Chapter 65
Standing
in front of the freezer cases at one of the oldest, smallest, and least popular
Tampa-area grocery stores, Nick contemplated his selection in peace, his eyes
roaming the shelves of ice cream, his mind processing the various brands and
flavors. There were too many to choose
from. After a moment, he opened up one
of the cases, reached in, and selected a carton of mint chocolate chip, his
favorite. He hesitated a moment, then
also grabbed a container of rocky road.
And maybe… banana split? Ew, no,
nothing with the word “banana” in the title.
Cookies and cream, perhaps? Or
maybe strawberry cheesecake instead?
Mmm… cheesecake… oh hell, why not both?
Smiling
triumphantly, Nick grabbed one carton of cookies and cream and one of
strawberry cheesecake and added them to the stack he was accumulating. I should have gotten a cart, he
thought; the four tubs of ice cream he had in a death grip under one arm were
painfully cold against his skin. He
started to hurry his purchases up to the cash registers at the front, afraid his
arm was going to freeze to the side of the ice cream containers, and he’d have
to pour scalding water all over his arm just to pry it off… that thought
reminded him of “A Christmas Story,” when the kid gets double-dog-dared to lick
the flagpole… he smiled to himself and did not realize there was someone behind
him until a voice asked, “Hungry much?”
Startled,
Nick spun around, almost dropping his ice cream in the process, and found
himself face to face with Claire, of all people.
“I
thought that was you,” she said with a smile, and her eyes traveled to the four
cartons of ice cream in his arms.
“Gorging yourself on ice cream, are you?
Sounds like my kind of night.”
“Hey,”
he said with a shaky laugh, still getting over his shock. “What are you doing here?”
She
held up a frozen pizza. “Just got off
work and thought I’d grab something to heat up for dinner when I get
home.” Shrugging, she added sheepishly,
“I’m not much of cook.”
He
noticed for the first time that she was wearing hot pink scrubs, a white
bandana dotted with tiny pink flowers wrapped around her head to
coordinate. “Oh,” he said. “You don’t get off till seven? I didn’t think most dentists’ offices stayed
open that late.”
“Oh,
well, I actually got off at five,” she clarified. “But then I dropped by the hospital and hung
out for awhile.”
He
blinked. “You go to the hospital to hang
out?” he asked. Wow, looks like
someone needs a hobby.
“Well,
yeah, I hang out with the little kids up in oncology,” she elaborated. “I read to them or play video games with them
and stuff. It gets lonely up there; I’m
sure you know that. And haven’t I told
you all this before?”
He
shrugged. “Maybe… well, that’s cool of
you.”
“Yeah…” She trailed off, studying him a moment, then
asked, “So, what did you do today? Hang
out outside all day?”
“Yeah,
I took my boat out… how’d you know I was outside all day?”
“’Cause
apparently you forgot the Sunblock, Lobster Boy.”
If
Nick’s face had been red before, it became even redder now. “Really?” he asked, clapping a hand to his
cheek. It stung with the touch and felt
warm against his fingertips, and he realized he had gotten sunburned. He hadn’t even noticed it, having not glanced
in a mirror since he got back (he tried to avoid mirrors as much as possible
these days). It surprised him; usually
he tanned very easily and rarely got burned.
“Ohh
yeah,” said Claire. Her eyes scanning
upward, she asked, “You did remember to cover your head, didn’t you?”
Nick
grimaced, glanced around to make sure there were no other people in sight, and
slowly tugged off his hat, the skin of his scalp tingling unpleasantly once
again. “How bad is it?” he asked,
bending over so that she could see the top of his head.
There
was silence at first, then a sharp intake of breath, and by the time he
straightened himself back up to look at her, she had her hands over her mouth,
stifling back giggles, her eyes wide.
“God,
Nick,” she breathed after a moment.
“It’s already blistering! That’s
gotta hurt like a bitch.”
“Yeah,”
he said, gingerly pulling the hat back onto his head. “It does…”
He was just beginning to realize how much it stung now and wondered if
the knowledge made it seem even worse.
“You
should put Aloe on it,” Claire advised knowledgeably. “It’ll cool it off, make it feel better.”
“Aloe?”
he repeated dumbly. “What’s that?”
“It’s
like this clear stuff that you put on your skin… it’s good for sunburns.”
“Oh. Well, where do you get it?”
“You
should be able to find it at any drugstore or some place like that. I’ve got some nice-smelling stuff from Bath
and Body Works… I use it all the time, cause I burn so easily. Damn my white Irish skin,” she laughed.
“Bath
and Body Works?” he repeated, wrinkling his nose. “Well, I sure as hell ain’t gonna set foot in
there… that place freaks me out.”
“What,
you don’t like to smell pretty after you shower?” she asked innocently and then
giggled at the expression on his face.
Then the smile left her face, and, suddenly seeming almost shy, she
said, “Hey, if you aren’t doing anything tonight other than pigging out on ice
cream… do you wanna come over to my place?
I can, you know, let you borrow my Aloe…” One side of her mouth turned up in a half-smile.
He
returned the smirk and quipped, “Only if I can bring my ice cream.”
“Oh,
you bet! I wouldn’t let you come without
it,” said Claire. “So… whaddya say?”
Nick
grinned cheekily. “I say you’re on,
girl.”
***