“So what are you his bodyguard or something?” I asked collecting my bowl of rum and raisin ice-cream from the waitress. Michael did join us, after a bit of persuading, I mean who could say no to Ice-cream.
He laughed shaking his head, “Not exactly,”
“Then?” I asked looking at his vanilla ice-cream. Vanilla, really? Ice-cream told you a lot about someone. Especially the flavour they
Take Archie for example, double chocolate with extra chocolate chip, it told me that he liked chocolate. Okay that was a bad example. He had a sweet tooth. That was still bad. It just told you, people who went for more out there flavours liked to try new things and adventure. And then you had the boring people stick to plain ice-cream, unless they had crazy toppings with it.
But Vanilla, something about it was just so formal, plain, perhaps boring if it wasn't ice-cream.
“Can I have extra chocolate sauce on this,” asked Archie as the waitress brought his. She nodded about to leave when I grabbed the bowl from her.
“No this is enough chocolate for him,” I said placing the bowl in front of him.
“I don’t want you to throw up everywhere from a sugar overload,”
Double chocolate with extra chocolate chip was bad enough, and double scoops, that was where I pulled the limit.
“So what are you doing this side of the town?” I asked taking a spoonful of ice-cream. The sweet taste melted against my tongue and I nearly sighed. I could live off ice-cream. But I think I loved my savory greasy food just as much.
Carlie’s was our favourite ice-cream joint, not only was everything they used in their ice-cream natural, they always gave us extra servings and Maximus, the man who ran it was amazingly nice.
But the way they made their rum and raisin won me over, real rum, so it was strong, a bit too strong but it was delicious.
“Business meeting,”
I raised an eyebrow, at this time of the day. Who on earth had business meetings now?
“What are you guys doing?”
Archie looked up from stuffing his face and I chucked a napkin at him.
“Treating ourselves,”
“Swimming?”
“How did you know?” I asked exchanging glances with Archie who was staring at the man with his head tilted. I rolled my eyes picking up the napkin and wiping his chin. He grabbed the napkin pushing my hand, muttering something like ‘I can do it myself,’
“You smell like chlorine and his hair is wet, did you go swimming?”
“It was competitions,” said Archie before I could tell him how in fact he was wrong. Oh god, his mood was going down hill.
“Well congratulations,”
The ice-cream felt extremely cold against my teeth as I tried swallowing if quickly to warn Michael.
“I lost,”
Too late.
Michael looked at me and I shrugged, he was in this pickle himself I wasn’t going to help him, partially because I didn’t know how to help him. Well I did try and ended up swallowing and not savouring my ice-cream.
“Well Congratulations,”
“But I lost,” said Archie taking another mouthful of ice-cream. Where was my camera? They way he was eating this ice-cream really should be videoed and played on his eighteenth.
“At least you tried, that itself shows a winner,” said Michael filling his glass with water that was on the table. I only now realised that everything he was wearing was black, black pants, black button up shirt that was buttoned to the very collar and sunglasses tucked into his pocket. What on earth does he do?
One thing I did like was that he wasn't wearing a pocket square, a stupid handkerchief in his pocket that would make my blood boil.
“Really?” asked Archie wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. I winced, Emily was not going to be happy at the brown stain on his new blue shirt.
“Of course, want to know a secret?”
Archie nodded and I watched them curiously as I dipped my spoon into the ice-cream.
“I can’t swim,” he said.
I bit my lip from laughing as Archie’s eyes widened and I looked up. Was he serious? Even I knew how to swim, okay bad example, even my annoying mother knew how to swim, there, better.
“Really?”
Michael nodded leaning back against the booth, “I was always too scared to, see you’re a brave boy for trying,”
Archie beamed and went back to eating his ice-cream and I looked at Michael nodding in approval, “Not bad,” I whispered more to myself as I heard the jingle from the door being opened.
I looked up to see Damien look around before his eyes fell on us and walked over.
“I think you’re in trouble,” I said in a sing song voice and let my eyes drop to the ice-cream.
Michael looked over his shoulder and raised a hand seeing Damien.
“Done?” he asked. Damien walked over to us standing at the end of the table and nodded. Okay maybe he wasn’t in trouble.
“What are you doing here?” asked Damien and I raised an eyebrow.
“Eating?” I asked waving my hand forgetting there was ice-cream on the spoon and making it fly onto the table.
“Oops,”
I cleaned it up with a napkin as Michael got out of the booth and whispered something to Damien and they talked in hush voices. Well if they didn’t want us to hear, can’t they go outside?
Damien nodded and Michael walked out and he took Michael’s spot in the booth.
“You’re going to join us?” I asked sitting back down in my seat.
“Can I have more,” said Archie from beside me and I looked down.
“You still have a scoop left,” I said. Archie knew I was going to say no, the poor kid always had to be the centre of attention, was probably feeling left out.
“Are you going to order something?” I asked.
I watched confused as he just stared at me, okay?
I shrugged it off dipping my spoon back into my own ice-cream and placing it in my mouth, heaven.
"So what are you doing here? Business meeting as well?" '
Damien nodded his grey eyes focusing on me like he was staring at a statue, or maybe having a staring contest with an art piece. I cleared my throat, well wasn't this a very chatterful conversation?
"Eat," I told Archie not even needing to look in his direction, I could just see his head looking from me to him and back to me and on repeat. Like it was some tennis match. The boney kid shrugged placing his spoon back in the bowl slicing his scoop in half.
Oh no, I knew that face.
"Never mind let's go home," I said. His face looked strained, like he was forcing himself to eat that scoop and we all knew what happened when he does that, he throws up.
"But-,"
I raised an eyebrow at Archie, was he really trying to look strong in front of me, I was the one who always took care of his throw ups. Partially because Arnold was never there and his mother hated anything partially gross.
Makes me wonder who did most of the nappy changing when Archie was a baby.
I stood up leaving another bill as a tip and pushing Archie out of the store. I nodded at Damien as he held the store door open and was just about to step out into the cold when a voice called me back.
I looked back to see Carl, Maximum's youngest son and waved.
"Hey," I said walking up to the counter, "You're back?"
"Holidays," he said shrugging one shoulder. He was the same age as me, but he was still in Uni thanks to his five years longer course.
"Here," he said pushing a bag onto the counter, "Maximus told me to give this to you,"
"What is it?" I asked feeling like a little girl at Christmas as Carl's blue eyes stared down at me.
"New flavours to try and of course your favourite,"
I beamed, "Tell Maximus I love him," I said taking the bag. I was definitely going to be eating ice-cream this week. I peeked inside the fancy blue and black bag to see many little containers, they spoiled me.
"What about me?" he said pouting. I shook my head amused, "I'm pretty sure your wife will choke me, bye," I said waving from the door. He gave me a wave and I stepped out into the cold shivering.
'You didn't have to open the door the whole time," I said. He shrugged putting his hands into his pockets. Okay then.
I looked and mentally slapped myself when I saw Archie waiting outside hte car, crap. I unlocked it for him pushing him into the front seat and turning on the heat.
"You have a ride?" I asked.
Damien nodded nodding towards a black car on the other side.
"Then bye?"
He nodded and watched me as I got in, I started the engine realizing how late the time was, Arnold was probably not going to be happy. I looked at him in the rear view mirror one more time to see his grey eyes just watching me.
Shaking my thought and his piercing grey eyes I shook my head turning around the car.
Was it just me or was that just weird?