My Only Exception (gxg)

Part 7

I felt myself smile as I read the message.

I answered her, as I saw she had sent the message close to 2 hours ago. I said back that I was glad she messaged me, and I hoped she had a nice Thanksgiving as well.

She sent me back a message 20 minutes later, and we wound up talking over Instagram until 2 AM. It was pretty surface level, but that's all I needed.

I'm not looking for a girlfriend.

When I got to work the next day, those who worked the morning shift seemed exhausted.

"It was hell," Laura said, "Layla even had to jump in and help out making drinks."

"I'm predicting it'll be better this afternoon," Diego commented, "It has to be. I hope."

It was going to be Diego, Charlie, Poppy, and I working. And I was closing with Poppy.

Well, we know how that went last time.

I noticed that Poppy was oddly quiet the whole shift. While her and I barely interacted, she usually would talk a lot with Diego and Charlie. Today, not as much. She kept to herself mostly as she made drinks.

I was still messaging with Corrine when I could throughout my shift, which lifted my mood a bit. It was still pretty busy, so the shift also went by quickly.

A half hour remained, and Diego and Charlie left for the night, leaving just Poppy and me.

We started the closing process, and right away, Poppy said to me, "I have to go outside and make a phone call."

"Alright," I nodded.

20 minutes passed, and Poppy then came back in. She didn't look happy, but she also didn't even apologize for being out there for so long, leaving me to close by myself.

"You could have just left if you didn't want to close that badly," I said, wiping down the counters.

Poppy turned to me, eyes blazing, "Fuck you, Delilah."

"That seems like an oddly hostile response," I said back to Poppy, trying to keep my cool.

"No, Delilah. Fuck you, seriously. You think you know me, but you don't."

"Where the fuck is this coming from?" I said back to Poppy as we faced each other.

Poppy let out a shaky breath and said, "You know what, you've already done most of closing. You can do the rest, I'm out of here."

Before I could respond, Poppy walked out from behind the bar, and toward the door.

"Alright, bye then," I said back to her.

For the rest of the night, I thought about Poppy and her outburst. I was having a lot of trouble getting it out of my head. As I sat in my bed and pet Penelope's shiny black fur, my mind raced.

Should I have made that snarky comment to her when she walked back in?

Poppy did look upset.

I can't change it now.

I looked at my schedule to see when I worked with Poppy next, and I saw it wasn't until the next Wednesday.

Maybe I'll try and talk to her then.

However, I saw Poppy the next night. Diego texted all of us that he was having an impromptu bonfire. For a night at the end of November in Pennsylvania, it was relatively warm, and Diego invited all of us over.

When I first walked into his backyard, I didn't see Poppy.

I guess she's not coming.

I stood with Sydney and Laura. They each had a hard cider in hand, and I had a blackberry seltzer.

I found myself still thinking about Poppy.

"Is Poppy coming tonight?" I asked Sydney, as casually as possible.

Sydney nodded, "She is. She's just going to be late."

"Okay, thanks."

"Why are you asking? You don't like Poppy," Sydney turned to me.

"I was just wondering, that's all. Since I know you two are a thing."

Sydney shifted a bit and said, "I hope we still are. She's been a bit...distant."

"How so?" Laura asked, her brow furrowed.

"Since Halloween we've been hanging out pretty often. She hasn't wanted to this week. She's also slower at answering my texts. I'm hoping it's just all in my head," Sydney looked down at the ground.

"I'm sure it is," Laura reassured Sydney, "She might just be having an off week. Thanksgiving week can be hard for some people."

"That's true," I added.

Sydney looked up and nodded, "Thanks, you too. Hopefully it's nothing."

When Poppy arrived, she seemed in better spirits than she did the day prior, however she hardly even looked my way.

She did, however, pay a lot of attention to Sydney, who I could tell was pleased by this.

"I guess Poppy and Sydney are fine," Laura said softly to me when we were standing together, just the two of us, "However, if I'm being honest, I don't trust Poppy one hundred percent."

"Why do you say that?"

"I've seen how she looks at other people. Customers. You, even."

I stared at Laura, "Me?"

My heart immediately started to race.

Laura nodded, "Yep. I've seen Poppy check you out multiple times."

"There's no way," I shook my head.

"If you say so. Maybe my eyes are betraying me," Laura chuckled.

A little bit later into the night, I was sitting by the bonfire with Diego and Sydney, and I saw Poppy walk over to us. I assumed she was coming over for Sydney, but I was wrong.

"Delilah, can I grab you for a moment?" Poppy asked, standing in front of us.

"Sure," I nodded, and stood up.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Sydney looking at me suspiciously.

"I'll be back for you in a few," Poppy said to Sydney, shooting her a smile.

Poppy and I walked away from the group, until it was just the two of us, and she turned to face me.

"I'm sorry for leaving you by yourself to close yesterday," she said to me, "I figured I owed you an apology for that."

Wow. An apology? That's surprising.

"It's okay," I said to Poppy, "Don't worry about it."

"You just really got under my skin. I needed to be on the phone for as long as I was. I was...I was talking to my dad. He's pretty sick with cancer."

Poppy looked right at me as she said this, and I met her gaze.

However, what she said to me felt like an absolute punch to the gut.

"Fuck, Poppy. I'm sorry. For making the comment I did, but also that your dad is sick," I said to her.

"Thank you," Poppy nodded, "I do appreciate that."

For the first time, it was like I was seeing Poppy as an actual person, not this awful being who hurt my best friend.

"You're right," I said, letting out a breath, "I don't know you."

"I guess I don't really know you as well, Delilah."

As Poppy looked at me, I couldn't help but get lost in her hazel eyes for a moment. They were almost honey colored.

Honestly, one of the prettiest pairs of eyes I had ever seen.

I snapped out of it a moment later and said, "Should we go back?"

Poppy nodded, "Sure, let's go back."

As Poppy and I walked back to the group, I realized that was the first civil conversation I'd had with her.

Are we turning a new leaf?