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This was such a cliche. Peter knew it, the world probably knew it too. Somehow, he had developed a crush on his local pizza girl.
It wasn’t a mystery as to why he liked her; besides smelling of pizza, she was super cute with a sweet personality. She also had a nice, chubby little figure. Peter wondered if all men suddenly developed a fondness for chub when they got older. Granted, Uncle Ben had told Peter to respect all women, not just the thin ones. He was doing more than respecting them now. Peter felt a bit lewd but when Pizza Girl was busy, he’d stare at her butt. It was only fleeting glances but he kept those views in his memory.
“Evening Pete!” she said, smiling at him. “Ready for dinner?”
“You know it!” Peter slid into his familiar booth.
It was the same routine. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Peter went to Perfection Pizzas for dinner. He remembered the first night he had gone; it had been an awful night for the web slinging superhero and he was exhausted with little cash. Pizza Girl had served him and when the time came for the bill, she mentioned he was a special customer and he had gotten to eat free. He didn’t question it until he went back. When he asked for the bill, Pizza Girl said she had lost it and that meant his meal was free.
The third time, she had made up a lie about some discount. Peter argued with her this time. He couldn’t just keep getting free food. Yeah, he loved free food but he felt bad for not paying. Pizza Girl was stubborn but she let him pay her but she refused a tip.
Maybe he was reading things wrong but her small acts of kindness had touched him. New York wasn’t the kindest place to live sometime and finding small pockets of kindness in life left an impact on him. Even the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Barr, were kind. Whenever he came in and Mr. Barr saw him, he would exclaim, “Ah, it’s my favorite Peter!”
“So what will it be tonight?” Pizza Girl asked.
“What’s the special?”
“Tonight, it’s macaroni and cheese pizza with bacon bits.”
“Double the carbs? Sign me up! Two slices please and a diet coke.”
“A diet coke? You gonna start eating salads soon?” Pizza Girl joked.
“I need to cut back somehow,” Peter shrugged.
She giggled, wrote down his order, and headed back towards the kitchen. Peter watched her, sighing to himself. He was starting to wonder if he shouldn’t come here anymore; seeing Pizza Girl and not being able to do anything was driving him nuts. He couldn’t tell her how he felt either, he would look like some creepy stalker. Peter sighed again just as Pizza Girl came back out, this time holding a box.
“I gotta leave you for a bit Pete,” she said. “We have a delivery and all the other drivers are out. But don’t worry, this is close. I should be back in about fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll hold you to it,” Peter waved her off. “Don’t go drag racing.”
“I make no promises.”
In his old age, Peter had become more aware of time. It went quicker, but he also realized when a long amount of time had passed. He had been glancing at his watch and when thirty minutes had passed, Peter started to worry. His pizza had come but he ate it absentmindedly, keeping an eye on the door. When he had finished both slices, he checked his watch again. Pizza Girl had been gone for an hour.
Now, Peter had worked as a delivery boy a long time ago. Deliveries never took this long unless something really bad had happened; there was a car crash or the driver was held up by something.
Or worse.
Peter got up. The worry was gnawing away at him and he just couldn’t sit by. He marched up to the counter and rang the small bell.
“Yes?” Mr. Barr came out. “Oh, Mr. Parker.”
“Has she called?” he asked.
“Oh, you’re worried about her too,” Mr. Barr’s face fell. “No, she hasn’t. I’m about to call the police.”
“Look, maybe it’s nothing,” Peter paused. “Tell me where she went and I’ll go look for her.”
“Mr. Parker, I can’t ask you to do that.”
“I’m volunteering. Just let me know where she was and I’ll check up on her. Maybe she’s fine.”
“Well, alright,” Mr. Barr went over to the computer. “Let me see. Ah, here it is. 294 Maple Way Drive.”
“I’ll be back in a flash,” Peter started walking towards the door. “Trust me.”
Once he was outside, Peter made a mad dash for the nearest alley. He changed into his spider suit and once he was completely dressed, he made his way towards Maple Way. While he swung through the air, he tried to be positive. Maybe her phone died. But even if her phone had died, why hadn’t she borrowed someone else’s? Plus, she would have headed back to the restaurant. Damnit, he hated being logical sometimes.
Maple Way soon came into view. He landed on one of the roofs, scanning the numbers along the street. His eyes landed on 294. Unlike the other houses, it wasn’t neat or tidy; in fact, the house almost looked abandoned. There were no lights on and there wasn’t a car in the driveway. At the curb, however, he spotted a familiar red Nissan. Peter leapt off the building and landed near the car. The passenger door was ajar and a pizza was lying on the ground, ruined.
“Hello?” Peter whispered. “Is there anyone here?”
“Spider-Man?”
Peter turned around. Pizza Girl emerged from a bush, holding a golf club. Her hat was missing and she was visibly shaking. She dropped the club and ran to him, wrapping her arms around him. Peter couldn’t help but hug her back. Pizza Girl whimpered before starting to cry softly.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” He said. “What happened?”
“I--I--I---” She stammered before inhaling. “I went to deliver the pizza and before I even rang the doorbell, the door opened. I’ve delivered to this guy before and he said---he was waiting for me. I was weirded out but I just wanted to give him his pizza. He paid me and I was about to leave but he suddenly grabbed me.”
Peter clenched his fist.
