Falling For Mr. Sundae | ✔

18. Clarity

"Cut!" Tim yelled for the umpteenth time today.

I groaned, banging my head on the round plastic table I sat at.

The last few days Tim had Julian and I come in early to go over the skit. It was Friday and we went live tonight. That meant Tim was really trying to get everything down. Everything was in order except for our acting apparently.

"We need more energy," Tim encouraged. "Bigger smiles. You know? More--" he enthusiastically punched the air in front of him.

I looked to Julian and raised a brow, silently asking if he knew what that meant. He shrugged, just as confused as I was.

"C'mon, let's try it again," Tim ordered. "From the top."

I sat up straighter and picked up the fashion magazine I was supposed to pretend to be interested in. Julian went off stage preparing for entrance.

The skit was targeted for kids. That's why the stage was decorated in bright colors, as were our costumes.

I wore a white dress printed with ice cream cones and a matching headband. Julian was in one of those old fashion ice cream man outfits; white pants and a white button up with a small Sprinklez logo on the left side of his chest.

We were basically supposed to act like we were in a 60's sitcom. I couldn't picture kids being into that. If having a younger brother had taught me anything it's that kids like silly humor. Stuff you'd find on Spongebob or Teen Titans.

I didn't have the heart to point that out to Tim, though. He'd spent a lot of time on his script and was really excited about it.

"And...action!" Tim called out.

Julian hopped up on the stage more animatedly than our previous run through. The only enjoyable part of this was getting to see him act like something other than cool, calm and collected.

"I'm home," he announced, a wide goofy grin on his face as per Tim's request. "And guess what I brought with me."

"Diamonds?" I asked, pulling a face meant to look hopeful.

Miss. Sprinkles was supposed to be obsessed with getting married. I really couldn't see a five year old connecting to this.

After two more run throughs Tim, finally satisfied or just giving up with our acting, let us leave. The extra five dollars an hour didn't seem so worth it. 

Julian and I walked out together after switching back into our street clothes. The summer sun made me want to retreat back into the chilly ice cream shop.

"You think this is going to end up like Karaoke night?" Julian asked as we walked towards our cars.

"I don't know," I told him. "I mean, parents having a place to drop their kids off for an hour seems like good idea. I'm just afraid of the kids revolting because of that script."

He laughed, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, Tim's a good guy, but he knows nothing about kids."

"Exactly," I concurred. "There needs to be more action."

"And a villain."

"Yes!" I said, excitedly. "Not some I Love Lucy remake." I stopped, glancing back at the shop. "Think we should tell him?"

There was a pause as we thought about this. Then, coming to the same conclusion, we decided against it. We just escaped rehearsals. Why would we go back for more?

"We'll just see how tonight goes," he said, fishing his car keys from his pocket. "Then take it from there."

I nodded, unlocking my own car. Something stopped me before I could pull the door open. Spending another day cooped up in the house didn't interest me much. Turning to Julian, who was already in his car fidgeting with the radio, I knocked on the passenger side window to get his attention.