Settling The Score ( BBW Romantic Suspense)

Jasinda Reed pulled her cell phone out of her apron pocket, the one adorned with the smiley face ice cream cone. She checked the time. "Got a hot date?" asked her co-worker, Trudy Hanover, as she wiped up sprinkles from the counter. "Not since two years and twenty pounds ago!" Trudy simply responded with a half-laugh since she couldn't decide whether agreeing or disagreeing would be the more polite response. "I was just seeing how much more time I have until the attack," Jasinda explained. Trudy rolled her eyes. "That's new. Last week, you called it the 'onslaught,' I think." Jasinda smiled. "I don't want to be too predictable." She attempted to straighten the stack of cups next to the soda dispenser. The cups all came tumbling down. Trudy smirked and pointed at the cup calamity. "Knowing your tendency to be clumsy, Jasinda, that was predictable!" "They're coming..." Jasinda said with dread. The first group of people noisily entered from the entrance connected to the parking garage. The "attack" or the "onslaught" referred to the game day crowd which made its way to Biggie Scoops Ice Cream in the third floor food court of the local mall. The mall stood less than half a mile down the road from Jefferson Stadium, home of the professional football team, the Tigers. When the Tigers played home games, the mall stayed open later to accommodate all the hungry and wild fans pouring out of the stadium. As if they hadn't consumed enough beer, pretzels and pizza during the game, then they had to "attack" the mall food court as Jasinda called it. For some reason, it seemed like most of the football fans wanted ice cream. Since they had spent the bulk of their money at the football game, they always gave lousy tips. Not that tips at Biggie Scoops Ice Cream were all that great anyway, but every bit counted and helped toward paying Jasinda's college tuition. She proudly reflected on the fact that she had paid for every class along the way herself while living on her own since she turned eighteen. Still, being almost twenty-five and having several classes to go before she would earn enough credits for her undergraduate degree got more irritating as each semester passed. She studied hard and worked hard, but there was only so much progress she could make when she could only afford to take two or three classes at a time. Putting up with game day crowds helped her get closer to her goals. Jasinda glanced at the logo on the napkins as she stuffed them into the holder. Just her luck to end up working at a place with the word "biggie" in the title! Jasinda had always been a big girl. As a child, her father referred to her as "pleasantly plump." That sounded nice until the day a kid in the neighborhood told her that it was just another way of saying "happy whale." Over the years, the lingo had changed. Heavy, plus-sized, full-figured, on the larger side, Rubenesque – whatever the current polite way to say it happened to be – she'd heard it all. Still, she knew what the customers in the food court said. (Most, but not all, at least held themselves back until they thought she was out of earshot). "What's a FAT girl like her doing working at an ice cream place? She probably eats all the profits!" Then they would snicker into their coats when she turned around with a smile on her face to hand them their trademarked Triple Chocolate Explosion Sundaes with extra whipped cream. How could customers eat those things and still be so skinny? Jasinda felt like she put on an extra pound just from smelling the hot fudge every time she dipped the ladle into it. "So, do you have it?" The girl with the ponytail standing in front of the counter snapped her gum. "What?" Jasinda asked absently, coming out of her mini-daydream. Ponytail girl turned toward her equally skinny friend and gave Jasinda the side-eye at the same time. "Like I already said, the mocha walnut fudge. Do you have any of that left today?" she sighed dramatically. Jasinda knew exactly what that sigh meant. That, along with the girl's facial expression said it all: Why do they hire fat people at places like this? God, they're so lazy. They can't even be bothered to do their jobs. "I'm sorry. Yes, we do have that flavor today," Jasinda answered. "Good. I'll take it in a large double scoop sundae size." "What topping sauce would you like? We have hot fudge, caramel, and strawberry." "Can I have hot fudge and caramel?" "It only comes with one. We're supposed to charge extra for another flavor, but I'll just put it on for you for free," Jasinda said pleasantly. Ponytail girl didn't even