As Luck Would Have It

12) Hardest Workers

Del Mar was little taken by surprise at the question, "not at the moment, why do you ask."

"Well, Peter's looking for a job and he was considered your deli as a possibility," May explained.

The deli owner smiled, he thought very highly of Peter and knew he would give any help to him if he ever needed any. "Oh, well I'd be honored to have your nephew under my wing," he replied, "but I already have a full staff. Sorry Pete."

Peter couldn't believe the words that were leaving Del Mar's mouth. He was a bit relieved that the moment was over. The stress of asking had passed, and he didn't have to worry about disappointing the man that he respected. "It's alright," he said to him, "I feel like I would disappoint you anyway."

"Disappoint me" Del Mar exclaimed, he had never thought that Peter would be a disappointment to him in his life. He often joked about his daughter, but that was just a playful game that they always did with each other. "Kid, you've got so much potential, and to be honest, I don't think you want to be wasting your time making sandwiches through the rest of high school."

"See May," Peter exclaimed to his aunt, "he gets where I'm coming from." Peter was just making a joke regarding Del Mar's words, but as they sank into his mind, he was reminded of how valuable he really was. And that knowledge spurred a different thought, if I'm so valuable, then how have I not been successful at getting a job. This was his third attempt at a job and once again it had not worked out, which kind of bummed him out.

In the minute that he was thinking to himself, Mr. Del Mar and his partner had completed preparing and wrapping their sandwiches. He rung up the price and May paid with a pair of fives. Del Mar completed the transaction and handed back the change along with their sandwiches. "You two have a good night now" he said as the two made their way to the door.

"Thanks" they said in unison and walked out the door into the streets back to their apartment. 

May didn't waste her time with her sandwich, she was pretty hungry. She took a heavy bite and a string of melted cheese stretched from the bun as she pulled it away from her marinara-covered mouth. A couple of drops fell to the ground from her face, and Peter couldn't help but smirk at how ridiculous she looked. She's going to stain that dress if she keeps eating like that, he thought. He reached in to his sandwich bag for a napkin and handed it to her. 

"Thanks," she chuckled as she finished swallowing, "I forget that I can be a messy eater when it comes to saucy subs." She wiped her face and rewrapped her sandwich, noticing that Peter's face was void of emotion. His eyes were glued to the ground and his shoulders were slouched more than usual. May had only seen this look a couple of times in recent memory, mostly when she didn't know of his secret heroics. "You alright?"

"Eh," Peter sighed, "just bummed about Del Mar's." Peter didn't want to go too deep into explaining his thought process. He thought that giving May a simple excuse of an answer would be enough to stir her away from the subject.

"You sure," she replied, "cause' five minutes ago you weren't completely up to it."

She always did know when something was bugging him, but this time he wasn't sure how to explain what he was feeling. "This summer just isn't what I thought it was going to be, o.k." he said. 

"Because of the whole job thing" May asked. She knew that he was a little taken back by the whole thing, and she could understand why. The boy had never gone out and make a life for himself. To a degree, he was already doing it as Spider-Man, but that was out of guilt of his uncle's death and he felt that it was his responsibility to make sure others didn't share the same fate.