“And he said something about making me dinner,” Pizza Girl whimpered. “I fought back, saying I wasn’t interested but he wouldn’t let go! So I headbutted him and ran to the car. He ran after me, throwing the pizza at me. So I hid.”
“Are you alright?” Peter held her face in his hand.
Pizza Girl’s face was wet with tears, but to Peter she was still beautiful. There was fear in her eyes. Peter felt rage filling his body. Pizza Girl held up her wrist, showing some bruising. Suddenly, the front door swung open. They looked up to see a middle-aged man standing there. He was glaring at the two of them, his eyes lingering on pizza girl. Peter felt her grab his arm, holding on tight. Peter stood firm, staring down her attacker.
“Fuck off Spider-Man, I saw her first,” The man growled.
“Like the hell you did! She’s not an object,” Peter said. “You stay in your house, leave her alone and don’t ever contact her again.”
“Or what?”
He really shouldn’t have said that. Peter was willing to let the guy off with a warning. All the man had to do was stay in his house. Instead, he ended up with a broken nose. Peter told Pizza Girl to call the police and her work to let them know what happened. Peter webbed up the pizza creep before turning back to Pizza Girl. She was still a bit shaky.
“Hey, you’re going to be okay,” Peter said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “He’s never going to hurt you again.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I’m just upset because he took me away from my favorite customer.”
Favorite customer. She had a favorite
customer? Wait, he was had been the only person in the restaurant when she had left. Was she talking about him?
“He comes in three times a week and I always look forward to seeing him,” She continued. “He’s a bit of a grump sometimes but I always love talking to him and making him smile. I wish he was here.”
Peter was at a loss for words. She
was
talking about him! He was her favorite customer? Him? As he mulled over this, he heard a siren and soon, a cop car appeared.
“I’m going to let them take over,” He said quickly. “You’re going to be okay right?”
“Yeah, I should be fine,” she smiled at him. “Thank you Spider-Man.”
Peter let out his web fluid and flew off, just so Pizza Girl saw him leave. Then, he ducked behind one of the houses and changed as quickly as he could. He ran back down the street to where he had left Pizza Girl originally. He saw her talking to a cop and when she turned around to head to her car, she spotted Peter.
“Peter?”
“Oh thank god, you’re alright!” he said. “I came to find you because you had been gone so---”
Pizza Girl rushed to him, wrapping her arms around him. Peter doubled back, trying to steady himself. He returned the hug, savoring the feel of her body against his. He took in the faint pizza smell as he ran a hand down her back.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” she said, her voice wavering. “Oh shoot, I’m going to cry again.”
“Hey, it’s okay. Go ahead and cry, it’s alright.”
The rest of the night went by in a blur. After giving her statement to the cops, Pizza Creep got arrested. Peter offered to drive her back to Perfection Pizzas. She had said she was fine but Peter could see she was still shaking. Even though Pizza Creep was gone, she still seemed on edge. Once they had gotten back from the restaurant, Mr. and Mrs. Barr started fawning over her. Despite Pizza Girl’s protest, Mrs. Barr gave her a week off with pay and asked Peter to take her home.
Even with Pizza Creep, Peter was still worried. So the next day, Peter stopped by around dinner time. He knocked on Pizza Girl’s door and she opened it, looking a bit tired but no worse for wear. She was wearing an oversized hoodie and sweatpants. She still looked adorable.
“Peter?”
“Hey, brought you dinner,” he said, holding up a bag. “I hope you’re not a vegetarian or opposed to beef.”
“Oh, of course not. Come in,” she said.
Peter stepped into her apartment. He was always surprised to see how put together other peoples’ apartments were. Pizza Girl’s apartment was clean with pictures on the wall, an actual couch and a television that was on a stand instead of the floor. A French bulldog had been lying on the couch and it perked up when Peter entered. It ran over to Peter and started sniffing him.
“I can put Basil in my room if he ends up bothering you,” she said.
“It’s fine,” Peter reached down and scratched the dog’s ears. “Hello Basil. Pleasure to meet you.”
“You didn’t have to get me dinner,” she said. “That’s so sweet of you.”
“I can’t let my favorite pizza girl go hungry.”
“I’m---your favorite pizza girl?” she asked, sounding hopeful.
“Of course you are,” Peter placed the bag on her table.
“Well,” She began to play with a strand of her hair. “You’re my favorite customer.”
God, she was so cute Peter couldn’t stand it.
“You’re also my hero,” she said. “You came to rescue me last night.”
“Yeah but Spider-Man got there first.”
“But Spider-Man is everyone’s hero,” she continued to tug at her hair. “You came for me specifically so you’re
my
hero.”
Peter stared at her for a bit.
“Could---your hero get a kiss?” he asked. “I mean only if you’re interested! Like if you’re got a boyfriend, I’ll back off! I’m usually not so for---”
Pizza Girl cut him off by suddenly kissing him. Peter closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her, deepening the kiss. They remained liplocked until Basil barked. The dog jumped up, trying to reach the burger bag.
“I think Basil wants to eat,” Pizza Girl chuckled.
“A man after my own heart,” Peter said. “Still, I wouldn’t mind another kiss after dinner.”
“If you’re a good boy and clean your plate, you’ll get more than just one kiss.”
Peter smiled and they headed into the kitchen, Basil running after them.