Carl woke up the morning after his wedding night, Poppy lay naked in his arms. She truly was beautiful. He loved her. The warm feeling that accompanied her flooded him like a drug.
"My love," he whispered and she stirred,
"Must you be so loud in the mornings?" She asked, a smile warming her features.
"That was some wedding night,"
"The perfect end to the perfect wedding day," she said,
"I can't believe I married you," said Carl,
"Do you need to see the marriage certificate again?" She asked and he chuckled against the back of her neck before kissing it, and she rolled over to face him,
"Best day of my life." He said, and she put a hand on his face,
"Happy to be a part of it," she said,
Then she got out of bed and pulled on the first shirt she could find which happened to be one of his. He smiled at how it was too large for her.
"Your shirts are very comfortable," she said in her perfect American accent he'd grown to adore, "I've decided this ones mine now." She proclaimed and he chuckled as he watched her roll up the sleeves so they didn't cover her hands,
"You have have you?"
"Yes."
"What if I want that shirt?" He asked, "It is mine after all."
"I suppose you'll have to find a way to take it from me then, English." She said and he smiled at her flirting, and she left the room and he leant back into bed and thought about how perfect Poppy was for him.
He liked that she liked sex. It was a normal part of any relationship and as a red blooded male he quite enjoyed it.
She was into what he was into. In many ways. She liked to watch movies with him, they would sit together and just have marathons of his favourite movies.
She liked going dancing. She always made him feel like a good dancer.
She could cook which isn't the most important thing but was a definite plus. Her cookies could end wars. He was convinced of it. Hell her damn smile could end a war.
Her laugh was contagious, and her smile infectious. She was bright and quick witted, and she believed in him. She put the spotlight on him,
She would listen to what he wrote and give him suggestions. She would read out lines and tell him which ones felt natural and which didn't. Many of his new characters were based around her, or things she said.
He loved his life. Work as a writer for a major studio. Getting his movie produced. She would visit at lunch, and speak with Klara quite naturally. She ate with him too of course, but he rather liked how naturally she fit in with actors. And then every night from here on out he would come home to her.
He imagined them with kids. Big golden eyes and smiles on their faces.
She was resistant to the idea of children, but he knew she would just be the best mother. She was so loving.
"Blueberries?" Poppy called from the kitchen, "In your pancakes I mean,"
"Yes of course," he said,
My god did he love her
—
"Do we ever have to leave?" She asked as they lounged by the ocean on their honeymoon,
"Not for another week," said Carl, who rather appreciated the view of his wife in that bikini.
"Thank the gods for me, will you?" She asked,
"Don't you want to thank them yourself?"
"We haven't been on speaking terms since the whole stock market crash thing. Still not over it." She said and he laughed,
"It's been over a decade," he said,
"But then they hit the world with another war, and then I found out that Disney is actually really messed up, so you know. Maybe I'll ice them out for another decade." She said, he looked at her,
"How are you not a character from a book?" He asked,
"I'm real." Said Poppy turning to smile at him,
"And you expect me to talk to gods for you?" He asked,
"Yes." She said, lowering her sunglasses to reveal those bright golden eyes,
"Not the eyes," said Carl, "You know I can't resist those eyes,"
"When I was a kid all I wanted were blue eyes actually, like that ocean." She said, turning back to the ocean,
"Why?"
"My mother had blue eyes. I wanted to be just like her," said Poppy, "But I guess gold is a nice consolation prize,"
"A hundred movies could be written about your eyes," said Carl, reaching out to take Poppy's hand,
"In all their technicolor glory?" She asked,
"Exactly." He said,
"The thing about blue eyes is that they are like pools of water you could swim in, no one would want to swim in a pool of gold. Except Scrooge maybe," she said thoughtfully and Carl found himself laughing again,
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" He said, and she turned to face him again,
"Let's say no," she said, and he grinned at her,
"My love for you is as wide and as deep as that ocean." He said,
"So romantic,"'she said blushing, "You know I was wondering why I married you."
"Cracked the case?" He asked,
"You are the best most romantic man I've ever met." She said, "I like that phrase cracked the case. Makes me sound like a love detective or something."
"What would your name be?" He asked,
"Can't be detective love, too on the nose." She said,
"Of course,"
"Maybe a literary theme." She commented, "Like detective Lathario, or scrap that detective Lovelace, because who doesn't love Ada Lovelace?"
"No one." Said Carl who was constantly being blown away by his wife's intelligence,
"Precisely," she said, "I want to swim,"
And she pulled him out of his seat and into the water with her,
Carl had never been truly happy, but with her, this bright glittery creature that loved him for who he was, he found joy.
