He turns and glares at Sylvia. “Huh, and you accused Chloe of not learning anything while she was away. Didn’t they teach you manners at that ivy league place your parents paid to get you into?”
BLAKE
On walking into the Surf Shack, the memories threaten to overwhelm me. So many hours spent hanging around the shop with my surfing buddies. Time spent drooling over the latest boards and the girls shopping for the latest bikini.
It doesn’t matter that I haven’t been in the shop in years; it’s as if it was yesterday. A quick check around and apart from the stock being up to date, it doesn’t appear as if Chloe’s dad has changed the layout of the shop at all.
I know exactly where I’ll find a new fin for my longboard. Even so, I don’t bother heading in that direction, rather I make a beeline for the sales counter and the woman waiting there.
She's looking as sweet as ever, her light brown hair falling like silk to her shoulders. Short and curvy, Chloe is a complete opposite of the blonde all over me to the point I reckon I’ll need a wax scraper to get rid of her. Much as I love surfing, I’m not keen on a woman who resembles one of my boards.
I’m surprised to find Chloe behind the sales counter; I thought she worked at the library these days. At least that’s what one of my friends said when I was back in town for a wedding. I’d only been there for the weekend, so I hadn’t had a chance to check it out for myself.
Apart from being as cute as I remember, Chloe also looks to be stunned and lost for words, her soft pink lips forming a perfect O. A perfect fit for…
I mentally slap myself to clear my mind of the filthy image I’m working on. Any remnants are obliterated when Sylvia shoves that ice cream of hers right up in my face.
I angle my head away, for all the good it does. “I’m good, thanks. Prefer surfing on an empty stomach.” It’s still not enough of a hint and it takes me longer than it should to work out what the hell the woman is playing at.
It’s that she’s looking at Chloe while waiting for me to take a lick that tells me what she’s up to. Sylvia always was a nasty piece of work. In the end, I push her hand away to avoid wearing the blasted thing. It’s already a challenge keeping on top of the laundry when I’m living in my van.
The other challenge I’m faced with is ditching the woman.
After running into her outside the ice cream parlor a couple of doors down, she’s stuck to me like Velcro. When she started talking about great places for lunch and dinner, I resigned myself to being stuck with her for the duration.
That is, unless I do something drastic, and soon.
Ignoring her as best I can, I ask Chloe if they’ve got any of the Machado longboard fins in stock. For all the good it does. The cutie appears transfixed, as if in a daze of some kind. I’m opening my mouth to ask her again, when Sylvia talks over the top of me.
On hearing what the nasty piece of work says, I turn and glare at her. Has the woman learned nothing since high school? I give her grief about it, for all the good it does. She always did have an over inflated sense of her own importance.
“That’s cool, Chloe, I can find them myself. They’re down the back of the shop if I remember correctly?”
Receiving a mute nod in response, I move away from the sales counter and am pleased when Sylvia tags along. If she hadn’t, I’d have dragged her away myself.
It isn’t that I’m after her company; it’s that I don’t want her attacking Chloe again. I also want to give Chloe some time to get over being called that awful name.
There’s nothing doughy about Chloe, she’s lush.
