THE MOMENT
Cole strolled up the concrete path toward the door with minutes to spare. It was a nice evening with a gentle breeze and fading sunlight. The house looked somewhat strange, but it resembled every other house in the neighborhood. It was constructed from rectangular reddish-pink blocks with dense bushes on both sides of the walkway. Cole tried to keep his expectations in check, but his deliveries had grown more and more unusual lately. This house was in an out-of-the-way neighborhood that wasn't actually part of their service area, but somehow, the house itself was. By now, he'd already learned that questioning things wasn't overly helpful, and his job was just to deliver within 30 minutes.
He arrived at the door and knocked. In seconds, it opened, and he was surprised by the client. She was a middle-aged woman who looked completely human and relatively normal with short hair and a healthy tan. What caught Cole unexpectedly was her reaction to him; she opened the door, and her jaw dropped as she stared, mouth agape.
"Wyld Pizza...," he pushed the box toward her, and it took her a moment to accept it. It was bad enough that his deliveries were increasingly odd; he wasn't thrilled about being gawked at either. Fortunately, the pizza was already paid for, and his job was done. "Thank you," he attempted a smile and turned to leave.
"Wait!" she called. "I mean... do you want a tip?" she asked when he turned around. "Can I tip you?" she asked. "Sorry, I don't know how it works...," she sounded sincere at least. Hers was the last of the batch before returning to the store, so he wasn't in too much of a hurry, and he was still representing the pizzeria.
"I appreciate the thought, Ma'am," he turned and nodded at her with an actual smile. "Wyld Pizza has chosen to opt out of tipping culture, and we don't accept tips. Do you have any other questions I might be able to help with?" he asked. He was careful to add that second part because he was sure she had plenty of questions.
"I...," she started a thought, then interrupted herself. "..are you..?" she struggled with the wording. "I'm sorry if it's rude...," Cole smiled. He knew what was coming. Coincidentally, he used that question to judge how weird his deliveries were, and he'd been answering it a lot more lately. It was one thing to be stared at, and quite another to have someone take a genuine interest.
"Yes, I am," he said. He lifted his hand to his ear and pulled as if to prove it was attached. "100% elf, born and raised," he said.
"Wowww...," she said. "Do you know magic?!"
"If you knew magic... would you be delivering pizzas?" he asked with a friendly smirk.
"No," she shook her head and returned the smile. "Thanks," she said to let him go. She turned around to head back inside, but she was excited enough that he heard her last comment before the door closed.
"I got pizza delivered by an elf," she giggled. He rolled his eyes as he walked through an open portal and back to the shop.
"Hah," he chuckled to himself. "I wonder how these humans keep getting our number."