—
Their honeymoon was over and they returned to their home in the valley, Poppy was out seeing Marje just to say hi, and Carl had every intention of working but a knock came at the door.
He opened it to see Daniel Amara her brother, unhappy, and looking a little disheveled.
"Is she here?" He asked, "Is," he took a breath, "Poppy here."
"No, she just went out to say hello to a friend. Are you alright?" Asked Carl,
"You're a good guy Carl, I just need to see my sister." Said Daniel, and then as though she had a sense for these things,
"Daniel?" Asked Poppy, pitting her hand on her brother's shoulder, she was immediately engulfed in a tight hug,
It made sense with their codependent relationship growing up that there would be some things that didn't quite end once they were adults,
"Come on," she said, "It's all going to be okay. Okay? The hard part is over."
"I just ca-"
"You can get over her," said Poppy, Carl has backed away and sat on the couch pretending to read a newspaper, but he could still hear their entire conversation,
"I'm tired, and I was meant to come here for dinner, and tell embarrassing stories about you,"
"How would you even choose one?" Asked Poppy,
"Yes, pops, that's why I'm upset," said Daniel sarcastically,
"I'm going to be upset if you call me pops again." She said, and Daniel laughed,
She truly could make anyone smile,
After that Carl had a very pleasant dinner with her, her brother, and he learnt new embarrassing things about his wife. Which caused her to blush furiously. He loved it.
—
She was at the studio with him watching his movie get shot. Normally this wasn't allowed but people there just liked her that much. Klara referred to Poppy as her emotional support human.
After the shoot was over, Klara took her away immediately to run lines with her.
"You have the best wife," said the director, John Campbell, "All mine does is nag."
"Shame," said Carl,
"And those cookies Poppy makes?"
"Don't go trying to steal the love of my life, John." Said Carl,
"Wouldn't dream of it. Does she have a sister?" Asked John,
"She does have a brother, if you're into that." Said Carl, "He's a bit all over the place, but he is a good man."
"Was he the drunk one at your wedding?"
"That was Finnigan, you met him he was another groomsman," said Carl, shaking his head, "Hate that guy."
"I thought he was okay," said John,
"Spoiled rotten." Was all Carl said, "Do you have notes on scene twenty three?"
"I'll give them to you in the cafeteria," he said,
—
"What is all this, English?" Asked Poppy as she looked at the flowers everywhere and the elegantly set table,
"It is our two week anniversary," said Carl and she laughed as he pulled out a chair for her to sit on.
"We are such a newlywed stereotype." She breathed as he sat across from her,
He poured her a glass of wine and then one for himself,
"Such a gentleman." She said, as he waved his wand and food appeared on her plate, "Wow, English you really pulled out all the stops,"
"Anything for you, my love." He said, "Tell me something about yourself, something I wouldn't already know."
"I'm good at accents." She said, as she laid the napkin across her lap,
"Really?" He asked amused,
"Yeah, used to practice with my brother when we were little." She said, as she began to eat her food, "Wow that's good."
"What's your best accent?" He asked, she looked thoughtful for a moment,
"Euh, French, because it is very easy all you need to top is talk pretentiously and never open your mouth too much," she said in a perfect French accent,
"Impressive."
"Why thank you," she said, "Your turn English I want to know everything about you,"
"Everything?"
"You are a rather fascinating man, who's leading a wonderful life, I just want to know exactly what I've gotten myself into." She said,
"First and for most I am crazy about you," he began,
"Glad it's reciprocated," said Poppy, smiling at him,
"I grew up on an estate just outside of London," he said,
"An estate? Were there horses, and a butler?" She asked,
"No but we did have a house elf."
"What was the elf's name?" Asked Poppy, she was so interested in his life he wanted to melt,
"Missy," said Carl, "Anyways I went to Hogwarts,"
"Hogwarts, I've read about that place, what house were you in?" She asked,
"I was a Ravenclaw, big family disappointment," he said, and she placed a hand on his,
"Why?"
"They all wanted me to be a Slytherin," said Carl,
"Ravenclaw is for the creative, right?" She asked,
"Yes,"
"Then I see no reason that that shouldn't be your house." She said,
"I did get locked out of the common room sometimes, couldn't answer the riddle to get in," said Carl,
"That's an idiotic system. What if you are coming home drunk?" She asked and he laughed, "What does Ravenclaw tower become? A staircase of shame?"
