My Only Exception (gxg)

Part 3

Sydney's eyes averted away from me, "I'm sorry, Delilah. I really am, it just kind of came out and before I realized what I was saying, I was telling Poppy what you said. I was hoping she wouldn't say anything to you, I feel really bad."

"How did it even come about that you told her?"

"Poppy asked me if you and I were friends, and I told her that we were. She made a comment about you not liking her, and I started to say why, without even realizing what I was saying. I am truly sorry, Delilah."

I could tell by Sydney's tone that her apology was sincere.

I decided that I would let it go.

This time.

When I left work that evening, I could physically feel how annoyed I was.

Why did Poppy have to come work at The Grindhouse? She's only been here a week and is already getting in my way.

I knew that I could try and let go of what she did to Emily and be nice to her...but that sure as fuck wasn't happening. Especially after how she had been speaking to me as of late.

When I got home, my mom was sitting on the couch, a glass of wine in her hand. "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" was playing on the flatscreen TV in front of her.

With it being just my mom and I living in her home, we don't live in a large home, just a two-bedroom, three-bathroom townhome. My mom, however, has the home upgraded with the top appliances and electronics, and she beautifully decorated the home with the help of an interior designer. She takes pride in how our home looks. She takes pride in her career as a Dermatologist.

If only she took pride in her own health.

"Hi honey, how was work?" she asked me as I walked into the living room. Penelope was sitting next to her on the couch, but immediately jumped down to greet me.

As I leaned down to pet my cat, I said, "I'm pretty tired. I'm just going to head up to my room."

"Try and get some rest tonight if you can," my mom said, taking a sip of her red wine, "You're going to have to talk to Dr. Rose about getting your meds adjusted to help you sleep better."

"I know," I nodded, "I'll make another appointment."

"Do that tomorrow."

"I will. Goodnight, mom."

"Night, honey."

I paused for a moment, wanting to make a comment about how she shouldn't be drinking when she had work early in the morning, but I decided against it.

She's a 45-year-old woman. I'm her 22-year-old daughter. I shouldn't have to tell her to not drink.

I also would likely not make an appointment with Dr. Rose, my psychiatrist. Every single time I try out a new medication and it doesn't help me, I just wind up disappointed, and I mentally didn't want to deal with that.

I didn't sleep well that night. I was up in my room watching random shows on Netflix until 3 AM, and I was grateful that I didn't have work until 2 PM the next day, as I would be closing.

When I walked into work, I got the news from Layla that I would be closing up the shop with Poppy tonight. Sydney had to leave a half hour early, and wouldn't be able to show her closing, so I had to.

Great.

This was the first time I was seeing Poppy since the bonfire, and we barely even looked at each other our whole shift. The only time we did was when Poppy accidentally bumped into me while grabbing a container of almond milk, and I instinctively glared her way.

"Jeez, sorry," she mumbled.

I wasn't looking forward to closing with her. It was going to be just her and I for about a half hour, no one else. And I had to speak to her the whole time.

Sydney looked a bit concerned before leaving the shop, and as she was about to walk out for the night, she asked, "You two will be fine here to close? I'd stay, but I have my brother's birthday dinner to go to."

"We'll be fine, Syd," Poppy said in a very friendly tone, almost too friendly.

"Okay. Call Layla or I if you need anything," Sydney said, and she then left.

Poppy and I were silent, the only sound in the shop was the song playing from the speakers, "Somebody Else" by The 1975.

Finally, I said, "Alright, Poppy. Let me show you closing up the shop."

"Okay," Poppy nodded, "Go ahead."

Poppy watched as I walked around behind the bar, showing her the steps of closing, and trying to say as little as possible to her.

The air between us was thick with tension, we both didn't want to be around each other, it was obvious.

At one point, as I was showing Poppy where to store some of the extra milks, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, looked at it, and chuckled at what she saw.

I frowned at her, "It'd be great if you paid attention while I do this, considering you'll have to soon enough."

Poppy rolled her eyes and said, "One second. I'm just sending a message."

I waited next to her impatiently to continue as Poppy sent a message, and she then put her phone back in her pocket, turned and looked at me and said, "Okay. Continue."

Matching her tone I asked Poppy, "You really couldn't have waited until after our shift was over in 10 minutes to answer your phone?"

"I didn't know you were my boss," Poppy shot back, "Last I checked, you weren't. So don't concern yourself over me checking my phone."

Anger flared inside me as I said back to her, "I'm sure whatever unfortunate soul you're about to fuck over next can wait for you to text her back."

Something flashed in Poppy's eyes that I hadn't seen before as she looked at me, "Fuck you, Delilah."

"In your dreams, Pops," I said back in a taunting tone.

Poppy's voice raised as she responded, "I don't know how anyone that works here even likes you. You're god awful."

I matched Poppy's volume, "And everyone here is going to find out what kind of person you truly are."

Before Poppy could respond, my phone that was on the counter started to ring. I looked down to see that Layla was calling me.

Weird.

"It's Layla, I have to answer," I grumbled, and picked my phone up.

I knew that my tone wasn't even that pleasant as I answered, "Hi, Layla. What's up?"

"What's going on with you and Poppy?" Layla's concerned voice came through, "I have a camera on the shop that I can check from home. I hardly do, but I just wanted to make sure you two were okay closing and I saw you arguing.

"Everything is fine," I said back to Layla, "Just a small disagreement. Everything is good, right Poppy?"

Poppy's tone did a 180 as she chirped back, "Right!"

Layla sounded unconvinced as she replied, "Okay, if you say so. Just...try and close up quickly. Have a good night, Delilah. Tell Poppy I said so as well."

"Thanks, have a good night, Layla."

I hung up with Layla and glared at Poppy.

"Let's just finish this, okay?"

"I want to get out of the same room as you as fast as possible, believe me."

I had to bite my tongue from saying something back to Poppy, but I did.

Though I knew that I wouldn't be able to for much longer.