I smile back, then lowered my eyes to my food. Who am I kidding? I thought. This girl doesn't want me babbling away at her while she works. Just then, a woman came in and the girl moved off to serve her, and I continued morosely to spoon delicious chocolate ice cream into my mouth.
The stream of customers was beginning to grow, so I ate up quickly, giving myself an ice cream headache while stealing furtive glances at her over the counter. When I had finished, I left the cost of the ice cream plus a generous tip on the counter, and made a swift exit.
I didn't feel like going to see Shelley, or anyone for that matter, so I got back on my bike and headed for the lake. There was a little cove hidden away there where I went sometimes with my friends, not easily reached and not at all by car. Trees on the rise above it hid it from the jetty where the tourist boats left from, and sheltered it from any winds.
It was deserted when I arrived, so I stripped off at once and dove into the cold water. I swam for a little, then just floated, trying to forget about her, not succeeding. Dmitri would have struck up a conversation instantly, I thought, would have come up with some cheesy line, or better, just genuinely showed an interest. Girls loved that shit. What could I do?
I floated and swam for almost an hour, until I began to get really cold, so I came back to the shore and wrapped myself in my towel. The sky was still brilliant blue, but it felt as though I couldn't see it at all. Eventually, I went home, looking longingly in the front window of the ice cream parlour as I passed, but not going in.
At first, I went into the kitchen to have lunch, but it became a kind of remorseless grazing and snacking which lasted the rest of the afternoon. I ordered pizza for dinner, then some Indian food after that. Eventually, I fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV.
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