"Exactly," he said, "I of course was never on it drunk,"
"Obviously," she agreed a laugh seeping into her tone,
"I graduated top of my class," he said,
"Good for you." She said,
"And then I went to the movies and all I wanted was to be a part of the Hollywood life, so I went to Los Angeles," he said,
"Is this where I come in?" She asked smiling,
"Not for a year or so," he said, "It was a very difficult industry to break into,"
"But you did it. You were the one in a million," said Poppy,
"I can honestly say that I couldn't have done it without you," then she walked around the table and kissed him, "But what about dinner?"
"Later," she said, kissing him again, he stood up, keeping his lips on hers, before kissing down her neck, and picking her up and carrying her to the bedroom,
It was a good night.
—
They were dancing in the kitchen after dinner, her head was against his chest as they swayed to the music.
Then he spun her and she laughed. Somehow cleaning after dinner had become a dance. He loved every minute of having Poppy Spencer-Moon in his arms.
She smelt like honey. The sweetest honey in the world. And she was all his,
—
Their third week anniversary he gave her an anklet. It was gold and had a little heart at the core, and they looked through their wedding photos,
"I can't believe how drunk Finnigan got," said Carl,
"Perfectly within character from what I've seen and what you've told me," said Poppy, her hand on his shoulder, he placed his hand on hers for a moment, "We look so happy in this one," she said beaming at the one of them exiting the chapel,
"We are happy," he said, kissing her cheek,
"Over the moon,"
"Joyous,"
"Ecstatic,"
"Lovestruck,"
"Over the sun," said Poppy, unable to find another adjective,
"Over the sun, really?" He asked,
"Oh yeah, I would go to the sun and back for you, English," she said and he kissed her, before returning to the photos,
"You made me look like a good dancer,"
"You are a good dancer," she said,
My god did he fall more in love with her by the minute.
—
For their fourth he decided to go out and buy her a dog. Poppy would love a dog. They would name it together, and go on long walks and laugh when it did something stupid, but there was a problem at the bank,
"What do you mean it's all empty?" Asked Carl to the goblin at the desk of Gringotts, he'd been turned away at the muggle bank in LA as well,
"The Spencer-Moon vault is completely empty, cleaned out this morning." Said the Goblin, "Now if you would leave that would be appreciated,"
"By who?" Asked Carl incredulously,
"Your wife." Said the Goblin, Carl's heart dropped, "Came here with a warlock she did not look happy."
Was Poppy being held against her will? His heart sped up at the possible implications, He practically ran out of Gringotts and apparated home, the door was unlocked and he saw her key on the end table on the wall, he was so confused and scared,
"My love?" He called as he walked through the door, but there was no answer, he ran up the stairs to their room, "Poppy?"
Nothing, he looked all over, all her clothes were still in the closet, all her soaps were still in the bathroom. He withdrew his wand as he looked around the house to find that the safe was completely empty.
His heart would beat out of his chest when he looked to the fridge and saw a note in her handwriting. He pulled it off,
Arc light theatre
He was confused but he left for the theatre nonetheless, maybe she was being held there or something. Anything happening to her would be punished. Oh he would tear anyone who so much as touched his wife to shreds.
He walked into the theatre but it was completely empty, there were merely numbers counting down on the screen and popcorn on a seat.
He sat in that seat, but was in no mood to eat so he set the popcorn aside,
The numbers counted down,
3,
2,
1
And there she was, projected on the screen, she looked solemn, sad, but then she began to speak,
"Hi English, I understand that this must be very confusing for you, the savings, the checking account, the vault, all gone. And I know this will be hard for you but you will never see me again,"
His heart felt like it would beat from his chest and he shook his head,
"I know you are probably shaking your head right now, but I'm gone. The sooner you accept that and move on the easier this will be for everyone. I know you will want to find me, to punish me, but you musnt. Look under your seat,"
He looked under his seat to find a file, containing all the bad things his family had done,
"If you try to track me down, everyone will know what is inside that folder. Don't put your family through that. Don't put your lovely mother through it. I'd be okay if you put your jackass brother through it, but no one else.
All anyone needs to know is that we rushed into our marriage barely knowing each other, cultural differences. And people will accept this."
"No, no, no."
"You are a good man, English. If you weren't, this probably wouldn't have happened to you. I will watch all the movies you make and think how lucky I was to be a part of them. Please don't give up on your dream. This is goodbye, English,
I'm really sorry. All my love as Poppy Spencer-Moon belongs to you. And I have no doubt that some day I will watch you walk across that stage and accept your Oscar.
Goodbye English."
And then she was gone.