Loving Poppy (ON HOLD)

06. Shattered Expectations

06. "Shattered Expectations"

Poppy

"You cannot be so sure pop's!" Max exclaimed at the girl sits opposite to him munching fries. They were at the back having lunch and Max was being whiny because she pointed out the obvious fact that Jordan liked Lauren.

Max was mad because she figured it out before him.

"He looks at her that way. He likes her." She mumbled nibbling on the Jumbo Burger in her hand. There was no way it was fitting in her mouth, she decided to settle with the fries and coke instead.

Max however was chomping on his food as if he was starved for years.

"But-"

"We should help him!" She squealed cutting him off. She was all excited to get Lauren and Jordan together, they would be the sweetest couple ever!

"I will let you know that you are doing no such thing." Max warned her but it was hard to take him seriously with a mouthful of burger and a lettuce leaf dangling out.

"Wouldn't you want to help a friend Max?"

"I would love to, but let it happen naturally. What if your meddling makes it worse?" He had a point, some things are better left alone. But she wanted to be Cupid and create a couple, fawn over them.

Poppy pouted slightly.

"Don't be like that. You can help me with Drew." She peeked up at that.

"Who is Drew?" She asked sipping on her coke.

"My classmate, I'm going to bring her over here to get something to eat. You can help me then." Max grinned at her and wiggled his eyebrows.

"But you don't like her, you are just bring her to eat."

"It's a date silly!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, don't you know what a date is?!"

She shrugged in reply. She had never been to a date before and her school friends were just like her, they had absolutely no interest in going out with boys, there were of course silly crushes here and there.

"I know what it is. I don't know what is done on a date. Do you usually go out to just eat?"

"Yeah, it's basically anything that you like. As in you go out to have fun, the amusement park for an example, but yeah you go out to eat too. That's mandatory, sometimes." He looked confused too.

Poppy sipped on her coke while nodding her head, that sounds fun. They soon moved to another topic after Poppy agreed to help him. They started talking about an episode of Big Bang Theory that both of them absolutely loved.

********

"Why are you so late?"

She snapped her head up almost causing a whiplash while doing so, to find her mother standing at the door way that she just entered.

She mumbled an incoherent response to the question. It's not like her mother did not know about her job, she was very well aware of it. But that didn't mean she liked it, she never said it to her face but she knew her mother did not like her working, that too as a waitress.

"Speak louder Poppy, did I not teach you how to speak?" The harshness in her tone made her flinch a little. She spoke something about having work and attempted to go around her mother to her safe heaven; her room.

But of course it was not that easy. Rebecca caught her hand and pulled her back and now they were face to face again. Poppy did not want to cause any trouble and just sleep. It was a busy day and she had to later help Lauren with a few sample pastries. Tasting was the easy part but she also had to help with the stuff that needed fixing.

She was exhausted. And she wanted her bed desperately.

"Do not try to run away from me girl. Look at me when I ask you something and answer. As far as I know you get off your pathetic job way earlier than this. Where have you been?"

"I said I had work. My friend asked for help-"

She was cut off by a loud snort, she saw her mother Rollin her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest. Does she not believe me?

"You? You have friends? Next time you want to come up with a excuse then try to make it believable."

"It's true. She wanted me to- "

Again she was cut off but by a loud crash from the kitchen followed by a loud thud. Rebecca rushed towards the sound with Poppy on tow to see the cause of it.

Lilly was hunched over shards of broken glass and spilled beer with a panicked look on her face. Lilly looked up at the two who just entered the kitchen and gulped.

"I swear I d- did not mean to do it! It slipped som- mehow?" She spluttered out, it was clear that she was drunk. All Poppy could do was sigh and take the opportunity to slip into her room while her mother was distracted.

While taking a shower she thought about the conditions at home. People often found comfort at coming home after a long day of work, a warm welcome and fresh homemade food. But it was not like that for her. She did not receive a warm welcome, not even a small smile. She will probably have to eat later when her mother goes to sleep. Cold food.

She hummed softly to herself as she washed away the tiredness, her tight muscles loosened by the warm water hitting her soft skin.

Showers had to be the most relaxing time of the day. She replayed the day in her mind again.

She did not mess up any order today even though there were more customers than usual, Lauren had given her the task of tasting the new pastries she had made, they were combinations of flavours and Poppy approved most of them. It was not easy to taste to baked goods. Some were so good she wanted to stuff herself with them.

Out of nowhere a certain someone's thoughts penetrated her mind. She had not spoken to him in some time now.

He did not call.

But neither did you.

Her inner self was much smarter then her, only if she would listen to herself sometimes. These were the times when she thought about calling him and she got as far as to open his contact but never dared to dial. She chickened out at the last second and let it go. Always.

Finally getting out of the shower she changed into a pair of loose t-shirt and cotton shorts, it was already late and she was sleepy even after taking a shower. She debated in her mind if having dinner is worth those 20 minutes of sleep that she could get if she skipped.

After a few minutes of self conversation she concluded that dinner could wait. If she felt hungry then she could always get midnight snacks, but sleep was more important. She slipped under the covers happily. A ping from her phone made her groan and sit up, it was a message.

She could check it in the morning but what if it was an emergency? What if someone was dying and needed her help? Those thoughts would never let her have a good sleep so she picked up a glass of water to drink and her phone to check it. Sipping slowly she checked the message.

From : Alessandro

Want to hang out tomorrow? What about lunch?

Spluttering out the water she stared at the message in wonder.