“Same shit different day. How’s everything going over at the Winter Wonderland?”
“A kid peed on my lap this morning. But other than that it’s been peachy.”
“Damn, you’re a better man than me. They couldn’t pay me enough to bounce runny nosed brats on my knee all day.”
I shrugged. “It’s not so bad.”
“Shiitt, kids are germ factories. The Santa pool has your odds at three to one that you end up getting the flu, hand, foot, and mouth disease, or colic before this gig is over.”
“Wait, people are betting on my immune system?”
The radio attached to Tyler’s shirt blared a message. “Hey, Tyler where you at? We got some teenagers in the parking lot jamming up traffic.” Tyler lowered the volume, turning his attention back to me.
“Don’t look at me like that. We play this game every year. Winner gets a stocking stuffed with mini bottles of liquor.”
“Did you vote against me?”
“Dude, I’ve only known you for five days and you had that coughing fit the other day, so …”
“The other day? Water went down the wrong pipe. I wasn’t sick.”
“Still it’s a sign of weakness.” Tyler balled up his burger wrapper.
I met Tyler on my first day. He was talkative and I was a man of few words, so it worked out nicely. Tyler got to talk and I wasn’t forced to answer questions. But there was a question I was dying to ask him.
“So what’s the deal with Belen?”
Tyler shook the ice in his almost empty cup. “What do you mean?”
“Like generally what’s her deal?”
He hacked out a laugh. “Bro, you don’t stand a chance.”
“What?”
“Women like Belen don’t date guys who wear costumes to work.”
“Who said anything about dating?”
“What were you trying to get a better understanding of her political affiliations?” Tyler rolled his eyes.
A muscle in my jaw throbbed. “Thanks for the unsolicited dating advice.”
“Oh you want advice? She’s out of your league. She’s in the hall of fame and you are on the bench. Scratch that … you’re not even a player, you’re like the mascot or something.”
“Wow, that’s fucked up.”
“Just trying to save you the trouble.”
“Thanks, but I can take care of myself.”
Tyler sucked in a breath of air through his teeth. “Speaking of trouble, there’s the delectable Ms. Goodwin and it looks like she’s coming our way.”
I turned my head to the direction Tyler was pointing. Belen was walking toward us, her hips swaying side to side as she moved through the crowd.
I’d hoped to see her today. While Belen was the event coordinator, she didn’t run the day-to-day activities on the floor. That was handled by my boss Steve, who ensured the families moved through the line and spent as much money as possible on photo packages and specialty items before they left for other parts of the massive mall.
“Hi,” Belen greeted us. Her smile took up half her face.
