Mutual Feelings

by Billy Taylor

  “Oh God, Ted. How many guests have you had around without asking for my consent?”

  “Excellent point, Will. Fine, she can come over.”

  “You were ecstatic for me a couple of hours ago. You got me banners and cards and a cake.”

  “I know I did. But it’s the weekend. It’s me and you and whatever we do time. Don’t forget pizza time, too.”

  “If we order pizza and she wants some pizza she can share mine or have her own. You don’t need to get all worried about your pizza consumption.”

  January 24th

  Ted and I were eating a bowl of cereal on our sofas while Zac was showering. We decided to watch SpongeBob. We didn’t even know we had that channel until Zac found it yesterday.

  “So, what do you think of Zac?” I asked while I heard my hair dryer being used in my bedroom. Ted entered the kitchen and washed his cereal bowl before returning. He was about to answer my question upon his return to his seat, but then Zac emerged from my bedroom. But I couldn’t see her as my sofa faces away from my bedroom. She walked to the fridge and grabbed herself a bottle of water.

  I then saw Ted’s face. He was watching Zac as if she were a unicorn. He looked that fascinated and amazed. For a moment I thought she might have walked in in her underwear or naked or something. And I felt scared to turn and look at her in case she was looking at me.

  She then walked behind me and sat beside me on my sofa. And that was when I saw the fascinating and amazing sight that Ted had witnessed only moments ago. Zac was wearing my Star Wars pyjamas. Well, it’s a T-shirt that has Darth Vader on them and it says Star Wars underneath, and then a pair of shorts. My look had now matched Ted’s. Zac hadn’t washed her hair. Although the back of her hair was slightly wet from where the water must have splashed up, so that explains why she’d used my hair dryer.

  She tied up her hair and then saw us both gawing over her. Her eyes were weary as she flicked between us both. “What?” she asked. “Have I got something on me?”

  “It’s just how ten-year-old me pictured it,” Ted said.

  “Pictured what?” she asked with a frown.

  “That one day we would have a girl sat here wearing something with Star Wars on it.”

  Zac’s frown increased, as if to say “Are you being serious?”

  “You look really hot,” I said.

  She laughed. “You two are acting very weird.”

  “This is a rare phenomenon, Zac. Don’t take this moment away from us,” Ted responded.

  “So because I’m wearing Will’s pyjamas, you’re going to stare at me all day?”

  “Well, Will would during the night, too. Although I feel like he’ll want to take them off.”

  “Ted!” I said. “You don’t always have to be so inappropriate. Show some respect.”

  “Sorry, Zac. It sounded like a compliment in my head.”

  She smiled. “That’s ok, Ted. You’re forgiven.”

  January 25th

  Sundiscussion Topic:

  Who is the coolest person dead or alive?

  Ted and I were both stood in the kitchen talking.

  “Interesting choice, Ted. Haven’t we done this one before? It got a little heated up last time I believe,” I said.

  “Yes, we have. But since Zac is new to Sundiscussions, I thought we could re-use some previous topics to see what her opinion is,” Ted replied.

  We changed our attention to Zac, who was biting her nails on my sofa. “What?” she said, her eyebrows rising.

  I sat next to her and explained what a Sundiscussion is, and the story behind it.

  “So, what is today’s topic?” she asked once I’d finished.

  “Today’s topic is who is the coolest person dead or alive?” Ted answered.

  “Do you need some time to think it over?” I asked.

  “No, it’s ok. I have someone in mind.” she replied.

  “Ok. So Ted is going to say Denzel Washington, who is one very cool guy. But he isn’t as cool as Sir Sean Connery,” I said.

  “Is he the guy who played James Bond in the seventies and they asked for like fifty thousand pounds otherwise they would blow up the world?” she asked.

  “His first James Bond film was in 1962 and his last James Bond film was in 1983. And yes, they did ask for those kind of amounts, I can’t remember how much it was exactly, but back then that was a large amount of money,” I answered.

