‘How much?!’ I asked, staring incredulously at the grey intercom box.
‘Twelve-fifty,’ the cashier repeated.
‘For a burger?!’
‘That’s right,’ she crackled. ‘Please drive forward and pay at the window.’
I shook my head in disbelief, but I’d been fantasising about this burger my whole drive home and there were people behind me in the drive-through now.
They had me.
Sighing, I shifted my car back into drive – and the engine abruptly cut out.
‘What the…’ I muttered to myself, twisting the key. The engine wheezed angrily, but didn’t start.
‘Please drive to the next window, sir,’ the box squawked. A car behind me honked.
‘I’m trying!’ I yelled out of the car window, so both of them would hear me. I tried the key again, but this time my car didn’t even bother to tick over.
‘Sir, you’re holding up the other vehicles.’
Sweat began to run down my forehead as I quickly cycled through my options. I could hear my father’s voice, telling me this is what you get for not booking a log book service around Adelaide. I batted him away and went back to trying to come up with a solution.
‘Sir?’
‘Sorry,’ I turned to the speaker, ‘I’m just having some car trouble.’
‘Would you like us to help you?’ the lady on the other end asked.
‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re not the first person to break down in our drive-through, sir.’
I laughed. Of course, I wasn’t! They’d be able to deal with this, no problem!
‘For a small fee, a team of our friendly staff will be out there in no time to enact any car repair you may need.’
‘What’s that now?’ I frowned.
The car behind me honked again.
‘Yes or no, sir?’
I vainly tried the engine again. Still nothing.
‘Fine,’ I sighed. ‘Yes, I’ll take the… the car repair.’
‘Excellent. And was that in a meal?’