Salvation

11 ~

Whoever Said Ice Cream Can't Solve Problems Obviously Never Tried A Strawberry - Mango Swirl

D A Y A
•••

After my failed date with the beautiful and kind, but not - quite - my - type Arianna, all I want to do is indulge in ice cream – strawberry and mango swirl with vanilla sprinkles, obviously. No amount of dating - life - hardship can make me forget that.

I could maturely ignore this impulse. But I won't. It's too tempting, and today has been hard – actually, this week on the whole has been shitty.

So I pull my light pink, expensive car into the parking lot of the nearest creamery and step out excitedly. Nothing perks my mood up like a lil bit of ice cream.

Strolling up to the counter leisurely, I tap my chin in fake thought and then begin my order, but I'm cut off by the server.

"You want a strango swirl, vanilla sprinkles on the side, not mixed in."

The teenager is female, about the same age as I am, or perhaps slightly older. I recognize her from previous years. She took over from her dad when he delved into some other business opportunity, I believe.

Her cheekbones are sharp, and her hair is a cold, shiny black. Her eyes are dancing and pleasant, and promise both wisdom and playfulness. Not quite my type (heck, at this point, I don't even know my type exactly – just that she's not it), but she's still stunning. This woman, whose name I can't remember for the life of me, been here through all my dating crises, and I vaguely recall my crying on her shoulder more than once about how I can never be loved. And I can never be loved.

"Yes, yes, that's true." The words spill off my tongue in response to my thoughts, but fortunately suit the purposes of replying to her statement as well.

"Don't worry, no need to clarify," the woman teases in a friendly manner. "I've seen it all with you."

A blush colours my face delicately, causing me to hide behind my sky - coloured locks.

She smirks lightly. "Don't be ashamed. You're the kind of girl everyone loves – you just need to find someone who loves you right."

"'Kay, so I understand the sentiment and all, but this feels a lil creepy, you know, how you're so informed on my love life."

She smirks once more; I'm beginning to believe the expression never leaves her face.

"I'm generally in the know anyways," she offers.

"Never claimed the opposite. It's just unnerving is all."

"Fair enough."

There's an awkward break in our conversation, and to fill it, she grabs a cone ("Large sized?" "Of course." "Sprinkles and icing on the cone?" "You know me too well." "Six napkins because you're likely to spill?" "You know me embarrassingly well.") and swirls a mix of ice cream into it. Afterwards, she shakes a half - open can of sprinkles delicately overtop the mix. "That's practically an art form!" I say cheerfully, both for the sake of starting a conversation and because I enjoy doing so. As uncomfortable as speaking to people is, I also find it undeniably interesting to hear about them. How they feel, what they like. I majored in psychology and art, so the study of the human brain is comparable to one of my life passions.

"Thanks," she says with a quick laugh. "I had to get used to doing this swiftly. Lots of crabby customers!" Her volunteering of information is helpful in a conversation; many people just would nod or shrug to the information, but then again, many of those people probably feel some kind of anxiety about interacting with others. God – or whatever – knows I can relate.

"Oh, I know the type. Usually parents rushing to get to a meeting or a pick - up. Right?" The association of certain behaviours with walks of life intrigues me, and we continue it.

Every time she makes an interesting comment, I take a delicate lick of my ice cream. By the time I walk out the door with a smile on my face, my ice cream is gone. It feels like it's evaporated – along with my sadness.

She might not be my type, but she's certainly got me feeling some type of way...and I think I like it.

—

Thoughts? Opinions?

What do you guys think about the ice cream lady?

Stay lovely. (: