"This ice cream by far is the best ice cream I have ever tasted, it is delicious and creamy, giving you this mild yummy aftertaste even after you have taken a spoon, it is good," she said with a smile on her face.
Israel seemed satisfied with her reply, dropped her hands, rubbing his hands together, "I will leave you guys alone to have your Ladies' time undisturbed," he said and left their table, heading to a customer who was complaining about an emergency.
"Israel is hot, your perfect type, isn't he?" Belle said suddenly, the smile on her face appeared mischievous.
"No, he is not my type"
"Someone is not telling us the truth, the way he looked at you and you responded, I could feel the electricity racing between you guys," Coco said, looking at Anne coyly.
"ooh, spooky!" Belle commented
Anne was supposed to have gotten used to her housemates' teasing by now, but she was finding their comments irritating, "you guys are not serious"
"Look at Israel for one minute without blushing and we will know if you are not affected by him," Belle challenged.
She sighed deeply, she knew Belle wouldn't rest until she did her stupid challenge, sometimes she reminded Anne of a stubborn fly even when you swat her away, she came back with a resounding energy.
Anne saw Israel talking to a small cute boy eating ice cream with his parents, his mouth was stained with the chocolate ice cream, he was scooping.
Israel stooped to his level, brought out a tissue from his apron, and wiped his mouth clean, the boy laughed out, a sweet sound only a child could make.
There was a twinkle in Israel's eyes as he talked to the boy, he was handsome. A soft beauty that reminds you of a calm sea, his hazel-colored eyes and his strong nose structure with his chiseled jawline were perfect but not like Mr. Richmond.
She couldn't help as her mind went back to her boss, he was perfect in every way even when he was frowning at her and making her look like a mistake in his life, he was still perfect to her.
Anne was looking at Israel but her mind wasn't on Israel but another.
Coco was getting tired of the strange challenge between Anne and Belle, "Anne, you win. it is okay"
Anne was snapped back to reality by her housemates, she was already lost in her fantasy over her boss that she had forgotten about the hype over Israel.
"For the last time, I am not interested in Israel," she snapped at them.
Belle gave her a cheeky smile, "Fine, we were just messing around with you"
"She is lying Anne, Belle wasn't joking around, I can still remember when she followed Israel around like a little wolf in heat, it made him go crazy that he went to the police and filed a restraining order against her," Coco had a faraway gaze on her face.
"Seriously!"
Although she was surprised she wasn't too surprised.
Belle shrugged her shoulders and scooped a big lump of ice cream into her mouth, "Don't blame me, he is so hot and quite charming," she brought out her phone from her jeans pocket.
"Look at this," showing Anne a picture of Israel standing on the balcony, shirtless.
Anne could see why Belle went crazy over Israel, he was handsome, his shoulders were proud and wide, his body was toned, with a complete set of abs, not too much but good enough to be considered hot, too bad she wasn't interested in him.
With the crazy history between Belle and Israel, Israel is supposed to hate Belle, if possible run at the first sighting of her, "Why is he still friendly with you guys?"
Coco smacked her lips lightly as she responded, "I can't tell, at first, when we started coming here, he was suspiciously prudent around us. He acted like we were criminals but as we got to know each other more, we became his faithful customers, we just kind of bond with each other"
"I got to know he was camera shy, he gets to freak out in front of a camera, that was why he reported me to the police," Belle contributed.
Talking with a straight face, Belle wasn't ashamed of what she did but saw it as an experience, "But I get to keep this picture of him as a souvenir," Belle flaunted the picture on her phone boldly.
The ice cream was nice but Anne needed something heavier in her stomach, "This ice cream is really good but I am craving real food"
"I get what you mean, there is a new place just along the corner, I don't know much about it but I heard that the food there is good, they serve Italian food"
Trust Coco to know where the good stuff is being made, Anne thought.
Belle scooped out the last drop of ice cream in her cup, and licked the remaining liquid in her spoon, "now we can go"
They stood up from their seats, chatting and talking animatedly with each other, their eyes were shining with expectations, Anne had not tasted Italian food before and didn't know what to expect.
Israel, seeing the ladies leaving their seats, came over to them, a slight smile on his face, a brown package in his hand, he knew they were ready to leave.
"You guys are ready to leave, right?"
Belle nodded her head in affirmation.
"Here you go," handing over the package to Belle, "later in the night, you can lick it"
Belle smiled happily and took the package from him, "thank you"
"No problem," he said and faced Anne, "Hope you visit us more frequently," he said warmly.
"Yes," Anne said but she couldn't help but notice the way Belle lit up anytime Israel came around, her eyes became warmer and her cheeks became more rosy with color, she wasn't over Israel but was still obsessed over him, not that Belle was hiding it.
He escorted them to the door and waved them goodbye before entering the cafe.
They walked in silence while Anne's eyes roamed around, Belle was lost in her head and Coco was trying to navigate the road, Anne wasn't ready to bring up a subject for conversation, she was enjoying the fresh air and the company of her housemates, it was comforting to her.
"I know of a shortcut to the place, it should be able to get us there faster," Coco said, her forehead scrunched in concentration.
They entered the corner, the street lights appeared fainter than normal, it was a bit darker than usual. The air appeared stale and dense with an eerie air.
Anne was getting a bad signal from the place, goosebumps appearing on her arms as the hairs on her neck were standing at attention, she looked around, the neighborhood looked nothing out of the ordinary, there was nothing that screamed danger but she couldn't push away the wary feeling that engulfed her.
Guess she wasn't the only one feeling that way, Coco raised her head and sniffed the air, she grew still before her eyes widened in alarm, "we need to leave now"
"We need to turn back," she said hurriedly.
Anne didn't know what Coco meant but she didn't want to wait and find out for herself.
As they turned to leave, two forms appeared in front of them, blocking their way.