It’s time for a fun summer vacation!
However, I hadn’t been able to spend my time in such a carefree manner as last time.
There were assignments and I have to attend intensive lectures and submit mid-summer vacation reports on them.
The most important thing was my part time work.
Of course, since it’s summer, it didn’t rain that much. So there was almost no work at the Evening Rain.
However, even though I didn’t have a stable income, there were still many things I wanted. Clothes, accessories, bags, cosmetics, shoes, etc. There’s no end to it.
So to eliminate my worldly desires, I decided to take it as a challenge and take on a part time job during the day from the morning.
I haven’t told the Owner about my new part time job. It’s not that I’ve been told I’m not allowed to take on another one, but it feels like I’m cheating on him somehow.
However, I feel self-conscious just thinking about it, so I won’t say anymore.
That’s what I told Ryoko-chan. That said, I’m only selling ice cream in the parking lot of a public swimming pool.
Today, I have to work from 8am to 12 noon, I must do my best.
I take care to prevent heat stroke and sunburn.
The ice creams sold are crisp and refreshing.
It seems to have been loved by the people of Nagasaki for a long time. It is sold in various places such as tourist spots, sports stadiums and roadsides with many cars.
This ice cream is sold by making a flower shape with a spatula. It was time consuming and difficult at first, but I got used to doing it every day.
Even though elementary school kids call me auntie, I do my best without feeling depressed.
The store was like a covered cart. When I started selling, I put a parasol on top.
On that note, in the case of the uniform I received from my boss, the hat is one that is widely used in farming work with a cloth at the back for sunshade. My neck is wrapped in a towel and I’m wearing a long sleeved white shirt like a kappogi. Below, I’m wearing long pants.
Because the ice cream was sold at a reasonable price of 100 yen, it sold very quickly.
I’m really happy that the small children are smiling and telling me that the flowers are beautiful and delicious. It’s a rewarding job.
I heard the announcement of the 11am pool break. My work hours will be coming to an end soon.
I’m already sweaty, so I want to go home as soon as possible, take a shower and read in a cool room. However, if I turn on the air conditioning during the day, the electricity bill will be quite harsh. I don’t want to put a burden on my parents as much as possible.
If I keep this up though, I’ll end up with heat stroke, so I think it’s a good idea to dress up and go shopping. The shops are cool everywhere.
Yesterday, my mother sent me some clothes to celebrate my birthday.
It was a blouse with a ribbon and long pleated skirt.
The skirt has a light pink colour and I’m thinking about choosing some clothes to match it with a shop assistant.
I heard a broadcast that announced the end of the ten minute pool break.
I only have 15 minutes of work to go! Feeling energetic again, I grabbed a spatula to greet some customers that had come over.
「Welcome, today……ha?」
The customers were a man and a woman.
I thought they were on a date, but after I greeted them, I stopped thinking.
The reason for that was because the man standing in front of me was the Owner.
「–Ah, it’s Oto-chan! Why are you dressed up like an old lady?」
Ryoko-chan was laughing when she saw my uniform. From a distance, she didn’t recognise me and thought I was some auntie. On the other hand, the Owner said he was sure it was me.
Was he wearing contact lenses today? If I looked closely, his eyes were red. Was it because he wasn’t good with wearing contact lenses that he just didn’t use them? He usually doesn’t wear glasses either, the mystery deepened.
No, no, rather than that, I was very embarrassed to be seen wearing the ice cream seller uniform.
Of course, not only from a distance but also from nearby, I was called auntie, so I can’t say much about it.
The two of them thought that I would be wearing a stylish uniform, selling ice cream from a national chain store.
Speaking of Nagasaki, I wanted to ask about flower ice cream.
「By the way, why are the two of you here?」
「To see Oto-chan. I just happened to meet him at a convenience store a short while ago.」
It seems that Ryoko-chan accidentally let it slip to the Owner. You have to be joking.
She said she thought the Owner already knew about my part time job.
「No, well, I tried to keep quiet about it, but Owner Mukai forced it out of me and I couldn’t not tell him……」
「It just took one ice cream.」
It seems some bribes I’m wasn’t aware of had happened. Ryoko-chan is a bit too talkative!
But, I know she told him because he was the Owner.
「If Oto-chan sells ice cream with a cute appearance, it would be a serious issue if a playboy tried to pick you up, so I rushed over here, but……」
Looking at me, Ryoko-chan started spouting words again.
