Marie nodded. Their business as far as the ice cream went slowed down a lot during the winter months, so it didn't surprise her that Jia hadn't been there for a while. "I think you'd remember the caramel." Marie quirked up a partial smile and swiped at the counter with her towel. It didn't need cleaning, but it was a force of habit.
She smiled a more full smile when Jia complimented the caramel. "Yeah, I was hooked the first time I tried it. But then I've got a major sweet tooth." One wouldn't be able to tell by looking at her because she had such a high metabolism and she normally watched what she ate, but she probably had a dish of ice cream with caramel on it at least three times a week.
"Mostly that's just for show. They overflow all their dishes with the toppings. Half the time even the ice cream ends up dripping all over the place. That's why the plate. You got a small dish of ice cream." She pointed down the counter at a couple who were sharing a big dish of ice cream that probably had ten scoops of different flavors and was overflowing, dripping off the sides onto the dish. "Now that is what Matilda's is known for." She turned back to Jia with a smile. In this day and age when everyone was pinching their dollar, it went a lot further at Matilda's. Even Jia's ice cream had only been two dollars and fifty cents.
"I've never seen a single person finish that kind of thing, though. Usually a group of people come in and polish it off together." She was glad that Jia was enjoying her ice cream and she held up a finger motioning her to wait a moment when someone flagged her down. She headed over and refilled their coffee and put their tab down.
She moved back to Jia and leaned against the counter once more. Marie nodded at her chosen major. "I'm studying Oceanography." Their majors overlapped somewhat because Jia would have to take courses on the ocean and what happened to it when it was abused. Marie knew first hand what could happen when it was abused. She didn't know how many of the young selkies they lost because of debris. And the oil spills, those were even worse. They wiped out entire colonies sometimes.