Forever and Ever. Amber Aitken

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       4 together forever

      “So what exactly do we do when we get to Deli Antonia?” Nicks wondered out loud.

      “Well, we could ask Mr Selvaggio to fill in a Cupid Company questionnaire,” suggested Coral. “But that takes time, which we don’t have, so maybe we should just ask him plenty of relevant questions instead. We urgently need to find out if he’s our Mr Perfect. After all, you can’t build a marriage on pasta alone.”

      “Marriage?” squawked Nicks. “Who said anything about my mum getting married?”

      “Well, isn’t that what happens when you fall in love? You get married,” explained Coral. But Nicks didn’t look very convinced. In fact, she looked like she didn’t want to think about it at all. Tightening her grip on Romeo’s lead, she quickened her step. It was a warm day and they’d already been walking for a while, so Nicks thought about a long cold drink instead.

      There was the usual crowd gathering outside the Sea Life Aquarium; afternoons meant feeding time for the bigger fish and it was always worth queuing for. But today there seemed to be a different sort of commotion going on. The girls looked closer until they saw what it was that was causing all the fuss. And then they saw them–Meredith and Malcolm at the front of the crowd, handing out bits of paper and shouting about something. The girls moved closer.

      “Come and see the sea star exhibition,” hollered Meredith to the crowd.

      “And discover why the starfish is really a sea star,” added Malcolm with just as much enthusiasm.

      Meredith noticed the girls and waved them over merrily. “Isn’t this great!” she cheered. “We’ve really drawn a crowd.”

      Coral didn’t have the heart to tell her that there was usually a bunch of people waiting to see the big fish get fed. She smiled instead.

      “Would you like a free pass to see the sea star exhibition?” offered Malcolm. “After all, we are neighbours.” He chuckled and Meredith chuckled like this was really quite funny.

      “Erm, we’re just off…on an errand for Nicks’s mum,” white-lied Coral.

      Nicks nodded, adding, “But could we have two free passes for tomorrow instead?” It was a Plan B, just in case Mr Selvaggio was not Mr Perfect after all.

      “Alrighty!” agreed Meredith. “And don’t forget there’s the Sea Life Aquarium Open Day coming up soon.”

      The girls nodded with interest. The Aquarium Open Day was something they looked forward to every year.

      “And you be sure to join us on a beach scavenge sometime soon,” concluded Malcolm. “Dawn is such a dazzling time of day; we find such interesting marine life along the shoreline.”

      Both Coral and Nicks nodded once more, even though the mention of the word ‘dawn’ made them feel very sleepy. Just then a man with a large belly covered in a stretched Hawaiian cotton shirt squeezed past Nicks. He was trailed by four small, round children carrying ice creams. They all shuffled past and joined the queue for the aquarium. They were followed by three sauntering surfer dudes who left wafts of coconut oil in their wake. And then an old man wearing holey clothes and a captain’s cap came hobbling along, carrying his stinky bait box. The day was hot, noisy and aromatic. There was nothing quite like summertime in Sunday Harbour. Nicks was more aware of this than anybody.

      Finally Coral and Nicks and Meredith and Malcolm waved goodbye and went their separate ways. The marine scientists continued handing out flyers and the girls pressed on in the direction of Mr Selvaggio and Deli Antonia. Nicks had a very determined look in her eye.

      The deli wasn’t very busy when they arrived and the girls peered through the large shopfront window while they secured Romeo’s lead to a post outside. Inside were two old ladies in tortoiseshell glasses seated at a small table near the wall. A man in a suit was hunched over the glass deli counter, studying the meat, cheese and pickles and making a small ‘mmm’ sound, like he was running off a generator. Behind the counter a short, dark man wearing a bright white apron stood and waited, silent and expectant. It was Mr Selvaggio. Both girls stopped and stared at him closely. He still had all his hair, which was slicked back with some type of oil. He skin was soft and a little saggy, but it was a nice nutty colour, and his moustache was very neatly trimmed. And he had warm black eyes that almost seemed to twinkle.

      Finally the man in the suit made up his mind and barked out his order to Mr Selvaggio, who nimbly wrapped some salami slices in brown paper and filled a small plastic pot with olives. The girls turned to each other. This man was efficient! That was the great thing about being best friends–they didn’t always need words. Mr Selvaggio then popped the salami and olives into a bag and finally added a small crusty roll to its contents. He handed the bag over with a friendly smile.

      “The СКАЧАТЬ