Hero

“Just a little bit of shopping.” Eleanor had said.

Just a little, it won’t take long.

Poppy should have known that once Eleanor had gotten her out of the flat it would be a long while before she let her return. Now she was sat on a large, over-stuffed coral ottoman inside the fitting room of one of Eleanor’s new favorite boutiques. Poppy was just as feminine as the next girl but she felt like she was suffocating when she walked through the shop door, every visible surface was a different shade of pink; Poppy thought that this must be what it feels like to drown in a bottle of Pepto-Bismol and the overwhelming floral scent made the shop even more unbearable and made Poppy gasp for air.

“Alright, what do you think of this one?”

Poppy looked up to see Eleanor modeling a short black body con dress that was so tight she was sure it must have been squashing her internal organs.

“A little revealing don’t you think?” she raised an eyebrow and eyed Eleanor’s breasts which the dress did very little to cover.

“I have to accentuate the girls as much as I can; we weren’t all blessed with a great pair, you know.” Eleanor nodded her head toward Poppy’s modestly covered chest.

The blonde salesclerk that had been assisting Eleanor followed her gaze before walking over to the ottoman and taking a seat beside Poppy.

“I could show you some great dresses that would really show those off if you’d like,” she wiggled her perfectly manicured brows almost suggestively.

Poppy looked at the girl with wide eyes and softly shook her head as Eleanor giggled loudly from where she stood in front of the floor to ceiling mirrors.

“No, thank you.”

The salesclerk just shrugged and nodded, standing from her seat.

“I’ll just be by the register then, you ladies let me know if you need anything.”

“Can we please get out of here,” Poppy whispered when the clerk was finally gone.

“But you haven’t even bought anything.”

“No offense El,” Poppy began, giving her cousin a serious look. “But this shop really isn’t my style.”

Eleanor couldn’t help but laugh as she glanced around at the racks of skimpy, overpriced clothing.

“Fine, let’s get some lunch.”



“And that’s when I told him to bugger off.”

Poppy rolled her eyes from her seat at the breakfast counter as Louis dramatically recounted his experience with a shop clerk earlier that day. After lunch at a small cafe in SoHo Poppy convinced Eleanor that they should head back to their flat and continue their bonding time there. And that is where they had been, Eleanor reorganizing the plastics cupboard and Poppy examining the new novel she had bought on their shopping trip, when a flustered Louis came stalking through the front door rambling about the fucking wanker from the grocery market.

“I will never shop at Tesco’s again!”

“Surely one rude salesclerk shouldn’t ruin the entire shop for you, Lou?”

“Never again.” Louis said with a very serious look that made Poppy laugh.

The buzzer rang loudly throughout the flat and Eleanor and Poppy looked to each other in confusion.

“Who would that be?”

“That’ll be Harry,” Louis said, making his way the door and buzzing his mate up.

“Sure Louis, that’s fine, invite your mate to my flat without even asking,” Eleanor said sarcastically from her spot perched on the floor in front of the disastrous plastics cupboard.

“I didn’t invite him, I told him I was coming here and he invited himself,” Louis shrugged.

Poppy nervously moved her attention back to the book in her hands. She didn’t like it when people showed up unannounced, especially people she wasn’t familiar with, and Louis’ friend Harry made her uncomfortable; the way he stared at her as if he were trying to psychoanalyze her was unnerving. She would find a reason to busy herself in her room until he left again.

“I think I should call gran now,” she made a move to stand up but the look Eleanor shot her froze her in place.

“Stay out here. We’ll watch a film or play a game,” it was an order and Poppy knew it. But she wouldn’t protest; Eleanor had done so much for her so she would do anything to please her older cousin, it was the least she could do.

He could be heard before he was seen; Harry’s footsteps pounded against the stairs in the hall of the complex, when he appeared in the flat he had a grin on his face and two cases of beer in his hands. Poppy was focusing so intently on the novel’s cover page that she was surprised it didn’t burst into flames; she could feel Harry’s stare and it made her extremely uncomfortable.

“Hi Harry,” Eleanor was the first to speak.

“Hey, thought I’d stop by and see what you lot were up to,”

“Next time wait for an invitation, you twat” Louis’ words sounded harsh but they couldn’t be taken seriously; not much of what he said really could be.

“Fuck off Lou, I’m not bothering anyone. Do you mind, Poppy?” He turned his attention back to her.

She looked up hesitantly and met his gaze, “Of course not,” she shook her head gently, but her words didn’t sound as convincing as she had intended for them to.

“See, Poppy doesn’t mind.” Harry sat the two cases of beer he was holding on the countertop and took a seat on the stool next to Poppy.

His scent immediately filled Poppy’s senses; he smelled of mint and expensive cologne, she was surprised that it didn’t bother her, on the contrary it slightly eased her quickly escalating anxiety.

"Have you girls eaten yet?" Louis asked.

"Not since lunch-" Eleanor looked to the digital clock on the wall opposite her, "six hours ago."

“Well I’m famished,” Louis started. “reckon we should get a chinese takeaway?”

“Sounds good to me.” Eleanor smiled. “Harry? Poppy? What do you think?”

“Sure.” Harry agreed.

Poppy nodded, “I like Chinese.”

“Alright. El, you call in the order and then we’ll go collect it, yeah?” she nodded an affirmative and stood from her place on the floor.

“I’ll need an extra set of hands to carry all of the food, any takers?” Louis asked as he stood and gathered his coat from the rack beside the front door. Eleanor had made a list of everyone’s order and phoned it in to the Chinese restaurant two blocks from the flat; it was the girls’ favorite to the extent that the phone number was saved in their phones as a favorite contact.

“I’ll help. You two will be fine here, yeah?” El made her way over to Louis who was now waiting patiently ready to leave, she pulled her flats from the coat closet and slipped them on, followed by her signature Burberry trench coat.

Poppy couldn’t help but feel slightly betrayed by her cousin; she had met Harry twice, spoken only maybe ten words to him and Eleanor was leaving her alone in the flat with him. She looked to her cousin with wide eyes and gave a subtle shake of the head to signal ’no, no, no’ but Harry was already speaking, “‘course” that stupid smirk was on his face again and Poppy could feel the anxiety begin to bubble in the pit of her stomach.