acknowledge Jasinda going out of her way to provide good customer service. She just turned to her friend and started yammering on about how ice cream would blow her diet, but she'd already had so much junk food at the stadium, a little more couldn't hurt. Of course, ungrateful ponytail girl didn't even bother to leave a quarter in the tip cup after she got her large double scoop sundae with the extra topping. Jasinda and Trudy worked their butts off for the next hour. Then, as suddenly as the crowd had descended upon them earlier, it died off. That's what always happened on game day. The influx of people poured in fast and furious as the stadium let out. A lot of people popped into the mall rather than wait in the traffic because the mall happened to be located between Jefferson Stadium and the highway on-ramp. They waited for the traffic to thin out and then they left the mall as quickly as they had come. "We just had almost a hundred customers since the football game got out," Trudy said as she read the report from the cash register's screen. Jasinda rubbed her forearms. "I believe it. My arms are killing me from all that scooping. I should have worked at an ice cream place with soft-serve machines!" "You and me both," her friend agreed. "At least next weekend is Big Game Sunday and then football season is over. It's hard to believe that depending on how they do in the playoff game this week, the Tigers will probably be in the Big Game when Jefferson Stadium is already slated to host the Big Game this year. That's never happened before." "Thrilling. Lucky us," Jasinda said, not meaning it in the least. "It's going to be a crazy week," Trudy predicted. "Don't remind me," Jasinda said with a roll of her eyes. "Should we call it a night?" she asked. "Yes! Let's close out the register and turn off the menu sign. All the other restaurants are already closed." Jasinda looked out across the deserted food court. She always found it creepy when she noticed the mini-carousel dark and turned off for the night. "You're right. I get so involved with taking care of our customers that sometimes I forget to look up and notice everything else going on in the rest of the food court." "I'm gonna go rinse the blenders at the sink in the back. The water pressure's better back there," Trudy said as she disappeared behind the swinging doors with the oval window in them. Jasinda pushed the left door half-open. "I'll wipe down the front counter and clean up around the toppings. Don't forget to shut the sign off while you're back there." "Good deal," Trudy yelled as Jasinda swung the door closed again. Jasinda carefully mopped up the drippings around the topping stations with a paper towel. First, she cleaned the strawberry area. That didn't tempt her since it reminded her of eating fruit. She found the caramel container a bit harder to resist, but she did so. It just seemed to Jasinda that caramel belonged in a candy bar, something she dearly wish she had at that moment. Finally, she got to the hot fudge. She stirred the ladle in the container. The gooey goodness dripped in a smooth stream and disappeared into the little vat. It smelled heavenly too. Nothing could make her stomach rumble like the aroma of melted chocolate. One little bite, one delicious mouthful couldn't hurt, she thought. Jasinda grabbed a plastic spoon from the counter. She dipped it into the hot fudge. She swirled the spoon around, coating most of the handle. Jasinda carefully lifted the spoon to her face. She paused to breathe in deeply one more time and enjoy the chocolate scent. Then she shoved the heaping spoonful of hot fudge into her mouth. Jasinda closed her eyes. The warmth and heaviness of the sauce filled her mouth. Her taste buds danced as her tongue swirled around, enjoying the sinful sweetness. She remembered her Western Civilization professor saying that ambrosia was the food of the gods in classic Greek mythology. Jasinda decided he was wrong; something had been lost in translation through the ages. If divine beings had their choice to subsist on any substance in the world, they would have chosen melted chocolate! She hated to swallow if it meant that she had to give up the taste of the hot fudge. She smiled at the thought that she could still lick the spoon's handle. She enjoyed the sensuous feeling of the hot fudge sliding down her throat. Just as she opened her eyes to focus on the spoon handle, a deep, masculine voice startled her. "Did I make it before closing?" the alluring male voice asked. Jasinda spun around. Her eyes blinked as she took in the sight on the other side of the counter.