Romantic Princess Pt. 1

The poorly made paper fan that I had folded up a couple of hours ago was utterly useless against the sweltering summer heat. Even under the shadowy embrace of my massive rainbow beach umbrella, the sun somehow still managed to remind me of its omnipotent presence. I tossed the paper fan aside and reached for my pen and a sheet of paper. 'I might as well make the most of my time here', I thought glumly. Twirling my pen absentmindedly, I racked my brain for a cute date idea. In this goddamn heat, if I had a boyfriend, all I'd want to do is stay inside and sit right besides the air conditioner all day. But that was a shit idea and definitely not worth anyone's dollar. Instead in neat cursive letters, I wrote, "Take the 2B bus to the Old Town ice cream factory! They have a small museum where you can learn about the history of ice cream, how they make their ice cream, and have a free taste test of all their different flavors! Tickets are only $5! On days over 92 degrees, they even offer a free carton of ice cream! The best part? Behind the the telephone booth inside is a speak easy that serve spiked affogattos and other yummy treats!", folded it up, and tossed it into the 'date' box. Michelle, my roommate, would not be happy about me writing this idea because the speak easy was one of her sacred study spots but beggars can't be choosers. 'There's one idea,' I mused. 'What else would be fun on a miserably hot day like this?' I fiddled with my pen racking my brain for ideas when a shadow leered over my desk. I hastily looked up to see two girls surveying the display on the table. With a wide smile, I said in a sing songy voice, "Hello! My name is Lucy, welcome to the Romantic Princess booth! How may I help you?" "Hi Lucy! We're just looking, thanks," said the brunette. "No problem! As you can see, there's 5 different boxes ranging from date ideas all the way down to proposal ideas! For a dollar, you can draw one idea from any of the boxes! I guarantee that each idea is original and extraordinary! If not, you get your money back!" The girls giggled, before taking a look at the boxes. I tapped my fingers on my thighs in anticipation. If they decide to buy an idea, that means I had made $17 in the past two hours.
 Unsurprisingly, even in this terrible weather, Fairway Park was packed with tourists, artists, performers, and random booths. Mine included. Ever since the movie "Fairway Park" was filmed here a couple years back, this park had become a huge attraction. What was once a community of street artists and local folks now became one of the top destinations to visit in LA. Thus, it wasn't surprising to see tourists taking pictures by the tree where Chris Evans proposed to Anne Hathaway or look through the many, many booths that sold "Fairway Park" merchandise while blasting the soundtrack from the movie on repeat. Thankfully, my little booth was far, far away from those booths. My little section was a 6 foot by 6 foot mat wedged between Shao Feng, an old man who played pretty tunes on the zither and Markus, a junior at UCSB who owns a high powered telescope where he'd charge $3 for a look through it. I tried it once and got to see Mars and a couple of stars which Markus gladly explained in great detail. Across the path from my booth was Sasha's where she sells cute bracelets from shells and stuff. This place was where I spent my Saturday and Sunday afternoons, hanging out with fellow street side self-employed people and mingling with tourists.
"Alright, we'll take two," said the brunette. She passed me two bucks and I grinned. "For sure! Have you decided which boxes?"
The girls looked at each other and giggled again. The brunette smiled mischievously before grabbing a sheet from the "foreplay" box. Her friend laughed and asked her to read it out loud.
"Cover your significant other's eyes for a taste test. From strawberry jam to jalapenos, let them have a taste and yearn for more! Of course, no treat is yummier than your lips!" The brunette smile coyly as she wrapped her arm around her friend's waist, "Huh, guess we ought to try that now."
Op! Her girlfriend blushed before reaching for the date idea. She smiled softly and showed it to the brunette who giggled. "Huh, this sounds fun. Wanna ditch our plan to go to the movies and head to Toys R Us?" She nodded with a smile before turning to me.
"This is a really cool idea! Thanks!"
I smiled back, "No problem! Have fun you two, and don't get caught!" They laughed jovially before sauntering off.

xx

After the two girls left, business got slow again and I was left silent and burning. Shao Feng's steady playing which is usually soothing was now an aggravating reminder of how slow time was passing and how the weather didn't seem to be getting any cooler soon. I sighed as I reached for my water bottle only to find out that it was empty. Damn it. "Shao Feng, watch my booth for me!" He gave me a nod before resuming his playing.

 Grabbing my purse and the water bottle, I stood up, straightened my shorts, and headed over to the trash can. After tossing the bottle, I noticed the snack vendor and felt my stomach growl. Two kids were eating ice cream and even though I'm not fond of mint n' chip, their's looked amazing. Fuck. Did I really want to use the 2 bucks I just attained. No. Yes. No. Yes. No. Even with my inner dilemma, my feet seemed to walk on it's own and I was standing in the line with three other kids. When it was my turn, I gave a pained smile to the vendor still debating if this was worth it. 'I waited in line for it. It would be rude to just walk out now.' I reached for my wallet and pulled out the two dollars. "Hi, can I have a crazy cone with strawberry ice cream, please?" He reached down to grab a cone and artfully twirled the ice cream till it sat perkily on the delicious chocolate covered cone. He then doused it in sprinkles before handing it to me.

"That will be four dollars," he said monotonously. 

"Wait, what?" I gripped my two bucks tensely. That price was ridiculous. "I'm sorry," I began cordially, "just three days ago, it cost two dollars."

"Nope. It's four dollars. You must have heard wrong."

I stared at him, appalled, when realization kicked in. "Ohhh, you think I'm a tourist or something, right? Well, you're wrong. I work in the booth just one street down from here." I pointed to my booth on the other side of the street. I beamed at him before whispering conspiringly, "I know you over charge the tourists. All the locals know that the ice cream only costs 2 bucks."

He rolled his eyes. "If you don't have the money, you can't have the ice cream." God fucking damnit. I know he is lying. I've been to this store many, many times and it's always 2 bucks. What is this guy's problem? Is he new? Does he have a grudge against me? The 2 bucks in my hand were getting sweaty and crumpled as I gripped it harder and harder. I am about to die and all I want is that fucking ice cream cone in his hand. Why is he making this so hard?

"Look," I tried again, "I've been coming here forever. You can't just double the price out of nowhere!" 

"Look miss, unless you can pay for the ice cream, please get out of the line."

"Yeah!" I turned shocked to see five red, pissy faces staring back at me. "If you're not going to buy the ice cream, could you move so I can get some?" A little boy glared at me challengingly. 

What a fucking brat. "You know what you little brat, I'm trying to set the truth here! Why don't you mind your own bu--"Here, I got it," a tanned hand reached past my face and handed the money before passing the ice cream to me.

"Thank you," I said awkwardly as I turned to face the stranger. My eyes widened as I took in his appearance. Bless my stars, he was beautiful. With olive skin, close cropped dark hair, chiseled cheekbones, broad shoulders, and his toned calves--"Hey, if you could move out of the way. I'm trying to place some orders." I blinked. Quickly, I stepped aside and let him pass.

"Oh sorry. Thanks, again." I smiled sheepishly.

He gave me a quick glance and muttered a no problem. Even his voice sounded nice. I grinned before dazedly walking back to my booth. I stared at my half melted ice cream, before gingerly taking a lick. I blushed imagining that it was his lips. I'm going to preserve this ice cream cone forever. This has to be fate. It just has to be. When I reached my booth I was giggling manically. I grabbed my pen and paper and scribbled furiously. Inspiration was surrounding me. Could this be love?

Inspired by: http://fuckingconversations.tumblr.com/post/71945524861/karenfelloutofbedagain-theonewholovesbooks