Ever and the woman looked at each other, neither breaking eye contact.

  “Yeah, Unc,” the woman turned away, her black hair streaked with blue swishing away after her. She hefted the sign under one arm, talking into her phone with her other hand. “The idiot called me ten minutes ago, he…”

  Ever watched the woman through the window. She moved quickly, taking upside down chairs on top of tables, plonking them on the floor and pushing them in. She caught Ever from the corner of her eye, frowned, and kept bustling around.

  You should go in and talk to her.

  *What do I talk to her about?*

  If I didn’t know any better, the idiot she had hired decided he wouldn’t show up. She’ll need someone to help her today.

  Ever shifted the weight on his feet, hovering outside.

  “Can I help you?” The woman was outside again, setting up the outside tables and chairs. “If you’re some homeless guy, just…” She placed a table down with a grunt, “go away.”

  “Can I help you?” Ever parroted.

  Say, ‘You’re hiring, right?’

  “You’re hiring, right?” A glint caught Ever’s eye on the woman’s chest, a name tag that said, ‘Taylor’.

  “No, I mean yes. Well…” Taylor looked to the side, chewing the fingernail on her pinky finger. “Argh!” She huffed, going back inside.

  Follow her.

  Ever obeyed, tentatively trailing Taylor. He cleared his throat. “Taylor.” The word felt strange, yet it imbued the soul with warmth. She was looking at him, arms crossed. “Taylor,” he repeated, the warmth ebbing gently in his face, “I can help you. Let me help you.”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  She looked him up and down, arms crossed. “You want to work here? Scooping ice cream?” Ever nodded mutely. She regarded him carefully. “Does cash in hand work for you?”

  Yes, it does.

  “Yes, it does.”

  Someone came in; both Ever and Taylor glanced towards the door. “Oh are you guys still opening? I can come back a bit -”

  “No, we’re open!” Taylor’s stormy expression had cleared in a split second, replaced with a dazzling smile of pearly whites.

  Ever was stunned. How did her face change so quickly? It was as if she were a different person. Taylor grabbed the stunned soul by the wrist, tugging him behind the ice cream counter.

  “We’ll get your uniform soon, for now, put this on.” She threw an apron with a splotch of pink on it at him. “For today, your name is ‘Alvin’.” Her face darkened again, no doubt recalling the new starter who didn’t show up for his first shift, before shifting to a practised customer service smile in a fraction of a second. “What flavor can I get you?”

  Watch carefully, Ever. You’ll be doing this.

  Ever watched as Taylor tapped the scoop, dug it into the pistachio ice cream, rotated her wrist and shaped it out before putting it into a cup.

  “Thank you, see you later!” Taylor turned back to her newest employee. “What? Why haven’t you put your apron on yet?”

  “How do you do that?”

  “Do what? Scoop ice cream?”

  “No - change your face.”

  “What?”

  “Y-Your face. You were tense before, then the customer came in and you were suddenly happy and now you’re angry.”

  “I’m angry because you’re asking idiotic questions. Look, do you want to work here or not?”

  Yes. Death’s voice boomed in Ever’s mind. Apologise.

  “I’m sorry - yes, I want to work here.”

  Taylor softened immediately. “OK, well, put your apron on. It’ll start getting busy soon.”

  Ever fiddled it, putting it over his head.

  *Her face changed again just now, did you see it, Mentor?*

  Yes. Death mused. Humans’ faces change all the time. That’s what makes them human.

  *Will I learn how to do this?*

  Hmmm, you should, it might help you.