I Fell For My Nemesis

After a somewhat exhausting weekend of hero work (the villains were running rampant more than usual on Sunday) Keith did not feel like he was on his A game to start his new job. He had to make the best of it though.

He dragged himself out of bed and made sure he had plenty of time to get himself to work. They might open at 11 AM but in addition to deliveries he was also in charge of kitchen prep.

He had already taken care of all of his onboarding paperwork so he would be good to go once he got there. Since he had such a long history of food delivery jobs they didn't bother supervising him. They simply showed him how their specific type of electronic pin pad worked and he was off.

Keith was relieved because he really didn't want anyone else encroaching on his limited time with Joss. She was the only person in his life who regularly sought him out and that meant more to him than he was willing to admit.

It all started by accident. She used to shake up her lunch orders and happened to order from a place he switched to after getting fired.

He had been happy to see her again because she tipped well so he was sure to be extra friendly. Normally, in the delivery business you didn't get regulars. But she stubbornly insisted on ordering from his restaurant every day after that.

Keith had been genuinely sad to leave that job because he thought he would never see her again. But to his surprise she ended up finding him again and continuing to order so she would see him every day through his next few jobs. It was impossible not to notice the pattern.

She didn't seem to be tracking him down specifically but once she found him she stuck with him. That was more than anyone had done in years.

He liked the feeling of having a friend (albeit one he was providing a service for) and offered to exchange numbers so he could tell her the next time he switched. He had been apprehensive about embarrassing her but didn't want to lose contact either.

Joss wasn't embarrassed in the slightest. He should have known. She was perhaps the most self-confident person he had ever met but not in a cocky way. It was hard to explain but it seemed like she couldn't care less what anyone thought of her. He wished he could be like that.

Keith never mustered the courage to break their pattern. He only texted her when he switched jobs unexpectedly so she would know where to order from next.

Honestly, he was a coward. But he knew that their friendship would be ruined if he made it outside of work hours because of how inconsistent his schedule was being a hero. He had no idea how any of the others managed to juggle relationships of any sort with traipsing around the city half the time.

He wasn't exactly satisfied with the way things were—he wished he could see her more and try to get to know her better—but at the same time didn't want to rock the boat. They had a good thing going. Why mess with it?

Today Joss had ordered som tum with rice and he was on his way to deliver it to her. He wished he could talk to her about his weekend like a normal person but couldn't. He always avoided making small talk like that with her because he was afraid of having the question reciprocated.

Instead they always talked about other things. Things of no real significance that still meant a lot to him because of who they were coming from.

Keith's mood lifted the moment he headed out with her food. He wondered what she was going to say today and whether he would be able to make her laugh or not. Most days he was able to pull it off and it was satisfying since in the beginning he hadn't been able to at all.

He skated into the lobby and discovered she was already waiting for him looking very sleepy. She yawned and stretched, the three-quarter sleeves of her white blouse momentarily sliding up because of gravity. She brushed her chocolate brown hair out of her face and smiled at him.

"Hey, Keith. How's your first day going?"

"As good as it can be. All the better because you're my first delivery of the day," Keith replied with a grin as he handed over the food bag and held out the pad for her to sign.

She shook her head indulgently. "Do you flatter all of your customers like this?"

"Nah, just you. Special Joss privilege."

"I'd have to see that to believe it."

"I'm wounded! How dare you doubt me after three whole years of being my favorite customer?" Keith asked, making a dramatic show of being hurt.

Joss laughed, exactly as he had hoped she would. She had a nice laugh. The kind that made you feel warm by hearing it. He had been surprised the first time he heard it because it didn't fit the super serious persona that was all he had seen thus far.

She wasn't all serious though. She had a solid sense of humor or she wouldn't laugh at his over-the-top antics. A lot of people thought he was too much in his natural state so he usually tried to tone it down but he didn't have to with her. He was able to be himself and she accepted him as he was.

That was rare. Special. Was it any wonder he valued their friendship as much as he did?

"Was I really your favorite customer that far back?" Joss asked skeptically. "I'm pretty sure I didn't reach that status until we established our pattern of me ordering from wherever you worked."

Keith shrugged. "You were my favorite customer as far back as Tasty Panda."

"Is that why you randomly gave me a nickname when you saw me again? Because I definitely wasn't expecting that."

He hadn't offended her by doing that, had he? He had been calling her a nickname all this time and she never said anything. He had thought she liked it or that other people called her that already so she was used to it at the very least.

"Do you dislike it?" Keith asked with a frown.

Joss shook her head. "Not at all. But no one had ever called me that before. You're the only one."

"Seriously? But you look more like a Joss than a Jocelyn."

"I've never heard that before. What exactly does a Jocelyn look like?"

Keith had to think about it. It was kind of hard to explain. Jocelyn seemed much more formal, for one. Originally, he had shortened her name because he was happy to see her again as a familiar face.

But over time he realized that it truly did suit her better. Jocelyn was stuffy. An old woman's name. Someone with a laugh like hers definitely was more Joss than Jocelyn.

"I think Josses have more of a sense of humor than Jocelyns," he said with a shrug.

Explaining further than that might accidentally be offensive. Offending her was the last thing he wanted to do. Though he didn't know if she was even capable of getting offended since she didn't seem to care what people thought of her. He still didn't want to risk it.

Joss actually snorted. "So it's entirely a matter of perspective. If you didn't think I had a sense of humor I would look more like a Jocelyn."

"Of course you have a sense of humor! You put up with me, don't you?"

"I don't put up with you, Keith."

"You know what I meant."

She went silent for a moment before responding. "You're the only one who thinks I have a sense of humor. Everyone else thinks I'm boring and they're probably right."

That may have been the most self-deprecating thing Keith ever heard Joss say. What was up with her today? Had something happened over the weekend or was thinking she was boring a sore spot for her?

"Hey now, someone boring could never become my favorite customer," he said to lighten to mood.

It worked. She gave him a slight smile. "You do have more than enough personality for the both of us though. I think it balances out."

Was that a compliment or an insult? It was hard to tell. She was smiling when she said it though so he was inclined to lean toward the former. Besides, if she thought he was too much she wouldn't stubbornly insist on ordering from wherever he worked so she could see him.

Joss had to value their limited time together as much as he did. Otherwise she wouldn't bother.

"Thanks, I think," Keith said. "Anyway, I need to get going. See you later, alligator."

"In a while, crocodile."

He had started using that sign off semi-often about two years ago and she had laughed and said she sometimes did things like that with her youngest clients to cheer them up at the end of a rough session.. He figured she was simply humoring him but appreciated it all the same.