Of Love and Other Tragedies

2 | the lock-in

The days passed by as Carter and I went on date after date, getting more comfortable with one another each time.

One thing I'd gotten to know about Carter was that aside from his main job, he sometimes picked up shifts at his uncle's ice cream shop to help out. They were short of employees and got busy from time to time. Besides, the occupation was convenient since it was summer in Southern California.

A week after our last date, I found myself parking across the street from said shop, having convinced myself to visit him. Stepping out my car, I gazed into the dimly-lit building and caught sight of his tall figure.

Smiling, I jogged up to the locked door and lightly knocked on it. "We're closed!" He shouted, with his back to me and a broom in hand. With a repeat of my action, he turned around to continue, "I told you, we're—" he halted when he saw me while I waved from behind the glass door. He came over and opened the door with an inviting grin. "Hey Sydney, what're you doing here?"

"I wanted to catch you before you left. Locking up?"

He nodded. "Yeah, come in. Want some ice cream?" He questioned, shutting the door behind me.

Good thing it was one of those rare over-110-degrees nights. "Sure, I think I have a twenty in my car."

"Don't worry, it's on me." I contemplated this for a moment before letting it go with a reluctant nod. Relishing in his victory, Carter strode over to a iron door near the front counter and unlocked it with a key. He gave me an easy smile and tossed the keys on the counter. "Hey, can you hold the door open for me?"

"Sure." I stood in front of it and kept it propped open with a hand and foot.

He stepped into the freezing cold room and surveyed the labeled cartons. "What flavor?"

"Rocky Road, please." Spotting a frost-covered bucket on the second shelf up labeled 'RR', Carter wrapped his hands around the container, but struggled to lift the huge bucket. "Hey, it's no big deal. I can have chocolate or vanilla instead."

He shook his head, refusing give up. "No, I got it." But still, he tried and failed to lift the container. Inspecting from my spot, my eye caught on that it was frozen stuck to the metal shelf.

"Let me help you." I leaned off of the door and began towards him, but he froze in horror.

"No, wait! The door!"

But it was too late. The heavy door slammed shut and a groan sounded throughout the freezing room.

Carter got up. "It's locked from the outside." Despite his statement, he attempted to push on the door. It wouldn't budge.

"Which means?"

With a sigh, his eyes landed on me. "We're locked inside."

•          •          •

"Help!" I banged on the door again. "Someone!"

"No one's here, I was the only one locking up. It's 10:30 at night," Carter reasoned. "No one will even come by 'till morning."

I placed my head on the cool door. "Anything you can do about the temperature? It feels like its 20 degrees in here."

"Oh, right." He opened something that looked like a mini electrical box, but revealed a temperature dial. "Don't ask why it's on the inside of the freezer but it works in our favor." He slid the bar over. "The highest it'll go is 55 degrees Fahrenheit. It might melt the ice cream some, but at least we don't die of hypothermia."