"You got new wheels?"
Samuel walked toward the general store after he parked the car on the street right by the store, and the owner greeted him with a smile and those words.
"It's almost summer so it'll be hot."
The owner automatically took out a pack of cigarettes that he usually smoked. However, the A6 did not quite match Samuel's entire appearance. "Do you want to switch your smoke brand?" the owner asked.
"No need," Samuel replied. "I'll save money for petrol."
The owner shook his head, wearing a rueful smile." You won’t save money for petrol by smoking.”
"A penny saved is a penny earned. I’d be labeled a failure otherwise." Samuel opened the pack and offered the owner a cigarette.
The owner extended a hand at the same time, a lighter in his grip. The duo’s actions complemented each other seamlessly, as though there was an invisible thread of understanding between them. This understanding had been carved through time. It had been three years, after all.
The owner huffed, releasing vague rings of smoke. "I knew you weren't any regular joe from the start.
You're like a tiger. Just waiting, waiting, waiting. And
when you pounce, you'd have a prey in your grasp."
Samuel never expected the owner to illustrate such an intricate analogy. "You're like a tiger without an opportunity to use its claws too, sir," he said, smiling." Why would you be stuck manning this store your entire life then?"
The owner shook his head. "What claws? Every family has their own problems. You do it for your woman, so do I."
Samuel nodded his head in silence.
They finished smoking the cigarettes, and Samuel drove the car toward the office entrance.
The spanking new Audi without a number plate attracted plenty of attention after office hours. Samuel stood by his car, and everyone assumed that he was a young tycoon. Of course, no one knew who he really was. If they found out that he had married into the Sues as a disgraced son-in-law, they would have paid him any attention. 2
"Samuel, this..." Yvonne walked out of the entrance, stunned at the sight of her husband and the new car behind him.
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