One Hundred and fifty eight

CHAPTER 158

After finishing helping Ethan at the cash register, the counter was finally less busy. Uncle Chuck was still busy making hot drinks in the kitchen, but Alicia couldn't help because Uncle Chuck wanted to take care of all the recipes himself.

Finally, Alicia walked over to the empty tables to clean them up. She was already carrying a tray, ready to put the cups left behind by the customers and wash them, but then she stopped when she realized that Angela's used cup was in front of her. Alicia's eyes rounded upon realizing that the stainless straw that had been in Angela's glass was gone. The woman had taken it with her. Alicia examined the glass, perhaps there were fingerprints or traces of Angela's sweat that she could bring to Nicholas. However, Alicia had just remembered that Angela had used gloves to cover her fingerprints.

Alicia sighed in annoyance. "Damn! That woman did come up with a plan!"

Unable to do anything, Alicia could only carry the glasses on the table in surrender. She couldn't get anything out of Angela, and that made her very angry. She got carried away with her emotions, she lost focus and it caused Alicia to not remember the evidence she could have taken from Angela.

After washing all the glasses, the shop was closed. Uncle Chuck had run out of ice cream and drink ingredients, so there was nothing else he could sell that day. Sales were very high. The shop was very crowded during dinner hours. It seemed like many people wanted to spend their dinner time eating a refreshing light snack like ice cream.

Alicia and Ethan put the aprons back in place after they finished taking the empty ice cream boxes to the wash. But Uncle Chuck asked them to continue the work the next day and let them go home.

"I really appreciate your work," Uncle Chuck said and handed Alicia and Ethan two envelopes.

"Aren't we going to get paid at the end? We've only worked one day," Ethan said, asking something he was curious about.

Alicia who was standing beside him could only hold her backpack while nodding her head, she agreed with Ethan's words.

Uncle Chuck gave a short sigh. He thrust the envelope in his hand forward again, for Ethan and Alicia. "This is the daily bonus. I'm giving this money because my sales today were really busy. I even ran out of ingredients in the kitchen and had to go shopping. If sales keep going up like this, I'll be able to afford a Lamborghini in two months, tsk."

"You're overreacting, Uncle Chuck!" Ethan replied, as he accepted the envelope the old man handed him. Uncle Chuck's snickering got Ethan excited. He picked up the envelope, and then shook it in the air. "I'll put this money to good use. Thank you, Uncle."

"Thank you, Uncle Chuck," said Alicia, who also received an envelope from Uncle Chuck.

"Make sure you come tomorrow afternoon. I have to prepare the ingredients, so we'll be open from three in the afternoon. OK?"

"Yes, Uncle Chuck," they both replied in unison.

Afterwards, they both left the shop. Alicia was still waiting for a taxi, when Ethan appeared on a black sports bike in front of Alicia. He took off his full-face helmet and smiled. "Are you waiting for a taxi, Alicia? Want a ride? I think we're going the same way home."

Alicia returned the smile. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm waiting for someone. You can go first."

"Wow. Is that your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Ethan laughed, then said, "Alright. I'll go first. Take care," he lowered the visor of his helmet, started the engine and shouted as he left, "See you, Alicia!"

"Well, he's a spirited young man," Alicia muttered.

"Who's the spirited young man?"

A man's voice made Alicia turn around in surprise. Her heart was beating fast from the shock of Nicholas' sudden appearance. Nicholas smiled, but his arms did not immediately embrace Alicia.

"Nicholas!"

"So... there's another guy?"

Alicia laughed, seeing Nicholas' ridiculous behavior. She then hugged Nicholas and murmured in the man's arms. "There are no other men, just Nicholas and Nicholas."

Nicholas frowned and laughed along with Alicia. He grabbed her waist, then pulled her close, making the scent of perfume on Alicia's body waft quickly to Nicholas' nose. "Then who was that man you were talking about earlier, Princess?"

"That's Ethan, he also works here as a part-time worker. You can meet him if you want."

Nicholas raised one eyebrow. He made an artificially jealous face, then said, "Am I better looking than him?"

"You're better looking, but... he's younger than you."

"Ah, annoying."

Nicholas' reaction made Alicia laugh. They then laughed together as they walked towards Nicholas' car which was parked on the side of the road. There were no restrictions on parking, and Nicholas took the opportunity.

"It's very cold outside and you're selling ice cream. Isn't your body cold, Alicia?"

Nicholas had just fastened Alicia's seat belt, when Alicia shook her head. She had thought that the situation would go the way Nicholas said it would, but it did not. Alicia was quite comfortable with her workplace. She had no idea that Uncle Chuck's kitchen was really warm and cozy.

"Uncle Chuck gave us hot chocolate and some bonus money, he said it was the money he got from the big sale. I can see that Uncle Chuck is very happy with the sales today. The shop is really packed!"

Nicholas smiled, he reached out to Alicia's head and rubbed it gently. "I'm glad to see you happy, Alicia. But don't get too tired, you'll get sick. You understand that I'm worried about you, right?"

"Take it easy, Nick. I can take care of myself and this will help me forget all the sadness."

"That's good. Shall we have some rib soup now?" Nicholas smiled and grabbed Alicia's hips, he pulled her close so that the scent of Alicia's perfume reached Nicholas' nose.

"Sounds good."