, it’s been an honor sir.”

Enthusiastically excited with delight, I ran back to the rental car building from the parking lot and barged through the front doors with a huge grin on my face.

My eyes fell upon a tall muscular man with dark brown hair, wearing a dark red polo shirt, standing behind the front counter looking at me in dismay.

“May I help you sir?”

Glancing at his name tag, I replied, “Yes, Scott, is Tammy here? I spoke with her just a few minutes ago and she assisted me with my rental car purchase.”

“That’s impossible sir.” Scott replied.

“What do you mean? How is that impossible?” I asked.

“Well, to tell you the truth sir, since I’ve been the owner here for eleven years now, she hasn’t worked here in about a year. Without going into too much detail, she passed away a year ago due to some sort of suicidal incident. I sure do miss her though, she was actually one of my best employees.”

“But, how did I come across getting these keys and this receipt?” I asked while handing him the receipt.

“Hmm? Well, sir, it looks like there seems to be a slight mistake because the date on the receipt is actually blank. You probably spoke to one of our new employees, her name is Martha. She is out on her lunch break at the moment and will return in thirty minutes, if you’d like to wait?”

“Uh, no, that’s okay, I was just going to return the keys and see if I could get a refund since I received a call from Chief Officer Harris, of the local police department, stating that they found my stolen car.”

“Well, that’s great news sir! Congratulations! Most definitely! I can take care of that for you sir.” Scott replied.

Standing there waiting for him to finish the transaction, I realized right at that moment that not only was I talking to a ghost earlier that day, but to my guardian angel!

“Here’s your refund sir, is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Yes, actually there is. By any chance, is there a way I could get a ride to the police department?” I asked.

“Well, we don’t provide escort services here, but I can call a taxi or a shuttle bus service for you if you’d like?” Scott replied.

“No thank you, that’s quite alright, I will call the Chief to come pick me up. Thank You so much for your help though.”

“You’re welcome sir. And thank you for visiting Scott Belo’s Rental Car Company.”

In bewilderment, I walked out of the rental car building through the front doors and dialed the Chief’s number using my cell phone.

“This is Chief Harris speaking, may I help you?”

“Hello Chief Harris, this is Mr. Novacks. I wasn’t able to get a ride, would you mind sending someone over to pick me up? I’m at Scott Belo’s Rental Car Company. I will wait in the parking lot for you.”

“Hello there Mr. Novacks! Of course sir, one of my patrol officers will be there right away. We will see you in a bit.”

“Thank You Chief Harris. I will see you soon.”

“You’re welcome sir, we are looking forward to it. Over and out!” Chief Harris replied in haste.

As I hung up the phone, I stood there in the parking lot waiting. All I could remember was hearing Tammy’s sweet soft voice telling me my day was going to turn out better. And wouldn’t you know it? It did.