Previously: I thanked him and paid for my order. Leaving the diner, I pondered what he said. Was I too predictable? Did I know how to have fun, let loose? I shook my head to myself. No, I didn’t. I liked things a certain way and if they worked, why change them? I had changed enough, going through a traumatic event a little over three years zamani now. I wasn’t ready for anything too different from my routine. Not yet.
A cobblestone mitaani, mtaa with buildings on either side and a large town hall standing guard at the end, Main mitaani, mtaa was the moyo of maple Grove. As I made my way back up the street, I waved at fellow duka keepers and townfolk I knew as I passed. I made a mental note to stop kwa Paws & Claws later to get my cat, Maisy, some treats to bring home. Not that her slightly overweight body needed it, but she deserved it. In the window of Mark My Words, I noticed the owner Nettie Beasley setting up a display of fall themed cozy mysteries. The quaint and colorful covers immediately drew my eye and I made another mental note to stop in there later for a look at what was new. For early September, the siku was rather chilly and I zipped up my windbreaker and picked up my pace.
As I bustled into Decadence, I saw Stacy helping a customer behind the counter. I waved silently and pointed to the back room, indicating I would be eating my lunch there. She smiled back and continued with the customer’s order. I couldn’t unwrap my turkey and cheese sandwich, sandwichi and slurp my karanga siagi milkshake fast enough. I grabbed a mustard container from the fridge we kept in the jikoni and slathered my sandwich, sandwichi with it, then took a heaping bite. I tried to turn a page in my latest mystery without getting the pages dirty. Yes, this was good. Why change a sure thing?, I thought to myself.
“Carly, I know there’s only like ten dakika left on your lunch break but I really really really need to use the ladies room.”
“Stacy, why didn’t wewe go when wewe were on your lunch?”
“Well, Kevin and I got to talking and…”
“Talking, huh?” I quirked an eyebrow at her and she blushed.
“Alright, alright. Go ahead, I’ll listen for the front.”
“Okay thank you! I’ll be like two seconds.” And with that she dashed away leaving in her wake a trail of blonde curls and flowery perfume.
No sooner had she left when the chimes above the door tinkled, and I groaned. I had just gotten to the best part of the sandwich, the middle, and the best part of the book and I was interrupted yet again. Just my luck. I flipped the book over in a huff to mark my place and pasted a smile on to greet the customer who came through the front. It was a man, short and stocky and wearing a very badly placed toupee. His gray suit was terribly wrinkled and he didn’t look up from his phone which he was tapping away at furiously.
“Hi, welcome to Decadence. What can I get for you?”
Silence greeted me as zaidi angry tapping ensued.
“Sir? Could I help wewe with something?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll just have a chokoleti cone.”
He hadn’t looked up from his phone still, and I was beginning to get annoyed. It was simple manners to at least smile at the person who was helping you. I scooped his ice cream onto a cone, and he sat down at a corner booth after paying. Still never acknowledging me.
“You’re welcome,” I muttered under my breath and rolled my eyes.
Stacy came back into the front just then, thanked me for relieving her and I set back to finish my book and sandwich. Just as I was throwing the garbage away and washing my hands, I heard a loud crash from the front. When I ran into the room, I was startled to see the grumpy business man was beet red in the face and yelling into his phone.
“What happened?” I asked Stacy as I came up behind her.
“He scared the dickens out of me! He was typing away on that phone of his for quite awhile, then he got a phone call and as soon as he did, he kicked that chair over and started yelling,” Stacy was a self-proclaimed fragile young girl who jumped at every loud noise she heard but could out last her manly boyfriend in their horror movie marathons. She now looked visibly afraid, and I felt protective of her.
“You tell him that is simply not good enough! I will have your job, I will have all of your jobs! He can’t do this to me! wewe tell him that.”
“Excuse me, sir. I’m going to have to ask wewe leave,” I alisema as I tentatively approached him. “You’re scaring my employee and frankly, me too.”
His already ragged toupee had slid to the bench he was sitting on and I suppressed a shudder. He held his phone in a white knuckled death grip and I feared it might break. I was beginning to fear for mine and Stacy’s safety. Neither of us knew this man, he was likely with the convention, but who knew what he might do? wewe could never be too cautious. Since he was still yelling into his phone, and I noticed a family of four come into the duka only to turn around immediately, I began to get zaidi forceful with him.
“SIR! wewe need to leave,” the tone in my voice made him finally acknowledge me and he looked at me. “Now.”
He got up and left without another word, and I picked up the chair he had kicked over.
“Can wewe believe that guy? Wow. And you! wewe were awesome! Thanks so much for making him leave, he was really freaking me out.” Stacy reached out to give me a hug and I hugged her back.
“He was freaking me out too, and he was scaring away potential customers. He must be with the convention, I have never seen him around here,” I got a rag to wipe down the meza, jedwali he just vacated, “and besides maple Grove residents do not behave that way. Certainly not the adults.”
“You’ve got that right. He needs a literal chill pill. I thought he was going to break that phone!”
Stacy and I worked in companionable silence until closing time at 6 PM. As I casually flipped through receipts, I was pleased to see it had been a good siku at least in the monetary department. After locking the money and receipts in the salama for tomorrow’s work and making sure the open sign was flipped to closed, I locked up the door and headed out for the day. The siku might have been chilly, but the night was downright cold. I took a deep breath and smiled, watching the cold air come from my nose. I loved the cold, in all things. I made a living out of serving cold treats, and my husband and I planned to retire in the north because he too loved all things cold. Jeff, I smiled sadly and sighed. “I’m thinking of you, baby,” I lifted my head to the quickly darkening sky and blew a kiss.
