When I finally get my voice back, I sputter out,
"T-Thank y-you." I take a deep breath and catch my breath before continuing. "But how? How did I get the job without an interview?"
"Well, we talked to your references and they all said amazing things about you. And one of or employees vouched for you." I barely hear the rest of what she says and just say yes here and there. The call ends and I lean my head against the couch in relief. Hearing footsteps, I sit up and see Mom standing by the stairs. I jump up and run over to her.
"Mom! I got the job!" I exclaim and Moms face light up as she pulls me into a hug.
"That's great, honey!" Mom pulls back. "I think that calls for a celebration, what do you think? We could get gelatos from Freshly Frozen?" With a smile on my face, I reply,
"Mom, we don't have to do that-"Mom interrupts me in the middle by putting her index finger on my lips.
"I want to, okay?"I nod my head and smile.
When Dad and Owen come home, we all drive over to Freshly Frozen where I order my favourite, Pistachio gelato. I lick my cone and moan in pleasure.
"Oh God! This is so good! This better be the first thing I get in heaven." Dad lets out a chuckle and throws his arm around my shoulder. He pulls me closer to him and plants a kiss on my head.
"We're so proud of you, Thea." Owen looks at me and smirks before saying.
"Yes, our Theabear has sprouted wings and finally learned to fly...or should I call you Theabirdy? Theadove?Theaseagul?..."He continues to name a few more dumb nicknames before I punch him in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?" I roll my eyes and continue licking my gelato while Owen starts talking again, until there are only crumbs left in my fist. I wipe my hands with a napkin and dab it on my mouth to get rid of the crumbs and stickyness on my lips. I look up and notice that both Mom and Dad are also done but obviously Owen's gelato is still half full and slowly dripping down his arm which he barely notices as he continues talking. My hand snakes out and grabs the cone from his hand. He gasps and narrows his eyes at me.
"Hey! Thats mine!" When he tries to snatch it from me, I move it out of his way causing him to sprawl all over the table. As he tries to grab it from my hand, he pushes everything off the table causing it to fall on the ground. People around the store start looking over at us and I hold my hand outward towards him but what I don't notice is that he had already launched himself on me and the cone is pushed towards my face. I feel the sweet stickiness all over my face and as Owen moves away, the cone falls and lands on the floor. Lifting my hand, I run my hand down my face and wipe the ice cream out of my eyes. Looking down at my hand, I see it covered with the creamy caramel flavoured dessert. I take a deep breath to clam myself but before I can even comprehend anything, my body takes control of itself and slides out of the booth. I walk up to the guilt stricken Owen and wipe my hand on his face causing the cream to smear all over his cheek. For a minute I think he's going to retaliate but then his finger slides down his cheek, coating it with the gelato, before he pops it into his mouth. I gag and say,
"Ewww! Owen, you're disgusting!" Before I can continue though, one of the workers slowly walks up to us and with barely controlled anger, says,
"Get out!" I look around and see that the other workers are all holding in their laughter and when my eyes drop down to her nametag, I see the word "manager" underneath her name. When we don't move, the manager raises her voice a little and repeats, "GET OUT!" Dad walks over to me and grabs my hand before dragging me out of the door while Mom does the same with Owen. As we step out, I wait for a lecture from my parents but instead they start laughing. I stare at them in shock before joining them. To anyone passing, we must seem crazy, me with my face and shirt dripping with gelato, and Owen with half his face smeared with caramel. But I don't care bacause we're all laughing and we're HAPPY.
---
I feel knots in my stomach as I step into the place and take in the view. There is a brick wall on the right which has beautiful, green vines interwined with fairy lights sprouting across it. The other two walls are a plain cream colour, one of them is littered with asthetic black and white picture which are held up with tiny clips on a thread. The bar is made of wood and is located in front of the plain wall. On top of the bar are sparkling pendant lights, while the rest of the cafe's ceiling is covered with backyard lights. Aligned with the brick wall are single couches lined up next to each other with a tiny side table seperating them. Angled in the corner of the brick wall is a huge wooden shelf with numerous books on it. The smell of fresh coffee wafts up my nose and I can't help but relax in this comfortable environment. I look up at the black and white circle clock on the picture filled wall and note that I still have ten minutes until my shift starts. I walk over to the bookshelf and can't help but smile at the variety of books. I slide my fingers over the books as I try to find a good book to read. A book catches my eye and I start pulling it out, but then a hand grabs mine causing me to let the book go and I watch it slide back into the shelf before turning to the person next to me.
"I'm sorry but you'll have to order something before touching our books." I look into the dark eyes of a very familiar person and can't help but groan out loud.
"Are you following me?" I ask and almost instantly cringe at what slipped out of my mouth. At my question, Jaxon narrows his eyes and slowly replies,
"Uhh...No? You're the one that slept on my shoulder, slept on my bed, bumped into me at the cemetry and now have come to my uncle's cafe. And now you have the audacity to ask me whether I'm following you?"I lift my hands in surrender and step back.
"Ok. Ok. Yes, you're right. I'm sorry but just so you know that was all a coincidence. I actually got a job here, I had no idea that this place was owned by your uncle." My eyes trail to the clock on the far side of the room and I quickly shove past Jaxon as I walk over to the cashier.
"Hi! Can I see your manager please? I just got a job here...Its my first day here." I explain. I watch as the cashier processes my words before she looks past me and nods her head at the person behind me. Her eyes find mine again and she lets out an amused chuckle.
"He's right behind you." My eyes widen and I turn to see Jaxon again. I look at the girl again and point at him.
"Jaxon's my manager?" The cashiers amused smile doesn't fall as she slowly nods her head and says, 'yup'. I look up at the ceiling and take a deep breath before muttering,
"Oh god, please help me." My voice turns out to be louder than it was supposed to be and the cashiers smile turns into a full on grin. I turn to Jaxon expecting to see a smirk on his face but instead his face still stays impassive. I put on a fake smile and extend my hand towards him, and say,
"Can we please start over?" After a pause, Jaxon takes my hand and I take that as a positive sign as I continue. "My name is Cynthea Romero, its nice to meet you."
"My name is Jaxon Black and I'll be your manager from now on. Welcome to the team!" His grip on my hand tightens and as I wait for him to let go, I try to imagine what goes on his head. His face nevers betrays his thoughts even as he quietly adds, "I always knew your name was never 'Cyn'"