AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Once it’s finished, I take a small sip and shake my head. Definitely not it.
Next, I try Irish Cream, but it’s too simple and has been done before.
“Tony, what are some flavors you think would be good?”
He stares at his phone, and I need to clear my throat to get his full attention. “Sorry, boss. Sweet things are cool.”
“Okay, well, what kind of sweet things?”
“Chocolate?”
“Been done. I want something unique with a killer flavor.”
I continue trying different things, sticking with the sweet idea that Tony suggested. None of them are original enough, though.
“I tried sugar cookie, gingerbread, pumpkin spice, vanilla, and hazelnut. All good, but not exciting enough. What else could I try?”
Tony leans against the counter, more enraptured by his phone than anything else. I don’t know what he’s doing on there, but from the look on his face I’d guess talking to a girl and that’s fine on his own damn time. I’m not paying him to chat. Especially when I’m asking his opinion and getting no real feedback.
“What about strawberry shortcake? That could be interesting.” It absolutely would not be, but now I’m curious what he’s gonna say. To see if he’s really paying attention to me at all.
“Sure, boss, that sounds good.”
I smack the counter, and he snaps his head to me. “Tony, strawberry shortcake sounds good?” I take a deep breath through my nose and let it out slowly.
Tony stares at me. “It doesn’t?”
I shake my head. “No, Tony. It doesn’t. If you’d rather help out front I can get Bren to help me.”
He nods and heads out to the front of the shop, while I try to think of new flavors that aren’t tired and used.
“On his phone again?” Bren walks through the swinging door and jabs a finger over her shoulder in his direction.
“I’m gonna smash that thing.”
“I’ll talk to him.” She steps closer. “So, what have you thought of so far?”
“People love seasonal things. That’s why pumpkin spice is popular in the fall and peppermint is popular around Christmas.Valentine’s Day is this month, so we should come up with something that’s reminiscent of that.”
“Great idea, Harrison.”
“Or what about something with matcha? It’s a really popular flavor right now. We could try to spice it up, add in some Valentine’s Day flavors like caramel and chocolate.”
“I really love that flavor combination,” she says with a grin.
“We could call it Love You So Matcha Latte.”
Bren’s eyes light up. “That’s a great name.”
I nod. “I’m going to need to order a few things to make it happen.”
We make a list of things to order and she leaves to help Tony out front as I go into my office. A few minutes with Bren, and at least I have an idea worth pursuing. I glance down at the schedule and remember I have a musician coming tonight. I grab my phone and hit Paxton’s number.
“Hey, man,” he answers.
“Hey. I have a musician coming in tonight if you’re free. You should check it out.”
“Oh, I’ll for sure be there.”