  “Sean Connery doesn’t even come close to Denzel Washington,” Ted said.

  “Do you want this to turn into another fight?” I asked. “Because you know I will kick your ass again.”

  “You didn’t kick my ass,” Ted said before he took a sip from his mug.

  “We had to go to the hospital because you thought you broke your arm,” I said.

  “It was only a sprain,” he mumbled.

  “Exactly my point. I kicked your ass.” Zac must have been watching our exchange with a considerable amount of questioning.

  “Anyway,” I said. “Let’s move on and see what Zac’s suggestion is.” I shuffled around and faced Zac.

  “I’m going to say Angelina Jolie. Because she’s amazing in real life and in her films. If you say she isn’t a badass in the Tomb Raider movies, then there’s no point me ever taking part in one of these Sun…discussions ever again.”

  “I think Zac has won,” Ted said out of the blue. “She’s had an outstanding debut Sundiscussion. Congratulations, Zac,” he added.

  “Thanks,” she replied.

  “I wish I had thought of Angelina Jolie,” Ted mumbled as her stood and wandered into the kitchen.

  To celebrate her debut victory, Zac took a nap on my sofa while Ted and I spent our day watching football or soccer, depending on your preference. When I say nap, it was basically another eight hours of sleeping. It is possible that Zac could be a human sloth or koala, because she had been awake for no more than two hours before taking her long nap on the sofa. And by the time she woke up, it was time for me to drive her home.

  When we pulled up outside her apartment I said, “So if you’re free next weekend we could do the same again.” She went all shy and didn’t know what to say. I think I’ve figured out when she’s shy. If she has her arms crossed, and tucks her hands under her armpits, then that’s the sign that she’s being shy. And if she’s super shy she will hunch up her shoulders and rest her chin on the top of her chest.

  “We can maybe text and see?” she said, her hair almost blocking my view of her.

  “Ok, I’ll maybe text you during the week.”

  January 29th

  “Will you do me a huge favour?” Ted asked, walking into our office not long after lunch. It’s not very often Ted asks for a favour so when he does, I know it’s genuine. So before I heard his favour I knew I could trust him to not prank me. Ted does actually take his work seriously and he is very good at his job. We both do and are.

  “What’s this favour you require?” I asked, placing the tips of my fingers together and leaning back on my chair.

  “I completely forgot that I booked a private tour around the factory with this girl and her little sister on the phone before Christmas. But I’m having a meeting with my dad right now and was wondering if you could help me out?”

  I hummed for a moment and spun around on my chair.

  “Please,” he added.

  “Is it full VIP treatment? Put them in the funny sanitary suits and make the ice cream? And then do the work shop afterwards?”

  “Yes, hit them with everything you can think of. Take good care of them. She paid a lot of money, and I think she’s rich or famous or both or something.”

  I didn’t pay attention to the rich or famous part. I was more interested in having the rest of the afternoon to leisurely watch the ice cream being made, which I haven’t done in months. “Ok, I’ll do it,” I said.

  “Thank you. They’re waiting in reception for you.”

  “What?” I said.

  He said goodbye a
nd shut the door behind him, leaving me no time at all to prepare myself. But I wasn’t too worried. Jim, the main man who runs the factory and makes sure nobody steps a foot out of line, loves explaining to anyone what procedures take place in the factory when he gets the chance. The factory is like his child.

  I got up from my chair and walked into reception and saw that the sofa in front of the reception desk was unoccupied, which meant that they had to be sat on the one around the corner, not viewable as you walk down the stairs. I walked around the corner and there she was, the girl from the film. I couldn’t remember her name, something to do with a month of the year. June or July or August! August! She was sitting next to some guy, and a little girl with ginger hair and freckles was sat on his knee.

  “Hello,” I said cautiously.

  The little girl’s head shot up. “Are you the ice cream man?” she asked, her eyes widening.

  “No, but I get to take you to the ice cream man. He’s called Jim.”

  “Does he wear a superhero costume if he’s the ice cream man?”

