Chapter 3
“Lilllllyyyyy. He came baaack! Cricket guy came back!!” Emmeline whisper yelled to Lily across the register. Lily couldn’t help her sigh of exasperation. Emmeline had atrocious taste in men. Lily may have been a lesbian but she could admit when a guy was objectively attractive and charming but the guys Emm liked never were.
“Emm no. He looks like he only listens to The Smiths and showers like once every two months”
“Lily no he’s so hot and he looks like he gives good hugs” Emmeline argued a slight whine in her voice.
“He looks like the lead singer of a shitty indie folk-rock band” Lily deadpanned.
“Ok yes he does but he’s still hot.” Emmeline replied, lips set in an adorable pout. Lily had a strict no dating coworkers policy but if she didn’t she’d definitely have tried with Emmeline. She was gorgeous with deep tan skin and an adorable wide smile. She could probably get anyone she wanted and for some goddamn reason she wanted this guy who came in every week to buy crickets.
“Who’s hot?” Remus asked, seemingly popping out of nowhere as if summoned by the sounds of gossip.
“This guy who comes in every couple days to buy crickets” Emm replied, a happy faraway look taking over her face.
“Well did you reprint his receipt so you could get his name and find his instagram?” Remus asked as if that was not at all something Joe Goldberg would do.
“Of course. His name is Caradoc.” Emmeline said with a dreamy little sigh.
“What kind of fucking name is Caradoc?” Lily asked, getting more and more convinced that this man was some sort of antagonist in an incredibly shitty romcom.
“Not the name of his girlfriend that’s for sure”
“Could be the name of his boyfriend” Remus added smirking mischievously
“Remus!” Emmeline shrieked, drawing the attention of the entire store. She blushed and lowered her voice when she continued “You’re supposed to be on my side!”
“I was until you decided to be unnecessarily heteronormative”
“I’m sorry but I just don’t get it” Lily said, voicing what she’d been thinking for the entirety of this conversation. “I mean look at you Emm you’re fucking stunning you could have anyone you want and you’re hopelessly pining for some male manipulator you’ve never had a conversation with that doesn’t revolve around what insects he should feed his pet lizard.”
“Oh come on Lils we all get the occasional customer crush” Remus said. “I mean I know for a fact that you have” he added smiling his signature “I have inside information on you” smile. Just then the door opened but seeing as it was behind Remus he didn’t see who was entering the store. Lily however definitely knew. “I mean it’s been a week of ‘oh my god Remus her smile’ or ‘her eyes are the prettiest shade of brown’ or ‘I have her number but it’s just in a group chat I can’t just text her out of the blue right?’ I swear I’m getting you a jar and you have to put in a dollar every time you mention Ma-“
“Mary! Hi, what brings you in today?” Lily asked, successfully cutting Remus off right before he embarrassed her to death. If Remus hadn’t been an absolute shit he probably would’ve looked embarrassed, but he was Remus so he just threw his head back and laughed. Oh she was going to kill him.
“Lily! Hey, it's great to see you again.” Just like that all of her anger at Remus was completely forgotten, the only thing that existed in the world was Mary and her perfect gap-toothed smile. “James is insisting that Dobby and Elvendork are depressed because they're not swimming around enough so I’m here to get them stuff to make their tank more fun” she explained, her voice exasperated but still impossibly fond.
Lily couldn’t hold back her smile. “Alright, are you looking for anything in particular?”
“Just something that can ‘help them produce more dopamine and serotonin’ as James says” Mary said with a small musical laugh that was unbelievably cute and contagious.
“Well then right this way” Lily responded giggling as she led Mary to the aquarium decor aisle for the second time in as many weeks.
——
Ok so maybe Lily did understand this whole customer crush thing. All her conversations with Mary had revolved around goldfish and aquariums but they were still the most fun wonderful conversations she’d had in quite a while. Mary had a way of making everything enjoyable. She’d make jokes about the strange aquarium decorations that had Lily fighting to contain her laughter and hold onto her professional facade and the way her smile would soften when she brought up her flatmates was undeniably adorable. Lily didn’t want this to end but she had to go on her lunch break soon so she gathered all the stuff Mary had picked and took her to the counter to check out. “And what was the phone number for the rewards program?” Lily asked as though she hadn’t memorized Mary’s number the second she’d joined the group chat. Mary happily answered grabbed her bag and started to exit but stopped as she saw Lily removing her ear piece and getting out from behind the counter. “Are you leaving Lils?” Lily felt her heart flutter at the nickname.
“I was just going on my lunch break. I was probably just going to get chinese from Chang’s across the street”
Mary’s face lit up “Ooh I’ve been meaning to try that place. Would you mind if I joined you?”
“Oh umm” Lily stammered.
Mary’s face fell. “Sorry of course it’s your break you just want to spend some time alone to decompress I shouldn’t have just invited myself along”
“No no I’d love to have you along!” Lily responded a little too quickly but she couldn’t bring herself to be embarrassed when Mary’s eyes lit up and her smile returned.
“Good yeah great umm I’ll just wait for you to clock out.” She rambled adorably and Lily could’ve been wrong but she looked…nervous? What on earth did she have to be nervous about? It's not like she was the one having lunch with a literal goddess.
——
Lily and Mary walked to the restaurant in a silence that Lily wouldn’t necessarily call comfortable but it wasn’t awkward either. They ordered from a heavily pregnant woman with a kind smile and sat down at a small corner booth. Lily loved Changs. She loved the homey atmosphere and authentic Chinese food. She let out a contented sigh when she inhaled the smell of her honey walnut shrimp and spicy orange chicken and dug in eagerly. Mary however was far more hesitant. “Is it really spicy?” she asked, eyes wide and nervous and Lily had to fight off her smile at how adorable it was.
“I mean I’d say it’s moderately spicy. Nothing too bad”
“Yes but for me black pepper is spicy” Mary said and Lily couldn’t help but laugh. Mary was black, Kenyan according to her instagram bio that Lily definitely hadn’t memorized, so Lily was a little surprised. She herself was born and raised in Wales but her mother was Jamaican and had always made the food of her home country for holiday dinners or when the girls were sick so Lily had grown accustomed to spicy food. She’d assumed Mary had to but now she was ashamed at jumping to conclusions.
Mary must have read the confusion on Lily’s face and began to explain. “My parents are from Kenya but they died when I was four just after we moved to London so I wasn’t raised with Kenyan food or culture at all”
“Oh Mary I’m so sorry” Lily said wondering why this vibrant sweet girl had to go through that kind of tragedy.
“Don’t be, it was a long time ago. I spent most of my childhood in youth homes and the food there was basically oatmeal and potatoes. We did get shepherd's pie on holidays though” She kept her bright smile but there was something sadder behind it now that made Lily’s heart ache. “That’s actually how I met James. His mum was a nurse and she came in every couple weeks to give free checkups to the kids in the home and she brought James with her. I really didn’t like him at first, mostly because I was jealous of his amazing family, but he was insistent that we would be best friends. Just wouldn’t take know for an answer” That soft fond smile was back on Mary’s face and the world seemed to have righted itself.
Lily smiled too. They spent a few minutes just looking at each other and smiling until Mary said “Ok I’m doing it” and grabbed a large piece of spicy chicken with her fork sticking it all in her mouth in one bite. Immediately her eyes went red and she started fanning at her mouth grabbing frantically for her cup of water. Lily threw her head back and laughed. Yeah she definitely understood customer crushes.