「Ah, Oto-chan, no, no. It looks great on you!」
「I’m not happy about that~~!」
The Owner looked looked at me with a dazed expression.
After that, the two of them bought some ice cream. They also praised the shape of the flowers I made with the spatula.
The Owner offered to drive me back, but I refused stubbornly because I was all sweaty.
Ryoko-chan seems to have her part time work after this, so she left first. The Owner said he would head back home.
As I saw them off, the noon announcement signaled the end of today’s job.
While listening to the voices of the frolicking children, I switched places with the next part timer before wiping off my sweat in the restroom and going home.
When I got home, I took lovely bath and then washed myself down with a shower.
After that, I decided to turn on the air conditioner and have lunch. The meal was the remaining somen I had last night. Because it was in the refrigerator, it was chilled. Pouring some noodle soup on top, I put my hands together. I decided to cool my hot body with the somen.
In the afternoon, I worked on my daily tasks.
I started to doze off halfway and took a nap, but I did my best to finish today’s work. I closed my notebook gently.
After that, I changed my clothes to go to a shopping mall near the station.
I wore the blouse and skirt my mother gave me. I put on a light layer of makeup and half tied up my hair into a bun.
The time was just past 4pm. I thought it was a bit late, but it’s summer so the sun wouldn’t set until after 6pm.
I went from my apartment to the shopping mall by tram.
For now, I decided to buy some books and went to my favourite book store on the third floor.
While wandering around the new publication section, I found a pick-up corner lined with books from Shinonome Yohko-sensei.
I was happy to see that, but I was still quite surprised.
The Detective Nakajima Kaoruko series was wrapped in a banner with an announcement that it would be getting a film adaptation.
Uwa, I was surprised.
Though there weren’t any details yes, I still thought it was amazing.
Which actress would play Kaoru, a beautiful 21st century woman? Which actor would play Kawashima, her assistant and female crossdresser? Reading the banner again, I got more and more excited.
I was so happy that I was going to buy a volume I already had.
As I was in this fluffy floating feeling, the scene outside the window woke me up.
–Sudden rain!
At the same time, I heard a meowing message tone from my bag. It was a message from the Owner.
I thought that it would be telling me to come to the store quickly as I opened the message.
But the contents of the message were different from what I had thought.
–You don’t have to come today. You’re tired from working under the hot sun today, aren’t you?
My heart was warmed at the thoughtful message.
After I came home from my part time job, I went out to relax, so I wasn’t tired. Rather, I want to see the Owner–I wasn’t going to write that, I wrote back ‘I’m okay, please let me earn some money!’ I replied, telling him that I would come to work.
The time was past 6pm. Because it was raining, the light made it feel more like evening.
I bought an umbrella at a convenience store and told him that I would head over by tram, but the Owner came to pick me up at the shopping mall parking lot.
Maybe because he didn’t like wearing contacts during the day, he showed up in glasses.
I sat in the passenger seat and looked at him.
「Owner, there’s something I’ve been wondering for a while.」
「What is it?」
「Why don’t you usually wear glasses?」
「That is–」
I told him he didn’t need to tell me if he didn’t want to, but he beckoned me to come closer.
As soon as I moved closer, he whispered it into my ear.
「–A few years ago, when I was working as a salary worker, I was called the 『Accounting Department’s glasses wearing sister-in-law guy』 so it’s a bit of a sore spot.」
「Well, that’s.」
New fact! The Owner seemed to have worked as a salary worker before.
Even so, “Accounting Department’s glasses wearing sister-in-law guy”, though it was impolite, I still laughed a little. He looked intensely at me, but I couldn’t help it.
After calming down, I asked some more questions.
「The accounting department’s sister-in-law, what did you do to get that name?」
「If there was anything wrong with the expense applications of other departments–no, I never did anything like that at all, never.」
「I-I see!」
It seems that he was good at finding mistakes in words and numbers.
「But, if you don’t wear glasses, doesn’t it cause a lot of inconvenience?」
「Well, it is a bit inconvenient.」
Glasses looked very good on him, I was surprised to see that.
But, he soon changed back to his straight face.
「What, are you trying to earn money?」
「Yes, yes, really!」
I said that in a joking way as he started up the car and started to move slowly.
When we left the parking lot, raining were drizzling on the windows.
The Owner murmured that this first rain after a long period of time was a blessing.
I also thought it was a pleasant rain because I was able to meet with him twice in a single day.
Such a cute story. 😁