"Whew does Mary know how to pick 'em!" James looked up in shock to see a woman, apparently under the impression some Mary somehow 'picked' James leering at him, teetering from side to side as she pulled back the chair opposite him and clambered into it, nearly knocking off the unused wine glass closest to her.
Drunk. Drunk but also gorgeous. Red tendrils that likely at one point in the night were neatly arranged were now flung about her shoulders in partial disarray.
"Scuse me, I'm not quite sure you've got the right-"
"I told her I didn't want to go! I said," she reached over and grabbed his hand, pulling it towards her, wide eyes locked on his. One look at her bright green eyes (beautifully green eyes, his favorite shade of green, actually) was enough to tell that while the lights were on, nobody was home. "I said, Mary!" She exclaimed, continuing to cradle his hand close to her while gesturing wildly with the other, "Mary I have no interest in dating, period. Nevermind getting set up with some random strange man. Especially with the name Mark. I mean, look, no offense Mark and other Marks of the world but it really is a rather plain name." She paused to catch his gaping mouth opening and closing not unlike a fish before continuing. "That's not to say that plain is always a bad thing or that extravagant names are a good thing," she stumbled over the word extravagant and pushed right past it, "I mean I dated this bloke, Severus, once and I thought wow such an interesting name, fascinating. Nope. Dead boring and borderline stalkerish fellow as it turns out. So you'd think I'd like plain after an experience like that, wouldn't you?"
She stopped abruptly, eyes staring at him expectantly, apparently waiting for some form of agreement.
"Erm I suppose so?"
"Exactly! You'd think! But I mean, Mark. So mundane. I just assumed the person would be mundane as well. Probably an accountant or a lawyer, blech. Not to mention I was a bit nervous, been a little since my last date if I'm being honest. Not that there weren't offers." She gripped his hand tighter, "There were offers, Mark. Don't start thinking I'm desperate. I had offers." She dropped his hand and folded her arms as if he had suggested otherwise.
"I didn't say- I'm not, I'm sorry can we back up for a-" his words and thoughts were a jumbled mess.
"Anyway," she huffed, rolling her eyes and relaxing her arms, "anyway. Anyway, what was I saying? Mark! Yes, Mark. So as I was saying, I didn't want to go on this date at all but Mary was all 'it'll be good for you! He's so cute! We'll get drinks first!' and so I agreed to come meet you, but may have drank more than three margaritas but in my defense it was 2 for 1 and Mary was paying and I can never pass up a good deal. So that's why I'm late. But I am here. I am here with you, Mark, and you are far less boring looking than I expected. Yes, much cuter than any Mark I've ever met. Mary did well." She nodded approvingly, sitting back in her seat and smiling constantly.
From the corner of his eye he saw Sirius walk into the restaurant and see the woman in the chair Sirius had been meant to occupy. James immediately tried to signal with his eyes, "HELP, HELP, HELP" without alerting the redhead in front of him when Sirius, the bastard, winked at him lightly, turned on his heel, and left.
She hadn't noticed his desperate face as she was busy scanning the menu over and when she wasn't calling him Mark or yelling in his face she was quite pretty. Extremely pretty, actually. Like exactly the kind of person he'd want to have one a blind date. Or a non-blind date. Any date really. And the girl clearly needed food in her stomach to soak up some of her margarita, really it would be irresponsible to leave her like this. The least he could do would be to keep her company, pretend he was Mark to try and minimize her embarrassment, and then make sure she got home safe.
"You know," she met his eye over her menu as he spoke, "for someone who seems to have a lot of opinions on my name, I don't believe Mary ever told me yours."
She laughed lightly, a beautiful wind chimey, tinkly noise that sent delight shooting down his spine.
"Lily, Lily Evans." She reached her hand across the table again, this time for him to shake. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Pleasure is all mine, Lily, Lily Evans." He shook her hand lightly and looked back at his menu.
XX
Dinner seemed to fly by. Once Lily got some food into her system she sobered up rapidly, yet sobriety in no way impacted her ability to keep him completely enthralled and entertained. Each passing minute made him more inclined to legally change his name to Mark and live the lie for the rest of his days.
Sure their life would be a lie, he thought as she threw her head back laughing over some asinine story he was telling of Sirius, red hair swirling around like flames, but it would be fun.
Not only was she bold, she openly mocked his ordering bourbon, ruthlessly holding nothing back despite only knowing him for a matter of minutes, but she was also unbelievably sweet. Listening intently to every story he shared, telling multiple of her own where despite being an ass kicking journalist she somehow also found time to volunteer at the animal shelter and had fostered three different dogs in the last two months. Ruthless, for sure, as she batted her eyes at him over her water glass causing all sorts of feelings to start to stir. She would give James, correction- Mark, a run for his money and then some. Barely an hour of sitting across from her and he was pretty sure he'd take his dinner knife to Mark's throat if the bloke ever actually did show up. Whether it be from jealousy or fury that any human being could ever stand up this goddess in front of him.
The conversation flowed easily. Leaping seamlessly from her parents professions to his childhood mischief to the time she dyed her sister's dog key lime green. Her dad had a thing for flowers, apparently, marrying a Rose and insisting on making their daughters Petunia and Lily.
"You could keep up the tradition, you know. Get your kids some flower names. Maybe something unique,"
"What?" She scoffed, "and subject them to years of cheesy, thoughtless bouquets of a flower you hardly like just because it's your namesake? I don't think so."
"Then make it a flower they'd want to get! Or an herb, like Basil. Everyone wants a Basil plant around." He pointed his drink at her as she spluttered incoherently, "are you telling me you don't love a basil plant?"
