My Only Exception (gxg)

Part 2

Sydney's dark eyes widened, "I won't say a word."

At that moment, Poppy came back out to the front of the shop, so I immediately closed my mouth.

An hour later, my co-worker who has become my good friend, Diego Mendez, walked into the shop for his shift.

"Hi Diego," Poppy greeted him from behind the counter in a friendly tone.

"Hey, Poppy," Diego smiled at her, and he then looked at me, "Hey, Delilah."

"Hi," I said to Diego. I hadn't told him yet about what kind of history I had with Poppy, as this was our first shift together since we had started.

It looks like he and Poppy already are getting along.

When Diego put on his apron and went behind the counter, he said, "I'm having a bonfire at my house tomorrow. You're all invited, of course. That includes you, Poppy."

Poppy brightened, "Oh, thanks Diego! I'll be there."

I swore I saw her glance my way after saying that.

Diego nodded and Poppy and smiled. He then turned my way and asked, "Think you'll be able to make it?"

I'm not going to let Poppy ruin something that I would enjoy.

"Of course," I said to Diego, "I'll be there."

Diego and I were closing that night, I chose that time to tell him how I really felt about Poppy.

"I wanted to tell you something," I said to him as we cleaned behind the bar, "I knew Poppy prior to her working here."

Diego paused wiping down the counters and looked at me, "Did you really?"

I nodded, "Yeah. She dated Emily, my best friend."

"Did it end badly?"

"You could say that. I'm not Poppy's biggest fan."

Diego looked at me with his big, light brown eyes, "What did Poppy do?"

"She really broke Emily's heart, and didn't treat her well. I won't get too into it, but I get pretty defensive over my best friend. I don't like to see her get mistreated."

Diego nodded, "Hey, I get it. I'd be the same way if someone broke my best friend's heart, I am the same way. Have you spoken to Poppy about it since she started?"

I nodded, "Kind of. We both established that we really don't like each other."

"Oh...that's not good. Now I feel kind of bad for thinking she's chill."

"Diego, you can form your own opinion of her. I'm not going to stop you from being friends with Poppy if you want to be."

Diego shot me a smile, "That's mature of you, Delilah."

I rolled my eyes but smiled, "I'm trying to be."

"You won't mind her being at the bonfire tomorrow?"

I shook my head, "It's fine. I'll just ignore her."

Diego often throws bonfires at his house when it gets to Fall time, and it was the end of September, so this was going to be his first bonfire of the season.

I got in my car after work that day, closed my eyes, and laid my head back against the seat. I was on edge, I had been the whole shift, and it wasn't just because of Poppy. That was when I realized that I had forgotten to take my medicine for the past two days, which was a habit of mine.

I need to get better at it, no wonder my mood is fucked right now.

I told myself that when I got home, I would take my medicine, and I wound up doing so.