Two Scoops of Summer Love

16. Cappucino

Cameron walked ahead of me, holding my hands so that I could try riding his longboard. We had broke into his cooler again at the park so I was feeling quite giggly and Cameron had a slight glaze over his eyes. As we rolled up in front of my cottage, I stepped off the board and stretched my head up toward his face. Our lips met briefly before I pulled away and smiled.

"Thank you," I whispered. "I had fun."

"Even though you were tired?" He asked with a smile.

"I made that up." We laughed together at my words. I turned away and began to make for the cottage when I was stopped by his hand gently grabbing my wrist.

"Uh, Ana?" He asked. "This is kind of weird to only ask now, but would it be possible if I, maybe, got—and you can say no—your number?" In response, I nodded and took his phone to add my number. I returned it with another smile.

"G'night Cameron," I said before walking back to the cottage. He skated off as I opened the front door and waved. Once inside with the door closed, I dropped all my things and silently did a wild dance for my fantastic night out.

~~~

Getting home at three in the morning did not agree with work at ten. I felt like a zombie walking into The Creamery, and I had never wanted to flip Bryan off more than when he sat playing on his phone again while I did all of the opening.

It was already shaping up to be another dreary day spent staring out the window at all the customers lining up outside of Sweet Thing. I found it amazing that for how many people usually complain about long waits, still line up directly across from a barren ice cream shop. I started on the list of cleaning for the day and tried to put the failing business of The Creamery off my mind. The gentle hum of an alternative indie song filtered into my ears over the mechanical jingles coming from Bryan's phone. I found my rhythm and the scrubbing didn't seem quite so bothersome.

"Hold on Cinderella," Frank entered the shop holding a ratty old sun hat that was usually perched on his head. I heard Bryan's phone slip under the counter. "What's got you working on the cleaning so soon?"

"Oh you know, idle hands, idle mind," I replied while tucking my rag into my apron pocket. Frank slapped me gently on the shoulder as he passed where I was stood scrubbing the sprinkle counter. He nodded his approval to Bryan, who was suddenly redoing the stock records I had reviewed this morning.

"Seems a little quiet in here," Frank stated the obvious. "Are you too scary, Ana? Keeping the children away?"

I forced a laugh before answering. "It seems our competition is still a hot commodity."

"Oh, the tourists will tire of their gimmick sooner or later," Frank said optimistically. "Good ice cream keeps bringing people back." I hummed what I hoped to sound like an agreement. Bryan shot me a frigid warning glance as I turned back to the already clean counter.

"There's a reason The Creamery has been around for so long, Frank." Bryan was back to his usual ass-kissing routine. "They'll be running down our doors in no time."

"Maybe we just need to get our face out there," Frank said. "A sign would work well. I have one coming in, but I think there must be an old flipping sign from back in the day." I heard a silence that was too quiet to be comfortable from behind me. When I turned around, Frank and Bryan were looking at me with an expectation I didn't think I would like.

"Why are you guys looking at me?" I decided to play stupid. "This is my first summer, I don't know where the sign is."

And that's how I ended up standing outside in the blazing heat sweating through my apron holding a four foot tall ice cream cone. A group of preteen girls passed by and snickered at me while I felt my mortification grow. Standing on the sun exposed street was not the job I had signed up for in April. I lifted the board up higher, hoping to block the sun that I knew was burning through the daily sunscreen I put on hours ago.

"This is total crap," I muttered to myself. "Why does Bryan get to sit inside with the air conditioning?"

"Ana?" Camille said from my left. "Are you trying to give yourself a new set of skin?"

"No, but I didn't exactly come prepared to stand outside for four hours with a sign that was made before I was even born." I wiped the sweat off my nose and felt my skin burn with the contact.

"Brutal, when does the shift end?" She asked and I held up four fingers. "Oh great! Right as the sun starts to move behind the buildings."

I rolled my eyes and shrugged before leaning my face on the semi cool board. But at this point, anything would be cooler than my skin. Camille dropped a small bottle of aloe vera—kept in her bag for situations like this— into the space between my feet before heading back up to the corner store.

~~~

Back at home, I had a thick layer of aloe covering every bit of exposed skin. My face ended up not burning as badly as my exposed shoulders that didn't have any sunscreen on them. The bikini top I wore to work under my shirt hoping to swim after was not helping since my bra now pushed at the throbbing skin that hadn't been covered while I had been in the sun. Collapsing on the couch wasn't as comforting as it typically was. My skin screamed at the rubbing fabric as my body settled. My favourite playlist filtered softly into my ears as I closed my eyes and tried to zen away the pain.

"Hey honey," Mum called entering through the kitchen door. "How was work?" The noise I made in response was guttural and definitely not coherent. I opened my eyes and waited for her to turn the corner.

"In the name of all that is holy," Mum gasped when she saw my flushed skin. "Did you get enough sun today? How much sun do you see working in an ice cream shop?" She made her way back to the bathroom and rifled through the medicine cabinet.

"Bryan doesn't see a lot, mind you he's actually working in the damn store." My words were muttered as I tried to sit up while causing the least amount of pain. "I had the pleasure of being largely ignored or mocked by preteens while holding an ancient wooden ice cream cone on Main."

"Why didn't you guys trade off?" She asked while shaking out two pain relief capsules.

"Why do you think?" I asked before we answered in unison, "Bryan."

"This is ridiculous," Mum said. "Why didn't you lean the sign against the wall?"

"Because I loved the feel of it too much," I deadpanned. "Frank said we didn't need two of us inside since it was so dead."

"At least you got paid, baby girl."

"I'd have rathered not put myself at risk for skin disease but I guess minimum wage is cool too." I reclined back onto the couch and patiently waited for the cool wet cloths my mom was making up. It was going to be one long night.