"You're right, how dare I overlook such a top quality name as Basil." She drawled out in a monotone, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I suppose we'd go with something more colorful though, like Anemone!" She looked like the idea was pure genius and now he was the one spluttering in her face.
He tried not to let his heart burst at her use of we.
"I'm sorry, isn't that the ocean thing? The Nemo thing? The sea anananamename thing where they live? That's what you want to name your child?"
Her eyes were screwed shut as she clutched her chest, gasping for air through her laughs.
"What?" He grinned at her, not caring if he had somehow said the wrong thing or appeared dumb when her laughter was so intoxicating. He felt a tingling run straight down his spine.
"A sea," she gasped out through choked laughs, "anemone!"
"That's what you just said!" He continued to argue.
"Whew," she wiped a stray tear from one eye, "truthfully you're not that far off base at all. Same exact spelling. But they do have anemone for flowers that are on land as well as the sea. I've just never heard someone butcher a word so spectacularly."
"Yes well, you know I'm quite good at that." He leaned back in his seat as her eyebrow quirked up. "In fact, so good that I have been named the anti-Spelling B Champ," he nodded matter of factly and continued on as if she wasn't gaping at him, echo of a laugh still present on her face.
"It's true! Annually, all the people that hate spelling b's gather and compete to see who can truly butcher a word the most. I've won every time. You're sitting with a nationally ranked word ruiner."
"Oh wow, however could I have not known. Do you have any secrets of the trade you could share?"
"I usually would never divulge such confidential information but just because you asked so nicely and because you are in fact stunningly gorgeous, I'll give you one." He leaned in conspiratorially, hitching a finger for her to do the same, and dropped his voice low. "To really put yourself over the top and seal that victory," he looked side to side dramatically, checking for eavesdroppers before looking back on her, "is all about the silent Q." He sat back again and watched her shoulders shake lightly with poorly concealed giggles.
"Personally," he grinned strongly, all pretense of secrecy gone, "I like to throw a minimum of three in there just to really set myself apart. Once I did a silent q followed by a silent x. I nearly sent the judge to an early grave."
"You know I bet what would have really done him in is if you followed the x with a p but you pronounce the p like a-"
"Lily?" James reared back to find some bloke standing next to their table staring anxiously in between the two of them. "Are you Lily?" Lily nodded lightly, eyebrows scrunched in confusion, eyes flitting between the newcomer and James.
"Um yes I am, I'm sorry do I know you?"
A wave of cold dread overcame him, realization sinking into his chest. The newcomer, just about their age, polo and khakis, easily could have been a lawyer or an accountant. He had to explain before she realized as well and he looked like a total lying creep.
"Lily, I can explain-"
"I'm Mark, I'm so sorry I'm so late. My car broke down and I didn't have your number."
They spoke at the same time, the real Mark reaching a hand out to shake Lily's.
She didn't take it. Instead she swiveled dumbly between the two staring accusingly at the real Mark. "You can't be Mark. I'm having dinner with Mark. You must be here for someone else."
"Lily, I really can explain if you'd just-" James started again as Lily whipped around to face him. "You! You liar! Who are you?" She pushed back in her chair looking at him as suspiciously as if he had just announced he liked to moonlight as a serial killer in his spare time.
"I'm sorry, your name is Mark as well?" The real Mark stared down at James politely inquiring, as if this was all perhaps a genuine mix up and not a case of an imposter stealing his date.
"Not quite, its erm James. But truly if you think absolutely it the names are quite similar, the whole second letter being an A and the part about being in the Bible and what not." Mark's eyebrows rose and Lily did not appear amused by his comparison.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to lie or anything, I just… you sat down and assumed I was Mark and I was actually meant to be meeting a friend but you were just so pretty and funny and I didn't want you to feel like you'd been stood up so I thought I could come clean later but I just wanted to get to know you. I'm sorry, truly." She looked at him, hurt and confused, and he just wanted to hang his head low and apologize another half dozen times.
"I can leave so you two can get on with your date," his heart sank as he stood, gesturing the open chair to Mark without quite meeting his eye.
He forced himself to look up at Lily, "I really am sorry. It was really nice to meet you, have a nice evening."
He turned lightly and began to head out of the restaurant, feeling Lily's eyes burning into the back of his head even while he heard Mark sit down across from her and apologize again for his lateness.
He was barely out the door when he heard her yelling his name, his real name, from behind and spun back around to watch her jogging to catch up to him.
He braced himself for her to yell at him or hit him or completely tear him a new one and gave her a forced smile.
"Lily, I-"
"Is your name really James?" she huffed, somewhat out of breath.
"Erm yes. Just James. No Jim or Jay or weird nicknames really…" his right hand came up to ruffle the back of his hair, still anxiously waiting for her to scream at him.
She reached up on her tiptoes, hand snaking around the back of his neck (oh god she was gonna try and hold his head still so she could really hit him strongly) and used it to pull herself up closer and his head down and touch her lips lightly to his.
The light kiss sent shockwaves down his body as he froze, processing what was happening.
"I like the name James so much more." She whispered against his lips, barely a breath away. That was all he needed to throw an arm around her waist and tuck her snugly against him, the other hand going to caress her cheek and bring his lips back to her, stronger than before. They kissed deeply and sweetly and he felt it down through his toes and in every single nerve in his body.
When they pulled apart, still wrapped up in each other, and she lightly hummed his name against him, he felt suddenly very sure that there was no sound better than her saying his name.
"So, I'd really like to do that again. And the date again. With you knowing my name the whole time preferably. Preferably right now. What's to say I go take care of the bill and you take care of the real Mark and we go get some ice cream, maybe?"
"What's say we do." She intertwined their fingers and pulled him lightly back towards the restaurant for a fresh start.