Falling For Mr. Sundae | ✔

24. Sunflowers

The bright orange Sprinklez uniform never look more unattractive to me. That kiss with Julian was amazing--it's all that occupied my mind since the barbecue--and I was looking forward to seeing him again. But why did it have to be while wearing this hideous ass shirt?

No amount of tugging or adjusting the collar would miraculously making the shirt more flattering. Besides, he'd be wearing the same thing so it shouldn't matter. Smoothing the invisible wrinkles from the shirt one last time I busied myself with straightening the tiny jars of sprinkles in a straight line.

Our shift at Sprinklez started exactly five minutes ago and Julian wasn't there yet. He usually arrived ten minutes earlier to talk to Bobby as his shift ended. Even Tim was shocked by Julian being late. I didn't have time to worry because two customers came in.

Another fifteen minutes went by before the bell above the door rang again. I looked up to find Julian walking in, his forehead glistening with sweat. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my smile in check.

Tim emerged from the back room at the same time, surprised to see his best employee finally showed up. "You're late," he said. It was more of an observation than a scolding.

"The car broke down," he said, wiping the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand.

"I knew that thing was going to give out on you one of these days," Tim said with a huff a laughter. He clapped Julian on the shoulder before adding, "Don't worry about it. Get yourself cleaned up and behind that counter. The dinner crowd will be in here soon."

Julian did as he was told before joining me behind the counter. I'd been waiting to see him and now that he was here I didn't know what to say. It was obvious that he was at a loss as well when all he offered was a quick "hi".

We were in this awkward we kissed, now what? place. Neither of us knowing how to take the next step. As the day went on it didn't get any better. It almost seemed to get worse. Like we reverted to two complete strangers. Apologizing every time we accidentally brushed against each other or got in each other's way.

The other night after the kiss we sat in silence. A comfortable silence where we just enjoyed each other's presence. When it was time to go we parted ways with a hug full of uncertainty. Did he start the hug or did? Did he even want to hug me? I spent the last couple of days combing over every detail of that night and still had no idea what it meant.

Sprinklez was pretty busy so I didn't have too much time to dwell on it today. But once our shift ended I couldn't just leave things in this awkward what now phase. Luckily, I had the perfect excuse to talk to him.

"You need a ride?" I asked, after he locked up the store.

His eyes clouded over as he thought about my offer. For a moment I thought he would decline. Then he nodded.

The drive was quite aside from the occasional direction from Julian and the music that played at a low volume. Unlike the night in the park this silence bothered me. There were too many unanswered questions I couldn't keep to myself anymore.

"So," I started, my eyes focused on the red light ahead. "You have fun at the barbecue?"

In my peripheral vision I saw him shift and look at me, a hint of a smile at the corners of his lips like he knew the question I really wanted to ask. My stomach twisted at the look.

"Yeah. I had fun."

"That's good." I nodded, continuing to drive. "I had fun too."

I could still feel his eyes on me. With a stolen glance I saw that he had an amused look on his face. Unable to hold back my own smile I looked at him fully before turning back to the road.