1000 Reasons To Smile

Chapter 3: Cherry Pie

   I was dreading to go to work today, because if my thoughts about Eugene's new baby sitter were correct, this was the same exact Flynn that I thought I'd never see again.

   I walked as stagnant as I possibly could without being late. When I arrived at The Ice Cream Shop, I was thankful to see that Eugene and his baby sitter hadn't arrived yet. Positioning myself behind the counter, I absentmindedly served customers while readying myself for the confrontation.

   Don't you think your being a little being dramatic? Life suddenly said. 

   For the first time, I could actually see him. He seemed to be in his mid-fifties, with long brown hair that went up to the back of his neck, deep sunken brown eyes, and thin red lips. 

   He walked slowly past me and perched on the counter top. 

   "What the..." I murmured. 

   Life raised an eyebrow. What, handsomer than you expected?

   I continued to stare, then looked around the room to see if anyone else saw him. If they did, they didn't seem to care or give a second notice at all.

   Funny though, this was exactly how I always imagined that annoying little voice in my head to look like.

   Hey, he said. Don't be insulting me now. My voice isn't annoying.

   Okay, he knew what I was thinking...so he couldn't be real. Even though he looked real, and talked real, and acted real.

   I stared at him, waiting for an explanation. Instead, he didn't say anything, just winked. 

   So, about this Flynn. He said, making me remember that today would possibly be the first time in years I saw Flynn. Just saying his name made me remember all the memories...I shuddered. He was such a horrid guy. 

   Life rolled his eyes. Oh come on, he wasn't that bad. You're exaggerating everything.

   "Shut up," I snarled at him. 

   I saw some people turn around, their eyes looking for the person I was talking to but finding no one.

   He is that bad. I thought. You have no idea what he's done to me.

   Life rolled his eyes again. Yes I do know, actually. And it wasn't even close to being a big deal. Stop holding those stupid grudges. They were years ago.

   I scowled at him, but before I could say anything, the bell on top of the front entrance rang, and I turned to see Eugene walk in, holding the hand of his new baby sitter.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

   Flynn. I'd recognize him from anywhere, from the bed head he wore proud, to his careless smirk. He looked older, definitely, and way more mature. He seemed to have grown at least a foot taller than the last time I saw him, and there were some other noticeable changes, but all in all, he looked like the same Flynn I had known years ago.  

   Eugene skipped over to the front counter and sat on the chair directly in front of me, and Flynn sat beside him. Even sitting down he was taller than me.

   "Hey Pey, long time no see." He grinned, resting his elbows on the counter top, acting as if it hadn't been a long time, and that the last time we saw each other was just yesterday.

   And me, being the surly girl I was, just rolled my eyes.

   Of course, this didn't have any sort of effect on him what's so ever. He laughed, just like I knew he would, and said, "What? We haven't seen each other in almost three years and still I get no smile?"