  I sulked. “I guess you could say he does, but it’s not as cool as Batman’s.”

  The little girl nodded in agreement, “Ok.”

  August smiled and then she stood and held out her hand. She and the little girl were wearing matching purple Ron’s Ice Cream hoodies. August said something, but I didn’t hear what she said, it sounded like mumbling; I was too busy taking in her beauty and the fact that she’s a global superstar. I figured she was introducing herself and asking my name, but I said, “I saw your film the other day with Zac.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “That’s an interesting name. Do you have like a nickname or a shorter version of it that people call you?” she joked.

  I grinned, but didn’t laugh. “Sorry, I’m finding it hard to believe that you’re actually here. My name’s not that, it’s Will.”

  “Ok, Will. Nice to meet you. I’m August, the adorable ginger girl is my little sister, Madeline, and the lap she is sitting on is my fiancée, Ethan Knight.”

  “Fiancée?” I blurted, immediately regretting my inconsiderateness.

  “Yes,” she replied. “Is that so hard to believe?” she asked, turning back to him.

  “Sorry. No, not at all.” I reassured her. “It’s just, I thought you were really young.” I looked down at her left hand and then noticed the huge ring on her finger. I know nothing about rings, but I figured this one must have been a rather good and expensive one.

  Ethan startled to chuckle. “Don’t you start,” August said to him.

  “Sorry, dear,” he replied.

  “How old did you think I was?” she asked me as she crossed her arms.

  “I thought you were sixteen or seventeen. Clearly that assumption was incorrect.”

  “I’m nineteen!” she pleaded, once again turning toward Ethan, who was chuckling.

  “You’re quite small, dear, maybe that’s what confuses everyone?” He popped Madeline off his knee and onto her feet. He walked over and shook my hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said.

  “Nice to meet you, too,” I replied.

  He put his arm around August and kissed the top of her head. Ethan was only just shorter than me and he had a very fresh face. I thought he was dressed a bit too smart to be touring around a factory. Through his open coat I could see he was wearing a white shirt and a turquoise tie that had a pattern of ice cream cones on it.

  “Can we go see the ice cream now?” Madeline said, appearing from behind them both and standing in front of them. She’d put the hood up on her hoodie and tightened the strings so only a small part of her face was visible.

  I laughed. “Of course. Follow me. The entrance you came through is to our office. The entrance to the tour of the factory is on the other side. But there is a secret door that we can go through to take us there.”

  We walked past Ellie and the reception desk and I scanned my card that opened the door. We entered another room with a door to the factory that can only be opened by very few people because of hygiene rules, and a staircase that leads up to the museum, or history of Ron’s Ice Cream room.

  We walked up the staircase and I allowed them to go through first. “This is the history of Ron’s Ice Cream room. This is where you can find out how Ron began his journey and how it has developed. We’re actually starting in the middle of the tour. If you look down that corridor in front of us with the large glass windows, you can see into the factory and watch the ice cream production. So the real entrance is down there, you walk along the corridor and look into the factory for as long as you like, and then you come in here and see all the old tubs and cartons that the ice cream used to be kept in from twenty, thirty, or sixty years ago. And after you’ve been in here you go through the door to the left of the corridor we just saw, and that takes you into the room where you get to make your own tubs of ice cream.”

  August and Ethan didn’t seem too interested; I’m sure the main reason they came was to bring Madeline, whose face was getting redder by the second with excitement. She sprinted to the corridor and placed her hands on the window as she peered into the factory with such joy that it could have been mistaken for someone discovering the lost city of Atlantis.

  August, Ethan, and I walked over and joined her. “Wow,” August said. “I didn’t think it would be this big!”

  Ethan immediately started laughing and couldn’t stop himself. August didn’t look too pleased with his immaturity. She rolled her eyes and punched his arm. “Will you grow up for a second, please!”

  “I’m sorry, dear, but it was funny!” I must admit I did find it hard to contain myself, too. It’s been a while since I’ve done the tour, but that is pretty much what everyone says when they first see the factory, and it never gets old. I suppose I may need to grow up, too.

