The Old Tuck Shop

THIRTY

As I arrived at Cal's, I was shocked to see Poppy standing behind the counter, talking to him.

"Ah, speak of the devil," Poppy said, hurriedly making her way towards me.

My eyes darted back and forth. "Speak of the devil?" I asked.

"Yes, Finn- I mean Cae. Yes Cae, it's an expression. When someone is talking about someone-"

"Yes, I know what it means... why exactly were you talking about me?" I asked.

"Oh, um..." Poppy flustered. I grinned.

Cal noticed Poppy start to blush, and instead of trying to break the tension, he added to it.

"Don't flatter yourself," Cal said. "She only came in here to get sweets for her brother."

I turned to Poppy. "You have a brother?"

She sighed. "Unfortunately."

I laughed. "Hm... okay. But why did you say 'speak of the devil' when I came in?" I crossed my arms.

"Poppy just told me that she likes to sing, and I mentioned that I was looking for a guitar for you. Nothing big." Cal chuckled.

"Right. Okay," I replied.

"And then Mr Callaghan suggested us becoming a duo-" Poppy said.

"Did he?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Guilty. But for what it's worth, I think you two look great together." Cal gave me a thumbs up and walked into the back room.

I gave an awkward smile. "Thanks, Cal, always great to know."

"You know he's gone, right?" Poppy giggled. I rolled my eyes.

"So... what brings you here?" I asked.

"I genuinely came here to get sweets for my brother." She smiled awkwardly.

"Oh, okay," I replied.

She laughed. "You're not subtle, are you?"

I rolled my eyes, again.

She smiled. "Wanna go out?"

"What?" I replied, feeling my heartbeat out of my chest.

"Like outside. Of this shop. You and I leave."

"Sure. Why not? I mean, if I've lost my subtlety, what else is there to lose?"

She rolled her eyes. "We can grab my guitar from my place if you want. It's not far away."

"You play?" I asked.

"A little," she replied.

"So why the hell do you need me if you can play?" I puffed.

"Don't act like you wouldn't care if I did that... scrapped the duo idea. You'd be devastated," she said.

I rolled my eyes.

"I'd be gutted," she pouted.

I laughed. "You've lost your subtlety, Poppy Starr."

She puffed, before grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the shop. She tended to do that.