Miss out, and I’ll be looking for work again; odd jobs, laboring on building sites and the like. I don’t care so long as the money is regular, and the work keeps me in shape for surfing.
I’ll have to go ask Chloe if there are more fins out the back. Failing that, I’ll get her to order one in for me. Not ideal, but better than nothing.
“Hey Sylvia, why don’t you wait here? I’ll ask Chloe when they’ll be getting more stock in and we can be out of here.” Anything to avoid her attacking Chloe again.
Unfortunately, the woman isn’t falling for it.
“I’m all good, surfer boy.”
Surfer boy? Is she serious?
She slowly licks her ice cream while holding my gaze and it’s all I can do not to laugh.
Maybe this is why I’m still single?
We’re not even close to the sales counter when Sylvia starts acting up again.
First she bad-mouths Chloe and the shop and then slams the remains of that blasted ice cream down in front of Chloe. She then does her best to drag me out of the shop, declaring we’re off to Wrights.
Like hell we are.
On seeing Chloe’s disappointment and then disapproval, I make a snap decision. I peel Sylvia’s fingers away from around my wrist. “I’ll catch you later.” I then back away, putting a few people between us.
Unable to return to my side without looking silly, she storms out of the shop. On her way she sends a sunhat display stand flying. I’ll deal with that later.
But before I can do that, I need to sort out some of these customers. First off is the guy next to me whose shirt is almost as loud as he is. “Right, you’re after a new leash for your board, aren’t you?” I put my hand on his shoulder and steer him toward the side of the shop.
There were pluses to Chloe's parents keeping the same layout down through the years. I’ll leave as soon as Chloe has everything under control again.
