Marlene’s suggestion was that the best thing to do after a break up was always a girls night. Which basically translated to swiping through Tinder looking for prospective replacement or rebound while drinking wine and stuffing their faces with pizza.
The only part of that scenario that Lily had truly agreed with was the pizza. The furthest thing from her mind was finding herself a new beau, prospective matches be damned. So whilst Mary, Dorcas and Marlene crammed themselves around her phone swiping away, Lily began the online order. 1x Hawaiian, 1x meatlovers, 1x vegetarian, and 1x supreme with extra mushrooms. She punched the order through on her laptop.
Hi! Thanks for your order, your delivery driver will be James.
While your order is cooking, here's a few things about James…
Lily was always amused by the random facts the pizza place would give about their delivery drivers. She practically knew most of them off by heart by now due to all the pizza they collectively ordered. I mean how could you be expected to survive university late nights without a decent takeaway? But this one was new, she’d never had James before. The new pizza maker intrigued her.
“What ya looking at Lily?” Dorcas asked, leaning over her shoulder.
“Nothing much Dor, just watching the facts about the delivery driver,” Lily replied.
James has left the building you can expect delivery in: 10 minutes
“Oh please Lils, don’t tell me you actually read those things. They’re always the same,” Marlene scoffed, far too absorbed by the phone screen to even look up.
“This one’s new. I’m interested. His name’s James” Lily retorted.
James would say his favourite pizza is the supreme.
If James had to pick a sport he’d pick rugby league.
The last song James listened to is “Feel It Still by Portugal. The man ” would you like to listen?
“Hey Lily! He has the same favourite pizza as you!” Mary commented cheerfully, joining the new gathering around the computer screen. “Gods I could never work at this pizza joint. It’d feel so weird knowing that the customer knows something about me without knowing anything about them.”
“I don’t know why you’re all so interested in a faceless pizza boy when we have literal abs for days right here,” Marlene interrupted, coming over to read too.
If James got lost on a deserted island he wishes he’d be stuck with the book “How to build a raft”
“Alright so the bloke has a sense of humour at least” Marlene quipped. “They could at least give you a photo so you can do a proper snoop.”
The sound of a car pulling onto the drive interrupted the conversation. Lily stood to go and answer the door for James the delivery driver. She rummaged through her purse for change as she swung open the door.
James was stood poised to knock, slightly startled. Whatever she had expected it wasn’t this. He couldn’t have been much older than herself, the tall young man in front of her was eighteen or nineteen maybe at most. James was quite handsome. His dark hair was scruffy looking, dark and windswept. The uniform he wore was splattered with flour and pizza sauce, but there were still creases in the sleeves that indicated it was brand new. Lily watched as the young man pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.
“Pizza delivery for Evans?” He coughed.
“That’d be me” Lily smiled, exchanging the collection of notes and loose change from her purse for the boxes in his outstretched hand.
“Say I’ve never had you as a driver before. You new?” she asked politely, making conversation.
“Oh yeah, first day on the job. My folks just opened the chemist on May street. I just need the extra cash for the new uni semester.” He grinned, counting out the correct change.
“You’ll probably be in my year then. Considering your choice in pizza I’m sure we will get along swimmingly,” Lily flirted.
God what had gotten into her, Lily Evans did not flirt with random pizza guys. Especially not so soon after a break up.
“Hey Lily! Get in here already would you? We’re hungry!” Mary called out from back inside the house.
“You know what James… keep the change, a tip for your first day on the job.” Lily winked. “Thanks for the pizza”
“Thanks. My pleasure to deliver you pizza anytime.” James offered her a comedic bow before returning to his car.
Lily carried the tower of pizza boxes back into her room to find the girls once again hoarded around her phone. She placed the boxes on the floor and began to set them up in a line, free for the picking.
“Heya Lils, what did that pizza guy look like?” Marlene asked, pinching a slice of meatlovers.
“Tall, glasses, dark hair, hazel eyes. Why?” Lily questioned stuffing her face with supreme.
Marlene suddenly confronted her with the phone screen. Lily couldn’t believe her eyes. There he was on screen. However, this James wasn’t in a pizza uniform. He was shirtless on a beach with three other guys. She swiped through to the next photo, a close up shot of him with a shaggy black dog. Yep it was definitely the same guy. What were the odds? She scrolled down to read the bio section.
James, 18, 1 km away
New to the area. Interests include sport, laughs and supreme pizza. Comes with a bottomless stomach and great banter. Take a second to think about swiping… or not.
*The dog belongs to me, his name is Snuffles
Before she knew what possessed her Lily swiped. Bloody hell she had just swiped the pizza guy. The ‘it’s a match’ logo popped up on screen much to the delight of her friends, meanwhile Lily’s heart was in her stomach. She watched as a message popped up on screen.
Supreme with extra mushrooms. Can’t agree with mutilating an already perfect pizza but hey I think i’ll forgive you this once ;)
Lily typed back a reply rapidly.
Well if someone made them with a decent number of mushrooms in the first place, it wouldn’t be necessary.
She paused, watching her screen and waiting for the reply. She was aware that her cheeks were already flushed and she felt the eyes of all her friends on her. She gave them a knowing look, don’t start with me. She flicked back to the main page to see how Marlene had laid out her profile. Marlene chosen a snap taken last year at the school formal of the group of them, her cat Merlin on her bed and a cheeky picture of Lily sipping coffee at their local spot.
Lily, 18, Hogwarts University
Library addict, recently single because my ex boyfriend is a bit of a prick like that. Anyway, not looking for anything serious. Down for banter and see where it goes.
Lily looked up at Marlene and rolled her eyes at her. “Nice one Mar”.
“You’ll thank me later. Pizza guy is kinda cute, you should ask about his friend with the long hair.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Lily typed a second message to James
My pal Marlene wants to know who your friend is with the long hair in your picture and asks if he’s taken.
The reply came back shortly after.
I really should not be using this while I’m at work but you tempt me Evans. As for my friend his name is Sirius, he’s practically my brother. Tell your friend if she’s interested to type Sirius Black into facebook. And if you happen to want mine at the same time it’s James ‘Prongs’ Potter. I really gotta get back to work… but I promise you have my undivided attention once I finish.
Lily found herself smiling at her screen. Tossing the phone to Marlene so she could read the message. Marlene began her Facebook stalking search. They trolled through the photo pages of both James and Sirius. They discovered the identity of the other two boys in the photos, Remus Lupin and Peter Petigrew… which led to more vigorous social media stalking. Lily was interrupted by the ding of her phone a while later.
Tell me Evans… are you a fan of frozen cokes?
Of course Potter, who isn’t?
The doorbell rang, making all of the girls jump out of their skin. Lily leaped up quickly and wrenched open the front door. Where stood a plain clothed James Potter with a collection of frozen cokes.
“So Evans, I hear you’re down for some decent banter. Well I live to serve, it’s in my job description after all.”