Cinnamon Apple Crisp

From his point of view

There goes that guy. Phew. Finally got his order right.

            He asked for a sundae and a vanilla, but his sundae order was pretty hard to get right. He wanted almonds and a cherry. That sounds simple, right? But he wanted the almonds chopped in half, the cherry with a stem. Picking through and choosing was hard.

            He didn't even say thank you, either. He just snatched his stuff, paid the money, and left.

            It's getting pretty dark outside. Pretty chilly, too. It's the middle of November in New England, around nine or ten pm. I guess people still get food cravings. Our ice cream tastes really good, so I'm not surprised.

            "Can I help who's next in line,” I say. There's a cute girl that looks kind of cold standing away from the light, on the concrete. She questioningly looks at the other cash register; nobody’s ringing up there. I glance over, and a waiting man glances back. Sticking my head out my window, I ask, "Can I help you?" He shakes his head. The man, in his mid-forties and a black jacket, instead gestures, "She's all yours” with open arms and hands. I turn back to her. She steps onto the cement, towards me, and looks a little confused. Half a head shorter than me, at a reasonable height, with vulnerably nice eyes and hair tucked behind one ear. I'm wondering whether I should say something or if she'll say something. I make up my mind to ask what she would like when she starts, "What was the thing that the guy had on his left?" pointing at the empty space. There? That's where the sundae was. "Uh, that was the sundae." "Oh, okay," she says. She thinks for a little bit. Her expressions are unbelievably easy to read. It’s as though she’s acting out her life. She opens her mouth to say something, purses her lips, squints her eyes in thought, then inquisitively, "What would you recommend?"

            What would I recommend to someone like her. "Well, what kind of flavor do you like?"

            She looks at me for a few moments�"a little amused?�"and says, "Something sweet."

            That's… just about everything in our store. Well… I think "The coffee oreo's pretty good. Uh..." Her upturned mouth is starting to tense. What else do people… Oh yeah! "People like the Cinnamon Apple Crisp a lot. It’s one of our seasonals." Her face lights up a little. I don't know if she'll like it though, and I don't want to get her something that she doesn't want. "Do you want to try some first?" She brightens up and nods her head vigorously. Huh. Nobody has ever smiled that happily at me about getting a sample of an ice cream flavor before.

            Relieved, I breathe "All right," grab a spoon from the spoon jar, and head over to the ice cream buckets, away from the breeze. Man, it's so warm in here. I wonder how she can stand to be outside right now. I hope her jacket's warm enough. It looks pretty thin. When she was waiting for a cashier she was bundling into herself, arms crossed and teetering. I pass Tim, who's scooping up a bunch of chocolate ice cream for the older man. Or is it... Oh, I guess not. Where did he go?

            I reach the Cinnamon Apple Crisp bucket. There's still quite a lot left; it's a little more than half full. I reach in to gather some on the spoon; I try to find a piece of apple for her. There's this one piece stuck on the side, right next to a little speck of cinnamon. If I can grab that all on the same spoon... Okay. There! A piece of apple, some cinnamon, and some of the ice cream. She's getting the best of the best in this. When she tries this, she'll be getting the entire ice cream. In one bite.

            I return to the window, and she's still waiting. Still looking cold. Well, of course. She wouldn’t just leave after asking for a flavor testing. I hand her the sample, and she takes it with her hand. Her hand is small, pale, slender. She takes the tiny scoop and hesitates a little. She nibbles on it for a moment, a little shy, before she engulfs the sample with her mouth. "Do you like it?" She's still chewing; I guess it was a little big for her. Right now, she's also trying to speak, so she ends up chewing lopsidedly, looking restrained. I wait. Maybe she'll have something to say.

            "How big is a small?"

            A routine question. I'm almost disappointed. But… at least I have to give her an answer. "They're about this big," I say, pulling out a small-sized cup from under the counter. I set it down on the counter. "We put in two scoops about this tall." My hand hovers about twice the height of the cup above the cup, and her eyes widen. "Whoa, really?" I nod. "Okay. Can I have one of those?" I nod again, and turn to get her ice cream, when her voice interrupts me, "Oh, also?" I turn to her. "Could you do the thing" she pretends to hold a cup and smashes her fist on top of the cup. "with the cone, and the ice cream?" A little surprised by her gestures, and maybe the fact that I can understand them, and her slightly mischievous smile, I chirp, "Yeah, sure" and go to get her order. Huh. Sweet, somewhat genuine.

            I get her the ice cream, and she just hands me a bunch of crumpled ones. I straighten, then count out how many I need, and give her back her change. Two dollars and fifty cents. She stares at it for a moment and asks, "Did you give me the right change?" I'm a little flustered; I counted it out correctly. "Yeah, it's $3.50 for ice cream, so... that should be about correct." She's flustered now. "Ah, I didn't really count how many there were, and I saw five, so..." She takes her ice cream, cradling it into her hands. There are two spoons stuck on it now. She smiles, an excited, breathless, gentle smile. "Thank you!" She looks so pleased about her ice cream. Ice cream. Huh.

            She's stepping away now, back towards the cement, and I rush out, "Have a nice night!" She turns back, and smiles. Radiantly. I can't help but watch her leave. She walks quietly to her side of the car, and opens the door. She smiles with a hint of nostalgia, scooping up some frosty delight for her driver.

            Hopefully she's warmer now.