A Summer's Dream

Chapter 20~Running a Cartel

It had been three days since I worked on the tree house and as far as I knew, it was at a standstill. I would be out there working right now, but my allergies would eventually kick in and it was getting hard for me to function. My eyes would get red and scratchy, my nose would begin to run, and my head would get all fuzzy; making it hard to think.

“You’re freaking kidding me.” Lucy’s face screamed disbelief and I choked down a laugh.

“Unfortunately not.” I could feel the heat rising and filling my ears. My newest redheaded friend and I were walking down the sidewalk in town. We had just finished having lunch and I recounted what happened the day I last saw her; specifically the accidental kiss. We were now headed to a small shop she worked at so I could fill out a job application. The revelation of this need came this morning when I swiped the last of my mascara onto my eyes. My perfume was quickly emptying, I wore holes through all my socks, and now my mascara was gone. A job seemed to be the next logical step. I still had a couple of months left here and I wasn’t about to be grabbing money off of trees. So I went upstairs to find the owner of my favorite brown eyes. It took my best puppy dog look before Terrence would hand over Lucy’s number. He claimed it would be a ‘hazardous’ combination if she and I became close. But of course she was elated to hear my voice when I called.

A smug look crossed over Lucy’s features and I grew worried. “Did you like it?”

“Lucy!” The horrified look on my face sent her into a frenzy of laughs.

“I’m just joking!” She coughed down the remainders of her hysterics and abruptly turned the corner.  “Who would have guessed, Little Terrence falling for a yank.”

The playful insult bounced off of my figurative armor and I stopped in my tracks. “I didn’t say anything about him liking me. It was all an accident.”

She stopped as well and turned her face towards me. “A perfect accident. That was probably the launch pad for his feelings.” I bit my lip in nervousness.

“You think?”

“Look at you!” She cried and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, guiding me on. “Emily fancies Terrence; oh this is too good to be true!”

“What do you mean?”

“Little Terrence has finally found himself a girl; do you know how long I’ve waited for this to happen?” I shook my head as a sign of my ignorance. “I’ve seen him grow up and not once has he even looked at a girl…I feel like I’ve told you all this before.”

“I think you have…” I thought back to when we first met.

“Anyways,” Her hand seemed to chase away old thoughts “I’m going to hound him until he blushes madly. I’ll probably just have to say your name and he would turn as bright as a tomato.”

“Oh please don’t.” My face scrunched in disapproval. “He would be mortified if he even knew I told you about all this.”

She groaned a little in disappointment. “Can I at least bring you up?”

I thought for a moment. “Only if it’s casual.” Words couldn’t describe how happy I was to be getting close to Lucy. I loved Lydia to death, but the time difference made it difficult to have girl time, or to even have girl talk. It’s nice being able to be around a fellow female who was over the age of 12. The fact that she knew Terrence inside and out was only a plus.

“Here we are!” She cried and swung open the door; signaling a little chime. We both walked inside and a sweet smell met my nose; like flower petals were scattered around the room.

“Lucy, I thought it was your day off.” A pretty blonde girl came to my vision. She stood behind the counter dressed in black with a cash register blocking the front of her.

“It is, my friend wanted to find a job and I told her we were hiring. El, this is Emily, Emily, this is El.” She swished her hand between the two of us in a carefree manner.

“Eleanor.” She corrected with a smile and extended her own hand. “But everyone calls me El; you’re welcome to if you’d like. Or if you fancy Eleanor you’re welcome to that as well. I’m not picky.”

A bright smile lit up my face and I shook the extended hand. “Emily; or Em if you want.” I felt the need to improvise a cool nickname. Martin did call me that, so I guess it counted.

I watched as Lucy jumped up on the counter and swung her legs around so she was standing on the other side. She searched through a jumble of loose and stapled papers. “Emily is from America if you couldn’t tell by the accent. She’s staying with a friend of mine for the summer so this would be a part time gig.”

“Ah…” El said thoughtfully. “How do you like the UK?” She leaned forward onto her elbows and even though she grew closer I felt comfortable. Her smile seemed to put me at ease for some reason.

“It’s nice.” My short answer felt awkward so I continued. “I like it so far. I’m fortunate that I was able to slip into a social group right away.”

“Amen to that!” I heard Lucy from a distance. How she snuck into a back room seemed to have escaped me. “Aha!” She cried happily and strolled back into the room El and I were in. “Here.” She smacked the stapled pieces of paper down on the wood counter and mimicked El’s casual stance. “You can fill out the information whenever is convenient for you. It’s just some red tape. Since we’re in need you should be interviewed immediately and put into the work force.”

A thought popped into my head. “There won’t be any trouble with my passport and I not living here will there?”

“Oh don’t worry about that.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Cynthia is pretty cool and no one will care.” I raised an eyebrow at her nonchalant attitude but didn’t say anything. It was a real job and I couldn’t complain; especially since Lucy would be here.

I folded the miniature stack of papers once and stuffed them into my satchel. “Only if you’re sure…”

“I am.” She grinned back at me. “Anyways, all we do here is sell clothes and rack up money. Not running a cartel.”

“Yeah,” El added “We usually have to restock the racks once a week. But other than that we usually just tell a customer they ‘look great in that top’ and take their money. It’s a simple business really.” She winked at me and I gave a small bout of laughter. I think I was going to like being around these two.

We laughed and chatted for about an hour until a customer came in and El had to leave our little circle. I glanced over at Lucy who had a faint smile on her face as she observed the screen in her hand. She was probably texting Craig or something. The wood was beginning to dig into my elbows so I switched positions awkwardly. I never knew what to do when I was around people but by myself. Do you act cool and nonchalant? Or do you pretend to be doing something important so people won’t bother you. This was my daily struggle.

“You ready girly?” My eyes went up to Lucy who by now had pocketed her device and looked far too excited for a regular stroll in the park.

“For what?” I fiddled with the tassel on my satchel and looked over at an engrossed El who was far too busy telling the customer that “they looked great in that top”. I had to hold back a small chuckle.

“Craig and the boys are going to meet us at a book store around the corner.”

My stomach did a flip. It had only been a couple hours since I last saw Terrence but that didn’t seem to matter to my emotions. It had been too long. A chirp rung from her phone and she pulled it out.

“They’re on their way. We should head out.” Her hand grabbed mine and she dragged the both of us out of the store.

“Don’t get carried away when Terrence is around.” I cautioned. I didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable and make me regret telling her everything.

“Don’t be silly.”

But something told me to be prepared for the worst.

Side picture is El! ->