  “I thought we could start in the history room first. I know it may seem a little boring, but most people find it surprisingly interesting. Then I can take you into the factory and we can all make some ice cream together. And after that we can come back up here and we can go into the other room where you can make some tubs of ice cream that you can take home with you!”

  “Right, Maddie, if you want to go down there, we’d best go and read about all the boring—I mean, interesting history first,” Ethan joked. Madeline sighed and they walked back into the history room and perused around the displays. I stood by the wall and allowed them to wander freely since I’ve seen the displays many, many times.

  “Is there anything about the bubblegum flavour in here?” Madeline asked. I walked over and found a piece about our bubblegum flavour. It was originally made twenty years ago and it stopped being sold after being in production for four years. It hadn’t sold as well as planned. And then they brought it back two years ago to give it another go and it sold well so we kept it.

  Ethan had to pick Madeline up and hold her so she could read the display. She read it aloud so everyone could hear. I glanced over at August and she had a small smile on her face. She looked so proud of her little sister being able to read the text. When Madeline struggled on a word, she helped her, and then once she’d finished August said, “Well done, that was great!” And they high-fived. It was so nice to see. It made me think about the relationship I had with my older sister when we were younger. She didn’t used to do things with me like that. She’d just trip me up or throw things at me. She was nice like that.

  After no longer than five minutes Madeline’s patience could withhold no more and she insisted we go to the factory. So, we walked back along the corridor where you could see the factory and we entered the reception for the tour, where fifteen to twenty people were waiting for the next tour. One boy, who looked about ten or eleven, walked up to Ethan and asked for an autograph while I radioed down to Jim to come up and meet us so he could take us into the factory.

  While Ethan had a photo with the young boy, I whispered to August, “Sorry. Is he famous, too?”

  “He’s a magician,” she
whispered in reply.

  “Ah,” I said. “Stage magician or…”

  “He has his own street magic TV show. The second series just started. We were also on Patrick Miller’s show on Christmas Eve. He performed a magic trick on there, too. That’s also where we had our first kiss.”

  It made me think back to New Year’s Eve where the girls were talking about the magician and the actress on Patrick Miller’s show on Christmas Eve. Now I realised that August and Ethan were who they were talking about. “Ah,” I said again. “I’ll make sure I watch it.”

  “He’s really good,” she said, still whispering. “I’m not just saying that because he’s my fiancée. I’m saying it because I’ve been the one watching him for nearly thirteen years now.”

  “Wow,” I said. “So you were friends before you two got engaged?”

  “Yes, we were.”

  “Wow,” I said again. “He must be extremely patient.” I added.

  She laughed. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” The door behind us then made a beeping noise as it unlocked. Jim appeared in his Ron’s Ice Cream overalls, like ones a mechanic would wear. Jim is fifty-five. He took charge of the factory after his dad retired twenty-five years ago. Yes, Ron’s Ice Cream is a very family-take-over-based company.

  Jim and I greeted and shook hands, and then I introduced him to August, Ethan, and Madeline. I didn’t bother telling him that they were famous because even after explaining he’d still not fully understand who they were. He’s very old-fashioned I guess you could say. I just told him that they were our VIPs today and if he would happily show us around his factory. He held out his hand and I led the way downstairs to our first stop.

  “The people who were waiting in reception will be watching you make the ice cream from the window on the corridor,” I told Madeline.

  She grinned. “Really?”

  “Really,” I replied.

  “Cool!”

  At the bottom of the stairs was a bench and some lockers. “Because we have the strictest rules about cleanliness and hygiene, everyone has to wear one of these suits,” Jim explained as he walked over to a big locker, even bigger than me, and opened it with a set of keys. Inside were the white suits I’ve worn countless times. The best way to describe them is if there were ever an alien spaceship that crash-landed, these would be the suits the scientists would wear as they examined and recovered the wreckage.