First Impressions

Timothy: LDYH chapter 2.5

"Hey, Tim!" Eddie, my boss, called from the front counter. "We got another order! Small Hawaiian, for some girl named Elisabeth! Can you take it?"

"Sure!" I called back, glancing at the clock as I walked to the back to grab the pizza. It was almost four o'clock. Who buys pizza at four o'clock anyway? Regardless, this would definitely be my last delivery of the day, since my current shift only went from one to four.

I put the pizza in one of those heat-retaining pack things and walked to the front. I paused when I reached George, another one of the workers, who was manning the phone.

A faint "Actually, I need to cancel an order. A small Hawaiian under Elisabeth?" came through the receiver.

Without looking at me, George replied, "We've already sent that one out. No refunds. Sorry."

I walked up to him quickly, gesturing that I still had it and whoever this Elisabeth was could definitely still get a refund.

"But-" came through the receiver.

George nodded at me dismissively, waving his hand to keep me quiet. "Enjoy your pizza," he said before hanging up. "Yeah, what's up Tim?" he asked me.

"The pizza... right here..."

George shrugged. "Sucks for Elisabeth then. Too late now. You better get out before Eddie catches sight of you. You should have been gone a couple minutes ago."

4:05. "Shoot! Thanks," I said, darting out the door and into my truck.

Smooth sailing from then on. I glanced at the box in the passenger seat, noticing the spelling of Elisabeth's name. I liked the s but couldn't help but wonder if it was just another misspelling by Sophie, the girl who had been in charge of the phone up until a couple minutes ago, when George took over.

Pike's turned out to only be a few minutes from this Elisabeth's place. It was an impressive building, with gold lettering on the front and a clear revolving door. I parked the truck in a side lot and felt seriously out of place as I walked up the marble steps to the front. The lobby was just as intimidating as the outside. A golden freaking chandelier hung over an image made of tile on the floor. The doorman saw the pizza box in my hands and gestured lazily to the doors of a spotless, shiny elevator.

The thing was intimidating, crisp wood paneling all around on the inside. I pushed the last button, floor 37 just like the post-it taped to the box said, and stood watching the numbers go up all the way from one.

Finally number 37 lit up. The doors didn't open. I waited a minute longer. They still didn't open. I looked around for some button that might open them... nothing. Finally I found a small gold button labeled 'intercom'.

"Hello?" I asked, holding it down and talking into a little speaker. Or was that where I was supposed to listen? I wasn't familiar with this kind of stuff. "Is this thing working? Um... your pizza's here, Ms. Johnson," I said, double-checking to make sure that was her last name. It was.

I heard a faint click that sounded suspiciously like a key and the doors immediately slid open to reveal a girl. She looked about my age. And she was absolutely stunning. My parents had raised me not to judge anyone on how they looked, and I tried, really, but the reality is that this girl was gorgeous. She had dark brown hair and surprisingly pale skin, considering the fact that she lived in California.

Her eyes... she had bright green sparkling eyes. I couldn't even imagine how they would look in sunlight. After a second I realized what I was doing and quickly walked out of the elevator. My common sense was hitting me on the head with a frying pan, trying to get me to act normal again.