Falling For Mr. Sundae | ✔

04. Chocolate Covered

Every fiber of my being begged me not to do it. Not to put on the disgustingly bright shirt. Not to get into my car. Not to drive the short distance to the shopping plaza.

I didn't listen.

I'd arrived a little earlier than I needed to for my shift. Through the window I could see Shay wiping down tables as Justin was behind the counter, lazily scrolling through his phone.

I glanced down at my own phone as the screen lit up with a text. It was another message from Kells, yelling at me for backing out of the trip. The thought of telling her it was all just to keep an eye on my boyfriend sent a shiver down my spine. She'd do a lot more than yell at me through texts.

For now, all Kells needed to know was that I was staying behind to better myself. Whatever that meant.

Taking in a deep breath I stepped out of the car and walked into the shop. Two sets of eyes were immediately on me. I tried not to think about it too much as I walked over to the counter.

"Hi, Justin."

"Julian."

I blinked. "What?"

"Julian." He ran his finger under the letters on his name tag.

Heat rushed to my cheeks and for the first time I was the one being embarrassed. "Oh, sorry," I uttered. Then my brow creased in confusion as I remembered what happened earlier. "No, wait, didn't that guy call you Justin?"

The boy nodded. "It was a joke," he explained. "You've been calling me the wrong name since freshman year."

"We went to school together?"

"Yes." He nodded again. "We were in a lot of the same classes. Even worked on in few group projects together."

"Oh." My embarrassment worsened as I nervously tucked some hair behind my ear. "I'm not really good with names or faces."

The only way I remembered those things were if I really liked the person or if I really hated them.

"It's fine," he said, shrugging a shoulder.

"So is Tim here?" I didn't exactly know what this training would ensue, but I wanted to jump in as quickly as possible.

"He's usually only here during the day," he replied. "Shay is in charge of your training."

I glanced over my shoulder at the girl who was now wiping down a table with one hand as she texted with the other.

Turning my attention back to the boy, I hoped I didn't look as put off by that idea as I felt. "She looks really busy."

"Those were Tim's orders."

"You just said Tim wasn't here."

"You're wasting your time." Shay appeared beside me, leaning down to rest her elbows on the counter that separated us from Julian. "He never breaks the rules. Follow me new girl."

As much as I wanted to protest I bit my tongue. It was obvious Julian wasn't going to leave his post at the register. Shay lead me to the kitchen in the back and gave me a quick rundown of where they kept the extra toppings and spoons.

Then she pointed me towards the sink, which was filled with tiny orange bowls and spoons, sticky with different flavors of ice cream and toppings.

"Sorry to do this to you," she said, handing me a pair of yellow cleaning gloves.

My gaze shifted between the gloves, the dirty dishes and my manicure. Not only was I worried about my nails, but I also couldn't see The shoe Garden from here. That defeated my entire reason for getting this job in the first place.