Eleven. Eleven times he's been to this particular apartment. Every Friday for eleven weeks he's had the pleasure of dropping off one small Hawaiian pizza with black olives and eight spicy wings to the current resident. It's always the same order on the same day at the same time. He's memorized the order and the apartment number and the customer's name. It's kind of hard to forget. It's become habit and he rather enjoys his eight o'clock drop off to Rey Kenobi at number 29 in Sunshine Apartments. He's become particularly fond of her.
The first time he delivered to her, it was snowing but not pleasantly. It was the beginnings of a storm with harsh winds nipping at his cheeks, the ground dangerously icy. He was grumbling and cursing at the weather and the customer, especially when he almost slipped walking up the stairs to reach number 29. Not to mention he's supposed to be off work soon. It would have been very nice to spend his last half hour in the warm backend of Dizzy Spin Pizzeria but being the only delivery guy on shift, he had no choice but to take the order. He banged on the door, wiping snow off the top of the pizza carrier when she opened the door. He'd seen many people and many things being a pizza delivery guy but he'd never seen anyone quite like her. He wasn't exactly swooning but he definitely found her interesting. She was rather short, standing just about eight inches shorter than his own 5"11', and did not have what you'd describe as a 'model's body'. What immediately caught his attention was a scar the ran from the top of her left eyebrow, curved around her eye, and ended just below it. Then her eyes caused him to pause; they were golden.
"Ya! Pizza." She practically squeaked.
Right. Pizza. Do your damn job, Ben. He thought to himself. He smiled at her exclamation and pulled the food out from the carrier. "Here you go. It'll be twelve seventy-five." They swapped food for money.
"Thank you. I'm so glad I found you guys. Saved my Friday night tradition." She laughed at what he assumed was insider information. "I just moved here Monday." She explained, gesturing to the boxes and newspaper lying around. He also noticed a singular piece of furniture; a couch with a pile of blankets atop which sat a laptop with the familiar Netflix homepage sending a faint glow across the otherwise poorly light room. "And I was not about to give up my pizza, movie marathon, crash on the couch night." She smiled and he could feel the snow melt from his face then her eyes widen and her smile dropped. "Oh my gosh. I am so sorry for making you stand out in the snow like this. And making you deliver. Geez, you probably hate me. Here," she rushed inside and quickly returned without the pizza and wings. Instead she thrust a five-dollar bill at him. "Here's an extra tip, you know, for like freezing you." He looked up at her shocked.
"I can't take that. It's in my job description; sun, rain, snow." he crossed his arms, emphasizing his decision.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's like the federal postal service so take the freaking money and get yourself something nice. Like gloves. Or a beanie. Like seriously, aren't you cold?" she looked up at him, rubbing her arms subconsciously.
He genuinely laughed at her adorableness and shook his head. "I grew up here. Kinda used to the cold I suppose."
"Well, I won't keep you from the warmth of your car any longer. Thanks for the pizza and here-" She literal threw the money at him and shut the door before he could say another thing. He was amused and couldn't stop smiling as he drove back to work. They'd exchanged similar conversations over the ten weeks that followed. He learned that she had moved to town from Tucson, Arizona, to work for her uncle in his computer technician business. She'd never gone to college for it but learned everything she knows by either just experience or random online classes. She was an only child, her parents highest concern being that she did not leave her room, let alone the house, often enough. He pointed out that they could have had it a lot worse. She heartily agreed. He also learned, to his excitement, that she was a nerd. Not a big reader but huge into gaming and comics. They talked about their favorite heroes and argued about which consoles were better. She learned that he grew up in this small town in the middle of Washington she'd recently relocated to but he planned on moving on to bigger things once he'd saved up enough money. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do yet, but delivery pizza forever was not it. She learned he was the youngest of four; the other three all girls. Plus, he played the ukulele which she found absolutely thrilling.
So many times during their routine conversations he wanted to ask her out, get her number, something but the opportunity never arouse. Or so he told himself so he didn't feel like a coward. He thinks about that now as he stands in front of her apartment door, hesitating, yet he wonders if he's overstepping his boundaries tonight. Rey did not call in her order tonight and try though he might, Ben couldn't help but worry. What if something had happened, like she's in the hospital or something? Maybe she moved back home without telling him or she's busy. Maybe she's on a date. Any scenario he thought of only cause his worry to increase. That's how he ended up outside her apartment with a small Hawaiian pizza with black olives and eight spicy wings. He finally knocks, regretting his decision immediately. No one answers and after a few moments, he starts walking away discouraged.
"Hey, Ben." He hears a voice call from behind him. He turns to see Rey's head jutting out from her doorframe.
"Hi, Sunny." He calls her by the nickname he gave her after she told him she never had any, growing up with a short, boring name.
She smiles at him, stepping out onto the walkway. She got on an oversized, lime green sweatshirt paired with red, plaid sweatpants, her hair splayed around her face. "Whatcha up to?"
Now he's sweating, wondering how's he's going to explain why he's here. He walks back over so she's just a few feet away. "Well, see...you didn't call in tonight and I got worried so I thought I'd swing by and make sure everything was okay. So is everything okay?"
She laughs and rushes up to him, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "Everything is great." He swears it just got a hundred degrees hotter and hopes the heat creeping up his cheeks can be blamed on the cold. "I had an emergency job for my uncle and just got home. That's why I didn't answer the door right away; I was in my room getting on my movie marathon uniform." she gestures to the boxes in his hands. "Is that my-"
"Yeah, well, we're used to your order by now so I had Sara get it ready but then you didn't call in so that was kinda the deciding factor in coming by." he holds it out to her and she takes it.
"You are like my favorite person ever right now." She smiles at him and he returns it heartily. "Are you off work now?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, if you're up to it, I was about to start a Star Wars marathon if you'd like to join me."
He refrains from responding with an immediate yes, "I don't know. Which ones are you watching?" he teases, knowing for an absolute certainty that she can't stand the prequels.
"I'm offended you even ask that." She huffs and tries glaring at him but can't help the smile that creeps across her face. "I guess no pizza for you."
"Wait, hold up."
"Yes?" she looks at him expectantly.
"I'm sorry, Sunny. I shouldn't have asked such an offending question." he hangs his head dejectedly, smiling all the while.
"You're gonna have to do better than that, mister." She starts walking towards her door.
"Okay, okay. Han Solo is a god among men, Anakin is a wimp, and Jar Jar is an abomination."
"I suppose that'll do." she says after a moment of consideration. "Well, come on then, better get started."