When they'd drawn up the schedule at the beginning of the month, the one which determined who ran the store when, today had been designated one of Russell's days off. He'd been looking forward to it, too, because even if he didn't have anything specific to do he could at least revel in the freedom; not that he minded the job, of course, but he spent so much of his time working. But something had come up, Helix had a date or a party or who knew what, and after all it wasn't so bad for Russell to have to fill in, really. So here he was behind the counter, holding a small sample spoon and looking down at one of the children who for some reason liked to come in here. Maybe they'd been expecting Helix.
"I can't actually give you a sample that's a full scoop," he explained, or tried to. "That's not a sample, it's a full serving. Where are your parents?"
"They said I could come by myself," the small girl said. "Please? The other Mr Mews lets me."
Oh, yes, Helix had said something about that, hadn't he? Russell just hadn't thought he was being serious. Too easily swayed by children, that was his problem, for some reason. Russell had never understood them himself. "I am not the other Mr Mews," he said as patiently as he could, which was not very. "The answer is no. Unless you have some money and are willing to use it, please get out of my store."
The girl did so, but gave him a dirty look, and he sighed. It was a slow day--she'd been the first person to come in since the woman right after they opened who always got the same thing--and it was a small store, and there wasn't much in it besides the gelato counter and two small tables near the window. There was a shelf of candy behind him that most people weren't interested in, which he found somewhat gratifying since he made the gelato and not the candy, but Helix had insisted they put it in and said the occasional customer who noticed it was reason enough to keep it. He needed more employees, that was the thing. Then he wouldn't have to spend all day staring into space because Helix had a scheduling conflict.
But it wasn't too bad for him to have to fill in, he supposed. He hadn't had any plans anyway.