Friday, February 14, 2020

Happy Valentine's Day

So a guy walks into a bar...

Oops, been done to death, right? How about: a gal walks into the DMV...







The sun blazed high in the sky even though it was mid-February in Chicago. I headed downtown; traffic moving rapidly for once. Yesterday was my birthday, but I had procrastinated getting my driver’s license renewed. Less than an hour before the government building closed, I needed to plead my case. I had anticipated long lines, but pushing open the door to the DMV revealed a nearly empty room. Clutching the form in my hand, I hurried to the open window at the counter and that’s when my luck ran out.

“Hello, Gracie.”

The lean figure behind the counter with cheeks as red as a hooker’s lipstick and eyes as gray as a stormcloud, greeted me. An involuntary shudder ran down my body. Six months ago, when I’d signed those final papers and slipped that ring off my finger, I figured I’d never have to see him again. I’d figured wrong.

“Oh, Gracie, the records show you have to retake the written test,” he said.

“I don’t think so. Must be a glitch in your computer,” I said.

“Sorry. Wish I could help, but it is what it is.”

Those thin lips of his couldn’t quite hide a smirk.

I leaned closer and lowered my voice. “I have a perfect driving record—no tickets, no accidents. There is no reason for me to have to retake that stupid test.”

A full smile now accompanied his headshake.

I mentally counted to ten and then leaned closer. “Listen buddy, don’t forget I had that private detective follow you for weeks. He accumulated a lot of dirt that never came out in court.”

He mopped his forehead. “Why, Gracie, are you trying to bribe a government employee?”

I knew Mr. Smug and Sanctimonious was racking his pea-brain to try and remember what my private eye might have caught him doing back then.

I straightened up and smiled sweetly. “No sir, I’m threatening one.”

Five minutes later I swept through the door, new license in hand.





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