A cobblestone mitaani, mtaa with buildings on either side and a large town hall standing guard at the end, Main mitaani, mtaa was the moyo of maple Grove. As I made my way back up the street, I waved at fellow duka keepers and townfolk I knew as I passed. I made a mental note to stop kwa Paws & Claws later to get my cat, Maisy, some treats to bring home. Not that her slightly overweight body needed it, but she deserved it. In the window of Mark My Words, I noticed the owner Nettie Beasley setting up a display of fall themed cozy mysteries. The quaint and colorful covers immediately drew my eye and I made another mental note to stop in there later for a look at what was new. For early September, the siku was rather chilly and I zipped up my windbreaker and picked up my pace.
As I bustled into Decadence, I saw Stacy helping a customer behind the counter. I waved silently and pointed to the back room, indicating I would be eating my lunch there. She smiled back and continued with the customer’s order. I couldn’t unwrap my turkey and cheese sandwich, sandwichi and slurp my karanga siagi milkshake fast enough. I grabbed a mustard container from the fridge we kept in the jikoni and slathered my sandwich, sandwichi with it, then took a heaping bite. I tried to turn a page in my latest mystery without getting the pages dirty. Yes, this was good. Why change a sure thing?, I thought to myself.
“Carly, I know there’s only like ten dakika left on your lunch break but I really really really need to use the ladies room.”
“Stacy, why didn’t wewe go when wewe were on your lunch?”
“Well, Kevin and I got to talking and…”
“Talking, huh?” I quirked an eyebrow at her and she blushed.
“Alright, alright. Go ahead, I’ll listen for the front.”
“Okay thank you! I’ll be like two seconds.” And with that she dashed away leaving in her wake a trail of blonde curls and flowery perfume.
No sooner had she left when the chimes above the door tinkled, and I groaned. I had just gotten to the best part of the sandwich, the middle, and the best part of the book and I was interrupted yet again. Just my luck. I flipped the book over in a huff to mark my place and pasted a smile on to greet the customer who came through the front. It was a man, short and stocky and wearing a very badly placed toupee. His gray suit was terribly wrinkled and he didn’t look up from his phone which he was tapping away at furiously.
“Hi, welcome to Decadence. What can I get for you?”
Silence greeted me as zaidi angry tapping ensued.
“Sir? Could I help wewe with something?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll just have a chokoleti cone.”
He hadn’t looked up from his phone still, and I was beginning to get annoyed. It was simple manners to at least smile at the person who was helping you. I scooped his ice cream onto a cone, and he sat down at a corner booth after paying. Still never acknowledging me.
“You’re welcome,” I muttered under my breath and rolled my eyes.
Stacy came back into the front just then, thanked me for relieving her and I set back to finish my book and sandwich. Just as I was throwing the garbage away and washing my hands, I heard a loud crash from the front. When I ran into the room, I was startled to see the grumpy business man was beet red in the face and yelling into his phone.
“What happened?” I asked Stacy as I came up behind her.
“He scared the dickens out of me! He was typing away on that phone of his for quite awhile, then he got a phone call and as soon as he did, he kicked that chair over and started yelling,” Stacy was a self-proclaimed fragile young girl who jumped at every loud noise she heard but could out last her manly boyfriend in their horror movie marathons. She now looked visibly afraid, and I felt protective of her.
“You tell him that is simply not good enough! I will have your job, I will have all of your jobs! He can’t do this to me! wewe tell him that.”
“Excuse me, sir. I’m going to have to ask wewe leave,” I alisema as I tentatively approached him. “You’re scaring my employee and frankly, me too.”
His already ragged toupee had slid to the bench he was sitting on and I suppressed a shudder. He held his phone in a white knuckled death grip and I feared it might break. I was beginning to fear for mine and Stacy’s safety. Neither of us knew this man, he was likely with the convention, but who knew what he might do? wewe could never be too cautious. Since he was still yelling into his phone, and I noticed a family of four come into the duka only to turn around immediately, I began to get zaidi forceful with him.
“SIR! wewe need to leave,” the tone in my voice made him finally acknowledge me and he looked at me. “Now.”
He got up and left without another word, and I picked up the chair he had kicked over.
“Can wewe believe that guy? Wow. And you! wewe were awesome! Thanks so much for making him leave, he was really freaking me out.” Stacy reached out to give me a hug and I hugged her back.
“He was freaking me out too, and he was scaring away potential customers. He must be with the convention, I have never seen him around here,” I got a rag to wipe down the meza, jedwali he just vacated, “and besides maple Grove residents do not behave that way. Certainly not the adults.”
“You’ve got that right. He needs a literal chill pill. I thought he was going to break that phone!”
Stacy and I worked in companionable silence until closing time at 6 PM. As I casually flipped through receipts, I was pleased to see it had been a good siku at least in the monetary department. After locking the money and receipts in the salama for tomorrow’s work and making sure the open sign was flipped to closed, I locked up the door and headed out for the day. The siku might have been chilly, but the night was downright cold. I took a deep breath and smiled, watching the cold air come from my nose. I loved the cold, in all things. I made a living out of serving cold treats, and my husband and I planned to retire in the north because he too loved all things cold. Jeff, I smiled sadly and sighed. “I’m thinking of you, baby,” I lifted my head to the quickly darkening sky and blew a kiss.