Two Scoops of Summer Love

17. Wasabi

I woke up crusty. Almost literally. My skin was still tingling as I dialed Frank's number to tell him I wasn't coming in. I offered to look into a new project to update The Creamery while I was stuck at home, and Frank grunted but didn't say no outright. He was very understanding about my situation though and, rather annoyingly, said that I could have the next couple shifts off too with how slow business had been as long as I stayed prepared to come in at a moments notice. I agreed, although it seemed like this was Frank's way of avoiding telling me I was going to lose some shifts. The situation didn't seem fair to me, but it was the life I'm living.

I started my new lifestyle as a vampire by opening a book. It was a book I've read multiple times, but it's my favourite and I find new things and connections every time I read it. I was engrossed in the story for an hour, picking at some summer berries, when someone knocked at the front door. I cringed as I straightened my legs and my burnt calves peeled away from the back of my thighs.

"Good morning!" Cameron said as soon as I opened the door, squinting into the bright sun. "Or I guess not, what happened to you? Somebody forget to turn the pit?"

"Ha ha very funny you comedian," I said opening the door for him to come inside. "I got stuck holding a sign outside for an afternoon yesterday without any warning or prep time."

"Ouch." He stood in the middle of the small living room looking lost as to what to do next. I awkwardly motioned for him to have a seat while I moved my discarded book out of the way. We sat down together and I turned the radio down.

"What's up?" I asked. "You didn't have anything better to do?"

"Well, actually I had come over here to see if you were free to try the long board out again," Cameron winced, "But, I almost get the feeling that you don't want to come outside with me and spend time in the early afternoon sun."

"Gee, I wonder wherever you would have gotten that idea from?" I opened the tube of aloe sitting on the table next to me and squirted some onto my hand. I couldn't stop the little gasp that came out of my mouth as the gel hit my tender skin.

"Oh, come here you little tomato." Cameron gently took the aloe vera and squeezed some out into his hand. I flinched as I felt his hand come closer but was unprepared for the gentler touch that coated my enflamed skin. If it was even possible, I felt the skin on my cheeks getting pinker as I stood there with the boy next door. I could hear Camille in my head hooting and hollering, hoping for a paperback romance. I could also hear all the blood rushing past my ears as I stood frozen in panic.

"Thanks," I choked out, hoping that I didn't sound like I ran a half-marathon even though my heart was beating like I had. "I'm sorry I can't hang out today, but it gives me some time to work on a project I've been thinking about."

"Oh that sounds cool," Cameron smiled. "Tell me about it." I started explaining the situation that we were dealing with at the Creamery, and how I had a couple ideas on how to try and fix them. I excitedly explained my idea for a photo wall featuring locally submitted photos that track the history of the ice cream shop in the community. Cameron listened intently with a gentle smile on his face, asking questions when I paused and making small murmurs whenever I mentioned something that he particularly liked.

Somehow, without me noticing, I gained a partner for my project. Cameron had left to go get his laptop so that we could put out a social media ad asking if anyone in the community had any family pictures at The Creamery or associated with it that they would be willing to share publicly. I pulled my hair back up into another bun to get it off my neck and looked over at Cameron who was sitting on the floor in the living room trying to put the photos that were rolling in into organized folders. His eyebrows were scrunched together and his tongue stuck out of his mouth ever so slightly. Without even thinking I reached over and gently rubbed the lines out of his forehead before my hands slipped higher into his hair.

Before I knew it, he had grabbed me by the waist and pulled me closer, touching his lips to mine. I shoved away the nerves about whether I was kissing Cameron the way I should and breathed him as if he was the only air in the room. His arms wrapped around my waist and the laptop slipped away without either one of us caring. I pulled back out of the kiss a little, looking up at Cameron and breathing the same air. The smile he gave me blew me away.

"Wow..." I breathed.

"Wow, is right." Cameron brushed his nose against my own before leaning in to kiss me again. I felt like I had lost myself and found myself at the same time. Never before had I felt so incredibly myself while being so incredibly outside of my comfort zone. Though at the rate we were going I had a feeling I might have gotten a new one.

~~~

After some more kissing and some more work, Cameron and I had designed some rough proposals to show to Frank. Cameron had a gift for graphic design as he made the different photos look cohesive and organized them together where I directed seamlessly. I was seriously starting to doubt there was anything this guy couldn't do.

"This looks phenomenal, how did you learn to do this?" I asked.

"Well I picked up a bunch of tips when my parents were in the development of their newest store," Cameron explained. "The hired this really cool graphic designer and she let me shadow her a little bit."

"Oh that's cool, You've never mentioned that your parents had a store." A sense of foreboding filled my stomach. Racing a hundred miles a minute, my mind ran the likelihood that the store his parents owned was outside of the town that they had very clearly just moved to.

"Yeah, its just a little embarrassing because of how popular it is," Cameron sighed. "I wanted to make friends and a new life here without the awkwardness of everyone knowing all the reasons why we moved here."

I laughed nervously, "This is a small town, everyone is in everyone's business."

"Yeah, I guess." Cameron shrugged. "We're pretty far into the summer now, I feel more comfortable with people knowing my parents own Sweet Thing."

And there it was, the bombshell I had expected seconds before its arrival. Cameron was inadvertently the reason I was going to lose my job this summer. Okay, sure there were a bunch of steps between Cameron's existence and my impending financial issues but my heart still sank. I continued laughing and smiling while Cameron and I discussed the project, but I couldn't get past the idea that Frank wasn't going to like that I was working with a competitor to improve the shop. But that was only if he found out.