24.
"Which flavours do you guys want?" I ask Masen and Bella once we're inside the shop.
"Cotton candy!" says Masen. "With lots of sprinklers."
"Sprinklers?" I repeat.
"He means sprinkles", corrects Bella. "Not sprinklers."
Oh-kay. "What about you Bella, what will you take?"
"Cookie dough", she says.
Then they go to find a seat while I give our orders to the boy behind the counter.
"Cotton candy, cookie dough and chocolate", I say. "All with sprinkles and in medium size."
~X~
"Yummy", sighs Masen. "Too yummy." He licks all the blue cream off his face and smiles at me.
We're at a table for three, eating our frozen dessert. It feels right. Bella, Masen and I. We hardly know this person but she fits in with us perfectly. It's like she... No... I pause in my line of thoughts. I can't start thinking about her differently.
She's just a friend.
A friend.
That's all.
That's what I need.
Nothing else.
"You can't tell T about this", I warn him.
"Why not?" asks Bella.
"She strongly opposes having anything sweet before dinner. She'll have my head if she finds out I broke the rule."
"You're what, thirty and you're still afraid of your nanny?"
"No I'm not", I protest. "I'm not thirty. I'm twenty eight and Tanya isn't my nanny."
"Or mine", adds Masen. "She's like a granny."
"How long has she been with your family?"
"Twenty seven years."
"That's a long time", notes Bella.
~X~
"How old are you Belly?" questions Masen.
"Do I look really old?" laughs Bella, spooning her ice-cream to her mouth.
"No", Masen shakes his head. "But tell me."
"I'm twenty five."
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